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Monday, January 8, 2007
Call him Mr. Bow-Tie
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A surreal scene here at Gov. Sonny Perdue’s inaugural ball. So far, the highlight has been several hundred white Republicans dancing to a black singing group featuring a fellow named George Wallace.
The group plays Alabama next.
It’s a lavish party spread across several acres in the basement of the Georgia World Congress Center. The governor is set to make an appearance at 8:30 p.m.
Ah, here he comes. No, it’s the Frederick Douglas High School marching band, complete with sousaphones and a dance troup — half-time, if you will.
And then Perdue, with a black tux and a spotted red bow-tie.
“We love you, we love our state,” the governor said. “Bless god, and thank you all.”
And that, friends, was that.
Republicans weren’t the only ones here. There were the non-partisans — such as state Supreme Court Justice Robert Benham.
And the occasional Democrat. Vernon Jones, the DeKalb County CEO, for instance. He said he doesn’t expect to make a decision on whether to run for the U.S. Senate until late this year.
If he should run against incumbent Republican Saxby Chambliss in ‘08, Jones said it’s inevitable that Iraq will be the driving issue.
“Saxby was with the president every step of the way,” he said.
Turtle on a fence post
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Gov. Sonny Perdue is now giving his inaugural speech. He began it by calling three former Democratic governors to the podium: Carl Sanders, Joe Frank Harris, and Zell Miller.
Perdue told Miller’s story of the turtle on the fence post. “You can be assured that the turtle didn’t get there by himself,” the Republican said.
Then he turned to his predecessors: “On behalf of a grateful state, I want to ask our audience to stand with me and acknowledge that you all helped put Georgia on a high, high fence post.”
The unanswered question, of course, is where Georgia’s other two former governors were — Roy Barnes and Jimmy Carter.
Cagle: He emphasizes education, and his mother
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In his inauguration speech, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle gave a big thanks to his predecessor, Mark Taylor, who vacated his office space in the state Capitol in December to make way for Cagle’s staff.
And he choked up when he came to mention his wife Nita and his three sons.
Cagle was much more specific on issues than Perdue. First mention went to education and his legislation for charter school systems: “Our educational system should be a partnership, not a dictatorship. “
As on the campaign trail, Cagle made several references to his mother, who raised him alone.
Contrast the following Cagle line with the similar phrasing from Gov. Sonny Perdue a couple entries below:
“And when our day is ended, we can look back like a proud mother, knowing that we have preserved Georgia for generations to come.”
Good grief: Cannons?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Republicans have brought out artillery, parked outside the Georgia Dome, to mark the swearing-in of Gov. Sonny Perdue.
No word of whether any Democrats were hit by shrapnel.
These inaugurations used to be such simple affairs.
Sonny Perdue’s second inaugural now underway.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Judging from the advance text of his speech, Gov. Sonny Perdue isn’t out to shake things up during his second term.
Take a look at these lines:
“I believe my mandate is simple: to be a good steward of the state and a faithful servant to the people. And the only legacy I seek is the same one any parent or grandparent seeks: to hand off our state, our home, to the next generation in better shape than we found it.
“This legacy won’t be achieved by executive order or sweeping legislation. [Emphasis ours] This legacy will be the sum of individual actions — it will be the result of Georgians deciding to make a difference.”
By the way, soon-to-be lieutenant governor Casey Cagle has gotten the biggest hand of all the introductions so far.
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For once, Dickens was on time
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We’ve sat through countless political speeches that borrow Charles Dickens’ famous beginning to “A Tale of Two Cities” - “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” - and wondered why no one ever quotes from the beginning of “Little Dorrit,” in which the words “nobody’s fault” float from lip to lip like smoke.
Even the hoariest of cliches can be fitting in the right circumstances, however. When Glenn Richardson began his speech with the familiar Dickens quote after being reelected speaker Monday morning, they seemed well chosen. With a scandal nipping at his heels, at the very moment when his party is consolidating its hold on power under the Golden Dome, this did indeed seem like the best and worst of times for the speaker.
Despite some rumored grumblings in the Republican ranks, Richardson’s reelection wasn’t in doubt. But as he entered the House chamber, Richardson was heard to ask what the vote count had been.
For the record, the vote was 113 to 66, which means Richardson must have gotten all his Republicans and a few Democrats. We say “must have” because with several new members, and without the benefit of a new face book, it’s a bit hard to tell who’s who. Democrats Bob Hanner, Gerald Greene and Bob Hanner voted for Richardson, and a few more we haven’t spotted yet.
Speaking of vagaries, it was also striking to us how unfamiliar most members were Monday with hown the Joint Committee on Ethics, which along with the State Ethics Commission will hear state Democratic Chairman Bobby Kahn’s allegations that Richardson had an “inappropriate” relationship with an Atlanta Gas Light lobbyist. We do know that because this is an odd-numbered year, chairmanship of the committee passes from Richardson - who presumbly will recuse himself anyway - to Senate president pro tem Eric Johnson. How’d you like to be in that hot seat?
On abortion, Bobby Franklin, and Neal Boortz
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Neal Boortz, the libertarian radio talk guru on WSB radio (750 AM), has spent much of this morning laying into state Rep. Bobby Franklin, the Republican from east Cobb County, for submitting legislation banning all abortions in Georgia.
Referring to Franklin as a “nut-job,” Boortz belittled the measure for linking breast cancer and smoking among women to abortion, and for failing to include any exceptions for rape, incest or the life of the mother.
Paraphrasing here, because we didn’t have the recorder going, but Boortz said that — if that bill should pass into law, and if he were the husband or father of a woman who died as a result — he’d hunt Franklin down and “snap” his neck, consequences be damned.
And so the dawn of a friendlier, kinder era of political debate.
Don’t bother trying to respond to Boortz. The radio host said he isn’t taking any calls on the matter.
Franklin’s bill doesn’t stand much of a chance of passing, but religious conservatives are backing it as a potential test case for the U.S. Supreme Court.
