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DawsonOpinion
WEDNESDAY, October 17, 2018
This is a page of opinion — ours, yours and
others. Signed columns and cartoons are the
opinions of the writers and artists, and they
may not reflect our views.
Some random
thoughts on
random subjects
There has been a change of plans. I was
going to talk about Georgia’s olive indus
try this week. It is one of our state’s best-
kept secrets.
According to
gourmands in
the know, the
quality of
Georgia’s olive
oil rivals that of
anywhere in the
nation and is
even compared
favorably with overseas producers. But
now is not the time for that discussion.
Farmers all across south Georgia are busy
dealing with the aftereffects of Hurricane
Michael. We’ll get back to that subject
later. In the meantime, pray for all those
hard-working souls who provide the food
for our tables as well as all those impact
ed by that monstrous storm.
Once upon a time, a frightened and
homesick kid from East Point showed up
on the campus of the University of
Georgia wondering if he shouldn’t just
turn around, go home and get a paying
job. He stayed, stuck it out and graduated.
A couple of weeks ago, that kid — now
an old man — sat at dinner in Athens
with a group of distinguished men and
women who have served as president of
the UGA Alumni Association. We are
from different cities, states and back
grounds, but we all agree it is one of the
highest honors your alma mater can
bestow on you. Frankly, I still pinch
myself that it happened to me.
Politics is a blood sport and I under
stand that. However, what went on in the
Brett Kavanaugh confirmation hearings
was despicable. One of the basic tenets of
our Constitution is the presumption of
innocence until proven guilty. That was
not the case in these hearings and it
wasn’t meant to be. Kavanaugh was a
pawn in an effort by Democrats to posi
tion themselves for the upcoming mid
term elections. Senators in both parties
say that once-esteemed body has hit
“rock bottom.” I agree. When, if ever,
will our elected officials quit pandering to
the extremes in their respective parties?
There are a lot of us in the middle and we
are disgusted at the sorry spectacle we
witnessed.
The last thing Billy Payne needs is my
seal of approval, but he gets it anyway.
When I joined the Atlanta Committee for
the Olympic Games, Payne was coming
to grips with running one of the most
complex organizations on Earth, after
having been a one-man-band real estate
attorney in Atlanta. As such, he was the
subject of a lot of smirks and eyerolls
from the local media and government
bureaucrats for his unbridled enthusiasm.
One of roles I assigned myself was to
wipe the smirks off their pompous faces.
It was a job I did with relish. Not only did
the man put on a great Olympic Games,
he later became an innovative chairman
of the venerable Augusta National Golf
Club and has just been named to the
World Golf Hall of Fame. The smirkers?
They all crawled back into the woodwork
from whence they came, never to be
heard from again. Good riddance. Billy
Payne was and is and always will be a
winner.
A longtime political observer possessed
of much wisdom reminds me — and I
remind you — that when we elect our
next governor, we are electing more than
a person. We are electing a philosophy —
someone who will appoint like-minded
department heads, commissioners, mem
bers of a host of boards and commissions
and, perhaps most importantly, make
judicial appointments. Call it what you
will, but it is political patronage and it
will have a major impact on your life and
mine for years to come. It goes without
saying that Republican candidate Brian
Kemp and Democrat Stacey Abrams are
miles apart philosophically. Remember
that when you vote.
Finally, from the Department of the
Bizarre, multi-millionaire and unem
ployed knee jerk, Colin Kaepernick has
filed a trademark for a black-and-white
image of his face and hair. The filing with
the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
says the intent is to use the image on
everything “from shampoo and hairspray
to jewelry and lampshades.” (Just what I
have always wanted — a Colin
Kaepernick lampshade. When it hears the
national anthem, it falls off the lamp.) I
wasn’t aware that you could trademark
something as ugly and as irrelevant as a
tree frog, but I was wrong. Is this a great
country, or what?
You can reach Dick Yarbrough atdick@dickyar-
brough.com; at P.O. Box 725373, Atlanta, GA
31139; online at dickyarbrough.com or on
Facebook at wvwv.facebook.com/dickyarb.
DICKYARBROUGH
Columnist
"It's amazing how storms can blow everything apart,
and at the same time pull us all together."
My short-lived teenage rebellion
My teenage years were not
quite the rebellious era one
would think.
The biggest thing I did was
sass Granny and live to tell
about it.
While other kids were
sneaking out to go to parties, I
thought I was big stuff if I
cruised the Piggly Wiggly
with my friends.
I lived in righteous fear that
I would be caught and have to
endure the wrath of Granny
and Mama.
Mama would take away
anything that mattered to me
— namely, my phone.
Granny, on the other hand,
was her own brand of punish
ment and could instill fear in
the devil himself.
So, needless to say, I stayed
out of trouble.
But there were times I
pushed the boundaries.
It wasn’t intentional.
Usually, it started out as
something that seemed harm
less at the time, then turned
into something that would get
me in deep, unmeasurable
trouble.
If wisdom comes from
experience, this may be why I
don’t let my own child go
anywhere.
While hanging out at a
friend’s house one day, her
mother said she had a head
ache and was going to lie
down.
We were probably the cause
of said headache, or maybe
she was doing it so we
wouldn’t bug her.
Whatever her reason, she
had left two teenage girls to
their own devices for the bet
ter part of the afternoon.
Even though my friend,
Crystal, was a couple of years
younger, she was always a bit
more eager to do things we
shouldn’t.
“We oughta go to the store,”
she suggested.
“No, Mama told me not to
walk anywhere today.” I lived
SUDIE CROUCH
Columnist
in a world where if Mama told
me not to do something, I
didn’t. Even if I was well out
of her sight, she would some
how know. And what Mama
didn’t know, Granny could
dam well find out.
Crystal gave me a sly smile.
“We don’t have to walk.”
Sometimes, I was a little
slow on the uptake. “How are
we going to get there?”
She picked up her mama’s
keys. “We can take the car.”
“Your sister isn’t here to
drive us.” See — slow on the
uptake.
“No, dork,” she said, rolling
her eyes. “I will drive.”
I was worried about this for
many reasons. I was terrified
of driving; even as a teenager,
I thought we were too young
to be behind the wheel of a
vehicle. My next worry was
the fact if Mama didn’t want
me walking, how would she
feel about me riding in a car
with a 13-year-old driving?
She had a fit once when
Granny took me somewhere
and didn’t tell her. This would
not sit well.
“I don’t think this is a good
idea,” I said, not feeling so
sure.
“Do you want some candy
or not?”
Candy won.
And off in the car we went.
I thought I was going to
throw up as she backed the car
out of the driveway and into
the street.
But as we eased out of the
neighborhood, my nervous
ness and fear broke free.
It was exhilarating.
We both squealed and
laughed, screaming “wheee!”
as we drove around.
Was this what it was like to
be a bad girl?
It made me feel so free and
fearless.
Until we came up to a four
way stop.
“Crap,” she muttered. “Is
that your Granny?”
I looked in the direction she
indicated and sure enough, sit
ting at the stop sign was
Granny in her burgundy Olds.
“Act casual,” Crystal said.
We did, and Granny drove
on through without a side
ways glance.
“Where is she going?”
I wasn’t sure. Maybe
home? Maybe to the grocery
store — but which one?
It threw an uncertain mon
key wench in our freedom
plan.
“Maybe we shouldn’t go to
the store?” I suggested. “She
will want to speak to your
mother if she sees us.”
She would; Granny was big
on talking to mothers, fathers,
aunts, uncles, and any one in
your family tree if you were
friends with me.
“Maybe we need to go the
opposite way?” she said.
Crystal may have been the
wild one, but she was smart
enough to fear Granny.
I nodded.
We went down another road
and another, taking great cau
tion in avoiding any possible
place Granny may be.
“Oh no!” I cried. “That’s
Pop and Bobby’s work track!”
Sure enough, at a red light,
there sat my grandfather and
uncle.
How many stop signs and
red lights did this town have
and did I have family sitting at
everyone of them?
We turned down another
road. And the next thing I
knew, we were pulling onto
the highway and heading
straight towards my house.
“We will turn around at the
cemetery and go back,”
Crystal said.
We thought we were in the
clear until right as we turned
around at the cemetery and
pulled into the road, here
came a little blue Ford with
one little crazy redhead at the
wheel.
“I’m going to die. That’s it,
I am dead meat!” I said. Part
of me was glad. I had been a
bad girl for about 20 whole
minutes and it was exhaust
ing. I was ready for it to be
over.
“Duck down!” Crystal
cried. How were we going to
drive and be in the floor
board?
But Mama was busy light
ing her Virginia Slim and
didn’t pay us any attention.
Crystal hit the gas and we
sped all the way back to her
house.
Mama arrived a little while
later to pick me up, none the
wiser.
Or so I thought.
A few months later, I was
with another friend, riding
around against Mama’s usual
wishes. And there at the same
dad gummed stop sign sat
Mama.
We ducked down as Mama
drove by.
She didn’t say a word.
Until one day, when I was
heading out to a friend’s
again.
“Sudie, don’t you be going
anywhere, you hear me? It’s
not safe,” Mama began.
“There’s all these people
less cars riding around.”
From the look on her face, I
do believe I was busted.
My rebellion, albeit brief,
was over.
Sudie Crouch is an award win
ning humor columnist and
author of the recently e-pub-
lished novel, "The Dahlman
Files: A Tony Dahlman
Paranormal Mystery."
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Health care in Georgia
One of the most important things that
will be decided in the Governor’s elec
tion this year will be whether or not
800,000 uninsured Georgians will get
health insurance. Will we remain the
state with the fifth highest number of
uninsured residents? If Brian Kemp is
elected, that will be the outcome. And
his reason for not expanding Medicaid
will be that it is too expensive for
Georgia to do and besides, these indi
gent people should get a job and then
they will have health insurance. He will
also say that he is going to increase the
annual tax credit for rural hospitals. Fet
me give you the facts on all those false
arguments.
If we were to expand Medicaid in
Georgia, as 33 other states have done,
state lawmakers could insure 443,000
more Georgians. If Georgia expanded
Medicaid it would bring in $3 billion a
year from the federal government.
Additionally that money would lead to
the creation of thousands of medically
related jobs which would increase our
tax base. The Georgia Budget and
Policy Institute estimates that the total
cost per year would be around $136 mil
lion, which would be offset by the high
er incomes from new jobs.
About 240,000 Georgians can’t get
insurance through the marketplace and
make too much to qualify for Medicaid
in Georgia. Basically only pregnant
women and the blind get Medicaid in
Georgia. Over 50 percent of people
working full time make too much to
qualify for Medicaid. These are hard
working people who work for places
like Walmart where they pay $9 an hour
and only hire for 30 hours so they don’t
have to provide health insurance. With
their low income they find another part
time job but can’t afford to purchase
insurance.
The tax credit created by the legisla
ture (the proceeds of which goes to rural
hospitals) gives an average of $543,000
a year in revenue to each hospital, with
some receiving as little as $2,000 a year.
That means these hospitals still cannot
afford to stay open and give free care to
people who come to them with no
Medicaid. If we expanded Medicaid,
each hospital could get $2 million a
year. Seven rural hospitals have closed
in the last five years and more than half
are financially vulnerable to closure.
In addition, opioid abuse and unmet
mental health needs are decimating
communities statewide, exacerbated by
high uninsured rates among working
Georgians who simply can’t afford
access to care. The problem is only get
ting worse. Georgians are already pay
ing taxes toward closing our coverage
gap, but state leaders like Brian Kemp
have refused billions in federal health
care dollars meant to pay for Georgians’
health coverage and stabilize straggling
rural hospitals.
What if Stacey Abrams is elected
Governor? We will expand Medicaid,
thereby insuring hundreds of thousands
of Georgians at a small cost that will be
offset by the extra income generated by
thousands of new jobs in the medical
field. Rural hospitals will stabilize
because they won’t be taking sick peo
ple who cannot pay for their care.
Bette Holland
Dawson County