Congrats to Bill Fennoy for his extra innings win over Matt Aitken in the District 1 Augusta City Commission race. A number of political insiders believed that Aitken had a distinct advantage in the runoff because it was clear that Fennoy was not getting the full support of the same community leadership that backed Richard Roundtree’s successful and historic run for sheriff.
While Aitken was certainly endorsed by Mayor Deke Copenhaver and the historically conservative Augusta Chronicle editorial page, there are not enough whites, Republicans or unicorns in District 1 to get a repeat of the near miraculous rookie victory Aitken had when he first ran for the seat.
And now that we have had two consecutive races where black voters showed up in numbers to defeat white candidates in runoffs (this race and the Roundtree/Peebles runoff last summer), perhaps we are seeing buried the long-held, unwritten yet widely quoted edict, that “black folks don’t show up for runoffs.”
They showed up, they spoke up and they moved right on up the political totem pole.
As far as what this means for the city, well at least one political veteran said he believed the “factions” would play out as follows:
The new “power” duos are predicted to be Marion Williams and Bill Fennoy, Donnie Williams and Grady Smith, Alvin Mason and Bill Lockett, and Wayne Guilfoyle and Joe Jackson. The two wild cards are said to be Corey Johnson and Mary Fair Davis (either can go with any faction, at any time).
The above-listed pairings are the teams that we can get used to being on the same side in most controversial votes… in other words, no matter the issue, you are going to be hard pressed to see those linked together ever separating on votes. About the only way you will usually see one not standing up with the other is if one of the two is not present for a vote.
Conventional wisdom has Corey Johnson as your next mayor pro-tem. Not only is it “his turn,” but he apparently could use the rather substantial bump in regular income. Not that there is anything wrong with that.
When asked if Matt Aitken might use his vote in the next three weeks to do anything “dramatic” before leaving the building, insiders tell me that it is highly unlikely, and simply not his style.
My two cents on Aitken’s political career is that it was largely a great opportunity that he completely wasted. While his heart was in the right place, it was apparent from the start that he underestimated the time commitment needed to really master the issues and business at hand. He also greatly misjudged the importance of being more involved in the committee process, and staying connected to the needs and complaints of his constituents. He became a political “dead man walking” when he stopped responding to the small but hearty band of citizen activists who rallied together to get him elected during his first run. Simply put, he failed to dance with the folks who brought him!
If Fennoy can step up on constituent service, keep his temper in check and use his common sense, he may be around for a good little while.
It did not take 24 hours after the murder/suicide involving Kansas City Chief’s linebacker Jovan Belcher and the young mother of his infant daughter for the raging debate on private gun ownership to drift into the absurd, courtesy of the Odd Universe of the Left Leaning Libtards.
The entire episode with Belcher tragically sounds like a “Cops” miniseries in the making, but for nationally noted sportswriter Jason Whitlock to use the event to declare that “The NRA (National Rifle Association) is the new KKK” reminds me why I stand so strongly against the anti-private gun ownership crowd.
Someone needs to remind Whitlock that if the targets of the Klan’s reign of terror had been adequately armed and ready, chances are pretty good that far fewer of them would have ever been killed. Once a few dozen Kowardly Klansmen were blown all over the sidewalk by their intended victims, perhaps the idiots would have thought twice about their illegal hooded hootenannies.
And as far as football tragedies being averted, think what a blessing it would have been for O.J. Simpson if either his estranged wife or Ron Goldman had met their “unknown knifeman” with a loaded .45 instead of just a gasp and a whimper. Maybe the Juice would still be enjoying a career in Hollywood instead of leading the tormented life of a man wrongly accused. *AHEM*
As for the assertion that Belcher and his baby’s mama would still be alive if he did not have easy access to a gun, the aforementioned late Mrs. Simpson would very likely loudly disagree, if she had not been silenced, of course, by a giant knife.
I will concede that Belcher himself would probably still be alive if he did not have an easy and painless way to end his fear of incarceration and justice. But as it is, Jovan Belcher ended up using a murder weapon as a tool to rid the world of an evil menace.
For that, even Jason Whitlock should be grateful.You Might Also Like:
