Here in Georgia and in Washington, too, Republicans are openly stating their willingness to take a "Big Brother" / "big government" approach (to hell with states' rights, but just this once) to disassembling our justice system at the local, state and federal level - all at the behest of one convicted felon. Can you guess who that felon is? He has a lot of sway. Any guesses?

The "law and order" party and the party supposedly of "limited government" seeks to broaden federal powers over state and local prosecutors, but they've no appetite for such oversight at the highest level of our nation's judiciary - the Supreme Court. Wonder why? It's no concern to them that a sitting Justice acknowledged past and current lavishness thrust upon him by a billionaire sugar daddy?

Lastly, I've a theory as to why President Biden took executive action on our immigration concerns - specifically at the southern border, but I'm unsure if his playing 3D chess will resonate with the American public.

Atlanta went through a wild news cycle Tuesday, with a mass shooting downtown and a deadly bus hijacking (by a man who was on the scene at the downtown mass shooting, no less) and Atlanta PD chief Darin Schierbaum deftly pointed out the downtown shooter should never have had a gun - because he's a convicted felon.

Unrelated, but now-convicted felon Donald Trump will also have to forfeit any gun(s) he owns/possesses.

Well, Hunter Biden was found guilty of lying on an application to purchase a gun. Instead of howling indignation about a "two-tiered justice system" or "weaponized" prosecution, the Biden family huddled together in Delaware and showered Hunter with love and affection.

Here's the thing: what he's guilty of is NOTHING compared to what he should have been found guilty of: being a drug addict while possessing a firearm. See, that's not illegal, but lying about being a drug addict in the process of purchasing is. The reason I bring that nuance up is simple: if gun rights advocates were being consistent, they'd be howling about Hunter's conviction (they aren't; they're "conflicted") while MAGA's celebrating his conviction should take note that the FBI and ATF - if they were really being "weaponized" - could round up a LOT of meth heads and pill poppers in MAGA country.

I spent a good deal of time - this being LGBTQIA+ Pride Month - to share my "coming out" and "evolution on pride" stories, as well.

If Sean Hannity's floating "trial balloon" theories with the words "some people are saying ..." you can best believe where there's smoke, there's fire. All the more reason to believe Donald Trump's trying to waffle on the agreed upon June 27th debate here in Atlanta.

Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro, incidentally, went 'scorched earth" on Trump's continuing predilection for trashing ("sh*t-talking," he phrased it) the United States.

I had one of those "open tabs" I'd been meaning to get around to, and finally had the time today to dive in on it - former Georgia Lt. Governor Geoff Duncan's op/ed in the AJC from a week ago openly hoping his beloved Republican party might do the right thing and pivot from their convicted felon-slash-presumptive nominee.

Oh, PS, white nationalism is on the rise ... still.

It's been more than a week since a wide swath of the city of Atlanta lacked adequate (if any) water service, but the pundits on local FOX-TV affiliate's "The Georgia Gang" weighed in on their most recent record episode after the calamity. Cathy Woodard being a former city council president made for some clarity (and more questions, too) but conservative pundit Brian Robinson made a few points (some I actually agreed with) - and one in particular called for some historical clarity.

Friend of the show King Williams penned an op/ed in the AJC over the weekend openly wondering if President Joe Biden might see the opportunity to step in and throw some money at the problem in an election cycle where he could use a boost in this swing state. My question is - if Georgia has a $16 billion surplus - why have we still not heard from Governor Brian Kemp about this? Like at all? Kemp's idea of "infrastructure" only refers to roads, bridges and highways.

Speaking of Biden, folks are only now getting wise to the fact that he turned a profit on using our strategic oil reserves in late 2022 and that his actions sort of forced OPEC to open the spigot this summer or fall, which will lead to lower gas prices.

The Dr. Phil (and obviously filtered and edited) interview of a convicted felon, the former President, Donald Trump, was predictably awful. Imagine 50-plus minutes of a man clearly in need of a psychologist, spewing lie after lie, laced with hyperbole and other half-truths, while the 'doctor" fails diagnose the chronically lying narcissist.

You just come away convinced they're both facades; or at least it's now confirmed.

Whelp; a three-judge Georgia appeals court panel has put the brakes on the Georgia v. Trump election interference case until October, essentially cementing that the most evidence-laden and damning case against the already-convicted felon won't be tried this calendar year. Sure it'd be easy to berate Fani Willis & Nathan Wade some more, but I've done that plenty. Instead, let's listen in on a local conservative talk show pundit as he celebrates a "win" ... the "law and order party" thrilled to sabotage the gears of justice to a halt. That's where we are with that cult.

Jon Stewart on Monday's "The Daily Show" deftly points out how conservatives say one thing in public discourse and another in sworn testimony and how journalists are failing to hold their feet to the fire when they outright lie without proof to show otherwise. Case in point: Montana's GOP Senate nominee won't provide proof to back his claim he was shot in Afghanistan and not at a national park, as park officials assert. Someone hold him to account!

I'm joined today by Judd Legum with Popular Info, who's written about the earliest piece I could find on a raid performed last week by the FBI here in Atlanta. The feds are looking into possible collusion by corporate landlords accused of falsely inflating rental prices in Atlanta and throughout the country, all for using a property management software called "RealPage." Judd and I discuss the potential for charges to be filed, class action suits and how such collusion can even affect people not renting from the alleged colluding landlord companies. Add to it that Atlanta leads the nation with the largest share of investor-owned single-family rental properties, and this area's being hammered by faceless corporate greed.

Oh, he also penned a thorough SHREDDING of all the mundane right-wing talking points, howling indignation at the "bias" of the Manhattan trial where their convicted cult leader was found guilty.

Lastly, new Quinnipiac poll numbers from Georgia are out, and Biden's making up ground; a little, anyway.

We hold our breath now and keep our fingers crossed the last of the "Atlanta water crisis" leaks have been addressed and there aren't more major breaks to come. The thing is, when we're replacing pipe laid in 1883, it's likely only a matter of time.

We've put a lot of heat on Mayor Andre "in Memphis" Dickens, but why on earth has Georgia's governor said not word one about the state's largest city's water woes?

When Dr. Anthony Fauci stepped down from his National Institute of Health (NIH) role to cap his 39 years in public service, '60 Minutes' looked back at the many times he'd been on their show over the decades (and diseases averted or fought). It was a fitting reminder of all that Dr. Fauci has done to save American lives. Posit that against Georgia's Congressional howler monkey, Marjorie Taylor Greene, insisting he be prosecuted and thrown in prison earlier this week Or let me..

Now that we're (hopefully) in the final hours of "Aquapocalypse" (or are we going with "Watergeddeon?"), city council had the chance yesterday to grill its watershed commissioner, Al Wiggins, Jr., yesterday, and for the most part, the engagement was polite - with a lot of deserved commendation for the department's employees' putting in the work. That said, communications was the key gripe, and it extends to the mayor, per Bill Torpy at the AJC. Local media finally picked up on Mayor Dickens' Memphis trip in the throes of the water crisis after George Chidi and I discussed it on this show (maybe local journos are paying attention to me?)

I got to catch up with Democratic Socialist - and Democratic nominee for Georgia's House district #42 - Gabriel Sanchez today for an extended Q&A as well. He upset Rep. Teri Anulwicz in the party's primary last month, so now that he's in "general election" mode, learn with me what events shaped this "under-30" candidate ideology and platform.

Author columnist and longtime journalist George Chidi of The Atlanta Objective joined me today to discuss - at length - the weekend calamity that was the "Atlanta water crisis." George was on many of the scenes over the weekend giving first-hand accounts of water main breaks.

Meanwhile, questions arise as to why Mayor Andre Dickens knew of the break and still got on a plane headed to Memphis for a fundraiser for his re-election. Also, why is he fundraising in Memphis at all?

Lastly, the matter-of-fact sports pundit Colin Cowherd ventured into politics for just under 9 minutes on his podcast last week and gave about the most succinct post-conviction response after former President Donald Trump was found guilty by a jury of his peers on 34 charges in New York last week. If I were the Biden/Harris campaign, I'd have this on endless loop.

My friend and columnist Issac Bailey penned an op/ed - 'Donald Trump - A Loser Once Again - Is Finally Held Accountable,' which I thought was worthy of some air time, too.

His reaction was far more "hinged" than the bevy of unhinged responses from Fox News "personalities" like Jeanine Pirro, Jesse Watters and the Fox News pearl-clutches. Also, pols like Tim Scott were lining up to hyperventilate on cable news channels - but Abby Phillips did her best to hold his feet to the fire to condemn Trump's "vengeance platform" - only for Tim to flail and grouse. Have that in the show for ya, too.

Lastly, there's a mass exodus of the House of Representatives, and Georgia's Marjorie Taylor Greene is among the reasons Democrats and Republicans are leaving.