Before the Cracker Crumble crumbled: Jesting among friends with a leader who knew how to lead and that he was elected to lead. We have missed you Roy.

From Jim Galloway's Political Insider:

The occasion was the 2000 Cracker Crumble, a scholarship fund-raising event hosted by the Georgia Press Association that annually required politicians to make fun of themselves in song and skits.

This particular skit took place after then-Governor Barnes had pushed through his transportation reform package, and immediately following a heated debate in the state Capitol over education reform – which included demands from Barnes for smaller classrooms and tougher testing. Republican efforts to include vouchers were turned away.

The debate over education in the Senate was particularly tough. Don Balfour, R-Snellville, now Senate Rules Chairman, called the governor an S.O.B. He later said he meant “supreme omnipotent being.”

The Cracker Crumble went into decline with the Republican takeover. For GOP lawmakers, the last straw was a skit about a House speaker and the construction of a new length of AGL pipeline. The sexual overtones were undisguised – though public proof of Glenn Richardson’s affair with an AGL lobbyist was years away.

Word went out to lobbyists, who bought many of the tickets, that those who showed up at future Cracker Crumbles were in effect guaranteeing the failure of their legislation. The event was discontinued.

I must say that, for me and my house, I had almost forgotten what it was like to have a governor take the lead and fight for anything, much less transportation, education reform that included demands for smaller classrooms and tougher testing and fighting the ongoing Republican efforts to bring vouchers to your local school district.

Thank you Roy, thank you very much.