Some Random Thoughts on Some Random Subjects
How’s this for unbridled hypocrisy? Fani Willis, who is prosecuting Donald Trump and others for election fraud, said when running for the job as Fulton County district attorney that she would not date any of her subordinates. According to video footage first reported by the Washington Free Beacon, Willis said on the “The Patricia Crayton Show” in April 2020, “I will certainly not be choosing to date people that work under me,” adding, “I think that what citizens are really, really concerned about is if you chose to have inappropriate contact with employees. There’s nothing I can say on it other than that it is distracting, it is certainly inappropriate for the No. 1 law officer in this state, and it really, really saddens me.” If I’m not mistaken, isn’t she currently canoodling with her underqualified, overpaid assistant, Nathan Wade? I wonder how she will justify this latest revelation? Play the race card again?. . . .
A favorite target of the media is the Georgia Department of Corrections. That is where a lot of really bad people are housed and guarded by not enough folks paid not enough money, given the risks they face daily. Much of what has been reported are situations that occurred in the past under different management. I have confidence the current commissioner Tyrone Oliver is the right man for the job. I served as a member of the State Board of Juvenile Justice when he came on board as our commissioner in 2019. He is an excellent, unflappable manager who will make as much of a positive difference as can be made in that difficult and dangerous environment. Wait and see. …
Sadly, one of the shining stars of the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games has left us. Banker Jim Mathis was a major player in bringing the Olympic rowing and canoe/kayak venue to Gainesville. It was a huge success during the Games and it still is. Today, the site is known as Lake Lanier Olympic Park, one of the few remaining sports venues from the 1996 Games. A lot of people in Gainesville deserve credit, but none more than the low-key Jim Mathis. He will be missed. . . .
Watching Joe Biden react to a special counsel report on his handling of classified documents in his news conference was like watching a slow train wreck. He sought to assure us of his mental acuity after it was alluded to in the report and then in talking about the Gaza conflict, Biden referred to the president of Egypt as the president of Mexico. Donald Trump, on the other hand, says his GOP rival, Nikki Haley, was in charge of Capitol security when a mob of his supporters stormed the building. He meant then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Trump also says Biden could lead us into “World War II.” That war was over 90 years ago. And these are our only two choices for president? ….
Jennifer Crumbley, the mother of the teenager who killed four students at an Oxford, Michigan, high school in 2021, was found guilty last week of four counts of involuntary manslaughter. The prosecution argued she was responsible for the deaths because she was “grossly negligent” in giving a gun to her 15-year-old son and failing to get him proper mental health treatment despite obvious signs. Crumbley’s defense attorney argued, “Can every parent really be responsible for everything their children do, especially when it’s not foreseeable?” Absolutely, including not giving a gun to an unstable kid who is 15. . . .
Here we go again. Georgia quarterback Carson Beck is reported to have recently purchased a $300,000 Lamborghini. I am told it will go from zero to 100 mph in 7.2 seconds. I did not need to know that. Our student-athletes at UGA seem to fare much better on the gridiron than when roaring around the streets of Athens. . . .
Finally, this just in: Kandiss Taylor, a public school counselor in Baxley, who garnered a whopping 3.4% of the vote in the GOP primary for governor against Brian Kemp in 2022 — Final vote: Kemp, 885,626. Taylor, 41,219 — still refuses to concede two years later. She says the election was rigged. Taylor’s campaign slogan was “Jesus, Guns and Babies.” I suspect Jesus would just as soon that Taylor had not gotten him mixed up in all this, particularly when you throw his name around and still can’t get but 3 percent of the vote.
You can reach Dick Yarbrough at dick@dickyarbrough.com or at P.O. Box 725373, Atlanta, Georgia 31139.
