First, the good news, we have an unprecedented opportunity with redistricting to unseat a large number of TurnCoats and change the face of the General Assembly in 2005. In July and November of 2004, we will make these changes (Vote!!!). More on this in other columns. TurnCoat Season is about to open! [ Nov. 2 Endorsements ]

The presidential race for 2004 has already turned nasty. It promises to get much uglier before it's over.

As has been previously reported, our so-called conservative president along with his Republican cohorts in Congress have been spending taxpayer money "like drunken sailors". [ Apologies to all drunken sailors! ] This Congress is setting records for higher spending. Could it be any higher with Democrats in power?

For all its faults and cynical apathy, the American electorate has shown wisdom in the past by trying to maintain "gridlock" in the sense of keeping a partisan balance in Congress and with the White House. When Americans give too much power to one party, the abuses are worst.

In addition to out of control spending, President Bush has proposed immigration madness----er, I mean "policies" that many real conservatives in the electorate and a few in the Congress oppose. I contend that this is partially a "whatcha gonna do about it?" calculation on the part of Bush and his advisors. In a bizzare case of poetic justice, Karl Rove, the president's advisor and immigration guru was recently "protested" by a band of thugs looking to intimidate him into even more open immigration policies.

Speaking of bizarre, the apparent Democratic nominee is a liberal Senator from Massachusetts who bears a striking resemblence to the Lurch character from the television series, The Addams Family.

Even more bizarre than his appearance and mannerisms, however, are his magical flips flops to cover both sides of every issue. For smaller government, Kerry proposes massive spending. He promises to cut the deficit in half but at the same time he promises to spend $2.76 trillion (that's with a "T") more over the next ten years. Wow.

So, this is shaping up to be another choiceless, bogus referendum. Just as Georgians had to choose between two politician's flags cooked up in backroom deals, Americans have to choose between Liar-1 or Liar-2 for president. Americans have to scrape all the rhetoric off their shoes, hold their noses and choose.

Not very appealing, is it? That's why most Georgians did not participate in the March 2nd sham. Many will be tempted to pass on the Presidential non-choice, too.

Of course, unlike the flag hoax, there will be other presidential candidates on the ballot. The Constitution Party and the Libertarian party will have candidates on most state ballots.

Unfortunately, most voters will not even know their names until they step into the booth and read the ballot.

The other candidates will get zero coverage by the media, who will pretend the other candidates don't exist or if by chance they are acknowledged, it will be with a dismissive barb, relegating them to the irrelevant fringe.

Cynic H.L. Mencken once said, "Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want and deserve to get it good and hard." Are we the people simply reaping what we have sown? It really is up to us to change how this works. How much longer will we accept such farce and call it liberty?

Mencken also proposed that we choose our legislators as we choose our juries (drafting unsuspecting but honest citizens). There are many merits to his proposal. I don't, however, see a large number of legislators stampeding to implement this approach. Same goes for congressional term limits. Like asking chickens to vote for Colonel Sanders, it ain't likely.

A perhaps more realistic approach is to start the change at the local level, then work our way up. Mencken was a cynic and believed it was too late (in the 1920s) to restore decentralized government in America. We really have the power to start removing the corruption that infests our Capitol in Atlanta.

Yes, we must acknowledge that money corrupts and that the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce has members of both major parties in their pockets. But as Roy Barnes learned, $20 million of Chamber money for a campaign doesn't buy success when voters are motivated...after all, it's votes that win elections, not money.

The coming battle promises to be interesting. I believe that Georgia will rise up and demand that Atlanta should form its own nation-state---or failing that, at least quit stealing bread from Georgia plates to finance palaces for kings in Atlanta. The March 2 referendum clearly showed the people of Georgia that we "slaves" out here on the Georgia plantation have no say in "how dey runs thangs up in the Atlanta big house."

That's fine. If Atlanta wants to run their Big House their way, good for them. But the bad news for them is that taxpaying slaves across Georgia are tired of paying for the amenities the elites in the Atlanta Big House enjoy.

If Atlanta needs more water, let them buy it from us at fair prices. If Atlanta wants a new Dome, or a new World Congress Center, or a new symphony hall, let them buy it---with THEIR money---not ours!

We must refuse to pay any bill they try to charge to our account. If they want their own flag, let them choose their own---not ours! They've already chosen a flag and forced it on the rest of Georgia.

Why, you ask? They chose the flag because Atlanta elites were worried that the '56 flag might cost Atlanta a basketball tournament, or it might somehow, some way, keep a few bucks out of Atlanta's pockets. How their decision effects the rest of Georgia is of no concern to the Atlanta elite.

The rest of Georgia wants to choose its own flag, without the Atlanta elite making the decision in advance and having their puppets stage a hoax referendum. The flag theft by the Atlanta elite is just ONE example in a long train of abuses and embezzlements to benefit Atlanta at the expense of Georgia. And the sad part of it is, the flag theft is not really benefiting Atlanta, either.

We, the slave taxpayers of Georgia, will be their slaves no more. Folks, it's time for economic emancipation. It's time to boycott Atlanta. We don't need them. They need us.

Let's give Atlanta a wake up call. When the people resume control of Georgia, other states will replicate our success. Then we can talk about fixing the similar---but larger---problem up in Washington, D.C.

Steve Scroggins is Adjutant of the Lt. James T. Woodward Camp 1399, Sons of Confederate Veterans, in Warner Robins, GA and a frequent GHC contributor of parody and political cartoons and graphics.