January 18, 2004
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
An open rebuttal letter to AJC's Ben Smith, by J. A. Davis
Mr. Smith, Welcome to your new assignment on coverage of state politics.
You are off to a rocky start with the article entitled Rebel symbol legally dead as flag choice.
Let's look at some facts that seem to have evaded your keyboard although you are aware of
them. It is difficult to understand how "objective" reporting for a story such as this would purposely avoid contact
and quotes from the group (Georgia Heritage Coalition) leading the campaign to provide a fair vote referendum and
to give the people of Georgia a free opportunity to express themselves on what many of us perceive as two backroom rigged
decisions in two previous legislative sessions, to avoid giving the people a fair choice for their state flag.
The result of these backroom shenanigans has forced upon our citizens three flags in three
years without the people having a vote or voice directly in these atrocious miscalculations. The only referendum was
the general election last year when the flag was not on the ballot. The perpetrators of the arrogant policies were
on the ballot and the people retired them from the top down (Barnes, Murphy, et al).
Let me correct the misleading information in your article. Had we had a chance to discuss
these unfortunate editorial comments cloaked as a news story, with no identified sources and no quotes, we could have
probably at the least gotten a fragment of truth in your story.
The headline, "Rebel symbol legally dead as flag choice" is intentionally misleading
to diffuse the ongoing legal and appropriate effort in the General Assembly to pass the Fair Vote Act.
AJC is getting desparate early which means we've gored some oxes in the AJC alliance with the
Atlanta Chamber of Commerce and the black racial profiteers who have fear of a fair flag vote. Think of it, a newspaper
involved in the coordination of a political campaign? It has reportedly happened before with AJC, ask former staffer
Bill Shipp and political consultant Dick Morris.
You either have not been paying attention or you purposely skewed your story to indicate the
GHC program was to alter the terms of the March 2nd flag referendum. This is not accurate and you and other writers at
AJC know it. We have previous correspondence to prove it.
Our draft of the act was delivered to Jim Galloway, whom you
succeeded. He assured me he passed pertinent information to you. We have always stated that the March referendum was a waste
of taxpayer money because it will not resolve anything, however, we recognized that time constraints with the General Assembly's
schedule and absentee ballots made it unlikely we could avoid this waste of taxpayer dollars in March.
Our effort is---and always has been---aimed at the July elections to include a referendum with a fair choice of all
three flags of the past three years. Unlike the backroom riggers, we want the people to have a full choice and we're
ready to accept the results. What fair minded voter could disagree with that? This issue will never be over until the
people are given fair voice and vote.
That fact is articulated in the recent Mason-Dixon poll showing a majority of Georgians will
not be satisfied until they have a full choice without the secret backroom ambushing one of the choices. That poll is
supported by a previous Zogby poll with similar findings.
So as to not confuse the voters further, read the Fair Vote Flag Act. It very
simply enables the voters to have a full choice in July and like all legislation nullifies conflicting prior acts. Pretty
standard.
It mystifies me as to how you can report the flag issue "dead" when you plan to attend a news
conference Tuesday to get the list of supporters of the Fair Vote Act. AJC has certainly wanted the list in advance. Maybe
some of the dead will rise to give you another story to distort.
In the future, I hope we will be able to at least talk before unsupported stories with no
identifiable sources appear under your byline. Jim Galloway assured me you know where to find me, give it a try, I don't
bite too hard unless provoked by intentional distortions.
Jeff Davis
Chairman, Georgia Heritage Coalition
J. A. Davis is a retired radio and
television journalist living in Gainesville, Georgia. He is
volunteer Chairman of the Georgia Heritage Coalition.
Contact: Telephone 770 297-4788 P-6, 2360 Thompson Bridge Road Gainesvlle,
GA 30501
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