“Today America was lost. The Founders weep. The German Finance Minister from 1925 and Mussolini are smiling.”
- Frequent Peach Pundit commenter IndyInjun isn’t merely unhappy about American taxpayer bailouts of troubled financial institutions. He’s also worried that a long-dead German bureaucrat and a longer-dead Italian fascist are happy about it.
One of my favorite conservative columnists is the Wall Street Journal’s Peggy Noonan. A former Reagan speechwriter. I don’t typically agree with her, but her prose is graceful and she doesn’t ooze venom, loathing and opportunistic cynicism like Limbaugh, Hannity, O’Reilly, et al.
Unfortunately, her column today on Gov. Sarah Palin was wishy-washy crap.
The Sarah Palin choice is really going to work, or really not going to work. It’s not going to be a little successful or a little not; it’s not going to be a wash. She is either going to be magic or one of history’s accidents.
Peggy Noonan loves Sarah Palin. No, wait, Peggy Noonan hates Sarah Palin.
Noonan’s an experienced political hand who certainly has a more-informed opinion than most. She’s simply not willing to share it on the record.
It’s like Noonan’s got a gun to her head while gargling the Palin Kool-Aid; unwilling to spit it out for fear or pissing off her Republican fans, and unwilling to swallow it because she doesn’t want to be on the record saying anything positive about someone she knows is poison for her party.
How do I know what Noonan really thinks of Palin?
Because she accidentally told me today.
When she thought the mics were off after an interview on NBC today, Noonan called McCain’s selection of Palin “political bullshit” and said, presumably of McCain’s chances of winning, “It’s over.”
I eagerly await Buzz Brockway and gang at Peach Pundit denouncing of Peggy Noonan as a high-tech lyncher.
Even though I don’t share its Republican political leanings, I appreciate Peach Pundit because its not only informative, but because it has several contributors who aren’t afraid to call B.S. on fellow Republicans.
Until recently, anyway.
Video surfaced yesterday of Sen. John McCain’s running mate Gov. Sarah Palin telling the secessionist Alaskan Independence Party to “keep up the good work.”
Keep up what good work? The work of breaking up the United States of America?
If a video surfaced of a Democrat telling secessionists to “keep up the good work,” Peach Pundit contributors would give themselves carpal tunnel syndrome demanding the Democrat leave the ticket. If video surfaced of Sen. Barack Obama telling members of the Weather Underground to “keep up the good work,” they’d be calling for his head.
There is literally nothing less patriotic than encouraging people to break apart the country.
But instead of expressing this at Gov. Sarah Palin, my friends at Peach Pundit are doubling-down on her candidacy.
In a post titled “The ‘high-tech lynching’ of Sarah Palin.“, the normally non-hyperbolic Peach Punditeer Buzz Brockway absurdly claims Palin is the victim of a smear campaign
In reality, she’s the victim of a “maverick” who added her to the national ticket without considering the consequences.
How can you root for a campaign whose slogan is “Country First” and still support the selection of a novice governor who tells secessionists to “keep up the good work?”
When Sen. John McCain tapped Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate on Friday, several contributors to the local conservative blog Peach Pundit shared a group orgasm.
“I heart John McCain.” “Brilliant.” “Absolutely BRILLIANT!” “outstanding choice”
And my personal favorite: “John McCain has saved the GOP today.”
As it turns-out, the Palin pick is quickly turning into a disaster for the Republican Party.
In addition to some personal issues about which I don’t especially care (yet), it turns out:
a) Palin misled the public about her involvement in the so-called Troopergate scandal.
b) Palin was for the infamous Bridge To Nowhere pork project before she was against it.
c) Palin and herhusband belonged to a secessionist political group.
What do Peach Pundit’s bloggers have to say about this?
As of 11:25 this morning, almost nothing.
Maybe they’re just stunned, as am I, that McCain would pick a one-time secessionist for the number-two spot in a campaign whose slogan is “Country First.”
I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t be so quiet if Obama or Biden were the pork-loving, lying, secessionists in question.
UPDATE & CORRECTION: On Monday, the chairperson of the secessionist Alaskan Independence Party claimed Sarah Palin was a member during the 1990s. On Tuesday, she said she was mistaken. She was registered Republican during this period.
She did, however, send the secessionists a videotaped message in 2006 telling them “keep up the good work.” I’d like to know what she meant by that.
Are you a U.S. Congressman who’s careless with your spending? Gov. Sonny Perdue understands and he wants to help. But if you’re a city or county, well, in that case, you were reckless and had it coming.
U.S. Rep. Paul Broun recently made the news thanks to a congressional report that says the Republican congressman’s office had blown more than 80 percent of its annual budget, mostly on mailings to his constituents. (Broun blamed the spree on a former chief of staff.) Enter normally fiscal-minded Perdue, who’s agreed to attend an fundraiser tomorrow for the cash-strapped representative.
But Perdue’s not so forgiving when it comes to local governments. The governor raised the ire of many — Decatur in particular was aflame on the webz last week — when he criticized them for overspending in light of the state’s estimated $1.6 billion shortfall.
While the state is making spending cuts, Perdue said local governments “have never approached it from the standpoint that they have to tighten their belts.”
Congressman overspending = rest your head on my shoulder. Local governments “overspending” = you should know better.
Does Perdue have time on his schedule to host a bake sale for the estimated 661 county and city governments in Georgia?
(Hat tip to Peach Pundit and Decatur Metro for links, inspiration)
There’s an interesting conversation taking place on Peach Pundit about what exactly the Democrats want in an energy plan now that 70 percent of Americans are in favor of drilling off the coast and in protected lands in Alaska.
Wait, wha?!? Seven out of 10 voters want increased drilling? Even if it won’t lower gas prices in the short-term? Even if those people take into account that oil is a global commodity and whatever is found isn’t necessarily ours to keep? Even with all the risks associated with these projects at a time when hurricanes are predicted to become more frequent and powerful?
Matt Towery of InsiderAdvantage is convinced that operatives with the Obama presidential campaign helped scuttle Vernon Jones’ Senate bid by sending out mailers that focused on Jones’ boasts that he voted twice for George W. Bush. The rumor has been picked up by Political Insider, Peach Pundit and other local blogs.
A certain Kenneth Walker, a Jones strategist, claims that he knows “for a fact…that there was a meeting in Sen. Harry Reid’s office with David Axelrod from Obama’s campaign, and there was an agreement Obama’s campaign would help Jim Martin with the direct mail linking Vernon and George Bush.”
That’s strange. We thought Vernon and Barrack were supposed to be tight.
Just an update: Matthew Cardinale, who broke the story about blogger Andre Walker’s payments from U.S. Rep. David Scott, responded late last night to my inquiry about Walker’s own response to his story.
Walker argued yesterday that Atlanta Progressive News, where Cardinale is news editor, was being hypocritical because APN took campaign ad money from three candidates it endorsed.
Here’s Cardinale’s response:
Dear Ken,
… These were all ad purchases. Creative Loafing sells ads too, right?
The difference is our readers can see exactly who is advertising when the ads run and if they feel ads affect content they can take that into consideration.
To insinuate ads affect endorsements, our recent slate of endorsements laid out a number of principled issue positions with which we made our decisions.
Also, Atlanta Housing Authority can advertise on our website if they want to (really, we’ll take their money), but we’re not going to all of a sudden stop investigating them. David Scott can advertise too and he’s still a corporate centrist.
(He’s referring to AHA and Scott because APN’s written critically about both of them.)
I pretty much agree with Cardinale — though you could accuse me (as one commenter to my last post basically did) of saying so because we take ads. Just as Matthew said about APN, ads don’t affect what we write in our articles — though what we report has occasionally affected advertising. Around this whole conflict of interest standpoint, ads at least have the benefit of being right out there for everyone to see, so they can judge for themselves if they feel as if a story matches a special interest; payments from political candidates might be disclosed on campaign reports, but how many people pour over them?
‘NOTHER UPDATE: Andre Walker posted a mea culpa of sorts on Georgia Politics Unfiltered this morning. I apologize that this is coming so late. As noted elsewhere, we had awful Internet problems today in the office, which kinda hampered things.
The Atlanta blogger who got in hot water this morning for taking money from politicians is accusing his accusers of doing much the same thing.
“This just another case of the pot calling the kettle black,” Georgia Politics Unfiltered’s Andre Walker said in an e-mail about Atlanta Progressive News.
APN reported early this morning that Walker received payments from U.S. Rep. David Scott’s campaign (apparently for designing a website) and also ran favorable coverage of Scott. Decaturguy blogged last year that Walker had set up a website for Vernon Jones and also covered Jones’ Senate campaign.
But Walker sent campaign disclosure reports to CL showing that APN received a total of $575 for ads from politicians whom the website endorsed: Angela Moore for Georgia secretary of state in 2006, Able Mable Thomas for the fifth congressional district this year, and Donzella James, who ran against Scott in the 13th congressional district this year. (more…)
SEE UPDATE here.
A leading Georgia political blogger is being accused of conflicts of interest for doing work for politicians and failing to disclose it. The issue raises a couple of broader questions about ethical standards for political bloggers.
Atlanta Progressive News released an investigative article early this morning that details work done by Georgia Politics Unfiltered’s Andre Walker for U.S. Senate candidate Vernon Jones and incumbent Congressman David Scott, as well as a long list of favorable posts on Scott.
For an organization with such a large recycle center on site, DFM should make reusable bags easy to use. This might require a change to the way things have always been done in the past, either with a Costco-style receipt checker or designated types of bags that can be taken into the store…just thinking out loud here.
— Nicholas at DecaturMetro makes a case for the DeKalb Farmer’s Market to ease its at-times stringent bag policy so shoppers can bring their own.
Of the fourteen paid staff positions listed on the state Democratic Party’s website, four are held by women and none of the female staffers hold any of the “director” positions (i.e., executive director, communications director, field director, finance director, canvass director, or call center director).
— Andre at PeachPundit says the state Democratic Party staff is underrepresented by women and African Americans.
Nobody listens to flackattack. Yes, suspending the tax is a no-brainer, but going through this routine every freaking year is getting a bit tiresome.
— FlackAttack at TondeesTavern bangs his head against the computer about Gov. Sonny Perdue’s suspension of the state gas tax increase. Click on the link above to read how he thinks it should be altered and annual suspensions like this avoided.
On May 28, the Democratic Party of Georgia challenged Georgia’s voter ID in Fulton County Superior Court. State Republicans say a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling settled the voter ID issue in their favor. State Democrats say the opposite is true.
“We think there are close to half a million people who are registered voters but won’t be able to vote.”
-Emmet Bondurant, lawyer for the Democratic Party of Georgia, as quoted in the Fulton County Daily Report on May 28.
On Friday, May 23, millions of Georgians were busy planning their Memorial Day weekends, writing letters and making phone calls to loved ones serving in the U.S. Armed Forces, and remembering family members and friends who paid the ultimate sacrifice in service to our country. That same day, the Democratic Party of Georgia (DPG) was busy on a different matter: filing a fourth lawsuit against the State attacking the voter ID law.
-Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel, responding to the suit in a letter appearing on the Peach Pundit blog May 29.
(Nutjob photo by Joeff Davis)
Macon City Council member, RedState.com editor and Peach Pundit Poobah Erick Erickson is collecting cyberscorn for comments he made at the recent CPAC conservative political convention.
Erickson suggested the success of progressive bloggers relative to their conservative counterparts is because progressives have more free time. Conservatives “have families because we don’t abort our kids, and we have jobs because we believe in capitalism,” he said.
Contributors at AtlantaIndignationCouncil.com Blog for Democracy followed DailyKos‘ lead and pounced on Erickson:
“He seriously thinks progressives don’t have families OR jobs?”
“Right wing nutjobs are icky.”
“People like him often need to be knocked off their high horses, but so often aren’t.”
I spoke to Erickson this afternoon and he confirmed something that should have been perfectly obvious to anyone who’s ever read Peach Pundit or spoken to him in person.
He was being sarcastic.
“I was joking,” he said. “I was laughing when I said it. Other people were laughing.”
The only person who didn’t realize he was joking, he said, was the person who posted the comments without noting it was a joke.
I wonder how many minutes will pass before the Indignation Council jumps on me for defending a “right wing nutjob.” My guess is 60-90. At most.
Twice in recent days, I’ve left comments on Peach Pundit comparing the blog’s loudest “liberal” contributor to Fox News’ “liberal” personality Alan Colmes. Both are ineffectual foils whose tone and personalities discredit liberal viewpoints in front of largely conservative audiences.
Alan Colmes apparently reads Peach Pundit because last night he e-mailed me twice.
In the first e-mail, he asked me how often I watch Fox’s “Hannity & Colmes” or listen to his radio show. I replied that I don’t listen to his radio show, but I do watch “Hannity & Colmes” frequently, not regularly.
A second e-mail from Colmes arrived minutes after he was on-air speaking to Karl Rove. It said simply:
If you were more familiar with my work you probably would have written more favorably.
“Like Maynard, Hillary believes in creating possibilities for all Americans. For 35 years, she’s fought to turn possibilities into realities. From civil rights to universal healthcare, Hillary Clinton has always been on our side.”
— Valerie Jackson, widow of former Mayor Maynard Jackson and host of WABE-FM (90.1)’s book-themed “Between the Lines,” endorses Sen. Hillary Clinton for president.
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“Because Obama speaks our language: aspirational humanism. We believe that words of hope change things; similar words are spoken from UU pulpits each Sunday.”
— Making Chutney on support for Sen. Barack Obama among Unitarian Universalist bloggers
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“There surely has to be a Republican more competent, able to keep his pants on around female lobbyists, and more mature than the present Speaker of the House . . . Glenn Richardson has proven he cannot be trusted with the power of his office. He uses it for too many small minded purposes. And small minded leaders are dangerous creatures.”
— Erick at Peach Pundit expresses more-than-mild displeasure at fellow Republican, Speaker Glenn Richardson. The inspiration for Erick’s verbal assault: Richardson reportedly stripped Rep. Tom Graves, R-Ranger, of an important House leadership position and made him move his office out of the Capitol because Graves voted to re-elect Georgia DOT Chairman Mike Evans.
It also makes you wonder, if they were looking for a viable excuse to get rid of the festival in the first place, and the drought made for the perfect scapegoat?
Duane may be on to something.
The mayor also told the Dogwood Festival people that they couldn’t have their festival in Piedmont Park. What color are Dogwood blossoms? WHITE! Think about it.
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The Speaker claims the Senate “shirked†its responsibilities today. I say we did exactly what we were sent here to do – to carefully and thoughtfully decide which actions benefit the people of Georgia.
— Sen. Eric Johnson, R-Savannah, blogging for Peach Pundit, calls B.S. on fellow Republican Speaker Glenn Richardson.
Long story short, the House voted yesterday to override 12 of Gov. Sonny Perdue’s vetoes from last year. The Senate is constitutionally required to “immediately consider” the House vetoes. Speaker Richardson is claiming “immediately consider” means vote now. Sen. Johnson says “immediately consider” means start reviewing it carefully.
CL’s Scott Henry explains more here.
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I think that shows the difference between Clinton and Obama. Bill & Hillary Clinton have displayed an interest in civil rights as well as the larger African-American community even when they weren’t running for office. Obama on the other hand, well…he needs the black vote…enough said.
— Andre at Georgia Politics Unfiltered thinks Clintonic interest in civil rights and African-Americans is sincere, but Obamanian interest is just political.
I wonder if he laughed when he wrote that, because I laughed when I read it.
. . . rich homeowners will be able to have swimming pools because they can afford the well water or out of state water to fill up their pools. Middle income and lower income families will not be able to do so.
— Erick at Peach Pundit expresses empathy for a hitherto underrepresented group of Georgians — poor people with backyard swimming pools.
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Hey Doom…
You are driving away your fanbase through the abuse of your mask!
— David at Ohmpark on the local blogtroversy surrounding MF Doom’s December 2007 performance at Masquerade. Ohmpark reprints photographic evidence allegedly showing that the performer on stage that evening was actually a masked imposter. There’s a reason they call it Masquerade, I suppose.
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The killer blow to Underground was when the World of Coca Cola museum adjacent to it closed to reopen in a new facility near the aquarium. With no major tourist attraction to draw people to Underground, it became just another run down collection of knick-knack shops and empty storefronts. Business dropped off so dramatically that the artists I had working there could no longer make enough to justify the time they spent. No artists, no operation. On December 31st we drew our last caricature at Underground.
The end of an era. It was a good run.
— Tom Richmond on the recent closure of Underground Atlanta’s caricature stand. Richmond operated the business for 18 years. Even if you have no interest in caricature art, his description of Underground over the years is worth a read.
The Drake Diner stops breakfast at 11. A diner! Further proof Iowa sucks.
— Shebinator, one of two local bloggers I know of who was actually in Iowa last night. If there were others, please educate me.
Shelby’s feelings about Iowa might be colored by the fact that his favorite Democrat, Sen. Joseph Biden, dropped out of the race after his poor showing.
Or maybe Iowa just really, really sucks.
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The Clinton machine will do its best to slime Obama in the coming days, but — and I’ve been waiting to say this for years — their time has passed. The race is clearly defined now, and I don’t see voters opting for polarization over real change.
— ATLMalcontent on the perhaps fatally wounded candidacy of the senator he likes to call Hillbot.
Mr. Malcontent also lavished praise on Obama’s victory speech (which really was amazing), noting the similarities between Obama’s gift for rhetorical uplift and the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy’s.
Sen. Clinton also evokes RFK’s memory, but not in the same way. Like RFK, Clinton is attempting to return her family to the White House via a carpetbagged New York Senate seat.
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It’s clear that the voters want change-now they have to look hard at Edwards and Obama and decide just what sort of change they really want.
— Amy Morton at Georgia Women Vote was in Iowa last night. As you might have gathered from the order in which the names appear, she’s an Edwards supporter.
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Therefore, I support Mike Huckabee because he wants to get the federal government out of my pocket by endorsing the “Fair Taxâ€.
— The Oracle of Winder, posting at BuzzBrockway.com, supports Mike Huckabee for no other reason, he says, than because Huckabee supports the national sales tax scheme known as the Fair Tax.
You may recall in September 2007 that Osama bin Laden released a video in which he called the U.S. tax system “insane” and bragged that, under Islamic law, Americans would not have to pay it.
Expect to see Huckabee/bin Laden ‘08 yard signs popping up in Winder any day now.
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Rush spent most of the program bashing Huckabee, like most conservative pundits have taken to doing.
— Peach Pundit commenter John Konop, posting the blog’s Iowa caucus open thread, notes the Republican punditocracy’s failure to drive a wedge between Huckabee and Republican voters.
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The stupid and superstitious have spoken – they said “Give us the televangelist. GIVE US THE HUCKLEBERRY!â€
Yeehaw!
— Peach Pundit commenter GodHatesTrash in the same open thread.
If you haven’t guessed, Peach Pundit’s open thread on Iowa is great, great reading.
Dale, come down. I know you want high name identification so you can beat Snuggles. But when people talk “high name id,†they don’t mean 300 feet in the air. They mean the number of voters who know who you are.
— Erick at Peach Pundit jabs at former TV reporter and Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate Dale Cardwell. Cardwell is drumming up publicity for his campaign by perching atop downtown’s 300-feet-tall Corey Tower. Voters interested in learning more about the three stages of human hypothermia can watch Cardwell on his live webcam.
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Now, yes, I know her kids have been involved in some nasty stuff, but it’s time for the Mayor to stop skiing and get back to being a leader for Atlanta. She can overcome any negative publicity her family may bring her by being the kind of Mayor she was in her first term!
— Bloglanta would like Mayor Shirley Franklin to pay a bit more attention to the city in 2008.
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The difficulty of being a micro in Georgia is actually one of the reasons why we feel compelled to do it.
— Monday Night Brewery amens a recent AJC story about the challenges of brewing in Georgia.
I know everyone has better things to do these last two days before Christmas, so why don’t we all take a two day time-out from politics and spend some quality time with our families. At this time of the year, family comes first.
— Georgia Politics Unfiltered’s Andre Walker, writing at Peach Pundit, and requesting a cease-fire on all things politique in the run-up to Christmas.
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My two-year-old threw a kaleidoscope at Santa Claus today.
The holiday misanthrope in me is somewhat proud of that.
— Paige at the Avery Lane Experience, remembering that one of the true joys of Christmas is letting your babychild just be a babychild, eyeballs of part-time shopping mall elves be damned.
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Late last night in the Ponce Kroger parking lot, a white-haired man approached me and told me Shirley Franklin would arrest him if he asked me anything. When I told him I didn’t have any cash, he told me he could have found me a better black mayor in 1969. He then said some other things I couldn’t really understand but I think implicated me in Mayor Franklin’s ascendancy to office and her subsequent vendetta against this man. “She ain’t my mayor,†he said a few times as he wandered off.
— Christa at PecanneLog. The white-haired man — we hope — was not Jim Wooten.
‘Our friend at Peach Pundit, Erick? What’s Erick’s last name? He criticized the gang or some of his people did, because we don’t talk enough about local politics and we’re not specific enough. And you know he closed up his shop Tuesday for Thanksgiving and we’re here talking politics. I want him to know that.’
– Georgia Gang’s Dick Williams, as quoted by GriftDrift. Peach Pundit was, in fact, regularly updated during the holiday week.
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A local television news investigation last week uncovered the names of more than one hundred Georgia law enforcement officials who have been arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI). WGCL-TV found evidence that these officers sought — and in many cases received — special treatment.Offenders included both low and high-ranking officers.
– An excerpt from a disturbing story at TheNewspaper.com, quoting a WGCL-TV CBS-46 story, as quoted by Jeff Emanuel at Peach Pundit.
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“The state is being governed through the prism of a Republican primary,†he said. “When that happens, some of the more radical ideas become viable.â€
-- AJC.com’s Political Insider, quoting state Sen. David Adelman, D-Atlanta. Adelman was apparently referring to the Glenn Tax.
Reverend Joe Beasley twice calls Senator David Shafer a “race man†and accuses him of trying to get the City of Atlanta abolished when Maynard Jackson was elected Mayor (in the early 1970s when Shafer would have been in elemetary [sic] school). You can hear it here.
— Erick at Peach Pundit, on WABE-FM (90.1) series “Saving Grady” about Grady Hospital.
Note, Beasley doesn’t explicitly accuse Shafer of trying to abolish Atlanta. Instead, he seems to conflate Shafer with state legislators of the early 1970s.
Whether he’s actually accusing Shafer of being the Doogie Howser of legislative racism is beside the point. Beasley is clearly trying to short-circuit a serious discussion about Shafer’s legislation by calling him a racist.
Incidentally, Beasley also calls Maynard Jackson “the first mayor of the city of Atlanta.”
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Hey, it’s raining outside
— Mel at Blog For Democracy helpfully notes that it’s raining outside — as opposed to inside. Thanks, Sonny.
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I suppose some Democrats are going to say, “Clinton managed to balance the budget and create a surplus.” Clinton deserves some credit, but the Republican controlled Congress deserves just as much recognition for their part, like I said above…Congress holds the purse.
— Jason Pye accuses AJC columnist Jay Bookman of intellectual dishonesty for saying Democrats are more fiscally conservative than Republicans.
In the same post, Pye praises President Reagan for cutting federal spending, never mentioning that Democrats controlled the House of Representatives during Reagan’s two terms.
Either they “hold the purse” or they don’t.
We live in an old house that still has a 5 gallon toilet. But you know what? I replaced mine in my bathroom (separate bathrooms: the key to a long and happy marriage) with a 1 gallon toilet and I like it soooo much better. The water jets out with more force, fills up quicker, and I think does a better job.But my plumber loves the 5 gallon one. He tells me you can still get them in Canada.
— Erick at PeachPundit discussing the benefits of separate bathrooms, low-flow toilets, and why Canada is not just cheap drugs, funny accents and Dave Coulier.
If I promise to support Glenn’s tax pony, will he grow back his mustachio? Because he would be taxed if his barber shaved it off for him.
— Flack Attack at Tondee’s Tavern poses a question to state House Speaker Glenn Richardson about the new website advertising the speaker’s pet project, the GREAT tax plan. The site, FA says, is paid for with taxpayer dollars.
You know, I thought we’d hit the bottom of the barrel in politics with the year of the outing of the gay Republicans–Mark Foley having dirty IMs with male teenage pages, Larry Craig trying to get gloryholed in an airport bathroom, etc. but the truth is we apparently have seen absolutely nothing yet. The Australians have actually shocked me in a way I never thought possible with the scandal that is sweeping their Parliament.
— Sara at Going Through the Motions catches us up on the latest scandal keeping all of the Land Down Under atwitter — a politician caught on videotape eating his earwax.
But I like my long, water wasting hot showers
– Erick at Peach Pundit on a proposal by Rep. Karla Drenner (D-Decatur) to require water-saving plumbing fixtures in homes
I feel his pain. Listening to my favorite radio program in the shower is one my favorite ways to relax. Damn you, drought! Damn you, local leaders who don’t know the meaning of planning! Damn you, mussels.
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I have a big problem. I care too much.
– EskimoKiss has a big problem. EskimoKiss cares too much.
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Too bad his dimwitted principal doesn’t get it. Pitts seized 500 undistributed copies of the school paper and, according to the AJC, told the student journalists he wanted more “positive and uplifting stories.”
– ATLMalcontent berates East Coweta High School Principal Derek Pitts for confiscating copies of the school’s student newspaper. Pitts was upset about a satirical essay in the paper by student Justin Jones.
Sen. Eric Johnson, the General Assembly’s Senate president pro tem, has a nifty way of looking at things. Be it abortion, health care, or even rape, the architect-cum-politico has a way with words that rivals even the most knuckleheaded of legislators.
“Since it went into effect in May of 2005, the [state Department of Human Resources] reports that between 32,500 and 40,500 women have talked to their doctors about an abortion. After that conversation and the information provided to them by this law, approximately 10,000 chose to carry their babies to term. In addition, 2,300 minors considered terminating their pregnancy and only 500 did so. So we saved about 11,800 babies so far. Pretty neat, huh?”
— Johnson displays subjective mathematic skills on an Oct. 13 PeachPundit.com post about the “success” of a new law that requires women seeking an abortion to wait 24 hours and be informed of the procedure’s “medical risks … and status of the life in their womb” prior to receiving one.
“Just thinking out loud, we ought to look at — what if Grady ceased to exist? Maybe something better would come along. I think the burden’s on them to convince those that they want to receive funding from that the problems are being resolved. Otherwise, we might just test the capacity of other health care providers in the region.”
— Johnson’s comments during a Sept. 25 press conference on the prospect of losing Grady Memorial Hospital, one of the largest public health systems in the country and home to the state’s only poison center.
“It’s a rape in my mind.”
Johnson’s Feb. 16 explanation to CNN anchor Rick Sanchez on why he said Genarlow Wilson raped an unconscious girl at a party when, after viewing a video of the incident, the jury and prosecutors said the girl was conscious and the sex consensual.
