A Georgia House race decided by 48 votes may actually have been fouled up by a county elections office sending 60 or so voters the wrong ballots. The problem is, the losing canddiate - a MAGA Republican - "cried wolf" in ways reminiscent of 2020 nonsense that no one took her claims seriously. It also didn't help she couldn't substantiate any of her claims. What happens next is anyone's guess, but state law seems clear: an expensive run-off for 40,000 voters over less than a hundred voters getting the wrong ballots.

Meanwhile, am I hearing "bipartisanship" over childcare costs? Sort of. There's the matter of how the state assists and if they'll address pregnancy discrimination but ... let's bask in the thought of bipartisanship for a minute, k?

Well Time Magazine's 2024 "Person of the Year" is a well-known liar, and in the process of interviewing Donald Trump for the honor he's coveted for years, they got him to admit his campaign bluster about bringing prices down was horse sh*t. Then again, anyone who's been even with a sniffing distance of an Econ 101 textbook knew that.

Unfortunately, neither President Biden nor VP Kamala Harris (or their campaigns) combatted "vibes" with actual data that shows paychecks outpaced inflation. That grocery prices went up, but actually didn't keep pace with wage growth (that's a good thing) and gas prices (per minutes worked per gallon) didn't, either..

Finally, as Donald Trump promises to pardon J6ers, I can't help but take umbrage with the pearl-clutchers upset so many Americans find commonality with Luigi Mangione and his rage-murdering a health insurance CEO while MAGA finds commonality with insurrectionists who stormed the US Capitol where people died.

There's also something to be learned about chronic pain and mental state. We may well have seen it lead to an insanity plea to come.

Donald Trump's choice to head the Department of Defense - Pete Hegseth - is as qualified for that role as I am to be a grocery chain CEO. I worked in grocery retail a few years while in high school and college; why not?

What Pete IS qualified for, however, is the label "anti-gay bigot."

Like Donald; like Pete, though. Trump's attack ad targeting trans support form VP Kalama Harris - though steeped in disinformation - worked.. So here we are - with gender-affirming care now being denied to veterans' and active duty dependents - at the behest of this "community of bigotry" that's found a longstanding home in the G.O.P.

Hegseth has long been no fan of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" OR its repeal. He's been opposed to women serving in combat and will work swiftly to have the 15,500 or so trans service members fired. Seems Pete only believes cis-gender heterosexual men are worthy of being our military. Using his own words, his rationale is steeped in ignorant bigotry.

Democrats have had a hard time finding their footing when it comes to trans rights. Jason Carter seems eager to cede ground on scholastic athletics , and I've an idea how he and Democrats could instead put Republicans on record as either being for what they say they're for AND being bigoted, or admitting they're just placating bigots altogether.

The arrest & info we're learning about Luigi Mangione - the alleged killer of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson is bringing out a reaction from the American people that's pretty telling. You'd think we'd be unified in our abhorrence of a blatant assassination, and yet ... we're divided.

I've some theories: healthcare and health insurance isn't delivering to customers what customers pay for (obvious) and a general disdain by many in this country for the "corporate capitalism" our society's been slowly taken over by. Mangione is a well-off young man raised in a pretty wealthy family - but a family whose wealth appeared threatened by corporate competition;.

Meanwhile, the incoming Trump administration is piecing together the wealthiest Cabinet in American history, and as ⁠one USA Today pundit opines⁠, "I’m sure these down-to-earth billionaires care deeply about the forgotten men and women who put Trump in office. Surely they are in no way “elite,” aside from perhaps owning an island, or maybe occasionally hunting poor people for sport on said island.." (note: sarcasm)

I also wrapped my review of Donald's "Meet The Press" sit-down with Kristen Welker in this episode. Spoiler alert: neither saw their performance improve. Welker's mostly-meek inability to fact-check meant others had to.⁠Lies about immigrant crime⁠, ⁠birthright citizenship throughout the world⁠, ⁠unproven allegations the January 6 committee destroyed evidence⁠, among them.

President-elect Donald Trump sat down last week with 'Meet The Press' host Kristen Welker, and upon further review, Welker seemed 'suppressed,' either on her own or by edict.

Never mind that Trump continued spewing falsehoods; that's to be expected. That Welker rarely pushed back is of vital concern for journalistic integrity. This sit-down wasn't "Fox News-friendly" but it wasn't much tougher, either.

Take a listen to the first half of that conversation with me as I sprinkle in some fact-checks, some provided by CNN's Daniel Dale.

A recent Wall Street Journal piece zoomed in on nearby Dalton, Georgia - the self-professed "carpet capital." Business and civic are already dreading the effect of a looming mass deportation promised by the Donald Trump the town and county it's in overwhelmingly voted for.

The economic impact on a town like Dalton, Georgia cannot be overstated; the question is, how many other "Dalton, Georgias" dot the state and U.S. map?

Meanwhile, watching as MSNBC's "Morning Joe" swirls the drain is rather breathtaking. It's hard not to read into their Mar-A-Lago mea culpa and subsequent change of tone after "kissing the ring." Joe went off - quite irritated at critics of he and Mika's softening tone towards the President-elect.

Their latest self-inflicted bout of embarrassment comes as they chose to throw frequent guest David Frum under the bus after Frum made a quip at the expense of Fox News & Pete Hegseth. Usually that's uproarious fodder on MSNBC.

Someone's made it abundantly clear that's no longer welcome on 'Morning Joe,' and Mika let what's left of their audience know.

Well, Frum had his say, too.

In a move surely meant to make an examples the ousted committee members, we learned just two weeks ago that Georgia's commissioner of the state Department of Public Health, Kathleen Toomey, had informed the entire committee it was being disbanded.

Why?

It would appear Toomey and state Republican leaders weren't thrilled that Pro Publica was able to go public with information tying Georgia's six-week abortion ban to at least two deaths sicne 2022. Surely there are more, but because the data usually lags by at least two years, we're only learning of what little gets out to the media.

Abortion ban backers like Governor Brian Kemp and his appointed DPH head certainly don't appear to like that.

Joining me to discuss today was Georgia WIN List executive director Melita Easters, who reminded me that the committee is being repopulated and the deadline for applying for a seat is Friday, December 6th.

I was thrilled to have the Chorus Collective brought to my attention, and you best believe I raised my hand (reached out to join). Hear what I'm all excited about and eager to be a part of.

"The Brainwashing of My Dad" is both a 2016 documentary and a subsequent book, both the inspiration of the real-life experience of author and documentarian Jen Senko, who joined me today to share her experience and insights into that very-real "vast right wing conspiracy" mechanism Hillary Clinton spoke of so many years ago.

It's real; it preys on many of our nation's worth societal shortcomings, and - as I've discussed in recent weeks - is metastasizing and repopulating a new wave of misguided voters.

There's a vigorous debate , left-of-center, about the Hunter Biden pardon, and while the likes of Jon Stewart, Leigh McGowan (aka "Politics Girl") and Rep. Jasmine Crockett all have hot (or hilarious) takes, I'm sort of indifferent but certainly not upset.

Post-election, I've focused a good bit on the need for the left to have its own media "ecosystem" the way the right was grown theirs the last half century-plus. Oddly enough, NPR's "On The Media" focused on how the radio dial got to be so overtly right-leaning. TL/DR: racism to religion to ending 'Fairness' to deregulation of ownership.

I'm having a hard time being upset that President Joe Biden went back on his word and pardoned his son, Hunter, last night. I challenge any parent in the same circumstance to do any different, and while I'm happy to have this conversation w/anyone outside the MAGA bubble, I've no time nor interest in hearing from the partisans ushering in a Cabinet stocked with sexual offenders appointed by a convicted felon who just appointed another felon he pardoned to be our ambassador to France.

My guest today is incoming Georgia Senate minority leader (fellow Augustan) Harold Jones II. We discuss his party's direction and fixes at the local, state and federal level and what his and Georgia Democrats' legislative priorities will be going into January's General Assembly session.

My friend Jordan, an old Augusta radio friend of mine, reached out via Facebook "direct message." I wanted to share his message because Jordan is (to me, anyway) a poor man's "Joe Rogan" and his insights frustrate me but bear hearing out anyway.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today's show originally aired July 10, 2023. 

In Hartwell, a rural Georgia lake community, pastor Grant Myerholtz convenes a growing "Baptist" congregation in an unusual way (for a baptist church, anyway): he chooses inclusivity. In an era where churches big and small are seeing declines in attendance, his Mt Hebron Baptist Church has grown from a dozen to more than a hundred. 

Featured in ⁠a Washington Post piece⁠, Grant joined me last summer to let me learn more about him and his church.

Were that there were more Rev. Grants and Mt. Hebron Baptist Churches. 

UPDATE: Grant messaged me this past spring with a photo from Hartwell Pride and the following update:

"Hey Ron just wanted to share a picture from this years pride in Hartwell…we had about 20-25 from the church to attend this year to support. We fully left the southern Baptist Convention..instead of open doors we just took them off..hope you are doing well and thanks again for having me on the show with you…hope you are doing well."