Look out DeKalb County! It appears ex-Dallas police chief Terrell Bolton may be headed to your police department (rather dramatic site, don’t you think?). This guy is heap big recycled trouble. Here’s a morsel from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution……

DeKalb Chief Executive Officer Vernon Jones said Thursday he was aware of the Dallas controversies before he interviewed Bolton and three other finalists recently.

“Do you think I’m stupid?” Jones said. “I wanted to know everything about everyone before I interviewed them.”

Jones said that the Dallas controversies apparently were politically motivated, but he said more “fact-finding” will be done before he makes a decision.

Well, alrighty then.

They told me that they were gonna beat Ralph big time and they did it.  Pretty impressive stuff against a very talented fellow.  This just goes to show you how ugly the Abramoff thing has been.  The Reed career appears to have been short-circuited, possibly permanently.

A couple of things come to mind.  First off, the guys running the Cagle campaign were old Ralph operatives.  Ralph’s old guys apparently didn’t like Ralph very much.  I know some were disillusioned by his willingness to work for most favored nation trade status for China, but I think it probably goes deeper than that.  I think there was some serious personal stuff going on, too.

Second, I have to wonder where Reed goes from here.  He was going to walk into the Lt. Gov’s office and then just move down the street to Sonny’s house when he finished his second term.  And from there — who knows — maybe a shot at the presidency.  That’s all in a pile of ashes now.  I don’t suppose the future looks too bright for Reed’s consulting business, either.  Why not hire the guys who beat him instead?

I’m not happy at all to see Reed go down like this.  I preferred Cagle because people I trusted preferred him, but he had a golden age when he topped all the Christian politicos in modern American history because he was super-bright and super-articulate.  I hope there’s a second act of some kind for him, both personally and politically.  If he were a lefty, a place at Harvard would be waiting for him!

You heard it here first.  Casey Cagle is going to soundly defeat Ralph Reed in the upcoming Republican primary for Georgia Lt. Governor.  I’ve spoken to a “person in the know” and I believe him. 

Call Reed another casualty of the deadly musical Abramoff, Abramoff!

Cynthia McKinney’s got a challenger.  How ’bout folks throw him a little love?

What’s more entertaining: Opening Day in Major League Baseball or the Cynthia Mickinney Circus and Freak-Hair Show? Go!

During the conference, held at historically black Howard University in Washington, civil rights attorney James Myart said his client was “assaulted” by a Capitol Police officer, whose name the department refuses to release.

“Because she was assaulted and placed in impending fear of her safety, she responded,” he said. “This case has just begun and we’re going to fight, and we’re going to use the U.S. Constitution.”

Me: I can’t decide whether to laugh or cry. Danny Glover? Harry Belafonte? Was there presence supposed to be of help in some way to McKinney? All I can say is, thank God I’m not from her district – what an absolute embarrassment!

The Washington Post contains an article looking at Ralph Reed, who is running for lieutenant governor in Georgia, and the impact Jack Abramoff is having on his campaign. I hate to see the quotes from people who say “”[it's] pretty obvious he was putting money before God,” said Phil Dacosta, a Georgia Christian Coalition member who had initially backed Reed. “We are righteously casting him out.”" Well, he was a lobbyist. Money is rather important in that line of business. Moreover, “righteously casting him out.” Yeah, that’s the Christian Coalition.

I like Reed. I think he has accomplished a lot over the years, although some friends disagree with me saying he was merely at the right place at the right time, but I think not. As the Post article says, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution has published some 48 articles and editorials serving essentially as hit-pieces on the Reed campaign. All is not lost, but the road to the primary is certainly uphill and far more difficult than probably was anticipated.