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Sunday, June 11, 2006
Gitmo political news for your money here
Michael Wiggins, a Bush legal advisor, lets it be known that he wants to wear a Georgia judge's robe
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Want a war over the war on terror? Have we got a state Supreme Court race for you.
As the grapevine predicted, J. Michael Wiggins, the No. 2 legal advisor to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, last week filed the paperwork necessary to start raising funds.
Almost exactly a year ago, Wiggins made headlines during a U.S. Senate hearing, in which he was questioned about the status of 520 prisoners captured by the U.S. in the months after the 9/11 attacks.
“If there is no definition as to when the conflict ends, that means forever, forever, forever these folks get held at Guantanamo Bay,� said U.S. Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.).
Replied Wiggins: “It’s our position that, legally, they can be held in perpetuity.�
Four state Supreme Court justices are up for re-election in November. The Georgia Chamber of Commerce has conducted a search for opponents, part of the continuing battle with lawyers over tort reform.
The positions are formally non-partisan, but three of the justices date to the recent Democratic era.
Harold Melton, the one justice appointed by Gov. Sonny Perdue, is said to be getting a pass because of his sponsor. Wiggins is expected to run against either Carol Hunstein or Hugh Thompson.
Expect this judicial fight to be much bigger than the one that pit now-Chief Justice Leah Sears against Republican challenger Grant Brantley.
Here’s a snippet of one e-mail from a well-placed Georgia lawyer, sent to barristers across the state:
“For all lawyers who have close ties to any leaders in the [Georgia] Chamber and the business community, talking to them and getting them on board to stop this effort to politicize the courts is the key,� the message said. “Starve candidates who would politicize the courts of ‘oxygen’, and someone like this guy will be left with nothing but the hard-core right wing to support him.�
The picket line is crossed, or not
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Southern Voice, the newspaper aimed at Atlanta’s gay community, is reporting that two lesbian politicians, state Rep. Karla Drenner and Decatur City Commissioner Kecia Cunningham, are among 200 women who have lent their names to a Thursday fund-raiser for Cathy Cox, the Democratic candidate for governor.
Before you assume any gay boycott of the Cox campaign is over, Drenner is reported as saying her support isn’t solid — particularly after learning Cox does not support civil unions.
Full story is here
In the end, the only winners are the bookstores
But is it the battle over the bottle blonde, or the bottle over the battle blonde?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
State Rep. Rob Teilhet (D-Smyrna) has added his voice to the chorus of those chiding Republicans and conservatives for their coziness with best-selling author and professional quotebox Ann Coulter.
Teilhet e-mailed a letter Friday calling on Georgia Christian Coalition chairman Sadie Fields to cancel Coulter’s invitation to speak at the group’s annual fund-raiser in September.
Teilhet, a Democrat married to Gov. Sonny Perdue’s press secretary, reminded Fields of Coulter’s many controversial remarks, including her latest about the group of 9/11 widows who forced a federal investigation into the terror attacks. Coulter said they’ve taken too much pleasure in their new lives as single women.
“The list of her divisive, hateful, and decidedly un-Christian statements and policy positions is too long to recite here,� Teilhet wrote.
Fields said Coulter is still invited.
“I’m certainly not going to be lectured about my Christian values by Representative Teilhet, who was one of the handful who voted against the [gay] marriage amendment,� Fields said.
