Georgia’s Senators Seek Role in Iranian Nuke Deal; Rouhani and Obama Seek Limits on Congressional Role

From Macon Monitor staff reports

Georgia’s two U.S. senators, Johnny Isakson and David Perdue, on April 14, 2015 joined in co-sponsoring a bi-partisan bill that passed out of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee by a vote of 19-0. Both of Georgia’s senators sit on that committee. The bill awaits full Senate consideration in the coming weeks. President Obama has indicated increasing enthusiasm for the bill, and is expected to sign it.

If passed as expected, the bill would mean that the Obama administration can suspend economic sanctions that Congress previously passed against Iran if, within 30 days of the nuclear deal’s finalization, Congress does not pass another sanctions resolution. After possible passage of a new sanctions resolution, the President would then have 12 days to decide whether to veto it, after which Congress would have 10 days to override the veto — but only on the basis of a two-thirds vote.

A treaty on a matter like nuclear weaponry and power development would ordinarily require … Continue Reading

Middle Georgia Makes National Transgender News, Raising Questions About Gender Segregation, Sex, and Assault in Prison

By Dave Oedel

Ashley Diamond has been visiting Middle Georgia from north Georgia’s city of Rome, where Diamond grew up. But Diamond has not been visiting our region’s tourist sites, and Diamond’s visit is not voluntary. Diamond was incarcerated for burglary in Middle Georgia’s medium-security Baldwin State Prison in Hardwick, near Milledgeville, before recently being transferred to the maximum-security Georgia State Prison in Reidsville.

Diamond is suing the state of Georgia in relation to the conditions of Diamond’s confinement. As a female-presenting “transgender” individual with male genitalia, Diamond was incarcerated with men, and then allegedly raped seven times in prison by male inmates. Treated as a male, Diamond’s long, flowing hair was shorn upon entry into the prison system, Diamond’s female clothing was taken away, and Diamond was denied a continuation of hormones that Diamond had been taking before incarceration.

Anatomically male by birth, … Continue Reading

Three Georgia Senators Poised to Weigh in on Iran “Deal”

From Macon Monitor Staff Reports:

On April 2, 2015, the Obama administration with other national administrations from China, Russia, France, Great Britain and Germany tentatively agreed upon a framework for an agreement with Iran, to be finalized by June 30, 2015, concerning the future of Iran’s nuclear capabilities.

Earlier, on March 9, 2015, alarmed about the trajectory of the administration’s negotiations with Iran and the Senate’s non-involvement in the negotiations, both of Georgia’s sitting senators, Johnny Isakson and David Perdue, joined 45 other Republican senators in signing a letter drafted by freshman Senator Tom Cotton declaring the Senate’s constitutional right to be counted on anything considered to be a treaty.

Cotton’s letter was derided by many, including former Macon Mayor Jack Ellis in the Macon Monitor, as inappropriate interference with the administration’s delicate ongoing negotiations with Iran. Former Georgia Senator Sam Nunn, who was born in Macon and raised in Perry, also was skeptical about the propriety of the Cotton letter as being “a very significant departure from the norm of American foreign policy.”  Nunn is particularly prominent on questions of nuclear non-proliferation in his role co-chairing the Nuclear Threat Initiative with Ted Turner, himself also formerly of Macon. … Continue Reading

Opinion: One Middle Georgian’s Gun-Gripping, God-Loving, Bee-Keeping Perspective on Iranian Nukes

By Dave Oedel

President Barack Obama undoubtedly won’t be listening to god-loving, gun-gripping, border-conscious, bee-keeping Middle Georgians for advice on what to do about Iranian nukes.  After all, the president hasn’t bothered to visit us clingers in Middle Georgia, whether as a candidate or as president. Too bad for him, and our nation.

You may recall seven years ago this month when candidate Obama said that people in job-hungry small towns in middle America “get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.”

Although President Obama was condescending in his comments, he wasn’t too far off the mark in some ways. Unfortunately, the president after seven years still doesn’t seem to understand the perspectives that he sensed are out here beyond the Beltway.

Let’s start with God. When Americans “cling” to God in the political context, it means … Continue Reading