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KAREN HANDEL UNLEASHED
Anyone who was expecting former Georgia Secretary
of State Karen HandeL to be a moderate alternative in the
Republican U.S. Senate primary, think again.
Handel spoke to the Athens GOP Monday, July 8, and fed
the crowd of about 75 people plenty of red meat. She called for
abolishing the IRS, criticized a version of the farm bill that
includes funding for food stamps and said she is "a big pro- g
ponent" of traditional marriage, wants to repeal Obamacare m
and that federal regulations are "literally choking (busi- m
nesses) and preventing them from creating jobs."
Apparently, Handel learned from her 2010 runoff defeat
at the hands of Gov. Nathan Deal, who, along with his allies
in the anti-abortion movement, bashed her over the head
for her views on abortion (exceptions for rape and incest),
and marching in a gay pride parade and funding Planned
Parenthood as Fulton County Commission chairman.
After her loss, Handel took a job at the breast cancer
foundation Susan G. Komen for the Cure and convinced
them to disassociate themselves from Planned Parenthood.
The move backfired. She resigned, wrote a book about the
experience and now features it on her campaign literature,
helping to bolster her standing with social conservatives.
The Athens GOP had already hosted two Senate can
didates, Reps. Paul Broun (R-Athens) and Jack Kingston
(R-Savannah); another candidate, Rep. Phil Gingrey, is
scheduled to speak Monday, Aug. 12, and David Perdue
(Sonny's cousin) has also been invited, according to chair
man Matt Brewster. The meetings are at 6 p.m. the second
Monday of the month at Country Inn & Suites.
Handel's two main advantages are that she is the only
woman in the race and the only well-known candidate who
is not a member of this oft-loathed Congress???something
she plays up in her stump speech.
"If you want new, dynamic leadership to shake things up
and get things done, then I just might be the gal for you,"
she said.
Although Handel worked with a Democratic majority on
the Fulton County Commission, what she had to say last
week sounded like just more of the same rigid conservative
ideology that's contributing to our national gridlock. But you
can't fault her. That's what it takes to win.
convention in enemy territory, like, say, Forsyth County. It's
not known as the tourist destination Athens is, but then again,
it's not like the DPG really needs that big of a facility these
days. A banquet room in a Cracker Barrel off the freeway should
suffice.
Karen Handel reads aloud from And the Earth Did Not Devour Him.
PARTNER BENEFITS: Handel may have missed an opportunity
to differentiate herself from other Georgia Republicans, show
her leadership skills and get on the right side of history by
embracing equal rights for all, as Republicans in other parts of
the country are increasingly doing.
So has new University of Georgia President Jere Morehead.
He told WGAU 1340 AM that the state will not allow UGA
to use state money or the state employees at the UGA
Foundation, which raises private donations, to provide health
GOP CONVENTION: At the same meeting, newly-elected state
party chairman and longtime Athens activist John Padgett
announced that the Georgia Republican convention will be
returning to the Classic Center in 2015, so get ready for
another invasion of 2,500 aging white people.
Maybe the Democrats can follow suit and hold their
coverage to employees' domestic partners.
"With the restrictions that the state has on its health insur
ance plans, I think we've gone as far as we can go on that
issue here at the University of Georgia," Morehead said. "I
don't see a path readily available for the institution to pursue
that matter further."
However, one advocate for domestic partner benefits, UGA
professor Janet Frick, said she continues to talk to administra
tors and remains optimistic that a solution will be found. LGBT
advocate Ricky Roberts took a more aggressive tack, starting
a Change.org petition and accusing Morehead of "discrimina
tion." Visit Flagpole.com for a link to the petition.
EARMUFFS: The precious cleanliness of our childrens' ears
will continue to be violated since Clarke County School
Superintendent Philip Lanoue upheld his earlier decision not to
remove And the Earth Did Not Devour Him from middle-school
reading lists and media center shelves.
Lanoue had already upheld Tomas Rivera's oft-praised
Chicano coming-of-age story after two local parents com
plained that a frustrated migrant worker's handful of F-bombs
in a couple of paragraphs are inappropriate for seventh grad
ers. (Trust me, your kids have heard worse.) The school board
ordered him to reconsider, and he upheld the book again. Now
the couple, Chad and Beth Lowery, are appealing to the state
Board of Education.
DOWNTOWN PARKING: No more fishing under your seat for
change! The Athens Downtown Development Authority voted
Tuesday, July 9 to replace more than 500 old coin-operated
parking meters with new ones that accept credit cards and
allow drivers to buy time using a smartphone app. Yes, there
really is an app for that.
The Athens-Clarke County Commission will have to approve
the purchase, but it looks like a foregone conclusion, since
$250,000 in SPLOST money has already been set aside.
The new meters will also replace the wildly unpopular pay-
and-display meters on Clayton Street that visitors tend to stare
at like it's the monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey. Those
meters will be moved to Broad Street, adding to the pay-and-
display meters already there, so now you'll only have to walk a
third of a block, max.
But the ADDA decided not to move forward with sensors
that would detect when your car leaves a space and remove
any leftover time from the meter. Not surprisingly, ending
the possibility of finding the manna from heaven that is an
unexpired meter didn't sit well with the public, ADDA Parking
Director Chuck Horton said.
If you don't feed the meter and get a ticket, though, don't
worry too much about paying it for the time being. Horton is
still barred from booting cars over unpaid tickets???sometimes
thousands of dollars worth???while ACC Attorney Bill Berryman
sorts out concerns about due process. But the issue should be
resolved soon, Horton said, and he'll be back to his usual boot-
happy self.
Blake Aued news@flagpole.com
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4 FLAGPOLE.COM-JULY 17, 2013