About Dawson County news. (Dawsonville, Georgia) 2015-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 17, 2024)
PAGE 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, JANUARY 17, 2024 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. DICK YARBROUGH Columnist Ballots should be decided on by the voters In case you haven’t noticed, there is an election scheduled for this November to choose the Leader of the Free World. As of this writing, the choice is between two can didates that a majority of the American peo ple don’t particularly care for. According to the latest Gallup Poll, Pres. Joe Biden is viewed favorably by 41% of U.S. adults. Former Pres. Donald Trump’s favorable rat ing is 42%. Maybe that is because one gives new meaning to the term uninspiring and seems more inter ested in transgender issues than in keeping our borders secure. The other is a narcissistic, mean-spirited misogynist. And these are our choices? Alas, they are very likely to be and I oppose any effort to deny us the right to pick between them. So, too, does one of the most prominent conservative voices in the country, Yuval Levin. Mr. Levin is the director of Social, Cultural and Constitutional Studies at the American Enterprise Institute and a contrib uting editor to National Review, the iconic conservative publication founded by William F. Buckley. In other words, he is a thought ful, articulate conservative. These days, that sounds like a political oxymoron. As one who leans conservative in my own political views, I wonder what has happened to compassionate conservativism as evi denced by Ronald Reagan — who in two presidential elections never had to claim a stolen election because he won by margins Trump and his loyalists can’t even compre hend — and our own late U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson. They didn’t see the need to threaten, bully, demean or divide. Unfortunately, the term conservative has been hijacked by right-wing extremists just as left wingnuts couch their liberal agenda as progressive. (I find nothing progressive about socialism.) I put no stock in the babble on either side. However, I do listen to Yuval Levin. In a recent piece in National Review, Mr. Levin states, “After courts in Georgia, North Carolina, Minnesota and elsewhere dis missed or rejected claims pursuing his (Trump’s) removal from the ballot on the basis of the 14th Amendment’s bar on indi viduals who ‘have engaged in insurrection’ against the Constitution, the Supreme Court of Colorado affirmed such a claim, and the U.S. Supreme Court is now likely to review that decision within weeks. “The attempt to remove Donald Trump from the ballot by recourse to the 14th Amendment,” Levin writes, “is the latest such assault because it amounts to an abuse of the Constitution in search of a shortcut to defeating him. I think the Colorado court was wrong and that the U.S. Supreme Court will overturn it on the legal merits. But per haps no less important, I think the pursuit of such a strategy against Trump is wrong, and that citizens who worry about the health of our constitutional order in an era when it has been under profound stress should reject and recoil from that strategy, regardless of what they think of Donald Trump.” And what does this eminent conservative scholar think of Donald Trump? Not much. “He was an unfit president, lacked the char acter necessary for the job, operated without even a basic sense of (let alone any respect for) our system of government, and repeated ly put that system under intense stress in the service of his thuggish narcissism and pathetic self-pity. His ultimate betrayal of the constitutional order — his refusal to accept the legitimacy of his election defeat in 2020 and his effort to prevent the certification of his opponent’s victory — was the most seri- political parties, is even thinking about send ing him back to the White House.” But, as Yuval Levin says, that should be our choice to make. Not the courts, egged on by those using the 14th Amendment as a vehicle to try and disqualify Donald Trump from running. I agree with Yuval Levin. Quit using the United States Constitution as a political tool and let the voters have the final word. Nov. 5, 2024 — Election Day — is a long way off. A lot can happen between now and then but, assuming the Supreme Court gives the 14th Amendment argument the judicial heave-ho, it looks as though we will be choosing between duly nominated Joe Biden and Donald Trump. If that’s the case, so be it. The bigger issue is why we can’t find any better candidates than these two. You can reach Dick Yarbrough atdick@dickyar- brough.com or at P.O. Box725373, Atlanta, GA 31139 Granny loved to keep folks humble “They are a textbook nar cissist.” It seems like I’ve seen this phrase scattered everywhere lately. Growing up, I didn’t hear the term used that often, at least not to describe someone. No, back then, we didn’t try to give someone a DSM-5 diagnosis, we just labeled them with other terms to describe their behavior. Granny had a few choice words she liked to use in such sit uations. Heathen was reserved for us, largely because she thought we weren’t being righteous or pious enough for her liking. Oddly enough, she only called us that if we dared utter any semblance of defiance to her and not the good Lord himself. Self-absorbed and egotistical were some words she used to describe folks. “They only acting like this for atten tion,” she commented about someone one day. “If the attention ain’t on them, they gonna do something to make sure it is.” If someone tried to manipulate the con versation to keep it on them, Granny made sure to point out they were hogging all the attention and that others may like a chance to speak. Whenever someone started bragging and getting too big for their britches, Granny loved to knock them down a peg or two. She delighted in keeping folks humble, as she called it, especially if it was her sister, Bonnie. Those two were as different as night and day, and while freely tossing around SUDIE CROUCH Columnist the label of narcissist is not something I like doing, if any one fit that bill, it was Bonnie. When I started taking psy chology classes in college and came across the varying types of personality disorders, I asked Granny if she thought her sister may have one. “No,” Granny said, not looking up from her sewing. “For her to have a personality disorder, it would mean she had a person ality. She ain’t got one. Trust me.” Granny didn’t have any patience for people who exhibited those narcissistic traits. Instead of saying someone was trying to gaslight her, Granny had another phrase for it. “The devil is a liar and you are too,” she’d declare right to someone’s face. “Just cause you a-remembering it wrong don’t mean it’s what happened. I remem ber, and other folks do too. You can twist the facts all you want, but the truth still stands and you are lying through your teeth.” She often followed that last sentence with an offer of helping them part with their teeth, to make the lies come out smoother or at least with a whistle. The Redhead Prime told a lot of people the world didn’t revolve around them and that she could see right through their manipulation. Possibly the only narcissistic thing someone could try with Granny was love bombing her, which she sopped up like a biscuit in gravy, even though she knew what was happening. The ex would try that with her, singing her praises about how only she could make certain things the way she did. She didn’t like him. She never did. But she never said a negative word about him — at least not until me — until after we divorced. “I thought you liked him?” I ques tioned one day. She shook her head. “Nope. But, knowing the type of person he was, I knew if we ever wanted to see you after you married, I needed to tolerate him and not let him know how I felt. Besides, I knew how he was.” How did she see it before I did? He didn’t have empathy; he had an inflated sense of self, where he thought he was better than everyone else. He could be cruel at times, especially if his words could belittle someone and elevate himself. She didn’t call him a narcissist. She called him a pompous donkey; she called him arrogant, vindictive, and con trolling. All of those traits could possibly describe a narcissist, but back then we didn’t call people that like we do now. Narcissists are very real, and they are toxic. They can even be dehumanizing to the people in their path. Before we knew them to be narcissists, we simply called them jerks and tolerated them the best we could. Now, we know better and take great strides to keep them out of our lives. Sudie Crouch is an award-winning humor columnist and author. Session brings opportunities, challenges SEN.STEVE GOOCH Senate Majority Leader, R-Dahlonega The second session of the 157th General Assembly began this week. With every New Year comes new oppor tunities and challenges. As a working member on a multi tude of committees within the Senate such as the Senate Committees on Finance, Appropriations, Transportation and more, our days will be filled with many robust discussions as the Senate body tackles pressing matters that concern all Georgians. On Thursday, the Georgia Senate and House of Representatives gathered for a Joint Session of the General Assembly where Governor Brian R Kemp gave his annual State of the State Address. This event marks a time for Gov. Kemp to lay out his legislative and budgetary priorities for the duration of the legislative session. These priorities included pay raises for law enforcement officers, funding for the betterment of Georgia’s university sys tem, and key updates to the technology of state agencies. These changes will not only retain and recruit staff across a num ber of state divisions, but will also give much needed mod ernization to state facilities for greater effectiveness across the board. I appreciate the efforts of Gov. Kemp and his staff to put the public safety of Georgians first, as it is also a high priority of mine. Pay raises are well-deserved for law enforcement officials, state employees and teachers who work to serve our state year-round. Education continues to be a focal point of Gov. Kemp and the Majority Party, as Gov. Kemp aims to provide $11 million for coaches to improve reading instruc tion and finance literacy screening tests. Additionally, Gov. Kemp emphasized the importance of advancing education through school choice. The Majority Caucus is firm in their belief that school choice will offer our children the best educational opportunities, regardless of their ZIP code. It is imperative that the Senate body continues to work closely with to tackle a wide range of challenges that our state currently faces, and I hope this budgetary process will bring forth positive change in the coming months. Next week will mark the start of what is known under the Gold Dome as budget week. Considerably the most important week of session, we will be working hard to craft the Fiscal Year 24-25 budget. Passing the budget is the sole constitu tional obligation of the General Assembly each session, and the coming week will be filled with a number of joint commit tee meetings between the House and Senate to dive deep into the needs of our state. This will be a very busy and exciting session, and I will strive to represent the 51st Senate District to the best of my ability. Please do not hesitate to reach out to my office with any questions or con cerns. Sen. Steve Gooch serves as Senate Majority Leader. He represents the 51st Senate District which includes Dawson, Fannin, Gilmer, Lumpkin, Union and Pickens counties and a portion of White County. He may be reached at 404.656.7872 or via email at steve.gooch@senate.ga.gov New token reminds me of Ukraine’s vital role By Dr. Larry Anderson Anderson Family Medicine During my trips to the Ukraine, a lot of things happen. Due to my military background, (US Army, 1966-68, Vietnam), I get to see and do things that non-military people do not. When the Ukrainian army captures Russian soldiers and equipment, the ordinance is then used for training. I will share a little of this with you. At a firing range near but not at the front line, I had the opportunity to fire two different styles of AK-47’s in both semi-automatic and automatic mode. My next station was with a RPG (rock et propelled grenade) with two rounds. That was exciting to fire. And very noisy. The last station I was given the opportunity to throw two different styles of hand grenades. Bear in mind this was all with captured ammunition and equipment. On my keychain is the pull ring from the first grenade I threw in Vietnam, and now I have added the pull ring from the first grenade I threw in Ukraine. Yes, I will be glad to show them to you and you can even hold them. Every time I go to Ukraine, I am in a hospital visiting wounded soldiers, in churches speaking to congregations, in areas delivering food and supplies, in meetings with government officials, military officials, national police and chaplains. This is my check list for each visit. It is as important to me as it is to them to meet and share concerns. I have a list of things to gather to take for the next visit to help the civilians survive and the military/police to do their jobs. Be safe. Thanks for reading. ous dereliction of the presidential office in the history of our country, and it rendered Trump one of the very worst of our presi- 2023 Creators Svndicate Creators.com I \ dents. It’s an utter disgrace that any American voter, let alone one of our major J - - 1=3 - t=i Letter policy Letters should be limited to 350 words and may be edited or condensed. The same writer or group may only submit one letter per month for consid eration. Letters must be submitted by noon Friday for midweek publication. We do not publish poetry or blanket letters and generally do not pub lish letters concerning consumer complaints. Unsigned or incor rectly identified letters will be withheld. Mail letters to the Dawson County News, P.O. Box 1600, Dawsonville, GA 30534, hand deliver to 30 Shoal Creek Road or email to edi- tor@dawsonnews. com.
