Railroaded!

Have you ever heard the term "railroaded"?

It means to rush through a situation rapidly so as not to reveal the true meaning of something. When the folks along the Doodle Railroad were asked to sign a right of way along their property, they did so to allow supplies to reach the mills that provided jobs for the local economy. They gave the right of way willingly so they could help the community. There was no talk of what would happen to the right of way if the railroad ever went out of business. Most of these property owners were not educated in the law and I am sure the railroad people of the time never planned to usurp all the land owner's privacy by "railroading" the current owners.

There's a story in the Bible that reminds me of what is going on …

Naboth had a vineyard that he had received as an inheritance. King Ahab coveted it and offered to buy it from Naboth, but he refused. It made Ahab very sad, and upon seeing him in his grief, his wife Jezebel decided to get it for Ahab. So she spread rumors about Naboth, and the angry people stoned him to death  ...

… kind of like some of the supporters of the Doodle did to our President. All the players are here: The City of Easley and Pickens, Upstate Forever, the land owners, and those profane supporters that have made their voices heard. These owners never knew what hit them as the bullies didn't include them in any of the surveys done by the YMCA and others. Yet, the Conservatives of the Upstate interviewed 95 Pickens citizens at the Pickens Flea Market(93 of 95 against), 30 home owners ( 29 of 30 against) along the trail, and 52 owners that signed a petition against the trail.

So far, all the owners have been ignored by all their levels of government even though mountains of negative evidence and high cost on the Swamp Rabbit trail has been supplied to them. One supporter of the trail even made a facebook comment that he walked along the trail, and spied into the owners yards with binoculars, and urinated in their yards. Speaks volumes about the type of people that might walk or ride along the trail, doesn't it?.

Things didn't work too good for Jezebel and Ahab in the end either.

Junius Smith
President & Chairman of the Board COTU