Morning, y’all! Happy Panic Week to all who celebrate. (That’s the week before Christmas Day.)
Let’s get to it.
SOMEONE HAS IT OUT FOR BURT JONES
A mysterious group called Georgians for Integrity has spent millions on scathing ads criticizing Lt. Gov. Burt Jones. Jones is running for Georgia governor, and his campaign isn’t happy about the oppo blitz.
- The 30-second spot accuses Jones of lying about his assets and claims Jones created a new law that allows his family to enrich themselves by leasing land to a hospital.
- The reference is to a Jones-backed hospital overhaul that’s garnered scrutiny in Georgia for years because of how it may benefit the Lt. Gov.’s father, who owns nearby land. Read more about the issue here.
- The fascinating thing is, no one really knows who this Georgians for Integrity group is. It hasn’t registered as a political entity, a fact that Jones’ team is using in an ethics complaint. Jones’ campaign also demanded Atlanta-area outlets pull the ad.
- Whoever’s behind it has a lot of money. The group has spent more than $4 million so far on ads and flyers, a number that rivals the war chests of several high-profile campaigns.
Who could it be?
The obvious theory is “some Democrats who don’t like Jones.” However, Jones has also made enemies of fellow Republican gubernatorial hopefuls Attorney General Chris Carr and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. Both men deny being involved, and Democrats claim to be just as out of the loop as their GOP counterparts.
🔎 READ MORE: Theories about a million-dollar mystery
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REMOVING HISTORY
Tomorrow, Dec. 19, is the deadline for bookstores and concessions at more than 400 sites operated by the National Park Service to get rid of any material deemed to “promote specific viewpoints” or “radical and divisive ideologies.”
- The Trump administration rule, enacted through the Interior Department, isn’t very specific, but earlier this year, NPS officials flagged books about George Washington, slavery and Native Americans as potentially problematic items.
- In Georgia, the rule could hit hard at sites like Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park and MLK Jr. National Historical Park and Memorial.
What are the Ocmulgee Mounds?
- The mounds were spiritually significant to the Muscogee (Creek) people. Some of them rise 50 feet in the air and can be found all the way to Wisconsin. Muscogee descendants visit the site every year to remember their connection to the land.
- However, as we all know, Indigenous people were forced off their land and violently eradicated. That history, along with the Civil Rights Movement, can easily fall under what some people call “specific viewpoints” and “radical and divisive ideologies.”
The AJC’s Nedra Rhone takes a look at what we lose when we forget about difficult, ugly moments in our past. Specifically, we lose the good, too: pride in different cultures and pride of those who fought to make our country a better place for more people.
WILLIS ON THE STAND
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis gave fiery, frank testimony yesterday during a Georgia Senate committee hearing.
Willis was questioned by Sen. Greg Dolezal, vice chair of a committee founded to investigate the DA’s handling of the Donald Trump election interference case.
- “A dumbass question”: Dolezal asked Willis if she’d discussed the election investigation with special prosecutor Nathan Wade before she took office in January 2020.
- Willis pointed out the impetus for the case, a phone call between Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, happened a year later in 2021. “It’s a dumbass question,” she said.
- Not shying away from race: Willis made no secret that she thought the whole investigation, led by an all-white Republican panel, was racially motivated.
- “I indicted (Trump and the others). I’d indict them again,” she said. “I know you’re offended that a Black district attorney had the audacity to indict rich white men.”
What happens next?
Honestly? There’s no clear answer. The committee is supposed to consider legislation that would regulate district attorneys’ conduct and can’t punish Willis by sanctioning her or removing her from office. The hearing also wasn’t a trial.
🔎 READ MORE: The term ‘witch hunt’ got a lot of use during the hearing, too
MUST-KNOW POLITICS AND BUSINESS
🚂 Two big rail unions oppose the $85B Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger. The groups are concerned the bicoastal deal will jeopardize safety and jobs, among other issues.
⚖️ A trial is set for South Fulton Mayor khalid “Kobi” kamau in a puzzling criminal trespassing case. It’s just one of the embattled outgoing mayor’s controversies.
💰 A bidding war is underway for Warner Bros. Here’s what to know about competing deals from Netflix and Paramount.
NEWS BITES
The Oscars will move to YouTube in 2029
Do you smell that? It’s the smell of a tectonic shift in the media landscape.
No, I have no idea what tectonic shifts smell like.
What Americans think about giving cash as gifts, according to a poll
I like it when people do elaborate gifting gymnastics to avoid looking gauche when giving money. It’s almost a whole other custom in and of itself.
ON THIS DATE
Dec. 18, 1999
E-shopping a hit this season. Today is likely the biggest day in retail history, with millions of Christmas shoppers spending record amounts everywhere from small shops on Main Street to glitzy stores in malls. But for most online merchants, who typically need a few days to pick, pack and ship goods, the sales peak passed earlier this week. Now the cyber-companies must prove they can deliver boxes in the real world by Dec. 24.
Who doesn’t love e-shopping at cyber companies? Oh, we were so innocent then.
ONE MORE THING
The superscript dot on a lowercase “i” or “j” is called a tittle. It’s an example of a diacritical mark, which is a mark added to a letter. Lots of written languages have them. The best have cool names, like tittles, tildes (~), circumflexes (^) and ümlauts.
Thanks for reading to the very bottom of A.M. ATL. Questions, comments, ideas? Contact us at AMATL@ajc.com.
Until next time.
About the Author
AJ Willingham is an National Emmy, NABJ and Webby award-winning journalist who loves talking culture, religion, sports, social justice, infrastructure and the arts. She lives in beautiful Smyrna-Mableton and went to Syracuse University.
