Fresh Loaf

President Barack Obama today named state Sen. David Adelman, D-Atlanta, as his pick to become the next U.S. ambassador to Singapore.

Adelman’s served four terms under the Gold Dome and has a well-earned reputation as one of the more progressive — and politically savvy — politicos. He wasn’t able to talk about the nomination on the record, instead referring us to the White House press release, which reads thusly:

David Adelman, Nominee for Ambassador to the Republic of Singapore
David Adelman has been a member of the State of Georgia Senate since being elected in 2002.  He serves as Minority Whip and Chairman of the Urban Affairs Committee.

Senator Adelman is an equity partner in the firm Sutherland Asbill and Brennan LLP where he has practiced law since 1993 representing energy and communications companies.  Prior to entering private practice, Senator Adelman was an Assistant Attorney General in Georgia for three years.  In addition to his commercial practice, for many years Senator Adelman has represented veterans pro bono before the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims.

He has been active in his community on domestic violence issues and served on the Board of the Fulton-DeKalb Hospital Authority.  Senator Adelman graduated from the University of Georgia with a B.A. and received an M.P.A. from Georgia State University and a J.D. from the Emory University School of Law.

We assume this means Adelman’s on his way to the Malay Peninsula. After all, one simply doesn’t turn down ambassadorships and this one’s a plum. Singapore, the world’s largest city-state (the other ones are Monaco and the Vatican) is also the business hub of Southeast Asia and a strategically important U.S. ally.

Singapore is also home to the world-famous Raffles Hotel, a luxurious holdover from British colonial days and also the place where the Singapore Sling cocktail was invented, appropriately enough. Enjoy one for us, David.

(H/T to the AJC’s Aaron Gould Sheinin)

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President Barack Obama today said federal assistance has been made available for Cobb, Paulding, Douglas Carroll and Cherokee County residents who suffered losses from the unprecedented floods that devastated metro Atlanta earlier this week. (UPDATE: Apparently there was some confusion about which counties were chosen to receive assistance. The AJC’s Gold Dome Live has a pretty hilarious summary of the “huh, what?”)

Left out of Obama’s declaration were 12 other metro countries, including DeKalb and Fulton County. Gov. Sonny Perdue says the state’s request for the remaining counties is still pending.

From Perdue’s office:

The federal declaration covers individual assistance and can include grants to help pay for temporary housing, home repairs and other serious disaster-related expenses. Low-interest loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration will also be available to cover residential and business losses not fully compensated by insurance.

…

Residents and business owners in the four counties declared by the President as a major disaster area who sustained losses can begin applying for assistance by registering online at http://www.fema.gov or by calling 1-800-621-FEMA (3362) or 1-800-462-7585 (TTY) for the hearing and speech impaired. The toll-free telephone numbers will operate from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. (local time) Monday through Sunday.

The Georgia Emergency Management Agency continues to coordinate state recovery efforts. Contact information for GEMA can be found on its website.

(File photo by Joeff Davis)

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Or the latest Harry Potter novel. We’ll never know for sure, now will we?

A kind man then offers to take the petitions from Isakson and shred them. Nah, just kidding, he was just being a helpful gent.

On Wednesday night, the Democratic Party of Georgia will host a rally and outdoor viewing of President Barack Obama’s address to Congress about health care reform. The event starts at 6:45 p.m. and will be held at The Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site in Atlanta. For more information, visit the DPG’s Web site.

If Republicans are staging a similar event against the proposed reform, please shoot us a line or leave details in the comments.

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You’ve heard about the birthers, right? Those tragic souls who insist that President Barack Obama wasn’t born in Hawaii, but in Kenya? They will not rest until the president — who’s totally an illegal alien, y’all — is ousted from office and sent to a supermax prison, where he will confess he’s a Muslim and write books about jihad and the audacity of mandatory life sentences.

The Huffington Post dispatched a reporter to ask Republican Congressmen whether they believed Obama was born in the United States. In a hilarious video, most of the lawmakers — probably scared they’ll lose the cherished never-leaves-the-house demographic — run from the reporter, hide in an office-supply store, and lovingly tell the journalist he’s the “scum of the Earth.” Only one lawmaker says Obama is a U.S. citizen.

The back of U.S. Rep. Tom “Flanders” Price, R-Ga., has a brief cameo at around 2:00.

After the jump, a Price spokesman tells us why the Congressman fled the scene — and what he thinks about Obama’s citizenship.

(more…)

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Obama anger is alive and well in Harris County, Ga., home of Callaway Gardens and…uhm…let’s get on with the story.

In response to the recent federal bail-out of General Motors and Chrysler, the Harris County Commission tomorrow will vote on a proclamation that calls for a boycott of the automakers’ products and urges other Georgia counties to follow suit.

Penned by Commissioner Charles Wyatt, the proclamation says the bail-out “will result in a heavy burden upon future generations of citizens of the United States” and “is not in the best interest of the United States or the State of Georgia.”

It goes on to say the county will not purchase any GM or Chrysler vehicles and urges the other 158 Georgia counties to “join us in sending a message to Atlanta, Georgia, and Washington, DC, of strong voices of unity against this recent action by the Federal Government.” It then “prays” the Association County Commissioners of Georgia (that’s not a typo, the organization only has one “of” in its name) “will stand with us.”

State Sen. Emanuel Jones, D-Decatur, and representatives from GM and ACCG, and Harris County workers employed by the automakers will attend tomorrow night’s meeting to urge the commissioners not to pass the proclamation. Cars are near and dear to Jones’ heart — he’s an auto dealer himself.

Judging that there are about five working journalists in Georgia at the moment, the event’s not likely to receive much attention. But it’s worth noting, simply because we love it when our down-South brethren introduce legislation like this.

UPDATE – Commissioner Wyatt says why he introduced the proclamation after the jump.

(more…)

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From the AJC:

Obama, “our globe-trotting president,” Miller said, “needs to stop and take a break and quit gallivanting all around. I think (chief of staff) Rahm Emanuel ought to get some Gorilla Glue and put it in that chair in the Oval Office and say ‘Sit here awhile.’”

Ugh.

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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Mulligan’s, the Marietta bar that brought shame on Georgia last year when its owner began selling t-shirts depicting Barack Obama as the cartoon monkey Curious George, has inspired yet another online parody.

Behold, Mulletguns:

We keep a mind-numbing stream of hateful garbage comin’ at ya, along with nasty food and piss beer. If you thought racism was dead, think again! We are the foremost in the racist dining experience! Don’t forget to try the Ku Klux Klams!

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After President Obama’s Cairo speech, one of the more bizarre memes to emerge from the Magical Dungeon of Nonsensical Anti-Obama Talking Points was the notion that Obama’s words were somehow harshly critical of Israel.

The most popular criticism: Obama’s speech threw Israel “under the bus.” Michael Goldfarb of the Weekly Standard said it. Former Bush One Deputy Undersecretary of Defense Jed Babbin said it. Best-selling professional Muslim-hater Robert Spencer said it, too.

Google — or, if you prefer, Bing — the phrase “Obama threw Israel under the bus” and you’ll find countless examples. By countless, I mean there were a lot, but I didn’t count them.

Rush Limbaugh didn’t use “under the bus.” Instead, he said Obama’s speech “threw Israel over the cliff.”

I’m not sure if getting thrown over a cliff is supposed to be better or worse than getting thrown under a bus. I suppose it depends on what’s at the bottom of the cliff. If there’s a giant trampoline or a nude beach with exceptionally bouncy sand at the bottom, then maybe the cliff ain’t so bad.

If, however, there are dragons at the bottom of the cliff, or a freaky modern art installation consisting of thousands of upward-facing pitchforks, then I’m taking the under-the-bus option.

(Click here to read the rest of this column. If you don’t, an angel holding a puppy will spontaneously combust.)

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I had CNN on mute the other morning and saw something out of the corner of my eye about President Barack Obama speaking at Cairo University in Egypt about muslin.

I was only half paying attention, but it seemed like he went on for, like, a whole hour about how the U.S. has no quarrel with muslin in general, but only with violent muslin radicals who want to destroy America’s traditions — by which I assume he meant denim. I guess he did the speech in Cairo because Egypt is one of the world’s largest growers of cotton and is therefore a hotbed of muslin extremism.

I sure hope the muslin world isn’t too cloth-eared to accept Obama’s benevolent overture.

If you think the muslin/Muslim pun in the first three paragraphs is stupid, I don’t blame you. Rereading it now, I haven’t quite cottoned to it myself.

OK, I promise I’ll stop.

But punning muslin and Muslim is only slightly sillier than politicians and journalists suggesting over and over that the “Muslim world” constitutes a coherent grouping of people.

“Muslim world” is about as nonspecific as one can get. Targeting a speech to the “Muslim world” is like walking up to a podium and saying, “Greetings, Earthlings,” or “Welcome, my fellow vertebrates.”

(Read the rest)

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Looking for the transcript of Obama’s Cairo speech, I noticed the main image on the front page of WhiteHouse.gov:

There’s nothing objectionable about a nice photo of the president visiting world landmarks. On the contrary, it’s good for Americans to have their leaders depicted showing interest in non-American things. 

But of all the photos taken by the White House photographer at Giza yesterday, the one they chose to make the lead photo on WhiteHouse.gov depicts Obama’s head above and between the Great Sphinx of Giza and the Pyramid of Khafre.

I hated it when Bush dressed up in war-hero drag and I hate it that this White House thinks it’s a good idea to depict Obama as a casual-Friday King of the Nile.

Luckily for you, Mr. President, I’m in a generous mood. I’m willing to forgive this faux-pas if the health care reform you sign includes a public option.

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Rev. Brenda Lee of Macon’s Informer newspaper was forcibly removed from the press area adjacent to Air Force One in Los Angeles today.

NBC Los Angeles says the incident took place after Lee said she wanted to hand President Obama a note about same-sex marriage.

Thank you Jeff Emanuel at Peach Pundit for finding the story, and also for directing me to the Informer’s web site where, among other similarly alluring anecdotes, Rev. Lee claims she is “one of the first women to have my feet washed on Maundy Thursday in Rome by Father Paul Maloney.” Okie-doke then.

And just so there’s no confusion, the Brenda “dragged away by Secret Service” Lee is NOT the same person as Brenda “born in Atlanta and moved away to become of the most popular singers of the 1960s” Lee.

Here’s that Brenda Lee:

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NPR and MSNBC, citing anonymous sources, both report Supreme Court Justice David Souter has notified the White House that he plans to retire at the end of the current court term. (The Supreme Court declined to comment on the reports.)

The reports say Souter would remain on the bench until President Barack Obama’s nominee to replace him is confirmed. It would be the first Supreme Court Justice pick by the president. NPR says most observers expect the president to make his first appointment to the court a woman.

Since Obama was elected, many Peach State political observers have pointed toward Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears as a worthy nominee if a vacancy appears on the bench. Sears announced her retirement from the highest court in the state last October. She steps down on June 30.

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On April 16, President Barack Obama gave rail lovers some long-awaited good news: As part of the president’s stimulus plan, he offered $8 billion to begin linking major U.S. cities with high-speed rail lines — and an additional $5 billion more to improve rail service over the next four years.

“We need high-speed rail,” Obama said. “It’s happening right now. It’s been happening for decades. The problem is, it’s been happening elsewhere, not here.”

By “elsewhere,” the president was referring to Europe and Asia. But he could just as easily have been talking about Southeastern states other than Georgia. Thanks to a lack of vision, little to no funding, and an almost cartoonish addiction to roads, the Peach State’s far behind many of its neighbors when it comes to rail.

Transit and transportation advocates say if the state’s leadership doesn’t work to catch up, Georgia could miss out on a nationwide rail renaissance.

Click here to continue reading this story.

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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Obamabucks! They don’t just pay for “comfort stations!”

Dave Williams of the Atlanta Business Chronicle reports:

Georgia will be on the receiving end of $665 million in federal stimulus funds to help educate students with disabilities or from low-income families.

The Georgia Board of Education unanimously approved the allocations on Tuesday in a special called meeting.

More than half of the federal aid — $351 million — will go to Georgia school districts through the federal Title I program, which provides funding for economically disadvantaged students. The rest of the money will come from a federal program dedicated to students with disabilities.

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I guess Mayor Boyd Austin of Dallas, Ga., is still a victim of other people playing with his Facebook profile?

Privacy settings, sir! Privacy settings!

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From the Associated Press:

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama called Thursday for the country to move swiftly to a system of high-speed rail travel, saying it will relieve congestion, help clean the air and save on energy.

Appearing with Vice President Joe Biden and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, Obama said the country cannot afford not to invest in a major upgrade to rail travel. He said he understands it necessarily will be “a long-term project” but said the time to start is now.

The president allocated $8 billion in the enormous $787 billion economic stimulus spending package for a start on establishing high-speed rail corridors nationwide.

Included on this list:

- Southeast corridor (Washington, Richmond, Raleigh, Charlotte, Atlanta, Macon, Columbia, Savannah, Jacksonville)

- Gulf Coast corridor (Houston, New Orleans, Mobile, Birmingham, Atlanta)

Now if only Georgia would join that Atlanta-New Orleans study commission…

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Rep. Austin Scott, R-Tifton

Several Republican state representatives on Thursday opposed a privileged resolution to make President Barack Obama an honorary member of Georgia’s Legislative Black Caucus. Members of the caucus called the move political, offensive and bizarre — the state House has passed “thousands” of honorary resolutions without objection, one lawmaker said.

“It doesn’t have anything to do with the color of his skin. It has to do with his policies being inconsistent with our core beliefs as Republicans.”

— State Rep. Austin Scott, R-Tifton, and 2010 governor candidate, after stating that the legislation read as if the entire Legislature endorsed the president.

“We pass [other] resolutions about people we know nothing about. It’s a matter of respecting the office.”

— State Sen. Vincent Fort, D-Atlanta

“In my 35 years I’ve seen many resolutions. And I’ve never seen this type of action taken on the floor of the House. Now there’s a dark cloud over Georgia. And somebody has to remove it. This is a political act.”

— State Rep. Calvin Smyre, D-Macon, the Black Caucus’ national chairman, who had planned to deliver the resolution to Obama at the White House on March 20.

(Courtesy House Communications)

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The most tangible component of President Barack Obama’s $787 billion stimulus plan — transportation projects — is starting to take shape in metro Atlanta and Georgia.

Yesterday, the State Transportation Board today approved 135 projects — most of which involve bridge maintenance and road resurfacing — valued at more than $512 million.

And today, the Atlanta Regional Commission approved stimulus projects totaling more than $270 million — $95 million of which will help metro region transit agencies replace aging vehicles, complete maintenance projects, and improve park-and-ride facilities. MARTA has been allocated $55 million. Some pedestrian improvements are included in each agency’s project lists.

If Gov. Sonny Perdue approves the projects, bids will be solicited. Work is expected to begin immediately thereafter.

Georgia was allocated $1.1 billion in transportation funding under the plan — $931 million for roads and $144 million for transit projects. GDOT oversees 70 percent of that cash. The remaining funds are distributed among metropolitan planning organizations — i.e. the ARC.

After the jump, screenshots of GDOT’s approved projects in Fulton and DeKalb Counties. To view the entire list and monitor how the agency spends Obamabucks, visit its stimulus projects website. To download a PDF of the ARC’s approved stimulus projects, click here. I’d post screenshots for you, dear reader, but since the projects are all local, it’s best to read the list in full.

(more…)

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Meet Boyd Austin, mayor of Dallas, Ga. Consider him added to the list of folks who need to realize what many people already know: The Internet was invented to place you in awkward situations.

Yesterday, political blog Wonkette wondered what Austin was talking about when he updated his Facebook status message to say this:

The status message refers to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s recent visit to the United States. Brown gave President Barack Obama a pen holder carved from a magical tree. Obama gave Brown a set of DVDs (come on, we’re in a recession, people!). This pissed off the British media.

I was also baffled by Austin’s status update. Confused as to what I should do, I dusted off my Creative Loafing Employee Ethics Manual, turned to the appendix, and saw that I was supposed to “call the story’s subject.” I was pretty sure that was Austin. The mayor, who identifies himself as such on his Facebook profile, sounded surprised that anyone noticed the status message.

(more…)

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Maybe Gov. Sonny Perdue, in Washington, D.C. this weekend for the National Governors Association’s winter conference, has the flu. If so, get better and come home soon, sir! We wanna talk to you about this whole might-not-take-some-of-that-stimulus-money thingy.

From the Huffington Post’s frontpage (photo by Charles Dharapak of the Associated Press):

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Remember those Georgia Republican Congressmen who bellyached about President Barack Obama’s $787 billion stimulus plan? Their constituents might see most of its benefits.

From Jim Galloway at the AJC:

Not surprisingly, according to the White House, the stimulus will be the greatest boon in north metro Atlanta congressional districts whose Republican representatives opposed it.

The package will create or save about 9,900 jobs in Georgia’s 7th congressional district, represented by John Linder of Duluth.

Another 9,200 jobs will be created or saved in Georgia’s 6th District, which is represented by Republican Tom Price of Roswell.

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Current amount, in dollars, of President Obama’s stimulus plan aimed to create jobs and spur the economy: 827 billion

Amount, in dollars, Mayor Shirley Franklin recently requested for Atlanta projects: 1.88 billion

Estimated number of city jobs Franklin says the federal stimulus plan could create: 40,000

Number of police officers Franklin wants to add with stimulus money: 200

Dollar value of sewer projects the city wants to build using stimulus funds: 801 million

Amount, in dollars, the city requested to build the International Terminal at Jackson-Hartsfield International Airport: 500 million

Number of federal dollars Franklin says would go to offset the city’s budget deficit: 0

Amount, in dollars, the Georgia Department of Transportation has requested for state projects: 3.4 billion

Estimated number of jobs Georgia could gain because of the stimulus package: 143,000

Sources: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, U.S. Conference of Mayors

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>> PROFESSOR OBAMA: An interesting take on the first televised presidential conference suggests, though Obama’s grace under pressure was impressive, his demeanor didn’t convey the urgency his words implied.

>> Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is ready to play nice. Sort of. First America has to fulfill his extensive wish list of actions. Well, maybe if you stop calling the U.S. “The Great Satan. “

>> One in 20 American military servicemen are diagnosed as overweight or obese. How do you manage to get chubby in the military?

>> BAILOUT BONANZA: And the government continues to prove that in America money actually does grow on trees! If you’re already rich, that is.

>> Way to represent, Georgia. It just keeps getting worse and worse.

>> EPIC FAIL: Reinhardt was wrong. Oh well, you win some, you lose some.

>> Uh, OK? In an unexpected turn of events, Shepard Fairey — Obama poster boy extraordinaire — sues the AP.

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The AJC says Forsyth County police have arrested the President Barack Obama supporter who claims she stopped short a trip to the inauguration after her home was set on fire. Police said “racially-charged graffiti” was also spraypainted on her fence.

Turns out she’s now a suspect in the crime.

Investigators arrested the homeowner Pamela Graf and her boyfriend late Tuesday, while executing a search warrant as part of their investigation into the Jan. 18 fire, said Steve Anderson, chief of investigations for the Forsyth County Fire Department.

“She is a suspect,” Anderson said today , “I look for something to be coming in the next day or two.”

“We were in search of fruits of the crime of arson,” the chief said. He declined to discuss specifics.

Graf was charged with possession of cocaine, and her boyfriend, identified as Steve Strobel, was charged with obstruction for giving statements “that were not truthful,” Anderson said.

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The list of important things I don’t understand is long, and growing.

Why, for example, do my dog Mathilde’s feet always smell like Fritos? My other dog Sarah’s feet never smell like anything. They live in the same house and go on the same walks. Their feet should smell the same.

And would anyone buy the Mamma Mia! movie soundtrack?

Fun movie, yes. But why would you listen to Pierce Brosnan singing ABBA songs if you’re not also looking at him. Why not just listen to ABBA?

On a slightly different topic, why oh why oh why did Barack Obama select Hillary Clinton to be Secretary of State? And why did only two U.S. Senators vote against her confirmation?

I’m not a knee-jerk Hillary-hater. I sincerely believe that most of the public anger directed at her over the years is misogyny masquerading as informed opinion.

I nevertheless have two big problems with Obama picking Clinton to run the American diplomacy shop.

First, despite her obvious intellect, Hillary Clinton is a proven failure as a political leader. (more…)

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