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DawsonOpinion
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 26, 2022
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.
Barr: Trump
should support
not attack GOP
I can think of no stronger and more reputable
conservative voice than that of former U.S.
Rep. Bob Barr, who
represented Georgia’s
7th congressional dis
trict from 1995 to
2003.
Barr was one of the
leaders of the
impeachment of
President Bill Clinton
and authored the Defense of Marriage Act,
which defined marriage as the union of one
man and one woman. (The act was later over
turned by the U.S. Supreme Court.) He is also
one of the nation’s strongest advocates for the
right of citizens to bear arms under the provi
sions of the 2nd Amendment.
I don’t always agree with him, but I respect
the man, his intellect and his conservative cre
dentials. That is why I suggest Georgia
Republicans pay close attention to his recent
observations on the editorial pages of the
Marietta Daily Journal.
Barr says polls show that the American pub
lic is frustrated with and disappointed in the
Biden presidency and that the GOP should be
highlighting the accomplishments of
Republican governors across the country who
are providing an antidote to what he describes
as the socialist agenda being pushed by
Democrats in Washington. So, what is the
problem? Donald Trump.
Unlike former presidents before him, Barr
says Trump doesn’t seem interested in helping
to develop viable Republican candidates for the
party’s future. Rather, he sees them as competi
tion, i.e., Florida’s Republican Gov. Ron
DeSantis, who is widely believed to be eyeing
a ran for the presidency in 2024.
Barr says Trump also seems to have
“anchored himself to a circular 2020 election
loop; occasionally stopping only long enough
to attack other Republicans he feels ‘betrayed
him.’” That would be Georgia Gov. Brian
Kemp.
In my not-so-humble opinion, Trump doesn’t
give a rat’s rump about Georgia, only about
settling scores. He thinks the state’s election
results were fraudulent and blames Kemp,
among others. Trump is on the record as saying
he thinks Democrat Stacey Abrams would
make a better governor than Kemp, which Barr
calls “an absurd and destructive notion.”
While Trump’s acolytes cry “foul” over the
election results, can anybody explain to me
why Georgia’s incumbent Republican U.S.
senators, David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, lost
to two Democrats with zero political experi
ence?
Speaking of Perdue, he has entered the
Republican primary in Georgia as Tramp’s sur
rogate, hoping to bring down Kemp, likely
splitting the GOP vote and fulfilling Trump’s
wish of Abrams being governor.
My one encounter with Perdue was during
his reelection campaign when a staffer called
to set up an interview with the senator. I
assumed that, as with a lot of other politicians,
he wanted to get his message out to my readers
across Georgia. It turned out his office didn’t
even know I wrote a column. He just wanted a
political contribution. Johnny Isakson, he is
not.
In the meantime, Kemp presides over a state
with a budget surplus of $2.2 billion and an
unemployment rate of 2.6%, a record low.
Georgia has been named the “Top State for
Doing Business” for the seventh straight year
by Area Development magazine’s annual poll
of leading site consulting firms across the U.S.
Electric vehicle maker Rivian Automotive
has announced plans to build a $5 billion bat
tery and assembly plant in east Georgia,
expected to employ 7,500 workers. The plant
could grow to as many as 10,000 workers,
making it among the largest auto assembly
facilities in the United States.
In Jackson County, SK Innovation is con
structing a $1.67 billion manufacturing facility
to produce lithium-ion batteries and has
announced an additional $940 million expan
sion.
Things are going very well in Georgia.
Trump and his supporters need to get over elec
tion results that are not going to change.
Otherwise, their penchant to punish could get
us four years of Biden Lite in the form of
Abrams. Is that what Republicans really want?
Barr says, “The GOP must decide to openly
support its governors and congressional leaders
against baseless and errant attacks, regardless of
who is making them, whether a Democrat or a
former Republican president. Failing to thus
stand up for itself and for its own elected offi
cials — the ones who now are actually imple
menting policies which the Grand Old Party his
torically has championed — is a weakness that
will, in the end, hurt Republicans more than
anything the Democrats might throw at it.”
I hope Trump is listening to this sage advice.
But I doubt it. This isn’t about the Republican
Party’s future. It’s all about revenge.
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
www.facebook.com/dickyarb.
Just some small acts of kindness
“It costs absolutely
nothing to be kind,”
Mama would tell me
when I was younger.
Those words have
stayed with me most of
my life, and even when
I’ve had moments where
my temper has gotten
the best of me, I’ve always tried to
choose kindness.
Tried being the operative word here.
One thing I’ve learned over the last
few years is that not everyone was
taught that kindness matters. Or maybe
they did but the lesson was forgotten
along the way.
There’s been so much division, so
much hate. For some, expressing that
hate is a lot easier than extending kind
ness.
Common niceties seem to be far
fleeting.
We’ve been so focused on what sepa
rates us that we’ve stopped seeing each
other as our fellow man, and in doing
so, we’ve hardened our hearts.
This has been on my mind a lot
recently, particularly last month as we
went through the holidays. Instead of
things being festive and full of cheer, a
shadow of grief was cast on the holi
days. I missed hearing music and seeing
people smile at strangers in the stores. It
was as if as a community, our heartbeat
had stopped and kindness was no longer
practiced.
I missed that. Those small interac
tions that let you know we weren’t so
different and that overall, humanity was
good, kind, and true.
As I stood in the check out line with
my groceries, I watched the other peo
ple in the store and it struck me how
different the interactions were. Being an
introvert, I tend to people watch quite
often. I noticed those subtle cues of
how people seemed almost on the
defensive, as if they were waiting for
someone to be rude or say some
thing to them. It didn’t matter
who they were, if they were
masked or unmasked, or their
age. People seemed to be antici
pating unkindness in some form.
It made me sad.
Not that long ago, people
seemed to be a bit kinder, softer,
with their hearts more open to others.
But going through a collective trauma
can change a person and a group of
people, too. I kind of feel that’s largely
what has happened.
We’ve all been changed so much by
what’s happened.. .and not in good
ways either.
While my groceries were being
scanned, a man got in line behind me.
Just from a first glance, he seemed like
he would be a bit gruff. He wasn’t smil
ing. He didn’t seem happy.
It then hit me.
I had no idea what he may have been
going through at that moment and I was
judging him, the same way I thought
people were judging others. I was
standing there, carrying a tremendous
amount of grief and worry myself, but
not sharing it with strangers around me.
I was trying my best to hold on. What if
this man was doing the same?
“I’m so sorry,” the cashier interrupted
my thoughts. “I’ve got to get change.”
I heard the man behind me let out a
deep breath.
“I’m sorry,” I apologized, turning to
look at him. “I should have a warning
sign that whoever gets behind me in
line should expect some kind of delay.”
“It’s fine,” he said with a nod.
His tone was abrupt so I didn’t want
to bother him any further.
I glanced up to the customer service
desk and saw my cashier was having to
wait behind other cashiers ahead of
him.
“It’s awfully warm for this time of
year, isn’t it?” the man offered up as
conversation.
“It is,” I agreed. “I hope we get some
cooler weather soon. It didn’t feel like
Christmas when it was so hot.”
“No, it didn’t,” he said, shaking his
head. “Did you have a good holiday?”
I nodded even though mine had been
sad. “I did. How about you?”
He nodded. “I did.”
I wondered if he was hiding some
sadness behind his words as I was.
“You ready for New Year’s?” he con
tinued.
“I’ve got collards and peas, so I’m as
ready as I can be,” I said. “I’m just
ready for this year to be over.”
The man nodded slowly. “I am, too.”
He paused. “I hope this coming year is
going to bring some peace.” He paused
again. “Things have been so out of
whack lately. We need peace. You
know?”
“Yes, we do,” I agreed.
On the outside, he may have looked
like he would have been a bit rough
around the edges, but inside, he was
wanting the same thing I was. Some
peace, some kindness, some healing.
The cashier returned with my change
and counted it back to me as he handed
me the receipt.
As I started to push my buggy away
from the line, I turned back to the man
at the same time he was turning towards
me.
“I hope this year is good to you,” I
said.
He smiled, a genuine, gentle smile. “I
hope this year’s good to you. too.
ma’am. I really do.”
Just a few brief words, a small
exchange of kindness, that somehow
reminded me that maybe we will be
okay after all.
Sudie Crouch is an award winning humor
columnist and author of the recently
e-published novel, "The Dahlman Files: A
Tony Dahlman Paranormal Mystery."
SUDIE CROUCH
Columnist
DR. ANDERSON
What does it mean to be current on COVID vaccinations?
By Dr. Larry Anderson
Anderson Family Medicine
“What we have here is a failure to
communicate” from the movie
CooL Hand Luke. This is a refer
ence to what the CDC tells us and
what they really mean. Sometimes
when you try to simplify something
you end up making it more complex
and unclear. What does it mean
when the CDC says your Covid-19
vaccinations are current? Do not
confuse this with the word complet
ed. The standard now is 3 vaccines
or 2 vaccines if you had the J&J.
Now the CDC says your immuniza
tions are current if the time elapsed
has not occurred for the booster. So
you are current with 2 shots.
However, 6 months later you
become not current until you get the
booster and then you are current
again. Did I lose anyone in this
explanation? Remember that any
thing you hear about Covid-19,
especially from the CDC, is good
for 2 hours.
Several times I have asked you to
discuss certain parts of my writing
with your pastor. Here is another
chance for you. I will paraphrase
Exodus 20-17. Thou shall not Covid
thy neighbor. Perhaps that will
encourage more vaccinations and
mask wearing.
Influenza is coming back strong.
In the metro Atlanta area we are
having deaths, hospitalizations, and
7 areas of outbreaks.
Get the vaccines. Wear the mask.
Thanks for reading.
