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DEL.ICIO.USTruth and euphemism at the Capitol
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Hardly a day goes by that the people who inhabit the state Capitol don’t prove their ways to be dark and mysterious.
The Republican-controlled Senate Rules Committee just put together its calendar for tomorrow’s crucial 30th day of the legislative session. Any bill that hasn’t passed at least one chamber by Tuesday midnight will be considered, for the most part, dead.
The standards used to create the list are unclear.
Let’s take the case of two sets of Democratic bills.
S.B. 441 and S.B. 442, sponsored by state Sen. Ed Tarver of Augusta, would make it illegal to lie when testifying before a Senate or House committee — punishable by fines or hard time.
That’s right. Currently, it’s quite legal to spout the most bald-faced falsehood in the Capitol. And it will be legal to do so next year, too. Tarver’s bills were given no place on the Tuesday calendar, and are thus dead for the session.
The official line is that Republican lawmakers feared that asking lobbyists and members of the executive branch to tell the truth would curtail free speech. And Lord knows, lying is the most liberated kind of speech there is, ranking right up there next to proposals of marriage.
However, we were quietly informed that primary problem lay with the bills’ fiscal note, which indicated the legislation would force a vast and costly overhaul of the state prison system.
Nevertheless, there is news for those interested in good government. While the Senate may not have a stomach for the truth, it does have an appetite for euphemism.
The Rules Committee voted to permit senators to debate the merits S.R. 809.
This legislation would encourage the renaming of “seat belts” to “life belts.” And “air bags” would be known as “life bags.”
Chief sponsor of S.R. 809 is Emmanuel Jones of Decatur, owner of a car dealership.
Do not scoff. There’s opportunity here. If this measure passes, then “seat belt” and “air bag” would cleansed of their current meanings — and thus would be open for new business.
We suggest an amendment:
Henceforth, an “air bag” will designate a Georgia politician, preferably one who enjoys being lied to at every turn. And “seat belt” will be defined as the slug of whiskey that an air bag enjoys, from his armchair, at the end of a long day.
Comments
By BobG
March 10, 2008 5:01 PM | Link to this
Meanwhile, Georgia property owners will continue to be overtaxed simply because state lawmakers refuse to correct a deficiency in the current tax law. Read about the solution here.