Commentary
Climate scientists are screaming, will the Public Service Commission listen?
In her middle school graduation paper, my daughter declared that she had learned enough about climate change and that it was time for her to act. She has since spent hundreds of hours working to convince leaders to listen to the international scientific consensus and take the rapid, transformative action necessary to avoid climate catastrophe. […]
Georgia lawmakers want to take the ‘local’ out of our libraries
I love curling up with a good book. Cup of tea in one hand, balancing the book in the other. Time flies as I am transported away. But there have been times when I have turned the pages in a book I despised, while friends went on and on about how much they loved it. […]
Sunshine Week: State AG says huzzah, state Senate not so keen on free speech
We are closing out National Sunshine Week, a time when public officials are reminded to operate openly and transparently and embrace the spirit of the First Amendment. Georgia Republican Attorney General Chris Carr marked the occasion, pledging that his department is dedicated to enforcing the state’s Open Records Act and Open Meetings Act. So, it is […]
Bookman: Private school vouchers provide students a better chance to excel? Prove it
Bit by bit, inch by inch, year by year, Republicans in the Georgia General Assembly and in legislatures across the country have been moving toward passage of full-fledged school-voucher systems that would inevitably undermine public education. This year, at least for the moment, and at least in Georgia, that incremental advance has been stalled. Perhaps […]
Opinion: What would Teddy Roosevelt have to say?
A plush, stuffed bear got its name from him, but Teddy Roosevelt was no softy to be toyed with when he wanted to get something done. T.R. wasn’t a giant in stature, but our youngest-ever American president stood tall, ever ready to stiffen his backbone for a fight. We are blessed that President Roosevelt was […]
Opinion: Georgia lawmakers have a dangerous plan for curbing free speech
Beware Georgians. Senate Bill 171 is a threat to anyone in the state who wants to speak up for what they believe in. The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution clearly lays out that Congress shall make no law abridging or limiting our right to speak freely or to assemble. While Georgia may impose some […]
Opinion: Partisan policies didn’t raise gas prices, and partisan sniping won’t lower them
In 2020 the price of oil crashed, even falling to less than zero one day. Traders actually had to pay buyers to get them to take oil contracts off their hands. Oil companies would prefer not to sell oil unless they can make money off it. Oil companies are just funny that way. So U.S. […]
Building gas station where it could pollute this Florida spring would be fuel-ish
Russian troops invaded Ukraine last week — you probably heard about that. An international panel of scientists said climate change is worse than we thought, and their prime example is Florida. Meanwhile, our fine Legislature has been too focused on the “culture wars” to fix what’s really wrong with our state (affordable housing, toxic algae blooms, dying […]
Bookman: ‘We the people’ are in dangerous territory
The state of our union is precarious. It is precarious not because of some outside threat – outside threats we can still handle. It is precarious because we have forgotten our way, because we find ourselves increasingly seduced by a perverted, stunted and selfish notion of freedom. It is precarious because some of us have […]
Opinion: If you think you are living in a divided America, it’s nothing new
We are the United States of America. At least, that is who we have always claimed to be. But are we? Have we ever been? Considering where we are today, and the state of our public discourse, it begs the questions. The brazen and hateful divisions playing out in almost every aspect of American life did […]
Three poll numbers that should scare Democrats. And three that should give some hope
If the central argument for President Joe Biden’s election in 2020 was his competence and decades of experience in Washington, three numbers in a recent nationwide Quinnipiac University poll are a warning shot for the White House and Democrats as they look to hold their majorities in the U.S. House and Senate. Here they are: 56, 61, and 62. And […]
Bookman: Regents pledged to find qualified new chancellor; they fished for Sonny Perdue instead
A year ago, the Board of Regents announced it would begin a search to find the best-qualified candidate in the country to serve as its chancellor and lead Georgia’s 26 institutes of higher learning and their 340,000 students into what was sure to be a bright and glorious future. What the regents sought, we were […]