The internecine squabbling within the divided, discredited, demoralized and totally ineffective Republican Party--so vividly displayed in Congress over the row about shutting down the federal government--is alive and well in Georgia.
According to the New York Times, state senator Colton Moore, who has pushed to investigate and potentially impeach Fani T. Willis, the Atlanta-based district attorney who is prosecuting former President Donald J. Trump for election subversion, was suspended indefinitely on September 28 by his GOP caucus. Georgia Senate Republicans said in a statement that they had taken the disciplinary action against Moore, a Trump loyalist from the northwestern part of the state, because of what they described as his incendiary rhetoric toward members of his own party.
We average Americans can only tremble at the fact that Donald Trump, the person totally unfit to be President, is the overwhelming favorite to win the presidential nomination of this train wreck of a party. Every day in every way, the Republican Party proves beyond a shadow of a doubt the truthfulness of President Biden's depiction of the MAGATs as posing a mortal danger to American democracy.
Opinion: The staggering loss of life is too much
-AJC
pp
Question to Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-GA) and staffers Rob and Ashley Adkerson, Ashleigh Padgett, and Brandon Cockerham:
Donald Trump, the leading Republican Presidential candidate you so admire, has called for the execution of former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Milley. Milley played a role in another incident in which Trump insulted American servicemen. In 2019, Milley had former Army Capt. Luis Avila sing at the ceremony welcoming Milley on board as C/JCOS. Avila had lost one leg when an explosive device went off in Afghanistan, and he also had suffered heart attacks, strokes, and brain damage due to his service. Avila was in a wheelchair, and the physical toll of his injuries were plain to see.
President Donald Trump reportedly said to Milley: “Why do you bring people like that here? No one wants to see that.” He told Milley not to invite Avila to any other events. (Milley, God bless him, invited Avila to sing at his recent retirement party.)
These events are part of a broader pattern in which he has referred to Americans who died in war as “suckers” and “losers.” According to a report by Atlantic Magazine in 2020, on a European visit in 2018, Trump canceled a visit to an American Cemetery near Paris. He blamed rain, but he cancelled “because he did not believe it important to honor American war dead, according to four people with firsthand knowledge of the discussion that day.” In a conversation with senior staff members on the morning of the scheduled visit, Trump said, “Why should I go to that cemetery? It’s filled with losers.” In a separate conversation on the same trip, Trump referred to the more than 1,800 marines who lost their lives at Belleau Wood as “suckers” for getting killed.
Please, Rep. Loudermilk, explain to your constituents how you and your staffers not only support this man for President of the United States, but practically worship him as a demigod. Same Trump who has also effusively praised the dictatorial thugs Putin and Kim Jong-un.
What is wrong with you people? When did you lose your moral conscience? Or, did you just never have one?
Excerpt:
"The ongoing effort to gain equal representation for Black and Brown residents is a never-ending struggle that has become more heated as traditional conservatism has given way to MAGA extremism, especially in the deep-red rural South."
Read the full piece here
-SPLC
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger outlines reform proposals--and their costs
-AJC
Summary:
FULL STORY
-AJC
Read more:
The Jolt: Kemp hammers GOP hard-liners for lack of ‘guts’ on spending bills
Georgia Democrats need ASAP to select a candidate to run for a seat on the Georgia Public Service Commission in elections scheduled for 2024. Meanwhile, the postponed PSC elections that were supposed to take place in 2022—for which Democrats already have candidates—may take place this year. Here is IndieDems look at the background of the pending PSC elections. Patty Durand, one of those Democratic candidates, contributed significantly to the writing of this article.
The Unresolved 2023 Elections. Elections for the seats in Districts 2 and 3 were scheduled to take place last year. Democratic candidates were prominent environmentalist Patty Durand for District 2 and Sheila Edwards for District 3. Due to legal questions about the method of electing members, a judge postponed the elections. A new date has yet to be announced. Patty and Sheila still intend to run for those seats.
Another Seat is Now Due for Election. The seat for PSC District 5 is up for election in November 2024. District 5 includes Cobb County. The Republican incumbent is Tricia Pridemore, who is from Marietta.
Democrats need now to find someone in the Cobb County area to run against Commissioner Pridemore. Reminder: PSC candidates must reside in the district where the seat is located, but every Georgia voter is eligible to vote for each seat. According to experience, statewide candidates need an 18-month head start to raise enough money to reach enough voters. We are already within that time frame.
We Democrats who are active in this campaign personally believe it would be a bonus to have a female running for the seat, because Ms. Pridemore is the only female on the Commission, and we would feel more comfortable having her replacement be one, too. But rest assured—Democrats will eagerly support any male who becomes the Democratic candidate!
One additional point: The final judicial ruling is still pending on how future PSC elections will be conducted. Something new may be in place by the end of this year.
The best credentials for a candidate would obviously be someone with energy knowledge or background, who cares about climate change, and has experience in running for office or is willing to take his/her first plunge.
A tall order, we know. That’s why we are reaching out to Democrats to try to identify one or more good candidates now. If you don’t know of anyone is there someone you could ask or could you reach out to your networks?
The PSC is of critical importance to addressing climate change. The all-Republican commission is the reason Georgia is in 43rd place in state rankings for rooftop solar and is too low to even rank for community solar. They have also underinvested in demand response and energy efficiency and myriad other policies that are routine in other states to save money and avoid energy waste.
Please email me if you have any questions, are interested in becoming a candidate, or know someone who might be: tbarksdl@aol.com.
PSC DISTRICT MAP. District 5 is the large green area on the left side of the map, bordered on the west by the Chattahoochee River.