Quote Of The Day

A bonfire was quenched last night.

I have one consistency, which is [being] against the totalitarian - on the left and on the right. The totalitarian, to me, is the enemy - the one that's absolute, the one that wants control over the inside of your head, not just your actions and your taxes. And the origins of that are theocratic, obviously. The beginning of that is the idea that there is a supreme leader, or infallible pope, or a chief rabbi, or whatever, who can ventriloquise the divine and tell us what to do.

Christopher Hitchens, 1949-2011

Quote Of The Day

Our old friend the witch burner, Erick Erickson.

I hope for a Perry rebound. He’s on his first wife still and has the most consistent record of conservative policies. And we hate the same people and institutions. We have the same general world view.

Note use of the word "hate". This from the man who routinely questions Jimmy Carter's Christianity.

Rewarding Bad Behavior

The streak of media in this town rewarding bad behavior continues.

Atlanta Progressive News' Matthew Cardinale continues to report the "scoop" that the Atlanta Journal Constitution does not credit other sources for stories. I know this comes as a shock to all those staffers at Creative Loafing, the editor of Decatur Metro and every other blog that has covered local news in this town for the past decade.

But let's put aside the continued self-declared importance of Matthew Cardinale (and his new best friend at Peach Pundit, imagine that, a Republican consultant collaborating with an avowed socialist to attack the Republican's favorite punching bag) as he protects us from the greed and sloth of the corporate media giant  and wonder aloud about the response of two of Atlanta's most storied journalists.

Former Creative Loafing Editor, Ken Edelstein:

Thank you for covering this, Matthew. The straightforward, factual fashion in which you play this media watchdog role is a real service to the community.

And The Saporta Reports Maria Saporta:

Astute observation Matthew

Ken and Maria, I just have one question. If one of your reporters did this, would you continue to promote their "good work".

There are many people in social media who continue to do good work and for years they have been routinely ignored. But many times, those who play fast and loose with the rules, get links, credit and pats on the back.

Welcome to the new world, bubba. Same as it ever was.

Quote Of The Day

Walker County Commissioner Bebe Heiskell responding to allegations made by the blog LaFayette Underground that she waltzed into a Huddle House, drunker than six sailors.

I wrote them back and said they must’ve gotten me mixed up with someone else because I don’t drink and I don’t smoke and I don’t dance and I don’t date.

LaFayette Underground has been sticking pins and needles in Walker County officials for two year.Recently, one of its anonymous contributor's was not only identified by police but questioned after security footage showed him on city property after hours.

The conflict between the powers that be in Walker County and the anonymous blog has been bubbling for some time and brings into light a number of issues confronted by social media in the past half decade; anonymity, ethics and standards, etc.

I'll withhold judgment on the standards of LaFayette Underground but will say based on what I've read, they've played fast and loose with the game. That's a dangerous position in any circumstance and as they are discovering, it has real world implications when you are accusing those in power of malfeasance

Quote Of The Day

From an Andrew Sullivan reader:

I spent Thanksgiving with my family of formerly-sensible moderates and conservatives. Every one of them has morphed into a Gingrich fan....The only thing they're interested in is the visceral joy of watching someone destroy and humiliate "that damned Obama." They're convinced that Gingrich is just the guy to administer the rough justice they crave, and whether he's electable or would even be good for the country simply doesn't enter into their thinking.

I could tell a very similar story in the context of "that damned Obama". And I agree with the reader that anyone who thinks Gingrich doesn't stand a chance in nabbing the nomination is fooling themselves. The desire to "teach Obama a lesson" is very real and many are under the delusion that Professor Gingrich can administer the beat down.

Friday Night Lights

My beloved Colquitt County Packers will play the Grayson Rams this Friday night in Loganville. While checking the ticket situation, I noticed the following on the Grayson website:

We need a volunteer to work the TDC parking lot beginning at 4pm. I have had numerous  emails and calls about parking, so I think that they will be bringing a large following.  I  believe that last year we had some issues with them getting here early and parking in that  lot.

Yes. We travel.

And yes. We tailgate.

Welcome to high school football - South Georgia style.

Tweet Of The Day

In response to Poltico's Mike Allen tweeting that Warren Buffet buying his hometown newspaper is a "great day for publishing", the AJC's Kyle Wingfield tweets:

I'm sure it would also be a "great day for publishing" if a Koch bought a paper.

In the rapidly closing circular world of "Republican thought", Warren Buffet = George Soros.

All because he uttered the heresy that we may be on the left side of the Laffer Curve.

Job Seeking Is A Part Time Task?

Sen. John Albers wants those receiving Unemployment Insurance Benefits to volunteer 24 hours a week or lose their "handout". He would amend current unemployment law to add the following:

The individual has performed at least 24 hours of service per week, either paid or unpaid, for a nonprofit charitable organization.

His justification?

“At the heart of welfare is the notion that government is responsible for the prosperity and success of our lives,” Albers said in a statement. “It is not. Government is responsible for providing the environment and helping people when needed with a 'hand up' and not a 'hand out.'”

I suppose we should give Sen. Albers a break since he's only been in office a little over a year and actually understanding the laws, portions of which have existed for decades, before commencing to tinker would be a terrible burden.

Unemployment Insurance is no hand out. It is exactly what it is named - insurance. Employers pay a relatively modest premium, in the form of a payroll tax, in reality no different than the subsidy they pay on most other forms of insurance (health, disability, etc.), and if the employee is separated through no fault of their own, that employee receives a weekly payment (once again, think of disability plans) for a period of their unemployment.

In exchange, employers benefit from a more stable workforce and through the various human resources functions of the Department of Labor, easy access to that workforce.

In order for the recipient to receive the benefit, they must not only be available for employment but actively seek employment. Actively seeking employment means using the majority of the work week mailing resumes, interviewing and networking.

Now, along comes the seasoned Senator Albers with the notion that actually using the majority of your week to search for work is counterproductive to searching for work. Those lazy lucky ducks would be much better served by squeezing 24 hours of picking up trash in between actually trying to find a job.

I would think the "conservative" approach would be to actually understand the system instead of immediately implementing radical change. And I bet Sen. Albers could accomplish this herculean task of educating himself in less than 24 hours a week.

Quote Of The Day II

Breaking the current "conservative" orthodoxy.

Government is not the sole solution in any of the above issues. But the limited government we have should be functional, competent, and dedicated to the overall policies that create an environment that lets individuals prosper.

Slowly but surely, Republicans are waking from their talk radio fever dreams to remember conservative philosophy does not divorce governance and competence.

Quote Of The Day

Political scientist Jonathan Bernstein rips into Drew Westen for accusing Obama of not being more FDR-like.

You know what can FDR kicked down the road for political reasons, to be dealt with after an election? A little something called WORLD WAR II.

Read the whole delicious teardown.

More From The Bill Heath Files

Yesterday, I mentioned how Republican Senator Bill Heath is not satisfied with having "In God We Trust" as an optional sticker on our license plates. Instead, it should be required! And those heathens that don't like it will have to pay extra for a modesty sticker to shamefully cover up the declaration of worship!

Not surprisingly, this ain't Heath's first rodeo in wielding the power of government for righteousness and the preservation of modesty lest the bedrock of our country crumble!

In 2004, he tried to outlaw genital piercing. But for women only.

Amendment sponsor Rep. Bill Heath, R-Bremen, was slack-jawed when told after the vote that some adults seek the piercings...."What? I've never seen such a thing," Heath said. "I, uh, I wouldn't approve of anyone doing it. I don't think that's an appropriate thing to be doing."

The original bill outlawed female genital mutilation; a particularly heinous ritualistic practice usually performed on young girls. Heath  tacked on an amendment outlawing genital piercing even if it was a voluntary action of adult women on their own bodies.

Heath's zealotry to make sure the government appropriately enforced his version of sanctity for all things hoo-hah derailed the entire bill.

Ultimately, with some girl power from both sides of the Capitol and both sides of the aisle, the bill passed. History does not record if on this second try, Heath was unable to lift himself from the fainting couch to save the Republic once again.

January Can't Come Fast Enough

In case you're wondering why I revved the engine up again, look no further than two pre-filed bills.

Exhibit A - Sen. Bill Heath is not satisfied with optional IN GOD WE TRUST stickers for license plates. He wants those magical words required. Those who don't want idolatry/graven images on our government required identification will have to pony up a dollar for generic county modesty stickers.

Exhibit B - After the hippie/communist/dirtbags who infest that leftist hive known as Mississippi (with that many consonants, they must all be descended from Russians!) destroyed righteousness by defeating the personhood amendment, Rep. Rick Crawford takes up the noble cause of protecting us from the sins of in vitro and birth control. Bonus....he's a Democrat. Oh, what fun we'll have dissecting that one.

Seriously. Who could stay away with the yahoos making it this easy?

Quote Of The Day

What do you get when you mix the state's leading Republican blog with a newspaper run by middle Georgia Democrats? A sometimes jarring dose of common sense.

At the heart of the issue is the Federal Government’s inability to process enough work visas or to process those that they are able to complete quickly enough. This, combined with the low chance of being caught without a visa and minimal consequences for those who are, has led to employers opting for illegal workers and for an unending stream of those who would take the jobs.

Of course, Charlie Harper glides by, barely touching the political crux of the problem - any straightening of this labyrinthine mess to ease access to a willing labor pool will  immediately elicit cries of "amnesty" for "law breakers" by those who wish to steer his party.

This Side Of The River

A pet political philosophy of mine is "this side of the river"; no matter how right you feel, sometimes you have to look around at who's with you on this side of the river.

In an interview with the Atlantic's Conor Freidersdorf, Minutemen founder Jim Gilchrist explains his "side of the river" moment.

In the mid-2000's Gilchrist made headlines for leading people down to the Mexican border to "assist" the Border Patrol in guarding against illegal immigrants. Then some really "interesting" people started showing up.

In 2007, a similar group created a "parody" video portraying a Minutemen killing an an illegal alien and burying him the desert. Gilchrist rightly condemned the horrid thing and that's where, for him, things went sideways.

I got down there on the border and started to lecture them. And they literally threw me off their mountaintop and declared me an enemy of America. At that point I realized it was becoming not about racism, but about outright fascism. You goosestep with me and my ideas or we're going to trash you just like we're going to trash the illegal aliens. And that's when I realized -- that was about 2007 -- that's when I realized that I had opened up a can of worms, somewhat. Part of this issue had opened up a can of worms and brought forth some of the ugliest people you can ever imagine.

Subsequent events even caused him to praise former adversaries the ACLU and soften his stance towards the Southern Poverty and Law Center,

He still holds to fairly hard line views on immigration, but he deserves credit for looking around and realizing, this ain't the place I'm supposed to be.

Quote Of The Day

Context  of the quote is the events of the last few days, Cain's weird press dealings, Ohio stomping Kasich's agenda flat and Mississippi strangely saying a pro-life amendment went too far. The entire piece is worth the read but to me, this is the kernel.

A party that gives a motivational speaker ten times the support of a two-term governor of Utah, re-elected with 84 percent of the vote, with strong bipartisan credentials and an even stronger tax reform plan ... well, it's a party in free-fall that also doesn't understand that it is.

The quote struck me, not only because it wraps some reality around our current fun show mirror political world, but it also reminded me of a recent conversaiton.

I try to avoid predictions because I'm not very good at them. But when a night fueled with alcohol caused two of the most reasonable men in Georgia  to turn red-faced, sputtering and abandon reason, I looked the Republican in the eye and said, "you don't see it yet, but he's going to roll you".

Crashing The Blame Game

When the entire global economy comes within inches of collapse, you can be sure there will be plenty of finger pointing. The direction of the pointed finger generally depended on your preconceived political point of view.

Listen to the Limbaugh/Hannity/Axis every day? Then you probably think it was the government forcing banks to loan to irresponsible people. Read Daily Kos on a regular basis? Then, it's all about unregulated greed with Wall Street running wild. If you're the Tea Party.....well, it's probably a weird mix of both, but really, you're just pissed about government money heading in six different directions and none of them yours.

I will admit that I've struggle to make sense of it all, but there's one thing that never seemed to jibe with reality.. Sure there were irresponsible loans and irresponsible borrowers and I'm sure Fannie Mae had its part to play, but how does Dudley Downbeat down the street taking a second mortgage to buy a boat result in global economic armageddon?

Based on one emailer to Andrew Sullivan, Dudley Downbeat had his role in the play but he was a walk-on showing up briefly while other larger players convinced the audience the show must go on.

Wall Street firms were regularly leveraged 30:1...the scale of the bubble to be increased by orders of magnitude - the equivalent of having 50 homes in a fire-prone neighborhood, but with 100 insurance policies on each and a lively market of bets on which will burn down first.  If this were just a sub-prime housing crash, it would have hurt (think dot-com crash), but it wouldn't have brought the global financial system to its knees.  That required Wall Street and AIG, with the ratings agencies helping along the way (by convincing institutional investors that all was safe).

The burning house analogy is the best one I've heard yet.

The analysis of what happened isn't finished (few have yet written about the hidden bank run that annihilated things like mutual funds) and will probably go on for the next decade. But it's clear there's plenty of blame to spread around, but it ain't going to spread like peanut butter. Some deserve some chunks.

Playing Mad Max On N. Highland

Creative Loafing's Gwynedd Stuart gets many things right in her article about daily conflict between drivers and pedestrians in Virginia Highland.

Atlanta is not a pedestrian friendly city. Sidewalks are sparse and multi-lane thoroughfares, even in the city core are numerous. Also, even on the never ending autobahns we call interstates, we text, apply makeup, read and stuff our faces with pounds of fast food flesh.

In a pedestrian dense neighborhood like Virginia Highland, it is down right frightening.

HOWEVER.

There are also some special factors about Virginia Highland which should be considered.

Between Ponce and Los Angeles, there are no fewer than 10 pedestrian crossings with a significant number placed mid-block. It would be interesting to research the genesis of this high frequency. I imagine it has something to do with it being an "entertainment district".

The result of this overcompensation is drivers start, stop, repeat process for the full 1.5 miles. It can be frustrating for the most patient driver.

But this is a mild annoyance compared to the far more dangerous game of Frogger played by the pedestrians.

I will not go so far to claim the previous point is causation for this one, but despite being blessed with abundance of crossings, Virginia Highland pedestrians have a peculiar laissez faire attitude about where to cross the street.

 It doesn't matter the conditions; light, dark, sunshine, raining., hail of frogs, it is inevitable that a drive down Highland will result in a sudden stop due to a pedestrian darting between cars to dash across the street.

Sunday, returning from my farm in south Georgia, I witnessed near tragedy. A car was inching its way out of Yeah Burger, attempting to turn left onto southbound Highland. Of course, the driver was looking to his right to avoid being boned like a T. At the same time, a gentlemen who was drunk/texting/generally oblivious began walking at a diagonal from the Taco Mac towards the other side of the street.

The car saw an all clear and gunned it. I do not exaggerate in saying that a life was spared by two humans suddenly becoming aware of a vast world outside their tiny existence, a quick swerve of the car and hilarious pirouette by the walker.

It is law that cars stop for pedestrians and any suggestion otherwise should be castigated. However, it is also law that pedestrians use the crosswalks and in this particular neighborhood it's almost impossible to avoid them.

But most important of all, if you are a couple hundred pounds of soft flesh, can we expect a smidgen of common sense instead of proudly strutting arrogance when you cross paths with 2000 pounds of twisted steel? As Gwynedd also notes, the law won't matter one smidge if you a smudge on the pavement.

Atlanta Tea Party Strenously Objects

I strenuously object?  Is that how it works? Objection. Overruled.  No, no, no, no, I strenuously object. Oh, well if you strenuously object, let me take a moment to reconsider. ~A Few Good Men

The Atlanta Tea Party (conveniently located in Dacula) has issued a press release letting everyone know they still aren't happy about the Occupy Atlanta thing.

we could not have signs on poles or sticks, or not allowed to even pass out little flags to wave, because they were held up by sticks....Occupy Atlanta has had control of Woodruff Park for the past weeks with no permit, no fees, the use of poles and sticks to hold some signs and their tents

So basically it boils down to "they were allowed to have sticks and we weren't."

You object once to get it on the record.

Atlanta Tea Party, however thin it was, you made your point. Now you are just being ridiculous.

UPDATE: A commenter points out, the rally where the Tea Party couldn't carry their "sticks" was at the State Capitol which is not only State property but operates under a whole different set of rules. The Occupy "campers" were in Woodruff Park which is a city property. You would think the "Atlanta" Tea Party would know the difference. Even if they both are inside the perimeter.

The Danger Of Living On An Island Thinking It Is A Continent

As dawn broke with Woodruff park clear of its recent "campers", the consensus seems to be that, although most would have acted earlier, Mayor Reed resolved the Occupy Atlanta situation with great prudence and care. Watching Oakland wake to a haze of tear gas, most are rightly relieved that Atlanta continues its legacy of restraint and orderly resolution.

Except, of course, the Tea Party. They continue to mewl about perceived hurt and wallow in yet to happen persecution.

If all you see is shark filled waters, soon, you begin to believe your existence is the only one in the vast ocean.

Older Sister Jealous Of New Baby

Local Tea Party people have been fuming about Occupy Atlanta for the last few weeks. They frequently miss the irony of attacking the "unwashed" down in Woodruff Park using the same methods previously used against them.Poor messaging. Badly spelled signs. Ridiculous outfits. Jackasses doing things no one would abide.

But what has really lit their fuse is Mayor Reed not immediately scooping up the Occupy People by the britches and flinging them out the park. They do have a point.

Although, one could argue that Mayor Reed was put in a difficult situation by the campers and hindsight is 20/20, that the occupiers are violating city ordinance by remaining in the park past 11:00pm is undisputed. It will probably cause a headache at some point in the future.

Debbie Dooley and the Atlanta Tea Party Patriots (conveniently located in Dacula) want to cause Mayor Reed's head to throb now. They demand an extension of  the same courtesy to the Tea Party and if he doesn't, by God, they aren't afraid to lawyer up. From an email sent to the Mayor's office.

We have noticed that the City of Atlanta has waived many of your ordinances, fees, etc., in regard to the Occupy Atlanta protests. We have called in the past to find out information for events on City of Atlanta venues like Woodruff Park and have been told it would require a permit and fees and there were restrictions. In the future, Atlanta Tea Party expects to receive the same “benefits” or waiving of fees, permits, restrictions that you have accorded the Occupy Atlanta protests. If we don’t, we will seek legal action.

You have to get past the comedic image of a woman who once told me she was afraid to ride MARTA at night alone, camping out in Atlanta's version of Hooverville. But once there, it is easy to think she and her compatriots are right.

To a point.

There is a subtle difference. Occupy Atlanta didn't exactly start as an "event'. It started as a metastasized version of the homeless problem around the park. People sleeping overnight ain't exactly a new problem down there. And every now and then the city will come along and roust them out.

Where Occupy Atlanta began crossing the line was when they started building things and then decided to throw in with an already permitted festival. Anyone watching the growing spectacle could see Mayor Reed's patience growing thin.

It finally broke when, due to security reasons, the city pulled the permit on the music festival. The lunatics running the asylum decided to keep romping. Their romp included a non-permitted generator and when the Mayor's people tried to tell the press the what for, they began shouting that it is "their park".

There's a big difference between asking forgiveness instead of permission (the tact the occupiers originally took) and asking permission that is refused and proceeding anyway (the line they finally crossed this weekend).

And, despite the conspiratorially minded, I doubt the Tea Party would have been treated any differently.

If some Tea Partiers sporting powdered wigs, waving American flags showed up sans permit on public property screaming about God knows what, I doubt the city would do much. I know this because I saw the Ron Paul people (sometimes with muskets!) do it in 2008.

But if those tea partiers, sans permits, rolled out a stage, a generator and began putting on a Let Freedom Ring concert, were told they couldn't do it and kept on rolling, I imagine they would receive exactly the same reception the occupiers are now facing.

It's a subtle difference. But the difference is there.

Not that it will matter. Subtlety is quickly lost in the whirlwind of the screaming mi-mis.