Farewell to a darn good judge
Thinking Right’s weekend free-for-all. Pick a topic:
● Finally, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi acknowledges reality. Says she of our president: “There are a number of things he was for on the campaign trail.” At issue was whether negotiations over the final health care legislation would be opened to C-SPAN cameras, something the president embraced as a candidate. They won’t.
● Republican gubernatorial candidate Karen Handel says the men running against her can’t clean up a culture of “sex, lies and lobbyists” under the Gold Dome because they “created the mess.” Men, as the lady knows, are not monolithic. That’s the view of liberals. The men running against her were not born when the culture of “sex, lies and lobbyists” took root under the Gold Dome. Their sin is that they and the women, too, perpetuated it.
● Economists gathered in Atlanta debate why so few of them saw this economic meltdown coming. Why? Because they were of follow-the-pack consensus, just as many climate scientists are now on global warming. It’s worth noting that predicting the meltdown is far easier for those who study economic data than for those who study climate. Brrrrrrrr.
● Residents of DeKalb and Fulton object to a possible 1-cent sales tax increase in 10 metro Atlanta counties for transportation, including MARTA. They want the 1-cent MARTA sales tax to constitute their share. Fact is, they made the choice to spend a cent for MARTA while other counties spent a cent for roads. Residents in the eight other counties should oppose any proposal that shifts the MARTA burden to those who aren’t served by it.
● Every government policy — absolutely all — should be to encourage marriage. Why? People problems can’t be fixed until the family is. A just-released report finds that the South has become the first region in the country where more than half of public school students are poor and minorities. Almost three-quarters of black children and half of Hispanic are born to single women. Instant poverty. Bizarre, then, that the new Democratic health care bill would make it more costly for a married couple to buy health insurance than for unmarrieds living together.
● Kudos to Georgia Department of Transportation Commissioner Vance Smith for declining to let opposition to a proposed underground roadway through Atlanta by new Mayor Kasim Reed kill the worthy idea. At some point, the state has to get serious about fixing bottlenecks and relieving traffic congestion. The answer from Atlanta will always be “no.” It long ago demonstrated that neighborhood parochialism dominates the political process. With high-density development already approved, Atlanta is a future traffic nightmare. The underground roadway is for all Georgia.
● Senior U.S. District Court Judge Anthony Alaimo, who died last week, was the kind of judge all jurists should aspire to be. His work on a 25-year-old lawsuit over conditions at Georgia State Prison in Reidsville struck the balance between judicial activism and the appropriate sternness in pushing Georgia to improve conditions. The maximum-security prison should have been closed years before the 1972 suit was filed. Its isolation made for a “prison culture” with generation after generation of families working there. Medical care was inadequate. Most inmates came from the Atlanta area and it was exceedingly difficult for families to visit. At one point, he visited Reidsville, saw the problem guards and administrators faced with a group of destructive inmates and told the commissioner, “Just do the best you can.” Great judge. And a great loss.
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
29 comments Add your comment
ZAHIR
January 8th, 2010
12:39 am
I’M NOT A SUPPORTER OF THE 10 METRO COUNTIES PAYIN A TAX…I THINK THAT IS GOING TO FAR OR STEPPING AHEAD TO FAR….I THINK IT SHOULD BE…FULTON, DEKALB, CALYTON, COBB, GWINNETT, AND HENRY COUNTIES AND MAYBE DOUGLAS…I THINK IT WOULD BE A BETTER CHANCE TO PAST IF OTHER COUNTIES OUTSIDE THAT WANT TO JOIN LET THEM…BUT I DON’T SEE THAT JUST THE 5 – 7 COUNTIES I MENTIONES
jt
January 8th, 2010
7:06 am
” Bizarre, then, that the new Democratic health care bill would make it more costly for a married couple to buy health insurance than for unmarrieds living together.”
Not bizarre, it is intentional. Weak families make better state subjects.
dave
January 8th, 2010
7:38 am
Thnak You, the men were not by themselves
Joan
January 8th, 2010
8:53 am
“Bizarre, then, that the new Democratic health care bill would make it more costly for a married couple to buy health insurance than for unmarrieds living together”. JT has it right, but he could just as well said weak (or no) families make for more Democratic voters.
Road Scholar
January 8th, 2010
9:11 am
“Their sin is that they and the women, too, perpetuated it.”
And they did this under the guise of religion and a religeous agenda! Not only are they adulterers, but also religeous hypocrits. Didn’t Jesus cast the hypocrites out? Shouldn’t the sinners and those who knew resign? What would Jesus do?
“Residents in the eight other counties should oppose any proposal that shifts the MARTA burden to those who aren’t served by it.”
By providing alternate transportation, and having those in the inner counties using mass transit, aren’t the outlieing county’s residents “served” by the reduced demand of roadways near activity centers by the use of Mass Transit? Also when gas prices increase, don’t people use the bus transit services from outlying areas as shown by the past?
As for single vs married costs, why do you think the married is not twice the single cost? Because of kids! Why not go the way of some businesses and have a single, dual (W/o children), and a married cost. Let the parents enjoy even more the pleasure of having children!
Stan Kelley
January 8th, 2010
9:31 am
Paul Krugman predicted the “meltdown” of the economy. I presume that you will now pay more attention to his economic views. The one’s blinded by doctrine were the “efficient markets” and “rational expectations” school housed at the University of Chicago. Their economic analysis is akin to navel gazing. The Keynesians largely got it right. They pay attention to the world and not just what is in their own heads.
jconservative
January 8th, 2010
9:33 am
Jim says – “Every government policy — absolutely all — should be to encourage marriage. Why? People problems can’t be fixed until the family is….Almost three-quarters of black children and half of Hispanic are born to single women.”
Go back to Daniel Patrick Moynihan’s 1965 Labor Dept report, “The Negro Family: The Case for National Action”, on the fall of the American family. Every single point he made in that report has turned out to be correct. He recommended legislation to correct the looming problem and both Democrats & Republicans said no.
The rest is history. We had plenty of warning but choose, for political reasons, to ignore the evidence in front of our eyes.
This country has become expert at ignoring evidence.
Wow
January 8th, 2010
10:11 am
Um, Wooten says “Fact is, they made the choice to spend a cent for MARTA while other counties spent a cent for roads.” Fact is, I was a nothing more than a passing thought in my parent’s mind when this decision was made.
“The men running against her were not born when the culture of “sex, lies and lobbyists” took root under the Gold Dome.” Why give our elected officials a pass while going after citizens of Fulton and Dekalb counties? Many of whom weren’t even living in Atlanta when MARTA was constructed. Your views on these two subject clearly shows your bias. Republicans ran on cleaning up the corruption in the state house, but instead embraced it. As representatives of the citizens of Georgia, they should be held to a higher standard than average citizens, but again you let them off the hook. I would only hope that you would do the same if the majority were democrats, but I won’t hold my breath.
Shawny
January 8th, 2010
10:15 am
http://www.accessatlanta.com/celebrities-tv/lost-fans-fear-obama-269585.html?cxntlid=thbz_hm
Ok, first A Charlie Brown Christmas, and now Lost?!?
I now officially despise the CIC.
Eponymous
January 8th, 2010
10:20 am
“Every government policy — absolutely all — should be to encourage marriage”
You forgot to add “between a man and a woman only.”
Why on Earth would you preach the importance of marriage and 2-parent, stable famiies out of one side of your mouth and fight gay marriage out the other? The fight for gay marriage is basically an acknowledgement that conservatives were right, stable family units are good for society. Why can’t conservatives accept this victory and enjoy the cration of more loving families?
Chris Broe
January 8th, 2010
10:20 am
Thoughts and prayers to the Alaimo family.
Sex and lies……”Their sin is that they and the women, too, perpetuated it” God, the Father, blogging with himself (using two other aliases) after evacuating the population of Eden?
“Almost three-quarters of black children and half of Hispanic are born to single women.” The true fact is that the vast majority of single moms are white, redstate, born again flat-earther birthers from hell. This entry has all the charm of a Michael Jordan acceptance speech. It’s as loopy as a Mariah Carey acceptance speech. It’s as inappropriate as a Vanessa Redgrave acceptance speech. (”I’d like to blame the zionist hoodlums for my award, oh, so many names, I’ll never get through it.”) And as predictable as the ghost dance Marlon Brando pulled off at his award speech .
Atlanta Metro is a single entity. Marta pennies are everyone’s duty. A traffic jam caused by a single, white, born-again, flat-earther birther mom in Griffin is just as much Cobb’s problem as Spaulding’s. Everything is connected in Atlanta. You can’t jerrymander traffic jams, sir.
“It’s worth noting that predicting the meltdown is far easier for those who study economic data than for those who study climate. Brrrrrrrr.” If Al Roker was Keyensian?
Sarah Palin’s entire speech (yesterday) was a weather report spoken verbatum from a local wintery forecast in Minnesota. Her ice-tea party audience was steeped in secessionist stupor over every word from her hot lips….. If the election were held today, Palin would win in an avalanche. How do you stop a moving glacier?
You cant. Dont even try.
Union City
January 8th, 2010
10:58 am
I don’t want to pay 2 cents (1 for marta and 1 for the region) while cobb and douglas pay 1 cent for the region and get to use marta….something’s gravely wrong w/ that picture.
Hillbilly Deluxe
January 8th, 2010
12:48 pm
Atlanta is a future traffic nightmare.
Future???
Aquagirl
January 8th, 2010
12:59 pm
The idea that MARTA doesn’t serve other counties is absurd. Check parking lots at a MARTA station and you’ll see how many leeches are riding on someone else’s dime.
Why in the world would Atlanta back an underground tunnel? As a metro resident, why should I be taxed for transportation in my backyard that is meant to serve others? Oh, wait,spending city folks’ money to accommodate others is okay in Jim’s world. God forbid Cherokee county spend money on MARTA, but a tunnel thru Atlanta is included in my taxes. Welcome to Jim’s Bizarro World!
Ragnar Danneskjöld
January 8th, 2010
1:16 pm
I am pleased to claim that I correctly forecast the recession, on this blog, almost two years ago. I did not forecast the bursting housing bubble, but of course that is only a small element of the current distress. The forecast was easy – one merely needed to look at the tax-and-regulate regimen elected in November 2006. And the distress hit right on time, approx one year after Speaker Pelosi assumed her position. Leftist overlords always destroy productive jobs, by increasing jobs in the unproductive sector.
Road Scholar
January 8th, 2010
1:19 pm
Aquagirl: Oh so cut through traffic on city streets, and resulting bad air quality is good for you? The COA area will add 2 million more people in the next 20 years according to estimates from ARC. So, how do all people move around? And since traffic will be so bad, how will you get to the store/hospital/ etc?
Ragnar Danneskjöld
January 8th, 2010
1:19 pm
Dear Hillbilly @ 12:48, I would also have omitted the word “traffic.”
Wow
January 8th, 2010
3:10 pm
Those suburbanites need to buck up and pitch in with MARTA. If not, have someone in all MARTA parking lots writing tickets to cars w tags that aren’t Fulton or Dekalb. I saw a lot of cars in the parking lot New Year’s Eve that were from Douglas, Cobb, even Haralson. Why should I have to subsidize their trips downtown? Socialism goes both ways conservatives.
Chris Broe
January 8th, 2010
3:16 pm
Most Keynesians whom I know couldn’t predict the outcome of a bowel movement.
Jklol
Michael H. Smith
January 9th, 2010
4:19 am
Yeah, just look at all those suburbanite federal tax paying MARTA funding leeches who never once set their butts down on a MARTA seat or parked their car on MARTA property.
Please, make us pay more!
SFM
Stan Kelley
January 9th, 2010
7:15 am
Jklol: How many Keynesians do you know?
Aquagirl
January 9th, 2010
10:09 am
@ Road—They can use MARTA. Duh.
Of course, that’s assuming they start paying their fare share, and I’m not holding my breath on those suburban welfare recipients.
Road Scholar
January 9th, 2010
11:08 am
Aquagirl: MARTA/transit does not go everywhere we need to go, and I live ITP near a MARTA station. Now, I support MARTA and its expansion/merger with all the regional transit systems out there. I support Intracity and intercity rail. We need a rail/transit expansion to address our growth (past and present-allows concentrated multi-use growth) and to provide choices ( do I take transit and send x minutes getting there or chance the auto and take y minutes getting there; what do I have to carry?)
But rail/transit is not the only answer. Local freight movements/ deliveries are required. The system has to be balanced, and, in the future maybe weighted toward transit. But mobility and air quality must be improved.
” I’m not holding my breath on those suburban welfare recipients.” Is that the only type of citizen using transit? Welfare? In focus groups regarding transit of in and out of the city residents, the main issues why they rode transit was cost, travel time dependability, and, the main recuring reason, stress reduction. They had enough stress at work and their families and this provided them a time to access their homes/jobs/shopping while relaxing, using their computers, reading, thinking etc.
While the poor do rely on tansit more for all their travel, it is a shame that you limit your arguement to the poor, because they aren’t the only ones who benefit. People with cars who take transit leave their cars at home, thus freeing up space/capacity on the roadways, which allows them to flow better than if transit did not exist!
Jess
January 9th, 2010
11:30 am
Chris B,
Like to see your source for the vast majority of single mothers being white, redstate, born again flat earthers from hell. I was not aware researchers went into that much detail. But on the other hand, I’m sure you wouldn’t exagerate, or completely fabricate such a thing.
Jess
January 9th, 2010
12:01 pm
As Pelosi said, Obama said lots of things on the campaign trail.
What thrills me most about the health care bill is that now in addition to funding Georgia’s Medicaid program, Mr. Reid has decided Georgians get the opportunity to fund Nebraska’s as well. How thoughtful.
Chris Broe
January 11th, 2010
7:19 am
I can name that loon in 5 comments. (”Name That Loon” is a free straight-to-video game provided by the AJC Online. The object is to finger the moron who’s posting under several aliases, to himself, and pretending he’s debating with an objective third party person guy pretending to be a LADY! who thinks she’s fooling everyone. The rules of this game are exactly like Name That Tune)
Med
January 14th, 2010
6:34 am
The issue for the next ten years: reform of the legal system in the U.S. Both the civil and criminal justice systems have become dysfunctional. Who will oppose reform? The lawyers who, since they have a vested interest, should play a very small role in the reform process. This is not a “left”/”right” issue, but it is a critical issue that needs addressing.
96 SC
February 11th, 2010
12:19 am
Karen Handel is Georgia’s Sarah Palin. Karen is best employe an entry level File Clerk or to be more generous as a WWaffle House Hostess. This LADY is ALL HAT and NO CATTLE..simply Gov. Elmer Fudd’s DO GIRL.
@@
February 26th, 2010
10:01 am
Sad sob story.