Another new flag for Georgia?

Atlanta Constitution ^ | 04/05/03 | Galloway

[ZappaDawg]

Gov. Sonny Perdue and a crucial House committee gave their approval Friday to a new Georgia flag that would be raised immediately -- and might fend off efforts to restore the Confederate battle emblem.

The new flag, which would be the state's second in two years, lies at the heart of a compromise reached by white Republicans and Democrats on the governor's proposal for a statewide flag referendum.

Perdue's bill was substantially altered by a racially split House Rules Committee, but with a key provision intact: A series of two statewide votes held next year would still offer the old state flag with its controversial St. Andrew's cross on a second ballot.

[ZappaDawg]

As a Georgian, I have no problems with this new flag. The "In God We Trust" would probably be more aesthically pleasing on the blue part of the flag (State Seal) but I don't mind it being on there. I also like the historical accuracy as this flag is closer than the pre-56 flag to the natioanl flag of the Confederacy. This means to me that Georgia is not going to completely run away from honoring the many brave men who fought and died for their state.

[Conspiracy Guy]

I keep expecting the Alabama State Flag which is white with red diagonally crossing bars and no stars to be the next victim. Why? Because it is similar to the Confederate Battle Flag. Then of course is Old Glory herself. She was the flag that permitted slavery in the first place. It is so silly.

[rebel85]

One has to wonder if the "In God We Trust" will not come under fire Monday Morning when the ACLU and others recognize its presence. Maybe a way for them to challenge this phrase at the SCOTUS level. Oh well, just a thought, but for Georgia's sake, I hope not.

[Kuksool]

The current GA flag has the word "God" in it already. If the ACLU is so concerned about "separation of church & state", it would have sued a long time ago. The ACLU wanted to give Roy Barnes political cover for his flag change. Now that GA has a GOP Governor, the ACLU will sue to have Perdue's flag invalidated. The ACLU are nothing but a bunch of RAT hacks.

[Bob Mc]

Amusing isn't it? This flag is almost a duplicate of the offical flag of the Confederacy, instead of the more recognized "stars and bars" in the shape of an X, the Confederate battle flag. They have slipped one Confederate symbol for another, and the anti-Confederacy people don't even know it.

They even slipped in a reference to God to rile up further liberal disent, likely to be useful at distracting them even further from the Confederate flag.

Pretty ingenious if you ask me.

[dixierose]

I like it!

[Ulysses]

Shhhhh! Don't tell 'em!

[cyborg]

You can hardly argue with "in god we trust". There's nothing racial about that.

[stand watie]

i can NOT but the ACLU, scalawags, damnbyankees and every slimy little DIMocRAT will!

FRee dixie,sw

[stand watie]

TRUE!

nonetheless the post-1956 GA flag will again fly from every public building in GA! the CSA desendents will accept NOTHING LESS.

furthermore, we will require that the traditional flag be flown in EVERY city, county & state building in GA, 24/7.

free dixie,sw

[BillyBoy]

>> i can NOT [argue with In God We Trust] but the ACLU, scalawags, damnbyankees and every slimy little DIMocRAT will! <<

Several Dixiecrats on this forum noted (against the vast majority of freepers I might add) that they SUPPORTED the liberal court of appeals that wanted to dump the pledge of allegenace simply because it used the phrase "under God". Seems they felt it was a "marxist" pledge or something like that.

Not that you'd notice that type of thing. Or when the feds decided to incorporate "In God We Trust" on currency, for that matter.

[stand watie]

which dixiecrats????

while the POA was written by a committed socialist, it is not a communist pledge. the only part i have trouble with is the word "indivisible"-it should be HIGHLY DEVISIBLE! it's called LIBERTY.

FRee dixie,sw

[lugsoul]

What's happening to your boy Sonny's bill? Seems we're not even going to have a state budget because they've spent so much time wrangling over this crap.

Offer for a side bet still stands.

[lugsoul]

Ya think? What makes you think they don't know it? Even some of the Black legislators most opposed to the 1956-2001 flag have noted in the well that the "new" flag is a Confederate symbol.

This actually casts the whole "heritage" thing in the proper light. The people crying about "heritage" don't want a flag modeled on the political flag of the CSA - they want a flag that has been appropriated by the Klan, skinheads, and Citizens Council types. The NAACP thugs everyone is bitching about don't mind a flag modeled on a political flag of the CSA - that's right, they don't mind a CONFEDERATE flag - but they object to a particular Confederate flag that has been adopted as a symbol by hatemongers of various stripes.

What does that tell you?

[stand watie]

ALL that HAS to be done is vote straight UP or DOWN on relacing the current KING ROY flag with the post 1956 flag and THEN move on to other things. BUT of course, the fools and racebaiters of the naaLcp and the shysters of the SPLC won't do that because they would LOSE!

[mhking]

Entire story; not subject to WP/LAT restrictions:






The Georgia Senate on Tuesday passed Gov. Sonny Perdue's flag referendum, but may have loaded it with enough amendments to put its fate in doubt as the Legislature wobbles toward its final day of the 2003 session.

Senate Republican leaders failed to keep the two-tiered referendum clear of changes so that it could be sent straight to the governor's office to become law.

The flag referendum bill returns to the House -- containing a new state flag that was trimmed to regulation size, and has the motto "In God We Trust" moved to a less conspicuous spot.

The bill's proponents had hoped to settle the issue Tuesday. After a late-night attempt to salvage the flag referendum failed, the matter moved onto the agenda for Friday, the legislative session's last day, when a long and rancorous debate could imperil passage of other bills -- possibly the state budget.

House Speaker Terry Coleman indicated he might allow African-American members of the House to strip away the bill's most controversial provision: a possible vote on the 1956 flag with its Confederate battle cross.

"I think a lot of our people want another shot at it," Coleman said Tuesday night. "I wouldn't be surprised if we didn't change it again.

"It's total chaos, anyway," said the speaker, slumped in the giant chair behind his lectern. "The biggest issues we have now are the flag and the budget."

Perdue, who promised a vote on the flag during his campaign, had no comment on the Senate action.

Four Senate Republicans joined 25 Democrats in passing an amendment by state Sen. George Hooks (D-Americus) to adjust the dimensions of the proposed new flag, which is modeled after the original Stars and Bars of the Confederacy. The Republicans were state Sens. Rooney Bowen of Cordele, Randy Hall of Augusta, Brian Kemp of Athens and Charles Tanskley of Marietta.

The legal description originally contained in the bill required a flag with dimensions of 3 feet by 6 feet, rather than the standard 3 feet by 5 feet. "It was obviously an oversight in the drafting of this bill," said Sen. George Hooks (D-Americus), who sponsored the amendment.

The amendment also moved "In God We Trust" from its prominent position on the white stripe of the flag, to the smaller blue field. And it substituted the state coat of arms for the state seal.

Two other relatively minor amendments followed.

The final measure was approved 36-20, with the two flag votes still intact: a March 2, up-or-down referendum on the newest state flag; and, if the flag is defeated, a July 2004 vote that would pit the 1956 state flag with its dominant Confederate battle cross against another state flag originally adopted in the 19th century.

But by the final vote, the damage was done.

"That's it," Senate Rules Committee chairman Don Balfour (R-Snellville) said. "We'll see what the House does with it."

As in the House earlier this month, the flag referendum failed to win the vote of a single African-American lawmaker who railed against the possible vote on the Confederate battle cross.

Despite the bill's passage, black senators claimed victory. "I think it's going to die in the House," said a beaming state Sen. Nadine Thomas (D-Ellenwood).

The Senate debated the flag referendum for 6 1/2 hours, roughly the same amount of time the House spent on the bill two weeks earlier.

But outside and inside the chamber, the atmosphere was subdued, with fatigue replacing the heated rhetoric the issue had sparked earlier. At the state Capitol steps, only a half-dozen "flaggers" -- backers of the Rebel cross -- showed up to wave their 1956 flags. Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin and DeKalb County CEO Vernon Jones both appeared inside the Capitol to lobby against the flag.

Republicans in the Senate also demonstrated a lack of fervor for Perdue's initiative. An amendment to strip the July vote on the Confederate battle emblem drew the support of eight Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader Tom Price of Roswell. At one point, it failed by only one vote.

Debate was sharp but restrained, with senators concentrating on tactics more than heated outrage. State Sen. Mary Squires (D-Norcross), who called the governor "racist" while speaking from the Senate floor last week, didn't participate in the debate.

But others used similar language, and to a senator they challenged the governor's contention that a yearlong debate over the state flag would promote "racial healing."

"Forty years ago, governors used the N-word, but today in 2003 they talk about process," said state Sen. Vincent Fort (D-Atlanta), who displayed large photographs of white supremacists posed with the Confederate battle flag while he spoke.

State Sen. David Adelman (D-Decatur) told Republican colleagues they weren't obligated to fulfill Perdue's campaign promises. "The governor made a deal with the devil, but you didn't," Adelman said.

That provoked a pointed rebuttal from state Sen. Bill Hamrick (R-Douglasville): "He doesn't make deals with the devil. That's unfair. He made a deal with a living Christ."

He begged senators to trust Perdue. "In the end, it'll play out and things will get better on this issue," Hamrick said.

Opponents of the referendum pointed out inconsistencies in the bill -- the flag's awkward dimensions, and an incorrect legal description of the 1956 state flag.

State Sen. Dan Lee (R-LaGrange), one of Perdue's floor leaders, played down those problems. "It's not about the fabric," Lee said. "It asks the people of Georgia to put an end to this discussion."

Balfour, the rules chairman, likewise asked senators to ignore the bill's problems. "Are there things incorrect about the flag? I would say there probably are," he said. "But I believe this flag . . . next March is going to be overwhelmingly voted in. And it will end the issue."

-- Staff writers Rhonda Cook, Duane D. Stanford and Jim Tharpe contributed to this article.

[mhking]

and the anti-Confederacy people don't even know it.

They know it - the local media here has made certain of that.

[stand watie]

BTW, one of the CHIEF racebaiters of the naaLcp, this morning on CNN @10AM, admitted that the post 1956 flag would WIN if the vote were held TODAY!

[lugsoul]

Why are you telling us down here in Jawja what HAS to be done? Since you are so fond of making absolute pronouncments, try this one on for size - what you propose WILL NOT be done - no one in the statehouse is even pushing for such. It is amazing that one can be so vested in a position and so out of touch with what is going on.

Endeavor to persevere, stand watie.

[lugsoul]

1 - vote ain't held today.

2 - how would he know? are you for once going to put stock in something this person (whoever it was) says?