The Harris/Walz South Georgia bus tour is on (where yet, is unknown) is on ... and the back & forth bickering between their camp and the Trump team about muted mics (it's wild who's for and against 'em) in the upcoming ABC-hosted debate is, too.

Former Trump national security advisor General H.R. McMaster is out with a scathing new book, incidentally, which seems to couple nicely with Donald using the 3-year mark of the deadly suicide bombing in Afghanistan as political fodder and a photo-op at Arlington, no? The man's repulsive.

Just ask his ex-wives. Speaking of honeymoons and divorces, his flirtation with Brian Kemp may be shorter-lived than expected if the Georgia Governor gets the go-ahead to clean house by removing any of the MAGA-licious board members.

Officially accepting the Democratic Party's nomination for the U.S. Presidency, Vice President Kamala Harris delivered a near-40 minute speech, weaving in autobiographical anecdotes and details and laying out a policy vision in a rather neatly-stitched speech.

I watched, along with Georgia WIN List members and guests and Manuel's Tavern and got feedback from several women - some of them candidates as well - worthy of sharing while reviewing Harris' remarks.

I also wanted to share a conversation I had with Audrey Shoemaker with Fulton County's Animal Shelter to spotlight the "Clear the Shelters' fee-free animal adoption period going through September 10th at Fulton & Dekalb's shelters and with Lifeline Animal Project. Even if you can't adopt, there are many ways you can still help.

If I'm being honest, Governor Tim Walz' speech was just "alright" ... in that I'd heard much of it before in prior stump speeches. Forgive me for being unimpressed; but his high school football teams' championship players and his wife and kids, Hope and Gus, made for spectacular accessories. In any event, I spent a good bit of time revisiting his and Oprah Winfrey's (eight years too late, in my opinion) speeches. Threw in a little of Republicans' Olivia Troye and former Georgia Lt. Governor Geoff Duncan, too.

Oh, and as I'm want to do, I spent a little time smacking back the right wing quips over BLS jobs data revisions by reminding them it happened when Trump was President in August of 2019, too.

Between former state senator Jason Carter (his "Paw Paw," former President Jimmy Carter waiting to vote for Kamala Harris), former First Lady Michelle Obama and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, oh and that raucous "roll call" vote featuring Lil Jon for Georgia, day three of the Democratic National Convention was a show unlike any before it. Let's review the highlights together.

Janelle King, one of the maligned and newly-seated "MAGA 3" Georgia Elections Board members, panned the idea of insisting Georgia revert to using hand-marked paper ballots, saying "we are altering how the election is being conducted" - as if it say ditching Dominion machines is an unnecessary last-minute alteration

Who says irony isn't dead?

Despite concerns from the left and right about the potential for hacks, notably after the Coffee County breach perpetrated by MAGA operatives, King and the rest of the board unanimously voted to stick with Dominion's touchscreens and QR codes unreadable by the human eye. Instead, they continued to add layers of local gear-grinding in the certification process, against the urging of even Republicans.

They also got stiff-armed by state attorney general Chris Carr, who gave a long-winded "no " to their insistence his office (again) review Fulton County's 2020 results.

Night one of DNC 2024 was electric - from Hillary Clinton basking in a "lock him up" crowd-glow to Georgia's Rev. Senator Raphael Warnock continuing to be effective displaying the Democratic Party's moral compass in stark contrast to Donald Trump and MAGA extremism. Oh, and those three women (and a husband) stepping forward to share their reproductive horror stories. Memorable stuff.

Personal anecdote last night I was involved in a scuffle where a guest in our condo building got belligerent and unruly. He'd had a long day of drinking and was wandering the building and making some residents anxious and nervous. Some neighbors and I tried corralling him to guide him back to whatever unit he was staying in, and the guy got physical.

My 8:45pm call to 911 likely caught it all on audio recording before Atlanta PD end the call. No one from the department arrived until 12:15am.

Atlanta doesn't need "Cop City" as much as Atlanta needs more COPS in the city. What my neighbors and I dealt with last night wasn't deadly - but what if it could have become deadly?

I went to bed having given up on my city's police department to show up two hours after waiting and one hour before they arrived. Atlantans deserve better.

Okay, enough about that; Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger's ⁠roaming the state testing counties' voting machines and tabulation processes⁠. Then, get this: former Fulton County Elections supervisor Cathy Woodard - frequent pundit on local TV's "The Georgia Gang" - recorded her appearance for that show Friday morning, then filed an ethics complaint against the "MAGA-3" not he Georgia Elections Board. Legislative Democrats followed with their own call for action over the weekend, as well. Woolard's action is particularly delicious in that Governor Brian Kemp is mandated to do something - and that something will anger Donald Trump.

Competing economic messages have been unleashed by the two major Presidential candidates; one a rambling off-prompter tirade of incoherence by a buffoon in front of tables of grocery items, the other a pointed list of actions the American people need relief on: grocery prices, more and attainable housing and tax breaks for families raising kids.

Seems an easy choice to make.

It seems America's fixation with Donald Trump has worn thin; his shtick is no longer attracting record crowds or ratings, and in the month since Kamala Harris became his general election opponent, his approval numbers have plummeted. While the "Harris honeymoon" has shown few sings of abating, one thing seems apparent: the Harris-Walz campaign is content to "let Donald be Donald."

Oh sure; they're grousing about Harris not doing interviews or press conferences, but sometimes its best to just step aside and let "Donald be Donald" so he can flounder and flail with each televised display of incoherence, like his Thursday presser or his inane, rambling economic pitch speech Wednesday.

Even better when you can stay the course and provide a coherent contrast, as when President Joe Biden appeared with VP Harris yesterday at an event touting their work reducing prescription drug prices.

Or when Harris unveiled her own populist progressive economic plan, today.

Also, what's up with Nancy Mace continuing to "dogwhistle" while purposely mispronouncing "Kamala" and proudly telling two African American co-panelists on CNN that she'll keep doing it if she wants to and it doesn't make her a racist

if she does.

Bankrate crowned Georgia the state with the highest "hidden" costs of car ownership, recently. Here in Atlanta, you have to add "time spent in the car" as one of those hidden costs, given the gridlock we deal with getting to and from work or running our personal errands.

Then you have Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens ... who has a pivotal role in whether the city (and region) take a forward-facing approach to transit - giving us "yeah, but ..." answers when asked if he supports rail expansion just in his city.

Actually, he answered questions with questions, and fortunately, the "Beltline Rail Now!" folks provided answers.

Here's the thing: why is "cost" always the bucket of cold water dousing transit expansion but never employed when the Georgia DOT wants to add another "pay lane" to an expressway, or informs us of another geometric marvel of an interchange?

Incidentally, the BRN folks are rallying Saturday morning. Thought you may want to know.

Listen, the conversation today feels "Atlanta-centric," but really, it's one most of the top-100 metro areas of any size in this country should be having.

There have been any number of "(demographic subset) for Harris" Zoom rallies in recent weeks, but last night's "Republicans for Harris" Zoom gathering - which included former Georgia Lt. Governor Geoff Duncan - rallied more than 60,000 viewers. It was less about fundraising and more about preserving democracy and tabling policy divisions for future days to come.

Okay, so there's a growing number of Republicans warming to Harris/Walz, and new polling shows that Democrats are locking in at higher numbers now that Kamala's the nominee.

Meanwhile, voting rights activist Marisa Pyle chronicled her five-ish years covering state elections board meetings to show us how we've gotten to where we are. Where we are, incidentally, is having three pro-Trump (he cited them at his most recent Atlanta rally) appointees comfortable enough to not only do his bidding, but show up at his rallies AND openly discuss roles in his second administration.

Speaking of election system eccentricities, a Colorado county elections clerk was found guilty of some similar things others have plead guilty to doing in Coffee County, Georgia. PS, speaking of hacks, everyone's SSN was snatched. Breathe. Breathe.

Lastly, inflation numbers are down - but enough to get the Fed to act, finally? We'll see. I've been saying since April they needed to drop their prime rate, incidentally. Ahem.

I've tried not to spend too much time (personally or otherwise) on the audacious claims of "stolen valor" aimed at Governor Tim Walz by the (get this) Donald Trump presidential campaign. The "Cadet Bone Spurs" camp has something to say about military service, and - well - it's the one thing giving JD Vance relevance (or is it?) Even Georgia Insurance Commissioner John King felt the need to chime in at Erick Erickson's "The Gathering" last weekend.

So here's the thing: Tim Walz has been on the record about his service, retirement and rationale, and despite the (years later, politically driven) sour grapes from two men in his unit, most of those he served with have nothig but good things to say about Walz - one, in particular, noting his "service" continued in Congress, with his gratitude.

Next up, my friend King Williams tweeted his support for Atlanta hosting an Olympic Games again. Maybe it's the Parisian afterglow or envy for L.A. getting a third crack at 'em that has King thinking big for the A (again), but I can't see it, and I offer my thoughts as to why.

Lastly, you'll never get me to pair how "pro-life" the GOP claims to be while joyfully starving kids on purpose, as Governor Brian Kemp seems inclined to do again next summer, much to the disdain of Georgia Democrats. Parents are urging Kemp to re-think his stubbornness.