Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank offered his own interpretation of protests NFL players have staged this season by kneeling during the national anthem.
“It’s very clear that the players have no interest whatsoever in being disrespectful to the flag or the anthem,” Blank told GPB’s Ricky Bevington this past week. “I think that what they’re trying to do is get some attention on what they view as some of the social injustice issues we’re dealing with.
“Dealing with facts relating to racism, dealing with facts relating to criminal injustice, bail procedures, police accountability. They have close relationships with policemen and policewomen. I think police accountability, like life accountability, is important.”
Blank added that the players “also understand the country.”
“And this is my view,” Blank went on, “that the flag is a fabric. I think the flag stands for certain things. It stands for our Constitution. It stands for our civil rights. It stands for all of our amendments that go with the Constitution.”
President Donald Trump took a different stance on the kneeling protests in a tweet.
“The NFL is now thinking about a new idea — keeping teams in the Locker Rood during the National Anthem next season. That’s almost as bad as kneeling! When will the highly paid Commissioner finally get tough and smart? This issue is killing your league! ….”
It’s actually not that new an idea — it’s essentially the tack Kennesaw State University recently took after five cheerleaders knelt during the anthem.
It also didn’t go that well.
University System of Georgia officials in October told Kennesaw State President Sam Olens and his peers that taking a knee during the anthem is constitutionally protected free speech and the schools should not interfere unless it causes a disruption. Any change, the presidents were told, would have to be discussed with the University System.
The following Saturday, Kennesaw State implemented a policy change keeping the cheerleaders in its stadium tunnel as “The Star-Spangled Banner” played. University System officials did not learn about the change from Olens, though. They read it in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
An eruption of support: The endorsements were coming out hot and heavy this past week — most of them involving Atlanta's runoff elections next month, but there were enough to also add intrigue to next year's governor's race.
A prime example would be the coming together of a pair of Democrats, Atlanta mayoral candidate Keisha Lance Bottoms and gubernatorial hopeful Stacey Evans.
It’s a deal that could ensure backs remain suitably scratched a year from now.
Bottoms, an Atlanta councilwoman, is in a tough race with Mary Norwood, a fellow member of the City Council. Each has staked out a base of power — Bottoms in south Atlanta with a strong bloc of African-American voters, Norwood in Buckhead and other parts north and predominantly white.
That turns the spotlight on east Atlanta.
Bottoms has been working the territory hard, winning support from Jason Carter — the onetime Democratic candidate for governor who represented the area in the state Senate — and Carter’s successor there, state Sen. Elena Parent.
Evans represents one more white politician to back Bottoms and possibly raise her appeal in east Atlanta and Atlanta-in-DeKalb.
The new mutual admiration between Bottoms and Evans also adds a significant boost to the latter’s campaign.
With Bottoms presumably comes perhaps her biggest supporter, current Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed.
The two of them could be a big plus for Evans in her fight with Stacey Abrams, the other Democrat, so far, in the governor’s race. Abrams, who is aiming to become the first black female governor in the nation’s history, has focused much of her campaign on African-American women. It’s a good move, at least to win the Democratic nomination. They’re the largest and most reliable segment of the party.
With Bottoms and Reed in her corner, Evans could have a chance to cut into Abrams’ base.
Putting on a show: The biggest endorsement still out there could belong to Cathy Woolard, who finished a strong third in the first round of voting in the mayor's race thanks to east Atlanta.
In a move that seems influenced by Lebron James’ “The Decision” — if you’re not a basketball fan, ask somebody from Cleveland because they remember — Woolard is putting on a show.
She’s calling it “#FightingForATL: A Conversation About Issues, Values and Vision,” giving Bottoms and Norwood another chance to make their respective cases. It’s set for 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Carter Center. By the way, it’s sold out.
A few more signs of support: Joining Carter and Parent in endorsing Bottoms were a number of other Democratic leaders: state Reps. Park Cannon, David Dreyer and Pat Gardner; and former state Rep. Kathy Ashe. Former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young waited a few days before he also jumped on Bottoms' side.
Meanwhile, Ceasar Mitchell, the outgoing president of the Atlanta City Council whose own bid to become mayor fell short, backed Norwood.
The cost of not paying: Here's the $220 million question: What is free?
Invest Atlanta, the city's economic development arm, is going to court to challenge a city Board of Ethics ruling over "free" tickets to football and soccer games at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The Board of Ethics found that, by city ordinance, the ducats are illegal gratuities, according to The Fulton County Daily Report.
Josh Belinfante, the attorney for Invest Atlanta, said the more than $220 million the agency “facilitated” for the stadium, through public funds, proves the tickets were far from free. He told the newspaper the agency should be allowed to use the tickets to showcase the city.
Money for cops: After Gov. Nathan Deal pushed through a raise last year for members of the Georgia State Patrol, localities across the state started looking at compensation for their own police officers and sheriff's deputies.
West Cobb County Commissioner Bob Weatherford thought about floating a bond or levying a homestead option sales tax to boost law enforcement officers’ income.
Now, he's seeking what's being called a "public safety option sales tax," The Marietta Daily Journal reports. He's proposing a bump in the county's sales tax from 6 cents to 7 cents on the dollar, which the county's voters would have to approve in a referendum. That extra penny, Weatherford thinks, would raise about $138 million a year. That would be shared with Cobb's six cities, leaving the county about $98 million to pump into its Public Safety Department.
Candidates, endorsements, etc.:
— Abrams landed support from two groups rooted in the national Democratic Party's progressive wing.
Besides announcing its backing of Abrams, the Working Families Party, a national progressive advocacy group, plans to help raise small-dollar donations for her campaign.
Meanwhile, MoveOn.Org reported that a majority of its members — about 83 percent — voted to support Abrams’ campaign.
— Atlanta Councilman Alex Wan, who faces Councilwoman Felicia Moore next month in a runoff for president of the City Council, notched a pair of endorsements in the past week. First, he won over the support of a third candidate in that race, Councilman C.T. Martin. Then, one of Martin's biggest backers, U.S. Rep. John Lewis of Atlanta, also endorsed Wan.
The week in Georgia politics
Here's a look at some of the political and government stories that The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's staff broke online during the past week. To see more of them, go to http://www.myajc.com/georgia-politics/.
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