Couple of things
- Every time there's a high-level position open in the Bush Administration, this story crops up. However, seeing how local boy Larry Thompson has passed on a few opportunities in the past, I just don't see him stepping into a lame-duck administration for a little more than a year ... particularly after the debacle that was Alberto Gonzalez's tenure as Attorney General.
- Good friend and loyal reader Brian Brodrick, a member of the Watkinsville City Council, writes a letter against the Glenn Tax. Namely Brodrick, a Republican, says what I've been saying all along ... that this thing strips communities of local control. So let's lump him in with the Democratic leaders of Athens-Clarke County who oppose this thing to further show how ridiculous and somewhat insulting this proposal is . I've always liked Brodrick, and I'd like to see him seek a higher office one of these days and we'll list him in that small, select group of Republicans I'd be more than willing to go to bat for.
- Whatever Terry Kay.
- Rosemary Risse: End poverty by not having sex and listening to motivational speakers.
- I do honestly like Jeff Emanuel and I think it's very noble (and groundbreaking for a blogger) for him to be embedded overseas, but is anyone else shocked that he thinks the surge of U.S. forces in Iraq is working? Aside from the fact that an increased presence of U.S. forces on the ground there has the real potential to suppress violence in those areas where they are deployed, is this really the type of long-term foreign policy strategy we wish to engage in? Particularly when the general responsible for the surge says we'll need to keep doing this for at least 10 more years?
- A preview of my alma mater! Woot! Back in the day, we were horrible in football (and burdened by being stuck in the same region as Josey, who pieced together two of the best seasons in Augusta football history during the mid-1990s ... they thrashed us by 40 one year and beat Cedar Shoals in 1995 to win the Class AAA Championship), but Westside has gotten much better in recent years and has one of the top Division I-A prospects in the South on the team in Sanders Commings.
- Athens-Clarke County's recycling program is paying off, literally, as the community had a net profit of $11.31 per recyled ton in FY 2007, and it is less expensive to process recycables at our Recovered Materials Processing Facility than merely taking them to the landfill. Aside from the monetary savings, we also saved enough energy to provide electricity to more than 4,100 homes and reduced our carbon emissions by 18,761 metic tons.
- The Red Sox kick off a three-game stint against the Yankees tonight and, unlike in years past, I'm a little more relaxed about it this season thanks to that eight-game lead in the American League East with 31 games left.
- Good friend and loyal reader Brian Brodrick, a member of the Watkinsville City Council, writes a letter against the Glenn Tax. Namely Brodrick, a Republican, says what I've been saying all along ... that this thing strips communities of local control. So let's lump him in with the Democratic leaders of Athens-Clarke County who oppose this thing to further show how ridiculous and somewhat insulting this proposal is . I've always liked Brodrick, and I'd like to see him seek a higher office one of these days and we'll list him in that small, select group of Republicans I'd be more than willing to go to bat for.
- Whatever Terry Kay.
- Rosemary Risse: End poverty by not having sex and listening to motivational speakers.
- I do honestly like Jeff Emanuel and I think it's very noble (and groundbreaking for a blogger) for him to be embedded overseas, but is anyone else shocked that he thinks the surge of U.S. forces in Iraq is working? Aside from the fact that an increased presence of U.S. forces on the ground there has the real potential to suppress violence in those areas where they are deployed, is this really the type of long-term foreign policy strategy we wish to engage in? Particularly when the general responsible for the surge says we'll need to keep doing this for at least 10 more years?
- A preview of my alma mater! Woot! Back in the day, we were horrible in football (and burdened by being stuck in the same region as Josey, who pieced together two of the best seasons in Augusta football history during the mid-1990s ... they thrashed us by 40 one year and beat Cedar Shoals in 1995 to win the Class AAA Championship), but Westside has gotten much better in recent years and has one of the top Division I-A prospects in the South on the team in Sanders Commings.
- Athens-Clarke County's recycling program is paying off, literally, as the community had a net profit of $11.31 per recyled ton in FY 2007, and it is less expensive to process recycables at our Recovered Materials Processing Facility than merely taking them to the landfill. Aside from the monetary savings, we also saved enough energy to provide electricity to more than 4,100 homes and reduced our carbon emissions by 18,761 metic tons.
- The Red Sox kick off a three-game stint against the Yankees tonight and, unlike in years past, I'm a little more relaxed about it this season thanks to that eight-game lead in the American League East with 31 games left.
posted by Jmac at 6:09 AM
18 Comments:
I keep re-reading that Kaltefleiter column on Shockley trying to find what exactly is setting people off to the point of taking pen in hand to complain. I love D.J. as much as anybody but when a third-string QB who's never played a down blows his knee out, is it really that much of an unthinkable stretch to conject that his career might be over?
Oh, and the line from the letter that Terry Kay loved so much was kinda hacky.
I have urged Brian Brodrick to run for everything for Congress to State House to Mayor of Watkinsville. So far he has not taken the bait. He would disagree with my sentiments, but I think of Brian as being a RINO (Republican in Name Only) as is the fashion was the vast majority of Republicans in Clarke and Oconee. I do not always agree with Brian on every issue (beer and wine, etc.) but I do respect him and his family and he can certainly run and bike a whole lot further than me.
Jmac:
The other point I wanted to make but thought it was a bit of an aside is that the state has actually caused, in many ways, the rising property tax assessments that Richardson uses to justify this program. How? By not fully funding the education formula for schools. The result of reduced state funding for schools is that the local systems are forced to increase property taxes.
So Glenn Richardson is proposing some bad medicine to cure a disease the state helped create. Frankly, the cure is worse than the disease in this case.
BB
Brian
And Dan, I'm a moderate republican which tends to be a pretty rare (or quiet) breed these days. Contrary to what many think, not all Republicans blindly follow party doctrine, not all are afraid of good ideas that come from the left, and some still adhere to the founding principles of the party.
BB
Shhh...the Sox still play the Yankees 6 times before it's all over. I'll breathe easier once we're done with this upcoming series at the Toilet.
I'd go with Brian on this one Dan. He's a moderate, but he's also got some good conservative principles (some I agree with, others I disagree with). What I really like about him is the fact that he's a pragmatic fella who adheres to his guiding principles, but is open to new ideas and discussion.
Doesn't Brian hold the Oconee County record in cross country?
I like Jeff too. And though some people are going to find this hard to believe, I believe him when he says the surge is probably working. My thought on the subject is I argued for a change in tactics for four years and they finally faced reality and changed tactics. Maybe too late but at least they did and it seems to have some success.
But I have a big problem with Jeff's claim that he is one of the few that is reporting from outside the green zone and the implication that most reporters sit in comfort and report only hearsay. More journalists have been killed in the war than any other conflict ever. Jeff's reportinig on that portion of the story is not only wrong, it's frankly offensive.
Fair enough Grift, and I don't necessarily disagree with you. However, any success the surge is seeing stems from an increased presence by U.S. forces who are taking a more active role in policing certain areas.
This is to be expected. But, as with other pushes like this, where forces retreat, violence and unstability return. As Petraeus noted, to see any sort of long-term benefit, such a strategy must be pursued for at least 10 years, if not substantially longer.
The only real change in the situation in Iraq will come when there is more viable political solution on the table, not one pushed by a few additional U.S. soldiers.
It seems to me we're coming to a point where the inevitable logic of the Iraq position will have us believe that if military police are able to bring peace and justice to a wartorn land, why not use similar aggressive and field-tested tactics here in the United States, in places where homicide and drugs are as water and air?
Actually let me clarify a little. I'm certainly not a surge apologist. The fact is I wish they had changed tactics in this direction four years ago when it might have mattered. Then again, I wish we had never so foolishy got into this mess.
But I don't think there's any point in denying it is having a positive effect at least militarily. Of course the political situation will never be resolved through the military as even hard core war supporters such as Jeff are started to admit.
The place is effed. Time to do what Eisenhower did in Korea. Look around, see that nothing much more can be done and get the hell out.
We did plenty in Korea, and, in fact, are still doing it. You'll notice South Korea has electricity and food for its citizens, features for which North Korea is not noted.
Thank you, Harry Truman. You didn't let 30 percent approval ratings keep you from doing the right thing. This President won't, either.
If everyone will just stay together and watch the rhetoric, I don't think the Glentax will get very far. Raise hell and put pressure on your local people and it can be defeated. God job on the post, Jmac.
At one time I think the Brodrick brothers held all the State records in XCountry, but I defer to them on that one. I do not follow that sport too closely. I concur with the moderate statements, and lump Brian in with the more open minded members of the republican (small r?, hmmmm) party. I would think that the continued hypocrisy on display by the powers-that-be in DC and certain Idaho Senators in bathrooms should at the very least make most members of the GOP at least stop and shake their heads, well I mean the one on top of their neck.
I'll see your Foley and Craig and raise you a pair of Studds and Barney "Brothel in the basement" Frank.
We are all sinners in the eyes of the Lord fellow anonymous one. It is just that Democrats generally accept gay people better than Repugs without condemning them, and do not appear as hypocritical. Did you hear Tucker Carlson's confession of kicking some gay man's ass after he made a pass at him as a teenager in some park last night? Cruising in public restrooms is rather beneath the dignity of public officials, no matter what the party
I guess what you're saying, Anon II, is that this is more of a scandal because Republicans actually expect better behavior. Democrats don't, so they are less often surprised and less often disappointed.
Makes sense to me.
It is just that Democrats generally accept gay people better than Repugs without condemning them, and do not appear as hypocritical.
Well, I see what you're saying, but I also think that's an easy out. People of all ideological and religious stripes make foolish mistakes, and I don't like to jump all over anyone for their personal shortcomings.
I'm more than happy to say so-and-so's policy is flawed, but I think it's terrible to lambast someone for something personal ... even if it is contradiction with their stated ideological views.
South Korea definitely does have food and electricity, but I'm sure there are plenty of South Korean citizens who can tell you stories of what it was to live within an oppressive military state, where liberties and rights were sacrificed for the sake of producing such a wonderful economy. I hope, anonymous, that you weren't suggesting that Iraq can benefit from our military intervention just as South Korea had, by installing a severely repressive authoritarian military dictatorship.
Because then it wouldn't be democracy we'd bring to the Iraqi people, anymore than it was democracy we brought to the South Koreans. They produced that on their own, only after several assassinations and coup d'état after coup d'état.
(Not to mention the widespread, though not majority, animosity or distrust towards United States soldiers or citizens. It's an uneasy thing to be friendly with a nation that lends your government money to rebuild its infrastructure while looking the other way when your government denies you liberty.)
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