Goodbye Spencer, let’s say hello to better

Sadly, we’re in a place where “Lawmaker who yelled racial slurs and exposed himself” was not the surprising part of the headline in the middle of timesfreepress.com Wednesday afternoon.

For example, checking in on the national sites after reading the story of Georgia state rep who is dumber than a bag of hammers (and that may be unfair to hammers) here’s but a few:

› From CNN: Melania Trump will watch ‘any channel she wants,’ spokeswoman says

› From Fox: Burger chain apologizes for using the image of slain journalist to promote food

› From MSNBC: Nine of the 10 ‘top stories’ either had the word Trump or tape, so there’s that

› From Fox: Proposal for nude beach rejected for fear nudists will scare ‘treasured’ bird.

Friends, I’ll allow you to add your own punchline to what may scare the treasured bird on a nudist beach, but here’s hoping no one’s twig was plucked for nesting.

As for Georgia’s newest and most famous political punchline, well, good ol’ buffoon Jason Spencer was hoodwinked by Sacha Baron Cohen on a cable TV show and became the butt — quite literally, in fact — of every joke this side of the road-crossing chicken.

Spencer, who is from Woodbine, Georgia, population 1,322, fell victim to Baron Cohen’s portrayal of an Israeli military expert who is trying to make a counterterrorism video, because let’s face it, after the World Trade Center, Woodbine has to be high on al-Qaida’s possible next-strike options.

Anyhoo, because Baron Cohen is convincing and Spencer apparently has the IQ of a carrot — again all apologies to carrots — the Georgia representative showed his butt, in just about every way imaginable.

The Showtime episode aired Sunday night, and Spencer, in no specific order, took off his pants and shouted “USA!” and “America!” because Baron Cohen convinced him it would scare homophobic jihadists. Spencer dropped a series of n-bombs because it would draw bystanders’ attention in a possible terroristic attack. (Growing up in what used to be a small-town in Georgia, I’m surprised even someone with the intellectual assets of tree bark like Spencer could be convinced a racial slur would be the best word to draw attention.)

And speaking of surprises, we said the eye-popping words of the original headline were not that big of a shock. No, the shock was that Spencer actually had the decency to resign.

(Now, if you read to the end of the online story, Spencer’s resignation was hollow. He was whipped in his primary in May and decided to resign next week knowing he was out in November anyway.)

I guess the moral here has to be, especially as we all ponder our choices at the ballot box, not only to vote, but to vote with information.

Spencer did not become a redneck racist with the mental depth of a beer mug overnight. Regardless if R (for Spencer that may mean Racists) or D (for Spencer that would be Dummy) is your ballot of choice, let’s all try to find the folks who will be part of the solution.

And shun the folks who are the Spencers.

Contact Jay Greeson at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com and 423-757-6343.