Newspaper Page Text
PETEMcCOMMONS
rm% pub notes
Local Heroes
KEMR GOWSERT, GINN, WIEDOWER, GAINES—REMEMBER!
By Pete McCommons pete@flagpole.com
After basking in the political spotlight
throughout the presidential election and its
aftermath, and then the senatorial elections
and their runoffs, we were all feeling a little
bit wistful that Georgia seemed to be slip
ping out of the national attention span.
But now, Georgia Republican legislators
and the governor have come to our rescue.
We’re back on the front burner and cooking
with gas. Every news outlet in the coun
try is buzzing about the remarkable feat
pulled off by the Republicans, who passed
a 100-page bill restructuring our elections
IN JUST ONE DAY! And then the gover
nor signed it THE SAME DAY! What a fast
reader he must be, in spite of what they say
about him.
And to tell you the truth, when we were
in the national spotlight back in the fall
and winter—carrying the state for Joe
and defeating two denim-clad incumbent
Republican senators, plus having our secre
tary of state refuse to acquiesce to pressure
from the president—we did begin to feel
a little bit nervous, like when everybody
is saying what a good kid you are and you
have just been out behind the garage smok
ing stolen cigarettes.
So now it’s kind of a relief to be back in
the spotlight for more of the same old stuff
Georgia has always been famous for. That
role-model pose was beginning to get a little
stiff. We’re more comfortable with the I Was
a Fugitive From a Georgia Chain Gang kind of
national image, or the guns-and-trucks per
sona the governor acted out so well when
he was running.
So here we are back on the national stage
for voter suppression, something the gover
nor knows a lot about—and these five local
guys are on center stage.
Now, I don’t want to give Brian Kemp,
Bill Cowsert, Frank Ginn, Marcus Wiedower
and Houston Gaines credit where it’s not
due. It may be that some of them actually
had a hand in restraining the crazies in
their party who wanted to flat-out ban
absentee ballots or take the franchise back
to just white men, but, anyway, they all
voted for the voter-suppression bill that
the governor signed, so they deserve our
thanks for that.
Their tour-de-force of a bill shortens
the early voting period, curtails the use of
drop boxes, requires an ID card for absentee
voting, makes it a crime to
give somebody a drink of
water no matter how long
they’ve been standing in
line to vote, purges the sec
retary of state from control
of elections and establishes
the Georgia legislature as
the final judge of all elec
tion results in every county
(especially Fulton!) in the
state, no matter what the
local boards of elections
say about the results.
Why did they do all
this? Yep. The last elec
tion was crooked. It was
stolen. Truckloads of
ballots weren’t counted.
Truckloads of ballots were
counted twice, some three
times. People voted too
early. People who voted
absentee (too many of
them) put their ballots into
(gasp) drop boxes so that
they could stay safe from
the fake pandemic.
This 100-page bill show-
boats the political skills of
our hometown heroes. You know, it’s one
thing to decry corruption over in Atlanta.
Looks good on TV; doesn’t step on any
toes. But when you’re saying that your own
local election board is crooked (when you
know it’s not, because, hey, you got elected,
didn’t you?) that takes some pretty smooth
sidestepping. In fact, the whole 100-page
bill demands the utmost in political games
manship. You’ve got to opine earnestly that
the last elections were stolen, in spite of all
the court cases and recounts—at county
election boards like ours all over Georgia,
two-thirds of which voted overwhelmingly
for Republicans. Takes a mighty good politi
cian to pull that one off and still look good
in church on Sunday.
But here’s the big payoff: Just suppose
that by putting Georgia back on everybody’s
mind, Kemp, Cowsert, Ginn, Wiedower and
Gaines have provided the clinching outrage
that will somehow push the For The People
Act—the voting rights act—through the
U.S. Senate and stop Georgia and Iowa and
Arkansas and Florida and all those other
states from messing with the people’s right
to vote. Wouldn’t that be something?
You never know about politics. Just
when you’re whistling “Dixie,” the law of
unintended consequences can make you
change your tune. ©
Under the new law, drop boxes can’t be outside.
15% OFF
Your Total Purchase!*
The last Friday of every month is
date night at Elations ! Come in
with your significant other for
storewide savings! All couples
are honored & celebrated.
71 <$ aH tt&ml fits emp/ss...
Women's Wednesdays
10% OFF
Your Total Purchase!*
Come on in and see what we're
all about. Our friendly & veiy
knowledgeable staff are here to
answer all of your questions and
help guide you through your
pleasure purchase.
7l<s ci/l a&wd fas fadc&s...
Couple's Date Night
Come Visit With Us:
4100 Lexington Rd. Athens
(Adjacent to Willowood Square)
706.552.1492
Connect With Us...
Always FREE SHIPPING @
ShopStarship.com
MARCH 31, 2021 | FLAGPOLE.COM
7