Dawson County news. (Dawsonville, Georgia) 2015-current, June 22, 2022, Image 7

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Dawson County news., June 22, 2022, Image 7

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Newspaper Page TextPAGE 7 A 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, JUNE 22, 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. DICKYARBROUGH Columnist Is our democracy in danger of eroding away? We all know the story of how to boil a frog to death (Frog lov ers: I’m not sug gesting you do so, I’m just trying to make a point here.) The prem ise is that if you suddenly plopped a frog into boiling water, it would jump out. But if the frog is put in lukewarm water which is then very slowly brought to a boil, it won’t recognize the danger. And before the frog knows what is happening, it will be cooked to death. I thought of that well-known fable as I read something recently that scares me worse than being a frog whose goose is cooked. A new Yahoo News/YouGov poll shows that most Democrats (55%) and Republicans (53%) now believe it is “like ly” that America will “cease to be a democ racy in the future.” For Americans who claim to be independents, their numbers are close to half — (49%). Only 25% of those polled consider the end of democracy in the United States unlikely and another quarter (25%) say they’re unsure. Not exactly over whelming optimism. Like the poor frog being slowly boiled to death, we seem to be slowly eroding as a nation. And unlike the amphibian that had no idea what was happening, we are frac turing on purpose. We seem to be more interested in focusing on what divides us rather than in what unites us as Americans. Speaking of division, you will never see the word American hyphenated in this space. You either are or you are not an American. No hyphenations. Period. Besides, I have a friend from South Africa who is a naturalized citizen of the U.S. She is white but is she also African-American? I must remember to ask the politically-cor- rect police at the Associated Press who dic tate that Black be capitalized, but not white. We are reminded of our past mistakes by tearing down statues, changing names and defiling historical figures who deserve bet ter from those who don’t know any better. To my knowledge, the Brits have not torn down the Tower of London in spite of the atrocities that occurred there. Nor have the French razed Versailles, where the royals once lived opulently while its citizens starved. While many obsess on racial injustices committed in the past that were indeed unjustifiable, they forget that this country elected and then reelected a Black presi dent. (Hint: He had to get a lot of white folks to vote for him. Blacks make up only 14% of the nation’s population.) But nobody seems to want to focus on our prog ress as a nation and the tremendous oppor tunities that await those willing to seek them out. Our past is our prologue. Civil discourse is no longer a means by which to discuss our differences. We now threaten and bully via social media (anony mously, of course) those with whom we disagree and are not helped by a tiresome ex-president continually hurling invectives and insults like a petulant child. We seem to have lost our sense of humor. Nothing is funny anymore. Where is Bob Hope and Red Skelton when we need them? Our national media have deepened the divide among us, slanting their reporting to appeal to those who agree with them and disparaging those that don’t. They — Fox News, One America, CNN, MSNBC — are neither fair nor balanced nor objective. They are Trump apologists or Trump detractors. No more, no less. Where are Chet Huntley and David Brinkley when we need them? The blame for all of this falls on all of us. We are guardians of a special gift, this democracy of ours. Some 400,000 mem bers of the Greatest Generation gave their lives in World War 2 to ensure that we would be free people. And now more than half of us opine that our democracy may eventually go away. Not because some country conquered us but because we rotted away from the inside out through indiffer ence and apathy. In the narrative that accompanied the poll, the question was posed: Have Americans simply given up on democracy? The answer was not at the present but it may be that Americans may have largely given up on each other. We may no longer be United States. I hope that is not the case but until we can find someone to bring us together as a people and help us find our better selves, we are in danger of becoming like that clueless frog. We won’t realize what has happened to us until it is too late. 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. ' l \ ' - j il — -x * taf 1 / il ML A second puppy-hood for Pumpkin It’s hard to believe Pumpkin’s 14, but she is. She still has the same spunk and gusto she’s always had, but her eyes have gotten a little cloudy and we’re pretty sure she’s practically deaf. She can hear the treat jar being opened though, so maybe her hearing has just become more selective over the years. We’ve limited her to the fenced area to help keep her safe. She still thinks she can jump and run like she always has, and for the most part, she can. She just seems to have a bit of difficulty judging the distance now and may get hurt. I’ve also worried she may walk up on a bear before she realizes it, too. Normally, she hates any change to her routine - she is a double-herder, after all - but she’s adapted well so far. In fact, I think she’s enjoy ing kind of a second puppy- hood of sorts, or maybe she’s just finally realizing she doesn’t have to always be in hyper-herd mode as a Border Collie/German Shepherd mix. Now, she’s relishing some things she never allowed her self to enjoy before. Sleep for one. I used to think she never slept. When she was a puppy, I’d look over at her in her crate to see her lying there on high alert with her ears perked up, eyes looking around cautious ly. Now, she loves to get on her back and put her legs up, curling her tail around herself delicately - she is a proper lit tle pup after all - as she snoozes. She’ll even close her eyes when she’s sleeping now, something she used to never do. That’ll freak you out to look over and see a pup with that inner eyelid thing down but their eyes open. People food and treats are also her new found joys. When she was younger, Punky didn’t care for people food, with the occasional exception of Greek yogurt, but now she sits patiently by the table, waiting for a morsel of something. We’re careful about what she gets; a few bites of egg whites here, some turkey bacon there. She loves cheese, too, and when I have a few little piec es, she puts her head in my lap until she gets a nibble. Before, she had no interest in what we were eating. Treats weren’t something she cared about either, but now she is quite demanding when it comes to getting her puppy cookies. She has us well-trained as to what she gets and when. “You’ve got to eat some thing besides puppy treats, Punky Brewster,” I tell her. I get a low ‘woof’ in response. “Cat food doesn’t count.” In her constantly acrimoni ous relationship with our mini-panther, she has been known to snatch his bowl and take it up on the couch to eat all of his food. Sexy Frank retaliates by standing in her bowl as he stares at her while he eats her kibble. Their jealous rivalry keeps them both on their toes literal ly, but when it’s storming, she will allow him to cuddle her. “She’s going to be like those little ladies you see on the news who are celebrating their 104th birthday and when asked what their secret is, they say, ‘I ate bacon and eggs every day, had a snifter of bourbon in the evening, and never married’” I told Lamar. “Sounds about right,” he agreed. She even lets us love on her more. She was never a cuddler as a puppy or even when younger, but now, she thor oughly loves, and maybe even craves, being hugged and loved on. Even though she has gotten a bit more relaxed on some things, in other areas she’s more high strung than ever. f used to think she was vigi lant about my whereabouts but she’s even more so now. Pumpkin waits outside the bathroom for me, barking frantically the whole time I’m in the shower, and if I leave the house, I have to tell her where I’m going and how long I will be gone. If I am gone longer than she expects, I am greeted by a rather stem and loud barking fit, accompa nied by what sounds like “Where were you?” There’s even a little agitated paw shuffle bounce that I get that is apparently the canine version of putting one’s hands on their hips to scold someone properly. As a younger pup, she didn’t like for us to be out of her sight, especially me, since I was the one who adopted her, but her separation anxiety has intensified tremendously. When I got home after being gone longer than she expected recently, her whole little body shook as she nuz zled into me, holding on to me for dear life. Something else she’s doing now is putting her paw on my foot as if to hold my ‘hand’ or to hold me in place with her. She knows she’s doing it, because when she does, she will glance up at me. Even though she helped raise Doodle, she’s still not sure about Mia. The German Shepherd tries to get the elder dog’s atten tion, and Punk won’t have any of it, refusing to make eye contact. That’s the Border Collie equivalent of shunning. But, Punk has noticed the younger pup’s fascination with a tennis ball, so she made sure she stole one - something she’d never have done when she was younger. I caught her sleeping with it the other day. “Did you get a ball?” I asked her. The ball was nestled up against her chest with one of her paws in front of it protec tively. “Punk, I think you’re hav ing a second puppyhood,” I told her. And I hope she is. She’s just now realizing how great it can be to be a dog - and not just any dog but a dog who is well-loved and cherished as a family member. “You’ve got to stick around a bit longer, sweet girl,” I tell her, as scratch her ears and kiss her muzzle, letting her keep the ball. “I need you around for just another 10 or 15 years or so.” 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." SUDIE CROUCH Columnist When will this inflation madness ever end? By Dr. Larry Anderson Anderson Family Medicine The Bard was right, “a rose by any other name will smell as sweet”. WHO and CDC are considering chang ing the name of Monkeypox to something else because of some reason. Not sure how that will change anything or make anybody feel better if they contract the virus. There is thought that if you have the small pox vaccine then you might have immu nity against Monkeypox. That brings up another prob lem. It is the word “small”. Does it make the pox feel bad to be called small? We could look at Starbucks and call it Tall pox. Or we can remember that this is the South and we try to use gen tler words when possible. I am okay with changing small pox to petite pox. It seems nicer. First it was toilet paper, then it was baby formula and now it is peanut butter and sriracha sauce. When will this madness ever end? PB and J are the staple sand wiches of summer. What will we do without them? Gas is close to $5 a gallon. How does this affect health care? The average copay is 20$ - $30 a visit. That is 4-6 gallons of gas. When you are on a fixed budget then hard choices have to be made. A trip to the grocery store or Church or a repair on the car versus a trip to the doctor. The doctor visit will always lose. Then when we do see these patients they are sicker and need more care than they would have needed with a timelier visit. We saw this the last time gas was this expensive and we are starting to see it again now. We cannot forget Ukraine. Internal displaced persons is a new term for me. The Ukraine has over one mil lion homeless people still living in country. This is in addition to the several mil lions that have fled the coun try. We need to pray for the safety of the Ukrainians and pray for the Russians to go home. Thanks for reading. Letter policy The Dawson County News wel comes your opinions on issues of public concern. Letters must be signed and include full address and a daytime and evening phone number for verification. Names and hometowns of letter writers will be included for publication without exception.Telephone num bers will not be published. Letters should be limited to 350 words and may be edited or con densed.The same writer or group may only submit one letter per month for consideration. We do not publish poetry or blanket letters and generally do not publish letters concerning con sumer complaints. Unsigned or incorrectly identified letters will be withheld. Mail letters to the Dawson County News, RO. Box 1600, Dawsonville, GA 30534, hand deliver to 30 Shoal Creek Road, fax to (706) 265-3276 or e-mail to edi tor® dawsonnews.com.