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DawsonOpinion
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 15, 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.
What will RITOO
Republicans do in
general election?
Okay, RITOOs
(Republicans in
Tramp’s Orbit Only),
what’s next? Planning
on sitting out
November’s general
election in a funk so
that Democrats can
elect Stacey Abrams
governor and give Georgia four or perhaps eight
years of left-leaning policies? If so, you will
deserve every bill passed, every act ratified, every
liberal gubernatorial appointment made to every
department, board and agency in our state. And
trust me, that is a lot.
Please feel free to yell RINO (Republican in
Name Only) at any point in this treatise. In the
meantime, let me share a few observations with
you.
First, all of Donald Tramp’s candidates, save
two, were waxed and left for roadkill in the
Republican primary. Tramp’s two main targets,
incumbent Gov. Brian Kemp and Secretary of
State Brad Raffensperger easily won without a
runoff. Kemp beat former Sen. David Perdue by
more than 50 points (!) while Raffensperger
defeated Cong. Jody Hice with a nearly 20-point
lead.
Down ticket, Tramp-endorsed candidates for
insurance commissioner and attorney general
were soundly defeated. His two wins were State
Sen. Burt Jones, who beat Gainesville Sen. Butch
Miller to get the Republican nomination for lieu
tenant governor and Herschel Walker, who easily
won the Republican nomination for the United
States Senate.
Admittedly, the Republican winners were bol
stered by 37,000-plus Democrats who voted in
the open primary. That may have helped
Raffensperger avoid a runoff but Brian Kemp
kicked tail without them.
So, what happened? Several things. Let’s start
with the 2020 presidential election. News flash: It
is over. Done. Finished. Most people are tired of
hearing about it. It is time to move on.
Why are Republicans so terrified of Donald
Tramp? If he was so all-fired popular with
American voters the election would never have
been close enough to question the outcome.
Ronald Reagan, my all-time favorite president
(along with Harry Truman) won reelection in
1984 running against a Joe Biden-lookalike
named Walter Mondale with almost 60 percent of
the vote (58.8%, to be precise.) He carried 49
states (Mondale barely won his home state of
Minnesota and also carried D.C.) and 525 of 538
electoral votes.
Why? He made us feel good about ourselves as
Americans. He didn’t insult people. He didn’t
polarize people. I don’t ever remember hearing
the term RINO in the Reagan era.
And he was effective. Regan and liberal
Democrat Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill
would engage in serious hand-to-hand political
combat all day (Reagan usually won) and in the
evening they would get together and share an
adult beverage. Those were the days.
If my mail is any indication, a lot of long-time
conservative Republicans don’t like Donald
Tramp as a person. They approved of his conser
vative agenda but not his bullying, his constant
insults (his petulant comments about the death of
Gen. Colin Powell were totally unnecessary and
off-putting) and his hyperbole.
Another interesting theory was advanced to me
by a leader among Georgia Republicans back
when Tramp was doling out campaign contribu
tions to Kamala Harris’s campaign for attorney
general of California. He says Tramp’s mistake
was telling Georgians how to vote.
A history lesson: In 1938, Pres. Franklin
Roosevelt was frustrated at the U.S. Supreme
Court for declaring many of his New Deal pro
grams unconstitutional. He proposed packing the
court with additional justices. Georgia’s senior
Sen. Walter George opposed the idea, so
Roosevelt recruited U.S. district attorney
Lawrence Camp to ran against George. (Sound
familiar?) Despite FDR’s power and influence,
Walter George was handily reelected to a third
term. The moral? Don’t tell Georgians how to
vote. Not then. Not now.
Instead of obsessing over a failed election,
Republicans need to focus on 2024. With infla
tion at a 40-year high and showing no signs of
abating, illegal immigrants pouring across our
borders (including, I suspect, some terrorists
dressed for the part), big government advocates
pushing big government programs using our tax
dollars and a president who looks at times like
he’s not sure where he is, this could be the GOP’s
finest hour. But they need to look ahead, not
behind. Make friends, not enemies. Broaden the
party’s appeal.
In Georgia, hopefully RITOOs will get behind
Gov. Brian Kemp and support his reelection cam
paign and quit fretting about what Donald Tramp
says or does. Then again, they may choose to sit
back and watch Stacey Abrams take over the gov
ernor’s office in November and get their precious
revenge and her liberal-leaning policies. Frankly,
I’m not sure what they want. I’m not sure they
know, either.
You can reach Dick Yarbrough atdick@dick-
yarbrough.com; at P.O. Box 725373, Atlanta,
GA 31139; online atdickyarbrough.com or on
Facebook at www.facebook.com/dickyarb.
DICKYARBROUGH
Columnist
VIOLENT
CRIME
VIOLENT
CRIME
VIOLENT
CRIME
VIOLENT
CRIME
VIOLENT
CRIME
X-RR y
Spreading like a cancer
The unbreakable likeness of melamine
It was well over 10
years ago when I wrote
in a column about how
my husband broke so
much stuff.
My then-editor.
Kristen, looked at me
across the newsroom
and asked, “Did he
really break this?”
I nodded.
A few minutes later, she
asked another question. “And
that?”
I nodded again.
Moments later, she wanted
to know if I had anything left.
“Some Dixie cups,” I
responded.
It was not a lie or even an
exaggeration.
And he has broken even
more since. So much more.
As much as I hate using
paper plates, I have been
resigned to doing so because
all my regular, everyday dish
es have been broken, thanks
to my husband.
You know how people say
to use the good china because
every day is a special occa
sion?
Here, we don’t do that.
In fact. I didn’t register for
china when we married.
My friend, Courtney, did
get me a gorgeous tea pitcher
set I had been eyeing for a
while as a wedding gift.
She should have known
better.
I was saddened
when the last glass
broke and I’ve
never heard the real
truth about the
pitcher.
Feeling guilty
about using paper
plates, I decided I
had to find a more durable
option.
I thought, briefly, about
those tin camping dishes. You
know, the blue speckled ones
that you eat out of around the
campfire that are heat and
break proof.
Not that I ever go camping,
but I’ve seen them. They’re
metal but lightweight. Those
may actually work, and may
seem appropriate for our
cabin, since I feel like we’re
glamping most of the time,
“I don’t break everything,
you know,” Lamar replied
defensively one day, after I
questioned where something
was.
His immediate defense
made me question if he had
indeed broken what it was I
was looking for.
As I was grocery shopping
one day, I came across some
dishes that were quite cute.
I liked the blue and white
colors. I’ve had the fall col
ored sets, the ones that are
earth toned, the solid white.
so these were a welcomed
change.
I picked them up.
They were made from
melamine.
I had dismissed this materi
al, as the dishes I was used to
seeing made out of it were
just kind of plain and ho-hum.
But these were cute.
I got small plates, dinner
plates, and bowls that can’t
decide if they are plates or
bowls. I like them because
food doesn’t slide off them.
“Cute plates,” the cashier
said as she checked me out.
“I thought they were,” I
replied.
The bagger even checked
them out as he wrapped them
before putting them in the
bag. “They are made out of
melamine, so they should last
a long time.”
“Let’s hope,” I said.
I brought them home and
Lamar examined them.
“Unbreakable?” he asked.
“Supposedly,” I said. “Of
course, they haven’t been put
through the Lamar test yet.”
So far, none have broken.
But that doesn’t mean there
haven’t been other things that
have.
One of my cute little aqua
colored bowls that were just
the right size for a snack.
His “I like big mutts and I
cannot lie” cup, to which he
said, “See -1 break my stuff,
too.”
Followed by my Wonder
Woman cup.
The Coffee Then Conquer
cup I bought to replace it as
my morning coffee broke a
week later, but that wasn’t his
fault. The handle just broke
off and not in a way where it
was re-gluable. So much for
caffeinated motivation.
As I was shopping recently
for a new pan, I decided to
take a peek at the dishes.
Some cute little green and
yellow bowls caught my eye
and I was thinking ice cream
sundaes would look adorable
in them.
They felt like they were
some sort of plastic so I felt
like they’d be a safe choice.
“More bowls?” Lamar
asked. “What kind of plastic
are they made of?”
I shrugged. “Hopefully
something Lamar-proof.”
Come to find out, they’re
made of bamboo.
A durable, versatile materi
al that is unbreakable.
I plan on getting everything
made out of it.
Sudie Crouch is an award
winning columnist and author.
SUDIE
CROUCH
Columnist
LETTERTOTHE EDITOR
New laws needed to
protect against crime
We need new laws to protect our
selves against the rise of theft. If we
are going to restrain thieves, we need
some other means than after-the-fact
policing to maintain society.
I propose new state and federal laws
appropriately drafted which contain
the following idea.
“It shall be legal by a property
owner or any agent of the owner to
use any form of force to pre-vent theft
by those in the act of stealing proper
ty.”
Simply put, if someone in the act of
stealing your stuff, you can stop them
using force, even if the act of theft is
not a direct immediate threat to you. A
sort of a “stand by your stuff law.”
I can hear the outrage now over this.
Some will say that it will be an excuse
to hurt those we find merely objec
tionable. Or some will say this an
excuse to bash those who merely steal
a loaf of bread to feed their family.
Well, we have tried the notion that
theft should not be prosecuted based
on the value of the property stolen.
That notion has not stopped a wave of
theft. Abuse might happen that is true,
but which is worse, potential abuse or
sinking into total lawlessness where
professional thieves rain and bankrupt
innocents. Some state should at least
test drive it and see what happens.
My guess is that stealing, and plun
dering, and looting, will stop in that
place.
Gary Pichon
Marble Hill
Trickle-down theory
does not work
Our economy is in a state of flux.
But as I pointed out a few weeks ago,
things will get rough, but we will get
through this. The Biden administra
tion and the Federal Reserve are tak
ing action. But as most economists
know, you must take it slowly or steps
to stop inflation could cause a reces
sion.
Part of the problem is “trickle-down
economic theory” which was
designed under Ronald Reagan in
1981 by David Stockton who has
since, very vocally, said it does not
work!!
The theory states that if we funnel
more money to the wealthy their
wealth will trickle down to low-
income people. But the top 1% has
gotten wealthier while the bottom
20% has gotten poorer. One way to
get wealthy people more money is to
cut their taxes.
Rep. Wade and Sen. Gooch, our
state legislators, talked about the tax
bill passed this winter as if it will help
all Georgians. An analysis of House
Bill 1437, which will shift Georgia
from its graduated income tax to a flat
tax of 5.49 percent, shows that the bill
is estimated to cause over $2 billion in
annual revenue losses. Most tax sav
ings would be directed to Georgia’s
top earners, with 22 percent of all tax
cuts going to the top 1 percent and 84
percent of the $2 billion in net tax cuts
to the top 40 percent (over $62,000).
60 percent of Georgia tax filers, those
with the lowest incomes, would see
just 16 percent of the legislation’s total
tax savings,
In addition, the $500 rebate coming
to some Georgians this summer and
fall is coming because of the
American Rescue Plan which sent
$8.4 Billion in Federal money to
Georgia. This stimulus was supposed
to help low-income people. The essen
tial workers—grocery store clerks,
restaurant workers, farm workers,
truck drivers and warehouse work
ers—were the ones hurt most by the
pandemic through low pay and lost
wages. Many of them did not make
enough money during the pandemic to
pay income taxes. That means that
they ARE NOT getting the $500
rebate.
And so under trickle-down conser
vative theory, the rich get richer and
the poor get poorer.
Bette Holland
Dawsonville
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