Republican House leader David Ralston is not a flaming liberal with an agenda to gain political ground by using the COVID-19 pandemic for some obscure leverage.

He just wants to keep people safe.

Ralston is about as conservative as they come.

Speaker Ralston removed a fellow lawmaker from the House chamber for refusing to be tested for COVID-19.

Capitol police escorted Republican Rep. David Clark of Buford from the floor of the chamber.

Ralston chastised anyone “jeopardizing the health” of other lawmakers.

In fact, he suggested Clark’s refusal to get tested was little more than a ploy to get “media attention for standing up to authority.”

Ralston’s words were powerful in that moment. The speaker said, “I don’t know about you all but I’ve been to too many funerals and I’m tired of going to them. I don’t know when this will end — we all pray that it will be sooner rather than later — but until that time, I think it behooves us to do whatever we need to do to be safe and to show love toward our neighbors.”

House and Senate lawmakers are required to be tested for COVID-19 twice-weekly as part of an effort to prevent the state capitol from becoming the source of the next coronavirus outbreak. Several Senate and House members received positive results, including Republican Senate Majority Leader Mike Dugan, after just the first day of being tested.

Clark was elected by the people and he will be permitted to return to the chamber so long as he complies with testing requirements like the rest of his colleagues.

The people we elect to office should do the right things to keep fellow lawmakers safe, to help stop the spread of the virus and to set the right example for the people of Georgia.

Ralston has certainly had his share of missteps and has rightly been called out by his political opponents and the media for those things.

But when it comes to this situation, he is clearly on the right side of the issue and the right side of history. We can only wonder how history will look back on the cavalier attitude many — such as Clark — have demonstrated toward this dangerous pandemic.

It is unthinkable and inexplicable that wearing masks, socially distancing and getting tested have become political issues.

Jim Zachary, editor of The Valdosta Daily Times, is CNHI’s director of newsroom training and development and president emeritus of the Georgia First Amendment Foundation.