Fresh Loaf

FEUD FOR THOUGHT: GOP infighting led to major bills such as transportation funding sine dying on the vine Friday. But don’t worry; at least now you can bring your guns on MARTA. Click here to read Thomas’ sine die live blog.

BOB BARR: Forms presidential exploratory committee, indicating he’s seriously considering running against Ralph Nader for general-election spoiler.

WWE AND HGH: Homeowner discovers HGH in his Locust Grove house, which once belonged to a pro wrestler, FOX 5 reports. I’m also amused to see a pro wrestling newsletter covering HGH abuse, which is like a soap opera magazine covering cosmetic surgery.

IMMIGRATION: Gwinnett prisons begin screening inmates for immigration violations, and AccessNorthGa is on the case with an adrenaline-pumping news graphic.

CLAYTON SCHOOLS: Things have been better.

BMW CARAVAN: Two hundred seventy-one bored, rich people drive from Chateau Elan to Atlanta Raceway in Braselton in not only the Guinness world-record longest caravan of BMWs, but cars in general.

CROSS-DRESSING THE LINE? Wisconsin elementary school holds dress-up day for kids to either dress as senior citizens or members of the opposite sex, an idea the kids came up with. Christian talk radio hears about the tiny trannies, though, and goes on an angry mission of talking.

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During the current state legislative session, Rep. James Mills, R-Gainesville, introduced legislation to confiscate the cars of illegal immigrants and protect Georgians from what he calls dangerous animals.

“If you’re going to [live in Georgia as an illegal immigrant], I’d like to send the message, ‘We’re going to take your car.’ If you want to risk that, we’ll take your car.”

– Mills, as quoted in the Gainesville Times on Jan. 15, explaining his car
confiscation bill.

“Iraq, Iran, Irania, Jordan. We don’t know where they’re from.”

– Mills, as quoted in the AJC Feb. 28, on the sources of what he calls Georgia’s “epidemic” of illegal immigration. The bill passed the House that day.

“The following animals are considered to be inherently dangerous to human beings — Kangaroos, wallabies, wallaroos.”

– From House Bill 1376, Mills’ legislation to require owners of certain
marsupials to obtain permits and insurance to keep certain marsupials.

(Photo courtesy of the Georgia House of Representatives)

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“Young Americans should not be killed by people who should not legally be in the United States in the first place,” Mr. Gingrich told Republicans gathered in Ames, Iowa, for the Iowa Republican Party straw poll.

I agree with Newt.

Americans should be killed by other Americans.

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We got a friendly homecoming suprise [sic] last night in Atlanta when Lockett and I got robbed at gunpoint after our show at Lenny’s last night.

-Bradford Cox, of Atlanta rock band Deerhunter, was robbed outside Lenny’s early Sunday along with bandmate Lockett Pundt.

What is the message here? If you live in a poor or immigrant community and are a victim of a crime, you’d better not call the police, or you will probably spend the day down at the jail while they run a background check on you, regardless of whether you are here legally or not.

-DecaturGuy at Atlanta Public Affairs on local police policies that may discourage Latinos from reporting crimes. (Note, I think the arrest DecaturGuy mentions was in Carrollton, not Cobb County.)

Pimp implies in the Ozone interview that R&B singer Ne-Yo is gay, claims that Atlanta is not in the south because “Atlanta is on East Coast time” and accuses certain unnamed rappers (fans are guessing Young Jeezy) of turning his back on powerhouse label BMF after drug charges.

-The HipHop Cosign on Houston rapper Pimp C’s in-print dissing of Atlanta

That settles it. If Pimp C doesn’t like it here, I’m moving.

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Last evening, 11 Alive aired a story about a Gwinnett County community meeting to discuss crime in county parks.

The meeting followed the robbery and beating of a man watching a baseball game at a crowded Mountain Park field a few weeks ago.

If you get a chance to watch (or read) the story on 11 Alive’s website, note the way the reporter tries to dance around the issue of race and ethnicity.

Gwinnett police admit they are stretched thin with 12 park police officers to patrol 35 public parks in a rapidly changing county.

“Rapidly changing county”? Is the county going through puberty? Menopause?

“Rapidly changing” is the reporter’s way of (not) saying that Gwinnett County is getting less white and more poor. CL’s John Sugg wrote about it last month.

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Two days before Congress rejected compromise immigration reform, Gwinnett County commissioners on Tuesday passed a get-tough-on-illegals measure to make companies seeking county contracts verify that their employees are legal U.S. residents.

Our prisons are too overflowing with some of these people. The American citizen, the honest worker is requested to pay the bill for everything. That is unjust.

— Gwinnett resident Charlotte Gutsmann, quoted in the Gwinnett Daily Post telling commissioners about her frustrations with illegal workers

What if these immigrant workers all left tomorrow? Many of these businesses would have to shut their doors. … Millions of native-born Americans who work for those companies would lose their jobs, too.

— Georgia Employers for Immigration Reform radio ad

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U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., endorsing the Senate immigration-reform compromise bill at its May 17 unveiling. He added that his legislative “language” already was in the bill:

The way you make good laws is to have people on both sides of the aisle come together on a bill that none of us would think would be perfect but a bill that is perfect for the American people. … Thanks to the leadership of Sen. Kennedy … and others, I think we’ve seen a bill that is truly good for the American people. … It’s not in the interest of Republicans or Democrats. It is in the interest of the American people.

Chambliss, on Thursday after voting against the bill that he was for before he was against it:

Senator Isakson and I participated in the process early on because we wanted to ensure that our views and concerns were expressed and that, first and foremost, the border security triggers were included in the bill. I believe our contribution to the process was critical in strengthening key components of the legislation. While it wasn’t incumbent that everybody agree with the overall bill presented to the American people, it was important that we have a meeting of the minds to allow a full and fair debate on this critical issue. … I will continue fighting for border security and I will continue to oppose amnesty for those who have broken our laws. Georgians demand no less than our fullest commitment to this critical issue.

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I would say that 80 to 90 percent of the people here in North Georgia are against any sort of bill to help these people. I am certainly out of the mainstream here. I find no fault in these people, and wonder how my “Christian” neighbors can carry such bitterness in their hearts.

— Aging Hipster on a Washington Post story about how Gainesville and Hall County have dealt with the area’s growing Latino population. The article’s most painful quotation: “And they don’t seem to feel any discomfort when they’re, like, six inches from your face and talking to each other in their language, either.”

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an anonymous editor monday around midnight reported the death of chris benoit’s wife on the the wikipedia more than 14 hours before the bodies were found.

adding to the confusion, the post came from stamford, ct, which is home to the headquarters of benoit’s employer, the wwe.

— James at Metroblogging Atlanta is a little freaked out that a Wikipedia contributor wrote about the death of WWE wrestler Chris Benoit’s wife 14 hours before her body was found by police. I’m freaked out by Wikipedia because I still don’t have an entry.

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It’s always a special pleasure to stumble onto great artists from the past whose reputations have faded from cultural memory, but whose work remains to let us know that they, like us, were moved by sexual beauty.

— It’s Friday. That means Gloria Brame is posting erotic art.

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On Wednesday, Gov. Sonny Perdue vetoed 41 bills, including one that would’ve increased the penalties for driving without a valid license.

The bill would’ve made the offense a misdemeanor with a punishment of at least two days in jail and a fine ranging from $500 to $1,000. If a person was caught three times for driving without a license, the individual would be charged with a felony on the fourth conviction.

Advocates of the legislation hoped the bill would help nab illegal immigrants, while opponents said the law could have devastating effects on individuals who may be here lawfully. The arrest of a Canadian tourist who was detained for a minor traffic violation — partly because she only had a valid Canadian passport — proved to be enough to have Perdue steer clear of any confusion the law may cause.

When he vetoed the bill, he said: “This broad provision would catch not only those who willfully drive without any valid license, but also persons who move into the state with a valid out-of-state driver’s license that have not obtained a Georgia driver’s license within 30 days of establishing residency. … I fear an unintended consequence of this legislation, as drafted, would subject persons with valid out-of-state driver’s licenses to stout criminal penalties even absent the commission of a willful act.”

It’s a small victory for the immigrant community, but as Larry Pellegrini, executive director of the Georgia Rural Urban Summit, noted in an e-mail, “Celebrate greatly but be on guard … because the anti’s won’t give up and we’ll have to fight this again.”

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A deal for Dave Matthews: You retire, I won’t drive a car.

– ATLMalcontent on Dave Matthews’ request that fans use public transportation to get to his Sept. 9 concert in Piedmont Park.

A question: When people say Dave Matthews is one of the highest-grossing touring musicians in the country, are they talking about this?

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I am truly amazed by the number of people who know me and know RedState. That was truly an awesome experience.

– Erick Erickson at Confessions of a Political Junkie on his dinner last night with George Will, Mary Matalin and Robert Novak, among others. Erickson is the senior editor of RedState.com and the HBIC at Peach Pundit.

Erickson is also one of the five bloggers profiled in this week’s CL cover story (online later today, on newsstands tomorrow).

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I had my first real look at the immigration legislation today. There are several sections that deal specifically with the REAL ID, oh man…this thing is bad news.

– Jason Pye, on President Bush’s immigration-themed visit to Georgia yesterday.

Pye doesn’t like Bush. He titled the post “The Devil Went Down To Georgia.”

Bush shouldn’t feel too sad, however. Yesterday Pye compared Sen. Hillary Clinton to Hitler and Khrushchev.

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Marietta-based anti-illegal-immigration activist D.A. King energized a GOP meeting in Newton, Ga., in late April. According to the Rockdale Citizen, he was thanked by state lawmakers for his efforts and displayed a Mexican government ID card with the name “Al Qada Gonzalez.”

“They’re not here to mow your lawn — they’re here to blow up your buildings and kill your children, and you, and me.”
— King at the Newton GOP meeting

Among King’s other recent statements:

“Labeling illegal aliens as ‘immigrant’ is the ultimate immigrant bashing.”
— in a May 1 CNN interview with Anderson Cooper

“Anyone with a different agenda against skin color or national origin, you are not welcome … and you will not be tolerated.”
— at a rally across from the White House earlier in April

“It is not an overstatement to observe that the federal government has abandoned the American people and we teeter on the brink of national suicide.”
— on his blog

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Oklahoma passed a comprehensive immigration law Thursday that’s very similar to the one passed in Georgia last year. Georgia’s law, which goes into effect in July, will, among other things, deny social services to illegal immigrants and prohibit government contractors from hiring undocumented workers.

According to state Sen. Chip Rogers, R-Woodstock, the lead sponsor of the law, the Oklahoma Legislature took its law one step further by requiring every employer in the state to verify his or her legal status. Georgia’s law only requires public employers to go through a verification process.

Colorado, which passed a handful of immigration laws last year, was the first state to follow Georgia’s steps. Rogers says Indiana also may be looking into legislation that’s modeled after Georgia’s law. If more states follow the precedent, it’ll be interesting to see if that will affect potential legislation at the federal level.

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Marietta anti-illegal-immigrant activist D.A. King has taken his spiel to the top.

According to the Washington Post, King coordinated a rally on Sunday that brought 400 people to protest illegal immigration on the eve of another congressional attempt to try to hammer out immigration reform. The event took place at a park directly across from the White House. King told the crowd, “Anyone with a different agenda against skin color or national origin, you are not welcome … and you will not be tolerated.”

King made headlines in 2005 when he paid homeless individuals $10 to hold anti-illegal-immigration posters and signs outside the Georgia Capitol. Since then, King has hooked up with Roger Hedgecock, a radio talk-show host from San Diego and frequent guest on Rush Limbaugh’s show, to organize national protests such as the one that occurred earlier this week.

To read more about King, check out former CL editor Doug Monroe’s story.

Photo by Doug Monroe

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Gov. Sonny Perdue has responded to the Georgia Association of Elected Officials call for an investigation into the arrest of a Canadian tourist who was detained for a minor traffic violation in Glynn County.

His response: It was an isolated incident so no further investigation is necessary.

That’s because one Glynn County jail employee has already been fired, and two others have been suspended without pay. Glynn County Sheriff Wayne Bennett told the Ottawa Citizen that a miscommunication between an officer and immigration officials led to the Canadian’s 11-hour detainment.

Bennett claimed the immigration check was conducted in anticipation of complying with a state immigration law that goes into effect in July. But GALEO said the law only applies to foreign nationals who are arrested for a DUI or felony, not a minor traffic charge.

In an e-mail, GALEO executive director Jerry Gonzalez said, “we [are] disappointed at the lack of attention to our request … Our contention [is] that there is growing confusion about the implementation of [the immigration law] … and that law enforcement officials around the state may misinterpret the law and its intent.”

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