My Morning Wooten

I wake this morning to find my heart full of hate and a spleen in desperate need of venting. Fortunately, I have a convenient local punching bag.

So let's go. Suffice it to say, the harsh will not be spared.

No taxpayer should ever, under any circumstances, agree to a tax that can be extended 15 years when two of three local governments agree. Most of the voters who elected to tax themselves and their guests for MARTA are dead and gone. Before it’s extended from 2031 to 2047, the living ought to have a say. The tax was approved by a 471-vote margin in Fulton and DeKalb 36 years ago. By the time this newest tax expires, the youngest voter who could have extended permission will be 94 years old.

And one day the crotchety curmudgeon lap dogs of the pave everthing industry will pass from this world and perhaps we can then have a decent conversation about real transit solutions.

The fight between two lobbyists after the end of this year’s General Assembly came about 2 in the morning. Ever notice how many bad things happen to people between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m.?

Ever notice how many bad things happen when drunk, on power or otherwise, Republican lobbyists are involved?

U.S. Sen. Harry Reid’s “War is Lost” Democrats defines, again, the difference: If there’s trouble or threat, real or brewing, in the world, put a Republican in the White House. If day care is in crisis and money is the answer, elect a Democrat.

Except for Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry Truman. Ah, but it is so easy to forget that some choose to live life as if we all inhabit some John Wayne movie. Just one other thing. There was trouble brewing in the world once. And we put a Republican in the White House. That particular Republican chose to brush aside reports of an escalation in terrorist chatter. Then, one day, the entire nation woke up to the horror of 9-11. Please, Jim, spare me your bullsh*t platitudes about Republicans being strong savior cowboys and Democrats being smothering mommies. There's only so many times you can hand the American public a sh*t sandwich and make them believe it is ham on rye.

The Georgia State Senate, exercising its advise-and-consent authority, declines to accept Gov. Sonny Perdue’s renomination of a special interest group lobbyist to the board of the Department of Natural Resources. Said lobbyist and her soul mates are chagrined. Hmm. Should the Marlboro marketer have a designated seat on the board of the Department of Community Health? Or the road builders on the Department of Transportation board?

Don't let a few facts get in your way Jim. Why was the problem only discovered now? The so-called lobbyist sat on the board for almost eight years. Why take action after so long? You do remember why dontcha Jim? It is one of the five "Ws" all reporters are supposed to worship. Is some operation required to remove that particular part of the cognitive ability when a reporter graduates to commentator? And one other thing. If all these other board members are such objective do-gooders, then why won't the Governor's office release the names of all executive board members?

Now I understand why cops here work part-time jobs. It’s to pay their lawyers in the event they use their guns. Or to pay funeral expenses when they guess wrong, and don’t.

No, Jim. Cops work part-time jobs because every time they ask for a decent salary, so-called conservatives who preach the primary responsibility of the government is protection start screaming about unions and how they will be the end of us all. And if this particular point is some obtuse reference to the Kathryn Johnson case, then please excuse me as I remove myself from the room for a good vomit.

When a union spokesman raises alarm about staffing levels, whether in schools, police departments or government agencies, the skeptical taxpayer wonders: Is this a real problem and, if so, does it require a monetary or a management fix?

Well, you didn't take long to prove my point.

I'm done with you today, Jim. And no I don't feel particularly better. But sometimes you just can't honey up the medicine enough. Maybe I should try a different form of medicine. One that might take me into the habitat of the elusive feral Republican lobbyist.