Change ahead despite voters

It didn't really hit me until I thought through it, but the mindless, change-for-change's-sake folks must be swooning over this year's elections in Georgia.

//

Here's why. No matter what the outcome of the July 20 primaries and the Nov. 2 General Election, the current campaigns and resignations already have guaranteed the following outcomes:

- Sonny Perdue will no longer be Georgia's governor.

- John Oxendine will no longer be insurance commissioner.

- Thurbert Baker will no longer be attorney general.

- Tommy Irvin will no longer be agriculture commissioner.

- Kathy Cox is no longer state school superintendent.

- Karen Handel is no longer secretary of state.

- Nathan Deal is no longer in Congress.

- Eric Johnson is no longer in the state Senate.

I won't lose a bit of sleep over any of those changes, or many others this year resulting from candidates retiring or quitting and others running. Now, what comes as a result of these changes is a different story, and that should serve somewhat to warn the folks who think getting rid of one politician just to replace him or her with another is automatically a good idea.

If that were true, we'd be ecstatic with the current administration, wouldn't we?

Nursing a grievance

Meanwhile, some things apparently never change.

Nearly two years ago, a black female worker at John Deere complained that a white male supervisor tried to put a noose around her neck, like a necklace, in what he apparently considered a prank.

She reported it. He was fired.

The end? Of course not.

Since then, abetted by an army of grievance-mongers, the worker filed a criminal complaint. It was promptly tossed out of court.

Then, the dysfunctional Southern Christian Leadership Conference announced an Augusta "mass rally" in protest, but the "masses" wisely failed to show up.

The woman also filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, claiming her civil rights had been violated. The EEOC ruled that it didn't see any violations.

But the EEOC also handed the worker a golden ticket: A "right to sue" letter.

Days later, according to a press release, "Atlanta civil rights attorney Dexter Wimbish announced ... that an initial lawsuit has been filed against the John Deere Company" in Columbia County Superior Court.

Despite the fact that the company immediately fired the man responsible for the incident, Wimbish's press release says his client "continues to suffer from the traumatic experience."

Seriously? I could understand some sort of lingering trauma if this woman had been tied up or threatened with actual hanging. But this suit claims she is "suffering" and has as yet been unable to return to work two years after some dimwit tried to put a knotted piece of string on her?

That's bull. And I'd complete the phrase, but this is a family newspaper.

Hopefully John Deere will fight this suit enough to see it tossed out of court (again), rather than simply handing a settlement check to Wimbish and his client.

Then, I suppose, they can file their next complaint with small claims court, or perhaps the return desk at Walmart.

One name too many

Speaking of grievances, County Commissioner Scott Dean's critics were all a-twitter this weekend after his campaign sent out invitations to a barbecue and listed at least one person on the "host committee" who denied having anything to do with it.

Others reported as such turned out not to be the case. But 10th District Republican Party Chairman Dave Barbee was downright blunt in disavowing his support - despite an organizer's insistence that Barbee personally had given him verbal approval.

This proves two things: These preenings lists of political "host committees" are downright silly; and, some people have way too much time on their hands, and way too little to complain about.

(Barry L. Paschal is publisher of The Columbia County News-Times. E-mail barry.paschal@newstimesonline.com. Follow at twitter.com/barrypaschal.)