"The 300"

It was "the 300" (or more) mostly Atlanta citizens vs. their city council yesterday in a seven-plus hour long public comment hearing. Every person who came to speak about the proposed Atlanta police training facility spoke in opposition. Every. Single. One. I share a couple standout moments, and give this warning to Democrats: ignore this backlash locally at your party's peril, nationally. 

On the national level, while we await the Ron DeSantis "official" announcement, I'm left to wonder if he's even a concern  - and comedian Trae Crowder is, too - but I'm also here to correct the spin from the right on the heels of the John Durham findings coming out yesterday. Trump was NOT "exonerated" and the right can't JUST howl about the FBI when it inconveniences THEM, politically, while ignoring what Comey did to Clinton and how the agency - while under Trump's thumb - whiffed on the Brett Kavanaugh investigation.

Tuesday May 16, 2023

On this Memorial Day, I share with you audio from ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery, with remarks from Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Joint Chiefs General Mark Milley, and President Joe Biden.

Monday, May 29, 2023

"Dark Brandon" strikes again; staving off a debt default, you can TELL he won the poker match by hearing all the HOWLING from the right. Did Kevin McCarthy mislead the GOP base with these results? Was this the last bullet in the GOP chamber to try and "off" the Biden re-election bid?

Local tidbits about Ed Sheeran in local bars/clubs, a not-so-random Buckhead shooting, more than 15 dead on Georgia roads & waterways and a sad statement from the Carter family that brings "The Notebook" to mind.

Tuesday, May 30, 2023

Public comments abound - most of it (again) against the proposed public safety training facility. You wouldn't know that by following the official city of Atlanta Twitter account - which shared two pro-facility comments before removing those video shares. 

Anyhow, you'll hear from Dr. Jackie Echols of the South River Watershed Alliance, along with representation from the NAACP and a passionate pushback from Shannon Cofrin Gaggaro - a close friend of Amy St. Pierre. Amy was a mass shooting victim in Atlanta recently, but was invoked (without name) in a recent op/ed penned by Mayor Andre Dickens. Shannon penned a response op/ed the Cox Media Group-owned AJC has opted not to publish, so the Atlanta Press Collective did. CMG, by the way, is an Atlanta Police Foundation corporate donor. 

Both of Georgia's Senators have (finally) weighed in on #copcity in the aftermath of the Atlanta Solidarity Fund arrests, and I have their statements.

Monday, June 5, 2023

*From 'Purple' to Blue*

Independent tribunal, be damned! A GOP majority Cobb County Board of Education needs to pander to its base, so elementary school teacher Katie Rinderle simply *had* to lose her job to please the (not so) "silent (not at all) majority." Plenty to say about that. 

Speaking of the minority party still running roughshod over the idea of "democracy" in now-solidly blue Cobb, commissioner Jerica Richardson - who got drawn out of the district she was elected to serve a full term in - got a reprieve of sorts this week. 

For those of a certain age, the Oliver Anthony "Rich Men North of Richmond" phenomenon may not be anything new. It was a 1970 anti-welfare country song that draws parallels, from Slate writer Josh Levin. 

Lastly, what, pray tell, is state senator Colton Moore doing (other than shining Donald's boots with his tongue)?

Friday, August 18, 2023

Admittedly, with little else on but football, I've been binging 'Suits,' and I'm through seven full seasons - just the sort of prep I apparently needed for covering local, state & American politics, because - wow - the courtroom drama!

So we have a Fani Willis affair allegation - from a Trump ally attorney - tying the Fulton D.A. to a special prosecutor who's not (yet) divorced. 

Then we have Trump's attorney being asked by a three-judge panel to explain his premise that Donald's immune from anything he did while in office because he wasn't found guilty in impeachment proceedings by the Senate and if that meant he could literally get away with having a political opponent murdered. I mean, doesn't this apply to the current President now, too, if this three-judge panel agrees? Make that make sense.

Then there's the 'Curling v Raffensperger' case tied to the Coffee County election office breach and watching Trump acolytes trying hijack this case - with left-leaning plaintiffs - to distort its intent to fit their own "Big Lie' agenda. Breathtaking.

Also of note today: Cobb Commissioner (for now) Jerica Richardson has decided she will run for the 6th Congressional seat also eyed by Rep. Lucy McBath who's hopping over now that her seat's constituency have been drawn elsewhere. Between the gerrymandering of the two state chambers, Congressional and Cobb County's commission maps (oh and don't forget that county's school board map), it's fair to ask: when will Democrats coalesce behind the very real, very fair message that "Republicans are attacking democracy and your right to elect politicians you want to represent you?"

Tuesday, January 9, 2024 - Today on 'Suits: Atlanta" ... Alleged Affairs & Hypothetical Murder Plots

Even after today's wild courtroom antics, I maintain Fani Willis erred in hiring (or continuing to work with) someone she was having a romantic relationship with, and I've been saying for days now her and her office's work thus far on the Trump election interference case is best served from she and Nathan Wade taking that "leave of absence" Georgia State University professor Clark Cunningham suggested. 
Today, however, she may have salvaged that work; it'll come down to Scott McAfee after what may be another wild day of the embattled Fulton DA under oath.
The thing is, the plan here isn't much different than it was with Bill 
Clinton's impeachment: it isn't about the sex if you can get someone to perjure. Today, Nathan and Fani seem to come through unscathed. 

Ho hum; American mass-shooting. PBS NewsHour gave it about sixty seconds of coverage. It's that common in our country. So we're learning the mass shooting in Kansas City was likely not terrorist-related but an outbreak of a personal disagreement between minors. MINORS in public with guns. Because, Missour and it's lax-as-hell gun laws. 

Back at home - surprise - no-excuse absentee voting survived the new-fangled Georgia Election commission's vote. Huzzah!

Thursday, February 15, 2024 - Why not a "leave of absence?"

When the fact-checkers use the words "remarkably long and remarkably dishonest" to describe a speech, it's not hard to figure out who gave the speech these days.

We spent a week bemoaning "inflammatory rhetoric" - despite mounting evidence the 20-year would-be assassin ⁠wasn't motivated by the term "existential threat to democracy"⁠ (or anything like it) ... only to continue hearing the word "invasion" when we did have ⁠evidence such rhetoric drove a nut to slaughter innocent Walmart shoppers in El Paso⁠ in 2019.

I finally got around to watching "Hillbilly Elegy," and while I want to just enjoy how good the biopic was, ⁠I can't review it in a vacuum⁠ now that JD Vance is a known political commodity.

Show notes at RonShowATL.com

Friday, July 19, 2024 - 'Remarkably long and remarkably dishonest' acceptance speech caps RNC

What Donald Trump and JD Vance are saying on the campaign trail or in TV interviews doesn't match what Vance, at least, is telling donors about the state of the race now that Kamala Harris is atop the Democratic Party ticket. The Washington Post obtained audio of JD telling donors they got sucker punched. Trump's ⁠complained on Truth Social ⁠the Republican Party should get reimbursed - get this - for "fraud." The gall. 

Prior to Kamala Harris' Atlanta rally, polls were already tightening (more on that on Wednesday's show) but we'll go over a bit more of that and wander slightly into the Georgia Voter Cancellation Portal quandary, too. 

Oh and the hyperventilating on the right over the Opening Ceremonies! Listen as I hone in on one right-wing radio show host's ⁠Facebook screed⁠ - and his audience's chiming in, too.

Tuesday, July 30, 2024 - A 'political sucker punch'

Atlanta Voice⁠ editor-in-chief ⁠Donnell Suggs⁠ checked in to recap VP Kamala Harris' visit to Augusta. We ⁠eavesdrop on her drop-ins⁠, too.

As Harris dropped in on Augusta, ⁠Jack Smith lowered the boom on Donald Trump ⁠with a 'January 6' evidentiary dump that included some jaw-dropping testimony. The thing is, the Trump/GOP judicial gum-up means WE'RE the seated jury who'll decide if he faves any consequences. 

Lastly, of course conservatives are concocting narratives about federal disaster response delays - ⁠led by Donald Trump⁠ of course. The problem is, ⁠no governor from an affected state co-signed⁠; but since we're discussing partisanship in the aftermath of disasters, let's remember ⁠who did play politics⁠ while Americans suffered.

Thursday, October 3, 2024 - Kamala descends on Augusta and Jack Smith comes down on Trump

After the toxic spew that spouted from the podium Sunday at Madison Square Garden, of COURSE MAGA is going to clutch their pearls over a mis-interpretation of Joe Biden's characterization. To the point that ⁠Donald waddled (what's with his right leg?) up into a garbage truck ⁠for a photo op. 

There was the ⁠mainstream media to both lap it up and equivocate (falsely) ⁠of course. Spare me, and thanks to the Lincoln Project for their ⁠swift assemblage of clips where Donald's said "as bad or worse" ⁠about Biden and/or Harris supporters - to the void of noise from the same media.

Friend of the show, Jay Bookman, penned a great op-ed in the Georgia Voice,, on the ascent of ⁠"crudity in politics" ⁠- paralleling (coincidence, I'm sure) with the enter Trump era of American politics. Not to be outdone, Patricia Murphy at the AJC reminds us of the ⁠"unfinished business of January 6th"⁠ too.

Thursday, October 31, 2024 - 'Garbage' rubbish, crudity & January 6th: Trump's last gasp?

Happy Thanksgiving! 

Today's show originally aired July 10, 2023. 

In Hartwell, a rural Georgia lake community, pastor Grant Myerholtz convenes a growing "Baptist" congregation in an unusual way (for a baptist church, anyway): he chooses inclusivity. In an era where churches big and small are seeing declines in attendance, his Mt Hebron Baptist Church has grown from a dozen to more than a hundred. 

Featured in ⁠⁠a Washington Post piece⁠⁠, Grant joined me last summer to let me learn more about him and his church.

Were that there were more Rev. Grants and Mt. Hebron Baptist Churches. 

UPDATE: Grant messaged me this past spring with a photo from Hartwell Pride and the following update:

"Hey Ron just wanted to share a picture from this years pride in Hartwell…we had about 20-25 from the church to attend this year to support.  We fully left the southern Baptist Convention..instead of open doors we just took them off..hope you are doing well and thanks again for having me on the show with you…hope you are doing well."

Thanksgiving 2024 - REPLAY: Rural GA preacher bucks baptist stereotype & welcomes all

A Georgia House race decided by 48 votes may actually have been ⁠fouled up by a county elections office sending 60 or so voters the wrong ballots⁠. The problem is, the losing canddiate - a MAGA Republican - "cried wolf" in ways reminiscent of 2020 nonsense that ⁠no one took her claims seriously.⁠ It also didn't help she couldn't substantiate any of her claims. What happens next is anyone's guess, but state law seems clear: an expensive run-off for 40,000 voters over less than a hundred voters getting the wrong ballots. 

Meanwhile, am I hearing ⁠"bipartisanship" over childcare costs? ⁠Sort of. There's the matter of how the state assists and if they'll address pregnancy discrimination but ... let's bask in the thought of bipartisanship for a minute, k?

Well ⁠Time Magazine's 2024 "Person of the Year" ⁠ is a well-known liar, and in the process of interviewing Donald Trump for the honor he's coveted for years, they got him to admit his campaign bluster about bringing prices down was horse sh*t. Then again, anyone who's been even with a sniffing distance of an Econ 101 textbook knew that. 

Unfortunately, neither President Biden nor VP Kamala Harris (or their campaigns) combatted "vibes" with actual data that shows paychecks outpaced inflation. That grocery prices went up, but actually ⁠didn't keep pace with wage growth⁠ (that's a good thing)  and gas prices (⁠per minutes worked per gallon⁠) didn't, either.. 

Finally, as Donald Trump promises to pardon J6ers, I can't help but take umbrage with the pearl-clutchers upset so many Americans find commonality with Luigi Mangione and his rage-murdering a health insurance CEO while MAGA finds commonality with insurrectionists who stormed the US Capitol where people died.  

There's also something to be learned about ⁠chronic pain and mental state. ⁠We may well have seen it lead to an insanity plea to come.

Friday, December 13, 2024 - The MAGA who cried "wolf" & of course Trump lied about "groceries"

Jay Bookman is a gem of a journalist and opinion writer, and Georgia Recorder is lucky to have him - as am I,  on occasion and today is such an occasion.

He joined me to discuss his latest - "Stacey Abrams’ political aspirations bookended by bad timing" - to discuss the 2026 Georgia gubernatorial field as it may (or may not) shape up to look like, along with a few other topics - like Donald Trump's aversion for calling on the Department of Justice to investigate that 2020 election his insists was stolen. 

Plus, I don't often find much I agree with Vivek Ramaswamy on, but ⁠what got him ousted from DOGE and Trump's good graces ⁠is something he's (mostly) not wrong about. He ran afoul of "American exceptionalism," though, and MAGA's don't want to be confused by vowing to "make America great again" while also being told America's culture is inferior to those from throughout the rest of the world.

Friday, January 24, 205 - Abrams' "bad timing" & other Jay Bookman musings

Tad Stoermer is a public history lecturer in the Cultural Heritage and Museum Studies program at Johns Hopkins University. He is also the Film and Digital Media Editor of The Public Historian.  
He caught my eye on Instagram with a ⁠9-plus minute diatribe ⁠insisting we're not "approaching" a Constitutional crisis; we're already in one and have been for awhile. 

Can it be fixed? Is there hope in midterms or even in an upcoming special House race? Who’s the demagogue to rally behind for the left - or do we need one at all? 

Lots to cover., and we did; take a listen.

Thursday, Februar 20, 2025 - "The Constitution is already burning" My conversation with Tad Stoermer

When Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth carried out President Donald Trump's will to end  "the tyranny of so-called Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policies "  one initiative in particular -  a ⁠planned two-day workshop nd performance with gifted high school musicians of color and the U.S. Marine Corps Band ⁠- got whacked. 

The workshop & concert was salvaged, somewhat, thanks in large part to the same ⁠CBS News and '60 Minutes' in the Trump FCC crosshairs⁠. 

[See the full performance here⁠: https://equityarc.org/watch-the-full-equity-arc-wind-symphony-concert/

With ⁠black and brown students suffering more from a lack of access to arts education⁠ than their white and Asian students, the organization ⁠Equity Arc ⁠works to connect student musicians of color with mentors and opportunities; opportunities just like the Hegseth-cancelled collaborative effort.

At least these kids can't feel targeted or singled out; there's also ⁠inexplicable base name changes⁠ and the ⁠scrubbing of Department of Defense web pages honoring veterans of color,⁠ too. 
However, thanks to Equity Arc, some noble military music veterans and, yes, CBS News and '60 Minutes' bravely contributing to the cause (⁠in the face of Trump's threats to target media outlets not beholden to him⁠), the mentorship and the concert, went on anyway.


Tuesday, March 18, 2025 - "We need all of this, not just musically. ...we need diversity, equity, and inclusion."

Governor Brian Kemp got what he (⁠and his 'dark money' donors)⁠  sought:⁠ legislation to try and limit lawsuits and suppress massive jury verdicts⁠ (⁠rare as they actually are⁠, actually) . On today to discuss the kinds of impact this bill will have on everyday Georgians and particularly plaintiffs seeking damages, my good friend ⁠Nick Utley⁠ with ⁠Utley Law Firm⁠ took my call. 
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Columnist Jay Bookman likened the Trump Administration's stripping away of federal agencies' workforce to a ⁠"giant game of Jenga,"⁠ and honestly, it's the most appropriate framing I've read of this push to gut the U.S. government. 
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Cautiously excited about the Georgia Department of Transportation is at the⁠ 'seeking input' stage ⁠of exploring an Atlanta-to-Savannah rail option. Before anyone gets too excited, though, this is like "⁠step two" in a long list of steps ⁠before a shovel moves a patch of dirt, but still ... 


Thursday, March 20, 2025 - A tort primer from the plaintiff's counsel & MAGA's 'giant game of Jenga'

The "period of mourning" we've all sleep-walked through since election night last November may be subsiding for most of us, but Sunday's ⁠'60 Minutes' segment - detailing the callous disregard for due process and lack of contrition (let alone empathy) for those wrongly sent to a notorious Salvadoran prison⁠ - was, for me anyway, a setback. 

I kept telling myself "this isn't who we are as a country," while watching it, but having let it set in a couple days, I've come to realize it's exactly who we are; and what we are is "awful."
Among those appearing to be sent to CECOT by mistake is a 31-year old makeup artist and theatre buff - a gay Venezuelan who fled his home country because of his sexuality (⁠being gay is rough in Venezuela⁠) and political persecution last spring. He arrived at a legal port of entry and filed for asylum; you know, "the right way." Yet his wrist tattoos honoring his parents feature crowns and well, to Trump-era ICE folks, that clearly (note: sarcasm) means "Tren de Aragua," the notorious Venezuelan gang.

Then there's the guy who - 14 years ago in his teens, and on social media - flashed the ⁠"rock on" / "devil's horns"⁠ hand signal - or to out-of-touch tight-ass white people "Tren de Aragua gang sign!!!!"

Just when you think this administration has shown us all their shortcomings, they show us there's still more in the tank.

Unfortunately, it reflects on all of us.

Tuesday, April 8, 2025 - '60 Minutes' exposes egregious ICE missteps in 'grab & go" deportations to CECOT

With ⁠seven city council seats (eight if you count the Council presidency) and the mayor's office⁠ up for grabs in 2025, the otherwise sleepy "off cycle" calendar has some intrigue in Georgia's most populous city.

To lean into it, I'm hosting a series of 'meet the candidate' shows between now and election day in November. Each announced candidate and incumbent will be (some already have been) invited on the show.

First up: Council at-large 1 challenger ⁠Mat Rinker. ⁠
Matt and I discussed the issues driving him to challenge incumbent Julian Michael Bond, which 
included transit, budget realities and ethics, to name a few. 


Tuesday, April 22, 2025 - ATL 2025 City Council Election Series: meet Matt Rinker

So much to unwrap from Saturday, what with the thousands of 'No Kings Day' protests across the country - dozens just in Georgia - along with the Trump-coveted military parade and the shocking double-homicide in Minnesota.

In Atlanta, estimates of 8,000 - 10,000 protestors descended on Liberty Square near the state capitol where activists listened to impassioned speeches and brought their "a-game" in signage. As was the case in most of the nation, metro Atlanta and Georgia protests were peaceful, but in ⁠Dekalb Count's Brookhaven and Doraville⁠, police utilized flash bangs and teargas to disperse protestors, leading to some injuries and chaos - plus the ⁠arrest of a well-
known El Salvadoran influencer/journalist ⁠working legally in the U.S. 

It seems there's a pattern: protests are largely peaceful and uneventful until tempers flare ... from behind the riot gear. Evidence of this on both ⁠MSNBC⁠ and ⁠CNN⁠ bears that out. 
Georgia state representative Ruwa Romman, meanwhile, addressed a 'No Kings' gathering in Philadelphia and I shared that on this podcast. 

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Unfortunately, a deadly double-homicide shocked the nation awake that same day, with a Minnesota Democratic state legislator and her husband being shot & killed, along with another legislator and his spouse shot, as well. A near-two day manhunt ensued while ⁠right wing media sought to cast the assassin as a "Walz-appointed Democrat."⁠ They were partially right in that Walz had re-appointed him to a bipartisan business  board, but Vance Boelter was no Democrat; in fact, ⁠his roommate says he'd be insulted to be portrayed as such. ⁠

Monday, June 16, 2025 - 'No Kings,' some chaos & MAGA's race to mischaracterize a killer

Oh look; another round of unneeded "⁠inactive voter purges" in Georgia⁠. Nevermind that they make mistakes. Often. I gave one anecdotal example. Investigative reporter Greg Palast gave more: "...Maj. Gamaliel Turner of Columbus, Georgia, because he filed a change-of-address to get his absentee ballot while assigned by the Pentagon to ⁠California⁠. He was one 4,000 who lost their vote to a challenge by the Georgia Republican Party on or near his military base.
Then there was Christine Jordan, MLK’s cousin, who put in a change of address form because, at 92, she wanted her daughter to review her mail. Then there is the case of Dr. Carry Smith, expert on voter purges, who herself was ⁠removed for cockamamy reasons.⁠ "

He opines that ⁠Georgia's GOP is ensuring 2026 victory ⁠already with these tactics. 

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Marjorie Taylor Greene isn't running for a Senate seat, and she announced earlier this week in a ⁠600-plus word screed on X ⁠that she won't be running for governor either. In that rant, she railed on the "good ol' boy" network being on obstacle for her while simultaneously bragging that if she did run, she'd win. You know, overcoming that "good ol' boy" network she's upset at stunting her ascendency. She seems to believe there's this patriarchy unfairly stunting the advancement of marginalized people like women. Isn't that what D.E.I. initiatives she and her party eviscarated would mitigate?

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HOW has it flown under the radar for American political media that Donald Trump's Mar-A-Lgo had 16-year old girls working in its spa and that Jeffrey Epstein poaching such a 16-year old girl from him? Never mind that ⁠the story doesn't line up with previously revealed dates chronicling their rift⁠; actually no, don't pass that on by. It's noteworthy. Still, ⁠Jon Stewart ribs Donald over his "poaching pouting."⁠  

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Brian O'Neill, former CIA executive and guest teacher on national security at Georgia Tech, ⁠scribed an op/ed for the Atlanta Journal Constitution⁠ insisting that Tulsi Gabbard abandoned core intelligence standards. O'Neill believes Trump's national intelligence director used her position to make politicized claims against President Barack Obama, flouting norms in intelligence accuings "officials of selectively quoting or suppressing intelligence - without acknowledging that selective citation is standard." He writes "what matters is whether the selection is transparent, justified and consistent with tradecraft, not whether every fragment appears."

"Her rhetoric - 'shoddy,' 'irrefutable,' 'dubious' - wasn't the language of objective critique," O'Neill continued. "It was a prosecutorial script. That matters. Intelligence doesn't operate in absolutes."

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The state Senate special election in GA-21 has but one Democrat running against a half dozen Republicans in a 'jungle primary' August 26th, and low turnout is expected, but GOP infighting could help Shigley clear the field, too. Well, a touch of that ⁠came to fruition this week, with a "hit website" ⁠ (read ⁠HERE⁠) coming out attacking one Republican candidate. The AJC reports "It accuses him of not paying his taxes, pocketing taxpayer money from a COVID-era government loan and even threatening to shoot his neighbor’s dog." 

Woof.

Wednesday, July 30, 2025 - Another 'purge,' MTG's second bow-out & Tulsi's troubling behavior

With word that ⁠Kamala Harris wouldn't be seeking the California governor's office in 2026⁠ came immediate speculation (⁠and derision⁠) she's eyeing a second go at the White House in 2028. Incidentally, 'Meet The Press' anchor Kirsten Welker (again) brought up this alleged, yet-to-be-proven cover-up inside the Biden White House to shield Americans from knowing the former President was .... old?

Why am I the only one troubled by mainstream media types insisting there's a "there" there? It smacks of ageism and the same kind of "took the bait" group-think the right lambasts Beltway media over when it's "RussiaGate" or "the dossier." 

Meanwhile, someone I'm still going to insist should be considered for a Presidential movement (til he says he absolutely won't do it) is 'The Daily Show' Monday host Jon Stewart. He and author ("Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza" ) Peter Beinart - two Jewish American men - ⁠had such a profound conversation last Monday⁠ - about Netenyahu's bloodlust and the long-range ramifications on Israeli safety and security - I felt it worthy of revisiting. Just more reason I see Stewart as a "Trump elixir" for most of non-MAGA America. C"mon, Jon.

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Stacey Abrams also isn't running for governor - here in Georgia - at least not yet. A ⁠recent interview with NPR's Tanya Mosley⁠ about her latest novel, "Coded Justice" naturally led Mosley to ask while she had Abrams on. The TL:DR is she's "not ruling it out." 
Meanwhile, an Abrams-led organization - Fair Fight Action - is working to counter-act state government-led voter purges by ⁠providing an online search tool to help Georgia registered voters⁠ check their standing. 

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Georgia Recorder op/ed columnist Jay Bookman penned a ⁠response piece denouncing Lieutenant Governor (and 2026 gubernatorial candidate) Burt Jones' pitch⁠ to have Georgia ditch the state income tax. Bookman used liberal tools - facts, math and data - to make a cogent argument against Jones' scheme to put a greater burden on the poor and working class to fund the state's budget.
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There's movement in the tussle to succeed U.S. Rep. Mike Collins. Thirty-year old ⁠state representative Houston Gaines has tossed his hat in the ring⁠. On the left is ⁠Lexy Doherty⁠, but there are rumors a conservative Democrat from Hall County is set to announce his run, too, but until verified, there's little to do but speculate. 

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Georgia's two Democratic Senators ⁠joined a Bernie Sanders-led push to limit military aid to Israel⁠. Good!

Thursday, July 31, 2025 - Kammie's out;Stacey, too ... for now.  Houston's in & Burt's big pitch gets ripped.

Not in chronological order as you (I hope) listen along, but the LEAD story for this chapter is and should be this:

New Georgia US Senate hopeful Mike Collins' chief-of-staff - the ⁠dog-kicking Brandon Phillips⁠ - also seems to have ⁠a nepotism problemL namely that he hired & paid his girlfriend for work she allagedly never did⁠. If that's not bad enough, he fired the whistleblower. On Collins' watch. 
So uh, all those ⁠Georgia Republicans bucking Brian Kemp's endorsement-in-waiting for Derek Dooley siding with Mike Collins⁠ ... what will become of them?

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David Eichenthal has worked in - and with - state and local governments for more than thirty years, including in New York City and Chattanooga, Tennessee, where he now lives. Eichenthal recently  worked with the Domestic Policy Council and the Treasury Department in the Joe Biden administration, and ⁠penned an op/ed in Friday's AJC bemoaning Democrats' looking to build a "Project 2029"⁠ and not addressing "left behind" Americans in "left behind" communities - you know, "drive through" counties and "flyover country" locales I've long said Demcorats have to at least try to campaign in to win.

Something about it reminded me of the 'scanda' Jane Fonda found herself in, here in Georgia, in the late 1990s when ⁠she likened parts of the state to a 'third world' country⁠. I've traveled all over this state and she wasn't wrong then and wouldn't be wrong now, but she backtracked. 
Anyhow, while miffing the very people who feel "left behind" in making such a statement, at least she paid attention to them. Something Eichenthal (and I) note, Democrats haven't done enough of.

MAGA is literally HANDING Democrats opportunities dotting the map - in rural, ruby-red MAGA hotspots. One such example (one I've mentioned before because I'm very familiar with it) is Cedartown, Georgia in Marjorie Taylor Greene's district. A ⁠recent New York Times piece⁠ did some in-depth coverage of a story I'd made mention over before: that the Trump-coveted "big beautiful bill" that MTG voted for herself has likely cost that town of 800-1200 good-paying jobs. An influx of jobs and in a vital and longterm industry that commuinity leaders and developers were banking on to transform that struggling small city. 

Friday, August 1, 2025 - MAGA town suffers from Trump 2.0 & Collins' chief of staff is hot for nepotism

Former college football coach and son of Georgia coaching legend Vince Dooley, Derek Dooley has ⁠put himself in "the game,"⁠ so to speak. He's among the three prominent names seeking the GOP nomination to try and unseat Senator Jon Ossoff in 2026. 

The delicate balance he's trying to seek - being Kemp-anointed but kowtowing to Trump fanatics simultaneously will be an interesting tightrope walk for him, and already his two combatants are taking aim at his being largely absent, politically until now. 

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Meanwhile, former GOP Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan has gone from leaving the GOP to now ⁠fully embracing his entry into the Democratic Party.⁠ I'd been inhospitable to him doing this, instead imploring he and those like him to go wrest the GOP from MAGA and save this country in the process, but I've softened my tone and thrown out the welcoome mat - with caveats. 


Tuesday, August 5, 2025 -  Dooley's in the game and Duncan's in the party

Last week, Georgia Recorder columnist Jay Bookman ⁠wrote a well-measured op/ed⁠ asking why Lieutenant Governor and gubernatorial candidate Burt Jones looks to Florida and Tennessee for ideas on tax & economic policy when Georgia is already superior to them? Answer: t⁠o put an even greater tax burden on the working class by eliminating the state income tax⁠. 

He and I caught up to go over that, the ⁠newest entry into the 2026 governors' race, Mike Thurmond⁠, the shape of the field as it stands now, plus ⁠Marjorie Taylor Greene's recent "boys' club" frustrations⁠ . I shared with him a theory about her that worries me: her 2026 frustrations leading to a 2028 White House run, where MAGA voters may look favorably on her moreso than J.D. Vance and ... well, we know what happened the last time a mouthy idiot stood on the GOP presidential primary dais for the first time.

I also wondered if he felt (as I do) that Trump triggering Texas to gerrymander (even more!) could lead to a very-real fracturing of the country the likes of which we haven't seen since the 1860s.


Wednesday, August 6, 2025 - Jay Bookman and I: on Thurmond, Burt, Stacey, Marge & more

Okay, cool; former Republican Lieutenant Governor⁠ Geoff Duncan is a Democrat⁠, and while he's (supposedly) ⁠"fielding calls" to run for office, he's not saying he has any interest in doing so⁠.

To that I say "good." You just sat in the pew; no sense aiming to be a deacon just yet. 
If does decide to run, however, there are quite a few questions Democratic activists and voters sour on his role in the state of affairs in Georgia now would like to ask him. I shared a few in-show today. Former Georgia Democratic Party chair Steve Anthony also sought to ⁠remind Duncan and AJC readers how Georgia became "the" southern state that rose from the southern mire when under Democratic control. ⁠

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Former Dekalb County CEO Mike Thurmond had a busy "day one" in his quest to be the Democratic Party nominee for Georgia's governor's race in 2026, which included three social media posts: the campaign video rollout, an offer of prayers to yesterday's Fort Stewart shooting victims and his end-of-day video. 

It's the middle one that bothers me most. Not because he offered prayers and well-wishes, obviously, but because he hasn't posted a SINGLE thing on that ⁠same professional Facebook account⁠ since June of 2023. Why is there no offer of prayers for Apalachee High School shooting victims from last September? 

If the answer is "he wasn't campaigning then," then that's my problem. 

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AJC columnist Bill Torpy penned a piece about ⁠the curious case of a Georgia coach's son handpicked to be a Senate candidate⁠ by that state's governor. Is this about a famous daddy's prodigal son or about Brian Kemp not trying to concede that Donald Trump is his daddy? Lots to unpack.

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Lastly, what IS the deal with Megyn Kelly and people of color if - as she insists - she's not a white supremacist? The "Santa is white" lady - for some reason - felt the need to compare the Sydney Sweeney American Eagle "genes/jeans" campaign to ⁠Beyonce's newer Levi's jeans 90-second motif⁠. 

My two cents? I'm indifferent to the Sweeney ad but it felt kind of lazy - a riff on Brooke Sheild's iconic Calvin Klein ad from my childhood but I rather enjoyed Beyonce's episode. It's like a "short story," and ... I don't know ... was entertaining. 

Megyn, however? ⁠She opined that something about Beyonce's "look below" was ... "bought and paid for."⁠ You know, "artificial, fake, enhanced."

First, kinda gross a woman is making accusations like that, but when it's the tighter-faced Megyn Kelly, it's even richer. Also, does Meg not know Beyonce just wrapped a global world tour where those legs and glutes put in a hell of a workout for 3-5 nights a week for many months? 

Ma'am; that ain't "artificial." It's hard work. Clearly Megyn Kelly doesn't recognize it.

Thursday, August 7, 2025 - So what kind of Democrat IS Geoff Duncan? & why is Megyn Kelly coming for Beyonce?

I've said for a few days now that Donald Trump's goading of Texas to "find" five new safely GOP congressional seats in a highly unusual mid-decade gerrymander could spark something akin to a civil war. Perhaps not a literal "military" rift between red and blue states, but a fraying of the threads that keep them "united" as a nation. 

Well, it turns out I'm not the only one who thinks that. ⁠Bloomberg's Ronald Brownstein sees what I see, too⁠: blue states matching what Texas does to counter-act their stifling of "we, the people's" ability to elect representation vs letting the representation choose us. Where does that lead us as a nation? It's ominous to consider, and more importantly, it's anti-democratic. Perhaps the silver lining in all of this is that Texas' egregious actions could be what finally convinces enough Americans and House members to pursue making gerrymandering illegal - no matter the state doing it. 

⁠Texas state representative James Talarico⁠ - I think of him as "white Obama" - is a pastor, former teacher and rising star in the Democratic Party. He's everything scumbags like Ted Cruz isn't: courageous, decent and lives his morals and values. He's among the handful of Democrats refusing to give Governor Greg Abbott the legislative quorum required to pass the Trump-ordered gerrymander. Do keep an eye on him if you aren't already. 

Meanwhile, Donald Trump thinks he has the power to have the Commerce Department "re-do" the 2020 census to remove undocumented people from the count. Never mind the unconstitutional nature of the order (buy when's that stopped him before?) but say he does it: doesn't that also mean Texas loses three U.S. House seats when 2.1 million immigrants aren't counted? Derp. 

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Closer to home, Georgia's still fighting the Civil War in a court battle with the Sons of the Confederacy. You see, Stone Mountain Park, just outside Atlanta - the birthplace of the Ku Klux Klan - had long been a magnet glorifying the Confederacy. After civil rights protests in 2020, the state drew down a lot of that, and the SOCVs⁠ are throwing a judicial hissy⁠. 
Here again, a Kemp-led Georgia (a broke clock being right occasionally) steered from pandering to Confederate fetishists, and ⁠Trump's recent emboldening of said fetishism⁠ has them itching for a fight. 

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Lastly - and this is rich - Georgia attorney general Chris Carr is howling like a scalded dog because his 2026 GOP gubernatorial combatant⁠ (Burt Jones) has the benefit of a state law giving him cover to fundraise using a "leadership committee"⁠ only state legislators or governors or lieutenant governors can use prior to winning party primaries. 
Here's the funny part: AG Carr has been defending the law that created that unfair advantage in court since it became law. Also, a Republican whining about there being "too much money" in campaigns when his party's done everything they could to let as much big money sicken the process for decades. 


Friday, August 8, 2025 - Texas Dems hold the line to keep the nation from fraying under Trump

Friday afternoon in Atlanta became chaotic, with ambulances and emergency vehicles all screaming and racing their way to the campus of the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. Those personnel from multiple jurisdictions arriving to the scene of a⁠ lone, mentally unstable gunman carrying a grudge triggered by vaccine skepticism ⁠- the kind Trump's Health & Human Services Secretary⁠ Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been stoking for a decade or more. ⁠
On that note, current and former ⁠CDC staffers didn't hold back ⁠with their assessment of said rhetoric. Nor did Atlanta Journal Constitution ⁠columnist Bill Torpey⁠.  Former CDC senior health policy analyst Jason Cecil joined me for insights.

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Hours before that chaos, state senator ⁠Jason Esteves⁠ gave me 25 minutes or so of his time on the campaign trail to see how his campaign's doing, what he's learned about the state that he might not have known before, what are some big and/or pressing issues he'd like to address if elected, and more. 


Monday, August 11, 2025 - Antivax rhetoric triggers CDC shooting | Jason Esteves checks in

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. visiting the Centers for Disease Control campus ⁠while himself being a leading voice in the vaccine skepticism that poisoned the mind of the alleged assassin at the center of Friday's deadly assault aimed at CDC buildings is quite something.  At least he's acknowledged it - unlike the President or the White House at all.

While here, though, RFK Jr. could've swung by Emory University to offer his apologies for ⁠pulling funding for mRNA vaccine research⁠, but of course, he didn't. 

"“I don’t think I’ve seen a more dangerous decision in public health in my 50 years in the business,” said Mike Osterholm, a University of Minnesota expert on infectious diseases and pandemic preparations."

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Upon further review, I have to admit I came away from my interview with 2026 gubernatorial candidate Jason Esteves a little unfulfilled - mostly with my questioning. He did nothing wrong; I just didn't spend the time I had wisely enough. I'm pretty high on him for reasons other than policy, but he's said nothing policy-wise to sour me, either. Here's the thing: there are those who believe he doesn't definitively say much of substance at all. That has ⁠at least one Georgia progressive considering a run for the party's nomination⁠ - friend of the show, state 

Representative Ruwa Romman. She and I texted back & forth a bit yesterday and while I'll keep most of that between us, she didn't deny having interest. 

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One reason a progressive like Romman is dissatisfied with the field might be the potential that former lieutenant governor ⁠Geoff Duncan is openly considering joining it⁠. I've said it before and I'll say it again: ya just joined the congregation, Geoff. What makes you think you should already be a deacon?


Tuesday, August 12, 2025 - No love for RFK at CDC or Emory; Ruwa's ruminating & Duncan's deliberating

I've hosted this show - for what is just six weeks shy of three years - on AmericaOne Radio. To let you behind the curtain a little, I and its owner wanted to be candid about its current and future.

In essence, Jeremy reached out to me last week to tell me he was going to close up shop. AmericaOne has been a labor of love/passion for Jeremy and less about making money. In fact, it's cost him. For that reason and with the general fatigue many are feeling after last November, and because he has a full-time job and other ventures he'd like to focus on, AmericaOne is likely to disappear.

Sort of. There's the potential for new ownership and that may bring changes - but good changes - to the outlet. So much is up in the air, but I felt it right to let AOR's and TRS's listeners know everything that's on the table. With that, onto show material:

The open theft of our right to cast votes for 'regime change'

Donald Trump knows enough about U.S. history to know Presidents and their party usually lose the House in the next election cycle, and both his and generic polls show that to be likely in 2026, as well. To offset that possibility, of course, he and Vice President J.D. Vance are working the phones and executive branch airline budget to get red states to mid-decade gerrymander. ⁠MAGA memes, of course, misinform their voting bloc⁠ howling indignation at states like Delaware and Vermont gerrymander (when in fact, they have only one House seat), adding in states like Hawaii, Maine, New Hampshire and Rhode Island, which have two. Uhm, how do you afford House representation to 40% of those states fairly with only two House seats, math wizzes? Context is everything, and that's what I'm here. 

Hi, Democrats; this is where you bring up (as Texas Rep. James Talarico has) that no Republican voted with Democrats on a House measure to make gerrymandering illegal and that the Trump-packed Supreme Court didn't address it when it could, either. Or, that uncapping The House, by the way would address their howling about these smaller blue states lacking representation for those poor-poor minorities of Republicans. That, incidentally, contributes to fixing the Electoral College, SO USE THIS MOMENT TO DO SOMETHING.

Now, Trump wants to ⁠eliminate mail-in voting⁠ (the Constitution prohibits him from doing so but when's that stopped him, before?) It's par for the course, though: Republicans are all about making it more difficult for law-abiding legal voters to vote. High turnouts almost always mean "GOP losses." So they have to suppress. Even 'hero' Brad Raffensperger, the Georgia Secretary of State who stood up to Trump in 2020, ⁠whiffed when given the chance to speak against Trump's latest attempt to rig voting⁠. 

Patricia Murphy at the Atlanta Journal Constitution, however, wrote, that there's ⁠a movement afoot to make it as easy to vote as it is to order your lunch on Door Dash⁠. 
That's right: using your mobile device. Murphy informs that ⁠The Mobile Voting Project⁠'s Bradley Tusk's recent ⁠TED Talk⁠ illuminates the argument for what would be a massive expansion of voter participation opportunity. 

We can predict where the pushback will come from, though, right?

Tuesday, August 19, 2025 - Future talk: this show & AmericaOne Radio + theft of future votes

This is the audio home of the Ron Show - airing weekdays 9-10ax& 5-6p  on the AmericaOne Radio app and at americaoneradio.com, as well as at Progressive Voices on TuneIn.

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