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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, MAY 17, 2023
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.
Choice of Biden
or Trump not
much of choice
A recent poll
from Associated
Press and the
University of
Chicago’s
research center
NORC found that
70 percent of
Americans,
including 44 percent of Republicans and 63
percent of independents, do not want
Donald Trump to ran for president in 2024.
The same poll found only 26 percent of
Americans want to see Joe Biden ran again
in 2024, including 77 percent who say they
are independents.
So, who are we likely to see as the two
candidates in the 2024 presidential election?
Donald Trump and Joe Biden, of course. Is
this a great country or what? As for me, I
am like the late baseball great Billy Martin
in those old beer commercials: I feel strong
ly both ways. I don’t like Donald Trump
and I don’t like Joe Biden. And if my mail is
any indication, most of you agree with me.
When I write about politics, which is dif
ficult for me because it requires holding my
nose while doing so, reader response comes
in three predictable categories. First are the
left-leaning liberals who tell me I am a righ
twing rant. Second are the rightwing rants
who tell me I am a left-leaning liberal. The
third, and by far the largest group of respon
dents, are smack in the middle as the above
polls seem to indicate.
I had a reader recently inquire about my
political leanings. I told him I was a Ronald
Reagan/Johnny Isakson/Carl Sanders/S am
Nunn political partisan. He wrote back and
said those were yesterday’s politicians.
What about now? I referred him back to my
original response.
A few columns ago, I quoted conservative
New York Times columnist David French
saying he sees no person, organization or
institution that can bring us together as
Americans. I would include Joe Biden and
certainly Donald Trump in that conversa
tion.
Joe Biden is clearly the most uninspiring
president since Jimmy Carter. Like Carter,
he presides over a sour economy that shows
no signs of getting better and is perceived as
weak by those countries that would do us
harm. And I haven’t even mention the fiasco
on the border or Hunter Biden’s laptop.
Since he and I are of the same generation,
I don’t fret about Biden’s age. I fret about
his mental acuity. In his State of the Union
speech he declared. “Putin may circle Kyiv
with tanks, but he’ll never gain the hearts
and souls of the Iranian people.” I am sure
Ukrainians were heartened by that fact.
Since becoming leader of the free world,
Biden has twice introduced Vice President
Kamala Harris as “president.” And at a
White House conference, he asked where an
Indiana congresswoman was seated so he
could recognize her. No can do, sir. She is
dead.
Claiming Republicans were trying to get
rid of the Affordable Care Act, Biden say
they had failed in 2018 because “we went to
all 54 states” to defeat it. My personal favor
ite was when he told reporters that in his
home state of Delaware, “there have not
been many of the senators from Delaware.
It’s a small state. As a matter of fact, there
has never been one.” And we trust this guy
with the nuclear codes? Can we trust him to
even find the door to the Oval Office?
Donald Trump, on the other hand, is an
arrogant, mean-spirited, narcissistic, misog
ynist bully. A man who brags publicly about
grabbing a woman’s private parts because,
“when you’re a star, they let you do it. You
can do anything.” Oh, really?
As for his zealots who continue to decry a
stolen election, I would ask them if Trump
was so all-fired popular, why was the 2020
election even that close? I don’t recall
Ronald Reagan disputing either of his two
elections in defeating Jimmy Carter (489
electoral votes to 49) and later Walter
Mondale (525 electoral votes to 13.)
Incidentally, in his 1984 reelection, Reagan
won Georgia with 60 percent of the vote.
With margins like that, there was no need to
create fake electors.
I am sure all of this will get me the usual
three categories of responses: Liberals irate
at my taking potshots at a befuddled old
man, Trump Harrumphs with their tiresome
defense of the indefensible and then those
of you who despair of either one being pres
ident again, as the above polls indicate. The
bad news is that they may be our only
choice in 2024 — a guy who thinks we have
54 states and one who is as divisive as he is
smug. God help us. Please.
You can reach Dick Yarbrough atdick@dick-
yarbrough.com; at P.O. Box 725373, Atlanta,
GA 31139; online at dickyarbrough.com or on
Facebook at www.facebook.com/dickyarb.
New level of adulting unlocked
The topic of
what constitutes
adulthood came
up recently.
Mama used
to say I would
officially be an
adult when I
liked country
music.
I crinkled my nose at the
suggestion and declared I’d
never grow up then.
At my current age that
hasn’t changed.
A lot of society apparently
seems to think it’s when a
child turns 18, as if something
magically infuses them with
all the knowledge, wisdom,
and sense to apply it all.
When I tried helping my
son with something recently,
the government employee told
me with a smirk he was 18
and she would only talk to
him.
Of course, when it came
time to pay, she was all about
talking to me.
If it hadn’t been for the fact
that I didn’t want to embarrass
my child, I would have gladly
told her exactly what I was
thinking.
No, there’s all kinds of
things that constitute adult
hood, and I really wish they
were more valid forms of
measure.
A colleague mentioned get
ting a new appliance recently.
She stated she was beyond
giddy - it let her cook her a
whole chicken and
potatoes and aspar
agus all at the same
time. “Dinner’s on
the table in under
an hour and all I
have to do is put
everything in the
basket and voila!”
We all murmured in our
Zoom meeting how impres
sive that was. A definite time
saver and helped cut the fat.
“Doesn’t getting excited
about new appliances mean
we "re doing some serious
adulting?” one asked. I’d
wager I’m the oldest in the co
hort, so I assured them it did.
My son got excited about us
getting a new air-fryer after
the first one bit the dust. I
don’t think even Ninja made
things to withstand the appe
tite of a teenage boy. When he
listed off the features the new
one had that the old one
didn’t, I got a tear in my eye.
Another mentioned how
getting one of those things
that makes fruit into a frozen
dessert was their recent find.
“I’m not buying ice cream and
I am eating healthier!”
We all declared that a dou
ble win. A few even went so
far as to compare the appli
ances based on price and
where the best place to pur
chase one was. Someone said
they bought it online because
they could get cash back and
use their credit card points.
It was a gloriously exhila
rating conversation that show
cased loads of adulting.
Comfort of course is anoth
er trait.
Mama used to say she
didn’t care how something
looked as long as it was clean.
I’d roll my eyes and tell her
sometimes the clean part
didn’t seem to matter given
her ability to misjudge the dis
tance from her coffee cup to
her mouth.
She ignored my astute
observation.
“When you get older, you’ll
understand,” she said. “You
won’t care about the labels or
if it’s fashionable. You’ll just
care if it’s comfortable.”
I wouldn’t necessarily say
I’ve cared about the label
since I started buying my own
clothes.
As the conversation with
my colleagues turned to cloth
ing, we all admitted we had
work sweats and home sweats.
Neither were worn outside of
our home, we just changed
into them so we’d feel more
professional.
I shudder to think of how
it’d feel to wear the suits and
trappings of pantyhose of my
former life. Was this the com
fort Mama was talking about?
Given that she has worn
something flowy and cottony
for the last twenty years,
maybe so.
I even admitted to some
thing I never thought I would:
I no longer wore heels.
I remembered how years
ago when I went to the chiro
practor to help me regain
range of motion in my neck
and she told me on the third
visit that every time I came in.
I had on four-inch heels.
“This is contributing to a
host of your issues,” she told
me. “You need to be in lower
heeled shoes that will give
you support.”
I never went back and
thought I’d tippy toe through
life wearing fabulous shoes.
I still have my heels. In fact.
I have boxes of gorgeous heels
I’ve bought on sale and have
yet to wear because all I can
think of is how much Aleve I
will need to take afterwards.
I added that to the conversa
tion and my coworkers nod
ded, saying they hadn’t worn
heels in years.
“Y’all want to know what
really counts as hard adulting?
Putting back a pack of chicken
because it’s a few pennies
higher than another one,” I
added.
“Seeing how those pennies
turn into dollars is like a new
level of adulting unlocked,”
one commented.
They all agreed.
I felt like I had finally, fully
stepped into this glorious
mess of adulthood, even if I
still didn’t like country music.
Sudie Crouch is an award win
ning humor columnist and
author.
SUDIE CROUCH
Columnist
\ r
A NASHVILLE HOTEL MANAGER has hr
BEEN CHARGE? with ASSAULT and
BURGLARY AFTER ALLEGEDLY SUCKING
on a SLEEPING GUEST'S TOES.
HE GOT OFF on
the WRONG FOOT.
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