My Morning Wooten: WHA?

As I read Wooten, I keep a mental tally of issues where we agree, those where we disagree and those where I just don't know from where the hell he is coming. Maybe it's early. Maybe I stayed up too late. But this morning's column is so full of weirdness, my conscious mind is leaking oil.

The U.S. Supreme Court may have OK’d the practice of ramming the vehicles of fleeing suspects to end high-speed chases, but the next General Assembly should spell out in law specific circumstances under which such tactics can be used. Police shouldn’t be ramming speeders, for example, as was the case when a former Coweta deputy rammed a fleeing Cadillac on a two-lane, rain-slicked road.

Wait a minute. Wooten is accusatory towards a police officer? Tacitly defending a criminal? And disagreeing with the conservative led Supreme Court? World done gone upside down!

Headline: “I-75/575 price tag hits $4 billion.” Act. There’s no time to waste. In 20 years, it’ll seem cheap. Fix congestion.

Ahhhhh, there's my Jim. I do love how self-described "fiscal conservatives" roll over like newborn kittens when the DOT comes strokin'. No amount of spending is too shocking.

I’m not convinced that a governor who rides down the highway at 90 miles per hour without a seat belt — Jon Corzine of New Jersey — has the judgment to be governor. It is, I suppose, evidence that liberals feel secure in government’s arm no matter the driver or speed.

Conveniently omitted: Corzine admitted he was stupid. Expressed contrition. Took responsibility for his idiocy by paying all the hospital bills out of his own pocket. The ability to somehow tie this liberal ideaology reminds me of certain cognitive dissonances that make a person scratch his head when his foot itches. Or people who attack one country when the enemy is in another.

Wonder how many protesters gathered last Sunday to demand an end to violence in Darfur could find Sudan on a map? All, surely.

Can you, Jim?

Too much concrete, asphalt and rooftops in Metro Atlanta? Require bigger lots, thereby preserving trees and soil surface or, as in South Fulton, density tied to green space. There, in the 2,000-acre Friendship Village project, almost 1,300 acres is preserved as green space. The General Assembly should make green space preservation top priority in local consideration of high-density zoning.

Oh my! Weird Jim is back! Stricter government regulation? Abridging private property rights? The General Assembly stepping in on local zoning? Weirdness abounds!

Holy Toledo! I’m agreeing with state Sen. Vincent Fort, a most liberal Atlanta Democrat. Said he of the $150,000 inserted into the state budget to hire a “jobs advocate” in Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle’s office to promote economic development and to act as a “liaison” to corporations: “I’m not convinced this jobs advocate will bring anything new and dynamic to the mix except to let the lieutenant governor keep a campaign promise.” Too mild, Vince. It’s a pointless expenditure. An unnecessary duplication of executive branch functions.

Okay, that's it. Wooten is agreeing with Vincent Fort. Game. Set. Match. There are other more traditional Wooten-like utterances this morning, but this one has caused my soul to bleed and I cannot continue. Forgive me, bubba, I just don't have the constitution. Thank God, it's the weekend!

My Morning Wooten - Special Tom Crawford Edition

You should read the whole thing, but this pretty much sums it up.

Wooten eventually moved up to the AJC editorial page as a columnist and for many years provided his conservative take on Georgia politics. Unlike Shipp, who raised hell with both parties as he continued to crank out his columns, Wooten became less of a journalist and more of a public relations spokesman for the Georgia Republican Party. You could always tell what the Republican Party considered to be its main talking points for the week, because they would inevitably be regurgitated in Jim's columns...Wooten's decision to become, in effect, a party flack was a sad loss for journalism, although I suppose it turned out to be a good arrangement for the GOP.

Ummmmmmmm.

I'd like the record to reflect that my picture postcard of Jim's impending retirement was much more in the tradition of the southern "everybody's gotta find something nice to say at a funeral" sort of thing.

Welcome to the game, Tom.

I may have to step things up a bit.

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.

My Morning Wooten

It might be a strange day, friends and neighbors - Jim and I agree on some things.

But not right off the bat.

Billionaire Henry Samueli apologized for lying to the Securities and Exchange Commission investigators in advance of sentencing, which has been postponed. Ever hear anybody who’s not been caught apologize for lying or some other offense?

No, but at least he didn't resort to some lame passive voice mealy mouthism like "mistakes were made".

Secretary of State Karen Handel strikes a blow for transparency, too, launching her “Transparency in Government” initiative. A Web site will include her budget, monthly spending reports, her personal and campaign financial disclosure and ethics policy. “Responsible fiscal management begins with a commitment to transparency and accountability.” Republicans who run Georgia should own this issue. It’s what Georgians want. Transparency, performance standards and accountability.

In other news Georgians want ice cream on Sunday. For reasons known only in the deep recesses of the Wooten brain, Republicans exclusively know how to combine milk, ice and rock salt. Democrats would rather people just eat dirt.

The state should not take over any local school system, nor any airport, nor any city’s sewer system or anything else that fails at the local level. It has no particular expertise running schools or other local services.

I'm intentionally cutting off the portion about vouchers because it just clouds the issue. Jim is correct here. As noted here last year, the city of Johns Creek had to have legislative approval to open a parks department. In our supposed laissez-faire state, we have far too much top down governance and that needs fixin'. Unfortunately the fixin' would require reworking the Constitution and if we let the scoundrels loose in there who knows what additional stink bombs we will find years later.

No unkindness today for Barack Obama or Joe Biden. They’re still reeling from the old guy’s boldness in picking Gov. Sarah Palin and, in the process, seizing the “change” momentum. It’s hard to think of a guy who’s never bucked the Democratic establishment (Obama) and a 36-year Washington insider (Biden) as agents of change. Easier to imagine that from two party mavericks.

No unkindness until the next sentence.

Oh, my. It can’t be long before those who believe high gas prices are good (take the bus; don’t build more road capacity) jump on a report from the Transportation Research Institute at the University of Michigan...

Seriously, Jim. Is there someone at the DOT who has a picture of you playing golf with the devil?

Universities can be very selective in determining which values they seek to impose on students. At the University of Miami, it’s use of public transportation, ride-sharing and biking —- their intent in banning cars for freshmen. Wonder if they’d require, say, the pledge of allegiance at the first-of-day classes. Nah. Too jingoistic

Speaking of pictures with the devil. So a private institution makes a decision to improve its environment and a "conservative" not only wants to interfere but somehow implies it is not patriotic? For those playing Wooten bingo, N-32!

Landing Ron Paul as a running mate would be a coup for Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr. That alignment could be trouble in some close states, since both pull from John McCain. Their pull could, of course, be offset by Cynthia McKinney’s pull with the left. She’s the Green Party nominee.

Jim, do you end Fridays with items like this just to give me an early weekend giggle? Seriously, I don't know who should be more offended - Democrats or Libertarians. Actually I do know, libertarians have their highest profile candidate in forever and a certain person thinks they'll be offset by a kook who was essentially run out of office on a rail. Too funny.

Selah.

UPDATE: This is just too good not to promote from the comments. Joe reminds of us a time when Jim was all for state control of, what else, transportation. It's like a Wooten koan! Road building worship, Republican worship and hypocrisy all rolled up into one slightly bitter treat!

My Morning Everything

Multiple choice. No cheating.

Which of the following is Wooten.

1. "Over the last few days, though, it became more and more obvious that Detroit didn’t quite grasp the seriousness of the situation, and that the concessions they were willing to offer wouldn’t be sufficient. Clarity came in reading Mitt Romney’s piece in today’s NY Times, in which he argued against a bailout and in favor of a managed bankruptcy."

2. "Yet that alleged concern for integrity didn’t stop the King heirs from turning their father into a cellphone flack, selling the rights to King’s “I Have a Dream” speech for millions of dollars to telecom giants Cingular and Alcatel, which used portions of the speech in commercials. In their pursuit of riches they have delayed memorials to their father, demanding fees for the use of papers and photos that might be displayed. They have sold precious handwritten documents to the highest bidder."

3. "While pondering the question of what “change” President-elect Barack Obama represents — he sound like Al Gore on global warming, while recycling the Clintonistas back into positions of power — we look elsewhere today for an example of what’s wrong with government."

Internet fights are pointless, soul sucking affairs. Frequently, one side stubbornly presses its nose against a particular tree while the other frantically cuts down the other trees in the vain hope their adversary will hear the noise.

But, sometimes the fight is not about the participants but about who is watching - those silent ghosts called readers.

Every now and then, in the midst of the inevitable labelling, some nose-to-tree person utters some version of "he only picks on the conservative columnist".

This, friends and neighbors, is a conclusion based on selective reading and I hate selective reading. It is a tactic familiar to those who frequently hear the lunatic ramblings of creationists - form a conclusion and then find the facts which fit.

Here are the facts in the griftdrift vs. Wooten kerfluffle which the tree embracers ignore.

1. I don't pick on Jim because he is a conservative - I pick on him because he's a loon. He has become a caricature of conservatism that rabble rouses and brags about unleashing his "band of right wingers" on fat women who don't dress appropriately.

2. When Jim acts like an actual conservative, I not only credit him but to the consternation of my liberal friends sometimes agree with him.

Even though I frequently disagree with Tucker and to a lesser degree Bookman, it is rare they dip the pen so deep in the poison well that I feel the immediate urge to call them out. But now that I've crashed a few trees, I'll make this promise to the tree only people - I'll try to do a better job of expanding the forest to include the other species. However, I make no promise that the Wooten tree won't continue to dominate the forest.

Your answer

Only #3 is Wooten. #1 is Bookman and #2 is Tucker.

My Morning Wooten

Here we go. And we've got some real doozies today.

Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor resigns from an exclusive all-women’s club after some grumpy men raised questions about whether the membership’s appropriate for a Supreme Court justice. Her explanation, once commonplace among members of clubs that excluded minorities, was that to her knowledge no man had applied. And had any man meeting qualifications been at the club’s mobile admissions office in Hahira, Ga., at 2:16 a.m. on Dec. 25, 2006, when it was accepting applications from males, he would surely have been allowed in.

What was also commonplace of members of clubs that excluded minorities was when confronted, they'd roll on the floor, red-faced, screaming about rights of association, government interfering in private entities and tradition - until they faced the political reality that they would lose and then wiped their snot covered faces and muttered, 'okay'. Bottom line is it is just twisting the Jims of the world into knots that the Sotomayor nomination is going to breeze through confirmation with barely a blip.

Voting, ACORN and Georgia graveyard style, in Iran: The number of votes in 50 cities exceeded the number of eligibles by 3 million. And while Fulton County is notorious for being unable to count ballots in a timely fashion, Iran counted 40 million paper ballots and report results within two hours of polls closing. By the way, President Barack Obama’s still searching for just the right soothing words to convince the Iranian regime to stop being mean. So far, no success — a real surprise.

Will there be a point where ACORN jokes become stale and tired? Can we arrive there sooner rather than later? If certain 'so called conservatives' continue to spin myths of ACORN spawning massive election fraud, then I will relegate them to the same niche as loon liberals who tell me they know where the stolen ballot boxes from the 2004 election are kept - meaning the only attention they deserve is a pat on their soft head.

After the collapse of the financial and banking industry, brought about by gimmicks like no-doc mortgages (no income or asset verification), red flags now go up when reading sentences such as these: “MARTA staff found the money to keep the last hour of rail service and the three bus sets by making an accounting change with the money they set aside for retirees’ medical benefits. By putting the money in a restricted account, [CEO Beverly] Scott said, MARTA can put aside less money without affecting money that eventually goes to the retirees.” If it ain’t real money, it ain’t real money — no matter which column you put numbers in.

I find it funny that certain people who have done nothing but craft words all their life will decry certain politician's lack of real world experience and then take their own ham-fists to the voodoo that is modern accounting. Then again - my humor threshold is pretty low.

What Were They Thinking? Contest: Winner, Mark Sanford. First runner-up, the mama and wife of a Cobb man accused of taking a 12-year-old to a motel for sex, a statutory rape offense, are arrested for allegedly intervening with the victim on his behalf.

I propose an honorable mention for What Were They Thinking: Jim Wooten for his knee-jerk defense of Mark Sanford and excoriation of his own colleagues. Strange that we hear not a peep from Jim on how his thesis fell apart in less then 24 hours. Jason Pye, who I also mentioned in that edition of My Morning Wooten, showed the grace of true accountability by publicly admitting he had been fooled. Wooten on the other hand seems to follow the "so called conservative" mantra of "I'm right no matter what".

Crowds headed to a Braves game and a soccer match between Mexico and Venezuela at the Georgia Dome clogged the always-trouble Downtown Connector for miles up I-75, I-85 and Ga. 400. Fix it. Find a private-sector company to double-deck the Downtown Connector. Make both toll roads.

When a co-worker (usually from sales) makes an absurd proposal, my typical response is "sorry, my magic wand is broken today". Putting aside for the moment that Jim's only solution for transportation issues is more pavement, note how the private sector magic wand is used. Somehow, the pixie dust of no government involvement will allow a 27 mile long, multi-lane, double-decker highway, through a major downtown corridor to be built so quickly and efficiently, the population will hardly notice. And once the monster is complete, we will be so overwhelmed with gratitude, we will gladly lay hosannahs at every toll booth along the way.

And people think I'm stoned.

Good lord. Let's just move on to the weekend as quickly as possible.

Selah.

My Morning Wooten

One day, I will tell you all my thoughts on Jim Wooten. Like many things in the south, they are filled with darkness and loathing but will probably be proceeded by the phrase "bless his heart". ~griftdrift, 7-5-06

Many years ago, I sat in the Alliance Theater's small studio space attending a performance of a strange little play about incest, molestation and learning to drive. Before the house lights dimmed, I noticed a distinguished looking man sitting in the row just ahead. It was not an event where one would expect to see the conservative voice of the Atlanta Journal.

Bless his heart, Jim Wooten is a complicated man. Complicated is a southern term used when we can't decide if a fellow is the smartest man in the room or the craziest.

In the days before the afternoon Journal was absorbed by its liberal morning counterpart, Jim along with his mentor Durwood McAlister, held the conservative line. Their articles were not only counterpoints to the Cynthia Tuckers and Maureen Downeys but also to the rapidly rising shrill voices of talk radio. Common sense conservative born decades earlier was carried on in those pages.

Despite the desire of conservatism, time moves on and even the staid changes. McAlister retired, the afternoon daily disappeared and Jim moved across the hall.

Whether it was the emergence of the Rovian philosophy of the winner rules absolutely or a need to distinguish completely from the voices of the left or a final unfettering of real personality, Jim also changed.

Although the title remained "Common Sense Conservatism", the content slowly morphed to mirror the screed merchants of the day. Rumor, innuendo and talking points replaced subtlety and serious thought.

Whispers of the old Jim sometimes emerged - usually when speaking of monetary things or the inevitable passage of old friends.

Now he has one foot out the door, but the weekly column will continue and I will continue to give him a poke - mostly because he deserves it but partly because I believe somewhere beneath that shock of white hair still lays the mind that once upon a time laughed appropriately and winced appropriately at actors on a stage speaking of things most dark and twisted.

Perhaps, one day when I am also longer in the tooth, Jim and I can sit on the porch, drink lemonade and natter on about the things two old farm boys natter on about. We might even talk about being complicated.

My Morning Wooten: Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due

I tell friends all the time I miss the old Jim. Back in the days when Atlanta had two papers and the competition fostered some real journalism, Jim Wooten was one of my daily reads. On an editorial page full of screaming mimis, Jim was the one of the few conservative voices I considered reasonable. I viewed him in the mold of George Will. Agreement with the issues was not necessary but at least the views were intelligent and well communicated.

I often wonder what happened to that Jim. Since the merger of the Journal-Constitution, Wooten lurched hard right. Reason became a thing of the past and parroting Limbaugh-like talking points became the present. I have two theories. Either Jim's actual persona was stifled at the Journal or with the move to the more liberal Constitution he was required to fill the ecosystem's niche as the resident kook.

Well, maybe yesterday's shake up at the paper stirred the ghost of old Jim because I'm having a hard time disagreeing with most of his column today. Sure, he's still drinking the Kool-Aid on Iraq but many of his other points are, dare I say it, sane.

Townships, a government form common elsewhere, is being proposed for Georgia by state Sen. David Adelman (D-Decatur). His zoning-only concept of local control may be too limited, but the key is to give people the ability to control their communities.

Good lord. Not only do I agree but he actually credits a Democrat with a good idea. Get out the fainting couch! But of course in the very next bullet...

All of this drive to incorporate and to break away got started because Fulton commissioners treated north Fulton like dirt, taking their money while completely disregarding their concerns about density and development. We can love and identify with the brand Atlanta, but need to relate to a government with which we can connect.

Jim gets it half right. The other half is the prediliction of North Fulton to act like spoiled brats.

Yes! State Rep. Earl Ehrhart (R-Powder Springs), chairman of the House Rules Committee, offers legislation to allow individuals and corporations to get a significant tax credit for contributions that allow low-income or disabled children to attend private schools. Love this new Big Idea Legislature. They’re talking about things that matter — in addition, of course, to the usual things that don’t.

Although I am no fan of complicating our already ponderous tax code, if we must, tax credits are the way to go. If you listened to the Georgia Politics Podcast, you will note I want a little more accountability than conservatives but this bill demonstrates how government can work with the private sector to enhance the citizens.

There's more but I think I will limit myself to those few. Maybe one day Jim will come around on Iraq and his other sins but at least for today, I'm happy to see the old Jim.

My Morning Wooten

Who loves some Jim Wooten? Me loves me some Jim Wooten. He's pure blogger gold.

Did I miss something? Don’t U.S. attorneys serve at the pleasure of the President? They do. Democrats and their media allies are determined to find great scandal in the removal of 8 U.S. attorneys by the administration. The administration was dissatisfied with their performance and they were removed.

Yes, Jim, you missed something. Although past Presidents have certainly removed U.S. Attorneys, it usually occurs at the beginning of an administration with wholesale house cleaning to allow payback and patronage. Not exactly the most noble act but at least the politics is fairly transparent. What you are missing in this story is the attorneys were dismissed late in an administration, a very rare occurrence, and evidence indicates that all were not fired for performance. What you are also missing or should I say ignoring is Alberto Gonzales misled congress regarding the reasons for the dismissals. Once again in previous administrations, this typical act of political obfuscation would have been hardly noticed. But an administration shown to be filled with serial liars who arrogantly hide the truth and then bristle at any question of integrity, it is certainly going to perk some ears.

You know, Jim. Most journalists ask "did I miss something". Fortunately, most answer the question themselves prior to publication instead of using it as a set up to vomit forth yet another talking point.

Dale Cardwell On Immigration

Forsyth County Democratic Debate - Hearing a Democrat at a Democratic Party function quote conservative columnist Jim Wooten might seem the oddest of birds until you understand it is Dale Cardwell.

Cardwell's past tactics have included an apparent run to the right of incumbent Republican Saxby Chambliss - particularly on immigration.

The former television journalist staked an early hold on the right flank of one of the hottest of hot buttons and he continued his entrenchment Thursday night in Forsyth County.

Cardwell accused Chambliss of not being "concerned about the southern border", stated the influx of illegal immigrants depresses the American job market and called for enforcement of employer verification of validity of social security numbers.

All were familiar stances for anyone who has followed the Cardwell campaign. It was after the debate where things got interesting.

Answering followup questions, the candidate stated absolutely he would take the same tough stance on immigration if he were speaking to the Chamber of Commerce in Chambliss' hometown of Moultrie, Ga. "It is time for someone to speak the truth", Cardwell responded.

Then came the Wooten.

Cardwell continued to discuss immigration and referenced a column by Jim Wooten where the AJC's right wing scribe pondered the strange alliance between the AFL-CIO and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. According to the candidate the cooperative effort between the two organizations is only natural as they are "both really PACs".

He went on to state he believed organized labor intentionally recruits illegal immigrants to bolster membership rolls. When asked if he fears potential blowback from openly attacking what is considered a traditional Democratic stronghold, Cardwell responded, "not at all because the [rank and file] union members don't like it".

My Morning Wooten

A sure cure for the lost mojo is Jim Wooten.

Barack Obama’s now within a hundred delegates of securing the Democratic Party nomination to fulfill the legacy of George McGovern, Michael Dukakis, John Kerry and Al Gore.

Is there any Democrat outside of Joe Lieberman that Jim and his ilk wouldn't compare to George McGovern. Save your brain cycles. The answer is no.

John McCain’s spokesman Tucker Bounds set it up: “This election is fundamentally about who Americans can trust to secure peace and prosperity for the next generation of Americans. Without a doubt, Barack Obama is a talented political orator, but his naive plans for unconditional summits with rogue leaders and support for big tax hikes on hardworking families expose his bad judgment that Americans can ill-afford in our next president.

First of all, I don't remember any mention of meeting foreign leaders of questionable reputation with no conditions. I do remember him being asked if he would meet with certain foreign leaders and responding, yes.

More importantly, given the unbridled success of the foreign policy success of the last eight years, Jim, before you continue caterwauls of appeasement, please explain why we should trust your way as better.

What he neglected to say is that four members of the U.S. Supreme Court are likely to retire over the next eight years. And since Democrats control both the House and the Senate, a left-lock on the White House, Congress and the Supreme Court should be enough to complete the march to the welfare state.

Based on decisions such as the recent Indiana voter id ruling, the court is as balanced as it ever is. So the only common sense conclusion is Jim's real desire is a right wing super-majority creating a star chamber to rubber stamp his myopic vision of "original intent".

As far as the court's affect on the welfare state? For those playing Wooten Non-Sequiter Bingo, O-42!

“White voters played a decisive role in Hillary Rodham Clinton’s lopsided victory Tuesday in Kentucky’s Democratic presidential primary. Barack Obama got the victory in more liberal Oregon, where race and the hard-edged rivalry between the two embattled candidates was muted...[followed by three paragraphs about how race played out in various primaries]...The left is determined to make this election a referendum on white racism. But the fact is that a majority of this country has not and will not now elect a president who runs as far to the left as Barack Obama.

I don't really have to say anything do I?

It is essentially over. Obama will be the Democratic nominee. The party has what it has, a candidate who in Kentucky failed to win the votes in a Democratic primary of all age groups and incomes, the college-educated and those who aren’t, and those who described themselves as liberal,moderate and conservative.

Have you ever been to Kentucky? Before you fall prey to the conflation it represents the entire country, I suggest gentle reader you research the demographic breakdown in other primaries - even good ol' Georgia.

In the meantime, prepare yourself to hear the name McGovern a lot over the next six months. Its only just begun.

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

Less perturbation. More eyerolling.

Environmental extremists oppose all efforts to add capacity —- oil, water or highway. Why? Managing shortages gives them the power to tell you where and how to live. It’s a life-control tool. When you see the word “alternatives” to more drilling, reservoirs or road capacity, it’s code for dig-in-the-heels opposition to solutions

Call me an environmentalist whackjob but my main objection to expanding I-85 at Pleasant Hill to 50 lanes is it is typical lack of government effeciency and typical income redistribution vis-a-vis using my tax dollars for the convenience of others - concepts surely a "conservative" understands.

The inexperienced Obama may not know what he believes, but he’s certain about this: He wouldn’t have nominated Clarence Thomas for the Supreme Court because he doesn’t think he was “a strong enough jurist or legal thinker at the time.” What arrogance.

Despite the caterwauling about hairs on coke cans, there were plenty of level-headed people, including the American Bar Association, who pointed out Thomas' portfolio was awfully thin. But we can't point out any flaw in St. Clarence. Pointing out that liberal justice John Paul Stevens with more than 30 years experience on the bench a dangerous kook? Well, that's obviously a different story.

Good or bad, we get the behaviors we pay for. Mortgage brokers who signed up borrowers for high-interest/high-fee “liar loan” mortgages —- those requiring no verification of job, income or assets —- could make $15,000 on a $300,000 loan. A traditional loan would net $2,000 to $4,000. No surprise. Half of the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac losses of $3.1 billion between April and June were due to liar loans. Invite people to rip off any business or government program, or to immigrate illegally, and they will.

From the mortgage scandal to illegal immigration in three sentences? For those playing Wooten non-sequitor bingo, I-42!

An Orlando newspaper reporter notes that McCain got a better reception among veterans attending a VFW convention than Obama. That information was conveyed thusly: “But McCain was the clear favorite among the predominantly older, white male crowd. …” Perhaps the louder applause was because McCain is a fellow veteran, was deemed to be the better leader on national security issues, or because he’s an older white male?

More of the old cutting off the nose to spite the face strategy. Jim loves to play editor with the straight news stories. Wouldn't it be fun to let some of the straight newsies do the same with some of his nonsense? Start with yesterday's My Morning Wooten.

Liberals and conservatives are alarmed about the growing national deficit —- but with liberals it’s never when proposing new entitlements.

And with "conservatives" its never when we charge the national credit card to the point where settling accounts means selling Oregon to the Chinese.

Take a deep breath. Count to 10 —- and then don’t say dumb things, like the response to a report that State School Superintendent Kathy Cox will appear on the game show “Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?” The quote is from Tim Callahan of the Professional Association of Georgia Educators, which at one time did not act and sound like a union. Said Callahan: “The budget is in meltdown, the CRCT is a mess and you have a superintendent in Hollywood taping a game show. It gives new definition to the word ‘frivolous.’ ” Lighten up, bud

Lighten up dude! Republicans are just fun-loving people who like game shows hosted by funny guys with accents! I'm sure Jim will also take a deep breath, count to ten and remember his own advice the next time he sees a Democrat fiddling while Georgia burns.

Selah.

My Morning Wooten

Can someone please explain to me the right wing's obsession with the Duke "rape case"?

Like most conservatives, my first inclination is to support the cops, the prosecutors and the men and women in the criminal justice system who are constantly under the gun. But as former governor Roy Barnes was fond of saying, “I gotta tell ya” And this “I gotta tell ya” is that the prosecutor’s conduct in the case of the Duke University lacrosse players scares the bejesus out of me.

An inclination to support the cops and prosecutors? No kidding. In most cases, right wing pundits are a breath away from advocating behind the barn shooting for anyone seen in handcuffs. Yet, from the get go the more rabid right wing spew mouths like Sean Hannity questioned everything about this case. Turns out they were right and bully for them. This fact will of course blind all to the question of why the hell did the usual law and order crowd turn so quickly on a prosecutor in a local case?

Admittedly Jim is pretty late to this party. But I can't help but compare how certain Georgia Republicans desire to emphasize that Genarlow Wilson is no choir boy yet anyone who comments on the Duke case, including Wooten, conveniently omits the less than choir boy antics of the Duke lacrosse players. Also ignored is both cases suffered from overzealous prosecution. Yet, in the Wilson case, Georgia Republicans, despite changing the obscene law on which he was convicted, continue a campaign to paint him as a rapist and sexual predator. But in the Duke case, the allies of these same politicians paint the accused as victims and scream for the blood of Nifong. It's hard to ingnore the one obvious difference in the cases.

I want to say as sincerely as possible that I do not believe Jim Wooten is in any way racist. However, if it starts to walk like a duck and talk like a duck. Maybe this is one party where he shouldn't even walk through the door.

An editorial postscript: I often find myself siding with Republicans on certain issues. And I am certainly not comfortable with how Democrats seem to be up to their asses in being beholden to certain special interests. You know the difference? Almost never does the Democratic Party pull one of these. Actions that just make my skin crawl. I mean even when they are right their actions make my skin crawl! There may be nothing more insidious. For that reason, although I am no Democrat, unless they change their ways, I sure as hell will never be a Republican.

Shame On You, Jim Wooten

In his blog today, AJC Associate Editorial Page Editor Jim Wooten chose to repeat a recent right-wing meme regarding the Mark Foley scandal:

But editors at The Miami Herald and The St. Petersburg Times apparently had the same e-mails others did last year and thought them not worth pursuing.

100% wrong.

The Executive Editor of the St. Petersburg Times has already responded to these allegations and you could read his column here.

Here are the facts:

• The St. Pete Times admits that it received the emails last November.
• The Times DID follow up on the story and interviewed the page.
• The page's parents apparently would not go on the record
• The Times could not find additional sources on the story
• With such a lack of substantiation the Times editors decided publishing such a salacious story did meet their journalistic standards.

Opinions, even of a hyperbolic nature, are to be expected in the editorial pages. Blatant falsehoods are not. Unlike some in the new media, traditional media sources such as print still exercise editorial filters and restraint. The St. Pete Times appropriately chose to exercise restraint. Something as a career newpaperman Jim Wooten should understand.

I am following up with an email to AJC Public Editor Angela Tuck since I for one want to understand how something like this would happen and will there be consequences.

My Morning Wooten

A logical fallacy which makes my skin crawl and my limbic system fire adrenaline through my body spurring the urge to hit walls: apply an extreme outlier to a broad, complex issue in an attempt to portray the problem in the worst possible perspective.

DNA tests establish California photographer Larry Birkhead as the daddy of Anna Nicole Smith’s baby...It’s the baby/daddy DNA search, however, that prompts today’s commentary.

Anna Nicole Smith was at best a pathetic soul deserving sympathy. At worse, she was an irresponsible example of the species who unfortunately procreated, passing along potentially aberrant genes. What she was not was part of the pool Jim Wooten so casually throws into the mix.

As noted here before, a nation that suffers an epidemic of out-of-wedlock births, as this one does with 70 percent of black babies, almost half the Hispanic and a quarter of the whites born into homes without a mother and a father present, is in trouble.

Unlike Anna Nicole Smith, most of these women are not wealthy. They do not jet to the Bahamas in an attempt to solve custody issues. They may or may not be drug addled but if so chances are the substances are not prescribed by a doctor. They certainly do not have svengali-like attorneys but instead rely on the public defense system. A system some conservatives, notably Jim Wooten, wish to gut.

Government, along with Hollywood, the church, civil rights leaders and the middle class, all have a role in changing that.

This is conservative ideaology? Somehow government can repair social ills? Different political persuasions can certainly wrestle with the different shades of the concept but hearing it from such a staunch "conservative" causes pause. As we shall shortly see, government tinkering with the family unit and procreation inevitably leads to the bizarre.

When a pregnant woman presents herself for public assistance, she should be required to identify the male she suspects as having caused her pregancy. That accusation would be sufficient to obligate him, by law, to submit DNA samples. If he is, indeed, the responsible party, every dime the state spends on the baby should be on his tab, with the state willing to spend $5 to get $1 from him. The message to him is: You can’t cause children and walk away. If the first DNA test is negative, the woman carrying the baby would be obligated to name other candidates. The failure to establish the daddy’s identity would constitute child abuse.

And now into the breach we travel. Based on a single witness' testimony, the government will now wipe away the Fifth amendment and begin removing tissue from citizens who have committed no crime. What if the women has had multiple partners? Shall we have a parade? A genetic lineup of the usual suspects?

And if the woman is wrong? Charge her with child abuse. It's telling that Jim leaves out the consequences of immediately jumping to the nuclear option. Such a charge would remove the child from the mother's custody. So, at the end of the day, the likelihood is instead of forcefully creating a family, government inteference will lead to an even further splintering, a child deeper into the system and an burden greater than the original.

I used to cohost a radio show on Friday nights. But my partner and I did not wish to go on air every week. At the end of each show we finished with the tagline that we were here every Friday night except when we ain't. Conservatives like Jim remind me of that old tongue in cheek sign off. They are conservative, except when they ain't.

My Morning Wooten

Perhaps it's the holiday spirit, but Jim and I have rarely jousted lately. Today, peace on earth once again takes a back seat. Let's have some fun!

Clark Howard’s not running for mayor of Atlanta. Smart guy, Howard. The time to pinch pennies was when they were accumulating a mountain of debt. They’re now into juggling. The radio personality they need is get-out-of-debt guru Dave Ramsey.

It's a clever turn of phrase. I have to admit admiration for the skills of the scribe. But it is also evidence Jim worships the trinity of WGST's Beck, Limbaugh and Ramsey. If he ever roamed up the dial, he would discover home town hero Clark Howard has a pretty good handle on debt as well.

Disagree if you will on policy, but there can be no disputing that President Bush will be remembered, as he wishes to be, “as a person who, first and foremost, did not sell his soul in order to accommodate the political process. … I came to Washington with a set of values, and I’m leaving with the same set of values.” A decade from now, maybe sooner, the man’s worth as a leader will be measured alongside Harry Truman as a wartime president. A modern politician who can ignore polls to do what’s right for the country is a jewel.

A needless war. Taking America's legitmacy in the world from a pinnacle to an absolute abyss. Imprisonment without due process. Torture. I'll take book on whether history views Bush as Jim does and as I do. What wants to place a bet?

Two state senators who left the legislative arena to seek judgeships, both of whom were probably more temperamentally suited to the judicial branch, lost. Michael S. Meyer von Bremen, an Albany Democrat, lost on Nov. 4 in a crowded field for a seat on the Georgia Court of Appeals. This week, Joseph I. Carter, a Tifton Republican, lost a runoff for a Superior Court seat. Good guys, both. Thoughtful and calm.

Can't disagree here.

Get out the sniffing salts, Betsy. A Cobb County law firm, Gardner Groff Greenwald & Villanueva, announces that it’ll cut its flat-fee rates up to 12 percent below 2008 and won’t increase hourly rates.

A private firm adjusting its business model due to market pressure? Isn't that a fine example of conservative philosophy? But this is lawyers - one of the usual right wing pinatas - therefore instead of platitudes, we get snark.

The outcome of Tuesday’s U.S. Senate runoff does not bode well for Georgia Democrats in 2010. Barack Obama was a phenomenon. Nobody currently on the scene is capable of matching his appeal to Democrats and independents in Georgia. DeKalb CEO Vernon Jones is right, I believe, when he asserts: “The Democratic Party has to stop putting up these liberal candidates who tend to win in the primary but not in the general.” But I’ve read enough post-election advice from liberals to Republicans that they become Democrat-lite that I’ll avoid the condescension of suggesting that state Democrats become Republican-lite. They should fix it as Mr. CEO and others think necessary to win statewide.

Jim Wooten choose your own adventure! (Insert Democrat name here) is an idiot/corrupt con-artist/the most evil creature walking the earth except when he switches parties/is criticized by Daily Kos/agrees with me.

Honoring the president-elect in the only way government knows how — by giving public employees another paid holiday — officials of Perry County, Ala., declare the second Tuesday in November to be a Barack Obama Day holiday from work. Perry County, in central Alabama, is one of the poorest in the state.

Yes, what they did is stupid. But what is stupider and far more insidious is certain members of the right wing, usually limited to whacko right wing radio but more frequently on the pages of the paper that covers Dixie like the dew, insistence on finding every turtle on a fencepost then attempting to convince us all that the not yet arrived Obama presidency will cause us all to smother beneath a crush of turtles.

Selah.

My Morning Wooten: Lies

Down here you better be sure if you call someone a son of a bitch.

You call someone a son of a bitch, it will be with a nervous laugh of respect and fear or it will be with the grimace proceeding violence.

Describe it in any terms you like, but this is a party under the control of the ’60s generation of leftists. General Betray Us. The betrayal, if we follow the advice of the Democratic field, won’t be just of the American patriots putting their lives on the line, as Gen. Petraeus is doing, but of every friend of America, especially those in Iraq, who walk through minefields based on our promises. ~Jim Wooten

Perhaps Jim, you missed Democratic Congressman Jim Marshall who called General Petraus' testimony "powerful and persuasive".

Perhaps you missed Democratic Presidential candidate John Edward's wife Elizabeth calling out the critics of General Petraeus.

Perhaps you missed the preeminent progressive blog in Georgia decrying the idiocy of the MoveOn ad.

Jim, you aren't a son of a bitch.

You are just a liar.

My Morning Wooten

Well, I'll be hogtied - we've finally got one where Jim and I completely agree.

While listening five years ago to legislators debate how to keep HOPE solvent long-term, Atlanta attorney Les Schneider concluded that something more was needed for students trying to afford college...The result four years later is a law sponsored by state Sens. Bill Hamrick (R-Carrollton) and Seth Harp (R-Midland), among others, creating a series of three low-interest loan programs. Rates start at 1 percent.

The loan system will be results based with rates set by the achievment of certain goals and post-graduation employment choices.

Frankly, I can't find any flaw except the current lack of funding. Given the state of the budget this may be a large hurdle but this is one idea where a way should be found. It makes a hell of a lot more sense than boat ramps.

And it came from Republicans. A fact that surely indicates why Wooten is so effusive and why Democrats should worry. At this point in the game, they can hardly afford to be outflanked on a core issue like education.

My Morning Wooten

Do what?

Public officials like Spitzer who cultivate a particular political image — whether that is as a change agent or a holier-than-thou crusader — fall quickly when their personal conduct fails to measure up. For Barack Obama, the stakes just went up in the Chicago trial of Tony Rezko, who is accused of bribing public officials and taking kickbacks. Obama has donated some $150,000 to charity, the allegedly illegal campaign contributions Rezko directed to his 2004 Senate campaign.

So in Jim-land, a disgraced politician caught performing some personal economic stimulus indicates potential problems for a candidate he doesn't even support? The whine you hear is the vibrating tenuousness of the through-line in Wooten's tortured logic.

What is it about the fellating of politicians which causes Republicans to read the bones as doom until the end of days for Democrats?