Driving in Puerto Rico

My first story from Puerto Rico.

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The Republican assault on women's right to control their reproductive system begins now.

[The new Senate Majority Leader, Trent] Lott says not only will important legislation dealing with homeland security and the economy be moved along quickly, but also a key issue of importance to Christians: a ban on partial-birth abortion.

Next up, not letting women drive!

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What's in Winnona's future?

More mediocre movies?

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Who would have thought he would get into trouble again?

Such a nice, clean-cut young man. I wish police would just quit picking on him! Whitney could not bail him out, because she tries to avoid driving while stoned.

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You said Governor Barnes' education reform was not working?

This is what it is about. Getting the young kids turned around. Barnes was pushing reform in elementary school and pre-school. You have to start from the bottom and work up.

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Governor elect Perdue starts screwing up the state now!

First step, find turncoat Senators. Perdue wants to find Democrats who will turn against the leadership that helped elect them. Of course, this is just what he did in 1998. He decided not to dance with the party that brought him there. While Republicans blasted Jeffers for doing this, it does not seem to be a problem to do this if you are changing to the GOP. Imagine the Republicans being hypocritical?

Next step, redistricting. They always say they want to make thing more fair. Georgia is truly a mess. There are slim districts that run through five counties, with the constituents having no geographical ties. Don't expect a fair layout this time.

Lets work on the state flag next! Perdue has campaigned on having a referendum on the state flag. He pounded the campaign trail with "Remember who changed your flag." Damn if does not already appear to be back pedaling.

On Wednesday, he blamed the news media for raising the flag change as an issue in the campaign, but said, "We will convene in January and address the issue then. It is not at the top of my list."

Dumb, ignorant, racist rednecks get used again. I feel so bad for them. The Republicans used the flag platform to get these morons to vote for them. They have no intention of changing it. It is bad for business and bad for Atlanta. We do get to see what is most likely Perdue's first campaign lie with this issue.

Now lets screw up transportation. Perdue is against the Northern Arc and plans to kill it. Since the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority involves the poor having transportation into the wealthy suburbs, get ready to see that go.

Perdue is also likely to review the operations of the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority, which Barnes created, and the state Road and Tollway Authority with an eye toward making changes in their operation. "I am a person who judges plans and productivity by results and I don't see any from GRTA," Perdue said during the campaign.

He plans to push telecommuting. Which is all fine and good, but the fast majority of jobs cannot be accomplished over a computer cable. The push on that fad has seen its time come and go. Georgia needs real transportation solutions now!

Do you think Georgians knew that this is what they were getting when they elected Perdue? Perhaps not.

Perdue's views on many issues are unknown to many Georgia voters because he didn't have the money for a competitive media campaign early on. In an Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll conducted late last month, 55 percent of respondents said they didn't know enough about Perdue to have an opinion of him.

Another story in the AJC covers how little people really know about Perdue.

"Honest to God, I don't know anything about him," Doran said as he walked his dog in the North Georgia town of Dahlonega. "If there were 10 men here, I couldn't pick him out. Is he related to the chicken people?"

Do you think Georgians voted for the man because they considered his platform and the effect it would have on their lives?

"I don't really know what Perdue will do," said Joyce Bolton, a grocer near Athens, "but I'm glad Barnes lost."

Finally, how about Perdue, a Republican, elected by white rural voters, using Martin Luther Kings famous quote to celebrate his election?

Frankie Wright of Snellville was offended that Perdue borrowed from the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. to declare in his victory speech that the state was "free at last, free at last, Thank God almighty, free at last" of Democratic rule.

"I really don't believe he said that," said Wright.

This should be interesting.

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