A reader in Calhoun sent my column on the Monks Walk for Peace that appeared in the Calhoun Times to a Facebook page devoted to that extraordinary event. As of last week, it had received over 3,000 likes, more than 200 comments and 20 Facebook users had posted it to their own page. I suspect that number has grown since. I also heard from people across the country who had read the column online. The power of the Internet. Who I haven’t heard from are the bigoted Bible-thumpers who purportedly worship the Prince of Peace but can’t abide anyone else advocating peace on earth. Just as well. As my daddy used to say, consider the source. . . .
If it be any consolation to Andrew Whathisname, onetime Royal Highness, former Duke of York and a lot of other titles, he got off pretty easy being arrested a couple of weeks ago for allegedly sharing state secrets with convicted sexual pervert Jeffery Epstein. He was questioned by police and released, looking like a deer in the spotlight while being driven home to his castle. The last royal guy that got arrested was King Charles I, in 1647. He got himself beheaded. . . .
Racism cuts both ways. A good example is beleagured Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, whose record for success is nothing to write home about. She was disqualified from the racketeering case against Donald Trump and his allies in 2024 due to a “significant appearance of impropriety” regarding her romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade. Her much-vaunted effort to prosecute gangs in Atlanta was a spectacular dud. Her response? She runs to Ebeneezer Baptist Church and blames it all on the fact that she is being picked on because she is a Black woman. That’s the only way she can defend her record and she is shameless to do so. It’s not the color of her skin, it’s how thin it is. . . .
The entry of Rick Jackson into the Republican gubernatorial campaign seems to have caught political observers by surprise. Jackson, 71, is a self-made billionaire who rose from the foster care system to lead a company with over $3 billion in annual revenue. He has positioned himself as Georgia’s version of Donald Trump and has pledged to put $50 million of his own wealth into the race. Give me $50 million and I could get elected Pope. . . .
Speaking of Trump, while most Republican candidates in Georgia grovel for his blessing before the upcoming May primary, people seem to forget that only one candidate that he endorsed in 2022 won. That was Burt Jones, who was elected Lt Gov. Everybody else got waxed. Go back and look at Pres. Roosevelt’s efforts in 1938 to unseat Sen. Walter George. Despite FDR’s enormous popularity, he failed. We Georgians don’t like to be told who to vote for. Grovelers please take note. . . .
What is it going to take to get the scholar-athletes at my alma mater to quit the reckless driving? 100 miles an hour? Please. We’ve already had one person killed. Hasn’t anybody learned anything? There is no excuse for it. Grow up players or go somewhere else. I’m tired of reading about it. . . .
Word comes to me that state Rep. Lynn Smith (R-Newnan) may call it quits after the current session. Big whoop-de-doo. Smith chairs the Natural Resources & Environment in the House where she managed to sit on a bipartisan bill to ban mining on Trail Ridge, adjacent to our Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. Actually, I can’t blame her totally. She is just pawn, doing what her leadership told her to do and leadership is just doing what the land barons tell them to do. . . .
Finally, it is the Lenten season in which we are encouraged to give something up. In the spirit of the season, I am giving up broccoli. I also gave it up for Christmas, President’s Day, Memorial Day, Columbus Day and any other day you can think of. For broccoli and me, Lent runs all year long. Can I get an Amen?
You can reach Dick Yarbrough at dick@dickyarbrough.com or at P.O. Box 725373, Atlanta, Georgia 31139
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