Laying the "poverty & protest-to-prison pipeline"

Despite the state of Georgia being unnecessarily deadly for anyone in jails or prisons, Georgia Republican legislators still felt the need to make it harder for the poor and working class to bail themselves out of jail for a larger number of alleged crimes - some of them misdemeanors. Senate bill 63 (SB63) awaits Governor Brian Kemp's signature, but not before advocates for the poor bemoan the thoughtlessness and senselessness of the legislation.

Such a law - I believe - will have the unintended consequence of having cops have to decide the necessity of taking people in with jails & prisons already crowded throughout the state. The thing is, this new bill is a callous, cruel attack on not just the poor, but a suppression of free speech, as it targets protests and bail funds and non-profits (even churches) who raise funds to bail out more than three individuals in a year.

Fani Willis has had a bad string of weeks, so it's hard not to notice when a bipartisan batch of ethics experts filed a "friend of the court" brief Monday opining that nothing she (nor Nathan Wade, for that matter) has done warrants her being disqualified or acting improperly. Much of what they wrote in the brief you've heard from Willis' defenders (and me, though I still believe her actions were foolish) but it still had to feel good for the embattled Fulton County prosecutor after a barrage of bad press.

Back to legislative antics under the gold dome, Georgia Republicans can't help but to pander to gun fetishists with a sales tax holiday for gun & ammo purchases a week in October under the guise of being "pro-hunting." The problem is the tax holiday isn't limited to just hunting rifles & shotguns; because of course. Senator Jason Esteves was among those on the left who point that out. Hear his impassioned floor speech.

Lastly, forgive me; I had to savor yesterday's ridiculousness in the House as Marjorie Taylor Greene struggled with second grade math and got roasted by Rep. Jamie Raskin (againnnn) and Rep. Jared Moskowitz (againnnn). First, she and her MAGA crew failed to impeach DHS Secretary Mayorkas, then they couldn't pass the Israel funding measure they once before said had to be tied to Ukraine and border funding - which they won't even put up for a vote.