In the second part of lengthy interview, broadcast on Thursday by WABE (90.1FM)'s "Closer Look," Atlanta Archbishop Wilton Gregory took up race and immigration – topics likely to be addressed by Pope Francis during his upcoming visit to the United States.
The archbishop never uttered the name of Donald Trump, but the direction of his comments were clear:
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Numerous and somber ceremonies this morning mark the 14th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks (Georgia flags have been ordered to half-staff). But it's also worth remembering that there are still some very sick puppies out there. From the Washington Post:
How Goldberg allegedly came to be radicalized — and adopt the personality of an extremist on the other side of the world — is not clear. But the complaint includes quite disturbing, lengthy exchanges between Goldberg, who authorities said went online under variations of the handle "AusWitness," and the informant, identified only as "CHS."
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Under fire over the revelation that taxpayers paid to pave the gravel road outside Gov. Nathan Deal's private residence, the head of Geogia's public safety division did some quick (and slightly defensive) arithmetic.
Col. Mark McDonough said that the governor and his wife have spent roughly 500 days in their Demorest home, mostly nights and weekends, since he took office in January 2011. And each time, he said, they let the officers assigned to his security detail sleep at the house and eat on his dime.
"You're probably looking at $60,000 to $70,000 in hotel costs and per diem costs that their graciousness is saving taxpayers. And the focus on taxpayer abuse grates me a little bit because I know how they treat our guys."
He was responding to the fallout over the $92,000 paving project, WAGA-TV uncovered on Wednesday. Here's a snippet from the AJC followup to that story:
Col. Mark McDonough asked his staff about two years ago to consider a range of other updates to Deal's home in Demorest, including a beefed-up communications system and a helicopter landing pad. But he said the Department of Public Safety is no longer exploring the new projects.
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Down in Tift County, serious voting changes are being contemplated. From the Facebook page of the local Democratic party:
There is a meeting on Sept 21 at the UGA Conference Center at 6 pm to discuss this. While this will have many advantages for the employees at the BoE and the poll workers, there will be no more local voting precincts for TyTy, Omega, etc. Cassandra (Sandy) Fallin at the BoE called me and recommended we all put our comments in writing so they can be addressed at this meeting.
Tift County has 17,969 registered voters, according to the secretary of state website. About 27 percent are African-American. We sense a major legal fight brewing here.
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CNN announced Thursday that businesswoman Carly Fiorina had made the main stage debate next week in Simi Valley, Calif., one of 11 candidates who will be up there, after the network changed its polling criteria.
Here are your main stage candidates, who will go on at 8 p.m. Eastern, with averages in 14 recent national polls: 1) Donald Trump: 23.929, 2) Jeb Bush: 11.500, 3) Scott Walker: 9.429, 4) Ben Carson: 8.929, 5) Ted Cruz: 6.286, 6) Marco Rubio: 5.643, 7) Mike Huckabee: 5.571, 8) Rand Paul: 4.714, 9) John Kasich: 3.214, 10) Chris Christie: 3.143, 11) Carly Fiorina: 2.229.
And here's the "kids table" at 6 p.m.: 12) Rick Perry: 1.814, 13) Rick Santorum: 1.214, 14) Bobby Jindal: 1.057, 15) George Pataki: 0.529, 16) Lindsey Graham: 0.471.
Jim Gilmore, we hardly knew ye.
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DeKalb County attorney Alex Johnson, who challenged John Padgett for chairmanship of the state GOP, suggests that the national Republican decision to require Donald Trump to sign a loyalty oath needs some follow-up. From his emailed newsletter:
"This sets a very strong precedent, since if the Republican Party can require a person to sign an oath to support the party's nominee if they wish to run as a Republican, then there's nothing stopping the Georgia Republican Party from easily requiring our politicians to sign an oath that they will support the platform or resolutions that you, the party's grassroots, advocate if they wish to run as a Republican. That is a solution that will ensure that our brand is maintained and true Republicans are elected far into the future."
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The Democrats hold their first of six presidential debates Oct. 13, and the party has been catching flak for not holding more, thus rigging the process for Hillary Clinton. DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz is unmoved. From The Hill:
"We're not changing the process. We're having six debates," said Wasserman Schultz, who has been under fire from several Democratic presidential candidates over the debates. "The candidates will be uninvited from subsequent debates if they accept an invitation to anything outside of the six sanctioned debates."
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Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is searching for ways to avoid a government shutdown at the end of the month. The latest from National Journal:
The Senate will vote on legislation banning abortions after 20 weeks as a way to pacify enraged abortion opponents who are calling for an end to federal funding of Planned Parenthood, according to a key GOP leader.
Consider WSB-Radio's Erick Erickson not pacified. The headline of his RedState post: Mitch McConnell's Fig Leaf to Justify Continued Funding to Kill Babies.
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