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DawsonOpinion
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2,2022
This is a page of opinion — ours, yours and
others. Signed columns and cartoons are the
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may not reflect our views.
Ukraine invasion
DICKYARBROUGH
Columnist
raises questions
about democracy
I am going to
break two rales
today. First, I am
going to leave
the friendly con
fines of Georgia
and comment on
world events.
Second, I am
going to talk about world events that may have
changed drastically by the time you read this.
That is because this column runs around the
state in different places on different days but I
have a finite deadline in which to get these
thoughts to you. Unfortunately, world events
don’t care about my deadlines.
That brings me to Russia’s invasion of
Ukraine. As I write this, Russian President
Vladimir V. Putin has ordered troops into that
country in an unprovoked attack while blithe-
fully ignoring protestations from most of the
rest of the world.
President Joe Biden and our European allies
have responded with economic sanctions
including freezing the overseas assets of
wealthy Russian families, blocking interna
tional transactions by some Russian banks,
suspending a gas pipeline project to Germany
and threatening more sanctions to come.
Somehow, I have a feeling Putin is not shaking
in his shuba. Undoubtedly, he presumed this
would happen. Reports say he is sitting on a
large amount of cash, ready to ride out sanc
tions.
So, why the invasion and why should we
care? The answer is that Putin thinks we are
too weak to do anything about Ukraine or any
other invasions he may choose to initiate in the
future. Not militarily weak. We have plenty of
bombs and missiles. We are perceived as weak
people in a form of government that is waning.
As the New York Times observed recently,
“Putin and his inner circle believe that liberal
democracies are in decline, a view that
(President of the People’s Republic of China)
Xi Jinping and other top Chinese officials
share.” That group also includes Iran,
Venezuela and North Korea.
A study by the Economist Intelligence
Union in Great Britain, shows that in 2020
only 8.4% of the world population lives in a
full democracy, while 41% live in a flawed
democracy, 15% live in a hybrid regime and
35.6% live in an authoritarian regime. In short,
democracy is indeed in decline.
The U.S. is considered a “flawed democra
cy.” We enjoy the right to vote and basic civil
liberties but, among other things, we have little
trust in our institutions, including our govern
ment. There is also a troubling propensity to
try and squelch freedom of expression, thanks
to anonymous cowards who use social media
in an attempt to intimidate and threaten those
with whom they disagree.
We are a flawed democracy because we are
a deeply divided democracy, more concerned
with our own self-interest than in the welfare
of each other and with seemingly little interest
in coming together. We are polarized by race,
political philosophy, political correctness, age,
sex, religion, income, rural vs. urban. The
Economic Intelligence Union says the U.S.
has “a degree of societal polarization that
makes consensus almost impossible to
achieve.” No wonder Putin, Xi Ping, Ali
Khamenei and other assorted tinhorns think
we are imploding in on ourselves.
They see a bunch of pubescent millionaires
playing games that add no value to our society
while making a big show of disrespecting our
nation’s flag and our National Anthem. And
they are treated as heroes by a segment of our
population.
They see a group of out-of-control zealots
storm the seat of our democracy like in some
Third World country, vandalizing and looting
and assaulting law enforcement officers
because they didn’t like the outcome of the
presidential election. And they are treated as
heroes by a segment of our population.
They see a segment of our population
obsessed with destroying our past like Taliban
terrorists, forgetting President John F.
Kennedy’s admonition, “Let us not seek to fix
the blame for the past. Let us accept our own
responsibility for the future.”
They see hyphenated Americans, as if where
we came from is more important than where
we are. (When you see me hyphenate
“American,” you will know an imposter got
hold of this space. I submit we are all
Americans, all the time. No hyphens. Period.)
Our democratic way of life is priceless and
not to be taken for granted. An earlier presi
dent, John Adams, said, “Remember, democ
racy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts,
and murders itself. There never was a democ
racy yet that did not commit suicide.”
Disrespect our flag. Disrespect our Capitol.
Disrespect our country. Disrespect each other.
And watch our democracy commit suicide.
The autocrats are waiting.
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.
IF YOU HAP to ENTER ONE, WHICH WOULP YOU CH005E?
Cats make me wonder how dogs
can be so full of love and trust
“These cats
are getting on
my nerves,”
Mama stated
the other day.
Mama has
long been a
one-cat kind of
gal, only letting
one feline at a time into her
heart and disavowing all
others.
Or as she puts it, she toler
ates them.
“Mama, you get frustrated
with them and cats sense
that. You have to show cats
respect.”
She gave me a little chirp
of disagreement.
“They aren’t like dogs,
who tend to be forgiving and
accepting. You have to build
that trust with a cat, and if
you lose it for one second,
you’re back at square one.”
Mama thinks the cats need
to be thankful that she feeds
them and scoops their boxes.
She shouldn’t have to love
on them and worry about
building a relationship with
them of any kind.
“I let them live,” she said.
“That’s not good enough,”
I began. “Haven’t you heard
the old joke? Put your
spouse and your dog in the
trunk of your car, drive
around for a few hours, then
open it back up. The dog
would be happy to see you
and your spouse would be
ready to hurt you.”
“So what would a cat do?”
Mama asked.
“The cat would have taken
you out before you could
pick it up.”
Mama thought
about this for a
second, and
decided I was
probably right.
Of course I
was right. Cats
are usually pretty
savvy when it
comes to reading someone’s
intentions. And even those
of us with the best of inten
tions may not be trusted if
the cat’s had some bad expe
riences in one of their nine
lives.
I’ve watched Jackie, one
of my uncle’s outdoor kit
ties, observe my actions
closely as I worked on fix
ing her and the other ferals
some shelter in the garage.
She watched me from afar,
trying to size up my actions
and what I was doing. When
I caught her checking it out,
I told her I was just trying to
keep them safe and warm,
and she seemed to under
stand. Not enough to the
point she was going to let
me touch her though. She’s
been there for 16 years and
I’ve never petted her, so she
is slow to trust, even with a
certified cat lady like
myself.
She knows Eve always
done things for her and the
other kitties, but the only
human she’s ever trusted is
my uncle Bobby.
Which made me wonder
how dogs can be so full of
love and trust at times.
There’s been times when
Doodle’s trust has been
betrayed and she’s been
given a bath instead of the
cuddles and adoration she
expected.
Punk’s had attempts of
nail trimmings launched
against her to her great dis
may.
Mia’s been promised
treats she hasn’t received.
Yet, the pups still trust and
still love, earnestly and sin
cerely.
Not so sure how any of
this would go with Sexy
Frank; I’m smart enough to
know better than to try to
find out.
The girls may still love us
unconditionally but the
feline would probably plot
and execute a plan for our
demise successfully. The
formerly feral mini-panther
has a pretty good memory
and seems to have a solid
grasp on the human lan
guage.
But, my sweet girls can be
tricked with the tone of a
voice or the promise of a
treat, which is surprising
because they seem to have
memories about certain
things.
Car rides, in particular.
You’d think being tricked
about a treat would be one
of them, but perhaps the
sheer possibility overrides
the negative reinforcement
of the past.
Maybe that’s why dogs
are happier than people.
They take things at face
value and don’t question
anyone’s motives or intent -
they just live in the present
moment, accepting, free of
harsh judgment and con
demnation.
Even when they have little
fusses between them, they
tend to get over them quick
ly and forgive and forget.
Doodle has been quite a
twerp at times with Pumpkin
over food, and the silliest of
things too — a crumb of
apple bread that fell on the
floor. Punk forgave her and
moved on quickly after the
transgression, even sharing
her blanket with the pittie-
mix soon afterwards.
People seldom possess
that kind of grace or the
ability to just live — and
love — in the moment.
“I think animals show
more intelligence and com
passion than some people,” I
tell Mama. “At least mine
do.”
She agreed — to a degree.
She still wasn’t sure about
those cats, saying some
were neurotic as well as
judgemental. She wasn’t too
sure about some of their
smarts, either.
I wonder what it would be
like to take a dog’s approach
for a change of pace. To be
excited when those around
me are, and to just be
focused in the now, full of
love and trust.
I try to think about how it
would feel, then realize it
would never work.
I’m more like a cat than I
care to admit.
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."
SUDIE CROUCH
Columnist
LETTERTOTHE EDITOR
Rule of dirt
This is the rule: It is your dirt as
long as you can hold it against others
who want it.
Somebody needs to clue in our Vice
President who seems to be oblivious
to this basic fact of history. She said
that force should not ever be used to
adjust the boundaries of countries.
She seems to ignore the entire sweep
of history of mankind.
Every border that has ever been has
been established, has been adjusted
by force or the direct threat of force.
Even when money was paid, the price
was set by the looming threat of
force. Just ask Mexico or France.
Dirt is the most important thing.
Dirt is where you grow food or where
you can kill game. Minerals can be
extracted to make life easier. You can
even have cows if you do not think
cows are a gas threat to all life on
earth. On dirt is where we live. No
dirt of your own and you are in trou
ble as a country.
I feel foolish to even have to
explain it. Our VP seems to think a
good debate idea will stop war. War is
likely coming because the Russians
want that dirt and they see nothing
that can stop them from taking it.
Western Europe has disarmed. They
think the rale of dirt no longer applies
or that the USA will ride in the third
time and save their bacon and their
dirt. I hope we do not try.
They have made their bed now they
should sleep in it. We here in the USA
better get us some good leadership
and begin to think about defending
our own borders.
We need Fortress America, not an
imperial military scattered over most
of planet earth.
My suspicion is that our military is
worn out, under staffed, weakly led
and equipped with a few very expen
sive gizmos that may or may not work
well should push come to shove on
our own borders.
If the Ukrainian people put their
heads down and fight like hell they
may keep their dirt. We need to begin
to think about our own dirt.
Gary Pichon
Marble Hill
