Somebody Misses His Wooten

Valentine's must be in the air, for Republican Randy Evans has penned quite the love letter to former AJC scribe Jim Wooten.

But he did not stop there. When writing columns, he researched and verified every word to make sure that every column was thorough, accurate, and complete. He understood that just one mistake, one error, and thousands of readers would call him on it.

Really.

I've read Jim Wooten for over twenty years and deigned to be his informal, snarky ombudsman for the last four years of his tenure. What Mr. Evans writes was once true, as documented in my own conflicted thoughts about Jim's gradual transformation from thoughtful conservative in the Durwood McAllister vein to just another link in the WSB media conveyor belt churning out endless half truth panderisms, but it was laid waste in the final years as he gradually viewed his quest as not one for the truth but one that  matched his narrowing world view.

My own biased viewpoint? Absolutely. But feel free to graze on the years where I played Deacon Lunchbox to Wooten's Lewis Grizzard. It's all there for anyone to see.

One Night

Originally posted 2007

Jim Wooten on the death penalty.

We can either accept that juries reflect the will of the people and, therefore, disparities that superficially appear “arbitrary” will result. Or we can change the system.

David Keaton
Samuel Poole
Wilbert Lee
Freddie Pitts
James Creamer
Christopher Spicer
Thomas Gladish
Richard Greer
Ronald Kleine
Clarence Smith
Delbert Tibbs
Earl Charles
Jonathan Treadway
Gary Beeman
Jerry Banks
Larry Hicks
Charles Ray Giddens
Michael Linder
Johnny Ross
Ernest Graham
Annibal Jaramillo
Lawyer Johnson
Larry Fisher
Anthony Brown
Neil Ferber
Clifford Henry Bowen
Joseph Green Brown
Perry Cobb
Darby Tillis
Vernon McManus
Anthony Ray Peek
Juan Ramos
Robert Wallace
Richard Neal Jones
Willie Brown
Larry Troy
Randall Dale Adams
Robert Cox
Timothy Hennis
James Richardson
Clarence Brandley
John C. Skelton
Dale Johnston
Jimmy Lee Mathers
Gary Nelson
Bradley P. Scott
Charles Smith
Jay C. Smith
Kirk Bloodsworth
Fredrico M. Macias
Walter McMillian
Gregory R. Wilhoit
Muneer Deeb
Andrew Golden
Abolph Munson
Robert Charles Cruz
Rolando Cruz
Alejandro Hernandez
Sabrina Butler
Joseph Barrows
Verneal Jimerson
Dennis Williams
Roberto Miranda
Gary Gaugher
Troy Lee Jones
Carl Lawson
David Wayne Grannis
Ricardo Aldape Guerra
Benjamin Harris
Robert Hayes
Christopher McCrimmon
Randall Padgett
James Bo Cochran
Robert Lee Miller, Jr.
Curtis Kyles
Shareef Cousin
Anthony Porter
Steven Smith
Ronald Willamson
Ronald Jones
Clarence Dexter, Jr.
Warren Douglas Manning
Alfred Rivera
Steve Manning
Eric Clemmons
Joseph Nahume Green
Earl Washington
Willam Nieves
Frank Lee Smith
Michael Graham
Albert Burrell
Oscar Lee Morris
Peter Limone
Gary Drinkard
Joaquin Jose Martinez
Jeremy Sheets
Charles Fain
Juan Roberto Melendez
Ray Krone
Thomas Kimball, Jr.
Larry Osborne
Aaron Patterson
Madison Hobley
Leroy Orange
Stanley Howard
Rudolph Holton
Lemuel Prion
Wesley Quick
John Thompson
Timothy Howard
Gary Lamar James
Joseph Amrine
Nicholas Yarris
Alan Gell
Gordon Steidl
Laurence Adams
Dan L. Bright
Ryan Matthews
Ernest Ray Willis
Derrick Jamison
Harold Wilson
John Ballard
Curtis McCarty

Damn right we need a new system.

The Innocence Project

My Morning Wooten

Let us dance one more time. I love it when Jim whines about transportation.

Propose a transportation sales tax increase, as Georgia legislators have done, and the visionaries spending other peoples’ money start planning monuments, and costly ones at that. Cobb County commissioners have given the county’s transportation director authority to try to sell a 14-mile light-rail line, projected to cost at least $2 billion, running from the Galleria to Town Center near Kennesaw. Please. Fix the bottlenecks. Make traffic move. Put the money where it produces the greatest benefit to the most people.

In other words, lay down more pavement on the widest section of the entire interstate system.

The Best Of The Drifts - Credibility

Originally published September 18, 2008

Credibility

Credibility is a word much bandied these days.

We are told that in this internet world where the abililty to tell a story is as simple as clicking a hyperlink, the traditional media is a refuge of credibility. We are assured the layers of "editorial processes" is a vanguard against myth and rumor. We are told that those who use their actual names as opposed to pen names are more trustworthy. We are told many things.

Yesterday, Atlanta Journal Constitution Assistant Editorial Page Editor Jim Wooten published a story regarding the hacking of Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin's email indicating that "sleazy political operatives are so unnerved by the prospect that Palin lit a fire under Republicans and is drawing more women and Independents to McCain that they’re willing to break the law". No evidence is given. No elucidation follows. These political operatives are never identified.

In fact, it was already known the apparent hacker boasted his deeds on an internet community known less for its politcal persuasion and more for its ability to cause chaos. This small morsel of information was ignored in order to feast on a meal of polemical vapors.

Confronted by the absence of fact in the piece, the AJC's response is no one knows the politics of the perpetrators therefore there is no factual error.

This is credibility.

In July of this year, Atlanta blogger Andre Walker reported the Democratic Party of Georgia had pressured the Georgia Association of Educators to withdraw its support of Senate candidate Rand Knight. The story was based on anonymous sources with no corroboration and quickly fell apart - forcing Walker to issue a retraction and an apology.

That same month, it was discovered Walker failed to disclose money received from a political candidate who he portrayed positively on his blog. Once again, although this time after much pressure from the Atlanta blogging community, he was forced to admit he should have acted differently.

Yesterday, Walker was quoted in an Albany Herald article alledging unrest within the Democratic Party of Georgia over the replacement of a Dougherty County School Board candidate. He indicated members of the Executive Committee were unaware of the actions of the party in the matter and presented as evidence the now familiar claims of anonymous emails and phone calls.

This is credibility.

We listen to those inhabiting the towers of higher learning warn of falsehoods and fraud. We are told about guardians of democracy. At times, these guardians whisper totemic phrases to mark that which they deem credible.

We are told many things.

The Best Of The Drifts - Valentines Day 2007

Originally Published February 14, 2007

Happy Valentines Day, Screw You

You stepped on my ass

You're breaking my glasses too

You won't drive my car, might be a star

I've had enough of you

There no one to blame, so f*ck you

Be my Valentine, Rep. Steve Davis. It warms the cockles of my heart to know there are still people in the world who believe the only image of family is Leave It To Beaver. Love obviously runs deep in your household and neighborhood where the "wifes" handle the chilluns, the gays keep their love that shall not be named in the closet and poor people are limited to cheery hobos who ride the rails and dream of the big rock candy mountain. Be my Valentine Rep. Davis, screw you.

Be my Valentine, John McCain. Now not only do you vaguely look like a Pander bear but you actually act like one. Your love holds no bounds as your give a big ol' expedient bear hug to religious nuts like Jerry Falwell and Jonathan Wells. My blood warms at the sight of brave politicians who will blatantly take the easy road to power. In an age of cowardly leaders chasing publicity whoredom by going against the grain, you are the epitome of the Hemingway hero, quietly showing true leadership by demonstrating good ol' fashioned pandering as the new radical. Be my Valentine Sen. McCain, screw you.

Be my Valentine, Glenn Reynolds. When I first read the Libertarian Party platform regarding war back in 1992, I was puzzled by its stance of defensive war only. My heart remained cold for over a decade until you and other "libertarians" explained it's a new world and we didn't really mean all that about defensive war. Pre-emptive war is the new libertarianism! Many called you stealth Republicans but you remained strong in your conviction to support President Bush even as the Iraq venture spiraled into doom. And when people accused you of being Republican shills, you quickly responded nuh-uh, I'm a libertarian! It makes me think of Valentine's Day back in elementary school when little boys were asked if they liked certain girls and they responded, nuh-uh, girls are icky! Be my Valentine Glen Reynolds, screw you.

Be my Valentine, Jim Wooten. Your proclivity to pass along rumors and straight out lies shows you are truly one of the libertine "new media" lotharios. You understand that fact checking, editorial filters and any possible validity of dissent are as stale as a 20 year old "Be Mine" candy heart. The love practically spews forth daily as you call out the unpatriotic, the anti-capitalist and all those dirty, smelly hippies who dare associate themselves with the Democratic Party. With so much affection pouring out of the Thinking Right column, it's surprising the AJC even needs Dear Abby! Be my Valentine Jim, screw you.

Be my Valentine, Christopher Horner. I was impressed with your appearance last night on The Daily Show. I was astounded at the quality of your jacket. I wonder if you have to shop at a special store to find pockets so big they can hold all that Exxon money. Your denial of global warming was not enough to cool the heat in my heart for your glib stories of attacking icebergs and thieving socialists. Since you are a lawyer, I immediately call to mind creationist Phillip Johnson who is also a lawyer that plays a scientist on tv. Then again, your sly manner and coy glances mostly reminded my of nutjob Kent Hovind. Be my Valentine Chris, screw you.

More Valentines to come as the love fills my heart. Feel free to add your own in the comments.

My Morning Wooten

Math is fun.

The post-partisan president has the country divided 50-50. No end in sight. Gotta tell you. I’m coming to hate politics as exemplified by the deal with U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Nebraska) to exempt that state forever from the higher taxes imposed by the new health care legislation now being hashed out in Congress. The Georgia Department of Community Health estimates that Georgians would be forced to pay up to $200 million in higher taxes for an expanded Medicaid program starting in 2013 and increasing to $500 million per year over the following six years. We pay for Georgia, plus Nebraska. That’s bound to be unconstitutional.

In 2004, Mississippians received $1.82 in federal funds for every $1.00 they paid in federal income tax. Californians received $0.78 in federal funds for every $1.00 they paid in federal income tax.

Why do righteous Mississippians continue to live off the tax dollars of pagan Californians?

Why do dishonest columnists continue to peddle the myth that Barack Obama invented "vote buying"?

Source: http://www.taxfoundation.org/research/show/22685.html

My Morning Wooten

There is a lot of insanity today, including Jim's favorite piece of surrealism - the damned East Atlanta tunnel, but one item pushes the bound of reality so far, it has to be questioned whether he lives in a world where the sky is yellow and the sun is blue.

Residents of DeKalb and Fulton object to a possible 1-cent sales tax increase in 10 metro Atlanta counties for transportation, including MARTA. They want the 1-cent MARTA sales tax to constitute their share. Fact is, they made the choice to spend a cent for MARTA while other counties spent a cent for roads. Residents in the eight other counties should oppose any proposal that shifts the MARTA burden to those who aren’t served by it. (bold mine)

I DEMAND the Atlanta Journal Constitution send a person, probably an intern but it should be a damn editor, to the Doraville MARTA station to count every car with a Gwinnett license plate.

Once this task is complete, I DEMAND the Public Editor of the Atlanta Journal Constitution finally call out this purveyor of perfidy.

"Covers Dixie Like The Dew", my hindquarters. More like "Covers Dixie With Projectiles Thrown From The Rear Of A Colicky Horse".

My Morning Wooten

We've got a whopper today.

Linking Ga. 400 north of Atlanta to I-675 on the south by tunneling, and making it a toll road, is a cracker-jack idea. It’s one of the top toll projects the state Department of Transportation is pitching to private investors and road-construction companies. But watch how quickly opponents will inject race, a staple of Atlanta policy-making. Already, it’s cast that way because the tunnel would go under old, established neighborhoods and then surface south of I-20 “where demographic data show the population is less wealthy and less white.” Ah, Atlanta. What might we have achieved had every public policy decision not devolved into race?

A cracker jack idea. I'm sure it is for those intent on shaving 15 minutes off their ride to the airport but don't give two damns about anything inside the perimeter unless they are chattering over a performance at Chastain or visiting Grady following another horrific wrapping of a too fast car around a tree by their precious teenager.

But that' not what really stands out is it? Jim's final question squats there like a three day dead frog ready to explode in a shower of rotten innards.

To find an answer let us time travel to 40 years ago.

It was a time when Atlanta's population was just creeping past one million, the current location of Gwinnett Place Mall was a cow pasture and the region was on the verge of creating a world class public transit system. Instead, due to fears of a "bad element" reaching their suburban enclaves, the counties of Gwinnett, Clayton and Jim's favorite, Cobb, opted to not join the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority. Today, instead of a robust adult public transportation system on par with other major cities, we are left with the equivalent of a lobotomized teenager drooling in the corner.

So, yes. Let's ponder that question deep and long. What might we have achieved had every public policy decision not devolved into race?

My Morning Wooten

Steaming.

Barack Obama is a text-message president. His speeches have no particular foundation in anything that precedes or follows. In his West Point address, for example, he accused the former administration of denying or ignoring requests for more troops. “Commanders in Afghanistan repeatedly asked for support to deal with the re-emergence of the Taliban, but these reinforcements did not arrive,” he speechified. Responded former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld: “Such a bald misstatement, at least as it pertains to the period I served as secretary of defense, deserves a response. I am not aware of a single request of that nature between 2001 and 2006.”

Is there no sense of outrage left on Marietta St? How about just plain honesty? Is the new policy that Jim Wooten gets to print anything he wants without accuracy or context? Does anyone even give a damn any more?

To understand why I am so furious watch the video. Not only was Shinsheki's request not granted but he was canned.

(And I understand his request was Iraq and not Afghanistan, but if you try to make that argument, understand that I will consider you just as dishonest in your reasoning as the revered Jim Wooten. Once upon a time we were told to not support a President in time of war was un-american. Things never change - except when they do)

My Morning Wooten

Compare and contrast.

A conservative writes a thoughtful essay about not rushing to judgment on the Ft. Hood shootings and its larger implications.

A "so-called" conservative writes an essay filled with leaps of logic and heaps of talk radio screech.

In the deranged world of Jim Wooten, President Obama calling our service men and women "valiant" shows a "disconnect" and exposes his lack of understanding about true "valor". His own brothers and sisters in the press reporting what they are being told by sources and witnesses on the ground (you know, the actual job of the press) is just more evidence of the press colluding with a liberal, anti-war agenda.

In Jim-land, those like his fellow witch burners Erick Erickson who boldly proclaim minutes after the fact and with no real knowledge of the event that we had suffered a terrorist attack are the truth-tellers and worthy of admiration. The President and those he toiled with in the news trenches for decades? Not so much.

AJC - why don't you just reprint the garbage spewed on WorldNetDaily or the Hannity show. It would be more honest. Probably cost effective too.

Spock Beard Day

The episode introduces the alternate reality "Mirror Universe" concept in Star Trek for the first time. The episode has a transporter mishap swapping Captain Kirk and his companions with their evil counterparts in a parallel universe. In the so-called Mirror Universe, the Enterprise is a ship of the Terran Empire rather than the United Federation of Planets, promotions are earned by assassination, and Mr. Spock has a goatee. ~Wikipedia Entry for "Mirror, Mirror"

Yesterday, I called Jim Wooten reasonable.

Icarus recommended everyone read Jay Bookman.

Today, Erick Erickson advocated rail.

Welcome to the mirror universe.

My Morning Wooten

Reasonable Jim returns and I'm glad for it. Doesn't mean we're going to sip lemonade on the porch and speak only kind words.

Instead of cribbing his essay as usual, I will summarize that Jim argues the so-called "commuter tax" bandied about at the last Mayor debate would have a deleterious effect on the city of Atlanta.

And he may be right. He might also be wrong. Any tax has the potential for well intended consequences leading straight to hell. It's an issue that deserves scrutiny.

But where Jim misses is the lack of advocacy for any solution. He poo-poos Atlanta's constant begging for revenue without acknowledging the city has no choice.

MARTA needs to shift funds to operating expenses and the legislature gives them a flat out "hell no". A 100 year old sewer system needs repair and the cost will be equivalent to 1/5 of the entire state budget, yet the 400,000 odd citizens of the city core are expected to float it alone. Grady, mercifully, finally got meager assistance from the state house but only after the sane stared down the possibility of Georgia having fewer trauma centers than Mississippi.

No doubt, some of these wounds are self-inflicted. As I wrote two years ago, the arrogance of the Fulton County Commission and the Atlanta City Council has not helped and the part played in spawning the chimeras known as Sandy Springs, Johns Creek and Milton managed to make things worse.

However, donut politicians like Rep. Earl Ehrhart play a part in this scab picking by screaming "incompetence" while refusing to acknowledge the greater good Atlanta has provided.

It is time for all to acknowledge that we are Atlanta. Without Atlanta, there is no Suntrust building, no 191 Peachtree, no Bank of America tower, no High Museum, no Turner Field. Without the stretch of the soaring skyline down to the tree-lined neighborhoods, we have no identity.

Vision changed an isolated railhead into a town, an old airfield into Mayor Hartsfield's dream of an international hub, a regional city into a destination for Fortune 500 headquarters. We are the realization of Henry Grady's "New South" and we must cling to this vision lest it be cast on to the dross heap of petty politcs and nihilistic nabobbery. We must do this because we are all "Atlanta".

My Morning Wooten

Jim is on a mostly fiscal conservative rant this morning and as is usual I find myself not necessarily agreeing but not disagreeing vehemently.

But there's one item which tickles my commentary bone.

It will be an outrage if National Football League owners reject a group’s bid to buy the St. Louis Rams football team because commentator Rush Limbaugh is among those making the offer. “I, myself, couldn’t even consider voting for him,” said Baltimore Colts owner Jim Irsay. “When there are comments that are inappropriate, incendiary and insensitive … it’s something that we don’t need.” As with political endorsements, that declaration tells us more about Irsay’s politics than about Limbaugh.

Let's talk about the free market Jim so adores. In any market there are two critical factors - product and brand. The NFL arguably has the most successful product in sports. This product is supported by branding which is guarded with the zeal of a lioness tending her most beautiful cub. Pull a sharpie out and sign a ball after scoring a touchdown? Penalized. Wear your socks too low? Fined. Get caught acting the fool in a strip club? Suspended.

So, this exclusive club of billionaire elitists not wanting a jackass whose job requires him to stir the pot daily is due to politics? This is the cognitive dissonance of Jim's "so-called common sense conservatism".

And Jim, before we go trotting out the implication that anyone who dares criticize the Oxycotin Oz must mean they are a Democrat, it is wise to remember things are never usually the way they seem. Quietly ask a few Georgia Republicans what they really think about our own resident jackass. The one with the initials E.E.

My Morning Wooten

I know everyone is currently distracted by the story that makes me wonder if I've stumbled into some Fringe-like alternate universe, but tear your eyes away from Sweden for a moment to ponder this jewel.

One wonders how it is possible at this late date for anybody not to know how AIDS is transmitted despite the extensive public awareness campaigns of recent decades. And then we read that Lawrenceville Mayor Rex Millsaps had no idea that voting to give city business to a company that employed him was wrong. It’s only been wrong since the beginning of time.

You might think Millsaps runs some public relations firm promoting AIDS awareness. You would be wrong. He runs an architectural firm.

Seriously. What the hell?

My Morning Wooten

We're going to have some fun today. The plate is full.

No, it’s true that President Obama is not “ignoring calls for tort reform and changes in medical malpractice laws.” Trial lawyers are a key constituency of the Democratic Party, which largely explains why party leaders have chosen to ignore this potential cost savings.

Free market conservatives are for the free market except when they're not. Free market conservatives are against regulation except when they're not. Bottom line is tort reform is regulation. Free market pretenders are a key constituency of right wing pundits, which largely explains why Jim has chosen to ignore this cognitive dissonance

Anybody seen ACORN? The organization may be off to Afghanistan, where the main headline reports “Karzai’s vote lead clouded.” A smaller headline explains: “Fraud suspected in more than a quarter of all Afghan votes.”

ACORN has never been convicted of voter fraud. The accusations were limited to voter registration fraud. There used to be a time when facts mattered - even in an opinion column. It would seem like a good issue for the Public Editor, but why bother. And just to prove my point...

This is a group that helped elect Barack Obama, is widely accused of voter-registration fraud, and would have grown richer and more powerful off public money in this administration. It would have had a prominent role in the 2010 census before exposes caused the feds to sever the relationship.

There it is. At least he got it right this time. Here is how myths are made - take a grain of truth, cover it with manure then claim it was a boulder all along.

Maybe it’s just for a single day, but rejoice that the Standard Language of the South is back! This was the ajc.com headline over a story about an advocacy group’s push to impose a tax of one-cent per ounce on what the wire service reporter referred to as “sodas and other sweetened beverages”: “Group pushes tax on soft drinks.” Yes!

Copy Editor Jim returns. I bet I know one group who is happy he no longers roams the newsroom.

In Houston County, the District Attorney is filing charges against parents from other counties who enroll their children in Houston schools. Don’t put me on this jury. The money should follow the child and parents should be able to enroll their children in schools near where they work, near a caregiver or near any other more convenient place.

A supposed "law and order" conservative argues for jury nullification. This is "common sense conservatism".

You’re old Atlanta if you remember when the city’s mayoral race was the talk of metro Atlanta and even of Georgia. Now Dunwoody’s suburban neighbor prepares to pick a successor to Mayor Shirley Franklin and the candidates are almost as anonymous as those who vie to run the cities on the perimeter.

Jim lives somewhere in middle Georgia now, right? Apparently the AJC's decision to cut back on delivery to certain areas has unintended consequences. Their poor former Associate Editor doesn't realize the Mayor's race has been this town's top political story for the past two weeks.

The Joe Wilson flap, taken nuclear by former President Jimmy Carter and others on the left, is a reminder that liberals really do believe that they and their policy positions are morally superior. By demonizing opponents as racists, they claim quite sanctimoniously that those who oppose them have no legitimate basis for their arguments...The race card is the liberals’ Saturday night special – a cheap weapon to pop off into a crowd they don’t like.

And we end with this. I would like to explain how words are being twisted. I would like to explain how the statements of the few are being twisted to cast shadow on the many. I'd like to go on a long rant about the Republican's perfecting the process of myth-making.

But I can't.

Because last night I was told that my previous statement - "I know the Republican party isn't racist" - doesn't make any sense.

So, on this one, Jim may be more right that I care to admit.

Selah.

My Morning Wooten

Just a brief note today.

Jim actually argues his own profession shouldn't do its job.

The conflicting interpretations about whether illegals could gain coverage and about whether federal funds would be spent to cover abortions, are examples of why news organizations and supposedly non-partisan public interest groups should avoid the temptation to declare political assetions to be “fact or fiction.”

Once upon a time, they were considered the truth-tellers.

My Morning Wooten and My Afternoon Jay

A rare occasion where the boys are writing on the same topic - the Hank Johnson Health Care Town Hall.

And it's pretty obvious who was there.

On the rare occasions when things started to get out of hand, it was usually because Johnson — ignoring his own event rules — began to respond directly to things shouted from the audience rather than to questions by citizens who took the time to wait in line and ask questions. In fact, those who booed most loudly and responded most vocally in the audience generally didn’t take the opportunity to stand and ask questions directly to the congressman. And once the respectful tone of the meeting was set early, more than a few of the more vocal opponents simply left.

And who wasn't.

Meanwhile, constituents in Congressman Hank Johnson’s district all get smiley faces for good behavior. They have behaved as police authorities and the politician’s organizers desired. An organizer who runs his constituents through metal detectors at a public policy debate is afraid of the people he serves. That is not America.

Jim, as a southern gentleman, you should know better than most that an invitation in my home does not provide you the privilege to drop trou and pee on my carpet. The rules for Hank Johnson's Town Hall were fairly straightforward and fair - no signs, no demonstrations from the audience, questions would be answered during the designated time period and if you were disruptive you would be booted. Despite these apparent draconian rules, both supporters lustily cheered and booed many times (and occasionally cat-called) without dire intervention by the authorities.

Only twice did the police step in.

Once wasn't seen by most. It happened as the assembly was concluding. Four young people who obviously supported health care reform, sporting packing tape over their mouths, stood in front of the army of television cameras. An officer quietly asked them to go outside and they complied.

The more widely reported ejection happened during the question and answer session. While constitutents patiently queued at the two microphones, a young man began shouting questions from the audience. When it became apparent he refused to shut up, officers did tap him on the shoulder and ask him to leave. That's it. That's all. Except later, outside, when he and his friends stood around chortling about how they disrupted the event and were going to be on the news.

No one wants to see a public gathering devolve into a riot and people with whom I spoke, on both sides of the issue, seemed pleased the structure resulted in a conversation instead of chaos.

Something Jim would have known if he had got off his semi-retired butt and provided his readers with some context instead of simply regurgitating the out of context partisan canards of the day.

My Morning Wooten

Short version Wooten.

"I wish I had been a headline writer, but what I really want to talk about is how the two parent home solves all ills just like tunnels and toll roads would solve all our transportation problems".

He's phoning it in, so am I.

My Afternoon Jay

He don't like "cash for clunkers".

The “Clunkers for Cash” program never made sense in the first place, at least as it was enacted. The alleged environmental “benefits” were largely bogus, the taxpayer subsidy was much too generous and its benefits were too narrowly targeted to the automaking industry and to those Americans in a financial position to think about buying a new car or, given the program design, a new truck or SUV.

Hey CB? How's the Jay-hatin' these days?

Here is a perfect example of why I don't write very often about Jay. Most of the time I agree with him (like this time) and it's awfully hard to find creative ways to say "yep, he's right". And, unlike my morning constitution known as Wooten, Jay, dare I say, frequently goes full bore contrarian against type. And that tickles me a bit.

Awfully tough to peg him with the liberal tag when he calls environmental benefits bogus and a tax subsidy too large. What next? Saying unions overreach their purpose?

Meh Morning Wooten

Meh. Feels phoned in.

Drop Sonny a note and thank him for managing the small cuts that keep Georgia from being California, where budget “solutions” are mostly just gimmicks that hide the problem and roll it over into another year. Thank goodness for a constitutional prohibition on deficit spending - and for a governor who started managing the nickels early in the downturn. The gimmee crowd - the teachers’ union, for example - really should shut up. It could be far worse.

Following your constitutionally mandated role makes you a hero? Pretty low threshold for the "so called conservatives" these days. Having said that, as a former state worker who suffered through furloughs and frozen pay while the teachers were never furloughed and received regular pay increases, I'm having a hard time getting worked up over their "plight".

Fifteen Georgia counties have unemployment rates above 13 percent. State financial incentives for businesses to locate here should be limited to those with high unemployment caused by plant closings. Once skilled and disciplined workers leave to find jobs in metro Atlanta or elsewhere, they’re not going back, worsening those counties’ predicament. Kelly McCutcheon, executive VP of the Georgia Public Policy Foundation, notes that “hundreds of scholarly studies and decades of real-world experience reveal no clear benefits in state tax incentives” and are “particularly questionable” in a business-friendly state like Georgia. Use them sparingly. And target ‘em.

And in a few years when a company has drained all the tax juice out of that poor county, they will move along, trailing yet another wake of unemployment. GPPG is right. Just don't do it.

Georgia is among 17 states with the lowest graduation rates, according to an advocacy group. Blacks and Hispanics are more likely to be in schools with low graduation rates. Blacks and Hispanics are also more likely to be born without a married mother and father in the home. There is a correlation. It’s not the schools’ fault. We can’t fix education’s problems until we fix the family - or as an inadequate alternative, change the school model.

Wooten 101: Marriage and school choice solves all social ills.

Once again the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services wasn’t omnipotent in preventing the death of a child, which authorities say occurred at the hands of the mother’s boyfriend. It doesn’t take a village; social workers won’t always render perfect judgment. It’s the mother and father thing, again. Government can’t raise healthy children or protect them.

Once again, marriage solves all social ills, including child abuse. It just makes you pine for the glory days when real life was just like "Leave It To Beaver".

The rest is the usual "Democrats want us all killed / Republicans are trying to save us all (but only Palin Republicans)". I've had all I can take.

Selah.