About Dawson County news. (Dawsonville, Georgia) 2015-current | View Entire Issue (July 31, 2019)
PAGE 11A Send a letter to the editor to P.O. Box 1600, Dawsonville, GA 30534; fax (706) 265-3276; or email to editor@dawsonnews.com. DawsonOpinion WEDNESDAY, JULY 31, 2019 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 politics and other trivialities I know he is a longtime reader of this space and should he be doing so this week, I want Sen. Johnny Isakson to know he is in our prayers (assuming mine gets past the ceiling.) The senator is currently rehabbing after a fall at his residence in Washington, breaking four ribs. In the current dysfunc tional political environment where each side is trying to out-scream the other, Johnny Isakson is one of the sane voices in Washington and one of the most respected. Also, the Woman Who Shares My Name loves him better than apple dumplings. You say something negative about her friend and she will put a skillet against your skull. Don’t even think about it. Get well soon, Senator.... Attorney David Ralston, who moonlights as Georgia Speaker of the House, finally disposed of the last of sever al controversial cases in which he has been involved. This one in Union County. After six years and some eight case delays, his client took a negotiated plea of two counts of felony sexual battery on a minor, allow ing him to avoid prison and return home to Ohio. While a 1905 state law allows legisla tors to put off court dates if they notify a judge that their lawmaker duties require them to be elsewhere, Ralston interprets “lawmaker duties” to include campaigning and fundraising. Campaigning and political fundraising are legitimate reasons to delay court dates? The speaker told an Augusta newspaper he will think about stopping that “if George Soros will promise that he will not send any more money into Georgia.” Interpretation: To all you little people out there awaiting justice, go pound a rock. ... And then there is state Rep. Erica Thomas, D-Austell, a black woman who claims a white man told her to “go back where she came from” after she appeared in the grocery express checkout line with more items than permitted. The man, who says he is Cuban and a Democrat, denies her charge but does admits he did call her a word that rhymes with ditch. Of course, she whipped out the race card and says maybe he didn’t say go back to where she came from, but he meant it. I am willing to bet the farm this has less to do with race and more to do with the fact that she is one of those legislators who thinks she is too important to follow the rules. ... I have scant regard for actors and profes sional athletes who opine on issues about which they know little, but I give high marks to comedian (although I have never found him that funny) Jon Stewart. He took a public two-by-four to Congress, publicly embarrassing them over their foot-dragging in passing a law to aid the first responders suffering the after-effects of the 9/11 attacks, including cancer and respiratory ill ness. Remember a bunch of frightened sen ators holding hands and singing, “God Bless America” the afternoon of the attacks? How soon they forget.... Don’t consider this a scientific sample but I have been making speeches around the state and have come to the conclusion that most Georgians (a) don’t give a rat’s fanny about the Mueller report, (b) think Donald Trump’s over-the-top tweets are undignified, unpresidential and unnecessary and (c) don’t trust the media one whit. I suspect they reflect the feelings of most Americans.... Speaking of the Mueller report, during the recent televised hearings I held my breath when it came time for Georgia Congressman Hank Johnson of DeKalb County to ask a question. This is the same guy when told in a Congressional hearing some years ago that 8,000 Marines were going to be stationed on Guam, expressed concern that adding that many Marines and their families to the island might cause Guam to “tip over and capsize.” ... Finally, Clint Eastwood is working on a movie about Richard Jewell, the ill-fated guard falsely accused of being the Olympic Park bomber by a frenzied mob of media hounds more interested in scooping each another than in accuracy. Since I was a managing director of the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games and involved in that sorry episode, I am assuming Brad Pitt will play me. As for the local Atlanta reporters at that time, I would suggest the Seven Dwarfs, although Dopey might find that beneath his dignity. You can reach Dick Yarbrough atdick@dickyar- brough.com; at P.O. Box 725373, Atlanta, GA 31139; online atdickyarbrough.com or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/dickyarb. "It's times like this I wish I had never learned to read." Unfriended: In the world of Facebook “Mrs. B said you unfriend ed her,” was how Mama greeted me one day on the phone. “I did no such of a thing.” I replied. “She said you did.” “She doesn’t have her facts straight.” Mama tsked tsked at my comment, finding it disre spectful, I am sure. “So, you didn’t unfriend her?” “No, I haven’t unfriended anyone.” I answered. “Why does she think I have?” “Because she was trying to Facebook you - am I saying that right? And she went to your profile, but you were no longer friends.” “Maybe she unfriended me,” I said. “She was quite adamant you unfriended her,” Mama said. “I think it was one of the main reasons she called me today.” This lady had worked with my Mama for 30 years and I had known her for practically my whole life. I knew she and Mama didn’t always agree on things, politics especially, which she shared her opinions about on Facebook zealously, but I didn’t let that bother me. Evidently, Mrs. B was con cerned enough about what may have prompted an unfriending that she called Mama. I assured Mama I had not unfriended her friend and tried to go about my day but SUDIE CROUCH Columnist could not. Curiosity got the better of me. I was able to still view Mrs. B’s profile, and our last exchange was on her birthday a few months earlier. Somehow, I had posted my birthday wish to her six times and I wondered if that prompted any punitive action on her part. As I scrolled through the social media site, I noticed that I was down a few more friends. Some had deactivated and a few had unfriended me. I knew I had lost some friends a few years back when I stated my opinion about something, and they disagreed with me. Instead of allowing someone to have their own opinion, unfriending was the new response. One was some one I had known most of my life, and it stung for a few days but, I realized the nega tivity he liked to share was not what I wanted in my feed. So, I peacefully let him go. Even though I have gotten to where I only use the site to look at cat memes and videos on occasion, I wondered what I had done. It made me pause and think about how our relationships have changed so much since the platform first launched. Before social media, we used to keep our opinions to ourselves, or at the very least, were able to discuss them civ illy. Now. people make nasty comments on public pages for all to see, and sometimes I am shocked at the hate and nasti ness they share. It is unset tling and makes my stomach hurt to see some of the ugli ness that is spread on social media because people find it so easy to hide behind their keyboard or phone. When Facebook first came out, it was supposed to bring us closer together and help us connect; now, it is just one more thing dividing us. We don’t talk to people anymore, thinking if we ‘like’ their status update or photo, we are somehow communi cating. We have forgotten how to be civil and disagree about things, instead unfriending or unfollowing so we don’t have to see anything other than posts that support our cogni tive bias. It’s easy to judge one another on social media, and make assumptions just based on a few simple posts or things they share. Or we compare ourselves to our friends, which sometimes leads to jealousy and bitter ness. In so many ways, social media has made us lose our connection to those closest to us and gave us more reasons to hate total strangers. I had not unfriended Mama’s friend. But I did wonder what had happened, just as I wondered what hap pened with the other connec tions I no longer had. At the same time, I realized, some people use Facebook for dif ferent purposes and maybe their use of it had changed. Even more so, I wondered how we had allowed an app take the place of face-to-face interactions and civility. It made me sad and yearn for a pre-Facebook era, where we were more civil and respect ful, and could agree to dis agree. I know it makes me sound awfully old, but it was a much more pleasant time. I thought about how we have another election coming up next year. The nastiness would only prove to be worse; I was certain. By the time it was all over, none of us may have any friends left. “Maybe,” Mama said when I told her all of this. “If every one got off of Facebook, all the world’s problems would be solved — instead of started on there.” She very well may be right. Sudie Crouch is an award winning humor columnist and author of the recently e-pub- lished novel, "The Dahlman Files: A Tony Dahlman Paranormal Mystery." 'We have forgotten howto be civil and disagree about things, instead unfriending or unfollowing so we don't have to see anything other than posts that support our cognitive bias.' LETTERTOTHE EDITOR Just Another Lie Two weeks Trump announced in a news conference that we now have the cleanest air and the cleanest water in the world. He talked as if he was the one responsible for this, when actually all the presidents before him are the ones that passed the laws and made the regulations that made it pos sible. Trumps policies will change all that and more people all over America will suffer from asthma and other lung conditions connected to green house gas emissions. Trump has overturned over 83 regulations related to climate mitigation and adaptation rules. • Seeks to repeal and replace the Clean Power Plan so that States are given a wide latitude in deciding how to regulate emissions from power plants • Changed the Guidance on Greenhouse Gas emissions in National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) so states could allow more GHG’s. • Issued new draft seeking to lift the ban on further leased land for coal mining. • The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) amended six resource management plans (RMPs) in the western U.S. to remove protec tions and lift restrictions on mineral development on approximately 9 mil lion acres of land in the west, opening these areas for oil and gas leasing and other extractive uses. This is the larg est action undertaken by the Trump administration to date to open federal lands for fossil fuel leasing. It covers federal lands in Oregon, Colorado, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, California, and Wyoming. • The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has issued a pro posal for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). Their proposal would open up anywhere from 66-100% of the 1.5 million acre coastal plain to oil and gas develop ment • The Department of Energy (DOE) issued a proposal to repeal regulations issued in 2017 that expanded the number of light bulbs subject to energy efficien cy standards which go into effect next year.... Commentators have noted that this rollback could cost U.S. consumers billions of dol lars in lost energy savings . • EPA is proposing to increase the C02 emission standard for new coal- fired power plants from 1,400 lbs per MWh to 1,900 lbs per MWh. • EPA published proposed revi sions to its New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) for controlling methane and other emissions from the oil and natural gas sector, which include significant changes to the leak detection and repair requirements for sources in this sector. • Modified existing regulations so as to streamline and expedite the issu ance of oil and gas permits on nation al forest lands. Trump has made many more chang es which will dangerously affect our clean air and water, and destroy our public lands and forests. America the Beautiful will become Trumps— “America, the more money for my gas and oil friends—and me country!” You can go to this website to see the total list of Trumps attempts to do away with everything that is in place that protects you and your family from the effects of Climate Change. (http://columbiaclimatelaw.com/ resources/climate-deregulation-track- er/ Bette Holland Dawsonville
