Opinion: Justice for Tara Grinstead

Tara Grinstead has been missing for over eleven years. Last week the Ben Hill/ Irwin county area of south Georgia was shocked to hear that an arrest had been made, and now today we find out that a second arrest has been made.

The two men arrested are Ryan Duke and Bo Dukes. These two men are not family members. They were classmates at Irwin County High School where Tara Grinstead taught. These new developments leave the local area with even more questions. Why did Ryan Duke kill Tara? Why did his friend, Bo Dukes, help him conceal and destroy her body?

As of today Ryan Dukes is the only person who has been charged with 'murder'. Bo Dukes has been charged for concealing a death, hindering the apprehension of a criminal, and tampering with evidence.

The question that seems to be swirling around the area today is this: Why was Bo Dukes allowed to bond out of jail for only $16,700 while Ryan Duke is being held without bond? Bo Dukes apparently led Ryan Duke to his uncles' pecan orchard north of Fitzgerald on highway 129. It was there that Tara's body was most likely disposed of. Randy Hudson is the uncle of Bo Dukes and the owner of the pecan orchard. The GBI has stated that the owners of the pecan orchard are not connected to the murder.

Law enforcement is currently under gag order, and cannot discuss the case. We can only hope that Bo Dukes is not going to be let off easily if he actually helped with this heinous crime. Every party to this crime, no matter how many that ends up being, deserves the maximum penalty. No question about it.

If you allow someone to go onto your family's land and help them dispose of a body, you better be doing serious time for it. The one thing everyone in this community wants is justice. A person's social status or last name should have nothing to do with how they are treated in a case like this, and neither should it determine how much their bond is. We sincerely hope this has nothing to do with Bo Dukes being able to spend only two hours in jail today, before leaving in a suit.

#justiceforTaraGrinstead

We would like to take the time to thank Payne Lindsey for the work he has done with his podcast, Up and Vanished. Up and Vanished has focused solely on the Tara Grinstead case, and Payne Lindsey has brought many details of this case to light. Be sure to tune in to the podcast at www.upandvanished.com

Ben Hill County Sheriff Election

It has been one extremely, interesting campaign for sheriff in Ben Hill county. The citizens of Ben Hill county have seen many articles in the local news paper, facebook rants, and plenty of gossip around town about the two candidates. The two men running for election are current sheriff of Ben Hill county Bobby McLemore and Lee Cone, who has over twenty years of law enforcement experience.

Obviously, Bobby McLemore has experience being sheriff... much the way Barack Obama has experience being president. I think we've all learned that experience doesn't make you the best man/woman for the job.

So, now that the argument of "he's experienced" is out of the way; let's move on to character.

After speaking with many local law enforcement officers it is clear who they trust the most. That person is Lee Cone. What is sad is the fact that every officer I spoke with did not want their name mentioned because they were scared of being fired by sheriff Bobby McLemore. What does that say about the man's character? Sheriff McLemore apparently has a track record of punishing and firing deputies without really getting both complete sides to a story. It is also easy to see that he doesn't mind bashing his political rival by using false information, and he doesn't mind playing bully politics against a man who is running an honest campaign.

Every time I have spoken with Lee Cone he is very professional. He doesn't bash or spread lies about the current sheriff. What is truly amazing is how almost every law enforcement officer I have spoken with says they are backing Lee Cone, and that Lee Cone will be the man to run the Ben Hill county sheriffs department in a professional manner.

Just the fact that the overwhelming majority of local law enforcement officers trust Lee Cone and want him to be the next sheriff sends a message that it is time for change in Ben Hill county. The position of sheriff is not a career or a life-long position. It is a position where honorable men can serve the people. It doesn't matter if a deputy who worked for you decides to run against you. That is their American right! Get over it!

So, Honorable Sheriff Bobby McLemore, stop with the lies and the insults. Maybe it's time to stop being so much 'Sheriff' and to start being a little more 'Honorable'.

Donald Trump's Answer to Healthcare

There are plenty of false statements and rhetoric being spewed all over the internet about different presidential candidates. All of the candidates have been victim to false accusations. However, one candidate in particular seems to have a very questionable history that is worth looking into. 

One of the main reasons that people are showing up to vote for Donald Trump is because he has claimed he will 'repeal and replace' Obamacare. All of his supporters are so ecstatic about this claim by Trump, but there is one rather large question that isn't being asked... Why does he say he is going to 'replace' it? What is he going to replace it with?

Well, the first answer you get from Trump supporters is he is going to replace it with something 'good', or should I say 'Great'! But if we actually look at what Donald Trump has personally said about this issue we get a very different story. 

Let us start at the beginning. In 1999, Trump went on Larry King's show and the issue of healthcare was brought up. This is a direct quote from that dialogue, "I'm somewhat liberal on social issues, especially health care". He went on later, in the same interview, to say this when asked if he was for universal healthcare:

    "Think you have to have it, and, again, I said I'm conservative, generally speaking, I'm conservative, and even very conservative. But I'm quite liberal and getting much more liberal on health care and other things. I really say: What's the purpose of a country if you're not going to have defensive and health care? If you can't take care of your sick in the country, forget it, it's all over. I mean, it's no good. So I'm very liberal when it comes to health care. I believe in universal health care."   - Donald Trump (1999)

Read the complete interview here: 
http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1999/10/08/trump.transcript/

Keep Reading!

So, of course the first thing Trump supporters say is - 'that was in 1999'. That's understandable. People do change their stances and beliefs overtime. Let us fast-forward one year later. In 2000, Trump wrote this in his book The America We Deserve:

    "I’m a conservative on most issues but a liberal on health. It is an unacceptable but accurate fact that the number of uninsured Americans has risen to 42 million. Working out detailed plans will take time. But the goal should be clear: Our people are our greatest asset. We must take care of our own. We must have universal healthcare." - Donald Trump (2000)

Okay, still that was 16 years ago. I want to be completely fair to Mr. Trump. So, let us look at some of his statements from just a few years ago. In 2011, on the Sean Hannity show, Donald Trump said the following in reference to President Barrack Obama:

    "I was his biggest cheerleader. If you go back three years, I'm saying, 'Do a great job.' I wanted him to do a great job. I still want him to do a great job."
     "It's not going to happen because the first thing you'd have to do is end Obamacare. Businesses are going to close down because of Obamacare." - Donald Trump (2011)

Obviously, there was some type of change in his thinking. He was trying to be fair to President Obama, and he even recognized that there was a problem with Obamacare (which is Universal Healthcare). So, at this point in the time spectrum of Trump's evolution on healthcare it appears as though Trump is against Universal Healthcare. Or is he?

But before we go any further let us understand the basis of Obamacare. Under Obamacare, insurance is provided by both the federal government and private companies, and the actual care is delivered by the private sector (hospitals, doctor's offices, clinics, etc.). With a 'Single Payer' system your insurance would be provided strictly by.... you guessed it, the federal government. Now, what exactly does Donald Trump want when it comes to healthcare?

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In September of 2015 (that's just six months ago) Donald Trump went on '60 Minutes' and pushed his idea of a 'Single Payer' system... Trump said that under his plan 'Everyone' would be covered, and when he was asked who would pay for it his answer was very simple and direct, "the government’s gonna pay for it".

Are you thinking that maybe he didn't actually mean 'Single Payer'? Well, try this on for size. In the very first GOP debate of 2016 Donald J. Trump said this in regards to healthcare,

"As far as single-payer, it works in Canada, works incredibly well in Scotland."

Do what? Really Mr. Trump? There is one small problem with that statement... Scotland doesn't just have 'single payer' healthcare... IT HAS SOCIALIZED HEALTHCARE! 

Let's go back over the healthcare terms:

Universal Healthcare: Insurance can be provided by the private industry and the government/ care is private.

Single Payer Healthcare: Insurance provided solely by the government/ care is private.

Socialized Healthcare: Insurance is provided solely by the government/ care is also provided solely by the government.

Donald Trump thinks that when the government is in complete, full control of the healthcare system (both the insurance and the actual hospitals and doctors) that it is an 'incredible' system!

Now for the icing on the cake. Just a few hours ago Donald Trump's healthcare plan was officially released. After all his non-stop talk about bringing jobs back to America, and demonizing companies for doing business overseas (even though his companies do the same thing) he tells the American people that what is going to reduce healthcare cost is for us to ... wait for it... buy 'IMPORTED' pharmaceuticals.

If you do not believe anything in this article then I challenge you to google all of these quotes, and to actually read about Donald Trump instead of just quoting what he says on the campaign trail. The point of a campaign is marketing. The reason one markets something is to sell it. Donald Trump is trying his hardest to get you to buy his ocean front property in Oklahoma. 

If you actually trust this man then shame on you. He has not evolved to a more conservative view. Many of his views have drifted even farther left instead. Stop taking him at his word, and actually study this man. Everything he says is vague. He's gone bankrupt four times already. Don't let him bankrupt our country.

Why We Must Elect Clay Pirkle

A few months ago I got word that the State Representative for Georgia legislative District 155 was going to be stepping down soon. I also learned at that time that Ben Hill County Commissioner Scott Downing would be running for that seat. The people I spoke with had contacts at the state level and had been hearing this since around February of this year. I thought to myself, 'imagine that, so it will be more of the same around here'.

When the news finally broke I realized it was all true. The lawmakers of Georgia who had orchestrated the new Georgia Gas Tax had been grooming Mr. Downing for this position. It's no big deal for a person to seek advice from other politicians. That's not the important part of this story. The important part is the fact that the majority of voters greatly disagreed with the passing of H.B. 170, and now Scott Downing, who is very close to the presenter of that bill, is possibly going to be the next State Representative for this district.

So, the question I would like to ask all of the voters is are you going to simply vote for someone because of their name, their hometown affiliation, or any other uneducated reason? I hope, i sincerely hope, that you have read about the different candidates. I hope you take this blog post to heart, and realize that if you vote for the person who was groomed by the previous candidate that you will only experience more of the political crap you have witnessed this year. The city of Fitzgerald is not in great shape by no means, and now one of it's local politicians plans to do, what has been done in Fitzgerald, to District 155. What has been done to Fitzgerald? Nothing at all. We can argue all day about a job here and a job there, but the fact remains that there are more empty buildings in Fitzgerald than ever.

What is the answer you say? Well, I had the privilege of speaking with a man by the name of Clay Pirkle last month. He is a farmer from Sycamore, Ga. You've probably seen his signs all around the area, but you may not know much about him. He's never been in politics, but he has been an economist for the federal government, he's worked in banking, and he is a fourth generation farmer.

When I spoke with Mr. Pirkle I gained a lot of respect for him very quickly. He is a great Christian man, he loves his country and more specifically this district. He is a straight shooter, and will not simply tell you what you want to hear. He is not your small town politician. He cares deeply for education. Clay Pirkle believes that better education is the key to long-term prosperity in this district. He wants to represent the people of this area in Atlanta the way we want to be represented. He does not have a hidden agenda to go to Atlanta and work out some deal with the Governor so he can get a high paying job, and then turn around and groom his follower.

Clay Pirkle is not your average person. While speaking with him I realized that Clay really knew all the facts about everything he was talking about. He was not just giving me political lip service. He has done his homework, and he now needs the voters to put him in a position where he can do this district a service.

Election day is only two days away. I pray that everyone who reads this post will not only vote for Clay Pirkle, but that they will share it and influence everyone they know to do the same. We can make a difference, and the way we do it is one politician at a time. God Bless.

www.claypirkle.com