Nothing else to do? Lawmaker rages as ‘lemon pepper’ bill stalls

ATLANTA — Georgia Rep. Eric Bell wants Georgians to believe the real crisis under the Gold Dome isn’t affordability or taxes. Rather, it’s lemon pepper wings.

Bell, a liberal Democrat, blasted Capitol leadership this week over what he calls a “hostage crisis,” arguing that a stack of bills — including one naming lemon pepper the official state chicken wing flavor — is stuck while lawmakers waste time and play politics. He also tied that stall-out to broader complaints about priorities at the Capitol, pointing to measures on HOPE Scholarship eligibility for people with prior drug felony convictions, victims’ protections and reentry barriers as examples of legislation he says is being ignored.

Now, if you’re sensing this is the kind of thing that happens when there’s “nothing else going on,” you’re not wrong. Every legislature has its ceremonial stuff. Georgia’s just got better seasoning.

But Bell isn’t exactly an innocent bystander in the rhetoric department, either. He has previously drawn public criticism at the Capitol over incendiary comparisons — including language that some argued crossed the line by likening federal agents’ tactics to “pre–Nazi Germany.”

So even if lemon pepper wings are cultural currency in Georgia, a “state flavor” bill is classic statehouse theater.

But when lawmakers are selling the public on seriousness and safety, maybe don’t act shocked when people notice the contrast between grandstanding and governing — or when they remember the last time you decided the volume knob wasn’t loud enough.