For those non-local viewers… this little drama is taking place in Kingston Springs, TN: 

 Now it doesn’t matter where you live. It doesn’t even matter the specifics of the events surrounding this cartoon. This is small town America people. This is an area that is pretty much free of the big-time BS that completely (and unfortunately) pollutes the waters of most larger communities.

What’s important here is (and you’ll have to take my word on this & trust me) this is a real-life example of simple “smear” for the sake of smear.

Again… forget the details. We’ll get to that later. Trust me.

The issue at hand is that we, as regular Americans, can simply NOT allow smear like this to take place in our community. Look at this cartoon. It means nothing to anyone outside of Cheatham County, TN. Understood.

But let this serve as an example. To anyone who knows of Adair (the star of this cartoon) you’d be led to believe that she is spreading lies and misconceptions all over Cheatham County.

We are not going to get into whether she is or is not. The bigger issue is “public slander.” I assure you as a friend of Adair, she is a good woman who cares deeply about right, wrong and what matters. And trust me when I tell you that the crux of all of this involves a technicality during a meeting… and nothing more.

Yet this cartoon portrays Adair as a liar. And that’s incredibly serious. And incredibly harsh. If she in fact IS A LIAR…. and has in fact LIED… so be it. Let’s see a clear and concise report/expose of Adair Shippers lying. Lay it out like a court case. And show a pattern please. That’s the key. Show a pattern. One vague, questionable example is simply NOT going to cut it. Let’s see a pattern. A pattern will prove a history of lying. And cite at least THREE examples in order to be taken seriously. Three establishes a pattern.

But to throw a slanderous cartoon out there so casually… what a chump-ass, juvenile thing to do.

There are no facts yet as to who is behind this cartoon. But rest assured… we’ll get to the bottom of it. And when we do… the guilty party will be exposed for the absolute child that they are. You just don’t do things this way. I mean we did when we were in 7th grade… but come on!

This is adult life people. Grow the hell up and be men and women.

If you feel strongly enough about something that you’d commision a frickin’ cartoon about it:

#1. At least enlist someone who could actually draw above the level of a stoned high school student doodling on the inside cover of their science text book.

#2. Be prepared to coordinate the cartoon with something to validate it’s sentiment. An accompanying article… SOMETHING.

But to randomly slander someone like this is quite devoid of any and all tact… and honestly, extremely child-like and shallow.

The person behind this cartoon should feel like a complete and total chump. If there is more than one person behind it… shame on all of you.

So here’s the challenge to our sub-par doodling talent out there:

You started this. Finish it like an honorable man or woman. Drawing a slanderous, open-ended cartoon is one thing. Backing up your sucker-punch with a reasonable argument/statement is the very least you can do. So here’s your forum.

Let’s see if you have it in you.

Every once in awhile there is an actual letter to the editor.

But 90% of the time that wonderful little newspaper has provided space for anyone with something to say and give them a voice to be heard. God Bless them for doing so. Some colorful characters have chimed in over the years and provided entertaining, informative and sometimes downright annoying commentary.

There have been some classic back-n-forths that lasted over several issuses.

In that same spirit comes the Cheatham County section of BabyReagan.net – Cheatham County is a wonderful place to call home. But make no mistake.. it’s not perfect and there are discussions that need to be had. BabyReagan.net will make a sincere and fair attempt to provide a forum where B.S be damned.

Please submit topic suggestions to cheathamcounty@babyreagan.net

Topics will roll out every Friday morning and the discussion will begin below.

To get things started… a multiple choice question. The topic: Elementary and Middle School Fundraising – You know… cookie dough, magazine subscriptions and “book club” catalogs that contain a significant number of non-book choices such as sticker books, posters and toys.

With elementary and now middle-school parental experience under my belt, I’ve always had a problem with the kids being used as sales leads. Aside from just feeling “wrong”, it got old real quick. There’s no shortage of opportunities for one to take an order form to work and hawk over-priced Carmel popcorn in deco containers. It’s for the kids of course.

It’s no secret that the schools are strapped for cash. That’s a WHOLE OTHER topic. And of of the things I hope to do with this site is try and find out why that is. Gather together the people that actually know the facts and figures of the dollars flowing in and out of the school system. Highlight what is working and identify the waste and mis-management. There are multiple revenue streams coming in. It’s hard to phathom there’s absolutely no room for improvement.

About that multiple choice question…

What makes more sense?

1. Have the children sell cookie dough for Otis Spunkmeyer and be rewarded a minimal percentage of the total sale for their noble little efforts. Just an example, but you get the spirit. When the kids are selling items for a third-party… they (the school) will only ever receive a small piece of the overall profit. We all know this.

2. There’s carnival day, field day, open house, family bashes… why not an annual “Give” day. On that day, families would simply give what they could to the schools. It could be hyped and presented as a fun annual challenge. Try to top the previous year. No selling anything. Just giving. And the schools keep all the money. It’s a good bet that the local generosity would be overwhelming.

3. Perhaps you-the-reader might have an even better suggestion. Let’s hear it.

Keeping the schools strong, in order and running like well-oiled machines is essential. Let’s discuss how to do it better. Opinions run very deep when talking about the schools. Understood. These are our kids we are talikng about. Passion will be tolerated. Idiocy will not.

Let’s adhere to the Aretha Franklin Principle OK?

Please.

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