Only several days ago, the Paulding County GOP posted a YouTube video of its Saturday, Aug. 15 gathering that featured state Sen. Josh McKoon, R-Columbus. During his address, McKoon spoke of S.B. 129, his "religious liberty" legislation embraced by many religious conservatives -- in large part as a means of protecting them from the implications of legalized gay marriage.
The measure has failed twice in the last two years. It is a sure topic of discussion in 2016. The problem, McKoon said, isn’t the LGBT lobby or Democrats. Watch:
Said McKoon:
Watch McKoon's entire presentation here. Regardless of how you come down on the issue, the above is a remarkably blunt assessment of the business-base split now afflicting the Georgia GOP.
Better Georgia, the left-leaning advocacy group that McKoon mentioned above, offered this response:
"We know from talking with Republican and Democratic legislators who stopped Sen. McKoon's bill that they listened to constituents in their home districts. Their constituents overwhelmingly oppose Sen. McKoon's bill, which would be used to discriminate against gays and lesbians."
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Speaking of culture. After much debate, and an appeal by the local NAACP, school officials decided to keep using the nickname "Rebels" at Effingham County High School on Georgia's coast.
But they made a concession. The Savannah Morning News reports that the school "will make sure that sports uniforms have an "E" rather than a caricature of a Confederate soldier."
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The disturbing killings of a television news reporter and photographer in Roanoke, Va., sparked a swift reply from Rep. John Lewis, D-Atlanta, on the need for gun control. Lewis' statement:
"This is a very, very sad, all too frequent tragedy. There are just too many guns available in this country that get into the hands of sick people, angry people, and irresponsible people.
"How many more deaths will it take for us to finally take some reasonable action against this kind of wanton violence? We send troops to fight enemies on foreign soil, but somehow we cannot find the courage or the will to answer unchecked violence here at home. This is the most violent Western nation in the world. How many more innocent people will be murdered before we are finally provoked to do all we can about the proliferation of guns in our society?
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Lewis also weighed in on the death of a civil rights movement legend: Amelia Boynton Robinson. From the New York Times obituary about the woman who helped organize the "Bloody Sunday" Selma march:
News coverage of Bloody Sunday — in which at least 17 demonstrators, including Mrs. Boynton Robinson, were hospitalized — was considered pivotal in winning wide popular support for the civil rights movement. After her release, Mrs. Boynton Robinson was a guest of honor at the White House on Aug. 6, 1965, when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the federal Voting Rights Act into law, an event seen as a direct consequence of the marches.
Lewis, who was also beaten that day, had this to say:
"It was a great pleasure to get to know her and to work with her in our grassroots effort to transform America. Amelia Boynton Robinson never got weary. She never gave up. She never gave in. She kept the faith. She kept on defending the need to respect human dignity in America. Her work and her accomplishments were a source of inspiration for so many people in the South and around our country."
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Cobb County Sheriff Neil Warren and Gwinnett County Sheriff Butch Conway have written letters to Georgia's senators opposing Dax Lopez for a federal judgeship, according to a report from InsiderAdvantage.
Lopez, a judge in DeKalb County, was nominated by President Barack Obama in July to serve in the Northern District of Georgia. He would be Georgia's first Hispanic lifetime-appointed federal judge.
Though he was appointed to the state bench by Republican Gov. Sonny Perdue, Lopez has garnered opposition from conservative activists for his position on the board of the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials, which takes a liberal stance on immigration laws.
Georgia Republican Sens. Johnny Isakson and David Perdue have said they will meet with Lopez and have not committed one way or another to his nomination. Through the "blue slip" system, they serve as de facto gatekeepers to Senate confirmation.
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Holland & Knight, the law and governmental affair firm, informs us that it has hired Jeremy Collins, formerly chief of staff to state Senate President pro tem David Shafer, R-Buford, as a senior public affairs adviser. Collins previously the political director for Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal's 2010 campaign and then served as Gov. Deal's liaison to the state Senate.
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Over at Creative Loafing, Thomas Wheatley has identified a new target for next year's Legislature:
Last year, Georgia lawmakers slapped regulations on ride-share companies such as Uber and Lyft. Airbnb, a Silicon Valley darling valued at more than $25 billion, escaped scrutiny. But the state's hotel and motel lobby is pushing for increased regulations on the online businesses that are sluicing away small streams of their revenue. Starting next month, state lawmakers will begin a series of meetings aimed at studying the industry, a process that could result in legislation regulating Airbnb and other websites that have made non-traditional traveling easier than ever.
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Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry's wife is in town the next few days to meet with her husband's supporters. Ginger Howard, the Republican's top operative here, said Anita Perry will visit her Buckhead office at 5:30 this evening.
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