But what if God turns out to be a tax-and-spend liberal?

Anybody wondering how the Georgia General Assembly plans to deal with the steep decline in state tax revenues in the ongoing economic downturn -- a decline that has already forced furloughs of state employees and could soon force dramatic cuts in government services -- could have learned a couple of Sundays ago that divine intervention isn't off the table.

Newly minted Republican state Sen. Buddy Carter -- a former state representative who won a special election last month to fill former state Sen. Eric Johnson's Savannah-area seat (Johnson resigned to run for governor) -- said during his Nov. 22 swearing-in ceremony in Savannah's Wesley Monumental Methodist Church that in these tough times, "we (presumably including his legislative colleagues) should turn to God for strength and wisdom." He reprised the sentiment later in his speech, saying "let us look to God for strength and guidance."

We know all this because Carter sent a copy of his swearing-in speech, which included his assurance -- an assurance obviously overshadowed by the venue in which it was delivered -- that he has "a healthy respect for the separation of church and state," to media outlets around the state Monday.

And, as it turns out, Carter isn't willing to turn the state's budget over to the guidance of the Almighty without offering his two-cents' worth. In comments to Savannah's WTOC-TV on the upcoming legislative session, Carter said, "With declining revenues it's going to be a big challenge for us. We've got to create a fertile environment to create jobs and make certain we can attract companies to Georgia and have job creation. That's going to be the key."

The college football business

In my e-mail inbox after the holiday weekend was a link to an opinion piece in Sunday's New York Times by Gilbert M. Gaul, a former Philadelphia Inquirer and Washington Post reporter, on the disingenuous hand-wringing by university presidents on the influence of collegiate athletics. Here's the nut:

If college presidents really wanted to halt the college sports machine, they could try two options. They could insist that athletic departments operate within their university budgets, like the English or biology departments; or they could ask Congress to rescind the tax breaks on the commercial income earned by athletic programs.

The full column, well worth reading, is available here.

Christmas music

As a follow-up to my Sunday column , here's a selection from Antsy McClain. Enjoy.