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Two circuses in town this week
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Right now, Georgia is engaged in a schoolyard fight with Florida and Alabama over water.

Gov. Sonny Perdue has stood his ground, or his water, as the case may be. Gov. Bob Riley of Alabama doesn't miss an opportunity to take a shot at Atlanta. He seems to think we're all up here with our faucets turned wide open.

The governor of Florida, Charlie Crist, is the new guy and has been a bit more quiet.

Things got heated up last year, and the president dispatched the Interior secretary, Dirk Kempthorne, to help work things out. So far, things are going pretty well, so they tell us.

Now, a couple of members of the legislature want to get us in another scrap. This time with Tennessee.

Sen. David Shafer, R-Duluth, is digging up an old battle over the border with Tennessee.

This is not a new story.

For years, folks in Georgia have been contending that the line was too far South.

Now comes Shafer wanting to start the ball rolling on getting our land back and, by the way, the correct border would put the shores of the Tennessee River in, you guessed it, North Georgia.

If one tussle with two states isn't enough, then let's start another one with a third.

What's really fun about this is that if water isn't the real (wink-wink) reason, the Tennessee River is a part of the Tennessee-Tombigbee basin, which flows straight into Alabama (See above reference to Gov. Riley).

You would think that our legislature would be more concerned with efficient government, better educating our children, taking care of the elderly and improving our roads.

Last week, a dispute over taking guns in your car to work became a bill to take your gun everywhere, including church.

Jesus, in one of the few times he got really mad, was upset when some people were exchanging money in the temple. I'm not purporting to speak for Jesus (although there are several guys on TV who claim to), but if he doesn't care for people exchanging money, I'm inclined to believe he wouldn't particularly like folks exchanging gunfire.

I talked to my preacher about this and he pretty much agrees with me that the Lord's house is no place for guns.

I know somebody is going to point out those incidents where folks were killed in churches last year. Yes, these things happened, but does that give us a reason to pack a little heat when we're packing a pew?

The upshot of this is that if churches had armed ushers, some folks might be intimidated and give a little more, but that gets us back into that money changer in the temple thing. The Lord has weighed in clearly on that.

I usually make it down to the capitol about one day a week, which is sufficient exposure to this process we have created. If you haven't gone down and watched this lawmaking business, I encourage you to go down and see for yourself. Admission is free - although parking will set you back at least $5.

If you go this week, please note that the capitol building is the one with the gold dome. It is not to be confused with Philips Arena, which also has a dome of sorts and this week will host the annual visit of the Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey Circus.

The two are easily confused.

Harris Blackwood, a native of Social Circle, is on the editorial board of The Gainesville Times. Send e-mail to hblackwood@gainesvilletimes.com