A twofer from Dick Yarbrough: (1) Perception is sad reality for Governor Perdue; & (2) From the Cracker Squire Archives about some Democrats he likes.

Unfortunately for me, I have never met Dick Yarbrough. I am familiar with his extremely successful journey through life so far and his accomplishments. They are many.

Do we see eye-to-eye on everything? No, but unlike the result when party affiliaton dictates so much as with the late Sen. Jesse Helms, former Rep. Tom "The Hammer" DeLay, and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (whose intellect, unlike his tactics, I respect), being in another party does not mean someone cannot be my friend.

Besides, I admire Dick Yarbrough's writing, his style, his ability to say what I wish I had said.

One of these days I do hope that our paths will cross.

One of my readers and friends (and my mistake for not listing in the reverse order) who is wise beyond her years once informed me that "Dick Yarbrough is a great source for understanding southern culture. I'm not saying you have to agree with him, but understanding him is key."

Today, we have two columns by Dick, one current, one written during the 2004 primary season.

The first is a 7-19-09 column about Gov. Perdue in which Dick Yarbrough writes:

There is a saying in politics that perception is reality, and my perception of Gov. Sonny Perdue is that he hasn't exactly shot out the lights in his two terms as Georgia's chief executive.

There are the publicity stunts too numerous - and too embarrassing - to recount. There's the touting of his Go Fish Georgia program, billed as an economic development initiative in the middle of one of the worst economic periods - not to mention drought - in decades. And there are some eyebrow-raising land deals the governor still might be trying to explain if our state's media had an aggressive bone in their investigative body.

Perdue's accomplishments likely will be less remembered than the silly photo ops that have drained the governor's office of its dignity, his love affair with Go Fish Georgia - a marginal economic development program at best - and a "let 'em eat cake" attitude toward his sweet land deals.

Perdue's good works have been overshadowed by an insensitivity to public perception that sometimes has bordered on astounding. And he has forgotten that perception is reality.
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Next, from a 12-14-04 post that is a 6-23-04 column:

A salute to some live Democrats

Dick Yarbrough
June 2004

A member of the Loyal Opposition - meaning those who don't agree with anything I say, which includes about half of the inhabited Earth - confided to a friend that "the only Democrats Dick Yarbrough likes are dead Democrats." Not true. There are a lot of live Democrats I like.

Take Zell Miller, for example. I like him. He says what is on his mind. He always has. The media have a major case of the tut-tuts because he isn't saying what they want to hear. As if Zell Miller gives a quart of mule spit what the media thinks. I like that.

Sam Nunn is my favorite Democrat of all time. He is smart as a whip and was a pleasure to work with. We have had some great senators from Georgia, but none better than Sam Nunn.

I like former Gov. Joe Frank Harris. We were fraternity brothers at the University of Georgia. He was a good guy then and he is a good guy now. Harris has as little ego as any elected official who ever lived.

I like George Busbee, a hard-working governor with a great sense of humor.

I like Carl Sanders and Ernest Vandiver. Both came along at just the right time, when Georgia was struggling with civil rights issues, and they got us through that tough period in better shape than Alabama or Mississippi.

I like Roy Barnes. He lost an election he should have won, but he has been graceful in defeat. I particularly like the fact that he spent six months doing legal aid work.

I like Terry Coleman, the Democratic speaker of the House, and DuBose Porter, the speaker pro tem. I like former Majority Leader Larry Walker. Same for former Lt. Gov. Pierre Howard. I like Secretary of State Cathy Cox and her predecessor, Lewis Massey, and I wish Massey would run for public office again.

Now, here are some live Democrats I don't like. I don't like Jimmy Carter's perpetual grandstanding. He was out of his league during his one-term presidency, yet former presidents didn't publicly undercut him as he has President Bush. One thing Carter's apologists don't mention is the mean-spirited gubernatorial campaign he ran against Carl Sanders in 1970, when he tried to out-Wallace George Wallace. Don't believe me? Look it up. Jimmy Carter either didn't mean what he said during that campaign, or he didn't have the courage of his convictions when he was elected. Either way, I don't like that.

Democrat Max Cleland had an unfortunate accident in Vietnam when somebody dropped a grenade and he lost both legs and an arm. He has put his life back together and I greatly admire him for that. I didn't admire him as a senator. He spent more time cuddling up to the liberal wing of the Democratic Party than he did representing the people of Georgia. When Cleland was Georgia's secretary of state, he always spoke to me. When he was elected senator, he acted as if he didn't know who I was. I didn't like that.

I don't like Ted Kennedy, because he caused the death of an innocent young woman and then was a coward about admitting what he had done. Today, he waddles into the Senate and sits in moral judgment of other people. God will get him for that. I don't like former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, because he always looks as though he is about to come unhinged. I don't like people who scare me.

There are a whole bunch of live Democrats that I like and some that I don't. I hope this revelation totally befuddles the Loyal Opposition. I would like that.

And I note again that this is a 2004 column. Since it was written two of our former governors are no longer with us, namely Gov. Ernest Vardiver (whose daughter Jane Kidd is now Chair of our party) and Gov. George Busbee.