Newspaper Page Text
Wednesday, November 29,2023
FAYETTE VIEWS
A4 Fayette County News
Regret-Me-Not
I realize Thanksgiving was last week, and ordinarily I
would have written about giving thanks. This year, to change
things, I decided to wait a week and write about something
else. Here goes.
***
I’ve been very fortunate.
I had terrific parents. I married my high school sweet
heart. We became parents. I worked for two great companies
for almost 40 years. I’ve been, for the
most part, fairly healthy. We became
grandparents. We’re now in our
forever home in beautiful Senoia.
And along the way, I checked
nearly everything on my bucket list (i
still haven’t been to Montana). Cindy,
however, still has a few items left on
hers. I plan to tag along.
So, all in all, I have very few re
grets.
But I’m not here to dwell on any
of the regrets I’ve had in my life. Instead, I want to present a
few things for you to consider doing with your life. My
thought is that when the day comes for you to finally get to
sit back in your rocking chair on the porch and reminisce,
there won’t be a whole lot of “what ifs” and “wish I’d done
that” for you to regret.
That being said, in no particular order, here are my sug
gestions. Feel free to clip and save.
•Travel often (Montana, remember? But I still have
time...).
•Learn another language (or at least give it a try).
•Don’t stay in a bad relationship.
•Use sunscreen in the sun... and insect repellant in the
woods.
•Speak in public when the opportunity presents itself.
•See your favorite musicians - remember, they won’t per
form forever.
•Don’t be afraid to try new things.
•Make physical fitness a priority.
•Remember that sometimes it’s OK to say “no.”
•Mind your manners.
•Find the job you enjoy.
•Do your best in school.
•Keep your math skills sharp - or at least don’t stray too
far from a calculator.
•Realize that “Everyone is unique” applies to you as well.
•Tell the people you love that you love them (even if they
already know).
•Seriously consider the advice of elders - especially your
parents, because they know.
•Visit the national parks.
See Ludwig, A6
SCOTT LUDWIG
Front to Back
vs. Back to Front
Few people know, or care, that the renowned neuro-psy
chologist Sigmund Freud spent a great deal of time dissect
ing, from a psycho-analytical viewpoint, the placement of the
toilet paper roll, i.e., the direction of the roll, front to back or
back to front.
There was little concern for this issue until a hillbilly poly
math from Appalachia hit upon the
idea of an indoor John.
The inventor of the indoor con
venience did, however, predict a likely
concern over the roll placement. Roll
placement aside, the indoor John
created a devastating economic im
pact on the sales orders for the Sears
catalog. As was suspected, the demise
of the outdoor facility also created a
particular dilemma, especially in the
salons of upper-class New Eng
landers, to wit; roll placement.
As it happened, a gaggle of prominent families at Mar
tha’s Vineyard, famously known for its in-home soirees for
the literati and other such pomp gatherings and being
among the first to experience the indoor toilette, just had to
know the proper positioning of the roll. This anxiety among
the white Anglo-Saxon Protestant (W.A.S.P.) gatherings was
brought on by a comment from a guest (rumored to be the
grandson of the etiquette mogul, Amy Vanderbilt).
The comment, intended to be sotto voce to the downstairs
butler, but overheard by Mrs. Margaret Van Chiltern, hostess
and owner of the house: “Sir, I believe your convenience
paper is improperly positioned; a trivia perhaps at Martha’s
Vineyard, but unforgivable in the better homes in New
Haven.”
Sigmund Freud. Remember him? He was, at the time of
the Van Chiltern soiree faux pas, in the middle of his re
search on the theory of the five stages of psychosexual devel
opment. However, at the frantic request of Mrs. Van Chiltern
(a former wealthy and naive patient of Freud’s), he aban
doned his petri dish and rushed to her estate. Freud con
cluded that in better homes, the paper was placed in the
roll-to-front position, as it was easier to dispense.
However, Freud warned that there was a downside to this
position. He concluded that children, say four- and five-year-
olds, had a psychologically, yet unexplored, propensity to
bang on the roll-to-front paper just to watch it spin off onto
the floor. This caused understandable consternation among
the house servants who had to gather the paper and re-roll
it, so to speak.
This extra Johnny-do work, sans extra pay, prompted
many servants and au pairs to seek other, less picky em
ployers. This toilet paper roll positioning furor even caught
on among the lower classes and, to Freud’s surprise, their
kids banged on the toilet roll the same way the more affluent
kids did.
Freud, frustrated with the children’s inexplicably, non-
psychologically diagnosed behavior, gave up on the research
and, with pregnant embarrassment, agreed with the poly
math from Appalachia (remember him?) who had antici
pated this toilet roll conundrum, accompanied his invention
with a fine print disclaimer suggesting that four- and five-
year-olds universally don’t give a sh*t about the direction of
toilet paper; they just love to play.
JAMES
STUDDARD
On the Passing of First Lady Rosalynn Carter
From left are First Lady Rosalynn Carter, Charlie Harper, and President Jimmy Carter.
First Lady Rosalynn Carter died
last week at the age of 96.
She dedicated her adult life to pub
lic service, which is most often viewed
through the lens of her husband and
true partner-in-
life of 77 years,
President
Jimmy Carter.
While the two
worked hand in
hand for over
three quarters
of a century, a
few words about
Eleanor Rosa
lynn Smith
Carter, she earned on her own.
It’s somewhat ironic that we refer
to the spouses of Presidents with the
title of “First.” The role in southern
parlance is much akin to that of being
a pastor’s wife. The expectations of too
many is that the role requires one to be
seen often and seldom heard, and,
even then, only to echo the spouse’s
message.
Mrs. Carter was certainly a compli
ment to the public roles of her hus
band of 77 years, but the two had a
true partnership. Her thoughts, ideas,
strategic thinking, and actions mat
tered, even in an era when this was not
expected (nor tolerated well by some)
of a political spouse.
Shortly after the news of her pass
ing, I was on the phone with a friend
of mine, who himself was on the way
to a television studio to provide com
mentary on her life. I have had the
pleasure of meeting her several times
over a couple of years at private
dinners and events in Plains. The call
gave us a moment to get our heads
around the news, and to try to hash out
what should be said about the life of a
great person.
I provide that background because
he asked me the clarifying question,
“What should be said so that the au
dience understands who she really
was?” I of course rambled a bit as I do
until I eventually got to my answer:
She was authentic.
That word may seem at first like a
platitude, but there is depth behind it.
We now have a couple of generations
since Mrs. Carter was our nation’s
First Lady. Our pop culture now de
picts politicians and their families -
both in comedy and drama - as cal
culating individuals who are one per
son when the cameras are on, and
become completely different people
when the cameras and microphones
are turned off.
This was not Rosalynn Carter.
There was only one of her, whether
you saw her on the largest of the
world’s stages or sharing barbecue
sandwiches at a kitchen table in Plains.
She was authentic.
And while she was quite comfort
able being the partner of her husband
and his causes (which, in reality, were
their causes), she had a couple of is
sues that were near and dear to her
See Harper, A6
Conservatives Versus Authoritarians -
Choose, per Former Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan
“Ninety-one indictments, fake Re
publican, $8 trillion worth of debt. Ev
erything we need to see to not choose
him as our nominee, including the fact
he's got the moral compass of more
like an ax murderer than a president,”
-former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Dun
can.
Former Lt. Gov. Duncan is a man of
great integrity. I may not agree with all
his positions, but he believes in democ
racy; as do I and most Americans of
either party. He has been very vocal as
of late defending the fact that he and
Gov. Kemp stood up for the Constitu
tion and free and fair elections when
pressured by Trump.
Again, I agree with him and Kemp
on this fact. And it is a fact, not an
opinion. We have all heard the taped
phone call.
Further, as a former GOP office
holder and GOP county chairman, I’m
amazed at the extent to which almost
all GOP Presidential contenders (and
GOP U.S. House Representatives and
Senators) continue to be afraid of
Trump’s wrath. The truth is that as
long as they cower in fear, the MAGA
base will not change its mistaken views
of Trump or the 2020 election. As of
today, 58 percent back him as the
party’s nominee.
But Donald Trump does not accept
the basic premise upon which the USA
was formed, including the way that the
President is elected under the Consti
tution. Specifically, the fact that each
state must have a fair election, and that
election determines who then receives
that state’s electoral votes.
Trump’s unique view that state
legislatures can overrule the will of the
people represents anti-American sedi
tion and spits in the eye of every true
patriot. And this has gone on for sev
eral years, although virtually every law
suit has been laughed out of court,
including the Supreme Court.
Encouraged
by Trump,
Texas AG Ken
Paxton had filed
a spurious law
suit with the Su
preme Court to
overturn the
election results
in four states
(Georgia, Wis
consin, Michi
gan, and Pennsylvania). In all four
states, the popular vote clearly went for
Biden.
The fairness of these elections has
been repeatedly affirmed by state and
federal courts (with both GOP and
Democratic judges). But Trump
wanted to stop each of these states
from having its electors counted to de
termine the incoming President.
Trump and Paxton found no prob
lems with the election fairness in any
of the swing states where Trump pre
vailed, only those where he lost. Isn’t
that strange?
If this authoritarian, anti-Constitu-
tional lawsuit had been upheld, our de
mocracy would be in shambles. And
that’s why, even with a right-wing Su
preme Court, it failed. But the very fact
that it was filed tells us several things.
Trump’s mistaken view is that he
personally appointed three Supreme
Court justices. Therefore, they work for
him, not America. That was why it was
so important to him that he get the last
appointment through the Senate be
fore the 2020 election, just in case that
vote was needed to decide who won.
In Trump’s world, six SCOTUS jus
tices are acknowledged Republican
conservatives, so they should just get in
line behind Trump’s views, regardless
of the facts, the law, or the Constitu
tion.
This was not a new line of thinking
for Trump, who castigated arch-con
servative former U.S. AG Jeff Sessions
for attempting to follow the law versus
Trump’s dictates during the first im
peachment proceedings. In fact,
Trump carefully screened Bill Barr to
make sure Barr would feel obligated to
work directly for him... and not equal
justice under the law... before Barr was
ever appointed.
Thus, AG Barr purposefully wrote a
totally inaccurate summary of the
Mueller report which exonerated
Trump. However, the Mueller report
clearly implied Trump was guilty of
covering up the truth and blocking
Mueller’s investigation at every turn.
But even Barr subsequently stated
that the 2020 election was fair and that
there were no substantial irregularities.
And ended up resigning when further
pressured by Trump in the last days of
the administration.
The GOP base has a decision to
make - either support true conserva
tives like Duncan and Kemp or au
thoritarians like Trump in 2024. So far,
the indications are not encouraging for
democracy.
JACK BERNARD