Has religion made a conservative wimp out of Erick Erickson?
In a hefty profile of Georgia's own Erick Erickson, The Atlantic wonders whether the talk radio provocateur is mellowing -- under this headline: "Is the most powerful conservative in America losing his edge?"
Molly Ball's piece is worth reading as a whole, for reflections on Erickson's childhood in Dubai, the anonymous sniping from Capitol Hill Republicans and tales of his (gasp!) bipartisanship on the Macon City Council. Some key passages on the WSB Radio and Fox News figure:
Erickson dismisses criticism of his vulgar taunts as pearl-clutching by politically correct prigs with no sense of humor. (Offensive as some of his comments may be, he makes them in a tone of mockery, not spit-flying rage.) But he also has grown more reflective in the past year, at times even calling out his own readers and listeners for their excesses. In August, he wrote, “I increasingly find conflict between my faith and some conservative discourse.” He cited the right-wing furor over undocumented minors, Ebola, and the protests in Ferguson, Missouri. Shortly after I visited him in Georgia, he announced that he had been accepted to the Reformed Theological Seminary in Atlanta, to pursue—part-time, between radio broadcasts—a master’s degree in biblical studies... Your daily jolt on politics from the AJC's Political insider blog
Erickson’s authority has always come from his status as an outsider to the Washington political class. But these days, he has better access to certain politicians than the K Street lobbyists do, and allies like Cruz often seem to wield more power than the GOP’s nominal leaders. Erickson began charging for speaking gigs through an agency this year. He has been known to ride the Acela. Isn’t he turning into one of them?, I asked. He worries about this—he claims he has turned down “bigger platforms and better jobs” in New York and Washington because he wants to keep his family and his sensibility grounded in Georgia. He has also told the radio station that when Gunnar starts Little League next year, he will need a new time slot....
“A lot of conservatives are now where liberals were after 2004—hysterically angry about things they have no business being angry about,” Erickson told me. “I think if you believe in a heaven, a hell, a savior who died and rose again, and a last day on which you’ll win because he wins, you probably should spend a lot less time getting worked up over the temporary politics of the here and now.”
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Aside from a debate over the state gas tax, if you want to know what's likely to bedevil the Georgia Legislature come next month, here's your answer: Medicaid reimbursement cuts. From the New York Times:
The Affordable Care Act provided a big increase in Medicaid payments for primary care in 2013 and 2014. But the increase expires on Thursday — just weeks after the Obama administration told the Supreme Court that doctors and other providers had no legal right to challenge the adequacy of payments they received from Medicaid.
The impact will vary by state, but a study by the Urban Institute, a nonpartisan research organization, estimates that doctors who have been receiving the enhanced payments will see their fees for primary care cut by 43 percent, on average.
The Urban Institute study estimates that cuts in Georgia will be 34.8 percent. Some states are chipping in their own money to maintain reimbursement rates, but Georgia has not said whether or not it will do so, according to the study.
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You know that Atlanta Fire Chief Kelvin Cochran is catching a lot of heat for authoring a book in which he describes homosexuality as a "sexual perversion." But leaf through the rest of the tome - called "Who Told You That You Are Naked?" - and you'll find a few other head-turning comments.
Here's what he had to say about Judaism:
In another passage, he makes clear that he views his job as a public servant through a religious prism:
--To cultivate its culture for the glory of God;
-- To keep it focused on its mission of saving lives and property;
--To sustain its culture, its members and its capabilities both now and for future generations."
And in another section, Cochran muses about how the world would have been better off if Eve had insisted that the serpent bearing forbidden fruit talk to her husband first.
I believe these words coming from Eve would have empowered and emboldened Adam as the protector of Eve and the Garden. He would have responded with righteous indignation and killed the serpent on the spot -- even cut off his head. The scriptural account could have possibly been 'And the Spirit of the Lord came upon Adam and he cut off the serpent's head and they lived happily ever after.'
Cochran has become something of a cause celebre for conservative groups urging members to bombard Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed with messages of support for the chief. Reed suspended Cochran on grounds that he didn't clear the book with his administration before publishing it.
Cochran has also attracted the attention from folks on both sides of the debate over the so-called "religious liberty" proposals, which supporters say is designed to prevent government interference on faith-based activities but critics fear could give businesses a license to discriminate.
Better Georgia, the left-leaning guerilla group which has scoured his book for incendiary comments, waded into the battle this morning. Says Better Georgia director Bryan Long:
"Chief Cochran's discriminatory beliefs and his clear intent to impose them in the workplace belittle women and illustrate exactly why [the] bill is so dangerous."
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Ava Duvernay's history pic "Selma" isn't slated for general release until late next week, but already the movie is stirring up talk for its story-telling liberties.
In Sunday's Washington Post, Joseph Califano, who was President Lyndon Johnson's top assistant for domestic affairs during the period, takes issue with the portrayal of his old boss as an opponent of the 1965 Alabama march, rather than as a co-conspirator. You can catch a glimpse of the movie's take on LBJ in this trailer:
Writes Califano:
In fact, Selma was LBJ's idea, he considered the Voting Rights Act his greatest legislative achievement, he viewed King as an essential partner in getting it enacted — and he didn't use the FBI to disparage him.
Then there's the case of Ralph David Abernathy Jr., who has been sidelined as a minor figure in the re-telling. From Leonard Greene in the New York Post:
Abernathy shared King's dream — and most of his jail cells.
But Abernathy, who died in 1990, has never been forgiven for writing about the dalliances of an unfaithful King. For destroying the perfect-man myth, Abernathy has been relegated to the historical sidelines of a revolution he was instrumental in developing.
About the Author
Greg Bluestein is the Atlanta Journal Constitution's chief political reporter. He is also an author, TV analyst and co-host of the Politically Georgia podcast.
