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♦ FRIDAY/SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 10-11, 2006
Houston iEUul|j
OPINION
Daniel F. Evans
Editor and Publisher
Julie B. Evans
Vice President
Don Moncrief Foy S. Evans
Managing Editor Editor Emeritus
GOP election fallout
OK Republicans. You thought losingcon
trol of the House of Representatives
was bad.
You thought losing control of the Senate
was unfathomable.
And then there was Wednesday’s fallout
- Democrats would say in disgrace - of
Donald Rumsfeld being replaced by CIA
Chief Robert Gates.
You/we (as we have our fair share of
Republicans
in our midst)
are still reel
ing from the
repercussions.
Well, just be
glad you/we
don’t live in
rural Alaska.
(Or, we sup
pose given
your/our state
of mood you
could wish you
did.)
There, in
Anchorage,
it’s reported
that a dead
woman won
re-election to a
school board.
Katherine
Dunton died of
cancer (unfor-
tunately) before the election but still won
when her opponent, Dona Highstone called
“heads” in a tiebreaker and it landed on
“tails.”
And to think Mac Collins and some others
made this look hard ...
Or, just imagine you were a voter in
Missouri. You go to the polls, exercise your
American right faithfully out of good con
scious and with confidence in the system
only to find out you’ve been duped.
That is if you voted for Amendment 2.
Reportedly, some crafty wording made this
offering appear to be a vote against human
cloning when in fact a vote against was a
vote for.
You think our president has had it rough.
Pretty soon their politicians will have twice
as much trouble - literally.
Our apologies for the inappropriate humor
because you can bet nobody in Missouri
is finding it funny and rightfully so. This
kind of tampering/deceit in our system is an
outrage. We have enough trouble trying to
defend its integrity as it is, let alone having
some sleazy lobbyists - armed with a sneaky
lawyer - give it yet another black eye.
Alas, at least - regardless of which side,
Republican or Democrat, you reside - there
was some good news for us all.
Seven states, Colorado, Idaho, South
Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia
and Wisconsin all voted to amend their state
constitutions to protect marriage as the
union between a man and a woman - with
Arizona’s amendment still awaiting a final
outcome as of Wednesday.
Can't fight the feeling
Flashback to Nov. 1. Our children began
asking for Christmas gifts. Of course
they did so through mouths/teeth
filled with Halloween candy, but asking
nonetheless.
Advertisers around the world helped kick
start this process - a rush faster than sugar
- and here we are.
We can talk about how many worry it will
make people forget the real “reason for the
season” at a later date but for now, we can
turn our radios over to 96.5 and get a full
holiday plate of Christmas songs.
. Send your Letters to the Editor to:
The Houston Home Journal
P.O. Box 1910 • Perry, Ga 31069 or
Email: hhj@evansnewspapers.com
Our apologies for the
inappropriate humor
because you can bet
nobody in Missouri
is finding it funny and
rightfully so. This kind
of tampering/deceit
in our system is an
outrage. We have
enough trouble trying
to defend its integrity
as it is r let alone having
some sleazy lobbyists
- armed with a sneaky
lawyer - give it yet
another black eye.
Dawgs, friends, death and politics
How ‘Bout Them Dawgs? Yeah,
how about them? In a season
that started with so much
promise, it’s reallv degenerated, hasn’t
it?
What’s wrong in Athens? And, how
much does it really matter? Let’s see,
that’s four questions in a row. Just
like with the football team, lots of
questions. My take: 1) Little senior
leadership: 2) Inexperienced quarter
backs; 3) Weak offensive line; 4) Poor
tackling; 5) Predictable play-calling;
and, 6) Lack of lucky breaks Is there
anything else? Let me really go out on
a limb - the Dawgs will upset either the
Tigers or the Jackets on their way to
Georgia’s worst season in many years.
Polities: I remember that, with some
trepidation. I picked the winners in 10
state and local races, last week. By the
time you read this, you will know how
well I did for how well I didn’t). This
is written before I know the outcomes,
but I do intend to come hack next week
to take my applause, or, more probably,
take my punishment. Daddy's grad
ing system required punishment after
reaching a certain low level, you know.
Death of Friends: Maggie Ruth
Dorsett was a rock ■ just ask any
member of her family or one of her
many friends. You don't see many
‘Miss' Maggie Ruths in a life-time.
Dan Nelson was a good man - to his
wife, children, business associates, and
The little guys can still win in America
I will share my opinions on the
recent elections with you when all
the media pundits have stopped to
catch their breath and I can be sure the
political consultants have crawled back
into the mud holes from whence they
came. It’sjust too noisy right now.
In the meantime, let me relate to you
a true story about how a group of local
citizens took on the biggest bank in the
nation and tanned their pinstriped fan
nies. There is a moral to this tale.
It started innocently enough when
the Alapaha Area council of the Boy
Scouts of America, headquartered in
Valdosta, asked Charlotte-based Bank
of America Corp. for a SI,OOO dona
tion. Now, a thousand dollars to a bank
with over one trillion dollars in assets
doesn’t even qualify as pocket change.
They spend mqpe than that on tow
els for the executive washrooms. So,
imagine the shock when the Scouts
were told “no.” The bank’s foundation,
responsible for doling out the money,
said the BSA discriminates against
homosexuals because they won’t let
them be Scout leaders. Therefore, there
would be no check in the mail.
That should have been the end of
the story, but it was just the beginning.
The corporate suits forgot who they
were dealing with. If folks in South
Georgia can handle sand gnats and
humidity that you can cut with a knife,
they sure aren’t afraid to take on a big
corporation like Bank of America.
Matt Hart, the scout executive for
the Alapaha council, wrote the bank
after the refusal and said, “Every non
profit organization serves a specific
OPINION
friends. Dan always had a quick and
wide smile and a good word for every
one. Fred Klein exemplified what can
be done in our great country for those
who are willing to work and pay the
price for success. Fred was a success in
business and in life. Gary Bishop in his
excellent eulogy of Freddy said it best
- “Freddy wasn’t afraid”. We will miss
Fred and Dan and ‘Miss’ Maggie Ruth.
May God Bless each of them and their
families and friends.
Literary Festival: I participated in
the Georgia Literary Festival in Macon
last Saturday. I was on a political
writers’ panel with Buck Melton and
Judge Frank McKenney. Both have
written books - I think Frank has
written three. Rick Hutto, Macon City
Councilman, was the moderator. It was
lots of fun. You may recall that Buck,
former Macon Mayor, ran for Governor
in the early 80’s. For my money, Buck
would have made a great Governor,
just like he has been an outstand
ing lawyer and wonderful citizen of
KOREA AT NIGHT
audience, as does Scouting. To open
membership to those who do not share
the values of the Scout Oath and Law
would violate our constitutional right
to freedom of association.” He pointed
out that other nonprofits restrict mem
bership, including gender, race or other
practices.
He also slyly mentioned that a young
boy doesn’t have the right to join the
Girl Scouts. Ouch!
People in Valdosta began closing
accounts at the local Bank of America
office, including the Alapaha council,
which happened to be a pretty good
customer of the bank. Andy Smith, a
Valdosta attorney who is president of
the Alapaha council and a longtime
customer, closed his account and fired
off a letter to bank chairman Ken
Lewis, saying, “You say you seek diver
sity, and then you try to stamp it out
by making everyone follow your policy
line. This is a terrible way to run a
bank in Valdosta.” Frankly, it is a ter
rible way to run a bank anywhere.
In the end, the bank blinked and
wound up giving the Alapaha coun
cil $1,700, instead of their original
request of SI,OOO. They also changed a
donation policy that practiced reverse
L v -M
m p
UmiV' JHHHH
Larry
Walker
Columnist
lwaHrer@whgb-lawcom
■ ... wow
Dick
Yarbrough
Columnist
yarb24oo@bellsouth.net
HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL
Middle-Georgia. Thanks to Frank and
Buck for letting me be on the panel
with you.
Friends: Have you ever had some
one to give you a gift, unexpectedly,
and for no apparent reason? It hap
pened to me this week and made me
feel very good. I will enjoy wearing it.
He knows who he is and he knows the
high regard I have for him. Thanks,
my friend.
Books: Ella Ann Beckham recom
mended the book, “Devil In The White
City” by Erik Larson. Ella Ann was
right, it is excellent, this book about
the legendary 1893 World’s Fair in
Chicago. It’s a novel based on historic
facts. It kind’ve reminds me of the
non-fiction book, “Rising Tide,” that
I’ve written of before. Do you have a
book recommendation? If so, let me
know, and I will try to mention it in
this column.
How ‘Bout An Old Dawg?: He was the
1976 Southeastern Conference Player
of the Year before he was Georgia’s
head football coach (starting at age 34).
And, he was Perry Rotary’s program
last week. Ray Goff was an excellent
program, and, apparently, enjoyed by
all. There are thihgs worse than being
the fired UGA football coach - like,
let’s see, being the hired UGA football
coach. Better fired than hired? Ask
Coach Mark Richt. And, by the way,
How ‘Bout Them Dawgs?
discrimination. And the Scouts’ policy
is still the same as it was before tbe big
hoo-hah with Bank of America.
So what is the moral to this story?
Actually, there are two.
First, in our country, the little guy
can still take on the big guys and win.
Most folks would have thrown up their
hands and just railed at the injustice
of it all.
The Alapaha council decided to chal
lenge the policies of the largest bank in
the country and they won.
Second, no institution including
utilities, retailers or even the news
media can be an effective player in
the local community when key man
agement decisions are being made in
some corporate treetop in some distant
home office, far, far away from living,
breathing customers. It seems that in
all of their merging and consolidating,
the bureaucrats at Bank of America
had overlooked this very important
point.
I am delighted at how this story
turned out. The Boy Scouts will posi
tively influence more young people in
the communities they serve than all
the mega-banks and gay rights special
interest groups on the planet. They
will also stand up for their beliefs.
A wise old manager once told me, “In
the corporate world, we take advantage
of the weak and the strong take advan
tage of us.” It worked in Valdosta. It
can work anywhere.
You can reach Dick Yarbrough at
yarb24oo@bellsouth.net, P.O. Box
725373, Atlanta, Georgia 31139, or
Web site: www.dickyarbrough.com.