Impertinent Observations

Following up on some news articles and blog posts about potential challengers to Congressman John Barrow of Savannah, I am continually amazed at how politicians change their philosophy (and their places of residence) in order to stay in office. I well remember when Barrow was on the Athens-Clarke County Commission. Contrary to the current political iteration, he was not the least bit conservative back then; Barrow could be counted on to be in favor of pretty much every tax increase (in direct contradiction of his campaign rhetoric, he did vote to increase taxes any number of times – I guess it just depends on how Clintonesquely one defines “tax increase”), fee increase, restrictive ordinance, and big government initiative that came along (and that got the Unified Government successfully sued more than once – like rental registration and that attempted hostile takeover of the Hospital Authority). In fact, before he hit the big time, Barrow was the darling of Athens’ progressive set. I know, I know – we have always been at war with Oceania.

I finally got around to fleshing out the Blogroll with a bunch more links. Perceptive folks will notice that my “Policy & Think Tanks” links lean to the (mostly libertarian) right, my “News & Opinion” links cover the political spectrum, concentrating mostly on local and state sources, and my “Blogroll” links similarly cover the political spectrum, but include more left-leaning entries (but hey, thems the breaks in the blogosphere).

Also, I see that TOA comes in at #17 on BlogNet News’ current rankings of “Georgia’s Most Influential Political Blogs.” Such is old hat for many blogs, but it is a first for yours truly (as far as I know anyway). Remember – click early and click often.

The City of Winterville Police Department will hold its 2nd annual Fall Festival this coming Saturday, 20 October. The festival will be held in Pittard Park from 11:00 a.m. until to 3:00 p.m., complete with lots of activities for the kids. Later that evening, the Winterville Steering Committee will hold its final public event from 6:00 p.m. until 10:00 p.m., also in Pittard Park. The featured movie is Disney/Pixar’s CARS; refreshments will be provided. Call (706) 742-8600 for more information.

My hometown SCHS Indians remain at #5 in the AJC’s AAA poll. The team is 7-0 (3-0 in region 8AAA play) after a 51-21 victory over Monroe Area. The Indians play at Oconee County (3-3, 2-0) this coming Friday.