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Page 4A
The Braselton News
Wednesday, November 2, 2022
Opinion
Walker is a terrible excuse for a Senator
During the Re
publican Primary to
decide who would
represent the GOP
for U.S. Senate this
year, candidate Gary
Black warned that if
his opponent Her
schel Walker were
nominated, the race
would become all
about Walker and his
past.
Black, Georgia’s
state agricultural commission
er who hails from Commerce,
was right.
Walker did win the nomina
tion and now faces Democratic
candidate and incumbent Ra
phael Wamock — and the only
issue in the race is Walker and
his past.
For any other candidate,
someone with Walkers check
ered resume would never get
close to running for the U.S.
Senate, a position that was at
one time considered lofty and
fit only for experienced, tested
and busted candidates.
No longer.
Having Walker on the ballot
makes a mockery of the Amer
ican political system and is a
symptom of how degraded the
American political system has
become.
The truth is, Walk
er is only on the bal
lot because he’s a
celebrity, a legend.
Walker’s history
as a UGA football
star — perhaps the
best running back
ever in the school’s
history — made
him the celebrity he
is today. Those of
us who got to watch
him play knew at the
time he was a once-in-a-life-
time football phenom.
It’s his celebrity that, for the
most part, put Walker on the
ballot.
And that says a lot about the
status of American culture and
American politics.
It was his TV show that
made Donald Trump a celebri
ty and got him on the ballot in
2016 — his personal bombast
carried him the rest of the way
to the White House.
The same could be said of
TV personality Dr. Oz in the
U.S. Senate race in Pennsylva
nia, Keni Lake, a former TV
newscaster who’s running for
governor in Arizona and author
J.D. Vance (Hillbilly Eulogy)
who’s running for an Ohio Sen
ate seat.
Walker, Oz, Lake and Vance
were all celebrities before they
entered politics and they’re
surfing the culture of celebrity
in their campaigns.
And this isn’t the first time
celebrity culture has jumped
into politics.
Actor Ronald Reagan be
came president, wrestler Jesse
Ventura became governor of
Michigan, body builder and
actor Arnold Schwarzenegger
became governor of California
pro football player Jack Kemp
became a congressman and a
slew of other celebrities and
star athletes have become may
ors and held a variety political
positions around the country.
•••
But Herschel Walker?
To be charitable. Walker got
knocked in the head a little too
much to be considered smart
enough to be a U.S. Senator.
His take on air pollution:
”So all of a sudden China
and India ain’t putting nothing
in there - cleaning that situ
ation up. So all with that bad
air, it’s still there. But since we
don't control the air, our good
air decide to float over to Chi
na, bad air. So when China gets
our good air, their bad air got
to move. So it moves over to our
good air space. And now we’ve
got to clean that back up.”
What??
And Walker is an ardent liar.
He claimed to have been vale
dictorian of his high school
class (he wasn’t) and that he
graduated from UGA (he
didn’t), that he had worked in
law enforcement (he hasn’t)
and that he had hundreds of
people working for him across
the country in his private busi
ness ventures (he doesn’t).
As one magazine summed
up Walker’s candidacy: ’’Her
schel Walker Is Running to Be
the Senate’s Dumbest Liar.”
And then there is the vio
lence in Walker’s past, threats to
kill an ex-wife. Walker blames
the threats on a mental illness
he claims to have had.
Maybe, but the allegations of
violence and threats of violence
should be a disqualification for
anyone running for the Senate.
•••
Walker’s personal life is
messy in other ways, too. He
fathered multiple children with
different women and report
edly has little interaction with
three of those he fathered. That
seems to fly in the face of Walk
er’s previous comments that
fathers should never abandon
their children.
And while Walker has pub
licly called for a total ban on
all abortions, even in instances
of rape or incest, he reportedly
paid for one former girlfriend to
have an abortion.
Any other candidate who
had done those things would
never have gotten the GOP
nomination for Senate. But
Walker’s star power and celeb
rity continues to carry him.
•••
Polls show the race between
Walker and Wamock is dead
locked and either candidate
could win.
While Democrat Wamock
would likely gamer most of
the Black vote. Walker will un
doubtedly get a lot of that vote
as well given his celebrity status
in the Black community.
The deciding votes in the
race will probably come from
the suburbs where many
GOP-leaning voters might
have a problem with Walker’s
history and his lack of intellec
tual depth. Even if they don’t
vote for Wamock, they might
skip down the ballot and with
hold voting for Walker.
•••
Regardless of the final out
come, the fact that GOP voters
chose Walker over a more sta
ble, experienced and knowl
edgeable candidate in the pri
mary begs the question: What
is happening to the Republican
Party?
By embracing candidates
like Walker (there are other nut
ty GOP candidate on the ballot
across the nation this year, too),
the GOP has moved away from
its conservative roots and to
ward a party that is aligned with
conspiracy-mongering and a
cult of celebrity over compe
tence.
The only thing Walker has
going for him is that he’s not
a Democrat and for many vot
ers in Georgia that’s enough.
They’d rather have anyone in
office rather than someone
from the Democratic Party no
matter how unqualified the
GOP candidate might be.
But in taking this attitude,
the GOP is totally abandoning
its conservative roots and any
semblance of moderation.
That may work today, but
over the long term, you have
to wonder if a more radical and
extremist GOP will survive
as a major political party, or if
disaffected conservatives will
someday create a viable third
party that is more moderate in
both tone and substance.
Herschel Walker was a great
football player, but he’s a terri
ble excuse for a U.S. Senator.
The Republican Party should
be better than this.
Mike Buffington is co-pub
lisher of Mainstreet Newspa
pers. He can be reached at
rnike@mainstreetnews.com.
Farewell to Vince
When the news
came last Friday, on
the eve of the Geor-
gia-Florida game
in Jacksonville,
that Vincent Joseph
Dooley had passed
away, I can’t say that
I was prepared for it.
I knew what was
being said about his
failing health, that
it was not good,
but I fully expected
him to regain his strength and
recover. There was another
book to read. There was an
other historical site for him to
explore. There was another
class for him to audit. There
was another garden for him
to wander through, delighting
in the blooms with which he
would swoon and whose fra
grance would intoxicate him
and placate his senses. There
was another game for him to
watch from his box in Sanford
Stadium as he observed the
best team in college football
playing on the field which was
named for him.
When the news came, I
recalled John F. Kennedy’s
death which prompted NBC
newsman Sander Vanocur to
note that America did not just
mourn JFK’s passing, but that
“we mourn what he might have
been,’’ reflecting on what the
young President might have
accomplished as a world lead
er had he lived. With Dooley’s
death, there is the appreciation
that he lived long
enough to accom
plish everything he
aspired to do. When
he died, there was
nothing left on his
bucket list.
I was hired in the
summer of 1964 as
the Assistant Sports
Information Direc
tor, getting a dream
job of working for
the remarkable Dan
Magill which enabled me to
follow Dooley’s career from a
front row seat. Had no idea at
the time what a ride it would
be, but I became a fortunate
Dawg.
Georgia was winning cham
pionships, making headlines
which heightened the fun. To
be directly connected with the
Bulldogs not only was fulfill
ing, but there was also ancillary
fallout that opened doors and
brought about opportunities
which brought about unforget
table memories.
There were so many things
that made Vince unique. He
was a fundamentally sound
football coach who under
scored discipline with an em
phasis on running the football,
giving priority to aggressive
defense, and gaining the advan
tage with the kicking game. His
list of accomplishments and ci
tations confirm that he was one
of the outstanding coaches of
our time.
However, he was more than
a football coach. He is the
only coach who spoke to both
Touchdown Clubs and Garden
Clubs. His favorite magazine
was National Geographic, his
favorite TV channel, the Histo
ry Channel. He never passed on
an opportunity to explore a mu
seum or tour a famous garden.
He was enthralled by splendor
of the Keukenhof Gardens
outside Amsterdam and the
Villandry Gardens in France’s
Loire Valley where he reveled
in the grandeur of the Chateau
du Chenonceau.
Military history intrigued
him: battlefields, cemeteries
and museums from Waterloo
to the Normandy beaches to
the Punch Bowl to Antietam to
Verdun to Vicksburg; he tried
to explore them all. When he
traveled, he made it a point to
learn about where he was going
and if there was any significant
landmark or noteworthy point
of interest.
He had an inquiring mind.
He had rather read a paper or a
magazine than engage in small
talk. He was never the life of
the party, but he was sociable
and had a keen sense of humor.
He welcomed each new day
with the objective of living it to
the fullest. It began with a rig
orous exercise routine. It didn’t
matter if he were in Decatur or
Dubai, he started his day with
exercise which I believe pro
longed his life, given the histo
ry of heart disease in his family.
For years, there was a winter
vacation to Jamaica that in
cluded Bill and Ruth Hartman.
Vince never had a better friend
and advisor than Hartman,
whose sage advice and equa
nimity Vince greatly appreci
ated.
In Jamaica, there was the
bargain of all times with the
airlines. We could fly from
Montego Bay to Kingston for
the tax on the fare which was
less than a dollar which led to a
raft trip down Jamaica’s inland
Rio Grande River.
Having grown up on the
waterfront in Mobile, he was
always home on the water. He
was a competent and indefati
gable swimmer. I remember a
trip to the Cayman Islands with
his brother, Bill, when Vince,
in search of a queen conch,
keep swimming further and
further out to sea which final
ly concerned our native boat
driver and guide. It never fazed
Vince who flew home with his
queen conch and the memory
of a gratifying excursion in the
Caribbean. Another experience
which brought lasting fulfill
ment.
Interacting with learned men
and intellectuals came easy for
him in that he listened more
than he talked. Those types
were often intrigued by his
success in football which was
accompanied with an intellec
tual curiosity, and a desire to
shed provincial influences. The
many faculty members that
knew Vince enjoyed interact
ing with him and respected his
academic bent.
When he was in his
mid-eighties, he fly-fished the
Yampa River near Steamboat
Springs, Colorado with rapt
commitment to net a blue rib
bon trout—not just competing
with the fish but enjoying the
landscape and environment.
He became a Master Gar
dener because of his love of
plants and the outdoors. He
was exhilarated by digging in
the dirt. His friend horticulturist
Michael Dirr named a hydran
gea for Vince. More important
ly, it was healthy exercise.
Vince’s home on Milledge
Circle became a botanical gar
den. He owned a farm in Mad
ison County. He belonged to a
book club, and he was always
eager to board a plane to con
nect with a place or person that
offered something insightful
and emotionally uplifting.
If he had not become a foot
ball coach, he could have been
a college professor. He would
have been at home in the class
room.
As a coach, he ran a class
program, and while there were
disappointments with players
who got out of line and failed
to stay the course academically,
he gloried in those who perse
vered, earning their degrees,
and becoming leaders in their
communities.
When he succeeded Joel
Eaves as athletic director, he
brought a visionary influence
that made UGA a pacesetter
across the board. He aspired
for every coach of every sport
to have an opportunity to win a
championship.
If you are there for the long
haul, there will be some down
turns, but Vince handled those
with the best possible direction.
The Jan Kemp debacle was
centered around football, but it
was a university matter.
At one juncture there was
an assistant coach who made a
recruiting decision that brought
about NCAA censure, but
Vince steered the Athletic As
sociation through those trou
bled waters as well as possible.
His flap with Michael Adams
was totally unnecessary, but the
intransigent former President
was determined to push Vince
aside. Most presidents across
the country would have eagerly
embraced an athletic director
like Vince who was the all-time
great compromiser. He and
Adams working together could
have brought great results for
Georgia. Vince was willing but
Adams was not.
When it was over, Vince
took the high road, refused to
become embittered, losing the
battle, but winning the war. He
enjoyed a great second career
as a speaker, author, gardener,
and historian.
His was a life well lived.
Loran Smith is a syndicated
columnist and a longtime Uni
versity of Georgia football ra
dio personality.
loran
smith
A few years ago,
a long and treasured
friendship was lost.
Not to death. Not
then, at least.
It was snatched
away in a stealthy
way that began with
a car accident and a
broken leg. The ene
my, who stole from
me a dear friend,
looked remark
ably innocent. A small, round,
white. A pill that resembled
aspirin but was embedded with
an addiction that would pull the
mg out from under all of us.
Quite simply, it took years
for me to accept that there was
any addiction and most proba
bly, I never would have if my
friend had not with shame cov
ering the face I had loved for so
long, admitted it to me.
Then, it took another three or
four years for me to walk away.
It took many consoling hugs
from Tink and repeatedly hear
ing him say, “I know you’re try
ing to help but you’re enabling.’’
Finally. Finally. Finally. I
took a deep breath
and crawled away. I
did not walk away
for I had not the
strength to stand.
Even now, as I write
these words, my
heart is painfully
sorrowed and tears
fill my eyes.
The last call - the
one I dreaded - fi
nally came. I don’t
know which hurts worse: trying
to convince myself I did what
was right or wondering if I had
stayed, if I could have changed
the story’s ending.
Mama always said, “The
Lord giveth and the Lord ta-
keth.’’
To me, He also gave an intro
duction to a recovering addict.
He was a man who had spi
raled through over 25 years of
addiction and used every drug
possible. At times, he shot him
self up with hopes of dying. In
the years that dripped by, he lost
everything - his job, his dignity
and every member of his fam
ily
One is given, one is taken
“I stole whatever it took to
keep me goin’,’’ he says now.
Later, I would learn he had sto
len from me - we were strang
ers then so it mattered not to
him - when he came to look me
in the eye and apologize.
The confession solved a
longstanding mystery then
called on me to do what the
Good Book says - forgive those
who have wronged you.
The Lord saved him and,
there, in the little church, we
heard his testimony of the ter
rible life he lived. Then, weeks
later, we watched from the bank
of a beautiful river as he was
baptized. There was no doubt
to all who gathered, that he
came up, out of the water as a
new creature in Christ.
Among the many lessons
I’ve learned is to be careful to
vouch for someone you don’t
know well. But against earthly
wisdom and despite my past
failures, I did that. He was due
in court on charges that were
made two years before he had
changed his ways.
“I’ve done a lot of bad things
but I didn’t do that,” he said to Ronda Rich is a bestselling rondarich.com to sign up for
us. “My lawyer said there’s no Southern author. Visit www. her free weekly newsletter.
doubt that I’m going to jail,
with my record and all.”
The judge in the case is a
casual friend who I know to be
a good, Christian man. I wrote
a letter and told him about the
baptizing and all he was doing
to stay clean. “I don’t know him
well,” I admitted, “but if he goes
to jail, his recovery will be jeop
ardized.”
A few weeks later, I received
an excited phone call. “The
judge let me go!” he squealed
into the phone. “Because of
your letter. He said, ‘Don’t let
her down. If you come back,
this court will have no mercy.’”
It’s been several years now
and he has stayed sober and
close to the Lord. He fights val
iantly.
We got an invitation to cel
ebrate his years of sobriety. “If
Ronda hadn’t stood up for me,”
he said to Tink, “I don’t know
what would’a happened.”
Win some, lose some.
May this one victory never
collapse into defeat.
The Braselton News
Mike Buffington Co-Publisher
Scott Buffington Co-Publisher & Advertising Manager
Ben Munro Editor
Taylor Hearn Sports Editor
Wesleigh Sagon Photographer/Features
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