Newspaper Page Text
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♦ SATURDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2007
Businesses run for re-election every day
It was not the way I
wanted to end the year,
but I have only myself
to blame. One of my cardi
nal rules is to exercise care
when doing business with
friends. That is how friends
can become ex-friends. I
have adhered to that rule
with a few notable excep
tions. My insurance agent,
now retired, is a neighbor
and friend. My attorney is
a longtime friend. Besides,
my wife loves him better
than biscuits and would beat
me severely about the head
should I ever contemplate a
change of attorneys. That is
no small factor in his favor.
But doing business with
friends can lead to disap
pointment, too. For a number
of years, I have been dealing
with one particular finan
cial management firm. Not
Top story of 2007: The surge, the military and the media
There should be no
question what the
top story of the
year was: America’s coun
terinsurgency campaign in
Iraq, the Democrats’ hapless
efforts to sabotage it, and
the Western mainstream
media’s stubborn refusal to
own up to militaiy progress.
What happened in January
defined the rest of the year.
We rang in 2007 with vehe
ment liberal opposition to
the “surge” of 21,000 added
U.S. troops and tactical
changes to secure Baghdad.
In the ensuing 12 months,
Democrats tried and failed
repeatedly to undermine this
military strategy and starve
the war of funding. Their
poisonously partisan allies
at MoveOn.org attempted to
smear surge architect and
patriot Gen. David Petraeus
as a traitor. The New York
Times and Associated Press
fought tooth and nail to
obscure the successes of the
surge with their relentless
“grim milestone” drumbeat.
But by year’s end, with
Shiites and Sunnis march
ing and praying together
for peace, even anti-war
Democrats and adversarial
media outlets alike were
forced to acknowledge that
undeniable military prog
DONATE TO
GOODWILL.
♦ 2209 Moody Road
♦ 115 Margie Drive i
♦ 1355 Sam Nunn Blvd I
♦ Galleria Mad - 2922 Watson Blvd m
www.goodwillworks.org m
Building fives, families, and communities
THE SPORTS CENTER
ANNUAL CUSTOMER APPRECIATION SALE
EVERYTHING IN THE STORE
WILL BE ON SALE
WITH DISCOUNTS OF UP TO 50%
larjuimum
Remington ■ ArnnrctMHi
l ‘ ,lll,ir "
DECEMBER 29,2007
thru
JANUARY 1,2008
START THE NEW YEAR RIGHT WITH A TRIP
mmnmrm TO if LOWRANCE
TrMtfjn THE SPORTS CENTER MUMtfl
LOCATED AT 1444 SAM NUNN BLVD, PERRY GA EXIT 136 JUST OFF 1-75.
HOURS 8:30-7:00 MONDAY-SATURDAY 1-5 SUNDAY
SPORTING GOODS
(478) 987-5727
SALE DOES NOT APPLY TO ANY WEBSITE ORDERS
onl y did JSR- ,
they do a y \
the presi Dick Yarbrough
dent to the columnist
reception- yarb24oo@bellsouth.net
ist were
like family to my family. We
celebrated when they birthed
babies, and we grieved when
they fought serious illness.
They told us about their
vacations, and we told, them
about ours. We reminded
them regularly how much
we appreciated their man
agement of our dollars, and
they told us how much they
appreciated our business. It
was a great relationship. And
it came crashing down.
way to
SO? Hell Michelle Malkin
yes. Were malkin@comcast.net
there
other ancillary factors that
contributed to the decrease
in violence and the “awak
enings” in Anbar province
and Baghdad? Yes again. But
go back to January. Refresh
your memories of the anti
surge rhetoric and the spec
tacularly misguided conven
tional wisdom.
When the Senate Foreign
Relation Committee’s reso
lution opposing the surge
passed 12-9 on Jan. 24, Sen.
Joseph Biden, D-Del., the
panel’s chairman, disingen
uously claimed it was “not
an attempt to embarrass
the president.” Bull. That’s
what the Democrats have
been trying to do all year.
Biden argued: The mea
sure “is designed to let the
president know that there
are many in both parties,
Democrats and Republicans,
that believe a change in our
mission to go into Baghdad
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As inevitably happens,
organizations change. New
management appears. New
people get invdlved. Old
friends leave or are too busy
doing new things (like asking
me to help them develop new
leads for the business). The
culture of the organization
also changes, and it is not the
place you started out patron
izing. Bigger is not always
better. The wise Woman Who
Shares My Name wouldn’t
know a REIT from the Ritz-
Carlton, but she sensed the
cultural changes long before
I did. Don’t tell her I said
this, but I’m not as smart as
I think I am. She is.
I am not an easy person
with whom to deal. My stan
dards are high, and my toler
ance for poor service is nil.
Until the new crowd took
over, that wasn’t a problem.
- in the midst of a civil war -
- as well as a surge in ground
troops ... is the wrong way
to go, and I believe it will
have the opposite - I repeat
-opposite effect the presi
dent intends.”
Seven months later,
staunch anti-war Democrat
Rep. Brian Baird of
Washington returned from
Baghdad and recognized
reality:
“As a Democrat who voted
against the war from the
outset and who has been
frankly critical of the admin
istration and the post-inva
sion strategy, I am convinced
by the evidence that the sit
uation has at long last begun
to change substantially for
the better . . . the people,
strategies and facts on the
ground have changed for the
better and those changes
justify changing our position
on what should be done.”
Wrong-way Biden insisted
the anti-surge resolution
wasn’t meant to embarrass
the president. Opponents of
Char-Broiled
Sizzling Steaks
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BOAT & ATV SALES
(478) 987-3580
OPINION
Under the old regime, the
customer was always right
and was treated right, which
meant this customer was
rarely cranky. In a classic
case of snatching defeat from
the jaws of victory, the new
management team succeeded
in turning one of its most
loyal and satisfied clients into
an ex-customer overnight,
and it didn’t seem to matter
a whole lot to them. They
appear relieved to be shed
of me and my small-potatoes
account. Likewise, I am sure.
Besides, they have lost what
had attracted me to them
in the first place superb
service.
I have now replaced the
bad actors with a new com
pany composed, ironically,
of executives from the old
organization who convinced
me that they wanted my
the Baghdad mission insist
ed they didn’t want America
to fail. But let’s not for
get where the Democrats
came from in January - and
where the party leadership
remains. A Fox News poll
in mid-January revealed
that a disturbing 49 per
cent of Democrats either
wanted us to lose in Iraq or
“didn’t know” if they want
ed us to succeed. All but
two Democrats voted in the
House to oppose the surge.
As our troops succeeded,
these surge critics went
from arguing against the
strategy to arguing whether
violence dropped in Baghdad
to arguing about why that
decrease occurred. Through
it all, Gen. Petraeus and the
troops serving under him
have remained stalwart, can
did and courageous. He told
the Senate Armed Services
Committee on Jan. 23: “The
way ahead will be neither
quick nor easy.”
That’s also what I heard
Education for everyone.
158003
157822
business and promised that
they would take of it. I sus
pect their track record will
be equally as good or, hope
fully, better. I just pray they
don’t get so successful that
they choose to merge or get
bought out or develop “new
synergies” and leave me
with a bunch of tone-deaf
and bureaucratic managers.
Once is enough.
Life goes on, and so will
the company I just left, but
I am still trying to figure
out how such an outstanding
financial management firm
got from where they used to
be to where they are today.
We didn’t change. They did.
Why am I telling you all
this? To remind you that if
you own, manage or work
in a business or service that
deals with customers/clients,
you run for re-election every
repeatedly from officers I
interviewed while embed
ded in Baghdad in January
- just as the first wave
Evening classes for the real estate
Salesperson Pre-Licensing Course
start January 29. This is the first
step in acquiring a real estate
license. Call (478) 951-3733 or
(478) 218-8052 for additional
information or go to
www. robbinsfree. com
(DonaUf Tree ScfiooC
of^aCTstate
GMC
Warner Robins
Winter Quarter
January 14—March 8,2008
Registration Starts January 7th
• Tuition = 179 Credit Hour
• Includes cost of textbooks
• Day, Night & Weekend
Schedules
• GED & Vocational diplomas
accepted
• Small class sizes
• Financial Aid available
www.gmc.cc.ga.us/warner robins/
For information call:
478-329-4729
801 Duke Avenue, Warner Robins, GA 31093
GMC is accredited by SACS.
HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL
day. And you are only as good
as the last experience your
customers had with you. I
cut my teeth in a demand
ing business with demanding
bosses and was taught that
there were only two rules
for dealing with customers.
Rule One: The customer is
always right. Rule Two: See
Rule One.
On the other hand, if you
are a potential customer or
client, I have some advice
on doing business. Friends?
You want to do business with
them? Let me strongly sug
gest you go find a bunch of
Quakers. It will save thee a
lot of heartburn.
You can reach
Dick Yarbrough at
yarb24oo@bellsouth.net, P.O.
Box 725373, Atlanta, Georgia
31139, or website: www.dick
yarbrough.com.
of surge forces was being
mobilized. It’s a message
the instant gratification
See MALKIN, page Bij
Junior College
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