Political Lawsuits, The Passing Of A Georgia Icon and Jungle Primary Campaigning
Items from my political notebook as the Georgia summer beats us all into submission:
The battle between Georgia governor Brian Kemp and Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, while somewhat fascinating to watch, is really silly in the grand scheme of things.
For those who claim the governor’s decision to sue the Atlanta mayor is not a political statement then my advice is stop being so gullible. Of course, it is a political move. It involves two politicians.
In case you may have forgotten, Savannah, as well as Kemp’s hometown of Athens, had already passed similar ordinances concerning mandatory mask wearing in public. The governor said nothing about those moves and certainly filed no lawsuits (with taxpayer money mind you.)
However, when it happened in Atlanta then suddenly Kemp went on the offensive. Oh, and it took place right when President Trump was rolling into Atlanta. Coincidence? Yeah right.
Personally, I am not in favor of citizens being forced to do anything in terms of wearing a mask. If a privately owned business demands it of its employees then that is a different ball game altogether.
However, government bodies in the form of mayors, city councils or county commissions should not be dictating what citizens do. Becoming a nanny state is not the answer to any of our problems.
Private businesses certainly have the right to ask customers to wear masks. Customers have the option of not shopping in that business so a mandatory requirement by a store does not really take away one’s rights.
Maybe instead of filing lawsuits (why not just have a press conference where Kemp says a municipality cannot override what the governor says?) we should spend the funds being used for better things. We all know there are plenty of options out of there.
A Civil Rights icon: The passing of congressman John Lewis was somewhat of a surprise although the 1960s Civil Rights leader was in his 80s.
Regardless of whether you agreed with Lewis politically, there is no denying he helped bring the Deep South out of the dark ages in terms of equal rights for all. I have always found it surprising he never ran for higher office. The long-time congressman never threw his hat in a race for governor or for the United States Senate.
Lewis was always a safe bet for re-election in his district as a congressman and with the primary already over state Democrats have to figure out about replacing him on the ballot.
Our state is home to many Civil Rights-era icons and Lewis was certainly at the top of that list. The images of him participating in legitimate protests (not property destroying missions) are often tough to look at it. He was often assaulted by those who opposed equal rights for African-Americans and was often on the receiving end of physical attacks by law enforcement despite not doing anything illegal.
A photo recently made the rounds on social media of former Republican U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson and Lewis embraced in a hug (before the COVID-19 crisis no doubt.) Here were two men were likely disagreed politically but still had a high level of respect for each other.
In that simple photo is a lesson we would all be wise to learn from.
Late-breaking news from this past weekend indicated Speaker David Ralston and Lt. Governor Geoff Duncan, both Republicans, are endorsing a proposal to remove Georgia’s statue of Confederate vice president Alexander Stephens from the U.S. Capitol and replace it with a new statue of the late civil rights hero Lewis.
Jungle primary campaigning: Kelly Loeffler’s recent statements about the Black Lives Matter movement in terms of the WNBA was a questionable move.
While Loeffler’s words were intended to help draw more die-hard right-wing support, it remains to be seen if that will happen. Technically Loeffler is still part of the ownership of the Atlanta Dream.
Regardless of what her words may mean for her campaign, Loeffler has certainly alienated 99 percent of the WNBA. There have been calls from the league’s player association for her to sell her stock in the team. If she doesn’t it is going to be tough for the franchise to sign players moving forward.
Loeffler is trying to stand out among a field of 20 candidates and is having a difficult time doing so. She is one of six Republicans in the race and some polling shows she is struggling to make the runoff in the “jungle primary” where all candidates will be listed on the same ballot in November.
While taking into account Loeffler is not a career politician (which normally would be a plus for a campaign), she looks uncomfortable at campaign events. One observer noted the fact that wearing a pair of blue jeans in no way makes her relatable to the regular working man and working woman of our state.
Most political pundits will tell you that congressman Doug Collins is her top Republican challenger but others are gaining momentum including South Georgia educator Kandiss Taylor and former U.S. Education Department official Wayne Johnson.
Monticello native Chris Bridges is a veteran community newspaper journalist and long-time contributor to The Monticello News. He welcomes feedback from readers about this column at pchrisbridges@gmail.com.