Young Democrats of Atlanta

YDATL Blog
NOTE: The opinions expressed by our individual bloggers are their own, and not necessarily those of Young Democrats of Atlanta.

Friday, September 29, 2006

What Are You Doing Tomorrow?

Got plans for tomorrow? What, you don’t? Well boy do I have a rockin good time for you!

Heck, even if you do have plans, once you see this itinerary of Young Dem events and activities, you will surely break your plans for a fun filled day of electioneering and partying

So this is how the day will go....

11am - 1pm - Canvassing with the Young Dems of Atlanta up in District 48 for Jan Hackney
There are 3 things you need to know about canvassing. They are:

1) Canvassing doesn’t suck, in fact its kind of fun!
I know you are looking at that statement, and you don’t believe me. But its really true. For a long time I was one of those "Ugh, canvassing.....I don’t think so". I used every excuse I could come up with to get out of it....and then I ran out of excuses. After two weekends of canvassing, I'm sold. Canvassing doesn’t suck. Its pretty neat to go out and talk to people. Plus the weather is supposed to be gorgeous tomorrow. Spend a couple of hours out in the sunshine!

2) You get a super awesome beer glass and some beer in it at our Business meetings.
Beer Glass - awesome! Beer in Glass - EVEN MORE AWESOME

3) How do you get there?
You saw points one and two. You are on board. Here are the details for canvassing:

Meet the group in the Manuel's Tavern parking lot at 10:00am sharp to carpool.
602 N Highland Ave NE
Atlanta, GA 30307
(Corner of N. Highland and North Ave)

OR - if you live in North Fulton / just want to meet us there:
Kroger Parking Lot
8331 Roswell Road
Atlanta, GA 30350
(Corner of Roswell and Northridge)
10:30 - Canvass Orientation for First Timers
10:45 - All Hands on Deck for Walk List and Materials Distribution

3pm - 6pm - Young Democrats of Georgia Big Deck Blowout
After your early afternoon of canvassing, and a quick stop home to shower and change, you will be ready for some food and some post-canvassing fun!

Join the Young Democrats of Georgia at Roxx Tavern and Grill
1824 Cheshire Bridge Road NE
*All Ages Event*
Cost of Admission $20

4pm - 7pm - Young Democrats of Georgia Sweetwater Event
So at this point in the day, you've done some canvassing, had some lunch, what's next? BEER. Specifically super awesome Sweetwater Beer (I recommend the Sweetwater Blue)

Join the YDGs as we take over Sweetwater Brewery
195 Ottley Dr NE
*21 years and older*
Cost of Admission: $25

So there you go guys! Just when you thought you were going to spend your Saturday cleaning your kitchen and watching You’ve Got Mail on TBS for the millionth time, I came in and planned your Saturday for you! Don’t worry, you can thank me later

See you all tomorrow!

posted by Nicolette at 9/29/2006 01:13:00 PM 1 comments

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Collect call!

Collect call from "Mike Wiattabeibiyitzaboi," will you accept the charges?

YES!

Hearty best wishes to our former Campaigns Chair Kate Sandhaus and her husband Jay! Young Dems of Atlanta proudly welcomes our newest Democrat: Alexander Gibson Sandhaus was finally coerced into coming out on Tuesday morning for failure to pay rent in a timely manner.

Congratulations Kate & Jay and welcome Alexander!

posted by Aerodad at 9/27/2006 09:24:00 AM 0 comments

Monday, September 25, 2006

Take back the U-S-eh?

I consider myself a rabidly USA-loving patriot, but even I have had those moments of doubt (mostly on rare occasions such as watching the previews for "Jesus Camp" or reading swill from the retards at Stormfront) when I wonder how welcome I'll feel in my own country if things keep getting "worse." Fortunately, we have a new self-help manual that's recently been published, and best of all, it costs less than two Guinness!

According to Amanda at pandagon.net, Bill Scher's new book "Wait! Don't Move to Canada!" is "a really great how-to manual for everyday liberals who are feeling helpless to take some control of the situation."

The number one thing that he suggests we start by doing is to lay claim to the identity “liberal” and use the word frequently, which will both make us look more sure of ourselves over time and will take the piss out of right wingers who wield it as an insult. It’s much less of one if you don’t run from it but instead say, “Of course I’m a liberal. My politics are liberal, since I support freedom, equality, peace, etc.”

After taking that important step, the next is to start finding ways to engage and promote the general liberal worldview. Scher’s book is a step-by-step instruction manual on how you can do this effectively. I found most of his advice to be very sound and intend to try to implement as much of it as I can in the future. Because it’s such a good set of ideas, it’s pretty empowering, but I do suspect a lot of people who read it might get disheartened by the fact that Scher won’t bullshit you; the plan to get liberalism back on its feet again is going to require patience. I think that impatience is the number one factor that creates division on the left, as arguments flare up between people promoting an incremental change and people who don’t like it because it doesn’t go far enough fast enough.
...
Scher has solid advice on how to actually achieve our goals with patience without feeling like we’re compromising any core values. On the contrary, he’s got excellent advice on how everyday liberals can communicate and promote those values more efficiently.

Maybe we oughta make this one of our Team Awesome canvassing prizes....

posted by Aerodad at 9/25/2006 04:00:00 PM 0 comments

Sunday, September 24, 2006

Party down, not out – Democrats must fight on

Creative Loafing had it right – Georgia Democrats need more than a pep talk. 2004 proved that rhetoric isn't enough to win an election, and neither is the looming specter of unfathomable disaster. With decades of critical national policy at stake, Democrats were outplayed, outworked, and outfoxed by Republican scum all over the country, and now we're paying for it like a sucker at one of Ralph Reed's casinos. Now, some Georgia Democrats are whistling Dixie while Georgia burns, and unless that changes 2004 and 2002 will repeat themselves.

The first thing that must happen for us to win is for everyone who's still fighting the gubernatorial primary to stop. Certain Mark Taylor supporters need to stop making snide remarks about Cathy and her supporters at every opportunity, period. Mark himself has done a good job of sounding conciliatory when I have heard him speak, and the “We beat Cathy!” gloating straight up needs to stop. On the other hand, certain Cathy Cox supporters need to come on board with their votes and their money and volunteer time, and get over the real and perceived insults that are coming from overzealous Mark people. Giving Mark your vote but saying you won't help him win is like voting for "No Child Left Behind" but then giving it no money, dooming it to failure - i.e., it's hypocrisy. Cathy Cox herself needs to return from her self-imposed exile and rejoin this party if she wants to have a future in it. (For those of you who will no doubt point out that Greg Hecht has been just as invisible as Cathy, I direct your attention to the fact that Greg already ceased to have a future in this party several months ago.)

The second thing we Georgia Democrats need to do is take another look at our message. The way I see it, we have two camps of message right now. There is the Old Message camp, including Mark Taylor, Michael Thurmond, and a lot of other candidates, which is the usual “we want jobs and health care and education” message. Then the is the New Message camp, including Jim Martin and Steve Sinton, which builds the same platform but beginning from values. Remember that great ad Jim put out right after the despicable Greg Hecht mailers came out? It didn't say “Greg is wrong” or even just “I'm tough on crime” - it was “Such-and-such happened to me and because I love and value my daughter, I will be tough on crime”. Steve Sinton isn't just for stem cell research because of the abstract principle of the thing – he has personal experience to back that up and he's not afraid to talk about it. See the difference? Look at the Georgia candidates who are doing the best in their races, and ask yourself which approach is working better. All our issues are personal to us, and the more our candidates bring that into the message the better they will do, because being right is no more important than knowing why you're right.

The last need that I will draw attention to is for a sense of real urgency. Yes, we all talk about how important this election is, and how we have to win, etc., but we said the same things in 2004 without really grasping the magnitude of the stakes. Many of us, me included, didn't translate this supposed understanding of the gravity of the situation at hand into action. Don't you wish you had gone canvassing for Howard Dean or phone banked for John Kerry now, looking back? I do. After Sonny wins and the Democratic Party in Georgia gets clocked like George Foreman fighting Muhammad Ali, don't you think you'll regret not doing more for Mark Taylor? Don't just say this election is important, believe it. That belief is what we need most, because when you really understand the situation, you won't be able to sit idle while Special Sonny turns Georgia into the Idaho of the South. Get to it.

posted by Ataru Atlanta at 9/24/2006 10:36:00 PM 0 comments

Thursday, September 21, 2006

Lay off the Fulton Democratic Party. Got it?

I know I do my fair share of Democrat bashing, here and in personal comments, but I for one am getting pretty sick of the bashing of the Fulton County Democratic Party that is coming from certain quarters, and I am disgusted by the fact that a certain Democrat saw fit to air this particular item of dirty laundry on Peach Pundit, of all places. Can we at least agree to keep these tirades on our own blogs?

First of all, this idea of giving some fixed amount of money to each and every opposed Democratic candidate is ridiculous. In a war, does every general get the same amount of troops, the same amount of weapons and equipment? Of course not. Every general faces different enemies, different tactical situations, and different probabilities of winning. In a war, the goal is winning, and winning is accomplished by focusing your troops and resources on defending your weak points and attacking the enemy's vulnerabilities. Elections are not some utopian contest of ideals where the best ideas win. Every election is a war, and pretending that John Eaves' race for the Fulton County Commission is equivalent to Mark Taylor's battle against Sonny Perdue is insane. You can bet that Republicans allocate their resources to win, and if we don't at the very least respond by allocating our resources proportionally to our chances of winning, we are going to lose.

Secondly, if I hear anyone else gripe about how the Fulton County Democratic Party should give money directly to candidates I swear I'm going to go Randi Rhodes on someone. If a county party is going to be nothing more than a money dispersal mechanism, why bother with a county party at all? A major part of the duty of a county party is to look farther ahead than single campaigns. Republicans have been beating us, nationally and now in Georgia, by devising and implementing long term strategy. If the voter ID law is eventually upheld, the future of Georgia voting is going to be absentee ballots. Why then is there such animus toward the idea of looking FORWARD and taking a winning play from the Republican playbook, i.e. sending mailers targeting ALL candidates with absentee ballot applications? If mailers always went in the circular file, no candidate would ever send them. Clearly that's false. Mailers, COMBINED with volunteer outreach efforts that COST NO MONEY (last time I checked, I and the people I canvass and phone bank with have made exactly zero dollars for our efforts), have been proven to be effective and will continue to be so.

I don't want to say “Fine, be that way” to these people who are having trouble grasping these arguments, because Lord knows we already have enough people who have taken their toys and gone elsewhere. I just want to dispel this notion that Democrats are somehow losing elections because the Fulton County Democratic Party isn't giving money to candidates. This isn't rocket science.

posted by Ataru Atlanta at 9/21/2006 11:06:00 PM 4 comments

When terrorists give you lemons

A House committee report confirms what everyone but the Bush administration and its supporters already suspected: America is less safe now than we were right after 9/11.

The terrorist threat facing the United States has grown since Sept. 11, 2001, despite the U.S.-led war on terrorism, according to a new congressional report (see GSN, Sept. 11).

The al-Qaeda terrorist network has replaced leaders killed or captured, and Iraq has served as a breeding ground and a training opportunity for new terrorists, says the report issued yesterday by the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Unfortunately, it looks like the Democrats are rushing to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory:

The report was approved by the Republican-led committee on party lines, with Democrats complaining that it was excessively alarmist and questioning the timing of its release just weeks before congressional elections.

Americans “do not need the House Intelligence Committee to remind them” of the al-Qaeda threat, Democrats said in a statement.

No, but what Americans do need the House Democrats to remind them is that the Bush administration's collossal blunder in Iraq and its overall my-way-or-the-highway foreign policy over the last five years has put us in greater danger and will continue to increase the threat to all of us! If this isn't a crystal clear "This is why you need to vote their asses out" moment, I don't know what is.

Or, you know, we could just bend over and take it. Whatever.

posted by Aerodad at 9/21/2006 02:59:00 PM 1 comments

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

YDAtl Podcast 8 - Congressman John Lewis

Congressman John Lewis delivers an inspirational address to the gang at our Summertime Blue membership drive on August 30th. The Congressman reminds us that Young Democrats have got to do more than just swill beer at Manuel's and talk about how things could be better: "I would come home and ask my mother, my father, my grandparents, my great-grandparents, `Why segregation, why racial discrimination,' and they would say, `That's the way it is. Don't get in the way, don't get in trouble.' One day, I heard about Rosa Parks, I heard the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on the radio. The action of Rosa Parks, the words of Dr. King inspired me to find a way to get in the way. I got in the way, I got in trouble. It was good trouble, it was necessary trouble. You must get in the way, you must get in trouble."

He also points out that if we're going to be the future of the Democratic Party, we can't wait around for such a legacy to be handed to us: "I say to you Young Democrats of Atlanta, and of Georgia, you must take our state back, you must take our country back, and in doing so you may have to take over the Democratic Party."

Right-click 'n' save (23:22 / 16.8MB)

posted by Aerodad at 9/20/2006 12:48:00 AM 0 comments

Monday, September 18, 2006

Movie night with Mr. Smith

~~A week earlier than expected, on Friday the 22nd~~ Next Friday the 29th, the Plaza Theater (Ponce & Highland) will be starting a one-week run of Can Mr. Smith Get to Washington Anymore, a political documentary that looks pretty entertaining even if "not so flaccid to utter" title-wise. From the co-producer,

We follow the 2004 Missouri Democratic primary to replace retiring 28-year veteran and former House Majority Leader Dick Gephardt. It's told from inside the campaign of Jeff Smith, a 29-year old adjunct political science prof who embarked on a quixotic bid against Russ Carnahan, scion of Missouri's most powerful political dynasty. As one analyst says: "The Carnahan name is to Missouri what the Kennedy name is to Massachusetts."

Jeff was endorsed by DFA and one of the original Dean Dozen. Howard Dean appears in the film. I was one of the founders of the DFA chapter in St. Louis. The movie is a graphic illustration of the message of DFA that every voter and every race matters. If we get involved we hold the power to take back our country.

I'm going to go ahead and spoil the end for you: Jeff lost in '04, ~~and he just lost this year again~~ [oops, my bad]. But the story is still sufficiently entertaining and inspiring as to earn these kudos from a Republican blogger in Missouri:

Let me be the first [Missouri Republican blogger at least] to predict that this movie will attain cult status among the political crowd. When it’s released on DVD, it will join “The War Room” and “Primary Colors” as the movies that campaign volunteers and staff watch over and over as they prepare mailings and staple yard signs. Like the others, it has a number of “I’ve been there” moments that we can all relate to — hearing voters offer unsolicited, condescending suggestions; riding in a carful of staffers, each of whom is chatting on his own cell phone; and watching the people who should be coming out for you in a primary getting weak-kneed when you need them the most.
...
PEOPLE WHO WILL LIKE THIS MOVIE: Anyone who has ever worked in a campaign or run for office.

PEOPLE WHO WILL NOT LIKE THIS MOVIE: Anyone with the last name Carnahan.

How 'bout it, Ultimate Canvassers? Finish off a day of canvassing with some drinks at the Righteous Room and then the "Rudy" of our particular sport?

posted by Aerodad at 9/18/2006 01:17:00 PM 3 comments

Saturday, September 16, 2006

Sonny did: Stillmore, Georgia gutted

The quiet town of Stillmore, Georgia, 189 miles from Atlanta, just got a lot quieter: federal agents rounded up 120 undocumented workers and forced hundreds of others to flee. The poultry plant that is the main source of local jobs suddenly found itself without much of a workforce. People who run shops for the undocumented workers aren't going to for much longer. A poor town just got poorer.

What I love is that one of those store owners is a die-hard Reagan Republican – i.e., an IDIOT – and even HE is disgusted with what we get with Immigration Idiocy as a national and state policy. All that yap we've been getting from the Goofy Old Party and its xenophobic Tom Tancredo bobblehead dolls sure sounds swell now, doesn't it? Sounds as genius as that old bromide about square pegs and round holes, doesn't it? You KNOW it's out of control when even an IDIOT like Max Burns is for a guest worker program that would have prevented this debacle.

So where has our Undercover Governor Sonny Perdue been while a Georgia town is gutted? Good question.

posted by Ataru Atlanta at 9/16/2006 12:27:00 AM 9 comments

Friday, September 15, 2006

A parable of black and white

One day, not long ago, a young white man got on a MARTA train at Philips Arena. He was dressed in business casual work attire, and looked the part of what some might call “yuppie scum”. This man noticed that the clientèle seemed rather poor and downtrodden, the people that the Herman Cain's and Sonny Perdue's of the world despise, and the kind of people that the Mark Taylor's of the world have trouble remembering except in campaign speeches. In fact, this man himself found it easy to live just another urban yuppie life in Atlanta while hardly ever thinking of the people on the train he found himself on.

The white man had decided to stand rather than sit since he was getting off the train at the next stop. Just then, however, a black boy who might have been fifteen years old asked the white man whether he would like to sit in the empty seat next to him. The white man, without thinking, politely declined. Then the boy, who the white man noticed seemed to be wearing ordinary teenage baggy clothes, said “Oh, you don't want to sit next to a black person?” The white man was surprised by what the black boy said, because the white man liked to believe that he was liberal and inclusive despite being, at root, yuppie scum. The white man sat down next to the black boy, but he didn't forget what the black boy had said.

posted by Ataru Atlanta at 9/15/2006 11:02:00 PM 3 comments

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

They never called me, either

The other day, Benson got all riled up because he's been insufficiently pestered to volunteer for our Democratic candidates where they need all the help they can get. Frankly, I think we keep him plenty busy and I can always send him some Drupal code to chew on.... But I understand the sentiment, especially as we observed the solemn anniversary of our generation's Pearl Harbor on Monday. Five years ago, I resolved to defend my country -- and here I am, just blogging instead.

I'll admit it: I'm a coward. I want to defend my country, but I didn't rush out and enlist like so many high school graduates, NFL star linebackers, and all kinds in between. I'm a dead shot with my M-1 Garande, but I really wanted to find a way instead to contribute to the defense of my country with my big brains and knowledge of things that go whoosh and kerboom. I'm still working on that, but in the meantime, if the fit hits the shan right here in my community, I'm also a pretty good runner, can carry moderately heavy things, look snappy in an orange safety vest, and always wanted to direct traffic. In short, I'd love to be on a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT). Let me help keep the peace in my neighborhood so the firefighters and cops can rush into the fold.

Shortly after 9/11 there was talk of CitizenCorps, a mass mobilization of civilians who will be trained, organized, and ready to be called upon in the event of another attack or catastrophe. It wasn't long before they launched a website, and I jumped on my browser and signed up the very next day. "Thanks!" it said. "We'll be in touch!" I got a few emails from the government over the next few months, saying how they were "doing stuff" and "getting organized" and "soon we'll tell you how to do something." That's fine, I understand how hard it is to create that kind of organization; it's hard enough organizing a good YD chapter, let alone a national reserve of skilled volunteers.

But seriously, dudes. It's been five years. Long enough to lose my email address, 'cause I never really heard anything useful from them, and then what with all this Young Dems civic duty keeping me busy, I just forgot about it. (I said "duty.")

So yesterday, I was inspired to do my part again and follow up with CitizenCorps after all these years when I listened to the 9/11 episode of To the Point. On the program, Harvard Public Policy professor Robert Putnam talked about this much-touted decline in the sense of unity that we were all "enjoying" in the immediate aftermath, and what he thought the problem was: not enough sacrifice. He was disappointed that President Bush never really asked the American people to sacrifice anything in any significant or consistent manner; instead, he urged us all to go shopping (and boy did I -- hemorrhaging cash all over Manhattan in a spurt of retail duty), and then he cut some of our taxes. Don't worry, we'll finance this war on our national credit card, and you can keep on burning up all the petroleum you want, that'll never get us in trouble. So when people start by comparing 9/11 to Pearl Harbor and then wonder why we aren't acting more like the good citizens of the Greatest Generation, Putnam points in part to the fact that they got more practice in citizenship, and that the sacrifices of war were a daily exercise for them whereas we have outsourced it to the enlisted masses. (On a side note, I found an interesting blog called Future Majority during my reading for this article, and they take issue with some of Putnam's views of our generation's political engagement; maybe things are better in FM's part of the country, but down here in the purple South, I don't exactly see us crawling with mothaf--in' volunteers on this mothaf--in' plane.)

Reinvigorated with unity, I started poking around CitizenCorps' (CC) site again, determined to become a trained CERT volunteer. Probably for the better, CC has largely relegated the actual doing of emergency preparedness to local authorities, and the CERT page pointed me to a list of Georgia CERTs. Hmmm, "Unincorporated Fulton County," has a "Fire CERT," with no locations in central Fulton, eh? Well, that's not promising -- but the contact is one Kevin Harris, who's also the only contact for the Atlanta-Fulton County CC Council, so maybe I'll just try searching more locally.

AtlantaGA.gov? Ha, good luck trying to find anything useful there. Fulton County cheerfully asks, "What can we help you find in Fulton County Instantly?" Unfortunately, "CERT" is not one of those instantly-findable things. But hey, a little Googling takes me to the obvious answer: GEMA! "If you are interested in becoming a CERT leader in your community, please contact your local emergency management agency (EMA)." So I "follow this link to locate [my] local EMA," and lo! and behold! The website for Fulton's EMA does not exist. Oh well, maybe GEMA still has something for me to read. CERT News? Nope. Calendar of Events? Nah-ah. Nothing but impossibly long URLs, a referral back to the national CC website, and a general "Thanks, but no thanks" from OHS-GEMA.

Therefore, OHS-GEMA does not use volunteers in its emergency and disaster response activities. However, OHS-GEMA works closely with a number of volunteer organizations in Georgia that respond to disaster. For information on Citizen Corps or Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT) contact your local EMA or go to visit the Citizen Corp Web site.

So...Georgia has a CERT program, but...you have to join something other "volunteer organization" (half of those listed being faith-based) to get in on it. I think. It seems. You know I'm really not sure. So I'll go pester Mr. Harris and the appropriate email address at GEMA and get back to you on that.

In a few years.

posted by Aerodad at 9/13/2006 06:05:00 PM 4 comments

Monday, September 11, 2006

Five Years Ago Today

Five years ago today, a series of despicable acts were perpetrated on the United States, acts that stand alone in their audacity. Five years ago today, terrorist animals executed 2,973 innocent people; five years ago today, those same subhumans utterly destroyed the World Trade Center, the symbol of American economic superiority, and damaged the Pentagon, the symbol of our military might. Five years ago today, a man named Osama bin Laden added his to the book of names accursed through history.

Five years ago today, we held each other as we wept. Five years ago today, we remembered that we are all Americans; five years ago today, we remembered what it is to be united. Five years ago today, we knew heroism.

Five years ago today, we learnt to fear. Five years ago today, a world we trusted and wrapped around us in our ignorance and arrogance was stolen from us. Five years ago today, we understood hatred. Five years ago today, we faced death.

Five years ago today, the world stood with us. Five years ago today, the world forgave America its sins. Five years ago today, America was a good nation, a decent nation. Five years ago today we deserved sympathy.

Five years ago today, we vowed vengeance. Five years ago today, a time of war began. Five years ago today, we knew who our enemy was. Five years ago today, our way was clear.

Five years ago today, the future was set aflame. Now we see it burning.

Five years ago today.

posted by Ataru Atlanta at 9/11/2006 10:07:00 AM 0 comments

Thursday, September 07, 2006

Democrats playing like the JV team

Sports aficionados know coach speak. Coaches always talk about their team's “hunger” or lack thereof. Good teams have it. Teams that win have it. It's about wanting it because you want it, not because someone told you that you want it. It's about having the drive to win. I don't see all Georgia Democrats bringing that hunger to the most important race we have faced since we took power 137 years ago.

The most glaring deficiency in desire is, in my view from the trenches, coming from the Taylor campaign. Now, there is absolutely no doubt whatsoever that Mark himself wants this sucker. Mark himself will leave no stone unturned in his quest to smash the Sonny Perdue regime and send him back to farming peanuts with Jimmy Carter, or going shopping for pink suits and green ties, or whatever the hell he did before he decided to get all cozy with the flag freaks. But setting aside his apparently off-the-mark TV ads, the volunteer effort for the Taylor campaign sucks, and that's a recipe for setting another all-time record for alcohol consumed at Manuel's on November 7th. I have personally handed my card to a Taylor campaign official, signed up at several events, and written the campaign a check (also with my phone number on it), and so far I have been contacted exactly ZERO times regarding volunteering for the campaign. By contrast, Jim Martin's people have called me three times already pleading for me to help them phone bank. News flash to the Taylor campaign: DON'T GIVE ME ANY MORE OF YOUR FREAKING LITERATURE, JUST TELL ME WHEN I CAN HELP YOU. When I have to find out about phone banks for you from Curt Thompson and the Gwinnett County Democrats (I live in COBB), there is a PROBLEM. From what I hear, I am far from the most important person the Taylor campaign's volunteer coordinator and assistants have failed to involve in the campaign despite best efforts to the contrary. News flash #2: If you ignore your faithful, from me to county chairs, YOU ARE GOING TO LOSE. I want to win and Mark wants to win and Democrats across Georgia want to win; why don't his campaign staff?

Slacker #2 in this campaign is Denise Majette. Yeah, I know we're just not going to beat KKKathy Cox this time around, but come on. I have YET to see a SINGLE piece of campaign literature from the Majette “campaign”. I mean, I've seen campaign literature from Griffin Lotson and MET MAC MCCARLEY for crying out loud. I feel like I'm going to see literature with “Mickey Mouse: Strong for Georgia” on it before I see something from Denise Majette. The last update to the Majette web site's press room is JUNE 9. Go to the front page and you see that from June 13 to September 30 there are TWO campaign events listed. I have heard more about Cobb County school board candidates. I have heard more from KATHY COX. I have PERSONALLY seen more of Darryl Hicks, Shaaym Reddy, Gail Buckner, Scott Holcomb, and Angela Moore than I have of this mythical Denise Majette individual. If I had known that the Majette campaign were going to make Michael Brown look adroit and sprightly, I would have voted for Carlotta Harrell despite all her flaws – at least Carlotta WORKED. I am NEVER voting for Denise Majette again in a primary. Denise, stop wasting our time.

The pathetic lack of effort I am seeing from Denise's campaign in particular contrasts sharply (thankfully) to what I am seeing from several other major Democrats running in Georgia. Jim Martin, bless his heart, is running all out against Casey Cagle, and whether or not he wins he's going to be able to sleep well at night. Tommy Irvin isn't resting on the laurels of being a legend in the history of Democratic politics – he knows Gary Black is a threat and he's responding. Guy Drexinger is breaking new ground and I think John Oxendine is going down. If Denise were working as hard as freaking Melanie Eyre up in North Fulton, I wouldn't have had to make this post. Mark and Denise, GET A CLUE ALREADY. Stop embarrassing us by looking like the JV team playing the Steelers.

posted by Ataru Atlanta at 9/07/2006 11:14:00 PM 4 comments

Please read Blog below this one.

Here is the link that you will need to contact ABC!!!

http://thinkprogress.org/tellabc

posted by Anonymous at 9/07/2006 06:17:00 PM 0 comments

Help Stop ABC From Using A Tragic Event for a Political Agenda

I am sure that by now you have all been informed of the mini series coming out about September 11th and the lead up to that day. ABC plans on airing "The Path to 9/11" written and directed by Cyrus Nowrasteh in two parts on Septemeber 10th and 11th.

This docudrama is full of lies, half-truths, and inconsistences. Now, I do understand it is a movie and you may find untruth in fiction. I also understand that before the movie they will air a small disclaimer that states that parts of this movie are fiction. However, the disclaimer is not going to state which parts are falsified. The author claims that his movie is based off the 9/11 Commission Report. By "based", I think he means he uses the opposite of all the information in the report!!!

So please send this email to ABC. Help stop our networks from being or becoming even more biased. Don't let them missinform the American public just for political gain.

In the word of Congressman John Lewis "get in the way"!!!! Lets flood the email box eveyday so that ABC knows we care and want the truth . . . not lies.

posted by Anonymous at 9/07/2006 05:47:00 PM 0 comments

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

Labor Day reminds us of the stakes

As I drove to attend the Labor Day observances (in the form of hot dogs, barbecue chicken, and a healthy dose of politics) at UAW Local 882's recreational facility in Hapeville, I was faced with a stark reminder of what the stakes are for taking this state back. That reminder was the Ford logo on the Hapeville assembly plant. That decal has been a symbol of pride for decades, a monument to American industry and the loyal, hardworking employees of Local 882 who make it possible. Now, however, that logo is a brand of shame, a searing reminder of just what Sonny Perdue has done to real working people in Georgia.

What I absolutely am unable to fathom is why - why - the fact that our Governor, the man who purports to be our leader, made no effort whatsoever to preserve a colossus of American industry in Georgia while granting obscene tax incentives to a foreign interloper fails to resonate with voters as it does with we progressive activists. Why aren't fiscal conservatives in an apoplectic rage over monstrous giveaways? Why aren't education activists and others fuming over such ridiculous expenditures while cuts to vital state programs continue utterly without cause or benefit? Most of all, why aren't the residents of Hapeville, which derives nine percent of its total tax revenue from the doomed-and-dismissed plant, calling for the Republicans who stole that revenue to be put to the sword?

I wish those questions were rhetorical, but they aren't. Republicans are eviscerating workers' rights and the traditional strength and benefits of unions and union industries, and voters just don't care. The answer, the only answer, is for us to fall in behind our candidates – starting with Mark Taylor – as they kick off their campaigns in earnest tomorrow and help them bludgeon Georgia Republicans over and over with issues (like the HOPE scholarship and the abysmal state of health care in Georgia) where we will always hold the moral high ground over amoral Republican swine. When you work this election season, remember the workers of UAW Local 882 and what Sonny Perdue and his minions have robbed them of. We must not let such heinous acts remain unpunished.

posted by Ataru Atlanta at 9/05/2006 12:20:00 AM 0 comments

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