Fresh Loaf

The AJC’s Christian Boone today brings us the story of Vandy Beth Glenn, a transgendered woman who three years ago was fired from her state Capitol editing job. Why exactly? Well, her higher-ups feared she might be “extremely harmful to work operations” and make state lawmakers uneasy and

Glenn, who was born Glenn Morrison, filed a federal suit against her former employers to get her old job back.

Here are some choice quotes from the deposition of Georgia Legislative Counsel Sewell Brumby, who was Glenn’s boss at the Capitol:

“It makes me think about things I don’t like to think about, particularly at work … I think it’s unsettling to think of someone dressed in women’s clothing with male sexual organs inside that clothing,” said Brumby, in a deposition taken May 11th in U.S. District Court in Atlanta. [...]

“I think some members of the legislature would view that taking place in our office as perhaps immoral, perhaps unnatural, and perhaps, if you will, liberal or ultra-liberal,” [Brumby] said.

Now on that last quote Brumby does have a point. The Georgia Capitol, after all, is a beacon of morality. No one’s ever raised flag about anything scandalous allegedly happening at the Gold Dome. Nope. Never. Check out Boone’s entire profile. UPDATE: Southern Voice has done an excellent job covering the story since it broke. Matt Schafer has a thorough article here.

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With roughly four months until Georgia lawmakers return to the Gold Dome to wreak havoc upon our pristine and precious state, thirsty residents and fans of freedom are moving forward with a petition to convince Gov. Sonny Perdue to finally do away with its ridiculous laws prohibiting the purchase of alcohol in stores on Sundays.

The petition, which was started by Twitter user AtlantaBeer, very plainly states:

Georgia law prevents retail sales of beer on Sundays despite the will of the people. Why does Gov Perdue block every attempt to change this law?

Good question. We’ve always heard state lawmakers are hesitant to push for an end to Sunday Sales because Perdue’s made clear he’d veto the bill. Also, next legislative session is during an election year. Lawmakers are big on red-meat issues when they’re up for re-election — think “guns, gays, and God” — and tend to shy away from measures that could change the status quo.

That doesn’t mean you can’t join in the fun. Here’s the petition website.

After the jump, the map of people ACROSS THE COUNTRY who think Georgians deserve the right to booze on the Sabbath. It’s the dawn of a new day, suckas!

(H/T to everyone in Georgia who uses Twitter)

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Tonight anywhere from 5,000 to 10,000 people will converge upon the Georgia Capitol to shake their fists and dangle their rage-filled tea bags in protest over nanny-state, big-spending guvmint!

Notables expected to bask in the spotlight — or face possible jeers — include America’s Most Noble Human Sean Hannity, former U.S. Rep. Dick Armey of Texas, a country singer, and this guy who wants you to know about the dangers of the approaching digital TV signal conversion. State lawmakers include Rep. Tom Graves, R-Ranger, and Senate Majority Leader Chip Rogers of Woodstock.

And it looks like the $25,000 fete will create confusion for motorists.

“The Tea Party at the Capitol combined with Braves traffic could possibly create a traffic nightmare,” said Paul Marshall, a spokesman for the state Department of Transportation.

Marshall advises using MARTA if going to either event, and he urged Braves fans traveling by car to take the Fulton Street exit off the Downtown Connector to avoid the area surrounding the Capitol, where he said the Hannity event “could draw thousands.”

Yes, MARTA, the same public transit system that many of the GOP honchos who are attending or contributing to tonight’s event kissed off during the legislative session.

If you do decide to drive to the protest on the metro region’s heavily subsidized road system, be prepared for gridlock. The AJC quotes Marshall as saying the worst traffic will be during rush hour and at approximately 11 p.m. CBS Atlanta has a list of road closures. Central Atlanta Progress and the Georgia Building Authority have maps of nearby parking lots.

MARTA, however, will be your best bet. Check out Citizens for Progressive Transit’s A-TRAIN trip planner for the best route to and from public transportation.

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On Friday, the state legislature let die a bill that would have allowed MARTA to spend money from its $65 million capital improvement fund to help plug its $20 million operating shortfall.

Because of the city-phobic legislature’s malicious inaction, MARTA will be forced to cut vital services. The transit system’s board is scheduled to meet today to discuss service cuts. Among the options being considered: shutting down MARTA on Fridays.

I’m in a spiteful mood today and would love it if MARTA targets its service cuts in ways that maximize their impact on voters and businesses who support the Redneckocrats who dominate the statehouse.

For example, Home Depot founder and sashimi collector Bernie Marcus backs the state Republican Party. Maybe MARTA should cease operating near Home Depot stores. Maybe MARTA could also run shuttle buses to Lowes. I’d also like it if APD resources assigned to the area around the Georgia Aquarium were reassigned to the West End or Sylvan Hills.

And I definitely want MARTA to shut all north side operations during sporting events and country music concerts. Let it serve as a reminder to north-side suburban voters that their support of city-hatin’ Republicans has consequences.

My examples may not be serious, but my overall point is very serious. If the Republican-dominated state legislature continues trying to destroy the city, the city should fight back.

Or secede.

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Correction appended.

A Gold Dome employee was found dead this morning on the fifth floor of the Coverdell Legislative Office Building across the street from the Capitol. The man’s body was discovered by another employee this morning around 8-8:30 a.m, according to a legislator who has an office near the scene.

According to the legislator, the man was found hanging in Room 502, which is used for video press conferences.

It is not clear when the man died. The lawmaker says Georgia Bureau of Investigation officers were on the scene.

“A man did die of an apparent suicide on the Capitol grounds and it was a full-time House staff member,” said J.D. Easley of the House Communications Office. “We’re asking everyone to respect the privacy of the family.”

House Communications Office have not released the man’s name. Phone calls and an email to Speaker Glenn Richardson’s office have not been returned. The GBI did not return a phone call.

We’ll provide an update when more information is available.

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Will April 3 look like this?

Earlier this month, the Georgia General Assembly took the unprecedented step of adopting a stretched-out legislative calendar that called for lawmakers to hold session only three days a week through the end of March, recess for at least eight weeks and then re-convene for five days in late June to finalize the state budget.

That was before Congress approved the $787 billion federal stimulus package – including close to $6 billion for Georgia – and before the state had finalized its revenue projections. Now that state budget-writers know roughly how much money they’ve got to work with, there’s really no reason to drag out the session any longer than necessary. Thursday was the 24th legislative day.

According to a little Gold Dome bird – who claims to have seen the soon-to-be-dropped bill – the new end date for the 2009 Legislation session will be no later than Friday, April 3. That would be one day earlier than last year.

Apparently, the leadership hasn’t quite settled on whether to go the full 40 days or try to wrap things up a few days early. If they opt for the latter, the session could be over as early as Wednesday, March 25. I’ll believe that when I see it.

(Photo by Thomas Wheatley)

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Gold Dome sentinel Dick Pettys of InsiderAdvantage provides an excellent rundown of 2008’s state political stories, complete with links that give you a rare glimpse behind the online news service’s subscription firewall. If you want a good take on what happened this year, it’s all right there.

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It hasn’t worked so far, but let’s try it again.

That seemed to be the thinking down at the state Capitol today, where House Republicans re-elected Glenn Richardson of Hiram as speaker and Jerry Keen of St. Simons as minority leader. The only real turnover was the election of Jan Jones of Alpharetta as majority whip, replacing Barry Fleming, who left the Legislature to get his clocked cleaned by Congressman Paul Broun in the 10th District race.

Granted, Richardson and Keen both had opposition – from GOP outsiders David Ralston of Blue Ridge and Tom Graves of Ranger, respectively – but, although caucus votes counts are kept secret, neither incumbent seemed to be in much danger.

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