Your morning jolt: Ray Boyd withdraws from ethics alliance
The Georgia Alliance for Ethics Reform – that cross-ideological group that includes tea partyers, Georgia Common Cause, the League of Women Voters, liberals and Republicans – will hold its first rally at the state Capitol next Wednesday.
They’ll be pushing for, among other things, a firm cap on gifts to state lawmakers.
But they’ll be doing it without Ray Boyd, the former candidate for governor turned impatient Capitol reformer. He has formally resigned from the group, sending this letter to William Perry, executive director of Georgia Common Cause:
The desperate need for sweeping ethics reform in Georgia is obvious to everyone, but the best method to achieve this goal is not shared with the same unanimity.
There are differences of timing, such as whether we should strive for gradual incremental changes over time, or whether we need to make a hard push for immediate sweeping reform.
There are differences of style, such as whether we should plead with the leadership in the General Assembly to pass favorable laws, or whether we need to call them out for their egregious conduct and unaccountability.
There are also differences in views, such as whether the “culture of corruption” is merely low-level and not widespread, or whether it is all-encompassing and permeates all areas.
I personally believe the latter for timing, style, and view. While I certainly don’t believe that every person under the gold dome is guilty of actual corruption, I believe they all share the blame in their complacency, and in voting to maintain the status quo to their benefit and to the detriment of the citizens of Georgia.
It is obvious to me that my personality and perspective does not fit well with the Georgia Alliance for Ethical Reform. While we share a common goal, we disagree as to how to best achieve it.
I would not want my conduct or my inclusion in this very worthy endeavor to interfere with its challenge for positive change. Therefore, I respectfully withdraw from the coalition. Hopefully, I have made a worthy contribution to this group, and I will pray for its success. The League of Women Voters official membership is a very positive addition to the coalition. The coalition is strengthened.
I will soldier on – just from a different battle front. I hope we will all meet again to raise a victorious flag for the citizens of Georgia.
His withdrawal resolves a dilemma for the ethics coalition. Last fall, Boyd put those rumors about Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle in writing, in the form of an ethics complaint. With Boyd on their team, coalition members were finding it hard to find open doors at the Capitol – particularly on the Senate side.
***
No doubt you’ve been wondering why a certain woman turned U.S. Rep. Chris Lee, R-N.Y., in to Gawker, the gossip website, ending his political career in a mere three hours. The Washington Post has your answer:
This undated photo provided by Gawker shows Rep. Chris Lee, R-N.Y., posing shirtless in front of a mirror. Lee abruptly resigned his seat Wednesday, saying he was quitting because he regretted actions that have hurt his family and others. AP Photo/Gawker
He’d told her he was a 39-year-old divorced lobbyist with a son; she traced his e-mail address to his Facebook page, then discovered he was, in fact, a married, 46-year-old politician. Who does that? she wondered.
A faculty specialist for the University of Maryland and single mother of a preteen son, [34-year-old Yesha] Callahan hashed over the e-mails with her social circle of young professionals. Lee’s deception was out of bounds, her friends agreed, and Callahan began to see this as a cautionary tale.
“I assumed that other people have probably come across him as well, and he had lied to them,” she said. “I felt annoyance at just the audacity of people thinking that they’re not going to get found out when they are lying.”
Callahan said she stopped corresponding with Lee after about 10 e-mails — when he asked her to send a racy photo. (He’d already sent her the now-infamous shirtless photo of himself.) “I was kind of like, okay, no, he’s just looking for things I’m not interested in.”
- By Jim Galloway, Political Insider
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21 comments Add your comment
GaBlue
February 11th, 2011
9:18 am
“Who does that?” Hahahaha! The ONLY thing remotely surprising about Rep. Lee’s behavior is the speed with which he gave up his seat in the House.
SpaceyG on Twitter
February 11th, 2011
9:23 am
Speaking of hottiness… of another kind… sounds like the flame in the GA *ethics reform* kitchen weren’t turned-up high enough to suit hot-headed Chef Boyd. Dude has clearly been watching too many reality shows.
Will Jones - Atlanta Jeffersonian Exegesis
February 11th, 2011
9:48 am
As everyone with at least a room temperature I.Q. knows Bush and Cheney committed 9/11 (Viz. “The New Pearl Harbor,” Griffin, Ph.D.), aren’t those like Ray Boyd musing about the “level” of our “culture of corruption” and not simply telling the full, known truth just proving themselves cowards, without integrity or any other quality of leadership required by the best Americans, the People of Georgia?
The Creed’s first motto is “Annuit Coeptis.” The good and decent citizens of Georgia certainly don’t need the input of those who obviously don’t think G-d’s watching.
Lum
February 11th, 2011
10:12 am
Compared to President Clinton, it really doesn’t sound so bad, does it? Moral: Don’t take pictures.
Tony
February 11th, 2011
10:26 am
Lum,
Monica knew Bill was the president.
Last Man Standing
February 11th, 2011
10:35 am
“There are differences of timing, such as whether we should strive for gradual incremental changes over time, or whether we need to make a hard push for immediate sweeping reform.”
So, the question is: do we do what is right immediately, or do we gradually quit doing what is wrong?
I submit that there is no question at all. It is ethically and morally wrong to accept anything that is presented to you to influence your vote.
You are either right or wrong, and I think the majority of you are wrong. Just remember that you can and will be replaced if you choose to continue “business as usual”.
CobbGOPer
February 11th, 2011
10:39 am
I’d still like to know what’s up with the grand jury investigation around Deal. They still haven’t wrapped that thing up, you know…
To CobbGOPer
February 11th, 2011
11:05 am
My understanding is that the DOJ effectively dropped the investigation when he resigned from office.
While technically he could still be indicted, my opinion is that after the whole Ted Stevens affair, that the DOJ is a bit gun-shy.
Obviously, there is the issue that he resigned already, so the punishment of removing him from office is no longer an option. There would be howls of protest that this is a partisan attack, and it would get very very ugly. However, the law is the law.
Since the crime he (allegedly) committed is a felony, section III of the State Constitution has some specific procedures that must be followed if he was indicted:
“….if the indicted public official is the Governor, to the Lieutenant Governor who shall, subject to subparagraph (d) of this Paragraph, appoint a review commission. If the indicted public official is the Governor, the commission shall be composed of the Attorney General, the Secretary of State, the State School Superintendent, the Commissioner of Insurance, the Commissioner of Agriculture, and the Commissioner of Labor”
I am not a constitutional lawyer, but there would be some question about eligibility to be governor, since not having a felony conviction ‘involving moral turpitude’
“No person who is not a registered voter or who has been convicted of a felony involving moral turpitude, unless that person’s civil rights have been restored and at least ten years have elapsed from the date of the completion of the sentence without a subsequent conviction of another felony involving moral turpitude, or who is the holder of public funds illegally shall be eligible to hold any office or appointment of honor or trust in this state.”
FYI: Moral turpitude is the concept that refers to “conduct that is considered contrary to community standards of justice, honesty or good morals”. Next to the definition was a picture of the Governor, surprisingly.
http://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/conart2.htm
Unrepentant Sodomite
February 11th, 2011
11:46 am
Too funny!!! The Gooberstan of Sonny Perdue, Nathan Deal, Glenn Richardson, David Ralston and the like is in an ethics tizzy… just too funny! And the goobers that voted for these goobers think they have a clue what ethics is!!! ROTFLMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!
Elvis Ledbetter
February 11th, 2011
11:46 am
Boyd keeps fanning the fire just as the embers of his time in the spotlight begin to extinguish. Sounds like he does whatever gets him in the headlines for a bit.
CobbGOPer
February 11th, 2011
12:26 pm
If the DOJ dropped the investigation when he resigned, why were they still interviewing folks like the revenue commissioner AFTER Deal resigned?
CobbGOPer
February 11th, 2011
12:28 pm
I think you mean the Ethics Committee investigation, which WAS dropped after he resigned, because the worst they could do was remove him from Congress. Not so sure about the grand jury investigation, which I believe is still ongoing…
To CobbGOPer
February 11th, 2011
3:03 pm
Well, cannot claim to be an expert on all this.
Hope the honorable Jim Galloway keeps that story alive.
Quick News: Yesha Callahan | Quick News
February 11th, 2011
4:00 pm
[...] Your morning jolt: Ray Boyd withdraws from ethics allianceAtlanta Journal Constitution (blog)A faculty specialist for the University of Maryland and single mother of a preteen son, [34-year-old Yesha] Callahan hashed over the e-mails with her social …Read more… [...]
Double Zero Eight
February 11th, 2011
5:32 pm
Africa is a mess !!! Tunisia, Egypt and Sudan!
Is there any hope?
Question Man
February 11th, 2011
5:58 pm
Is the split-up a good thing or a bad thing?
missmollie
February 11th, 2011
6:51 pm
Trll us how the Lt Governor is doing since his party clipped hiis wings. Does he and
the other politos from Gainedville ride to work together A lot of them…..
missmollie
February 11th, 2011
6:52 pm
politicos
Last Man Standing
February 11th, 2011
8:13 pm
Double Zero Eight:
“Africa is a mess !!! Tunisia, Egypt and Sudan!
Is there any hope?”
Sure, there is hope! I expect our president will reveal within a couple of days how he has resolved all the problems. In the process, he will apologize to forty more countries for the United States. Immediately after that announcement, he will increase the number of federal employees by another 29%, nationalize all private industry and leave for a vacation in Kenya.
rightofcenter
February 12th, 2011
2:24 pm
Sure, CobbGOPer, I’m sure that indictment is coming any day now…….
How about give it a rest, and instead notice that we finally have some humility and competence in the governor’s office for a change (and that goes back a lot of years).
Your morning jolt: Ray Boyd withdraws from ethics alliance – Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog) | Advance Web Directory
February 12th, 2011
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[...] here to see a original: Your sunrise jolt: Ray Boyd withdraws from ethics fondness – Atlanta Journal Constitution (blo… This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged capitol, citizens, coalition, ethics, facebook, [...]