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FOR SALE/RENT
BY CJ&L
Berkshire Commons
2BR/2BA • S1100 mo.
Pinec rest Lodge Rd. - East Alliens
5BH 2.5BA • SI 300/mo.
149 Oakridge Ave - Downtown
3BR/1BA • SI 200/mo.
205 Pearl .Street
Spedai uldr Ihmntown Vii-ws • SI89.900
Red Oak Village Condos - Westsirie
$795/mo.
470 Morton Ave. - Foley Field
3BR 2BA • $1500/mo.
61 West Lake Orhe
3BR 2BA * SI500 mo.
wYm.cjandl.com
706.559.4520
AL
□□□
LOUNGE
256 E. CLAYTON ST.
(706) 549-0166 Open Mon-Sat Noorv2am
WWW.ALLGCX3DL0UNGE.CXIM
BECAUSE
ALCOHOL
ISN'T
ILLEGAL...
YET
<@£20 BffRJ ON DRAFT
Build Your Own Bloody Mary Bar
700+ Bottled Been
Expanded Wine Ust • Pool Tables
Huge Outdoor Patio
mn
Please Drink
Responsibly.
PJdv
Come
IN THE RIGHTWINGOVERSE, ACTS of
TERRORISM COMMITTED BY RELIGIOUS
FANATICS ARE SOMETIMES A GOOD
THING.
IN THE RIGHTWIN60VERSE, WOMEN
WOULD IDEALLY BE TREATED AS
BREEDING STOCK.
IN THE RIGHTWINGOVERSE, ABOR
TION IS A CHOICE MADE CASUALLY
BY CALLOUS LIBERTINES.
featuring
Plus Patterson Hood, The Corduroy Road, The Arcs
and many more.
Album available worldwide via ITunes or your favorite digital music store.
—BUT ARE IN NO WAY AFFECTED
BY THE ENDLESSLY-REPEATED RAVINGS
OF POPULAR TELEVISION COMMENTATORS.
JUST BECAUSE I SPENT Y£ARS POR
TRAYING THE VICTIM AS "TILLER THE
8A8Y KILLER"—YOU THINK X BEAR
SOME RESPONSIBILITY HERE?
YOU PROBABLY
GOT THAT
IDEA FROM
THE HATE
FUL DAILY
kos; rnei
HAVE A LOT
and Finally...in the rightwing-
OVERSE, PEOPLE ARE HIGHLY
SU5CERTIBLE TO THE PERNICIOUS
INFLUENCE OF VIDEO GAMES,
POPULAR MUSIC AND SITUATION
COMEDIES-
IN THE RIGHTWINGOVERSE, IT IS
APPROPRIATE TO EQUATE A VIOLENT
CRIME WITH DENUNCIATIONS OF
THAT CRIME.
NEXT: IN the RIGHTWINGOVERSE, THERE
ARE TWO SIDES to EVERT story.'
CDr
ATUPeST
CDmon.com
THIS MftlhM W#KLI by TOM TOMORROW
CHASE PARK
TRANSDUCTION
flagpole
6 FLAGPOLt.COM • JUNE 10, 2009
AthFest 2009 CD is a production of Ghostmeat Records.
Proceeds benefit AthFest, inc. • a local 501(c)(3) non-profit organization
I 'ONE side HAS RH->- cHP THE OTHER
DERANGED kT ij> IJ HAS... AL
MURDERERS...? 1 * ISrRANKEM'.
In Roy Barnes' announcement that he had
decided to run for governor again, he tried to
say all the right things voters would want to
hear. He was conciliatory, a little apologetic,
and tried to give the appearance that he really
understands why he enraged so many voters
in 2002 that they booted him from the gover
nor's office.
"I realize I was impatient and I had an
aggressive agenda," Barnes said. "Listening is
something I didn't do enough of when I was
governor. I tried to do too much, too fast.
My heart was in the right place, but I was
impatient and didn't consult enough different
people outside the capitol."
I don't really know if Barnes was
sincere about those lessons he sup
posedly learned from the disaster
of 2002. He may still think he
took the correct course when
he aggressively tried to resolve
Georgia's longstanding prob
lems with highways, education,
healthcare and the state flag—
an approach that made a lot of
voters mad and cost him the gover
nor's office.
The passage of time shows that
Barnes was correct about the need to address
those issues. Sonny Perdue has done little to
address the state's problems, which means
that our roads are more crowded, our schools
still rank in the bottom 10 percent of the
states, and the number of people without
health insurance now approaches two million.
Many Georgia voters are quite happy with
a low-energy governor who avoids the major
issues. After all, Perdue was comfortably
reelected with 58 percent of the vote in 2006.
Barnes is betting that a majority of the voters'
want to try a more activist approach.
That's really the pivotal question for the
governor's race: Are voters ready to wake up
from the big sleep of the past eight years,
or do they want to continue with the mud
dling approach exemplified by the Perdue
administration?
At this point in the campaign, the
Republican nominee (whoever that turns out
to be) would seem to have the numbers run
ning in his or her favor. There are people who
cite the results of last November's general
election as a good omen for Democrats, when
a record turnout of black voters helped Barack
Obama run a competitive race against John
McCain for the state's electoral votes and
enabled Jim Martin to push Republican Sen.
Saxby Chambliss into a runoff. The high turn
out in 2008—3.9 million voters—was during
a presidential election year, however. Voter
turnout always drops off sharply in non-pre’si-
dential election years. The turnout in the 2010
general election will probably be closer to
the 2.1 million voters who cast ballots
in the December runoff last year—
a smaller slice of the electorate
where the Republican vote tends
to be heavier.
Barnes does give Democrats a
shot at being competitive. Any of
the other Democratic candidates
would get, at best, 45 percent of
the general election vote against
the Republican nominee. One thing
that Barnes can do very well is raise
money, so he would have more of a fighting
chance.
Early polls show that Insurance
Commissioner John Oxendine is running a cou
ple of points ahead of Barnes, while Secretary
of State Karen Handel runs a couple of points
behind him. That's a sign that we could have
a very close election next year.
I don't think there's any question that
Barnes will win the Democratic nomination.
Can he convince enough people that he's
really learned his lesson to win a general
election?
Tom Crawford
Tom Crawford is the editor of Capitol Impact’s Georgia
Report, an Internet news service at www.gareport.com
that covers government and politics in Georgia.
THAT SHOW WITH THE BUMBLING
DAD COMPLETELY UNDERMINES
MALE PARENTAL AUTHORITY'
AND THE ONE WITH THE
HOMOSEXUAL DOES UN
TOLD DAMAGE to the
INSTITUTION OF MARRIAGE.'
WHUT? YOU MEAN OUR ORGANIZED
HARASSMENT AND INTIMIDATION OF
A80RTION PROVIDERS, UP TO AND
INCLUDING MURDER?
SURE, IT'S WRONG TO KILL DOC
TORS, BLAH BLAH BLAH' BUT IT'S
ALSO WRONG TO POLITICIZE
SUCH KILLINGS IN ORDER TO DIS
CREDIT THE PEOPLE WHO COMMIT
BUT—BUT—THE DOCTOR SAYS THIS
PREGNANCY COULD ENDANGER MY
LIFE
SHOULDA THOUGHT OF
THAT BEFORE YOU
HAD YOUR LITTLE
FUN, ELSIE!
How can THAT B£
TERRORISM? DO WE
LOOK MUSLIM TO YOU?
| HEY GIRLS, LET'S GO SHOPPING
THIS AFTERNOON—AND THEN GET
ABORTIONS on DEMAND!
OKAY, BUT ONLY
IF I'VE GOT
TIME FOR A
PEDICURE AFTER.'
P pp v~
DARN IT
I'M NOT
EVEN
PREGNANT
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ARE VOTERS READY FOR ACTION?
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