but this doesn’t seem to be taken out of context at all:
Anyone who has seen this site knows that we are in NO way a fan of nearly-as-corrupt-as-Nathan-Deal Ken Hodges. That said, the full context of this particular clip, as provided by Jim Galloway:
The comment from Olens came during his closing remarks, when he was recapping his accomplishments as chairman of the Cobb County Board of Commissioners and the Atlanta Regional Commission:
“I’ve proven that I can work within a managed budget, and in fact I had surpluses every single year. In fact the main reason that I seriously considered running for attorney general rather than staying head of the ARC and Cobb County was that I was getting bored. It was not a challenge any more. The attorney general’s position provides a great opportunity and a dream come true for any trial lawyer. The ability to mix 27 years of civil litigation with 12 years of public service, to take on issues such as the water litigation that seems to go on ad nauseam, to be involved in redistricting….”
As I said on twitter last night, if this meme really catches on in the next couple of days, Sam Olens is toast.
That said, between the Bored One or the Corrupt One, I urge you to give the two-party system the third finger and do the Smart thing: Vote Don Smart for Attorney General! “The Taxpayers’ Best Friend and the Criminals’ Worst Enemy”
In this video, note the repeated reference to following the “European Model”. While he is specifically speaking of transportation, if he is so interested in following the “European Model” in one area, will he be similarly interested in following it in other areas? [Continue Reading]
Over the weekend, some “conservatives” on Facebook brought to my attention this link. It is a video of the opening of a Cobb County Commission meeting nearly a year ago where then-Chairman (and now Attorney General candidate) Sam Olens calls the meeting to order and has the invocation.
What is different about this invocation is that it isn’t exactly your typical “christian” prayer. Heck, it isn’t even jewish, muslim, wiccan, hindu, or Branch McBerryan. No, it isn’t even a prayer, because the speaker is an atheist. Specifically, he is Ed Buckner, the President of American Atheists – who happens to live in Cobb County. In it, he invoked “the 700,000 people who live in this county — especially the majority (yes, over half) of those 700,000 who are not members of any church, mosque, temple, or other religious organization.”
Now, these “conservatives” that brought this story to my attention are using it to attack Olens, saying that he shouldn’t have allowed this “anti-God speech in front of Boy Scouts and a Little League team”.
Church and state should be separate. The state owes to every church protection and full freedom in the pursuit of its spiritual ends. In providing for such freedom no ecclesiastical group or denomination should be favored by the state more than others. … The church should not resort to the civil power to carry on its work. … The state has no right to impose penalties for religious opinions of any kind. The state has no right to impose taxes for the support of any form of religion. A free church in a free state is the Christian ideal, and this implies the right of free and unhindered access to God on the part of all men, and the right to form and propagate opinions in the sphere of religion without interference by the civil power.
I told y’all Saturday night I would reveal its source this morning… [Continue Reading]
Last Saturday, the 2nd Congressional District GOP got together for a BBQ and Congressional Debate at Lee County High School. I’m trying to adopt a general policy that if it is a political event in Lee County, I intend to be there with my video camera, so I was there. Heck, I even voted in the straw poll!
While there, I had a chance to meet with a few of the candidates that were present. Maria Sheffield was the late arrival, but she was also the most engaging with this political blogger. Seth Harp, one of her competitors who has sponsored at least one thing in the State Senate I am strongly in favor of (local referendums on Sunday alcohol sales), was rather dismissive. I also had a chance to speak with Gary Black for a few moments, as well as Mike Keown, Rick Allen, and Lee Ferrell. Harold Logsdon was there, but unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to speak with him.
Overall, the event went well. Quite a few people there were in campaign t-shirts of various campaigns, but Lee Ferrell was the only one I noted with any real “contingent” of what appeared to be staffers. The others had brought along a staffer/area volunteer or two, with the rest of the t-shirts for their campaign appearing to be simply supporters from the area. I did not personally witness any mass vote buying, nor did I hear any rumors of it. It appears that this was a genuine one person/one vote straw poll, so take that for what it is worth. (Still not very much, but relatively better than polls with mass vote buying.)
All four candidates were there, including Albany’s Big Mistake Ken Hodges, former Cobb County Commission Chairman Sam Olens, State Representative Rob Teilhet, and Max Wood.
In our latest interview, I had the chance to talk to GOP Attorney General candidate Sam Olens last week. The audio is 17 minutes long, and because of its brevity I didn’t cut it up.
Lawyer who has worked in the same firm for more than 2 decades, is now a partner there. Graduate of Emory School of Law.
Started as a member of his local homeowner’s association board, rose through the ranks by various appointments and campaigns, has been an elected official for 12 years now.
Likes the idea of statewide grand juries as part of an ethics reform package
Likes the Attorney General job because “you get the best of both worlds” with law and public service
Thinks more needs to be done through the AG’s office regarding water, Public Private Partnerships, and legal framework for deals to bring more jobs to GA
“Transparency goes with accountability. You don’t have one without the other.”
Believes fines for violations of open government laws should be raised from maximum of $100 per occurrence to $1,000
Believes that state and local officials who violate the Statutory Code of Ethics should face penalties, possibly up to and including removal from office
Believes all ballot referenda should be written in plain English so that the average voter know what he is voting on and which way a particular vote acts.
Believes recommendations by the State Ethics Board to the Joint Legislative Ethics Committee should be made public, and that the State Ethics Board should have subpoena powers
“You have to respect everyone’s religion, ['moral', from the quote at the end of his ethics press release] is not meant in that regard.”
It was a genuine pleasure to talk to Chairman Olens, and I look forward to seeing him in SWGA as the campaign progresses.
call for an examination of Obamacare’s constitutionality.
He joins Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott and others in calling for an examination of Obamacare’s constitutionality in light of a deal made with a Nebraska US Senator to exempt that State from having to bear Obamacare’s financial burden.
Here’s the press release:
SAM OLENS MAKES OFFICIAL REQUEST TO GEORGIA AG TO REVIEW CONSTITUTIONALITY OF H.R. 3590
For Immediate Release : Cobb County/December 23, 2009 – Cobb County Commission Chair and candidate for Attorney General Sam Olens has submitted a letter to Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker requesting that he join with the Attorney Generals of South Carolina and at least six other States, to review the constitutionality of H.R. 3590, The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
With the final deal assuring Senator Ben Nelson’s vote, all newly eligible Medicaid enrollees from Nebraska would be permanently treated differently than those from the other 49 States. While Medicaid is a joint federal-state program, the Nebraska Compromise provides for a permanent exemption to his State alone. Said provision appears to violate the U.S. Constitution as all states would not be uniformly treated the same with this new tax.
“It is a felony to buy votes in this country. That same prohibition must apply to our legislators. All legal options must be considered and applied to stop this outrage.
“Georgians cannot afford the many new taxes associated with this bill, let alone a special provision that lets us pay for citizens of another state, stated Olens.
Also look for the interview Jeff did with Chairman Olens last week tomorrow morning on SWGAPolitics.com!
under Republican Attorney General Candidate Sam Olens‘ proposed ethics reforms.
According to Bludgeon and Skewer, State Rep Hardie Davis still hasn’t paid $100 in ethics fines for failing to properly file required ethics disclosures regarding his current State House seat. [Continue Reading]
First off, let me just admit that the SpeakerSaga – the fallout from Glenn Richardson being accused of threatening to beat his wife and abuse his political power – is simply too much for me to track while still working a full time job. To that end, for SpeakerSaga updates, I recommend the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Gold Dome Live and Political Insider, as well as Jason Pye and yes, Peach Pundit. I’ve already said my piece on it, which is essentially that the members of the House need to be extremely careful not to play their hands too early and cost them down the road.
That said, there has been one issue that has arisen out of it that I want to spend more time looking at: ethics, and specifically how the issue affects the various 2010 statewide races.
This post will be a more shotgun style introduction, with future pieces to examine each candidate’s positions in more detail. If any candidate I don’t point out here has a proposal out, PLEASE let me know about it! (Facebook, Twitter, Email) [Continue Reading]
