I pledge allegiance to the GEORGIA flag???

So glad to see that the first order of business for the Georgia State Senate on its first day Monday was to adopt a rule requiring members to say a pledge of allegiance to the GEORGIA flag.

Really? Granted, the state flag in this state has been used as a tool of both racism and racial healing. But, c'mon, it's just a stupid state flag. Unless we go into war with Alabama (and I'm not necessarily against that) and go charging across the Chattahoochee River with guns and bugles blazing, we don't NEED a state flag.

I still maintain that the Georgia General Assembly should just take every other year off and save money by spending a year of not making stupid rules and laws. Just pass a two-year budget, quit pandering to extremists and special interests and just try to make the state a little better instead of positioning for future political victories. I really don't care if you pledge allegiance to the flag or do the hokey pokey before each session. Just get some important work done.

Head cases

The Georgia General Assembly (in yet another example why they should just take a year off every now and then and save us tax dollars by not meeting) is now considering a bill that would allow motorcycle riders to ride without wearing helmets. Don't know whether I should weigh in, considering the dichotomy of my views on motorcycles (I have friends who ride them and I have a blast at motorcycle paradise Angel City, and yet I hate unnecessary noise and the way riders get a free pass to speed and break traffic laws in Columbus). But what the heck, I'll weigh in anyway.

I guess I'm gonna have to side with liberty here. You should have the freedom to spill your brains on the highway. But know that it won't be a lot of comfort to the family members you leave behind to know that you died free in an otherwise minor accident. I guess we should only legislate stupidity when it begins to affect other folks.

So, let the wind blow through your hair (or around your bald head for my motorcyclist buddy Gregg) but please don't crack your skull open in front of me on the highway.