The following was sent in by Susan Meyers as a tribute to Jim Wooten, who is retiring from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
In news that may shock some, be regarded as inevitable to others, Jim Wooten, the voice of principled conservative thought at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, announced to the staff Friday he will retire this summer after three decades at the newspaper.
Wooten, an award-winning journalist, can be thanked for his years of columns and editorials calling on elected officials to spend taxpayer funds as if it were being depleted from their own wallets.
Jim preached terms such as “cost-benefit,” “free markets,” “privatization,” “competition,” and “personal responsibility” in times when those terms were rarely spoken in Georgia politics. And those columns influenced Democrats and Republicans alike.
Jim is best known for his investigative columns about abuses in the state’s pension system, which led to reform in Georgia’s retirement system. His commentaries about shenanigans during redistricting after the 2000 Census helped lead to the historic Republican takeover under the Gold Dome a few years later.
As the Associate Editorial Page Editor, it is believed Wooten will continue to post a weekly Thinking Right column as he enjoys life as a Middle Georgia farmer. To read Wooten’s bio please click here.
As a former colleague of this U.S. Army veteran, join me in congratulating Jim for a job well done all these years and thanking him for his service to AJC readers, the GOP Majority and the state of Georgia. Jim can be reached at jwooten@ajc.com.
The closing of Jim’s conservative editorial page, The Atlanta Journal, in 2001, was certainly a mark in time. This, my friends, is truly the end of an era.
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As a Macon resident I must say welcome back to Middle Georgia. He attended Willingham High if I remember well, so he probably rubbed elbows with some South Bibb residents I know. I will hate to see conservative AJC readers lose a lone wolf but hope his shoes will be at least partially filled. A good job well done, Mr. Wooten.
No reason to continue bookmarking the AJC. It’s become pure info-entertainment with emphasis on entertainment. There are other far more serious albeit specialized local news sources.
jim wooten is still alive?
or is it just his ideas that are long dead?
Jim Wooten goes right after his hero GWB does. Sweet.
The Atlanta what? Never heard of it.
Middle Georgia Farmer? I wonder what he thinks of Mandatory NAIS in 2011 (National Animal Identification System designed by Monsanto and the USDA) and Monsanto’s genetically modified seeds.
Monsanto had a table at the fundraiser dinner for the King Center tonight. Hilary Clinton was a guest speaker. I made it through two lines of secret service and was a few feet from her elbow, when the final secret service agent realized I wasn’t supposed to be there.
Rats. Wanted to ask her about the Foreign Policy of fighting global hunger, Monsanto, etc.
Would’ve been fun. I probably would’ve had better luck getting to Bill.
But back to topic–Wooten may be a good ally for small Georgia farmers, and local, safe food. I should look him up.
Mr. Wooten has always been a stand-up guy in my book. I was one of the opening comments on his Thinking Right blog, and I’ve had a few email conversations with him outside the blogosphere. He will be sorely missed as the lone conservative voice on the AJC editorial board, but I wish him the best as he retires back to the life he really loves.
As far as successors to his ’social conservatism’ type column, what about Shaunti Feldhahn? She already does the social conservative side for the ‘Woman to Woman’ column, AND she could foil off of Tucker, giving Bookman a break for a while.
Has the AJC asked for a bailout yet? With the lost of Jim they are one step closer.
The real question is, should Jim’s replacement be someone who can sell conservatism to independents and the political middle or should it be someone who cheerleads the Republican party line? I suspect that people on the right would be much more happy with the latter, though the former would be much better for the cause. Among existing AJC editorial page commentators, the above choice would be between Mike King and Shaunti Feldhahn. I’ll give the edge to Shaunti since Mike is probably a bit too center for most on the right to be satisfied.
I’ll betchoo Bob Barr is ringing the phones at the AJC to replace Wooten.
Aubie, here’s a radical idea: replace Jim with an actual conservative, who isn’t trying to “sell” conservatism to the mushy middle OR be a cheerleader hack for the GOP.
I hereby volunteer. Icarus will vouch for me (or at least for my ability to write lots of words, which he doesn’t actually read)
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The real question is what will griftdrift do now?
Jim’s an icon. The good news is aluta continua. If you want to continue read more than 100 words, Jim would tell you to come to http://www.gppf.org. If I have to say so myself. Right, Jim?
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