Editor,  This is not a partisan statement. I am foregoing my usual Democratic rant and instead am attempting to plead with everyone to go to the polls and send the message that needs to be sent to the powers that be. I am talking to the Tea Partiers, the occupiers, the birthers, the non-birthers, the Democrats, the Republicans, the Libertarians, the independents, African-Americans, whites, Hispanics, Asians and people of any other races, creeds or religions. If you’re a registered voter, you have been given an opportunity of historic importance. The voters can take back the power.
 But first, a few questions.
 I want you to think of the last time you took your family on a three-day “retreat” to an island that you did not have to pay for. Better yet, when did you last enjoy an island retreat that you did pay for? When was the last time you traveled abroad to a foreign country — free of charge? Do you remember when you did not have to pay for the amount of rain that fell on your property and were not charged for it running out your yard? Have you seen the opulent structures — built by your tax dollars — where our officials work? Does the home you live in look anything like that? Did it cost that much? When was the last time you voted yourself a raise? In fact, when was the last time you received a raise?
Can you grasp the sheer arrogance of that action alone in these hard times while everyone else is struggling to make ends meet? Have you looked at your property taxes? Do you feel that they are fair? Have you seen the “ghost buses” burning fuel on your dime? Are you mad as heck and refusing to take it anymore? Are you?
Then it’s time to really do something about it!
You can do something about it by voting out anyone running for office that has the initial I (incumbent) after his or her name on the ballot. I do not care what party these people represent or if they have not identified themselves as belonging to any political party. The only thing you need to know is whether they are incumbents. If a candidate is an incumbent, vote for his or her opponent. We, the taxpayers, deserve better. We are paying through our noses for ineffectual leaders who build monuments for themselves. They are rubbing it in our faces.
You are going to have to take my word on this, and it may be hard to swallow for anyone familiar with my political rants. But change starts at the top. For that reason, I, Jimmy Darsey, am voting for Billy Kitchings for mayor of Hinesville. Billy is a no-nonsense, take-no-prisoners, fiscally conservative kind of guy. He is as sick of this ongoing train wreck as we are. Yes, the incumbent is a Democrat, but I think he and his cohorts — save for Jason Floyd — have wasted money. They’re guilty of misjudgment regarding the use of our ever-dwindling tax dollars.
We must vote them out of office because that seems to be the only way to get their attention. By doing so, we also will be telling the new office holders that they must be accountable to the taxpayers or they, too, will be gone.
 I urge you to go to the polls on Nov. 8 and take back the power.
The important thing is to get out and go do it or prepare yourself for more of the “same ol’, same ol,’” which, more than likely, will get even worse on you and your pocketbook in the days to come. I promise you.

— Jimmy Darsey
Hinesville