Readers write
Lt. Gov. position no longer shoo-in for top job
Last week’s runoff elections underscored a quiet but brutal reality in Georgia politics: the lieutenant governor’s office is no longer a steppingstone to the governorship. It is a political hindrance.
Since 2006, every single occupant of the state’s second-highest office — Mark Taylor, Casey Cagle, Geoff Duncan and Burt Jones — has seen their gubernatorial ambitions utterly derailed.
On paper, the position is the perfect training ground. The proximity to power affords a lieutenant governor the institutional insights and legislative skillset required to be a seasoned chief executive.
In practice, however, the office forces those who swing the gavel into a structural trap. As leader of the Georgia Senate, you are forced to take ownership of controversial legislative battles, making you a target for both parties. By the time a lieutenant governor runs for the top job, they carry all the scars of governing with none of the space to defend themselves and their record.
In Georgia, proximity to the second floor doesn’t guarantee succession. For the last 20 years, it has simply ensured political career elimination.
BLAINE SALTER, ATHENS
World Cup impresses with all-female referees
I attended the South Africa vs. Czechia game (June 18) and was blown away that all three referees were female.
As much as I was impressed by the game, seeing all females out there was awesome. It brought back memories of when I was coaching in the 1980s and many parents didn’t want a female coach and moved their sons to a different team. Progress, slow but sure.
MARY KAY KREISLE, ATLANTA
Georgia storms part of weather extremes
The severe thunderstorms that swept across Georgia recently did more than scatter debris; they exposed how easily our communities can be pushed to the edge.
The AJC recently reported trees crashing onto homes and cars, roads blocked by flooding and thousands losing power as winds tore through already saturated ground. Crews worked overnight to clear streets and restore electricity, but the scale of disruption showed how quickly daily life can unravel.
These storms are part of a growing pattern of weather extremes hitting harder and more often. When heat builds for days, soils dry and roots weaken; when heavy rain follows, trees fall with little resistance. Add rapid urban growth, more pavement, reduced absorption and even routine storms, and you can overwhelm drainage, power lines and emergency response.
If these conditions were truly “normal,” our systems would be built to withstand them. Instead, each new round of damaging winds and flash flooding reveals how climate‑driven extremes are outpacing the infrastructure meant to protect us.
ERICA BIBBEY, MARIETTA