georgia has a new governor. i didn’t vote for him, his website doesn’t work yet, but there he is. he won by shifting voter focus from a history of increasing education revenues to a yen for a dismissed flag. specifically, a confederate battle flag put into the service of segregationalists in 1956. and a terribly vocal subset of the populace bought it like five cent candy. he managed to ride that flag like a magic carpet right into the governor’s mansion. you see, he promised that georgians would get a chance to vote for the return of their historic banner. one that’s less than fifty years old, that is. they could restore the flag that honored a so-called heritage, a flag assembled in haste by legislators drowning in a sea of civil rights reform that might force them to accept every one of their constituents, regardless of race. it’s a flag with some history, all right. rather bleak history.

personally, i don’t need that flag back. the new flag is not very attractive, certainly. in my humble opinion, it looks like a powerpoint presentation and reeks of boardroom compromise. and if we’re going to have a vote, why not include the flag prior to 1956?

but vote or no vote, georgia has a new governor. a republican. the first one in over a century. and if you pay attention to the pundits and the mouthpieces, republicans are for lowering taxes and democrats are for raising taxes. the conservatives have to rise up against the liberal agenda, don’t they? keep those money-grubbers out of the pockets of the working man. right?

unless that working man buys a six-pack of beer and a pack of smokes on the way home. governor sonny has submitted his new budget plan, a plan that includes an increased tax on cigarettes and alcohol. for all of this conservative posturing, for all of his republican support, governor perdue is looking less like a republican elephant these days.

and more like an ass.