About Dawson County news. (Dawsonville, Georgia) 2015-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 24, 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 24, 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. Fulton DA finds herself in a big mess Shades of Laurel and Hardy. When some thing went awry in one of their slapstick mov ies Oliver Hardy would declare to hapless Stan Laurel, “This is a fine mess you’ve got ten us into.” This would certainly apply to Fulton County district attorney, Fani Willis, and unlike Laurel and Hardy who managed to extri cate themselves from said mess before the end of the movie, Willis’s mess isn’t going away. In fact, it is getting messier. For reasons that make no sense other than polit ical self-aggrandizement, Willis took it upon herself to begin an investigation and indictment of former president Donald Trump and eighteen others on racketeering, conspiracy and other charges regarding potential 2020 election interference. I am not a Donald Trump fan but I think the effort is and has been a waste of taxpayer dol lars and that any perceived electoral misdeeds on the part of the former president and his supporters should be the responsibility of fed eral authorities, not Fulton County. Willis should be concentrating on the huge backlog of pending felony cases awaiting trial. Leave Trump and his posse to the Feds. It has been a mess from the beginning. The first indication was when Willis subpoenaed Georgia’s current Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, one of 16 Trump electors who signed on to an “unof ficial electorate certificate” in an effort to undo the Electoral College vote in the 2020 election. This, after she had held a fundraiser for Jones’ Democratic opponent before the election and had donated money to his prima ry campaign. Fulton Superior Court Judge Robert McBumey who oversaw the special grand jury proceedings criticized Willis and called it a “What are you thinking moment,” and added, “The optics are horrific.” And the political ineptitude striking. Fani Willis now finds herself in a mess worse than anything Laurel and Hardy could have dreamed up. A motion filed by attorney Ashleigh Merchant, representing Mike Roman, one of Donald Trump’s codefendants in the case, accuses Willis of engaging in an “improper, clandestine personal relationship” with a married private attorney, Nathan Wade, who she had hired as a “special prosecutor.” Fulton County records show Willis has paid Wade $654,000 since January 2022, far more than other attorneys on the case. Merchant says she has no proof that Wade has ever tried a felony RICO case. The other two special prosecutors are Anna Cross a former DeKalb County assistant district attorney who has handled dozens of felony cases and John Floyd, considered an expert on state RICO prosecutions and who helped draft the law. Together, they billed $116,000, less than a quarter of what Wade was paid. Merchant’s motion which runs 38 pages alleges among other things that Willis and Wade began a romantic relationship prior to her hiring him and that Wade funded lavish vacations for the two of them with money he was paid for his work on the election interfer ence case. The mess keeps getting messier. On the same day Merchant filed her motion, Willis was served with a subpoena by representa tives of Nathan Wade’s wife, Joycelyn, to tes tify in the Wades’ divorce case. As it stands now, the records of the divorce action have been sealed in Cobb County and a number of news outlets, including the Atlanta Journal- Constitution, the New York Times, Washington Post, and CNN are asking that the records be unsealed. Willis has been trying to quash the subpoena seeking her testimony in the divorce proceedings. Why? Does she have anything to hide? Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee who is overseeing the election inter ference case against former president Trump and the others has set a hearing for Feb. 15 and has given the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office a Feb. 2 deadline to file a written response to the allegations made by Mike Roman and his legal team. Rather than provide taxpayers with answers as to the accusations and taking the opportuni ty to prove her accusers wrong, Willis has chosen instead to play the race card. She has declared all of this is because she is a Black woman. Joycelyn Wade, Nathan Wade’s ex, is a Black woman, too. This isn’t about race. It is about perceptions. If Fani Willis is paying a hefty salary to a romantic partner with limited experience, that is a genuine conflict of interest that would require her dismissal from the case and possi ble action by the State Bar Association and perhaps Georgia Atty. Gen. Chris Carr. I’m afraid even Laurel and Hardy can’t help her out of this fine mess. You can reach Dick Yarbrough atdick@dickyar- brough.com or at P.O. Box 725373, Atlanta, GA 31139. DICK YARBROUGH Columnist The squeaky wheel gets the grease “It’s so mean the way you make Mia wait to eat,” I com mented one day, seeing the young German shepherd drooling as she sat patiently awaiting the command to eat. “If you can con trol the food, you can control the behavior,” my husband replied. I grunted at him in disagree ment. “I’m going to make you wait to eat at dinner and see how that goes,” I said. Mia wasn’t the first German shepherd who was made to wait before she was allowed to eat. Ava had to wait and I am sure the OG pack had to as well. Lamar tried to make Pepper wait once. He quickly learned nothing came between the evil Beagle and her kibble. The 10-inch, tri-colored pup lived by her own authority and didn’t take orders from any one, not even Lamar. Even when Lamar has got ten so busy with the other pups that he forgets to tell Mia she can eat, she still will wait until the word has been given, drool pooling at her feet. Then, along came Coco, all wiggles and wags and exuber ant energy. She was starved for love, attention, and given the fact we could see the small puppy’s ribs when she showed up, evidently food. She jumps up and down like a kangaroo, scream ing at meal time. She gobbles every morsel up as if she is still starved, and we have to be extra careful with fin gers and spoons. Even though Ava was always hungry, largely thanks to being on steroids, and Mia loves to eat, we’ve never had a pup quite as excited and boisterous about food as Coco. Doodle never had a fit about meals. The chonky little pittie mix has never missed a meal or a snack and she knows it. Pumpkin didn’t care that much about food until recent ly; now she seems to be call ing for breakfast before we’ve even had our first cup of cof fee along with the puppy. At least twice a day, my house erupts into utter and complete chaos. It is a madhouse of screams, barks, and howls, with Coco leading the chorus. Of course, we can never find all of their bowls. Despite buying multiple bowls for these wild girls, we always seem to be one short in the morning. Usually, it’s because Coco has taken hers into the crate to try to lick the stainless steel absolutely clean of any juice. After rounding up all the bowls, Coco will push her way into the mudroom where Lamar is measuring up kibble and spooning wet food into their bowls, screaming at him the whole time. It does not make the pro cess go faster, but she either feels like she is encouraging him or urging him — either way, she’s being vocal and letting him know she needs food and now. Her whole body is wiggling as she barks, that Scottish brogue coming through loud ly. We still aren’t sure where that accent came from. Sexy Frank sits at the door of the mudroom watching the whole debacle, a look of irrita tion on his face. The way he demands food is simple and dignified. He stares at me until I feed him and it’s worked 100 percent of the time. Once the bowls were full, I noticed Lamar did something he’s never done before. He sat Coco’s bowl down first. Before, the eldest pup was fed first — giving their place in the pack hierarchy respect. Pumpkin had been the first to be fed the last few years as she was the oldest and some times, I will feed her before Lamar does the regular meal so she can have some food when she takes her supple ments. But he put Coco’s bowl down first and he let her eat. No waiting for a command. No making her sit patiently. No “if you control the food, you can control the behavior.” I noticed Mia tilted her head in confusion before giving me a glance. I could almost read the pup’s mind. “You fed the puppy first?” I asked. He nodded. “You didn’t make her wait to eat?” He shook his head. “That’s not very fair to Mia. She’s had to sit until you told her she could eat.” He continued placing food bowls down for hysterical girl pups. “Do you think that’s fair?” I continued. He didn’t say a word. I was irritated by the injustice of it. Mia is on the thin side — even the vet agreed with me, albeit briefly, before adding it was better for her to be a bit thin than heavier, especially for a German shepherd. “How come you don’t make her wait for her food?” I want ed to know. Lamar sighed and looked at me. “You ever heard the say ing the squeaky wheel gets the grease? Same logic here, only it’s a lot louder and in my ear.” Sudie Crouch is an award winning humor columnist and author. Budget Week over, but the work has only begun Budget Week, a pivotal phase where the Senate and House Committees on Appropriations convene to interact with state agency leaders and finalize the bud gets for the Amended Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 and the FY 2025, has concluded. These meetings involved discus sions on budgetary requests presented by state agency leaders from every comer of Georgia. Amidst these deliberations and the ongoing legislative session, my focus remains unwavering in ensuring that our state maintains a fiscally conservative budget to pave the way for further pros perity. On Tuesday, Governor Brian P. Kemp addressed the committee, emphasizing his commitment to growing our electric vehicle sector, among other key priorities. I commend the Governor for prioritizing this growing industry through a $3 mil lion allocation to equipment and vehicles for implementing the Georgia Electric Vehicle Charging Program. Last session, I sponsored legislation that provided a framework for reg ulations on electric vehicle charging equipment that will protect consumers throughout the state. This marks an important step forward as Georgia continues to lead in this rapidly expanding sector of our economy. As our state experiences growth, attracting and retain ing a skilled workforce becomes imperative. I am proud to announce that the budget proposal includes a pay increase for all state employees, including educators. This proposal builds on the historic raises secured for teachers in recent years and allocates a 4% increase for every state worker. Furthermore, I am deeply committed to sustaining funding for our state’s law enforcement, ensuring they receive the highest quality training. I want to express my appreciation for the allocation of $6 million dedicated to facility upgrades at the Georgia Public Safety Training Center. Recognizing that a safe and secure state begins with education, I am pleased to see this item in the Amended FY 2024 Budget, as it remains a top pri ority. Lastly, we can make all these invest ments while implementing a record state income tax cut, delivering on the Majority Party’s commitment to move towards the reduction of our state income tax. It is crucial that we allocate funds for critical issues such as public safety, work force retention, election security, educa tion, and technology improvement. The Senate reconvened on the Senate floor on Monday, Jan. 22. As always, please don’t hesitate to reach out to my office if you have any questions regard ing legislative matters. 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. SEN.STEVE GOOCH Senate Majority Leader, R-Dahlonega It is up to us to recognize new opportunities By Dr. Larry Anderson Anderson Family Medicine The Ukrainians have become very innovative in adapting to the hardships of war. The agriculture has taken a hit from land lost to dams being bombed to fields that can no longer be used due to the battle field to disruption of sup plies needed for planting to distribu tion of the harvest. When one door closes another door opens. Your skill is to recognize the other open door. Not everyone has that skill. So what have the farmers done? Some have switched to meat and milk. This has been a big change from raising wheat to dealing with animals. It has helped the economy and the consumer. Now back to the wheat. If the Black Sea is no longer available to transport the wheat, then where is the door that is supposed to open? There are two doors open. One is the Danube and the other is truck transport to Romania. Yes, it does affect the cost of trans portation but at least you are selling your product, and your country is sur viving. The resolve of the Ukrainians is a lesson for all of us. With all the problems we are having with the border, wokeness, anti-Israel, etc., where is the door to take us out of this? Maybe we should ask the Ukrainians. Stay warm. Be safe. Thanks for reading. 2023 Creators Syndicate Creators.com 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.
