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OPINION
Daniel F. Evans
President
Editor and Publisher
Julie B. Evans
Vice President
Group Marketing
Don Moncrief
Managing Editor
Pickups, school buses and
seatbelts
With all the emphasis on buckling up,
there have always been exemptions
under Georgia law.
The General Assembly, however, is now
considering two bills which would make the
use of seatbelts mandatory for all sorts of
other conveyances, like tractors, motorcy
cles and pickup trucks, and the aim of this
law appears to be all about insurance.
In other words, the law if passed would give
insurance agencies the option of decreasing
your coverage for injuries if you were driv
ing your pickup or tractor without your
seatbelt on,
and blaming
you for “cau
sation, negli
gence or con
tributor negli
gence.”
This
wouldn’tmean
that they
wouldn’t still
accept your
premiums -
just that they
could haggle
more effec
tively about
what they’ll
pay if you’re
injured.
There are
times when we
would like to
have a count
of how many owners of insurance compa
nies are in the General Assembly putting
limitations on what people can receive after
paying premiums. At the same time, every
one seems to be perfectly content to have
children riding in school buses that aren’t
even fitted with seatbelts. Bring the subject
up and you’ll hear every kind of argument,
but what it comes down to is money.
Certainly it would cost a lot to have the
existing school buses retrofitted, but chil
dren whose parents would never allow them
to ride in the family car without seatbelts
are riding school buses every day without
that protection, and probably getting the
notion that seatbelts don’t really matter
that much, which, of course, they do.
New York has required two-point seat
belts for years. New Jersey began requir
ing them on new buses in 1992. Florida
recently passed a similar law, and California
has done the same.
Maybe someday, Georgia will do the same,
but in the meantime, if you’ve got a pickup
truck, better start buckling up.
Why it got started
With the National Junior Livestock
Show returning to the Georgia
National Fairgrounds for the 17th
year, it’s time to remember that, with all the
changes this generation has seen, Georgia’s
economy, and many of its values, were built
by generations of farmers.
It’s also time to remember that the Georgia
National Fairgrounds & Agricenter got its
start because legislators like former Rep.
Larry Walker of Perry, wanted to see young
people in Georgia have a better facility for
livestock shows.
More than 2000 members of the Future
Farmers of America and 4-H from across the
state will be showing up later this month
to show hogs, heifers, steers and sheep in a
competitive setting.
Some of these young people will go on
into other careers, but they’ll still have an
understanding of the hard work and high
standards that go into successful careers
in agriculture. Others will be the farmers
of tomorrow, the people who will keep our
plates full and our economy vibrant. Let’s
welcome them.
Audrey Evans
Vice President
Marketing!Advertising
Foy S. Evans
Editor Emeritus
Certainly it would
cost a lot to have the
existing school buses
retrofitted, hut children
whose parents would
never allow them to
ride in the family car
without seatbelts are
riding school buses
every day without
that protection, and
probably getting the
notion that seatbelts
don’t really matter that
much, which, of course,
they do.
And this too shall pass
u TTTe must bear the atmo
\l\l sphere of the hour. It will
V V pass away.”
President James McKinley
(1843-1901)
I distinctly remember when I learned
that Sonny Perdue, Democratic
President Pro-Tern of the Georgia
Senate, and before that Senate
Democratic Majority Leader, had
switched parties - from Democrat to
Republican. I had just returned from
an out-of-state business trip to the
Atlanta Airport and was driving back
to Perry when I got a call from Sonny.
“I’ve switched parties, Larry. To the
Republican party.” As my grandmother
used to say, “you could’ve knocked me
over with a feather”!
I was shocked. I had no inkling that
this was in the offing. I was disap
pointed and upset. Why? I was con
cerned - not only for Sonny, but for
myself. I was the Democratic Majority
Leader in the State House. How was
Sonny’s switch going to affect me?
And, Houston County? And, mine and
Sonny’s relationship?
I had about an hour and a half left
on my trip to Perry. This was good
because it gave me time to think,
uninterrupted, about Sonny’s alarm
ing revelation. And 1 vowed then, to
myself, to treat Sonny no differently
than I had in the past. And I didn’t.
And, he knows it. And, thankfully, we
remain close friends, probably closer
today than when we worked together
as Democratic leaders.
I was Governor Joe Frank Harris’
' ■ ' 1 1 I i 1 *
Democratic Honcho needs to put up or shut up
Bobby Kahn, the just-retired
chairman of the state Democratic
Party, has made a serious person
al charge against Republican Speaker
of the House Glenn Richardson and, of
this writing, hasn’t backed up his accu
sation. Kahn says that the Speaker had
an “inappropriate relationship” with
an Atlanta Gas Light Company lobby
ist while cosponsoring a bill that would
have financed a S3OO million pipeline
for the utility. The measure failed in
the 2006 General Assembly.
Before you jump to the conclusion
that this is a knee-jerk defense of
Republicans, go back and read my
column on Gov. Sonny Perdue’s sweet
heart land deals, which sound too
fishy to even qualify for his “Go Fish,
Georgia” initiative, or whatever that
silly program is called.
Then read my previous columns on
the GOP’s threats to take econom
ic development negotiations behind
closed doors. Like the rest of the state’s
media, I will use enough paper to kill a
Brazilian rain forest fighting that bad
idea and those who support it.
Truth in advertising iso requires me
to tell you that I have a reserved seat in
Speaker Richardson’s time-out chair.
While I don’t know the man personally,
I have taken strong exception to some
of his ill-advised remarks over the past
couple of years, and damn sure don’t
like the idea of him building a house on
accreted land on St. Simons Island.
But I also don’t like unsubstanti
ated cheap shots, and Kahn delivered
one on his way out the door of a state
Democratic Party that is a helluva lot
less influential than when he came in.
Disagree with a man’s politics all you
OPINION
floor leader in the State House.
Officially, Administration Floor Leader.
There has never been a finer man to
serve as Governor of our state. He
accomplished much. But, he and his
handlers, Tom Perdue and Barbara
Morgan, had really “thin skins”. They
couldn’t stand any criticism of the
governor.
I used to tell Governor Harris that
criticism of the governor, regardless
of who it was, “goes with the job”.
President Truman said it best: “If you
can’t stand the heat, stay out of the
kitchen”. And what about the negative
publicity that Governor Harris (and
all governors) received? You can’t even
remember it, can you? It has all passed.
It always does for those trying to do the
right thing. Trying to do a good job.
Now it’s our Representative Larry
O’Neal’s turn. An ethics complaint
has been filed. Certainly, I don’t know
what the outcome of this will be. What
I do know is: that politics is a rough
game; that you can’t take the politics
out of politics; that Larry O’Neal is a
good and honorable man; and, that all
of this will pass for Larry. Listen, these
same allegations were made against
SHOST6 of A9MfU!ST£ATtON6 ?A9T
want; that’s fair game, but stay away
from innuendos about his personal
life unless you are willing to provide
details: Names, dates and places.
Kahn may have the facts. I don’t
know. But I do know that nothing is
served by yelling “fire” and then walk
ing out of the theater.
So far, Kahn has refused to present
any evidence of a relationship except to
say it was “common knowledge.” Color
me naive, but if it is common knowl
edge why doesn’t someone else step
forward and verify Kahn’s charges?
Speaker Richardson is not beloved on
the Democratic side of the aisle. Surely,
someone else will present specifics and
not let this thing hang over the man
and his family.
Kahn took his complaints to the
joint legislative committee that inves
tigates such matters. They threw it
out because Senate President Pro Tern
Eric Johnson, R-Savannah, who heads
up the ethics body, said the complaint
did not include any details supporting
Kahn’s claim.
Johnson added that hearing the
charge without supporting evidence
“would turn this Committee into a
cipcus and invite kooks and partisans
to file false charges.” I couldn’t agree
' M
i
Larry
Walker
Columnist
IwalkerOwhgb-lawcom
Kmm
Dick
Yarbrough
Columnist
yarb24oo@bellsouth.net
HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL
Larry in his just completed election
- less than three months ago - and
Larry got, what, about 70 percent of
the vote?
The Bihle talks of throwing stones
and specks and boards in eyes and
turning the other cheek. Former
Speaker Terry Coleman told me once
that “these glass houses are ‘h ’. Well
said. You get the picture.
My friend, Bryant Culpepper, after
reading a draft of my proposed column,
emailed this to me:
“In regard to the article about Larry
O’Neal’s criticism, Winston Churchill
is said to have had these words of
Abraham Lincoln’s framed on his office
wall: ‘I do the very best I can, I mean
to keep going. If the end brings me out
all right, then what is said against me
won’t matter. If I’m wrong, ten angels
swearing I was right won’t make a dif
ference’.
On my office wall, I have an auto
graphed picture of the great pitcher
Nolan Ryan, which was taken shortly
after Bo Jackson had hit a pitch right
back at his face. As a result, his mouth
was bleeding and blood covered his
lips, chin, neck and shirt. Ryan was
still pitching. The reason this picture
is on my wall is to remind me that you
can’t be successful unless you stay in
the game. Giving up should never be
on your list of options.”
Leave it to Bryant to succinctly put
things in proper perspective.
Hang in there, Larry. Bear the atmo
sphere of the hour. Trust me. It will
pass.
more. For five years, I served as a mem
ber of the State Ethics Commission,
and much of our time was wasted by
political partisans trying to embarrass
opponents with spurious charges.
Perhaps Kahn was trying to deflect
close scrutiny of his tenure as captain
of the Titanic, aka the Democratic
Party of Georgia. When he took over
as party chairman, the state House
and Senate had Democratic majorities.
There had not been a Republican gov
ernor since Reconstruction. Now, both
legislative bodies’ majorities are in
Republican hands, as is the governor’s
office. For the first time in the state’s
history, an incumbent governor lost re
election. Democrat Roy Barnes’ cam
paign coffers were overflowing, and yet
he lost to an underfunded Republican
state senator named Sonny Perdue.
Who was Barnes’ campaign manager?
One guess. To Barnes’ eternal credit
and my utter amazement, he remains
one of Kahn’s staunchest defenders
today. I should have such friends.
. In dismissing Kahn’s charges, Sen.
Johnson said, “The fact that the chair
man of a political party makes vague
accusations against a leader of the
other party on the weekend before the
inauguration and the opening day of
the session clearly indicates the motiva
tion behind the charge. It should insult
the people of Georgia and embarrass
those who take the political process
seriously.”
Or said less kindly Bobby Kahn:
Either put up or shut up.
You can reach Dick Yarbrough at
yarb24oo(&bellsouth.net, PO. Box
725373, Atlanta, Georgia 31139, or
Web site: www.dickyarbrough.com.