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RED STATE BLUES
Well, not much to report from Mama's Boy. Doc's still not run
ning. The denizens of Cobbham were well represented at their
regular booth in the corner, where Steve Elliott-Gower lent star
power. If you skipped his performance in Rex Totty's Arrogant
Coyotes down at Jittery Joe's coffee roasting emporium the last
two weekends, you missed a humorously sinister performance ex
uding menace, carnality and mayhem.
The main Republican standard bearer in the 10th District
Congressional race, State Senator Jim Whitehead from the Augusta
suburbs, continues to underwhelm. In a message to supporters,
Whitehead defends his support of the Voter ID law and an audit
of the Medicaid system, observing: "Only the most radical liber
als would defend such things. Now they're on the attack. Nancy
Pelosi and the liberal Democrats in DC and Atlanta are conspiring
to sneak a Democrat candidate into this seat. The last thing they
want is a solid conservative continuing Charlie Norwood's leader
ship in Congress."
Don't you just love political rhetoric? Running in the election
is "conspiring to sneak a Democrat (sic) candidate into this seat."
By the same token, are Gov. Perdue 'n them conspiring to sneak a
Republic candidate into this seat?
Whitehead still hasn't shown up here to reassure us liberals
that he didn't really mean the remark reported on Jim Thompson's
Athens Banner-Herald blog about the football team being the only
thing that keeps Whitehead
My unprofessional,
unsolicited opinion is that
James Marlow is by far the
strongest candidate...
from wanting somebody
to bomb the University of
Georgia because it's just a
bunch of liberals.
In short, it will come as
no surprise to you that the
Augusta Republicans obvi
ously aren't losing any sleep
over Athens-Clarke County and have written us off as a liberal en
clave that's not worth their time.
Among the Democrats, five candidates have announced their
intention to join the melee. Terry Holley, the jeweler from the
Augusta suburbs, ran in the last election against the late incum
bent Congressman, Republican Charlie Norwood, whose recent
death made this election necessary. Also in the race are Denise
Freeman, a Lincolnton woman who has also run for Congress be
fore; Evita Paschall, an Augusta lawyer; Jeff Reynolds, Chaplain of
*he Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School, and a former moderator of the
10th District Presbytery (I called it a synod in an earlier column);
and James Marlow, a dot-com executive who, until he resigned to
run for Congress, was with Yahoo.com.
Even to have a chance in a Congressional race, you've got to
have a professional campaign staff to run things and raise money,
lots of money. DIY doesn't do it. James Marlow looks like the only
one who's going about it the right way, and he does seem to be
an attractive candidate. He is bright and has a good grasp of the
issues. He's a Democrat, but a "common sense" Democrat. (If you
think that's an oxymoron, you're not going to vote for him any
way—and you're one, too.)
Marlow grew up in Lincolnton, which is in the 10th District. He
owns a house there, but he lives in Atlanta. He is divorced, and
his children live with their mother in Gwinnett County, which used
to be in the 10th District. There is no residency requirement that
candidates live in the district, but you can be sure the Republicans
(and perhaps other Democrats?) will portray Marlow as a carpet
bagger. Divorce? Doesn't seem to be much of a factor against the
party of Newt 'n Rudi 'n them.
In short, Marlow seems poised to give Whitehead a run. The
Republicans appear to believe that it just doesn't matter who they
run because the district belongs to them. If Marlow can articulate
the bread-and-butter issues and help people understand just how
much the Bush Republican agenda is hurting them and their fami
lies, and if Whitehead continues to run on his football record and
against Nancy Pelosi, this could be a brand-new ball game.
The 10th District Congressional election on June 19 is a politi
cal free-for-all: no primaries, just all the candidates—Democrats
and Republican’s—in there together, with a runoff between the top
two if nobody gets a majority the first time. It will get ugly before
it's over. My money's on Marlow to place.
And by the way, I picked up on the Cobbham prognosticators'
endorsement of Milton Leathers for Congress and floated a trial
balloon; it turned out to be made of lead and created so little buzz
that I didn't even hear from the putative candidate himself.
On that Cobbham note, let's close with a little music. Thanks to
Flagpole Music Editor Chris Hassiotis for the tip. Go to Pub Notes
at flagpole.com for videos of Vic Chesnutt performing two songs at
a St. Patrick's day party recently: "Cobbham Blues" and "Cobbham
Despair."
Pete McCommons Editor & Publisher editor@flagpole.com
THIS WEEK’S ISSUE:
NEWS & F1ATUIRES
Coffee Man 8
At Home and On the Route with Vernon Thornsberry
165 pounds of coffee beans? On a bicycle? No problem, if you’re Vernon Thornsberry.
AUTB <§s EVENTS
A FLUKE Sampler 9
Some of the cool work you’ll see at this year’s test...
Art Notes 14
Designing a New Reality
Design Rally ‘07 at Cine, the "Forty Nine Hundred” opens Clayton Street Gallery
and Paul Pfeiffer comes to town.
Black Doom With White Curtains 27
Alabama’s Angelic Process Gracefully Walks the Ambient Metal Tightrope
Melding doom metal and aural washes of noise, the duo has a soft spot for Athens.
Psychic Walls Of Rock And Roll 29
The Flaming Lips Swing Back Through Athens
With Awards And Costumes In Hand
Four years since its last Athens appearance, the Oklahoma band rides a wave of popularity
Liner Notes 31
The Afrobeat Aesthetic Of Antibalas
How do the Brooklyn ensemble and its new album Security fit in the jam scene, if at all?
Liner Notes 31
The Afrobeat Aesthetic Of Antibalas
How do the Brooklyn ensemble and its new album Security fit in the jam scene, if at all?
COVER DESIGN by Kelly Ruberto
featuring a photograph of Vernon
Thornsberry by Meghan Jones (see p.8)
CITY PAGES 4
CAPITOL IMPACT 6
FROGS 7
FLUKE 8
VERNON 9
OUT THERE! 10
ART NOTES 14
j INLAND EMPIRE 15
MOVIE DOPE 16
MOVIE PICKS 18
LOST PICTURE SHOW 19
ABC 20
ANGELIC PROCESS 27
GRINGO STAR 28
FLAMING LIPS 29
RECORD REVIEWS 30
LINER NOTES 31
SPOTLIGHT 32
THREATS & PROMISES 33
COMICS 34
REALITY CHECK 35
CLASSIFIEDS 36
EDITOR l PUBLISHER Pete McCommons
ADVERTISING DIRECTOR & PUBLISHER Alicia Nickles
PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Larry Tenner
MANAGING EDITOR Margaret Moore
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MUSIC EDITOR Chris Hassiotis
CITY EDITOR Ben Emanuel
CLASSIFIEDS. DISTRIBUTION & OFFICE MANAGER Emily Waldron
AD DESIGNERS Ian Rickert. Kelly Ruberto
CARTOONISTS Ruth Allen. Joe Havasy. Missy Kulik. Jeremy Long, Clint McElroy. Josh Nickerson. K!o n Waldrip
ADOPT ME Special Agent Cindy Jerrell
ABC Chris Hassiotis, Ben Emanuel
WRITERS Michael Andrews, Michael Barthel. Jace Bartet. Phillip Buchan, Ua Bruneile. David Commms.
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Chad Radford. Catherine Reagan, Beth Sale. JoE Silva. Brandon Waddell. Michael Wehunt. Drew Wheeler
CIRCULATION Charles Greenleaf, Josh Couillard. Zack Haas. Lee Sarrell. Heath Whitten
WEB DESIGNER Ian Rickert
ADVERTISING INTERNS Nicole Haysler. Claire Nalle
MUSIC INTERN Lta Bruneile
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VOLUME 21
ISSUE NUMBER 13
Flagpole. Inc. publishes Flagpole Magazine weekly and distributes 17.000 copies
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NEWS & FEATURES I ARTS & EVENTS I MOVIES I MUSIC I COMICS & ADVICE I CLASSIFIEDS
APRIL 4, 2007 • FLAGPOLE.COM 3