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OPINION
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gainesvilletimes.com
Friday, December 7, 2018
Shannon Casas Editor in Chief | 770-718-3417 | scasas@gainesvilletimes.com
Submit a letter: letters@gainesvilletimes.com
The First Amendment: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right
of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
LETTERS
Don’t forget
your elderly
family members
this Christmas
Christmas is in the air and will soon be here.
Most of us are running around with a smile
on our face, singing Christmas carols, doing
Christmas shopping and planning special time
to be with our family and friends.
This is so not the case for many. Christmas
can be a very sad time for some folks. Maybe
they have lost a loved one this year and their
hearts are broken. Maybe they are elderly and
feel that their family doesn’t have time for
them.
I work with the elderly and have heard
some of the saddest stories being shared. If
you are blessed to have an elderly person
in your family or in your life, I want you to
take a minute — or two — and put yourself in
their shoes. Try to imagine what it feels like
to think your family doesn’t have time for you
anymore. It is heartbreaking to say the least.
One of these days you may find yourself in the
same position. If your children see you treating
Grandma or Grandpa like they are a bother,
what kind of example are you setting for them?
How often do you visit your family member,
how often do you call them to chat a while with
them — how often do you tell them that you
love them?
Apparently there are a lot of us that are fail
ing miserably. Are you one of these that need
to do better? I think it is time for all of us to
realize that we didn’t get to where we are today
without the love and guidance from our elders.
Everyone’s life is valuable. Everyone has
something to share. In fact, the best history les
son you could have, is sitting at the feet of an
elderly person and letting them share with you.
I am here to tell you that there are a lot of
lonely and sad people in all of our lives. It is
time to stop and realize that. What are you
going to do about it?
Nancy L Simpson
Flowery Branch
Carbon tax on fossil fuels would
help combat climate change
Thank you for the excellent coverage that
you have been giving the issue of climate
change both in your news articles and opinion
pieces. Please keep up the good work.
In your “Viewpoint” page last Sunday, you
provided a pro and con examination of the
question, “Is a carbon tax the right way to go
in fighting climate change?” Raising the ques
tion of a carbon tax is particularly timely given
that a similar bill has been introduced into our
United States Congress, the Energy Innovation
and Carbon Dividend Act (H.R. 7173). This bill
is sponsored by Republican congressmen Fran
cis Rooney (19th District in Florida), Brian
Fitzpatrick (8th District in Pennsylvania) and
Dave Trott (11th District in Michigan), along
with Democrats Ted Deutch (22nd District
in Florida), John Delaney (6th District in
Maryland) and Charlie Crist (13th District in
Florida).
This bill would put a fee on fossil fuels that
will start low and grow over time to discourage
the use of these fuels. The money collected will
be returned to individual citizens to use as they
see fit. The cost of administering the program
will come from the fee itself. The government
will not keep any of the money collected.
To ensure that this program will not harm
American manufacturers, a carbon adjustment
fee will be placed on all imported products
manufactured with fossil fuels. Manufacturers
who export from the United States will receive
a refund.
If this bill becomes law, it will not on its own
solve the problem of climate change, but it is a
good start. To increase the odds of passing this
bill, citizens need to become familiar with it
and let their representatives in Congress know
of their support.
Our local congressman, Doug Collins, has
recently been elevated to a position of lead
ership among Republicans in the House of
Representatives. According to some reports in
the press, even though his loyalty to President
Trump is unquestioned, he has demonstrated
in both word and deed his willingness to work
with Democrats if it will advance the interests
of the American people. I believe the current
legislation is an example of just such an oppor
tunity. If you agree, please let Collins know
how you feel.
No doubt some will point to the fiasco in
France as an argument against placing a fee
on carbon. But one should remember that the
strength of an analogy is determined by the
number of similarities between the two things
being compared. We do share at least two prob
lems with France, gross income inequality and
a sizable portion of a population who, because
they live in rural areas, have a long way to
drive no matter where they go.
But we have our differences as well. Our
economy is much stronger than that of France.
Our taxes are much lower than those in
France. Right now, a gallon of gas in France
already costs about $7.
Most importantly, we can learn from their
mistakes. Whether we do or not remains to be
seen. What is certain is that the status quo will
not endure.
Brian E. Moss
Gainesville
Still looking up to my brother
He probably is not going to
be happy at the attention, but
don’t blame him. It is not his
fault that I am proud of my
big brother and have access
to the paper and ink to tell
you about him.
On Sunday, Gainesville’s
own Bob Yarbrough, cel
ebrates a milestone birthday.
He will be 90 years young. I
should live so long.
While we share the same
parents, we are different in many
respects. Like our father, Bob is a quiet
and wise man, thoughtful and unassum
ing. Our mother was a woman of bound
less energy with a great sense of humor
and someone who suffered fools poorly.
Guess who got her genes?
In other ways we are very much alike.
We love our family, our friends, our God,
our church (He is a member of Lake-
wood Baptist), a good joke, good music
(especially the Gaithers) and the Univer
sity of Georgia.
Before I go getting all gushy on you, I
must confess that it hasn’t always been
easy being Bob Yarbrough’s younger
brother. There was a time in my life
when our family — parents, aunts and
uncles and cousins — would gather at
our grandparents’ house for Sunday
dinner. Bob always got to sit at the table
with the grownups and talk grownup
stuff. I was relegated to the kid’s table in
the other room with a bunch of cousins
straight out of Hee-Haw who chewed
with their mouths open and talked about
cowboy movies.
I could have handled that
indignity well enough were
it not for the smirk I would
get from my big-shot brother
sitting with the grownups and
reminding me I was not. I was
so traumatized by those times
that even today I break out in
a sweat whenever I see the
child’s menu in a restaurant
and fear I am going to be
seated with a bunch of kids
who chew with their mouths
open and talk about cowboy movies.
I did even the odds occasionally.
Once when he was taking his squeeze to
a drive-in movie, I hid in the backseat
of the car planning to do some ground
breaking research to see if lovebirds
really watched the movie or, if not, what.
I never found out. He found me first and
had to turn around and take me home.
He wasn’t happy. Go figure.
Despite the ups-and-downs of our
relationship, my brother had one attri
bute I treasured above all others as a
kid. His handwriting was identical to our
mother’s. I recall at least two occasions
when I cajoled him into writing a note to
my teacher saying that Richard has been
talked to and will not misbehave again.
Yours truly, Mrs. R.E. Yarbrough.
I can truthfully say that everyone in our
family knew Bob Yarbrough was going
to be a success. He worked from the time
he was a young boy delivering chickens
(dead ones) on his bicycle to customers,
to sacking groceries to working at a local
magazine publishing company while still
in high school. (More on that later.)
He was the first to graduate college.
Neither of our parents had the opportu
nity to attend high school. The publishing
company he worked for in high school?
He later became executive vice presi
dent, which led him to Chicago where
he served as president of another large
magazine publishing company until his
retirement and relocation to Gainesville
to be with his family.
Frankly, my own career hasn’t been
chopped liver, but I doubt any of it would
have happened had it not been for my
brother. Bob was and remains my role
model. I was never sure I could live up to
his standard and overachieved trying to
do so. Frankly, I am still trying.
A 90th birthday requires a bit of reflec
tion. In that time have you made a posi
tive difference in someone’s life? Is this
a better world because you were here?
When you leave church on Sunday and
go out into the rest of the week, do people
say there is a Christian who walks the
talk? Would your parents be proud of the
way you turned out? Your family? Your
friends?
In the case of Robert Earl Yarbrough,
Jr., the answer to all of the above is a
resounding “yes.” As for me, I admire
him as much as I love him — and that’s a
lot. He is my big brother and always will
be.
Dick Yarbrough is a North Georgia resident
whose regular column appears Saturdays
and at gainesvilletimes.com/opinion.
Contact him by email; at P.0. Box 725373,
Atlanta, GA 31139; or his Facebook page,
facebook.com/dickyarb.
DICK YARBROUGH
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dickyarbrough.com
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USA BENSON I Washington Post Writers Group
Joe Biden’s boasting doesn’t mean much
We all know that Donald
Trump is the braggart in
chief. But a close second may
be Joe Biden, whose humble
brags often know little
humility.
Just last year after a slew
of Democratic victories in
special elections, he bragged
in an email that “nearly
every candidate I endorsed
won.”
After Trump’s admission
that he grabbed women by their genitals
and got away with it because he was a
celebrity, Biden puffed out his chest and
boasted: “If we were in high school, I’d
take him behind the gym and beat the
hell out of him.”
In trying to relate to an audience of
activists for working families, he once
bragged he was the “poorest man in Con
gress.” (He had a net worth of $800,000 at
the time.)
He even, oddly, bragged once about
his relationship with Somali cab drivers:
“If you ever come to the train station
with me, you’ll notice that I have great
relationships with them because there’s
an awful lot of them driving cabs and are
friends of mine, for real.”
None compare to his latest, however:
that he is the most qualified person to be
president.
“I’ll be as straight with you as I can.
I think I’m the most qualified person in
the country to be president. The issues
that we face as a country
today are the issues that have
been in my wheelhouse, that
I’ve worked on my whole
life.”
He went on, during a stop
for his book tour in Montana,
saying “Even my critics
would acknowledge, I may
not be right but I know a great
deal about (the issues).”
To be fair, most people who
have the guts to run for presi
dent — Biden lost twice, 20 years apart
— believe they should also be president.
But in Biden’s case, he’s also right.
Without a doubt, Biden would be the
most qualified candidate in a crowded
sea of Democratic hopefuls running in
2020. From his foreign policy experi
ence, to his 30-plus years in the Senate,
chairing the Foreign Relations and
Judiciary Committees, to his eight years
as vice president, few could (accurately)
boast of more experience in government.
The question is, who cares?
Of course, qualifications probably
should be a major metric by which we
elect our leaders, but leave it to the
American people to decide in recent
years that experience can be disquali
fying. From a slew of inexperienced
Tea Party candidates in 2010 to Donald
Trump to another round of newcomers
in 2018, we just aren’t into long records
of accomplishment these days.
While I admire Biden’s earnest boasts
about his resume, he and any other can
didate running against Trump in 2020
should care only about one thing: Can
they beat him?
Of the many conversations about who
can take on Trump, ones about identity
politics — whether it should be a woman,
a minority, young or old, for example —
are misguided and irrelevant.
The most important questions by far
are these: Who can withstand Trump’s
withering punches? Who can survive a
Democratic primary that will pull candi
dates to the far left, and then pivot back
toward the center during a general? Who
can speak to the middle of the country?
And who has the most money?
Qualifications, unfortunately, do not
factor into this brutal calculus.
As I’ve said for more than a year, the
only person who scores an A+ on these
is Oprah Winfrey. Lucky for him, Biden
fares well enough. In fact, he leads most
polls of Democrats voters most preferred.
But wasting his breath on his many
accomplishments is, sadly, for a bygone
generation that preferred their presi
dents to have been great war heroes,
cabinet secretaries or, at the very least,
governors.
Biden’s big on boasting. But for now,
the only one that matters when it comes
to Trump: “I can beat him.”
S.E. Cupp is the host of “S.E. Cupp
Unfiltered” on HLN and a columnist for
Tribune Media.
S.E. CUPP
secuppdailynews@
yahoo.com.
She Stines
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