It was too much to ask, but we had held out hope that noisy elements within the Georgia General Assembly would have resisted the urge to make headlines of the sort that risk piling disdain or harm upon this state.
The siren song of drawing attention to tangential issues proved more tempting than some lawmakers could resist. These out-of-sync soloists simply couldn’t bypass the opportunity to belt out red-meat verse to their portion of the electorate. Contentious election years tend to stoke such performances.
We’ll admit that such antics can be entertaining to watch. They do nothing however to embody Georgia’s state motto of “Wisdom. Justice. Moderation.” They do even less for efforts to accomplish with dispatch the people’s business that voters elect them to oveersee.
So it is that, with 16 of 40 legislative days already behind us, Georgians have heard, among other things, assertions that the KKK was, in effect, the original neighborhood do-gooder group. We’re also being repeatedly told that the state remains in dire need of legislation protecting religious liberty, even though that concept was firmly etched into the U.S. Constitution three centuries ago. There are other acts in this play as well.
While these legislators energetically attempt to fan non-burning issues into full flame, or douse those in need of ignition, substantive matters are in danger of not receiving the attention and hustle they deserve. This list includes, among others, the need for additional transportation progress, education fixes, and shoring up Georgia’s healthcare system and HOPE scholarship.
It’s distressingly easy to forget these topics are even before lawmakers this year, so thick is the smokescreen of distractions. Georgians should demand more of their lawmakers, while there’s still time to reorder priorities.
In terms of raw drama, State Rep. Tommy Benton’s remarks about slavery, the Ku Klux Klan and the Civil War are impossible to top – so far. In exclusive remarks to an Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter published late last month, Benton singlehandedly managed to put Georgia on the national radar, if not internationally, in a terrible way by excusing the Klan’s bloody history while simultaneously sanctifying the Confederate battle flag.
We only hope the Jefferson Republican’s ill-advised and historically inaccurate remarks don’t cause much harm’s to this state’s ongoing work to draw capital, jobs and hard-working people desiring to live in the 21st century – not the 1800’s. It’s not far-fetched that those looking at Georgia as an investment prospect are wondering just what sort of state would employ Benton as a middle-school history teacher, or elect him to the state Legislature.
Thankfully, other lawmakers condemned Benton’s bluster. House Speaker David Ralston (R-Blue Ridge) was correct to first distance himself from, and later repudiate, Benton’s remarks. To the extent Ralston was behind the actions that effectively killed Benton’s mean-spirited legislation, the Speaker also deserves praise.
We’ll cede that Benton, in a wrongheaded way, had a point in that history can’t be forgotten. It doesn’t take a new law protecting Stone Mountain as a Confederate memorial to recognize that. History is best consumed straight, and with no chaser other than actual, not fanciful, context. Benton’s attempt to freeze Georgia in a 1950s sentiment is both ill-advised and impossible. Time, and attitudes, move on. Stone Mountain is perhaps the world’s largest proof of that.
Benton’s attempt to roll a tired, flat stone uphill proved fruitless, however the ongoing struggle over religious liberty laws here carries great risk of economic harm to Georgia. At latest count, no less than seven bills on this topic are riding currents in Gold Dome hallways.
Georgia cannot afford to be seen as a state enacting discriminatory laws, plain and simple. Religious rights should be respected, yes, as should the rights of others, including the LGBT community.
AJC conservative columnist Kyle Wingfield explores a possible way out of this controversy elsewhere on these pages today. His thoughts are worth careful reading as Georgia seeks a way out of this situation.
State lawmakers need to double down on finding solutions to real problems in the remaining days of the session. To help them focus, Georgians should reject the capitol crowd’s adaptation of the ancient Romans’ bread-and-circuses strategy of diverting attention from the tough issues.
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