About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 22, 2018)
5A OPINION She (Times gainesvilletimes com Saturday, December 22, 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. LEXERS Trump erred in running off Mattis President Trump made a grave mistake by cre ating an environment where Defense Secretary James Mattis could no longer be effective in his job. Pulling our troops out of Syria is the straw that broke the camel’s back. US troops in Syria kept that country in check. Without them, there is going to be a void that will be filled with more Russian and Iranian influence. It will become a breeding ground for terrorism. Also, Syria’s Assad will be able to crush the opposition any way he wants, including using chemical weapons. And now there is talk of Trump withdrawing US troops from Afghanistan in the near future. This would be another global blunder by Trump. Russian leaders love it that Mattis is resigning from his position. They already have a port in Syria for use by their navy. Mattis had decades of experience in knowing how to work with foreign countries to build a peaceful coalition. Trump is too impatient for these types of strategies that work. The US military will sorely miss the leader ship of Gen. Mattis. Trump will try to replace him with a defense secretary that is more of a yes man and who follows Trump’s erratic foreign policies. William McKee Flowery Branch Alzheimer’s care takes BOLD step Congress took decisive action passing the Build ing Our Largest Dementia Infrastructure for Alzheimer’s Act (S. 2076). Endorsed by the Alzheimer’s Association, the BOLD Infrastructure for Alzheimer’s Act will create an Alzheimer’s public health infrastruc ture across the country to implement effective Alzheimer’s interventions including increasing early detection and diagnosis, reducing risk and preventing avoidable hospitalizations. The BOLD Act was introduced in November of 2017 and quickly gained bipartisan support as Alzheimer’s advocates across the country shared their stories with legislators. I am one of those advocates. Much of my family has been directly impacted by this disease — my grandfather, my mother and my elder sister. It is devastating—not only for the patient, but for the loved ones, care givers and others directly associated. Alzheimer’s not only takes a huge human toll, but also a serious financial toll on our country. It is the most expensive disease in the U.S., esti mated to cost $277 billion in 2018 alone. Roughly 5.7 million Americans have been diagnosed, with approximately 140,000 in Georgia. But the BOLD legislation can make a difference by utilizing the existing public health infrastruc ture to increase awareness of the disease, creating centers for excellence around the country and col lecting data will improve early and accurate diag nosis. This step will lead to reduced costs of care and improved quality of life for those diagnosed with the disease. I urged Rep. Doug Collins to support the effort to address Alzheimer’s and other dementias as a public health issue. The BOLD Act passed the Sen ate on Dec. 12 and was passed/agreed on in the House Dec. 19. It is expected to be signed into law in the next few days. Join me in thanking Congress, especially Col lins, for supporting this legislation and taking BOLD action to address Alzheimer’s and other dementias in our country. Finally, visit alz.org to find out more and get involved with the fight against Alzheimer’s. Robert Polak Ambassador, Alzheimer’s Association Flowery Branch To submit letters: Send by email to letters@ gainesvilletimes.com (no attached files) or use the contact form at gainesvilletimes. com. include name, hometown and phone number; letters never appear anonymously. Letters are limited to one per writer in a month’s time on topics of public interest and may be edited for content and length (limit of 500 words). Letters may be rejected from readers with no ties to Northeast Georgia or that address personal, business or legal disputes. Letters not the work of the author listed or with material not properly attributed will be rejected. Submitted items may be published in print, electronic or other forms. Letters and other commentary express the opinions of the authors and not of The Times. Your government officials Georgia state government Gov. Nathan Deal, 203 State Capitol, Atlanta 30334; 404-656-1776; www.gov.georgia.gov Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, 240 State Capitol, Atlanta 30334, 404-656-5030; www.ltgov.ga.gov Secretary of State Brian Kemp, 214 State Capitol, Atlanta 30334, 404-656-2881, fax 404-656-0513; www.sos.state.ga.us; Elections Division, 2 MLK, Jr. Drive SE, Suite 1104, West Tower, Atlanta 30334-1530, 404-656-2871, fax, 404-651 -9531 Attorney General Chris Carr, 40 Capitol Square SW, Atlanta 30303; 404-656-3300; law.ga.gov School Superintendent Richard Woods, 205 Jesse Hill Jr. Drive SE, Atlanta 30334; 404-656-2800; www.doe.k12.ga.us; askdoe@gadoe.org Sharing a great-grandsons first visit to Lego heaven I’m not sure I will ever qualify for the heaven owned and operated by God, but I have been to the Lego store in Rockefeller Cen ter in New York. That was about as heavenly an expe rience as this sinner could ever hope for. Cameron Charles Yar brough, who gives special meaning to the word “great” as in great-grandson, is a Lego fanatic. You name it and he has built it. Maybe twice. For reasons perhaps known only to him, he recently constructed a Lego version of the Sphinx. Just what every family needs — a Lego Sphinx. Cameron recently turned 10 years old and I figured the best way to reward him for the joy and happiness he has brought to my life was to take him to New York to visit the epicenter of the Lego world. The trip would include his first airplane ride and his first excur sion outside of the South, unless you count his major tete-a-tete in Washing ton last summer with Georgia’s senior senator, Johnny Isakson. (The lad does get around. When I was his age, I was still learning to tie my shoes.) I contacted the Lego public relations people to see if it might be possible for someone on staff to at least acknowl edge his presence in the store, nothing more. After all, we are talking about a very busy shopping day in New York during the Christmas season. They do have other things to do. My contact with them was the first step in what was to become a trip of a lifetime for the little boy and his great-grandpa. Not only would they welcome Cameron, the store manager would be there to greet him. A table would be set up for him to build as many Christ mas ornaments out of Legos as he could in 30 minutes. For each one he finished, the company would donate three toys to children in need, this as a part of their worldwide #BuildToGive program, which has a goal of giv ing 500,000 children in the need the chance to play this holiday season. They were true to their word. Cam eron Charles Yarbrough knocked out 15 ornaments in the prescribed time while hundreds of people waiting in line to get into the store looked on through the window. He was oblivious to the crowds. To his credit and the credit of those in charge of raising him, Cameron’s biggest takeaway from his trip to the Lego store in New York is that he had helped make Christmas better for 45 children in need. You’ve got to love that. Just to be on the safe side, Cameron and I invited his grandfather and his father, (who also double as my son and grandson) along for the trip. It was in our own self-interest. One was assigned to keep him safe in the hustle and bus tle of New York. The other was there to keep me from falling on my tush. I have been to New York innumerable times and even had an office there for several years, but that was before my septic shock episode and the resultant tottering around with a cane. This was as close to a perfect trip as one could dream of and I doubt Cam eron Charles Yarbrough will ever forget that day. That was what it was all about — making memories. For both of us. I am a couple of generations removed from him, but I hope he will look at his great-grandfather as some one to emulate (at least the good parts) and that something I said or did will inspire him to achieve greatness long after I am gone. I thank the good folks at Lego’s Rock efeller Center store, including general manager Chad Ketterling, who gave us more time than I suspect he had to spare on a very busy Saturday morn ing as well as the professionals at San Francisco-based FlashPoint Public Relations, especially Vice President Karen Nolan, who appreciated the significance of this trip and who made it happen and Delta Airlines for get ting us up and back on time and with a minimum of hassle. I thank Cameron Charles Yarbrough for not being overwhelmed with what could have been an overwhelming experience and who did his part to help Lego spread Christmas joy to children in need. They made a great team. And, finally, I thank you for letting me share this special day with you. This may be as close to heaven as I ever get, and I wanted you there with me. Dick Yarbrough is a North Georgia resident whose column regularly appears Saturdays. Contact him at P.0. Box 725373, Atlanta, GA 31139; online at dickyarbrough.com; or on Facebook. DICK YARBROUGH dick@ dickyarbrough.com JIM POWELL I For The Times ANDY MARLETTE I Creators Syndicate ®b t (Times EDITORIAL BOARD Founded Jan. 26,1947 345 Green St., Gainesville, GA 30501 gainesvilletimes.com General Manager Norman Baggs Editor in Chief Shannon Casas Community member Brent Hoffman
