Courier Herald column for the week of September 3rd: Labor Day is that paradoxical holiday when we don’t work in order to celebrate working. Some work hard to get the job done.  Others seem to work harder at making things difficult for everyone but themselves. In Georgia state politics the elected official who has most

Courier Herald column for the week of August 27th: The weather says summer, but the calendar says fall.  We know this because the University of Georgia Bulldogs are ready to suit up between the hedges in Athens to defend their National Championship.  Or better said, Championships. Plural. In Georgia there are rules, which are often

Courier Herald column for the week of August 21st: “The 2020 election was not stolen.”  This was the beginning of a tweet from Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, in a direct rebuke of former President Donald Trump’s post-indictment screed railing about Georgia’s count of votes during the last presidential contest. The contrast between two statements are

Courier Herald column for the week of August 13th: My friend and Athens radio host Tim Bryant asked a question on his show last week, which he then extended to his Facebook followers.  He wanted to know others opinion as to whether Athens Clarke County would become “more red” or neighboring Oconee County would become

Courier Herald column for the week of August 6th: The research firm Fitch Ratings downgraded the quality of the United States debt last week.  They’re arguably the lesser known of the three main agencies that assign letter grades to denote the likelihood a bond issuer will repay their debt.  A grade of AAA implies unimpeachable

Courier Herald column for the week of July 31st: Even though temperatures are in the high 90’s and the calendar unambiguously says that we’re in the middle of summer, most Georgia schools are beginning their fall semester.  With the summer break over, most adults return to or refocus on work.  This is also true for

Courier Herald column for the week of July 23rd: Georgia Governor Brian Kemp continues to be the subject of rumors, speculation, and even some wishful thinking that he will enter the race to be the Republican nominee for President in 2024.  While being strategically coy about his future plans, has tamped down talk that he

Courier Herald column for the week of July 16th: It’s summer.  Most of you, hopefully, are doing summery things.  What most people aren’t doing is spending every waking moment obsessing who will be elected President 17 months from now. Political operatives and the press that cover them aren’t most people. They’re part of an industry,

Courier Herald column for the week of July 9th: My calendar says we’re now squarely into July, and it’s time for a seasonal adjustment.  In Georgia, this means complaints should now focus on two distinct areas:  the oppressive heat, or property tax increases. Tis the season, or something. The truth is, there’s not much any

Courier Herald column for the week of July 2nd: June 23rd, 2023 will barely be a footnote in history – at least, in American history.  For a few hours, however, it appeared that a major event in world history was happening right before us, in real time.  After a few weeks of openly criticizing Russian