|
Featured Sections Headlines Opinion Obituaries NEW! Sports Crime Blotter Stolen Property Happenings Country Cooking Wandering Minds Classifieds Birthdays NEW! Off The Wall Cartoons On The Record Archives Church Listings   Featured Columns Dr. Myers Carl Langley Editor's Column Registered Sex Offenders for Edgefield County 2005 Crime Stats Video & Audio Updates Audio Archive (Testing) Video Archive Contact us Contact Info or E-mail the Editor Phone: 803-634-0964 day 803-279-5041 eve 803-279-8943 fax Mail to EdgefieldDaily.com PO Box 972 Edgefield SC 29824 School System EC District Office School Board Strom Thurmond Charter Schools Fox Creek Private Schools Wardlaw Academy Public Offices Edgefield County Edgefield Johnston Trenton Political State and Federal Legislative Contacts Local Political Parties Republican Party Democrat Party Chamber of Commerce Edgefield County Chamber Historical Edgefield Genealogical Society News links Edgefield Advertiser The Citizen News Aiken Standard North Augusta Star The State Augusta Chronicle Atlanta Journal United Press Associated Press FOX News Reuters CNS News WorldNet Daily Newsmax Drudge Report GoogleNews Yahoo!News New York Times New York Post Los Angeles Times Washington Times Washington Post |
 Hey Jesse, Al How about a Little Help? By Carl Langley web posted February 4, 2008 GUEST COLUMN – I read about a murder recently which was a little hard for me to take, considering the youth of the slaying victim. But an analysis of this tragedy about a young man who made a shambles out of his life reveals he set the stage for his own death by choosing his associates. Jeremy Leaphart of Batesburg was said to have been begging for his life before five thugs, the very same kind who are the scabs of any society, terminated him in a dispute over some missing firearms. At least that’s the way the story goes. Leaphart, a white, supposedly was given some assault rifles by the gangsters, all black, he had chosen as friends. Soon after the transfer he told his partners in crime that he also was a crime victim: the weapons were stolen from him. That’s when the thug mentality took hold. Apparently angered by the loss of the weapons, the gun owners kidnapped Leaphart and forced him to make telephone calls begging for money to cover the loss of the weapons. Apparently there is no record the guns were purchased on the legitimate market, therefore the original owners are not known at this time. Which means the thugs probably stole the guns from other people. That’s a rather safe bet since there is no record Leaphart’s killers were working 9 to 5 jobs. A better bet would be they never have worked at all. When poor Leaphart was unable to talk a family member into coming up with several thousand dollars, the gangsters shot him to death, then rode around with his lifeless body until they buried it under a debris pile. Authorities got on the trail of the killers after Leaphart’s body was found, and so far have rounded up three out of five suspects. We can rest assured the other two savages are running out of time. At least I hope they are. I have seen their pictures and none will win a beauty contest. When I heard about all this foul play my mind wandered over to Jena, La., and the case of the heralded Jena 6, a collection of choir boys who were frightened out of their poor wits by a rope hanging from a tree. They had had the nerve to sit under the very same tree where the rope was found. The makeshift gallows was enough to shake the nation to its core, and there was even talk of suspending the current presidential campaign until the pranksters who hung the rope could be found. While liberal politicians heated up their Internet and fax machines to send out official statements decrying the callous act of rope hanging, most of the shaking of the racial bushes was being done by people like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. Could these two world class race hustlers see a new path to profit? Jackson, Sharpton and assorted other social vultures, including the New Black Panthers and their first sergeant Qannel Ten, began circling Jena and swooped into town to lead their always reliable protest marches, at the end of which they made speeches. I wonder how many pairs of shoes these people wear out in a year’s time. Another question is who pays for all this foot leather? And another question is who finances their trips. This question is on a need to know basis because it is obvious they spend so much time protesting they cannot possibly hold down honest jobs. In thinking about what happened to Leaphart and the bad life choices he made that led to his death, we must all wonder why some protest groups like those belonging to Jackson and Sharpton didn’t show up in Batesburg to denounce the black thugs who killed the white boy. I think it would have been a noble gesture if Jackson, Sharpton and Qannel Ten had bothered to drive down and see what was going on. Then they could have organized a few white farmers, merchants, housewives, and students to protest this black-on-white crime. This would be a noble gesture in the way of equal treatment for all our citizens. In a way, I kind of resent the area’s growing population of Hispanics. They don’t get blamed for slavery and ill treatment of people of color. It’s a good thing they don’t because they are too busy working at jobs thugs won’t take and don’t have time to stop and explain the code of conduct when it comes to matters of ethnicity. In closing, let me say it really would be wonderful if the Revs. Jesse and Al would slip into their clerical robes, meet in Batesburg and go charging down the street demanding punishment for those who killed Leaphart. While we are waiting for that we can wait for man’s first helicopter landing on the moon, for any Washington politician to put voters’ interests ahead of his or her own and our local NAACP officials to quit blaming us white folks for their failure to get ahead in life. I leave you all with a message drilled into me by my parents from the time I entered grade school. They told me to study hard and work hard, be courteous to everyone, never blame others for my troubles, don’t lie and choose your friends carefully. Leaphart would be alive today if he had followed those rules, and I wouldn’t be here pleading for Jesse and Al and Qannel Ten to come on down and give us white boys some help. ©
Copyright 2007
EdgefieldDaily.com All
original material is property of
EdgefieldDaily.com and cannot be reproduced, rewritten or redistributed
without the expressed written permission of Edgefield Daily.com
|
EdgefieldDaily.com is a
member of the
Edgefield County New Link Below Information and Activities  Parting Shots A new book by Columnist Carl Langley -------  JAM Straight Customs  NOTICE:
We still need recipes for Cooking Section WEBNEWS – Send in your favorite or favorites. There is no limit to the number of recipes you can send in. With the Editor’s wife being the driving force behind her own personal section, help her create an exchange of local favorites, home cooking, grilling, sauces, and deserts! Send in your submissions here. |
