Chambliss may have supported the immigration compromise and he still has presumption on his side; a better way to compare candidates would seek to contrast their positions with those of the incumbent.

PS: Mrs. Deal ought to tell the liberal media to "be nice!" as well; of course, they wouldn't listen!

@youdawgyou:

@mcdawg: Thanks, very nice critique! With all the private construction cranes, now, in ATH, I am struck by the remarkable recovery of business confidence in certain sectors. I'd like to believe it is sustainable and don't really wish to predict another collapse; still, there is NO way this NEXT apartment/retail space expansion is sustainable!

In America, and parts of the globe excluding certain EU states, we see a re-birth of confidence that has been extremely hard fought (from the perspective of central bankers and political leaders.)

One wonders how long it might take to rebuild business and consumer confidence, in the future, if world citizens see and feel another collapse in the next few years or months?

HOW CAN Detroit compete with 1/2 price Toyotas? Knock on wood, we get to see how it unfolds!

@CreekWolf: Tuition vouchers for ALL! But your rhetoric is well placed and ought apply for admission to the democrat gathering as well.

One hopes Johnson is sincere when she laments the peculiar focus among black elites; they have no white counterpart, however.

STILL, separatism is thriving and even surging within public and private institutions and firms; likely tensions are more severe because employees are more desperate to retain jobs in the current economy.

In the south and in America the average man is likely to believe in "progress" in the recognition of civil rights for blacks and others; but they are equally likely to ignore the reality of separatism; and feel it will go away if it is ignored.

When it is found, say in the Fulton government, every effort is made to explain it away, and not consider its racial founding; instead, it ought be exposed and another truth be made known: Due to mistrust, individual ethnic groups (white; black; latino; etc.) will always seek advantage, and try and control who gets jobs; this fact is not changed if blacks are given the vote, have a voting majority, etc.

In other words, the idea that America has resolved racial tensions is much like the idea that a just-finished lawn mowering of the front yard might be the last one needed.

Rather than worry too much about re-opening old wounds, society, citizens and the press ought worry more about creating new ones.

West is necessarily a separatist; unlike du Bois, he's staying right here!

No "double-consciousness" for that man!

Du Bois says it is "always looking at one's self through the eyes of others, of measuring one's soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity" (299).

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Of course, I'd not sanction him for his speech; I'd not apologize for arresting him when he was wrong, either!

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Economic anxiety, though, continues to ride upon the back of our dominate prevailing consumerist culture; that culture is almost entirely composed of corporate marketing schemes. Our productive capacity, with the addition of E productivity gains, remains topped-out and dependent on greater gains, or collapse. It is, unfortunately, a classic "grow, or die" mentality. I'd argue it IS unsustainable; this time is NOT different!

The financial crisis, in some ways, has helped to sustain what is unsustainable. In the U.S., properly borrowed capital is effectively "free," and in the EU, they are considering negative interest rates -- or actually paying people to borrow and spend!

THEN, the worry about changes in the law -- law, defined as "the relationship between men" -- remains a pressing concern; it will get worse, before it gets better!

Of course, many economies of states and personal economies in the U.S. and elsewhere are on sustainable bases; others are doomed.

Our current prosperity, like that departed around 2007-2008, is unsustainable and based on miscalculations among investors fooled by EZ money, again. The average citizens, as well, likely is overly optimistic about a new, growing economy.

Economic security anxiety, again, will see groups and individuals believe and do remarkable things. Messengers and other criers are despised, persecuted and often formally prosecuted.

STILL, man's hope is Biblical; or some similar interpretation. Of that, there can be no doubt; nor is there doubt of known things including birth; life; and death.

Our struggle, while unfamiliar to the newest members, is age old; suffering never stayed for long.

Like him or not, The Dixie Dove has a bright future as a political operative or perhaps as an evangelist in one of those MegaChurches where they bilk elderly widows with promises of salvation; or a two-week time share!

I have to admire both his ability to predict political developments and the way he gets under the skin.

Of course, this time I was not persuaded to watch the male prostitute video; next time, DD, try even harder!

Pretty good coverage from the ABH and Coltrain; I am going to refrain from all the negative commenting .... errr .... well FAIL!

Not only is the ATH GOP meet unprecedented but so too is the emergence of the GOP GA "supermajority" in the state house;

Over a span of time that includes decades and decades, GA voters have only very gradually accepted the fact that Republicans and GOP candidates are not always carpet-baggers and federal spies;

One ought note the change from a solid south polity of yellow dawg democrats, only, to one where we have two full-fledged parties; not matter how you vote, you have more choices, today, than ever, probably!

Of note, as well, is the fact that many attending the GOP ATH meet, including the Governor, were democrats "D"s just a few short years, ago.

What about the future? Will democrats effectively challenge the now-dominant GOP?

Can democrats and moderate Republicans "team up" to defeat more conservative candidates such as Paul Broun in the hopes, either, that the Republican base is demoralized; or that opportunists such as Jack Kingston ride to the Senate even while he guts the GA Republican base (of conservative, religious grassroots organizations and individuals)?

Democratic state dominance seems to have faded sense the Great Moderation (1982-2007) took hold; yet when that relative prosperity began threatened voters seemed more willing to go the other way; they re-elected a democratic candidate last November.

Likely, relative prosperity is the friend of any dominant party; and foe when it is unsustainable or when it is threatened. Luckily, in America, angry voters and citizens can toss out elected leaders like old and smelly fish.

As noted before, poorly performing schools (or well performing) are not responsible for economic decline in the U.S.

The misplaced "emergency" however continues to spawn -- or serve as cover for -- at least three "dead ender" agendas:

1. The separatist agenda and separatist factionalism;
2. The test agenda;
3. The SPED agenda that has done so much to slow-down school efforts to mitigate the negative effects of falling revenues; SPED teachers work with individual or small groups while regular ed teachers see shockingly high classroom census.

He should have been booked into protective custody for people temporarily or permanently mentally ill. This is one more example of how ACCs, GA's and federal efforts to address acute and long-term needs of the mentally ill results in unnecessary and costly intervention by law enforcement personnel.

Hopefully West can reassure the GA GOP that it needn't consider African Americans and other "minorities" as significantly different than whites or latinos. The "white guilt" whipped up by the media is the problem; realizing that all people need and want pretty much the same things is the "solution" to the GOP angst.

By contrast, Democrats actively suborn "separatist" factionalism and often promise various real "recompense" schemes that heighten racial tensions and can have deleterious affects on the public institutions (schools; elections board; etc.) or private institutions where they are installed or pushed.

Around the world, separatism takes a huge, evil toll; it ought be "outed" and not suborned.

Economic decline in America today may be contributing to the current "re-think" on abortion. The fundamental transformation -- where relative prosperity and economic security tend to forestall child birth and limit family size -- is under severe and probably a sustained challenge; in the U.S., for many Americans, we see a rapid transformation of the economy from "developed" status; to developing status.

As more families and individuals worry about their financial and economic security, they may tend to place a higher value on family; and may seek to have more children in the belief that those kids might one day help take care of them.

On a more somber note, there is evidence (suicides; hospice aka "assisted suicide") that the elderly are responding to the economic transformation by relieving their families and societies of the burden of caring for them by suicide; and that some children are more quick to urge hospice care for elderly and sick parents in order to gain access to inheritance resources to remedy their own acute economic crisis.

PS: In addition to renewing efforts to regulate abortion, pro-lifers ought consider taking a harder look at "assisted suicide;" both of these issues seem, once again, in play, largely due to changes in the broader economy and anxiety about economic security among the general public.

@E.J.: Ya got me! I cannot regurgitate written in stone facts to evidence my claim; I simply haven't done the homework, and have only offered-up a guesstimate!

I do note, technically, that stopping drunk driving is a separate issue from the drinking age; in the military, now, and thanks I believe to Jack Kingston, soldiers on base who are 18-20 yo are allowed to possess and consume alcohol; they are not immune, of course, to DUI penalties nor should they be.

I would be satisfied, now, if federal policy-makers would revert to the old position that allowed states to set the drinking age without the extortionary threat to withhold part or all of their due transportation funds. Washington doesn't know best!

In a larger context, the pressure to install this foreign mandate, now, in the U.S. represents, again, the globalist urge to supplant domestic constituencies and to impose tyrannical rule from afar; as I have stated before, a lot of the "feel good" ideas and suggestions come straight from a wealthy technocratic global elite who fear reemerging domestic constituencies that may threaten their demands that underlie their own access to great wealth and power: Namely that sovereign states not restrict the free flow of labor, capital and trade goods across country lines.

@Shalmaneser: No, let's not. Instead, let's sum law enforcement efforts, punishments and fines, and then rearrange all that so that it articulates with behaviors on a pro-rata basis for causality. Drunk driving, of course, is a significant contributor to the highway carnage; but a drunk driving fatality has the same exact impact on family and friends as does the death of someone rear-ended by a semi; or someone killed when a female realtor, driving and talking on her cell, accidently runs over a bicyclist!

Again, anti-DUI efforts may be out of proportion to deaths and injuries caused by that behavior; if that is the case then OTHER behaviors that contribute significantly to accidents are relatively ignored. And that's why I would guess our current efforts and emphasis means more deaths on the road and not fewer.

I have seen, myself, the effects of "texting" and "talking on the phone" in other drivers: In fact, I'd argue these are at least as bad as drinking, if not worse; but I will bet the ACC police have NEVER arrested anyone for talking or texting on a cell phone! (And, if they did, the fine and punishment would amount to a slap on the wrist!)

STILL, policy-makers and politicians love to curry favor with all sorts of high-profile activists; rarely if ever do they listen to reason and that may be because they are more interested in keeping their personal power and privilege than they are in crafting the most effective public policy.

@Shalmaneser: By default, a focus on fiscal balance and sustainability checks the globalist agenda. What few realize is the necessity of deficit spending to push forward policies freeing-up the movement of labor, capital and trade goods -- unfettered -- across sovereign borders.

EG, if U.S. policy-makers ship-out our manufacturing and industrial base; and "in-source" foreign workers in meat-packing, carpet, poultry, etc.; then revenue losses on "living wage" jobs must be made up by borrowing. The grand "deal" is one where China, among others, agrees to finance the U.S. deficit in EXCHANGE for its gains in manufacturing and industrial capacity.

@EducateGeorgia: Seriously, we are pretty close, now, to a political furnace whose fortune is uncertain. THE call for modesty, centralism and well run trains may or may not protect the GOP's advantage in GA.

It's unclear whether the IRS/tea party "scandal" was simply well-staged, false propaganda from the democrats. Clearly, state GOP leaders cut the legs from under the GA tea party, themselves, when they refused to remedy the "punishment" meted out to districts refusing the TSPLOST vote.

You had Brian Kemp, once ensconced in the trappings of the GA Secr. of State's office, turn all blue and officious refusing to cut his own spending and then conducting a high profile campaign to force the Gov. and others to rescind their budget constraints, "Or, Else!"

STILL, Deal did make the Gen. Assbly run smoothly; but he also re-empowered Casey Cagle who is one of the more dangerously political operatives around;

Believing they'll transfigure the party image and gain overwhelming market-share is not a GOP idea, but a clever stratagem handed down from democrats. THEN, the party bases "gaydar" is not sufficient even to weed out and defeat obvious Trojan Horses.

@mcdawg: He probably feels he'd be a good pick to replace Bernanke!

Keep in mind that the policy elite have always regarded average Americans as over privileged, zenophobic, arrogant, and in need of taking down a notch or two. Their "good news" means business as usual for global elites; and more progress in transforming the relationship between capital and labor interests.

It's getting worse for workers in America and around the globe; and better for capital owners and their buddies -- bought and paid for -- residing in political circles.

Like it or not, tea party groups and other grass roots organizations are the last thing standing between political elites and the total enslavement of workers across the globe. Only domestic constituencies, now, have the metal and the resolve necessary to STOP the globalist agenda.

If we wait until the "educated" workers; and everyone else though immune from the new global labor contract; wake up and smell the coffee; and organize and act. It may be too late!

The shrinking of the manufacturing workforce is a global phenomenon and not a case of China or other countries stealing U.S. jobs. One study shows that China’s factory sector lost more workers in the 1995-2002 period than were employed by all U.S. plants.

Strauss, however, may be mixing oranges and apples. The global slowdown that hit Chinese workers was a result of the still ongoing global financial meltdown. Not only did declining demand cause layoffs in the U.S., but it created a global depression.

The "service economy," as well, is NOT sustainable without the sorts of jobs that afford people the ability to go out to dinner, a movie; etc. They can wash their own clothes, as well. They don't have to come to a convention in Athens! In a collapsed economy, these jobs and the people who hold them, are more vulnerable than any other workers such as those in more vital pursuits like manufactures and production;

The longer trend in the U.S., though, is one that has outsourced manufacturing jobs and has done so as a result of policy changes including free trade pacts that place American manufacturers at competitive disadvantage. The Fed's role, as well, in loosening capital controls did much to build foreign manufacturing infrastructure.

All along, the technocrats knew the consequences for the average American worker and believed, somehow, that a more robust welfare state would compensate the displaced. They though cheaper Chinese consumer goods at Wal Mart might take some of the sting out of the loss of living wage jobs in America. They also knew that foreign borrowing and deficit spending could stoke a bubble in the service sector that would stay domestic complaints. How did the housing bubble work out, btw? Are we now printing money we can no longer borrow?

What we want, Mr. Strauss, is not high-minded rhetoric from the now global elite; we want back the real economic opportunity and living wage jobs we had before people like you got your hands on the policy controls! Ask your boss in the White House to STOP flooding the U.S. labor market with cheap illegal workers even while he hides behind his new-found concern for recent immigrants. People are beginning to understand the scam; and who is responsible for it!

@EducateGeorgia: I voted for Denson, this time, instead of O'Looney! (Hope I don't get in trouble for admitting that!) I'd guess there are plenty of others out there, like the King! She trounced O'Looney, remember? I forgot to mention that some of our political leaders always used the "d" when a big old "R" was what they really were. If you weren't already outnumbered, this weekend will make you feel, I guess, like Custer felt when he realized his miscalculation!

Look, Elroy! Looks like that little yellow dog done got run-over!

Curriculum's were traditionally developed by local teachers often in collaboration with their peers. Today, in GA, and around the U.S., we've "dumbed-down" the teaching profession so much that we have now mere managers who are handed a marching order to carry out. This may suit the new ranks of un and underqualified (often "politically-correct," political appointees) Superintendents, Principals and APs; but it's not in the best interests of real teachers; their students; or education in GA and around the U.S.

Girding our educational institutions as for war is wrong: Schools and educators did not cause the U.S. standard of living to fall. Those responsible reside in the political class and they are the ones who laid a foundation that guaranteed lower standards of livings; and declining support of education.

@E.J.: Oh, come on, EJ! If advocates would listen to the King and see DUI not in an isolated context but as one of many factors in highway deaths then they might develop a more comprehensive, effective strategy to police the roads. Not only that, but per mile driven, likely injury and fatality rates would decline.

If "zero tolerance" worked, we'd already be approaching the "zero death" mark!

You are in good stead with the other angry, irritated folks willing to pick-up pitchforks and go hunting for whatever straw man the authorities can conjure in their own bids to gain more power, pay and budgetary authority! Raising the age of consumption to "21" has done far more harm in America than good. People like you are angry enough not to care about the wholesale lock-up of so many young people and the effects on their future careers and lives. If you wish to lock-up drunk drivers, I applaud you! But zero tolerance efforts do more harm than good. Please check you personal rage at the door and allow the adults to continue speaking!

@Shalmaneser: I stand by my comments. "Most fatalities on our highways and waterways are not caused by drinking drivers ..."

In 2009, about 1/3 of the deaths were alcohol related; what about the other 2/3?

Do they NOT count?

WHEN will the neoliberals get past stoking hysteria for political gain, and get back in the business of reducing the carnage on the highways?

@Save our Republic: You are well aware of the "threat" of withholding federal transportation funds IF state leaders fail to implement the new rules; in the article, it was noted these rules, themselves, did not even originate in the U.S. but in foreign countries!

I think we place too much emphasis on DUI prevention at the expense of more pedestrian causes of injuries and fatalities; and I guess the reason we do so is because of the "sin factor" still firmly around the neck of "demon" alcohol!

A more reasonable and effective approach would punish behaviors in some sort of relation to causality.

The proposed standards and GA's present 0.08 standard for drivers and boaters are too low; lowering the standards will only enhance our robust and surging police state while lowering public confidence in law enforcement; and cause more highway deaths and not fewer.

Finally, a friend, loved-one, or any person killed on the roads is just as valuable, just as worthy and equally beloved as is someone injured or killed by a drunk driver. Unfortunately, MADD has long worked to gird media rhetoric and public psychology to suggest, somehow, that those who die because someone made a poor choice about alcohol are more worthy of public note, attention and sympathy. That is not the case, however; perhaps some on your side will have to get used to a new "equal?"

Shearer rightly notes one more high-profile attempt by UGA advocates to make "their system" more sustainable by re-building public confidence in UGA and higher education.

Efforts on campus, however, ought not be monopolized by folks promising the ever-elusive (but now the marketing-strategy-du-jour) "sustainability."

Instead, they ought realize lowered financial support for higher education is a direct result of a flattened U.S. economy and resulting lower revenues that can go towards UGA and public education efforts.

If they continue to support free trade agreements that place U.S. workers at a disadvantage; if they continue to admire, in a mirror, the most recent globalization "miracle;" and if they continue to imagine their own potential for great power and wealth -- bossing around the "uneducated" -- as leaders of a global technocratic elite; then nothing they can do or say is remotely sustainable for any of them; or any of us!