For those who don’t want to read, audio summary with music:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaFdBUZGYgM
Plain thievery .
The thieves should have been arrested
I lived in Walthourville back in ‘76-‘77, so am well aware.
*****
still happening except on a grander scale.
The saga of 301 continues into Florida with Lawtey, Starke, and Waldo. Still can bring on the jeebees & cold sweats concentrating on ever slowing speed limits on trips to Gainesville.
I remember all of this quite well.
Lester Maddox was, ... , quite a character.
And, now for some fact checking:
“He won the governor’s seat by accident: a coalition of party-crossing Republicans and hardcore segregationists made him the surprise winner of a 1966 Democratic runoff against two moderate candidates.”
Let’s correct the several errors there.
There weren’t 3 candidates in the Democrat runoff.
What really happened
There were 5 candidates in the Democrat primary. Front runner was liberal former governor Ellis Arnall. Maddox came in second, liberal Jimmy Carter was third, and strong segregationist James Gray was fourth. (A couple of minor candidates didn’t have any impact).
In the runoff between the liberal Arnall and the moderate Maddox, Maddox easily won. (There were only two candidates, not 3 in the runoff. But he is correct that crossover Republicans voted for him, thinking he would be easier to beat that the establishment Arnall)
But, as we have seen with liberals, they are sore losers, and the liberals launced a write in campaign in the general election.
So the general election pitted Maddox against Republican Bo Callaway. The write in campaign pulled about 7% of the vote, with Callaway edging out Maddox. But since the liberals had siphoned off enough votes to hold both Maddox and Arnall to under 50%, the election was decided in the Georgia General Assembly. Since the legislature was overwhealmingly Democrat, Maddox became governor, and Callaway eventually fled to Montana.
It would be years before the Republicans had another good shot at the Governor’s office.
It doesn’t look like either Zoellner or his Border Collie are strong on basic research.
In my home town the judge used to routinely make people in traffic court return to court (and take another day off work) because the officer who wrote the ticket couldn’t be bothered to show up to testify. Some people had to return 3 and 4 times. So people would just plead guilty to not have to return. The judge was as crooked as a dog’s hind leg.
And heading into town from the Ft Stewart side, the speed limit signs dropped faster than one could slow down. Right before the red light.
I had a boss in savannah who told me in the old days that he got pulled over by the cop driving a bread delivery truck. He had the bubble light on the dash.
I got a fine for trespassing on the altamaha River. Went to pay the fine accompanied with a black friend. The people were not very pleased with either of us.
Oh the stories of my time in the area.
I had the opportunity to talk to Maddox once.
When I got popped for going 64, the policeman asked for $47. I offered him travelers checks. His reaction to that, I almost thought I was going to jail. He took my driver's license, and I spent the next two weeks with a little stub in my wallet that said that Golden Meadow had my driver's license.
When I went to pay the fine, the secretary there had four or five stacks of drivers' licenses on one side, and stacks of 5's, 10's, 20's, and 50's on the other side.
I know I shouldn't have, but I did feel a bit of glee when Golden Meadow was flattened by Hurricane Katrina.
Well, to balance the weirdness of this Ludowici story, here’s a cool song by Ludovici Einaudi
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BszRS1r2gk4
I like Ludowici! The folks at the Methodist Church there can really cook a fine meal.
My astronomy club has a dark sky site not far away. I have driven through there a lot and only got stopped once. Once the officer smelled that I wasn’t drunk, he let me go. Having a 10in telescope tube on the seat behind me helped.
I might've kind've opened it up a bit which only takes a few seconds and then about 30 seconds to coast back down.
I might've possibly then pulled off and blended in with the traffic waiting at a red light when 2 squads full lights and sirens blew thru the same red light and immediately pulled over just across the intersection and parked.
Lesson learned.
Allegedly.
by Tom T Hall
One time I spent a week inside a little country jail
And I don't guess I'll ever live it down
I was sittin' at a red light when these two men came and got me
And said that I was speeding through their town
Well, they said, tomorrow morning you can see the judge then go.
They let me call one person on the phone
I thought I'd be there overnight so I just called my boss
To tell him I'd be off but not for long
Well, they motioned me inside a cell with seven other guys
One little barred up window in the rear
My cellmates said if they had let me bring some money in
We ought to send the jailer for some beer
Well, I had to pay him double 'cause he was the man in charge
And the jailer's job was not the best in town
Later on his wife brought hot bologna, eggs and gravy
The first day I was there I turned it down
Well, next morning they just let us sleep but I was up real early
Wonderin' when I'd get my release
Later on we got more hot bologna, eggs and gravy
And by now I wasn't quite so hard to please
Two days later when I thought that I had been forgotten
The sheriff came in chewin' on a straw
He said, where is the guy who thinks that this is indianapolis?
I'd like to talk to him about the law.
Well, I told him who I was and told him I was working steady
And I really should be gettin' on my way
That part about me bein' who I was did not impress him
He said, the judge'll be here any day.
The jailer had a wife and let me tell you she was awful
But she brought that hot bologna every day
And after seven days she got to lookin' so much better
I asked her if she'd like to run away
The next mornin' that old judge took every nickel that I had
And he said, son, let this teach you not to race.
The jailer's wife was smilin' from the window as I left
In thirty minutes I was out of state
Back in 71 I was pulled over,because the cop wanted to know what kind of a car was I driving. He apparently never saw a VW Carmen Gia. He ask, and I told him. That was it, I drove on to Jeckle Island to hang out with my buddy sheriff.