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Monday, November 10, 2008
Flintstones vs. Jetsons, democracy vs. dictatorship
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This is unusual.
Watching CNN’s Cafferty File, we learn that the collision of the Bush family and the Obama famly at the White House today was something like “the Flintstones meet the Jetsons.”
Hanna-Barbera would be so proud.
Meanwhile, our own U.S. Rep. Paul Broun (R-Athens), now free of any restrictions imposed by a November election, has warned of a Barack Obama dictatorship. This from the Associated Press:
A Republican congressman from Georgia is calling President-elect Obama a Marxist and warning that he might be planning to form a Gestapo-like security force so he can rule as a dictator.
Two-term Rep. Paul Broun of Athens cited a July speech that has circulated on the Internet in which Obama called for a civilian force to take some of the national security burden off the military.
Broun said he was not fear-mongering but wants to warn people that the nation could be going down that path.
His comments came in a Monday telephone interview with The Associated Press after he called Obama a Marxist at a Rotary Club meeting in his district over the weekend.
Looking back, that George Jetson always did look a little Bolshevistic.
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Not just Richardson, but Keen, too, challenged in GOP caucus fight
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
By now, you know that state Rep. Glenn Richardson of Hiram was all but guaranteed another two years as House speaker this morning.
About three-quarters of the House Republican caucus voted by secret ballot to stick with with the chamber’s first GOP leader. Unless rebellious Republican lawmakers choose to make an alliance with Democrats in January — an unlikely situation — the election should settle the matter.
But before it was over, House Majority Leader Jerry Keen of St. Simons Island also got an unexpected challenge during the caucus meeting, according to my AJC colleague James Salzer.
Keen didn’t find out until shortly before the morning meeting that state Rep. Tom Graves of Ranger would also run for the position.
Graves, who has been a thorn in the leadership’s side, accused Keen of not putting the Republican caucus first. At one point, he said Keen was soliciting support for his likely campaign for governor in 2010, rather than for Republican House candidates fighting for election this year. “I believe our caucus and our state deserves the best of the best,” Graves told caucus members.
Keen denied he sought campaign contributions for his race for governor. In fact, Keen said he won’t decide whether to make the race until after the 2009 legislative session. If he decides to run for governor, he said, he would resign his leadership post.
“We are entering one of the most difficult sessions you can imagine,” he said. “I don’t think it’s time to take a risk for change.”
The vote for majority leader was also secret, but it would be a fair guess that Keen won by the same margin as Richardson.
