2021 Columns

It is said that no good deed goes unpunished. If you don’t believe that, ask Mark Butler, commissioner of the beleaguered Georgia Department of Labor. These have not been easy times for Georgia DOL. Like most everything and everybody these days, the department has been hammered by the pandemic, as have those it is pledged to serve. In the days before COVID-19, the Georgia … [Read more...] about October 17, 2021: Labor Commissioner’s Good Deed Hard to Swallow

You are going to find this hard to believe but everybody doesn’t love me like you do. I seem to have managed to rile a few folks recently. Could it be something I said? I decided to talk to my colleague Junior E. Lee about the problem and see what thoughts or suggestions he might have to help me get out of my editorial time-out chair. As you know, Junior is general manager of … [Read more...] about October 10, 2021: Junior E. Lee Helps Put Reader Responses In Perspective

Class, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder – hard to define but we know it when we see it.  I thought about that as two events occurred in our state last week featuring prominent Republicans. In Atlanta, hundreds of friends and supporters gathered to honor a quiet man who epitomizes class, former U.S. Senator and lifelong Republican Johnny Isakson. The event raised … [Read more...] about October 3, 2021: Fractious Republicans Need To Heed Isakson’s Example

He was called “Mr. Anonymous, Jr.”  I thought about him the other day, after I read the U.S. Department of Justice has launched a statewide investigation into Georgia's prisons, focusing on prisoner-on-prisoner violence and whether the state is violating inmates constitutional rights by failing to adequately protect them.  This past week, members of the Georgia House … [Read more...] about September 26, 2021: Philip Weltner Used His Pickaxe For Public Good

Whether you are a Democrat or a Republican, liberal or conservative, there is one thing that should unite one and all – how government spends your tax dollars.  In Georgia, the best way to know that is through the state’s Open Records law.  In short form, government entities, agencies and individuals using our tax dollars must – with very limited exceptions --  … [Read more...] about September 19, 2021: It’s No Secret Cognia Disregarding Open Records Law