On Feb. 22, embattled Gwinnett County Commissioner walked out of a board meeting when about two dozen protesters began to line up during the public comment period to speak out against him. They continued to speak out for over an hour even after he had scampered away. A wave of local protests have erupted since Hunter… [Read More]
Podcast Ep. 7: Gun Violence and Ethics
Today on the show we’re talking about the issue on everyone’s mind: gun violence. After last week’s tragic killings, we’re focusing on how this violence affects Georgia and what is happening in the aftermath. We’re also discussing Governor Deal’s recent appointment to the Ethics Commission and the ethical problems with it. You can Subscribe and… [Read More]
Georgia’s Great Recession is Over!…Unless You’re Black
For so many families, the turmoil of the Great Recession still feels too recent. Homes and savings accounts were lost, job prospects were highly uncertain, financial security was nowhere to be found. Policymakers may try to put those nightmarish years behind us — and tick off each metric that points to continued recovery — but… [Read More]
Black students ejected from Trump rally in Valdosta
On Monday night, about 30 college students were kicked out of a Donald Trump rally at their own school — Valdosta State University. The students weren’t kicked out for protesting. They weren’t kicked out for chanting or creating a disturbance. They were tossed out of their own school’s venue because Trump didn’t want them there…. [Read More]
Georgia Republicans have a KKK problem
They always say these things come in threes. First, Georgia state Representative Tommy Benton (R-Jefferson) defended the Ku Klux Klan earlier this year, saying that the Klan “wasn’t so much a racist thing” and “made a lot of people straighten up.” Then Sen. Greg Kirk (R-Americus), while debating his bill that would allow religious groups to… [Read More]
Neo-Confederate bills killed; Ralston condemns ‘rewriting or reinterpreting the past’
Rep. Tommy Benton pulled every single one of his neo-Confederate bills from consideration.
And House Speaker David Ralston finally spoke out on Rep. Benton’s defense of the Ku Klux Klan. Notably, Speaker Ralston said, “the business of the General Assembly isn’t in rewriting or reinterpreting the past, but rather to focus on improving Georgia’s future.”
House ethics chair backs off KKK defender’s legislation while Speaker Ralston remains silent
As state Rep. Tommy Benton’s Republican colleagues begin to distance themselves from his controversial comments about the Ku Klux Klan and slavery, House Speaker David Ralston continues to be silent on the issue.
Speaker David Ralston silent as GOP lawmaker blitzes media to defend KKK
Georgia House Speaker David Ralston has remained silent as Rep. Tommy Benton bounces from one news outlet to another defending the Ku Klux Klan as “not so much a racist thing” and just a harmless vigilante group that “made a lot of people straighten up.”
While it’s up to voters in Rep. Benton’s Jefferson district whether or not his neo-Confederate views represent them, it’s squarely on Speaker Ralston’s shoulders as to whether Benton’s views are OK with the Georgia GOP and the Georgia House of Representatives.