Columns

I have a new hero.  His name is Richard Woods and he is the State School Superintendent of Georgia. First, a little background: For a couple of years during the Deal Administration, Supt. Woods, although duly elected by the people, was relegated to the governor’s Time Out Chair in a dispute over how to deal with the state’s lowest performing schools.  Under a law … [Read more...] about September 13, 2020: State School Superintendent Refuses to Turnaround On Testing

We are now into September of what has so far been a bummer of a year.  My colleague, David Carroll, a Chattanooga TV anchor with whom I share the editorial page in several papers, calls 2020 “the Edsel of years.”  I wish I had thought of that line.  I hate it when TV anchors are funnier than I am. We have had to endure eight months of sheltering in place, social … [Read more...] about September 6, 2020: Not Finding Much Good News in This Bummer of a Year

Remember the Tina Turner hit, “What’s Love Got To Do With It?”  In the lyrics, love is referred to as a “second-hand emotion.”  That song popped into my head as I watch what is happening to our country. Love has got a lot to do with it and, unfortunately, is seems to be a second-hand emotion these days – second to a lot of hate.  We see that hate on television, … [Read more...] about August 30, 2020: Is There Any Place for Love In Today’s World?

You long-time loyalists (and you know who you are) will remember the exploits of Sheila the Family Wonderdog in this space.  You will also recall that Shelia went to Doggie Heaven a few years back where she now enjoys swapping yarns with her pals Lassie and Rin Tin Tin and Old Yeller and chasing squirrels into eternity.  Sheila was, in fact, my grand dog which meant … [Read more...] about August 23, 2020: Murphy Gooddog and Friends Have a Lot They Can Teach Us

It’s a jungle out there and Kandiss Taylor is still trying to hack her way through it.  We are talking about the “jungle primary,” a euphemism being applied to a special election on November 3rd to fill the remaining two years of Sen. Johnny Isakson’s term. Isakson, a Great American of the first rank, chose to retire before his term ended due to declining … [Read more...] about August 16, 2020: Long-Shot Candidate Trying to Hack Through Political Jungle