Free Republic

Former Georgia House Speaker Glenn Richardson held a gun to his head and threatened to kill himself less than two weeks ago, a Paulding County Sheriff's Office report states. Richarson's suicide threat followed a domestic dispute in Atlanta the night of Aug. 5, according to an incident report obtained by the AJC through an Open Records request. After the domestic dispute, Richardson, 50, told an Atlanta police officer over the phone that "he was going to Hiram to end all of his problems and would kill himself," the report states. The domestic dispute took place in Atlanta, though the Paulding...

Republican Glenn Richardson has been dogged by talks of an alleged affair with a lobbyist and has admitted to struggling with depression. He leaves office Jan. 1. BY RICHARD FAUSSET Atlanta - Embroiled in a strange and unsavory drama involving a suicide attempt and allegations of an affair with a lobbyist, Georgia's powerful House Speaker Glenn Richardson, a Republican, said Thursday that he would resign. The announcement by Richardson -- a hard-charging, family-values conservative -- came amid Republicans' mounting calls for his ouster and fears that a lingering sex and ethics scandal could harm the Georgia GOP in next year's...

As hard to believe as it is, the following statement is now true: "The new House rules let Richardson (state Rep. Glenn Richardson, R-Dallas, the new speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives) appoint legislative 'hawks' who can swoop in to any committee with the authority to vote the way the Speaker wants them to." (Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Jan. 11, 2005) Read that again. In any way does that sound American? The Republicans are famous for naming things the opposite of what they are, but in this case they actually call it what it creates - "birds of prey." Unfortunately, it...