neonflag.bsky.social
Journalist for The Guardian (and occasionally Rolling Stone) in Atlanta, covering politics and the odd Young Thug tidbit. Massive D&D nerd. Veteran. #AddToBlackSky Signal: George_Chidi.80
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I mean, I would ask her these questions myself, but she doesn't return my phone calls.
I honestly don't know whose phone calls she actually does return, and neither did most of the NPU chairs in Atlanta when she was contemplating re-election four years ago.
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The CEO of "Georgia's Promise, Inc." is Rick Thompson, vice-chairman of the State Ethics Board.
Is Bottoms in with these guys? Because accidentally naming your PAC "Georgia's Promise" when there's a 501(c)4 with the same name raises questions.
www.commoncause.org/georgia/pres...
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That should be "Georgia's Promise" in the first graf. Autocorrect murders accuracy.
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Anyone who gives this thing money diminishes themselves. I will question their judgment and their motivations, and when people tell me they are otherwise problematic I will be more inclined to believe it. When someone who I've seen donate to this screws up, I'll be more inclined to publicize it.
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And two: Bottoms owes Atlanta some answers about what was happening at the end of her term in office with regard to the murder of Secoriea Turner, ceding control of a street to a militia for weeks during the unrest following the Rayshard Brooks killing. Until we hear answers, she should get nothing.
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She says the subpoenas were legal.
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Something is happening here. Manigault will be on Rose Scott's show later today. I think that's required listening this afternoon.
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Don't shoot the messenger. I get it.
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Church, actually.
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www.theguardian.com/profile/geor...
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Also ... people who don't vote, I have found, run screaming from news reporters who want to talk about politics. I don't think you understand what you're asking, if you're asking me to give them anything like equal time.
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I would challenge that. If I am going to be honest with myself, I probably spend twice as much time talking to political progressives about policy issues than I do conservatives. What's your evidence?
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What makes you think I'm not?
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You seem nice.
I am a journalist. I talk to everyone, anyone who will talk to me, all the time. That's the job.
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We're getting that pretty regularly. I'll be at a protest tomorrow looking at it.
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One last thing. I'm seeing more Trump flags flying today in rural Georgia than I did during the election. I don't want to read more into that than it is, but it's noticeable. And, generally, people were perfectly willing to talk about their politics to me, without a lot of guarded language.
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The line on this only starts to break down when people start considering the impact of federal disruptions on working families. People can't miss a week's paycheck without warning, one fellow said.
Everyone acknowledges that things are moving fast. People aren't considering the long term yet.
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The folks at the CDC or air traffic controllers have good, cushy sit-down jobs on the government dime. They also have job security, pension benefits and clout that working-class Republican voters do not. "They can go get a real job they have to show up for like everyone else." Direct quote.
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There's some class resentment going on here that's worth mentioning because Democrats don't usually get this part.
Talk to a construction guy or a cashier or a cop about a "sit down job" sometime. Literally, a job that lets you sit at work. More broadly, an office job that can be done remotely.
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The idea that there might be some difference in scale or scope or permanent harm doesn't register - it's a distinction without a difference because they believe the government is fundamentally corrupt and *any* spending cut designated by Musk is defensible as "waste."
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The hard part here is the kind of epistemic closure some folks have around what is and is not illegal or improper or frankly immoral. I asked about how people view Musk potentially self-dealing from the government purse, and more than once I heard "well, they all do it so why not him too."
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Call me when you've got a chance. I think you've got my number, but my Signal contact is in my bio.
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It's twice what it should cost, even given the general state of everything. It's like paying $7 for a small fries. It's insane. I'm still mad about it.
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Also, this phone is baller and I'm going to hate shredding it. The pictures are going in the general "I need an Atlanta image for this post" bin.
I haven't walked around doing street photography in a year. I miss it.
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We can talk about whether it's legal to take pictures in a security screening area. This is not that.
I'm not going to turn into one of those "1st Amendment auditors" who exist to irritate reasonable people. But in an era of creeping fascism, there's value in exercising a right on principle.
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You are describing EXACTLY the reason the warming shelters are temporary and the conditions under which the city opens one are narrow, despite the demands of activists. Every day one is open costs one person a year of permanently supportive housing.
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There are ways to deal with that problem. I am not going to discuss them.
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When Atlanta stands up a warming shelter for a couple hundred people, the cost is about $15,000 a day. That's food, electricity, transportation. laundry, fuel, maintenance, staff costs for a dozen people including medical.
Louisiana just paid $170,000 a day for the same thing.