Okay, I KNOW I should be diving into the "woulda coulda shoulda" indictments against more than THREE DOZEN people - including two former Georgia Senators and Sen. Lindsay Graham - from that infamous-now Fulton County Grand Jury, or Elon Musk sabotaging a Ukrainian military operation, but ...

I had a couple of really good conversations I wanted to share going into the weekend instead. First, Sagamore Hill Consulting principal and founder Andrew Heaton to converse as to why so many elected Democrats are silent about "Cop City," outside city hall, and how much the mayor & city have fumbled the narrative. We also discuss the Fulton Jail mess and those concerning CNN/SSRS poll numbers. Basically, I needed Andrew to talk me off the ledge. Does he?

I also caught up today with Blake Schultz, who launched the @itsouratlanta accounts on Instagram and TikTok. Really cool to meet a young new-ish Atlantan getting so engaged in civic discussion and using social media to make it happen. I met him; you should get to know him, too!

Fulton Sheriff Pat Labat may have some explaining to do ... like why he hired his wife's now defunct companies to consult his political campaigns to the tune of $83k plus the last six years. Smacks of impropriety - no different than Jared & Ivanka making MILLIONS while dad's in office and, if guilty, Hunter while "pop" was VP.

A Buckhead murder last weekend has just stuck in my craw since word broke of it; when will there be "that" one (or more) senseless loss that triggers us to speak, societally, about combatting the causes of crime and "criminal culture" instead of perpetuating the same cycle of militarized policing and imprisoning the "land of the free?"

I was joined today by Mamie Hillman with the Greene County African American Museum and director of the "Original 33" committee honoring the first 33 African American legislators elected to Georgia's General Assembly shortly after the Civil War. For all the talk about "critical race theory" and such, it's sort of frustrating that their story isn't in Georgia history textbooks. She and I discuss that and events taking place Friday and Saturday to commemorate them.

For some legal perspective and internal insights from the 'Cop City Vote' vote movement, frequent guest, former state & federal prosecutor Alex Joseph, took my call today to weigh in on Chris Carr's RICO indictments. Her volunteering with the referendum initiative allowed me to ask if these indictment are having an intimidatory effect on volunteers.

News broke today of yet another Fulton County Jail death, too, and with a looming $1.6b to $2 billion price tag for a replacement facility, the question is "would that new facility prevent these deaths? Also, what would that kind of money be better used to lower crime and lessen the necessity of such a facility, anyway?

A fantastic tweet thread from a Georgia State law school professor taught me something I never knew about our state's history, introducing me to the "Original 33." Hear that thread and some "rabbit hole" knowledge I picked up as a result ahead of my conversation tomorrow with an "Original 33" historian.

Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr dropped 61 RICO indictments against #CopCity activists today so I'm leading with audio from that press conference and some follow-up questions from journalists covering it.

From there, pre-rage rage showing up on the right over potential (?) use of the 14th Amendment, so let's learn a little about that amendment and its historical significance and why it may well be appropriate - AND land before the Trump-packed Supreme Court to invalidate his presidential (or is it prison avoidance?) aspirations.

Lastly, Page Dukes with the Southern Center for Human Rights called in - just as I was putting the show to bed - to explain that organization's role in aiding some of those 61 newly-indicted activists, should they need legal representation, in court; and how you can help the organization if you so choose.

Took Labor Day off (sort of) and opted to share some prior conversations today, with newly-minted American citizen (and my close friend) Ludwig, my friend & co-founder/president of American Haircuts (and SAG-AFTRA actor) David Alexander, Alabama NAACP s state chapter chair Bernard Simelton and inclusive baptist minister Grant Myerholtz.

Covid's rearing its nefarious head again, so I figured I'd ask: what are you going to do when a new booster rolls out later this month? Are you prone to wearing a mask in close quarters? CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta has some "common sense" advice on how we handle it, if we feel symptoms.

The antivax folks got me to thinking about that scene in "Avenue 5" where a big contingent of passenger on the space cruise believed they were being fooled by visual effects right down to the deadly airlock exit they'd test. My point? Why is everything a conspiracy, y'all?

There's a damning new revelation tying Sydney Powell to the Coffee County voter data/software breach as she seeks a "speedy trial."

Jobless numbers for August are out and the data's a little wobbly; all the more reason it's a concern that MTG and Andrew Clyde want to fiddle with government funding at the end of the month. Or in the midst of hurricane season when FEMA's running out money. There's no floor with those two, though.

Lastly, late-breaking news out of the 11th Circuit US Court where the city of Atlanta won a stay that sort of throws a wrench in the "Cop City" petition drive, and what is the ATLANTIC Coast Conference doing adding Texas and California schools?

Governor Brian Kemp spent more time dousing the hardly-flickering embers of Sen. Colton Moore's efforts to have Fulton DA Fani WIllis removed and/or "defunded" than he did talking hurricane aftermath at a press conference pretty much called for news about the state's post-Idalia efforts. Hear what he had to say (and what I had to say about what he had to say).

I'd called on Rep. Nikema WIlliams, and Senators Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff to speak up in the face of Atlanta using "signature matching" once "Stop Cop City" referendum petitions are turned in. Well, credit where it's due - the lady stepped up. C'mon guys. Okay, but did her statement have a lot of meat on the bone or nah?

On the heels of the fourth casualty inside the Fulton County Jail IN A MONTH, and the eighth this calendar year, my guest today is Dom Kelly,. Dom's co-founder, president & CEO of New Disabled South, a non-profit advocacy organization serving disabled people throughout the southeast.

With the recent death of 34-year-old Samuel Lawrence, a diagnosed mentally ill man in Fulton County custody, I wanted to have Dom on to shed some light on just how prevalent mental illness and other disabilities are amongst incarcerated Americans. I was stunned.

Great conversation; I hope you come away learning as much as I did.

Rudy G got popped in federal court today, and will have to shell out (a minimum) of $13k to Ruby Freeman & Shaye Moss - the twu Fulton County elections workers he targeted with false accusations of wrongdoing on election night, November 2020. Hear how the judge dressed him and his attorney down. Oh but there IS evidence of voter fraud in Alabama. Guess which side is guilty?

There's a brewing revolt (and walkout) at the iconic Atlanta Magazine, as anti-woke corporate pin-heads in Michigan? are trying to deviate the magazine's editorial policy away from a journalistic standard.

I'm cautioning Democrats & anyone left-of-center: don't make too much noise about Mitch McConnell's latest "space out." Also, why won't Republicans replace him in leadership so he can "Feinstein" his remaining time in office?

Lastly, why's there a new barrier to reaching out to any Georgia state senator that's not your own?

Yesterday's judicial surprise - former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows showing up to testify for HOURS in an effort to get his trial moved to federal court - is perhaps a bit of a dogwhistle, I think. Never mind that defendants of color have spent many a decade - for more than a century, really - not enjoying the benefit of a jury that's more to their hue. There's also the curious way Vivek Ramaswamey surmises he'd have handled Mike Pence's predicament January 6th - and some refreshing words from Erick Erickson to conservative audiences about that. Whoa. Go figure.

I bring it up before speaking in depth with author Dante King ("The 400 Year Holocaust: White America’s Legal, Psychopathic, and Sociopathic Black Genocide - and the Revolt Against Critical Race Theory") as we gather our thoughts after yet another racially targeted white supremacist murder spree at the expense of black citizens.

There's also new GOP Georgia primary polling data, and some interesting, underlying messages those polled are telling us.

Trump's trial date set - an OBVIOUS ploy to derail his presidential campaign, right? I mean, whose fault is that, anyway?

It's what former North Carolina governor called "the power of Trump" that freezes the GOP and other presidential hopefuls from DOING something about it - and his even BEING a viable candidate anymore.

Then there's Vivek's nonsensical 'Meet the Press' appearance and Bernie Sanders' familiar-sounding warning to Democrats (sounding a lot like me the last couple weeks, if I'm being honest) not to ignore the plight of "working class" Americans. Ya know, like Oliver Anthony croons about in a highly popular country folk song garnering a lot of headlines.

It's that concern, coupled with some concerning poll numbers among voters of color without college educations that should be a bright red blinking light on the radar of 2024 liberal hopefuls.