So remember last fall when folks voted for private charter schools and various ”Leftist Front Groups” like the PTA, Georgia School Superintendents Association, state’s school superintendent, John D. Barge, and others warned y’all there would be big paychecks in it for folks who championed these paid for taxpayer private schools?
Oh come on you remember…
Well today one guy at least is likely to begin taking home $10,000 a month for his “foundation” work. Congratulations Dan Weber on your new gig. But don’t be surprised if not everyone is lining up to clap you on the back and help you carry your personal effects into your new office.
Marietta City Schools agreed to pay $16,800 in dues, but one school board member, Brett Bittner, opposed it, saying, “I don’t like the idea of having taxpayer dollars going toward advocacy.”
Oh Brett, bless your heart… that quote alone will get you tagged by someone. Don’t be surprised if you are asked to retract it in 48 hours. Or if it appears on opposition campaign literature in your next election.
Our dear friend Ben Harbin had this to say, and my oh my it’s so special, especially coming from him.
Harbin said, “When you have a hand in drafting something and a few years later are making money off of what you have drafted, there should be some questions asked.”
Because Weber left the General Assembly in 2010, he was not prohibited from registering to lobby during the 2013 session.
“Why do they need a charter system association?” Harbin asked. “That makes no sense to me. Are they going to be like other public school (groups) up here begging us for more money every year?”
Why indeed, Mr. Harbin, why indeed. Dangnabit what the heck with those public school groups having the nerve to lobby their elected officials for the billions you all have cut from education, when it’s so clear that our children is learning!
I can’t wait to hear with the Governors spokes person will have to say on this important matter. He’s always so pithy and informative.
I can’t. Maybe Peach Pundit can take a crack at it.
We told you earlier this week about the movement in Wilcox County to have the school’s first integrated prom. The word from the Gold Dome today is that Gov. Nathan Deal is staying out of it.
To think, in 2013, that we have a governor throwing shade at the entire state by not promoting an integrated prom. Let me repeat that. AN INTEGRATED PROM?!?!
Some would argue, and rightly so, that the fact that we have places in Georgia that still even struggle with the concept is scary enough. I mean holy shit, really? What the fuck is wrong with Wilcox county? I suppose I could rationalize the entire subject and come up with reasons why… nope. Can’t do it.
Instead, I’d like to reserve this space for our morally corrupt Governor.
The essence of leadership is to harness the collective will and move it. To grab right from wrong. To inspire the best intents of our character. If I bury my inner cynic, I’d say that’s what we look for in the people we choose to represent us.
But not our Governor.
Nathan Deal “…trusts that local leaders will find a long-term solution…”. Seriously. This guy can’t even issue a statement that includes the mind-blowingly obvious and right thing; “Why would anyone have an event that wasn’t integrated?” It’s not really that hard. Jesus Christ, am I living in the 60′s?
Nathan Deal has failed a moral leadership test in a spectacularly terrible way.
Honey, I got a little bad news for you.
Just between us girlfriends, I know, I know you were thinking why am I even answering questions about Adam and Steve getting married. Didn’t I work my manicure to the bone outlawing that crap in 2004. I’ll just give a quickie quote to that GOPlovingoldBrumbynewspapertheMDJlocatedsmackinthemiddleofGOPlandia and be done with it.
Sue, honey there are no local papers . Hadn’t you heard that Al Gore invented the internet and it’s reach is as wide as some of the Cobb Delegations posteriors? Someone even posted your phone number on the internet!
I want to help, so did a little research on couple things you could do today if you are feeling up to it.
I contacted New York City Gay Blogger Joe.My.God, he says that his traffic was a little off yesterday so just 300,000 people saw his blog post about you. Last I checked only 174 people had left comments. You’re going to want to skip over the hateful ones about your hair. Those bitter kittens have nothing better to do than forward that link to all their friends.
Now, hun that Jimmy Kimmel sketch is going to be a bit harder to quantify since we don’t know if his audience of 2.2 million people watched it last night, or on FaceBook or You Tube. Same for the folks at CBS Atlanta.
Here’s the thing, I’m sure you’ve got oodles of monogramed stationary around the house, surely you could dash off notes to them explaining that you didn’t really mean to sound like a hateful bigoted stereotype from the ladies auxilary of the GOP. Except based on some of those 160 comments at the MDJ, perhaps not all of them are your friends any more.
It sure wasn’t nice of your close personal friend Jamie Ensley to call your comment “nuttier than a pecan-pistachio-peanut butter sandwich”. I think you should call his mama, and what does he know anyway. On the flip side, wasn’t it sweet of Georgia Stonewall Democrats President Tim Cairl to remind us that Adam Sandler did make a movie about your idea, so perhaps you’ll get a nice writers credit in the next straight to Netflix release of Chuck and Larry.
Oh sweetie, now that I look at all those numbers, I’m not sure you do have enough note paper. In fact there might not be enough note paper at all the DAR, DOC, and Junior League offices and members in the entire the state! I’ll call Crane this afternoon and order you some more.
Well damn, I guess I don’t have any good ideas for you.
Bless your heart (eye roll)
Your friend,
Juliana
Does it strike anyone else as odd that she doubled down on a economic reason and not a biblical one?
Girl is in the reddest of the red bible thumping places and she went with “the gays might get something free from the government” Not only is it almost impossible, but it’s just plain dumb to think so. I mean isn’t she helping Karl Rove to drown it in the bathtub?
So the bible ain’t working, and apparently even the freedom loving amuricans can see the equality argument is working, so the only talking point she was given was “economic”.
Bitch please, I’m calling this a win for the movement.
A FORMER Ku Klux Klan supporter who publicly apologized for years of violent racism, including the beating of a civil rights activist who went on to become a beloved Georgia congressman, has died. Elwin Wilson was 76.
His wife, Judy Wilson, said he died on Thursday at a hospital in South Carolina after a bout with the flu and suffering for years with heart and lung problems.
She said in a telephone interview on Sunday that her husband was relieved he lived long enough to try to make amends for years of racial hatred.
Mr. Wilson came to our collective attention in 2009, when he began a difficult journey of forgiveness. He first told his story to the Rock Hill newspaper, went in person to meet many of his neighbors, traveled to Capitol Hill to apologize to the Congressman and then went on Oprah to tell his story. The Oprah show was part of her tribute to the Freedom Riders, more on that here.
Mr. Wilson’s chief concern was his meeting with G-d upon his death. While I’m surely no authority, I can imagine he was welcomed with open arms.
All I can say is that it has bothered me for years, all the bad stuff I’ve done,” Wilson told the Associated Press in 2009. “And I found out there is no way I could be saved and get to heaven and still not like blacks.”
“My daddy always told me that a fool never changes his mind, and a smart man changes his mind. And that’s what I’ve done, and I’m not ashamed of it. I feel like I’m apologizing to the world right now,” Wilson told CNN’s Don Lemon in 2009.
The fast facts here.
A moving NPR clip here.
Congressman John Lewis on Mr. Wilson’s passing.
This year, the Young Democrats of Georgia will be hosting its Annual Convention on the campus of Emory University in Atlanta. This year’s event promises to be the best yet, with a schedule packed full of incredible events.
In order to put on an event like our Convention, we rely on many incredible sponsors to help take the cost burden off of our members. Every year, we ask for Democrats in our community to sponsor as many Young Democrats as they can, so that we can provide scholarships to deserving Young Democrats across the state. This year, Young Democrats of Georgia is thankful for the generosity of Commissioner RJ Hadley (who sponsored 7!!), Juliana Illari, Derek Brown, and Daniel Fullerton, who together have been able to provide sponsorships to 12 YDs.
Today, I am asking all of you for your help. Will you help send some Young Democrats to this year’s Convention? We have outstanding scholarship requests from individuals from Columbus, Carrollton, and Thomasville, just to name a few.
If you would be willing to sponsor a Young Democrat (or two, or three….), please visit ActBlue to donate. If you have any questions, you can contact the Convention Team at convention@georgiayds.org.
First things first. Tip of the hat to Don Weigel and Stephanie Stuckey Benfield for helping to organize an awesome event tonight with Rachel Maddow at Atlanta Symphony Hall, and a deep bow to our old friend Frank at A Cappella Books for sponsoring and supplying the books. It’s this type of event that reminds me why I became enamored with political organizing in the first place. Sitting in a huge hall packed with my tribe of like-minded progressives literally gives me a buzz. Seriously, it’s more than entertainment, it’s electrochemical.
As expected, Rachel spoke eloquently about her new book Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power, but my favorite part of the evening was her reaction to the crowd. She was clearly overwhelmed by the turnout, which was apparently the largest she had seen yet on the tour. Bless her heart. I don’t think she expected to sign almost 2,000 books for this event, but sign them she did. I hope her publisher and agent (if she has one), take note. This woman is becoming a beloved figure who, like Bill Maher and Jon Stewart, could have easily filled the Cobb Energy Center this evening.
For all her cute quirks, cheeky jokes and teenage boy wardrobe, Rachel Maddow is a very serious person. She articulates my positions on just about any issue, better than just about anyone, including me. This book is no exception. The central message of which is the US Government has made war too painless for the good of US citizenry. In other words, war in this country has gradually become more secretive and less democratic, and that’s a bad thing. What we don’t know, we can’t change.
Don’t mistake me. Maddow is no pacifist. Although she respects pacifism, she comes from a military family and is a staunch supporter of the armed forces. She’s comforted by US military might, but finds it outdated and excessive in places.
One lovely surprise of the evening was the appearance of Senator Max Cleland. He took the stage to introduce Rachel and did so in good spirits and good form. It’s been a very long time since I’ve seen him look so well. All and all, a good time was had by all.
Related: Mad over Rachel Maddow, How a butch in pantsuits gave liberal media its balls back, from Creative Loafing.
Rep. John Lewis Condemns Congressional Inaction
March 15, 2013
Contact: Brenda Jones
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(202) 226-4673
After voting for another week on partisan legislation that does not address the need to curtail punishing automatic cuts which threaten the longevity of many important federal commitments, and yet another week with no attention to America’s need for jobs, Rep. John Lewis released this statement:
“The people of this nation are looking to this Congress for help. My constituents and the constituents of every elected representative here sent us to Congress to take action on their behalf.
“They are worried about how they will keep a roof over their heads, food on their plates, keep the lights turned on, and get back and forth from work. They are holding out some hope that we might actually do what they sent us here to accomplish. They have told us they want Social Security and Medicare to continue. They want to keep their health benefits and to hear that this nation’s resources will be used to restore our infrastructure, create jobs and educational opportunities, strengthen our economy and restore confidence in our leadership as a nation.
Literally the only picture of Trevor on the internet
Many of you know Trevor Southerland. He’s a regular contributor here at Blog for Democracy, the co-founder of Southeastern Campaign Group, and a former Libertarian.
Well, Trevor is abandoning us all. Sure, he’s starting an incredible new job in Michigan as the Finance Director of the Michigan Senate Democratic Caucus. Sure, it’s a great opportunity for him and his family. But he’s leaving us. And that’s not cool.
So, therefore, we are all holding an event for him this Thursday, March 14, at the place Trevor considers most holy- Manuel’s Tavern. We’ll get there around 6 pm, and if you want to join us in castigating Trevor, we encourage you to join us, too.
We even made a new-fangled Facebook Event for the occasion. You can look at it here.
I will be attempting to roast Mr. Southerland, maybe. But if you have better jokes than I do, please bring them.