Senate GOP to require pledge of allegiance to state flag
In an apparent nod to state sovereignty, Senate Republicans will require members of their chamber to recite the pledge of allegiance to the state flag of Georgia every morning they gather – after a daily devotional and a pledge to the U.S. flag.
The addition to the chambers’ rituals was adopted Friday at a caucus meeting in Macon, as part of a wholesale change in state rules that included the stripping of Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle of most of his powers.
Both the House and Senate now include a daily sermon and a pledge to the U.S. flag as part of the beginning of each day’s business.
Afterwards, in the House, state Rep. Bobby Franklin (R-Cobb County) has led a small group of GOP lawmakers in a wildcat recitation of the Georgia pledge:
“I pledge allegiance to the Georgia flag and to the principles for which it stands: Wisdom, Justice, and Moderation.”
This afternoon, Franklin said the Senate was highly appropriate, “given the usurpations of Washington.”
“It’s time for the House Leadership to join the Senate and add the Pledge of Allegiance to the Georgia Flag to the House’s morning order of business,” Franklin said.
We’ve obtained copy of a draft of the rule changes, which you can see here.
(The draft does not include a notation of a daily pledge to the state flag. Neither does the draft include Cagle’s two appointments to the Committee on Assignments. Also, simply cross out Section 12.)
From the draft and other sources, we can say the following about the new eight-person Committee on Assignments, the new governing unit of the Senate:
– The Committee on Assignments will name the chairmen of all committees, and will determine the number and identity of all senators who sit on committees;
– Cagle will have two appointments to that committee. Other members will be – as stated before – the President pro tem, the majority leader, the chairman of the majority caucus, the majority caucus vice chairm, and the majority caucus secretary;
– The “hawk” provision that gave the lieutenant governor the power to pack committees with ex officio members – in order to move favored legislation — now shifts to the Committee on Assignments;
– Gubernatorial appointments that require Senate approval will be handled by the Committee on Assignments. You’ll recall that last year, Cagle was blamed for sabotaging Sonny Perdue’s appointment of longtime GOP activist Fred Cooper to a seat on the Board of Regents.
– Cagle will retain the right, as president of the Senate, to preside over the chamber. But should two or more senators rise to speak at the same time, he “shall recognize the President Pro Tempore (Tommie Williams of Lyons), the Majority Leader (Chip Rogers of Woodstock) and the Minority Leader (Robert Brown of Macon), in that order of precedence, should any of them rise to speak, prior to recognizing any other Senator.”
That’s a rule that had been in place during the GOP icing of Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor, a Demcrat.
– Points of personal privilege – opportunities for senators to speak on any topic they want – will be moved to the bottom of the days business. Which could make a long day for 4H groups in the galleries, waiting for a shout-out from their senator.
– In addition to maintaining the limited power to direct legislation to individual committees, Cagle apparently retains the power to name the conference committee members who will negotiate with their House counterpoints over specific pieces of legislation. That’s not a small thing.
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201 comments Add your comment
DannyX
November 9th, 2010
5:51 pm
Georgia Republican Pledge:
“I pledge allegiance to the Almighty Dollar and to the principles for which it stands: Greed, Power, and Domination.”
techengineer
November 9th, 2010
5:55 pm
Secession is the only hope! But I’ll take a little more State sovereignty in the meantime.. Thank you Senate leaders.
Who Me
November 9th, 2010
5:56 pm
Georgia and the southeast will always rank at the bottom of educational standings because Republicans dont believe in education of the masses! They learned early mention God, the Bible, and hate in a speech and all the ignorant masses will follow! Sheep keep following the shepherd and you will be sheared for your coat regularly to keep him warm and slaughtered for your meat so he wont starve and you will always follow without question! Because you are dumb!
Georgia Pledge???
November 9th, 2010
5:58 pm
How many of you even knew that there was a Pledge of Allegiance to the Georgia Flag? I sure didn’t, and I doubt that Nathan Deal did either.
ATL
November 9th, 2010
6:00 pm
Dumb and Dumber come to mind– Just when you think GA’s guvment can get no dumber…
The golden age of sleaze is about to begin– and the only folks to win will be be the fat cats who supported Mr. Deal and the rest of the ‘publicans…
you_r_kidding_me
November 9th, 2010
6:02 pm
Now we can tell everyone our governor is Nathan “Let’s Make A” Deal. Come January the confidence men, shysters, and thick fingered vulgarians will be knocking down the doors at the Capitol for their piece of the pie. And just you watch, Deal will have his family members all on the state payroll post haste along with the family members of that little lap dog chief of staff/enforcer/gopher creature.
lou
November 9th, 2010
6:07 pm
What’s next? Singing Dixie and pledging the Confederate flag? Who Me, sadly you are correct.
God help us.
ATL
November 9th, 2010
6:09 pm
One more thing– secession– yeah– I’m all for it– Atlanta should secede from GA and join the the US… and let the rest of the state devolve into the neo-confederate Mississippi of the mind that it so desperately desires to be…
BehindEnemyLines
November 9th, 2010
6:14 pm
As meaningless gestures that apparently annoy our worthless liberal wastes of oxygen go, I approve of this action.
Trey
November 9th, 2010
6:18 pm
GaBlue, that is very true. I am a third party supporter, since they haven’t proven to be disgraceful like the other two parties. However, they will probably be not much better if they ever take power.
mark
November 9th, 2010
6:19 pm
I will sleep better tonight.
Georgia Pledge???
November 9th, 2010
6:20 pm
I decided to look up when the Georgia Pledge originated and found that it was adopted by a Joint Resolution of the Georgia General Assembly on March 28, 1935, and was later codified in O.C.G.A. Section 50-3-2.
In finding the above I came across another Georgia Code section that it sounds like some of you may be interested in:
Section 50-3-5 Preservation of Confederate flags—– The flags of the Georgia troops who served in the army of the Confederate States, and which have been returned to the state by the United States government, shall be preserved for all time in the capitol as priceless mementos of the cause they represented and of the heroism and patriotism of the men who bore them.
EagleNationRising
November 9th, 2010
6:21 pm
These guys are pathetic! I am far from impressed. Unfortunately, we don’t have any other options. The Georgia Democrats are clueless. Meanwhile, we have the Georgia GOP that is led by guys with guns in their mouths and the sham better known as Casey Cagle. UNREAL! The silent majority desperately needs a third party that governs in the middle.
EagleNationRising
November 9th, 2010
6:24 pm
FYI Georgia Pledge?: The Georgia state flag is the Confederate flag. I hate to be the person to inform you. Why not pledge to the preservation of the Confederate flags? The state flag is the Confederate flag. To imagine that we live in the 9th largest state in the United States, which is large enough to be a nation, are led by these “showmen” that have displayed over the past eight years that they are completely incapable of governing our state in an effective manner…just like the useless Georgia Democrats.
Last Man Standing
November 9th, 2010
6:27 pm
If you are from Georgia, have roots here but just can’t stand the political landscape, maybe you should consider relocating to another state whose politics are more closely aligned with yours? If you are not from Georgia and dislike the political picture, you are free to return to whatever state you resided in before arriving here. This is the only logical solution to your unhappiness because Georgia is a conservative state and will, in all probability, become even more conservative with the passage of time. All of your collective bellyaching isn’t going to change that fact and it will only become more and more upsetting to you. If at all possible, do yourself (and us) a favor and just move on . . .
Trey
November 9th, 2010
6:28 pm
EagleNation, what are you talking about the Confederate flag has not been the GA flag since Roy Barnes was governor.
catlady
November 9th, 2010
6:36 pm
Won’t it be funny when Roy Barnes makes a few more millions suing the Legislature or the individual representatives because they are promoting religion!! I will LOL, even though it means we will be paying for it. However, since we did not elect these fools to pull (stuff) like this, I would guess they will be individually liable for their folly. Think again, brainless bubbas!
John
November 9th, 2010
6:38 pm
What a great way to waste their time!
Hector
November 9th, 2010
6:38 pm
EagleNation, will you help us bring back the Confederate Flag?
Alabama Communist
November 9th, 2010
6:49 pm
The Furher Ghost will be well please with this honor toward a greater Georgia and the Darth Vader Republican Empire………What’s next? Pink Tea Party Brownshirts giving the high five Hilter salute?
Who says the Republican party isn’t run by a ton of psycho paths
wbj
November 9th, 2010
6:51 pm
GaBlue: The individuals that you say will be digging their own graves just like they did 150 years ago…..to whom were you referring? It’s my understanding that people dug their own graves just before they were to be killed. Are you hoping for a return to the “good old days”?
GaBlue
November 9th, 2010
6:59 pm
Last Man Standing,
Nope. I’m not leaving. I stand proudly in the minority: progressive-minded white folk who eat collard greens, support civil rights for everybody (everybody! y’all hear me?), believe science should be taught in schools and preachin should NOT. We think it’s better to invest in education than prisons, wish our factories had had a little more regulatory interaction so they wouldn’t kill people from salmonella (how’s that free market working for the dead folks and unemployed peanut butter makers) or exploding sugar dust, think we should legalize and grow hemp for it’s million and one industrial uses, let the potheads out of jail so there’s more room for meth heads, and let any two adults who want to torment themselves via marriage have the darn license already. Let’s invest in transportation and renewable energy, attract new industries with our quality of schools and infrastructure instead of corporate welfare that does NOT actually create jobs, and find new ways to utilize our waste products, including the melted, waxy, garbled mess that is the minds of our many Republicans who vote for corruption over substance year after year. NOT. LEAVING.
pn
November 9th, 2010
7:00 pm
The GA unemployment rate is still 10%
And counting.
Get to work nitwits or you will be toast in the next election.
pn
November 9th, 2010
7:03 pm
Go GaBlue. The sweet voice of reason!
WOW
November 9th, 2010
7:22 pm
MAY I REPEAT(HOW CAN WE BRING JOBS TO GA.WHEN EVERYONE IS LAUGHING AT US)
Steve
November 9th, 2010
7:33 pm
Trey at 6:28. Look up Stars and Bars flag, It was the Confederate flag until 1863. It might look familiar to you.
stands for decibels
November 9th, 2010
7:40 pm
Nothing says moderation like a forced pledge every morning.
And Liberty! and Freedom!
Jim
November 9th, 2010
7:55 pm
And the purpose of the pledge to the state flag would be???? Me thinks they will eventually want to meet to secede again – I think it is still spelled PUTZ. I can see it now – the state repubs leading the charge to take over Ft. Benning and/or Ft. Stewart. Yahoo – oh wait, yahoo is not a yell – it is the singular of the republican party in ga.
Crazy people on here
November 9th, 2010
8:23 pm
You people are the real nuts! Don’t any of you READ? They already say the Pledge to the American Flag in the Senate, and they already have a sermon every day! This is in addition to that, not instead of! You want to know where the dumbsh!t$ are, look in the mirror!
td
November 9th, 2010
8:24 pm
I thought this blog was fun before the election. It is just plain funny now listening to all these uneducated libs on here that do not even know what the legislature has done for many years. The state House and Senate, the US House and Senate and even the Supreme court has opened their sessions in prayer and the pledge for as long and they have existed. Did you know there is a house Chaplin in the US House and Senate? You libs talk about the education level in the state over and over again. I would really like the DOE to roll out SAT scores compared by parents party affiliation. I would be willing to bet that the Republicans are higher and this blog definitely proves that you libs do not know history very well.
@GABLUE: You really need to stay around because we conservatives need you to keep spouting off that liberal dribble so that we can remember why we are conservatives.
For the rest of you that are so unhappy with the conservative nature of this state then we are not holding forcefully holding you here. You are more than welcome to go to some place that you will be happy because I sure do not want to be blamed in the future when you claim mentally impaired due to the conditions you had to live with.
Blago
November 9th, 2010
8:25 pm
One party rule in the state capitol = recipe for disaster. There are no checks and balances.
GA future
November 9th, 2010
8:28 pm
Can you please post some information about the GA GOP’s plans for improving education and rebuilding the economy?
George Carlin disciple
November 9th, 2010
8:34 pm
GaBlue for Governor in 2014!
The Truth
November 9th, 2010
8:39 pm
You have run this state for a good while now but have literally done nothing. You have a recent overwhelming mandate from the public to see what you can do in regards to the national scene. You want to take a step forward and show your leadership….you call a caucus in Macon and you…..do….are you kidding me??? Is this for real??? Are you kidding me???
All that is left is to see how Wooten will spin this one.
Robert
November 9th, 2010
8:46 pm
Hey td, speaking of education, look up the spelling of chaplain. I can’t stop laughing.
NoLogicInGovt
November 9th, 2010
8:46 pm
Hey Repub & Dem politicians – a message to you morons: SOLVE SOME DAMN PROBLEMS and quit worrying about crap no one cares about!
NB Forrest
November 9th, 2010
8:47 pm
Makes me proud to be from Georgia. Washington, DC is out of touch with Georgia. What is the federal government going to do? Invade Georgia again and install a puppet government like they did in 1865? Look at the portraits of Governors at the Capital. Georgia was occupied for several years after CSA defeat. A Yankee in blue was Governor during occupation. Way to go Bobby!
Travis McGee
November 9th, 2010
8:50 pm
The fool and his money are soon elected.
The Truth Shall Set You Free
November 9th, 2010
8:52 pm
Our history is so mottled with incompetent, crooked, perverse and corrupt governors that we’ll survive Nathan Deal and his impending bankruptcy. We’re immune to embarrassment.
steve
November 9th, 2010
8:54 pm
insanity rules the georgia government ..this pledge is more not less government and government telling you what to do. . Very nationalistic like Nazi nationalistic …These assinine “rituals” are a waste of time , they should be working instead wasting time and money with these shenannigans.. I guess the power that have controlled Georgia since before the Civil War still rule . Look at the statues on the capitol grounds , all but Jimmy Carter were clans men or just rabid segregationists …Hateful theocratic republicans are instilling a facsit dictatorship in Georgia
JJ Harper
November 9th, 2010
8:59 pm
To: “L.:”
“Next thing you will know, African-American will be called Negroes once again, and the Confederate Flag will rise at the Capitol grounds.”
The terms African-American and Negroes are “politically correct” terms. I don’t like politically correct terms!
I say call a spade – a spade… and all of you that don’t like that (or any other Christian principles) can get a bus ticket right on out of the Great State of Georgia! …and take Jesse Jackson with you… if you find him “up in hea!”
td
November 9th, 2010
9:07 pm
steve
November 9th, 2010
8:54 pm
insanity rules the georgia government ..this pledge is more not less government and government telling you what to do. . Very nationalistic like Nazi nationalistic …These assinine “rituals” are a waste of time , they should be working instead wasting time and money with these shenannigans.. I guess the power that have controlled Georgia since before the Civil War still rule . Look at the statues on the capitol grounds , all but Jimmy Carter were clans men or just rabid segregationists …Hateful theocratic republicans are instilling a facsit dictatorship in Georgia
Do you need some cheese with that whine? You are freaking over the top but funny as h3ll. Bless your heart and lets get together for our state holiday (confederate memorial day)? Maybe we can get this legislature to install Confederate history month for April every year?
BTW: no one is forcing you to stay in a state you hate so much. I am sure Vermont would be happy to have your progressive self up there.
OhPlease
November 9th, 2010
9:29 pm
When they say, “Git outta mah state,” they’ll just attack you even more when you actually do it. I’ve seen plenty of expatriates who left the USA for political reasons keep blogs, and who’s attacking them in the comments? The same ones who said, “Love it or leave it!” It’s a trap.
JJ Harper
November 9th, 2010
9:36 pm
April sounds great, td! I work for the state. When “Confederate Memorial Day” was first mentioned (in it’s conception) in our shift briefing, almost everybody laughed out loud. Out of about 30 state employees, I was the only one that didn’t think the subject was funny at all. Even a high ranking state official laughed. Of those mentioned, I was one of about five white people in briefing. Two of those were “sleeping with”… guess who. The other two were your typical, white cowards. Isn’t it strange that many think that white people were the only folks fighting for the South?
Thomas
November 9th, 2010
9:41 pm
GOP rules change…what a joke…I am laughing so hard my sides are hurting from the POTHOLES on the state highways. Ethics in State Government is now a oxymoron.
Gee
November 9th, 2010
10:01 pm
These redneck GOP xenophobes have run this state into the ground. No one with a brain wants want to move here anymore. All those college grads that used to flock to Atlanta- no more. Not just because there are no jobs- but because the politics are oppressive. Sad.
JJ Harper
November 9th, 2010
10:02 pm
GOP rules don’t change, Thomas.
Liberal, “I’ll do anything to get elected,” slime like King Roy and Perdue fooled unsuspecting Georgians into voting for them. In time, even those folks learned from their mistakes. This November, many Georgians learned from their mistakes! It was past time for them to wake up!
What am I talking about? King Roy (being a staunch, liberal democrat) ran on a Republican ticket to get elected, and Perdue promised us a vote on our beloved ‘56 flag to get elected.
Even though Perdue was re-elected, Georgia couldn’t afford another, more – liberal jackazz during this time frame. Even though we couldn’t afford that, I did not vote for Perdue for re-election. Lie to me once – always a lier! Yes, Perdue lied to my face in Cordele, GA!
So, as far as GOP principles are concerned… no… those don’t change. Idiots that pretend to be who they aren’t are a dine-a-dozen!
Trey
November 9th, 2010
10:12 pm
Steve, I am not talking about our current flag. I am talking about the confederate flag with the crossed stripes. The one we had before Roy Barnes gave us that ugly blue flag.
Trey
November 9th, 2010
10:13 pm
Gee, who cares if people want to move to GA or not? It’s crowded enough.
B. Thenet
November 9th, 2010
10:16 pm
God grant me the strength to survive 4 years of Nathan Deal as Governor.
If anyone is doing any usurping, it is that crook deal sticking his paws into the taxpayers pockets to make himself a little more scratch.