So Georgia legislators think its OK to take a gun into a bar – although not to fire it, which kind of defeats the purpose – but not to send a text behind the wheel.

Like many Athenians, I’m always on the lookout for young kids attempting to pilot a 5,000-pound tank-like vehicle while simultaneously operating a cell phone, applying eyeliner, dancing and drinking a smoothie. But, as my colleague Jim Thompson pointed out, the majority of the time, said driver will be the only one to suffer the consequences of such distractions, unless you believe telephone poles are sentient beings that feel pain.

Georgia lawmakers continue their valiant efforts to save us from the creeping socialism that is Obamacare.

Sen. Judson Hill’s Senate Bill 317, an attempt to halt the federal government from enforcing an individual health insurance mandate, passed the Senate on Friday and won approval today from the House Health and Human Services Committee. Sayeth the news release:

Today is Crossover Day, the 30th day of the General Assembly’s 40-day session and the deadline for any bill to pass at least one chamber.

It gets pretty crazy. You can follow the action here.

The Senate passed a bill setting aside some HOPE money for needy students, but otherwise, they haven’t done much yet. I’ll update the blog when they do. In the meantime, enjoy this selection of ankle-breaking crossover dribbles.

This comes as no surprise, but Athens-Clarke Commissioner Kathy Hoard told blogger JMac that she is running for re-election this year.

Hoard, who has served on the commission since 2003 and previously served on the Athens City Council, had hinted that this would be her last term. After her husband died last year, though, she’s been hinting that she would return.

Defense attorney Bill Overend was poised to run if Hoard retired.

Bad to worse

Paulding County voters elected a young banker named Daniel Stout to replace former House Speaker Glenn Richardson, who resigned after news broke that he’d had an affair with a lobbyist.

Stout, 29, admits to sleeping with his first wife’s mother 10 years ago. They divorced, and he remarried in 2005.

Are you worried that the government will implant a microchip into your body without your consent? If so, the state Senate has your back.

From the Associated Press:

State senators are moving to protect Georgians from being implanted with a microchip without their permission.

The Senate voted 47-2 on Thursday to approve a bill banning the practice without consent. Doing so would be a misdemeanor considered assault and battery.

Even with permission, implantation could only be performed by a doctor. Anyone who has a microchip implanted without their permission would be entitled to sue for damages.

House Speaker David Ralston just announced committee assignments, and Rep. Bob Smith, R-Watkinsville, is out as chairman of Appropriations’ Higher Education Subcommittee, the body that decides how much money Georgia colleges and universities get.

Smith was coy about how he voted for speaker, but presumably he backed the wrong horse.

Rep. Terry England, R-Auburn, an early Ralston supporter, was rewarded. He is now a vice chairman on Appropriations and Industrial Relations, in addition to remaining vice chairman of Agriculture and Consumer Affairs.

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New Speaker David Ralston started shaking up House leadership on Thursday, getting rid of the hated “hawks” and announcing the resignations of two committee chairman who are running for statewide office.

The three hawks – empowered by former Speaker Glenn Richardson to sway votes in any committee and keep Republicans in line with his wishes – have resigned, and rule changes eliminating the positions are presumably forthcoming.

“While this system was initiated to enable House committees to more readily meet their quorum requirements, it has become a tool used strictly for partisan purposes,” Ralston said in a news release. “Under my leadership, I am committed to working across the aisle and ensuring an equal voice to all House members no matter their party affiliation.”

During the first day of the General Assembly’s 2010 session on Monday, we heard lots of words like openness, transparency, independence, bipartisanship, character, honesty and integrity. New Speaker David Ralston promised more civility and more debate. He even spoke to reporters – something Glenn Richardson hadn’t done for two years.

Today, House leaders kicked the media out of a Republican caucus meeting. Has anything really changed?

High praise for Murphy

After accepting the gavel from former Speaker Pro Tem Mark Burkhalter on Monday, Ralston showed he’s a student of history.

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."

Pre-files are like Christmas come early for political reporters.

Georgia lawmakers filed dozens of bills last week that will be considered when the legislature convenes in January. As always, there’s some weird, wild and wacky stuff. Most of it boils down to state legislators' newfound post-Obama love for the 10th Amendment, which is quickly supplanting the 2nd as conservatives' favorite part of the Constitution.

The full lists from House and Senate are both online for your reading enjoyment, but here are some of the highlights: