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Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Eloquence, when lubricated, finds its way to many tongues
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We got a lot of calls about last week’s item in which we quoted Mississippi legislator Noah S. “Soggy” Sweat’s 1952 speech on liquor. One that caught our interest came from Alec Poitevint, chairman of the Georgia Republican Party.
He’s not claiming right of authorship, Poitevint said, but his grandfather C.T. Lynn, who was born in 1878 and served as a justice of the peace near Bainbridge in the early years of the last century, had a very similar speech, decades before Sweat’s oration.
We suspect Poitevint is right when he says a lot of politicians used similar words in that era, although Sweat copyrighted his speech. Poitevint recalls U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson using a similar speech years ago. His grandfather’s version, which supposedly was an answer to the local Temperance Union, wasn’t as rhetorically sophisticated as Sweat’s, he said, but it got to the same point.
Poitevint recalls that while his grandfather had more liberal views about liquor, his grandmother was a teetotler. But in common with many Southern ladies, she made an exception during the holidays and allowed others in the family to buy whiskey for her eggnog.
As Poitevint remembers it, that eggnog had a heck of a kick.
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The dog that hasn’t barked: Tweaks to U.S. House districts held by Barrow and Marshall
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Here we are two weeks into the winter session of the General Assembly, and the hot sauce is missing.
For the first time in several years, we are knee-deep in legislative politics, and not a single rumor has surfaced yet about congressional redistricting. Given that U.S. Reps. John Barrow and Jim Marshall escaped by two whiskers last November and remain vulnerable Democrats, that’s unusual.
Or perhaps not so. First of all, there’s no Tom DeLay in Washington pushing GOP congressional delegations to exact every advantage out of the reapportionment process.
And there’s the fact that Georgia is a Republican state that’s now asking for $130 million or so from a Democratically controlled Congress, to help salvage PeachCare, its health insurance program for the children of the working poll.
It could be that many Republicans have noticed the bump that Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle received when he declared himself above politics on the Voter ID issue. Or they thought it would be too ironic to fiddle with congressional lines just after Gov. Sonny Perdue’s task force recommended the involvement of a neutral body.
But one reason stands above all. Fiddle with Marshall’s lines, and he might just up and run against U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss next year.
Any thoughts?
It depends on whether we’re talking blades or broken beer bottles
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Remember the GSU students who did the 55-mile-an-hour video last year? They’re working for us.
In their first video, they’ve raised this pertinent question: If the House and the Senate were in a bar fight, who would win? Best quote is from state Sen. Cecil Staton of Macon: “At least we don’t spit on the floor.”
See it here. Next: If Sparticus had a Piper Cub.
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Blogwatch: Unions say they’ll bring the potato salad to ‘Family Day’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This is what happens when Republicans try to throw a block party. Everybody thinks the invitation applies to him.
As they did two years ago, GOP lawmakers said they had reserved Saturday, Feb. 10, for ‘Family Day’ at the state Capitol — a day to draw back the curtain of legislative mystery for the glowing faces of young children, to allow them to discover for themselves that the world of politics is very much like the world of Spongebob Squarepants, right down to the squirrel with the fishbowl on his head.
And as they did two years ago, union leaders have declared they’ll use ‘Family Day’ to rally their troops. This time for a hike in the minimum wage.
Blog for Democracy has this message today from Tasso Knight, a lobbyist for the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 1996:
“Remember the fun we had two years ago on Family Day with a march from the stadium to the Capitol? With this just being announced (and I am sure the short notice was intentional) we have less that two weeks to put this together. We look to have at least 200 family, friends, union and coalition members standing with us on this day.”
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