Disappointing turn of events

What a disappointing week.

//

The president got a dog, Casey Cagle dropped out of the race for Georgia governor and U.S. Rep. Paul Broun's son got busted for marijuana possession.

Oh, and we had a tornado.

I wouldn't exactly call all those unrelated elements a "perfect storm" - pun intended - but they were all disappointing to one degree or another.

I'm thrilled the Obama family got a dog, especially for their girls. Every family should have a dog or two.

It would be nice, though, if the family had rescued a shelter mutt, as Obama said they would during his campaign for president. Instead they picked a purebred. With all the pound animals in the world needing a home, it's disappointing that the president took in a pampered pedigreed. He blew an opportunity to set a good example.

Speaking of setting bad examples, Paul Broun's 18-year-old son was arrested in Athens for marijuana possession and underage drinking.

It's no surprise that it happened in Athens, the recreational pharmaceutical capital of the Southeast. But still: He's a congressman's son, for crying out loud. That's gotta be a horrible disappointment for his dad.

There's plenty of disappointment to go around, too, at the decision by Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle to drop out of the race for governor.

I had just spoken to Cagle three days earlier, in the free beer tent at the Masters Tournament (at least, that's what I heard the tent was called; I think it actually was there for the state Chamber of Commerce Red Carpet Tour).

During our brief conversation, he seemed very confident about the race and his front-runner status, and his ability to raise the substantial amount of money he expected it would take to win.

Then, there he was Wednesday, making a tearful speech about the neck and spinal surgery he said was forcing him to drop out of the race for governor.

Cagle says he'll run for re-election as lieutenant governor. That election takes place at the same time and on the same ballot as the race for governor, but perhaps he expects that race to be easier.

And while Cagle's departure from the governor's race somewhat clears the field for other challengers, it complicates the race for the seat Cagle already holds.

Republican State Sen. Eric Johnson had stepped back from Senate leadership to position himself to run for a lieutenant governor post that he thought would be vacant.

Instead, Johnson now says he might run for governor. If so, he'll be up against Republicans Karen Handel, the current secretary of state; John Oxendine, the state insurance commissioner; state Rep. Austin Scott of Tifton; and other potential candidates.

Democrats running include Attorney General Thurbert Baker, House Minority Leader DuBose Porter, and former Georgia National Guard Commander David Poythress. Former Gov. Roy Barnes also is thinking about jumping in.

Aside from Baker, who has a party-bucking, tough law-and-order reputation, none of these candidates are particularly exciting. It's too bad Cagle dropped out, but with such a large crowd running, I doubt our mailboxes will be any less stuffed with campaign flyers next summer.

The final disappointment was the late Good Friday storms that hit the area, though "disappointment" is far too mild a term.

In all the news frenzy after the storms - at least, the part that wasn't drowned out by golf coverage - there is one story that eluded all the reporters, if it's true.

The tale supposedly happened in south Augusta, which was hit by a tornado that had traveled through Harlem and Grovetown. A mobile home was picked up by the winds and tossed several hundred feet away; a man inside rode along before being flung out of the trailer.

We've heard the man survived with just a few minor injuries, but to my knowledge no reporter has been able to track him down.

Or to find out if he has a dog named Toto - rescued or purebred.

(Barry L. Paschal is publisher of The Columbia County News-Times. E-mail comments to barry.paschal@newstimesonline.com.)