Dick Yarbrough: Don't let the do-gooders ... rain on our parade
by Dick Yarbrough
Columnist
July 02, 2011 12:00 AM

I'm sorry I won't be at the Marietta Fourth of July parade this year. I will be at Lake Oconee with good friends watching the fireworks there. It will be nice, but it won't be nearly as exciting as the doings in Marietta. Marietta puts on the best Fourth of July celebration I've ever seen. I can't imagine anybody doing it better.

I got to see the parade up-close-and-personal a couple of years ago, sitting on the back of a red Mustang convertible, courtesy of the Sons of the American Revolution.

You know this is a great country when you witness what unites us instead of what divides us. There were thousands of smiling faces, young and old, male and female, black and white, waving American flags and dressed in red, white and blue. Our Founding Fathers would swell with pride to see what they had birthed 235 years ago.

Riding in the parade was a great experience. I was waving to the crowds like politicians do. If you didn't know better, you would have thought I was running for office that day. People who know me know that I would never run for public office. The Woman Who Shares My Name will put up with a lot of things from me, including my drinking milk out of the bottle instead of using a glass, but she would inflict serious harm on me if I announced I was running for public office. She's not big on politics or politicians, with the notable exception of U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson and State Rep. Rich Golick (R-Vinings). They don't know what an honor that is.

As we drove along the route, people were waving and we were all having a grand old time. About halfway to the Square, I saw a woman nudge a man I assumed to be her husband and point at me. I figured she was saying, "Look, honey, here comes Dick Yarbrough, the modest and much-beloved columnist. Aren't you thrilled?" I prepared my most dazzling smile for him. Just as we approached, he made a big point of folding his arms and turning his back on me. She couldn't get him to turn around. After we had passed, he turned back to watch the rest of the parade. Just as well. He could have given me a one-finger salute.

Today, I still wonder who that guy was. I can only figure that he was a graduate of You-Know-Where Institute of Technology or a member of the Cobb County School Board. It is hard to tell when their back is to you.

Whoever he was, good for him. He was exercising his freedom to tell me he didn't approve of me and on one of the most appropriate days of the year to do that. Had I been a Muslim or a gay or an illegal immigrant instead of an old white guy, I would probably have complained to the do-gooders who represent my cause that I was being discriminated against and they would have organized some kind of protest on the spot.

Let's face it: Do-gooders love to rain on our parades. It wouldn't surprise me if the Illegal Immigration lobby groups start a move to change the name of the Fourth of July to Cuatro de Julio. They will probably start in California. The Hispanics claim they will take over the state within the next few years, anyway. What they don't know is that the rest of us don't like California. They can have the place and if it would help, we could throw in Atlanta as a bonus. We don't like Atlanta any better than we like California.

And who knows what all the other assorted do-gooders might do with the Fourth of July celebrations, if given the opportunity. Probably ban hot dogs for having no nutrition value and ice cream as being too fattening and make us cover our heads so as not to offend Muslims and wear earrings to appease gays. It is too hot in July to even think about covering my head. Plus I love hot dogs and ice cream but I hate earrings.

But whatever happens, if I ever get to ride in the Marietta Fourth of July parade again, may the do-gooders never prevent my friend from turning his back on me as I pass by to let me know he thinks I am a jerk. He is a great American exercising a precious freedom in a great country. God bless him and God bless America.

You can reach Dick Yarbrough at yarb2400@bellsouth.net or P.O. Box 725373, Atlanta, Georgia 31139.

http://www.mdjonline.com/view/full_stor ... _editorial