Safe As Houses

Hillarious

2008-07-19T00:27:00.002-04:00

In the amusing category, conservatives are faux upset that Max Cleland was uninvited to a Barack Obama rally because the former happens to be a registered lobbyist. Obama has a policy of not letting lobbyists attend his events.

Two observations ...

First, all of a sudden Cleland is a 'war hero' to the same Republicans who just a few years back thought he was an ally of Osama bin Ladin.

Second, Obama's sticking to his principles, no exceptions allowed, and that's to be applauded.

You probably think this post is about you

2008-07-18T15:28:00.002-04:00

I'm surprised he could peel himself away from the mirror long enough to write this.

The rational moves

2008-07-18T15:12:00.001-04:00

Well, um, yeah ... Josh Marshall is right. Though, of course, no one will notice because the national political media is too concerned to see if he's wearing a flag pin.

Programming update

2008-07-18T09:15:00.001-04:00

Since I'm apparently the guy who likes to go on the record about non-profit concerns with OneAthens, I'll be on "The Tim Bryant Show" this morning around 9:45 a.m.

Here's hoping I don't make a fool of myself.

In trouble?

2008-07-18T08:20:00.001-04:00

Via Peach Pundit, a pair of Northeast Georgia Republicans are joining the mutiny against Glenn Richardson as Tommy Benton and Terry England say enough is enough.

Music for the moment

2008-07-18T06:53:00.003-04:00

Youngstown by Bruce Springsteen
Country Man by Luke Bryan
Sounds So Good by Ashton Shepherd
I'd Love To Lay You Down by Conway Twitty
Back Where I Come From by Kenny Chesney and John Mellencamp

Two sides of the coin

2008-07-18T06:52:00.002-04:00

While I do tend to agree with George Maxwell and David Lynn in principle - that more light at nighttime can deter crime and foster a safer environment - I also want to point out that this was one of the very random cuts that was enacted during the discussion to offset the small increase in property taxes. And, if Maxwell is right and his constituents are asking for more street lights rather than fewer, it's somewhat insulting to ignore their wishes and move forward with the cuts and stick them with a higher property tax bill.

Then again, I also find it humorous that Maxwell opposed any property tax increase, but is now bemoaning a cost-cutting move to lessen or remove its impact.

Whoops

2008-07-18T06:41:00.003-04:00

Arguably, this needs to be retracted since Josh Lanier hasn't actually endorsed Jim Martin.

In fact, how does this Associated Press story make it into Friday's newspaper here in town? Particularly after Political Insider noted it was an error on the Martin's campaign and Lanier himself said he wouldn't endorse (including personally emailing me this line - "I took the position in the last debate that I would be standing by on August 6 to support the nominee, so I’m not endorsing.").

And it wasn't as if all of this was on deadline or anything. Lanier told Political Insider he wasn't endorsing anyone around noon and the press releas snafu was cleared up by 4:30 p.m.

Conflict of giving

2008-07-17T09:23:00.005-04:00

Folks know that I've tried to honestly and accurately depict the concerns of the non-profit community with regard to OneAthens, particularly with its potential impact - or non-impact - on the fundraising efforts of various organizations in town. It was pointed out repeatedly that OneAthens will not be soliciting the same donors or funding sources as the area non-profits, nor will its mere presence have a negative impact on donations flowing to those groups.

However, I've heard several folks from the non-profit community since that post, and they're telling me just the opposite, and here are the two instances I've heard the most frequently ...

- OneAthens contacted Georgia Shares - a program run by the state government where employees can designate a portion of their paychecks to support various non-profits globally, nationally and locally - about enrolling in their program. Georgia Shares is used by a variety of current area non-profit organizations and it provides a steady stream of revenue for them.

- Athens First Bank and Trust has traditionally hosted a charity campaign that benefits up to six area non-profit organizations. The bank puts up $15,000 and lets customers match those donations over designated period of time, names a 'winner' and then distributes the money to those groups. In 2007 and 2008, this campaign was cancelled with little advance notice to the participating non-profits and, in 2007, the bank contributed a similar amount of money to OneAthens.

Now, I can concede that two instances don't make a pattern, but this does directly contradict the two claims I listed above regarding competing for funds directly and affecting the ability of other funders to give. Again, I'm not here to rain on OneAthens's parade, but it's beyond frustrating to have its leaders go around telling non-profits one thing and then completely doing another. From what I heard from those I spoke with, they're actually content with OneAthens becoming a player in the community, but their concern lies with what appears to be a dishonest and disrespectful approach to them.

If OneAthens wishes to compete for funds - or would at least acknowledge, as was the case with Athens First, that its presence will affect the actions of some donors - then it should be up front about it and not go around saying it won't.

Good read

2008-07-17T08:49:00.002-04:00

Brian breaks down how Sarah Bell was so successful in an area that was supposed to be Melvin Davis's stronghold and, in doing so, has a great summary of some of the problems Oconee County is sorting out with regard to development.

This is kinda random

2008-07-16T23:22:00.002-04:00

One of the benefits of working out of your home is that every once in a while, I like to be able to do some work while watching a little TV. And that's what I opted to do earlier today as I worked on editing a couple of letters, and it enabled me to catch up on the early years of ER.

Now, I abhor the show now, but back when it first came out in the 1990s, it was part of my regular viewing because I liked the plots (despite them being more than a littel sensational) and I liked the cast featuring George Clooney, Anthony Edwards, Sherry Stringfield, Eric LaSalle, etc. and etc. But my interest peaked in 1998 - and I'm going somewhere with this - with the addition of Kellie Martin, who I've always had a closet celebrity crush on.

Currently, TNT is rolling through the two seasons Martin was on the show (before she was stabbed to death by a patient in her final episode in a truly tramatic experience for me that, quite frankly, probably spelled the end of my affection for the show), and that's when it dawned on me ...

Martin is one of two actors/actresses who I will absolutely watch whatever it is they happen to star in, and I have no logical explanation why I do so. The other you ask?

Tom Selleck.

Seriously, I've seen a good number of Mystery Woman movie series Martin did for Lifetime and The Wife is always flabbergasted that I will sit through a Jesse Stone movie on CBS featuring Selleck.

I can't explain it. OK, well I can explain the cuteness of Martin, but I can't explain the odd affinity I have for Selleck (and that includes Quigley Down Under).

Nonpartisanship

2008-07-16T18:11:00.002-04:00

One of the more interesting things that I've noticed from yesterday's election is the number of Democrats in Oconee County and Walton County who didn't cast a ballot in the Democratic primary because the majority, if not all, of their local candidates were on the Republican ballot. So, as a result, they were forced to choose and opted to vote on a slate of local elections via the GOP ticket, thus preventing them from adhering to their party allegiances and getting their voice heard - and subsequently reheard in the runoff - for the U.S. Senate primary.

Now, this is something we don't have to deal with in Athens-Clarke County anymore because we moved to non-partisan elections for our local seats a few years back following the understandable concern confronting citizens over choosing between a the mayoral race on the Democratic ticket and the U.S. Congressional GOP primary between Max Burns and Athens resident Barbara Dooley. At the time, it wasn't a terribly popular move among area Democrats since they controlled, and still do, the bulk of locally elected offices. And one has to presume that Republicans in Oconee County and Walton County won't be awfully receptive to a switch either.

Still, it was the right thing to do a few years back here, and it's the right thing to do in those two counties (and across the state). From a pragmatic perspective, one's ideological views have less to do with how you'd approach business at the local level. I know plenty of Republicans who are very committed to smart growth policies, while I know plenty of Democrats who are for rampant development. From a fairness perspective, it allows people to participate in their respective party's primaries and still get to have a say in local elections.

What we've learned

2008-07-16T07:39:00.002-04:00

Following up on last night's primary election results ...

- Brian wraps up the scene in Oconee County.

- What does a host of endorsements and a fake accent get you? Only 25,000 votes and a second-to-last place finish. Not reflecting good on the AFL-CIO or GAE right now.

- Anyway, we're set up for a fun-filled Jim Martin/Vernon Jones runoff. Judging by turnout projections and voting patterns, I'd give the edge to Martin to pull it out.

- I said it last night, but let's never place a bet against Paul Broun again. He laid the smackdown on Barry Fleming last night.

Wrapping up

2008-07-15T22:59:00.002-04:00

So, we're going to wrap up here for the evening.

It appears we've got a run-off for U.S. Senate between Vernon Jones and Jim Martin, though that's not terribly shocking. Melvin Davis ekeing out a win in Oconee County by a mere 100 votes is pretty surprising and almost made my upset prediction come true.

Paul Broun crushed Barry Fleming, running even in Augusta-Richmond County and winning Columbia County ... meaning the GOP establishment will have to finally get behind the doctor from Athens-Clarke County and calling into question the strength of the Augusta Republican machine.

Thoughts loyal readers?

Election Night Live Blog

2008-07-15T19:40:00.026-04:00

7:40 p.m. - Ah, yes ... a Missions Commitee meeting running a bit long, but no problem. We're ready to go now and eagerly awaiting results from all over the state. Well, as eagerly as one can anticipate clicking 'update' repeatedly on their laptop. Still, the beverage of choice tonight is Dixe Beer, so we're raring to go.

7:47 p.m. - Unrelated, can I say again how absolutely awesome it was that Josh Hamilton hit 28 home runs in one round of the Home Run Derby last night?

7:49 p.m. - Oooooo ... The Simpsons Movie is on at 8 p.m. on one of the HBOs. That could really hinder up-to-the-minute blogging.

7:54 p.m. - It's early, but Paul Broun is putting big advantages in early reporting precincts in the Northeast Georgia counties which, if they hold percentage-wide, could spell a long night for Barry Fleming. He'll need Augusta-Richmond County and Columbia County to come through for him big.

8:02 p.m. - Sweet! I am absolutely one of the four votes in Precinct 6D that were cast for Josh Lanier. Josh, I'm in Statesboro on Saturday, and you totally owe me a beer.

8:10 p.m. - It's very early, but Rand Knight is in dead last right now, and he's got embarassing numbers coming in from the rural areas. I'm trying to think of where he'd have a base of support, but I just don't know.

8:27 p.m. - Again, still early, but with 19 percent reporting, Paul Broun has a commanding lead ... and that includes leads in both Columbia County (eight of 47 precincts reporting) and Augusta-Richmond County (six of 34 precincts reporting). Nothing from Oconee County in, where Broun should run up huge margins.

8:32 p.m. - This coroner's race should be interesting. Sonny Wilson had comfortable margins early, but Bobby Tribble posted big wins in 2A and 2B and is up 824-789.

8:37 p.m. - I've lost control of the remote control, and we're on Lifetime now, which is disappointing. Still, I've now learned that there is a Lifetime Original Movie coming out that is the fourth installment of the Poison Ivy series.

8:45 p.m. - Bill Cowsert is in control of the primary, but Tommy Malcom is running just a shade behind him in Oconee County with more than half of their precincts reporting. Oh, and Broun is embarassing Fleming. He's expanded his lead in Columbia County. I mean, you don't want to say it's over, but ...

8:57 p.m. - In Oconee County, with eight precincts reporting out of 15, Sarah Bell is only nine votes behind Melvin Davis in the race for comission chair.

9:00 p.m. - Rand Knight - he of the uber-endorsements - is in last place with 23 percent reporting. Wow. Absolutely wow. Maybe he should have run for State House.

9:03 p.m. - Only 5C and 6C are out in Athens-Clarke County, and Wilson is up by 202 votes, and then we want for absentee ballots. Wilson has run strong in District Six, while Tribble has taken two of three precincts in District Five.

9:17 p.m. - Well, I appear to be off on my Dale Cardwell prediction, and it looks like we've got the to-be expected runoff between Jim Martin and Vernon Jones, and with all 199 precincts out in DeKalb County, the latter should have the lead going into the runoff. The only drama now is if Knight finishes in last place.

9:20 p.m. - Only two precincts out in Oconee County, and it appears that Davis will win re-election. He's got a slim 100-vote lead right now, so Bell would need to win huge, which doesn't seem likely.

9:28 p.m. - Sonny Wilson takes the coroner seat from Bobby Tribble, winning 2,405 to 2,180. In Oconee County, absentees and one precinct are out and Bell has pulled within 90 votes. It's a tough lead to overcome, but she's giving Davis all he can handle.

9:37 p.m. - Call me crazy, but what are the odds of Jones avoiding a runoff? He just took the lead from Martin, and there are no results yet from DeKalb County or Atlanta-Fulton County. It's not out of the realm of possibility for him to put up big wins there.

9:43 p.m. - OK, scratch that. Martin's got a slight lead in Atlanta-Fulton County with half of the precincts reporting.

9:47 p.m. - If we should take anything away from this night, it's that we should never - never ever - bet against Paul Broun. He is beating the ever-loving tar out of Barry Fleming. It's a 72-to-24 split right now, and that includes an 1,800-vote lead in Columbia County.

9:54 p.m. - Man oh man! Bell just posted a 100-vote win in the final precinct and is six votes behind Davis with just absentees and provisionals out. I smell a recount ...

9:57 p.m. - Davis takes the absentees and regains a 100-vote lead. I'm not sure what the protocol is for local recounts, but that's probably enough for him to hold on to the seat.

10:06 p.m. - If it wasn't for Athens-Clarke County, Bill Cowsert might be in a tight race with Tommy Malcom. The latter has run pretty strong in Oconee County and Walton County.

10:43 p.m. - It's slow going in DeKalb County, and Jones has opened up a 20,000-vote lead (six percent). There are no precincts reporting - still - and I'm still curious to see what happens. Logic would dictate that he should win comfortably there, thus padding his lead. The caveat, of course, is that it's probably the bulk of the remaining votes that are still out there. Again, we're probably headed for a runoff, but can Jones win big enough to escape it?

10:48 p.m. - OK ... I'm just quitting on this picking stuff. Martin's running strong in DeKalb County, so we're heading to a runoff.

Programming update

2008-07-15T13:35:00.002-04:00

Just a heads-up kids, there will be some live-blogging tonight as we sort our who's heading to a runoff from the Democratic side of the U.S. Senate race, who's left standing after the Paul Broun/Barry Fleming death match and who prevailed in a host of local races in Athens-Clarke County and Oconee County.

That's some pop

2008-07-15T13:34:00.001-04:00

I missed the first round, but can I point out how ridiculous 28 home runs in the first round is?

Worth the read

2008-07-14T13:35:00.001-04:00

Got to say, Blake did some bang-up work with his liveblog of the U.S. Senate debate, and he picks up an interesting nugget that I completely overlooked last night ...

Vernon Jones didn't deny voting for Saxby Chambliss in 2002.

Reality check

2008-07-14T12:31:00.001-04:00

Shockingly enough, The Washington Post does some research on John McCain's plan to balance the budget and finds out it's beyond absurd.

Over in DeKalb

2008-07-14T12:12:00.003-04:00

Um, wow.

Let's just say that if Chris Huttman plays this kind of hardball in a primary, Lord knows what he'll say about his Republican opponent. Then again, Cecillia Hailey threatening to contact the GBI and pressing charges against Huttman is kinda comical in its own right since ... why? If she was charged of felonies and does have outstanding warrants, how is it exactly against the law to note that?

Pre-Election Day picks

2008-07-14T08:56:00.003-04:00

The primary election is only a day away, so I'm curious to hear who my loyal readers are voting for. Let me know in the comments.

Tomorrow, I'll be casting ballots for ...

Josh Lanier (U.S. Senate)
Patricia Barron (Athens-Clarke County Chief Magistrate)
Sonny Wilson (Athens-Clarke County Coroner)
Jim Powell (Public Service Commission)

Likewise, I'm going to play the prediction game and say ...

- Paul Broun wins the GOP nomination for the 10th Congressional District

- Bill Cowsert racks up big totals in Athens-Clarke County and Walton County to hold off Oconee County Board of Education member Tommy Malcom in the GOP primary for the District 46 Georgia State Senate seat

- Down South, John Barrow survives his primary challenge from Regina Thomas and wins the Democratic primary for the 12th Congressional District

- I'm thinking we're headed for a Vernon Jones/Dale Cardwell runoff tomorrow ... I'm probably an outlyer on that, but name recognition might help out the latter.

- And I'll really be an outlyer here ... but I'm calling an upset for Sarah Bell over Melvin Davis in the Oconee County Commission Chair race.

Worth linking to

2008-07-13T17:06:00.004-04:00

As y'all know, Flack is running for a seat on the Forsyth County Commission, and he's been out there hitting the pavement something fiece.

I know this isn't exactly local politics for us, but I really enjoyed this exchange in which he defends his views on county-wide elections for commission posts.

Frustrating in more ways than one

2008-07-12T06:55:00.004-04:00

Well, yeah, this sucks, but I was never too high on Keith Gross to begin with. But, seeing how it was a good pickup opportunity for Democrats in Georgia, it's a little frustrating there wasn't more substantial vetting done on this guy.

Of course, he was the target of an odd conservative netroots witch hunt, but whatever. And, of course, it's perfectly fine for candidates who don't even live in certain congressional districts to seek the seats of those districts. It's fine for some elected officials to live in Atlanta, but keep token addresses throughout the state and run for reelection in those places.

But Gross hasn't lived in his house for two years so obviously he's unfit to run and represent the district he actually resides in.

Anyway, Flack's got some good roundup of this, and it does all get to finding better candidates. Again, to be fair, I don't necessarily think the Democratic Party of Georgia can bear a ton of blame for this. For starters, if someone wants to run, that that guy/gal is gonna run ... and, in a predominantly Republican state, you often get stuck with some less than ideal candidates in the deeper red areas (like this guy).

But, and this is important to remember, you get some good ones too ... like John Tibbetts and Earl Giddens and Ralph Noble and the trio of candidates that I provide consultation to.

So, yeah, Gross being out is unfortunate, but there's a host of talented, passionate and committed candidates out there worth supporting.

Music for the moment

2008-07-11T08:30:00.002-04:00

His Kind Of Money (My Kind Of Love) by Eric Church
If We Make It Through December by Merle Haggard
High Cotton by Alabama
Calling Baton Rouge by Garth Brooks
Kristofferson by Tim McGraw

A contrarian view

2008-07-11T07:34:00.002-04:00

Call me crazy, but I don't necessarily think Paul Broun was that off in his assessment of this.

Now, hear me out ... I disagree with Broun's theological interpretations, and he and I are incredibly far apart on ideology, but his statement was directly in response to Barry Flemming's attacks on his character, including drudging up personal struggles and missteps Broun has dealt with many years ago. If he's speaking in response to those attacks - attacks which were so over-the-top that they led to the resignation of Flemming's Franklin County campaign chairman - then it seems entirely appropriate for Broun to cite his faith.

Broun has repeatedly talked about the transformative power of his faith with regard to how he got his life back on track, so it's perfectly logical for him to use it as a way to defend himself from ridiculous personal attacks that stem from information from that period of his life.

So, I can concede that Broun was arguably inartful - and probably did so intentionally to make a political point since, you know, this is an election after all - but his point remains ...

If Fleming claims to be a Christian who supposedly understands the personal redemptive power of said faith, then why would he bring those up? Then perhaps Broun is right and Fleming doesn't understand those qualities that Broun adheres to.

I've got no love for the political views of either Broun or Fleming, and I would suspect that my theological views differ than both men's, but the Christian faith is a big family full of various interpretations, views and thoughts and if Broun said his life was changed by his faith, I believe him on that.

There are plenty of other ways to point out why I don't think he's the best congressman for us, and drudging up personal attacks isn't one of them.