Editorial: As a group, politicians will reap what they sow

Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle made some good points in a meeting last week with the editorial board of the Savannah Morning News, when he was quizzed once again about the circumstances of his April departure from the Republican side of the 2010 governor's race.

Political junkies will recall that Cagle dropped out of the race after calling a news conference to announce that a degenerative neck and spinal condition required surgical attention.

The surgery, which Cagle said was needed to ensure he didn't lose the use of his left arm, was performed later in the month.

Perhaps predictably in today's cynical political climate, Cagle's April announcement wasn't taken at face value, and within minutes after he stepped away from the microphones, rumors began swirling in the blogosphere - and as a result got some traction in the mainstream media - that the announced surgery was cover for some "personal issue" that ultimately would force Cagle out of the governor's race.

The rumors were so persistent that, a few days after announcing he was leaving the governor's race, Cagle took a set of X-rays and magnetic resonance images of his spine to an Atlanta Journal-Constitution political reporter.

The images showed a crumbled spinal disc, two thin-walled vertebrae and a bone spur.

So Cagle can be excused if, when pressed on the rumors in Savannah last week, he said, "I've heard it all. And I have no use for it. I have no use, no patience. ... I've earned the trust of the people of Georgia, and I have done nothing - nothing - to lose that trust. ... On top of that, you have ... blogs where there is no accountability whatsoever. Someone can make any allegations they

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