Two great websites for Georgians

If you're interested in Georgia news or politics, here are two websites that you might enjoy:

Georgia Daily Digest -- Dedicated to Georgia news and information
Georgia Political Digest -- Dedicated to Georgia political news and information

I actually heard about the Georgia Daily Digest from one of our State Representatives. He told me that he reads it every day. I checked it out and was hooked right from the start. It provides links to newspaper articles pertaining to local issues that are current and relevant to Georgia citizens. The Georgia Political Digest, on the other hand, is more focused on politics and politicians around the state. It provides updates on Georgia's political organizations, representatives, campaigns, and events.

Both websites are very good. The Daily Digest basically replaces any need I had for the Communist Manifesto (i.e., the Atlanta Journal Constitution). And the Political Digest makes me feel like a political insider -- even though I haven't stepped foot inside the state Capitol building since my one-day career as a page ended unceremoniously in 1981.

If you have a hankering for Georgia news, these sites will likely scratch your itch.

Jumpers in Atlanta

I don't know if this is just an Atlanta phenomenon or if this happens in most big cities, but periodically someone will stand on an overpass and threaten to jump into rush hour traffic. It has happened several times over the last few years and happened again this week on the downtown connector. It got so frequent at one point that the DOT started putting chain link fences on all the overpasses to prevent folks from climbing up there. I don't know if the state has finished this project, but I've seen lots of overpasses with the new fencing.

When it happens, of course, they have to take the threat seriously and stop traffic. The potential jumper is not only endangering himself, but also those who are passing underneath. Sometimes it goes on for hours as someone in an official capacity tries to reason with the person, so you can imagine how thrilled the commuters are when this happens. The affected highway becomes a virtual parking lot. And if you've ever had to endure Atlanta's rush-hour traffic, you can probably imagine how maddening a senseless, unscheduled delay like this can be. When this happens, it's not unusual for folks to yell, "Jump!!". Or they will start calling out for some rubber (or real) bullets or a fire hose to bring about some type of resolution. They're essentially held hostage by some person they don't know and they, understandably, are not happy about it.

I honestly don't know if jumpers are really attempting suicide, if they are crying for help, or if they are just starved for attention. I guess it could be all three, but I imagine that it's usually a cry for help or attention coupled with (or resulting from) some type of mental defect. I just don't think that it's a real suicide attempt in most cases. If someone wanted to commit suicide, they could do it without holding 300,000 people and their families hostage. These folks want to be seen and listened to, but we just don't have the time to cater to every fringe person who insists on crying for help by holding a city hostage.

What is the solution? The fences help, but they're obviously not foolproof. The state needs to come up with something more comprehensive. Maybe rubber bullets for all policemen (just in case). Or tranquilizer darts. Or a second, electric fence outside of the first one. Or tear gas or laughing gas. I don't know. I do know, however, that someone needs to put on their thinking caps and put a solution in place that will solve this once and for all.

NOLA: Sign of the times

I saw this sign today in front of a convenience store in suburban Atlanta. There was another identical sign not even a mile north of this one. The fact that Ray Nagin is having to lobby for votes in Atlanta, some 500 miles away from New Orleans, shows how difficult and chaotic the voting situation is there. According to nola.com, there are only 764 displaced voters in Georgia and 146 in Atlanta. How do you find them? What methods should you use to reach them? How much should you spend to try to get their votes? Apparently, Nagin seems to think that there are enough potential voters in a small area of suburban Atlanta to justify (at least) these two signs in that area. I don't have a horse in this race, and I don't have an educated opinion on who should win, but I don't envy the horses themselves who have to run such a confusing and convoluted race.

Cynthia McKinney is here to stay

There was in interesting article in today's AJC about Cynthia McKinney, the loony congresswoman who hit a police officer after he failed to recognize her at the security checkpoint for the US Capitol. The article discusses how McKinney became a congresswoman, the issues she has championed, her previous quarrels with all levels of authority, and the opinions of her constituents who, inexplicably, keep sending this embarrassing moron back to Washington.

The article states:

In Washington, where McKinney's penchant for controversy has severely strained her relations with black lawmakers and other Democrats (House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi no longer speaks to her), colleagues refused to back McKinney. Instead, they demanded that she apologize and she complied.

Back in the 4th Congressional District, though, there is no such consensus on McKinney. In dozens of interviews over the past week, many of McKinney's DeKalb and Rockdale county constituents jumped to her defense, praising her for speaking out on an issue America didn't want to face.

I'm sure that folks around the country look at her and wonder how in the world a "red" state like Georgia can keep sending someone like McKinney to Washington. However, what they don't understand is that she lives in a VERY liberal district. Think Berkeley or SoHo. Her district is about as liberal as a district in the South can be. And they just love her. The crazier she gets and the more traitorous she acts, the more they like it. She could run over a dozen policemen with her car while holding a vial of crack-rock in one hand and an aborted fetus in the other hand -- and her district would still keep voting her back into office. In fact, that would probably increase her margin of victory.

According to the article:

Oliver Brown, a veteran campaign operative who helped Majette beat McKinney in 2002, considered the impact McKinney's latest controversy might have on her re-election this fall — especially since her district has been redrawn to exclude many of her past critics.

"Trust me," he said, "she is going back to Washington."

So we're stuck with her. Georgia is stuck with her and the country is stuck her. I really wish I was wrong about this, but I'm not. Cynthia McKinney, shameless spectacle that she is, is here to stay. Our only hope is that she will eventually do something that gets her kicked out of office (perhaps based on ethical violations or legal problems). Short of that, though, we'll just have to get used to seeing this crazy woman pop up on the radar screen periodically.

Immigration issue vs. the steroids investigation

It's hard not to see the parallels between Congress' recent attempt at dealing with the illegal immigration problem and Major League Baseball's current attempt to investigate its steroid problem (not to be confused with the grand jury action):

• The problems originated because of money -- With immigration, the business community has a vice grip on our elected politicians. And businesses are hooked on cheap laborers (i.e., not paying taxes on them, paying them below-market wages). Also, many immigrants are here to make wages that are much better than what they can get in their home countries. In baseball, the league was hurting after the season-killing strike of 1994 -- so those in charge (commissioner and owners) were willing to embrace anything that would rejuvenate the game. Also, the players were willing to do whatever they could to be better than the next guy and sign that astronomical contract.
• Out-of-touch "leaders" have little regard for those who matter the most -- On the immigration issue, our politicians are falling over themselves to pander to the illegal minority and ignoring the overwhelming will of the people. With baseball, those in charge have basically stuck their heads in the sand and ignored the credibility gap they've created in the eyes of the average fan.
• When they actually do try to address it, they are only really paying lip service in an attempt to appease their critics -- On the immigration issue, who really expects Congress to put in place and fund anything that actually gives our sovereign country control of its borders? Not me. With baseball, this latest investigation is just "too little, too late". Already some of the game's most venerable records have fallen to folks like McGwire and Bonds and very soon, Barry Bonds will pass Ruth and Aaron and lay false claim to the most important record in sports. Baseball's ship has sailed. The asterisk era is already in the books.
• The rulebreakers have little interest in or respect for the rules -- ILLEGAL immigrants obviously don't respect our laws. And they brazenly go out and protest en masse to "demand their rights". Additionally, our inept politicians have no interest in enforcing the immigration laws on the books -- even though our porous borders invite criminals and terrorists to easily come into our country. The steroid freaks in baseball only care about what's in it for them. They certainly have no respect for the rules or the integrity of the game that has been so good to them. And MLB leaders only care about money, not rules. (NOTE: Also, it's a paper tiger argument to claim that steroids were not against the rules when the perps were taking them. MLB must abide by our state and federal laws and those steroids were illegal when the miscreants took them. Did baseball have a rule against murder? No, it didn't need one. It was/is against the law. Similarly, MLB did not need a rule prohibiting steroids.)

So there it is. Two big messes that could have been curtailed or contained if only the rulemakers had done their jobs and/or the rulebreakers had followed the rules. And the masses (i.e., law-abiding US citizens and MLB fans) get the shaft -- as always.

Bush and the polls

B. Preston over at JunkYardBlog and Bill Nienhuis at PunditGuy have provided some great insights into Bush's horrific poll numbers. I wholeheartedly echo their sentiments.

Similarly, here is my list of reasons why Bush (and, to some degree, all Republicans) has been such a miserable disappointment:

• Unfettered government spending -- Bush is worse than Democrats when it comes to spending.
• The planning and execution of the war in Iraq -- With the number of mistakes that have been made by Bush and Rumsfeld, I think we would've been better off with a coin flip on all the major decisions. At least then we would've gotten half of the decisions right.
• Harriet Myers -- What was he thinking? The conservatives have a roster of highly-qualified judges who have been sitting on the bench (double entendre) and were ready and willing to answer this call...and Bush tries to give the job to the lady down the hall?
• Cronyism -- Bush insists on giving all the country's most important jobs to his "buds". And he will stand by them no matter what. Loyalty, schmoyalty. These people have jobs to do and when they make a mess of their jobs, they need to be replaced.
• Dubai Ports Deal/Border Security -- What on earth was he thinking? And why aren't the doggone ports secured five years after 9/11? And why are the borders non-existent?
• His trade policies -- I believe in FAIR TRADE, not the free trade that Bush seems to espouse. NAFTA, which was signed by Clinton, is a disaster. It has only resulted in more jobs being sent south and more illegal immigration to our country. And then Bush goes out and insists on the passage of CAFTA and anything other AFTA he can? And then you have outsourcing of some of our best jobs to third world countries who have closed marketplaces? And his administration thinks it's a good thing for America? Is he TRYING to ruin our future?
• Illegal Immigration policies -- Let me get this straight. Bush is pandering to lawbreakers who can't vote and ignoring the overwhelming majority of his base? This issue alone may be the undoing of the Republican party as a political force.

What absolutely sickens me most of all about this is that Bush and the Republicans have it all - control of the House, the Senate, and the Presidency. They could be doing great things for our country. And they’re frittering this opportunity away with ineptness, indecision, political tone deafness, and betrayal of conservative values. If something good doesn’t happen soon, I fear that the Dems will get control of the House and/or the Senate and keep it for 4 or 8 or 12 years.

Of course, I don't know how the Dems could be much worse at this point. There's probably not a dime's difference between them and the Republicans. The whole lot of politicians in Washington is pretty much useless.

Katie Couric: The perky Dan Rather

So Katie Couric is going to CBS? Wow! CBS again shows its true colors. After finally having to separate from Dan Rather (the shameless liberal with the bad attitude), it made a wise move by putting in place Bob Schieffer. Schieffer seems to be affable and somewhat middle-of-the-road. And you know what? Evening news viewership increased at CBS, even while it continued to decline at NBC and ABC. Who would've figured that viewers would embrace political neutrality? Shocking, I know.

Well, now they've decided to replace Bob Schieffer with Katie Couric, little miss perky-pants. Katie has that perma-smile with the blindingly white teeth and she SEEMS like everyone's cute little buddy, but she has a frothingly palpable liberal bias that cannot be contained -- even in her role on the seemingly benign Today Show. She pretends to be cheery and friendly and fair, but underneath that phony veneer lies a liberal mouthpiece who is ready and willing to whine and editorialize at the drop of a hat.

I guess that ratings and ad revenue don't matter to CBS as much as the continuation of their biased efforts to manipulate public opinion.

The more things change, the more they remain the same.

Ding! Dong! DeLay is done!

That's right. I said it. Tom DeLay, the Texas congressman and former House Majority Leader, is resigning from Congress -- and I am thrilled. He is the epitome of what I despise about Washington and politics. To elaborate...

He is often called the "Hammer" because of his reputation for using strong-arm tactics. I think it's shameful and dishonest when politicians -- on either side of the aisle -- always "toe the party line". Politicians are elected by their constituents and their loyalty should be to those constituents -- not to a straight-down-the-line party platform. Very few people in the country agree with everything in either party's platform -- and elected representatives shouldn't be bound to it. Tom DeLay, however, had a reputation for using his coercive powers as a party leader to get people to toe that line. Yes, that's politics, but it's something I find unseemly. And Tom DeLay was a master perpetrator of this despicable practice.

DeLay also had a bad habit of being involved in shady dealings. This included possible money-laundering, performing political favors for family members, and cozying up to and shamelessly bullying lobbyists. I know he hasn't been convicted of anything, but where there are waves (and waves and waves) of billowing smoke, there is almost always fire. And the lobbyist dealings alone, such as the Abramoff-funded golf trip to Scotland, is enough for me to revel in DeLay's fade into obscurity.

So he's gone. And I'm glad. Maybe this will send a message to the rest of the jackals that they need to put down the lobbyist crack-pipe and start, again, doing the jobs they're were hired to do.

Baseball and the Braves

The 2006 Major League Baseball season starts today. My preferred team, the Atlanta Braves, will play its first game tomorrow. Now I don't usually make many predictions, but I will make one in this case:

The Braves will win the National League East, but will not win it all.

Okay, okay -- I'm not really going out on a limb there. The Braves have won 14 straight division titles and in 13 of those 14 seasons, they failed to win it all. Each year, however, sportswriters seem to predict that the Braves streak of division titles would not last another year. Each year, the Braves have proved them wrong. To their credit, however, I think more sportswriters are starting to catch on this year. I'm seeing less dire predictions for the 2006 Braves than in previous years. I think a lot of that has to do with the recent influx of young talent that seems poised to keep the Braves from falling off.

What the Braves and Bobby Cox and John Schuerholz have done is nothing short of incredible. As long as Cox and Scheurholz are in charge and as long as the Braves don't get choked off financially by their owners (whoever that may be), I will continue to pick them to win their division. And until they prove that they can win another championship, I will not pick them to win it all.

Play ball!