Rep. Chuck Sims et al., Part VII. -- Newt's advice to Newt, Jr. on party switchers: If you can't beat, join 'em. And then they'll beat you.

Cracker Squire's Fables

Story # 1: Open eyes.

I know you've heard the joke that goes something like:

John Kerry was walking toward the Capitol and sees a young girl with a newly born litter of puppies. Seeing the young girl's mother in the corner of his eye and wanting to impress about how he is not as snobbish as she might have heard, he stops and asks the little girl: "What kind of puppies are these?" The girl smiles and says "They're Democrats."

The next week Kerry is walking toward the Capitol with John Edwards and again sees the little girl with her litter of puppies. He tells Edwards, "You gotta' see this!"

Kerry walks up to the girl and asks, "Tell Sen. Edwards what kind of puppies you have these?" "Republicans" the young girl replies.

"But last week you said they were Democrats!" The little girl looks up and smiles, and then says, "They were then, but now their eyes are open."

Story # 2: Having a heart.

If you've heard this one, you've got my password and have been reading my email.

Last week a friend informed me that her daughter was expecting. I wrote the daughter a nice congratulatory about the new family member, etc., and got a reply telling that she and the hubby had just returned from the doctor where they had a sonogram and "were able to see a heartbeat."

I couldn't resist an email to the mama. "I am so excited about the family's great news. Got an email from [daughter], and I am especially tickled that your family finally has its first Democrat."

"What do mean?" the perturbed mama shot back.

"[Daughter] emailed me about the sonogram, and says the baby has a heart," I retorted, obviously pleased that she had fallen for my ploy hook, line and sinker.
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The relevance of the fables. It's coming.

But first, let's look at the new GOP rules, the first set being rules for public consumption, as espoused by Speaker-elect Glenn Richardson:

Rule No. 1. "I will place principle over power and will be fair in all my decisions." (11-07-04 ajc.)

Rule No. 2. "Friendships and other usual criteria are out the window. With Republicans in charge, we will make committee assignments based on what is best for the people of Georgia. (11-09-04 PI.)

Rule No. 3. The litmus test for proposed legislation: Will it reduce the size of government? Will it strengthen our traditional family structure? Will it reduce the tax burden on our citizens? Will it increase personal responsibility? Unless proposed legislation answers yes to one of these questions, it will face a difficult course." (Jim Wooten's 11-09-04 column.)

Rule No. 4. The GOP party line to Democratic legislators is that "if you think your district, your constituents and your political ideology fit ours, then come on over." (Actually this proclamation, unlike the prior three rules, was uttered by Majority Leader-elect Jerry Keen of St. Simons. (11-12-04 ajc.))
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In the column link above, Jim Wooten notes: "For conservatives, Richardson's declaration is music." But hey, I consider myself a moderate, and this test sounds pretty good to me too if we can pull it off and still recognize "government" as we have known it to be.

And it does seem to go hand in glove with the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute (an Atlanta think tank) study released on Monday of this week that says budget cuts could become a permanent fixture in Georgia government largely because of is a series of tax cuts and exemptions approved by the Democratic-controlled legislature during the 1990's. (11-08-04 ajc.) (I don't rightly know how the public is going to stand for too many additional spending cuts in such areas as education and public health.)
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I know I promised to get to the relevance of the Cracker Squire's Fables, but I said nothing about the relevance of the "Rep. Chuck Sims et al., Part VII" part of the title of this post. Read on.

Besides the new GOP rules that have been put out by the Speaker-elect for public consuption, there are also some other new GOP rules that are rules nonetheless, just not ones that have been put out for public consumption.

These rules, unlike the public consumption rules, can't be easily broken down into Rule No. 1, etc., and most definitely are rules that the Speaker-elect would rather that Rep. Chuck Sims et al. did not know about.

It is predicted, which prediction is not without basis, that "[b]efore state Rep. Glenn Richardson (R-Dallas) is sworn in as the next speaker of the House in January, the Democratic exodus is likely to grow substantially," (Jim Wooten's 11-09-04 column) and that in addition to the three defections to date in the House, "and as many as 10 other Democrats have made rumblings about switching parties." (11-12-04 ajc).

(The defections so far include Rep. Chuck Sims of Douglas, Rep. Hinson Moseley of Jesup and Rep. Penny Houston of Nashville.

And as a quick aside, one that won't be and I love her for it is longtime Rep. Jeanette Jamieson of Toccoa, who served in the legislature with one of my closest friends James Moore.

Rep. Jamieson, who won a tough fight on Nov. 2, has said she intends to stick with her party even though her northeast Georgia county supported Bush 3-1.

"I was supported as a Democrat financially and politically by my constituency," Jamieson said. (11-12-04 ajc.))

Back to the new "other" GOP rules.

The 11-07-04 ajc recounts how once during House debate on some proposed legislation, Speaker-elect Richardson read aloud a passage on "thought crimes" from George Orwell's classic 1984 and read aloud a passage on "thought crimes."

A "thought crime" might be one way to characterize Richardson's new "not for public consumption rule." Probably another would be a rule of engagement, or more accurately, a rule of disengagement.

The background of the rule: We all recall how during the spring of 2004 the GOP pleaded with House Democrats to switch parties, determined as they understandably were in their desire to control both the House and the Senate.

But after the Republicans got a comfortable margin, Speaker-elect Glenn Richardson didn't really didn't want any party switchers. (I can understand this thought process; where were you when we needed you; you're a day and an election late and a dollar short, and we don't need you now; etc.)

But he conferred with the brillant and undisputed holder of the "slash and burn" and "take no prisoners" patent that set a new standard for political behavior in Washington, D.C., former U.S. Rep. Newt Gingrich.

The advice from the former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives to the Speaker-elect of the Georgia House of Representatives.

Take all you can get, and if you don't like them, beat them in the primary.
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Take note Representatives Sims, Moseley and Houston: Big Brother is watching you.

And for other Democrats with desertion on your minds, consider the morale of the Cracker Squire's Fables:

Switch parties carefully and only with your eyes open, knowing it may be hazardous to your political health in two years; and before jumping into the Grand Old Party, think about leaving your Party which at least has a heart.