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Ronald Reagan, like a lot of conservatives, often repeated the maxim "that government is best which remains closest to the people." Back then, conservatives could still honestly claim some loyalty to concepts such as local control and small government.

JAY BOOKMAN MY OPINION • E-mail Bookman Recent columns: Fourth of July's about freedom that is earned  Familiar Georgia may melt away  Slowly, green shoots of optimism appear  Inciting fears in hard times dangerous  Georgia Senate endorses radical idea  'Socialist' charge has lost its power to sting  Legislature, we've got your number

But no longer. In fact, Reagan would be ashamed of those who today profess to govern Georgia in his conservative spirit. In the great legislative power grab of 2008, local control and other once-treasured conservative principles have been tossed into the trash like yesterday's political posters, useless and outdated and in fact inconvenient to the new agenda.

Which is power.

Power is a dangerous, mind-altering thing. Among other dangers, those granted power often come to believe that they have been granted wisdom as well, when in fact the opposite is often true. Too often, power makes people stupid and lazy, because it fools them into believing that the solution to every problem is more power for themselves — with enough power, they come to believe, there is no problem they cannot solve. And that way lies trouble.

"Nearly all men can stand adversity," as Abraham Lincoln put it, "but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."

Here in Georgia, state legislators are trying to suck in power like a black hole in space sucks in light. Bills are advancing that would vastly increase state control over cities, counties and school districts, driven by a mind-set expressed perfectly this week by House Speaker Glenn Richardson.

Richardson has convinced himself that local taxes are out of control and that local voters are incapable of solving the problem. So he has taken it upon himself to play the role of Big Brother and solve the problem for them, by granting himself and his colleagues more power.

That has touched off a bitter fight with cities, counties and school boards, and during debate in the House on Tuesday, the speaker took those local officials to task.

"Shame on you," he told them, his voice rising. "You have forgotten where your power comes from."

To most Georgians, the power of local officials is derived from the people. That's who elects them; that's who pays their salaries. Based on that understanding, Richardson was accusing local officials of forgetting that their authority came from their constituents.

Except that wasn't his point at all. As the speaker quickly made clear, "the power of city, county and school district officials comes from this body," meaning the Legislature. To Richardson, it is the Legislature, not local voters, to whom local officials owe their jobs, their authority and thus their allegiance, and he was telling them that they should be ashamed for not showing the Legislature proper deference. He even chastised local officials for daring to oppose his efforts to consolidate power, threatening to strip them of their right to express their views to their own legislators.

Richardson and his colleagues are living rebuttals to conservative commentator Jonah Goldberg, author of "Liberal Fascism," the best-selling nonfiction book in the country. Most people believe that communism is the totalitarianism of the left, while fascism is its counterpart on the right. Goldberg, however, argues that communism and fascism are both products of liberalism. Judging by his book sales, a lot of people want to believe that.

A few weeks ago, while taking part in a panel discussion at Oglethorpe University, I asked Goldberg whether totalitarianism of the right is even conceivable. "No," he said after a moment of thought, "it is not."

That's a stunning claim. To believe that, you have to believe that conservatives are immune to the siren call of power that seduces the less stalwart, that they are genetically disinclined to seek power for power's sake. It would mean that all the checks and balances built into American government exist only to control liberals. Applying them to conservatives is unnecessary because, like eunuchs in a harem, they can't be tempted.

It's a silly argument, and if Goldberg wants proof, we've got it right here in Georgia.

• Jay Bookman is deputy editorial page editor. His column runs Monday and Thursday.