Mercy Not Sacrifice
Well-Known Member
So I've smiled at the national news more often in the last few months since the Democrats took back the House and the Senate, and then got right to work. Although we have a *very* long way to go, this is certainly a nice start, and it's been quite awhile since we've been able to have a whole lot to cheer for on Washington. Talk about '08 tends to revolve around making a now-decent situation that much better, not praying that we'll somehow survive the next two years as we did back in '04.
Here in Georgia, in the heart of the Deep South--and I don't mean Southern Lite such as Louisiana or Florida, I mean really really Southern--state-level politics has not been nearly as good of a story.
Georgia almost produced the lone Republican-to-Democrat switchover in the House race last November; in fact, we did not know for days if we were going to win this one. Granted it wouldn't have touched the majority in the House, but even in the Lower Chamber of our nation's legislature, every vote counts. Oh, and voting in Georgia is done entirely by electronic ballot, whose votes are counted and "verified" in secrecy. Think that's just a coincidence?
Unlike many of the gubernatorial races that saw even several Red States swing Democrat or at least give it a good run, it wasn't even close here. Sonny Perdue won by a good 20% margin over his Democratic opponent, Mark Taylor. Believe me guys, Taylor just was not a good candidate: he smeared the largely-respected Cathy Cox in the primaries, and he tried to mask himself as a moderate-conservative; his very first TV ad, which came MONTHS after Purdue started airing his, carried one simple message: Get Tough On Crime. Taylor lost my vote, and several other votes I am sure, on that very night. I've seen Republicans use this horribly distorted phrase many times, but hearing a Democrat say it and mean it felt like being stabbed in the back. I wound up voting third-party for the first time in my life.
Then there's House Bill 185. Currently, the state of Georgia requires a unanimous jury vote for death if capital punishment is to be applied, but this bill would lower the threshold down to a 9-3 majority. Ultimately, as painfully yet accurately documented by sources such as Race to Execution, the bill has racial overtones to it, as it has been proven that white men are much more likely to condemn a black man than fellow blacks are. It's sick to think that such examples of racism could still play a role in politics to this day, but hey, welcome to Georgia.
And don't even get me started on this ****ed up piece of **** fiasco. Then there's our whole history of homophobia, and the Cobb County evolution episode...I can go on and on.
Lemme tell ya something, folks, it doesn't seem to be getting any better any time soon. It's made me honestly wonder whether this is the place that I'll be raising a family some day. Put simply, there are some values in the culture here that just aren't healthy for a young mind to absorb. Now granted, we have parts of Atlanta that are significantly more progressive than the rest of the state; safe havens do exist there, but that's definitely the minority.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not getting ready to run away or something.
Honestly, in some regards, this is actually a pretty damn good place to live. Relatively inexpensive housing, short and mild winters (it got up to friggin' 72F today!), and plenty of Southern hospitality are more than enough for many--with more than 9 million people, we are the 9th most populous state in America, and that number's only going to go up.
But watching the rights of gays, blacks, and poor people be removed bit by bit is just plain disturbing.
Here in Georgia, in the heart of the Deep South--and I don't mean Southern Lite such as Louisiana or Florida, I mean really really Southern--state-level politics has not been nearly as good of a story.
Georgia almost produced the lone Republican-to-Democrat switchover in the House race last November; in fact, we did not know for days if we were going to win this one. Granted it wouldn't have touched the majority in the House, but even in the Lower Chamber of our nation's legislature, every vote counts. Oh, and voting in Georgia is done entirely by electronic ballot, whose votes are counted and "verified" in secrecy. Think that's just a coincidence?
Unlike many of the gubernatorial races that saw even several Red States swing Democrat or at least give it a good run, it wasn't even close here. Sonny Perdue won by a good 20% margin over his Democratic opponent, Mark Taylor. Believe me guys, Taylor just was not a good candidate: he smeared the largely-respected Cathy Cox in the primaries, and he tried to mask himself as a moderate-conservative; his very first TV ad, which came MONTHS after Purdue started airing his, carried one simple message: Get Tough On Crime. Taylor lost my vote, and several other votes I am sure, on that very night. I've seen Republicans use this horribly distorted phrase many times, but hearing a Democrat say it and mean it felt like being stabbed in the back. I wound up voting third-party for the first time in my life.
Then there's House Bill 185. Currently, the state of Georgia requires a unanimous jury vote for death if capital punishment is to be applied, but this bill would lower the threshold down to a 9-3 majority. Ultimately, as painfully yet accurately documented by sources such as Race to Execution, the bill has racial overtones to it, as it has been proven that white men are much more likely to condemn a black man than fellow blacks are. It's sick to think that such examples of racism could still play a role in politics to this day, but hey, welcome to Georgia.
And don't even get me started on this ****ed up piece of **** fiasco. Then there's our whole history of homophobia, and the Cobb County evolution episode...I can go on and on.
Lemme tell ya something, folks, it doesn't seem to be getting any better any time soon. It's made me honestly wonder whether this is the place that I'll be raising a family some day. Put simply, there are some values in the culture here that just aren't healthy for a young mind to absorb. Now granted, we have parts of Atlanta that are significantly more progressive than the rest of the state; safe havens do exist there, but that's definitely the minority.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not getting ready to run away or something.
Honestly, in some regards, this is actually a pretty damn good place to live. Relatively inexpensive housing, short and mild winters (it got up to friggin' 72F today!), and plenty of Southern hospitality are more than enough for many--with more than 9 million people, we are the 9th most populous state in America, and that number's only going to go up.But watching the rights of gays, blacks, and poor people be removed bit by bit is just plain disturbing.
