If you live long enough, you meet a lot of interesting people. If you happened to have started in the newspaper business when you were 17 years old in 1950, you would have met a lot of very interesting people. Harry Moore (who claimed he broke the Wright Brothers flight story) and Tom Wicker. Richard Nixon and Sam Ervin. Jersey Joe Walcott and Yogi Berra. John Bubbles and Robert deNiro. Ray Price and Cristy Lane. And a lot of other folks. After a while you aren't easily impressed.

Dalton Roberts would impress anyone. Fifteen years ago as a newcomer to Chattanooga, I couldn't understand how anyone that blunt spoken could not only hold political office but be as popular as he was. It was because of that bluntness, that dedication to honesty that made him say what the thought and do what he believed best. That's why he was loved or hated, but hated with respect.

It would seem strange for anyone else to be son of a minister, a college graduate to make his living picking a guitar and singing in honky tonks. When he ran for office as the first Hamilton County Executive in the newly created office, political advisers told him to stay away from his honky tonk friends. He said if he had to turn his back on friends he had rather not be in politics. Those friends helped put him in office. His ability and actions earned him the right to stay there as long as he wanted.

Yet, he's more than a politician and public servant. His array of talents is amazing--song writer, author, talented writer and columnist, student of philosophies and religion from yoga to meditation, and he's a bird watcher. If someone said he was going back to school to learn to be a rocket scientist or a brain surgeon, those who know him wouldn't be surprised.

Once I told him I felt like a dinosaur, a 19th Century man deluged by changing cultures and inventions. He disagreed. He felt this was the most exciting time to be alive. If Chattanooga and Hamilton County have a 21st Century man, Dalton Roberts is certainly the Man of the Millennium.

  You can enjoy Dalton's wit and wisdom at his site by sending your e-mail address to DownhomeP@aol.com.

When the Attorney General, lacking legislative from the office holders, outlawed bingo, churches and other non-profit organizations were robbed of their fund raising programs to carry on a lot of good work.

To his credit, Ward Crutchfield and a few others have carried on a valiant fight to let the people decide on lottery or even bingo. States such as Georgia have enough money to fund students going to college.

Tennessee can’t even fund basic school needs.

Maybe common sense will enter the halls of legislation some day. Maybe those in office will have as much faith in the voters as the voters had in them.

Maybe that’s asking too much.

The furor over stupid remarks made by Braves pitcher JOHN ROCKER is another over reaction. Insensitive? Yes. Foolish? Yes. But he had the right to an opinion whether the thought police agreed or not. And if we all were punished for dumb remarks we would stay in hot water.

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The thought police continued to be busy by seeking punishment for the East Ridge school teacher with raunchy photos. Maybe they would like to censor thought as well. Problem with censorship is finding a perfect person to be the censor. If some fanatic atheist did the censoring, no one could have a Holy Bible or a Koran.

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Note to City Council members: when I was a green "hot shot" newspaper reporter, I got a parking ticket. I told the publisher I was going to ask the officer to "fix" it. He said, don’t do it. Sometime you might want to write a story about something he’s done wrong and he’ll say that you owe him. Somebody owes somebody something for the parking tickets. To JON KINSEY’s credit, he never had a parking ticket "fixed." To his credit, Judge WALTER WILLIAMS reacted immediately by launching a probe to find the whistle blower.

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What’s with the City Council in micro management of the police department. They hire a chief because have confidence in him and then overrule him when he disciplines an officer.

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The NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION lost a lot of good will with their "blood on President’s hands" remarks. The organization has become fanatical in their pursuit of the dollar—support from the gun industry.

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People who favor castration for sex offenders have forgotten about the Janissaries. They were castrated soldiers in the Ottoman Empire who were the fiercest of all warriors.

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Congratulations to ALAN GRIMSPAN. He’s been able to create the problem he warned against—inflation. Rising gas prices make everything higher. Products are usually either made from an oil derivative or have to depend on gas to be moved. The chairman and the Federal Reserve have too much power.

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Grand Court, formerly Mountain Creek Manor, still has problems. The state investigated after the death of a patient and soon their license was lifted. Now they’re on a COD basis with suppliers. A carpet company in the middle of work came and picked up their material. Sixty residents and $1,000 rooms ought to pay a few bills. Florida managers should be living well.

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