Keith Graham

Posts by Keith Graham:
Politics, Voices
Don’t cry for us, Costa Rica
While a lot of publications are relentless downers, just telling folks about a lot of bad news, Like the Dew tries at least occasionally to say something uplifting.
Not long ago, for instance, we told you the wonderful news that the U.S. just might become the next France. We got the word from Mitt Romney and joie de vivre has been building ever since.
Once again, here goes: Some really great news.
Rush Limbaugh, who just might be our nation's consummate rightwing blowhard, said this on Tuesday about the pending health care legislation:
"I don't know. I'll just tell you this, if this passes ...
Politics, Views, Voices
The making of a … conservative?
Oh, sure, he's a conservative.
But David Brooks is far from the most doctrinaire, and his columns in The New York Times are almost always readable.
As a writer and in his regular appearances on PBS's News Hour, Brooks comes across as a bright fellow who respects people with differing viewpoints and refrains from mean-spirited commentary. He also appears willing to challenge some of the orthodox faithful on his own side of the political spectrum. Unlike many modern-day conservatives, he rejects free-market fundamentalism and accepts the fact that government has a legitimate, even necessary, role to play. He just wants the appropriate ...
Voices
Defying mortars, rockets & bombs
Like many people, I confess to a fair amount of skepticism about the possibility that democracy is going to blossom in Iraq or Afghanistan as a result of the military actions we've been engaged in for much of this decade.
That skepticism has not been erased. But I also confess to a certain amount of humility after reading Stephen Lee Myers' report on Sunday's election in Iraq.
No matter what else I might think about the election, I marveled at this paragraph:
"Iraqis defied a barrage of mortars, rockets and other bombs to show up to the polls in strength on Sunday, ...
Voices
What we’re up against
Here's my choice for best quote of the day. It comes from David Axelrod, top aide to Barack Obama who is described by The New York Times in an article today as the president's "message maven:"
“Have I succeeded in reversing a 30-year trend of skepticism and cynicism about government? I confess that I have not. Maybe next year.”
Voices
The divide between Democrats and Republicans
A Washington Post column by the veteran political observer E.J. Dionne is already a bit dated but it still deserves to be widely read.
Published Monday, the column was written before Jim Bunning, a baseball pitcher turned Republican senator from Kentucky, abandoned his one-man stand against extending unemployment insurance. But it covers a lot of ground under the headline, "Living with partisanship."
I encourage everyone to read the whole column by clicking on this link. But even if you don't have the time or inclination, you might be interested in the most telling comment, explaining what Dionne sees as "the philosophical and ...
People & Places
When the Sts. go marching in
Like a lot of folks, I've spent much of the day watching the ongoing debate about health care in Washington. I'm not sure why I've been watching. Certainly there's not much drama in what passes for discussion in the nation's capital, and today's conversation, such as it was, has gone as everyone predicted it would.
Far more unpredictable, I thought, was a discussion at the St. Marys, Georgia, city council meeting the other night.
I read about it in the Georgia edition of the Jacksonville newspaper, the Florida Times-Union.
The topic? A recommendation by a consulting company that the city spell out "Saint" ...
Shared, Views, Voices
Bienvenue … to the next France
Like so many people who feel great affection for the United States, I've been a little worried about it lately.
With the inauguration of Barack Obama in early 2009, the nation appeared on the verge of entering a new era of hope — one in which the U.S. would make progress toward living up to its ideals and once again be a shining beacon for the rest of the world.
Then Republicans put up a united front of naysaying and political grandstanding, Democrats responded with craven timidity and downright cowardice, and the era of hope quickly evaporated into an era of nope.
This ...
Arts, Life, Reviews
My favorite Atlanta poem was written by an Irishman
On a flight into Atlanta a few years ago — a journey I had made many times — I sat next to a young man from Dublin, who was on his first trip to the U.S. As the plane made its descent, the young Irishman stared intently out the window and marveled at what he saw.
"It's a city in a forest," he told me.
I loved his fresh perspective on the city I knew well, and he was right. Compared to many cities, Atlanta still does have wonderful trees, despite an onslaught by developers determined to knock them all down.
I thought ...









