The Ron Show

Notes forthcoming.

Friend of the show, columnist Jay Bookman reminds us (and Rick Jackson) of the "Rick Jackson" Rick recalls himself being as a child: impoverished and in need . As Bookman opines, it's as if Jackson forgot that child version of himself on route to crafting the sort of policies he'd put in place if he were to become Georgia's next governor. - - - Revisiting a conversation I had...

Some folks on social media have taken the bait, arguing the pros and cons of mandated "Pride Night" gear for pro athletes. Of all teams, the SAN FRANCISCO Giants manages to have anti-gay bigots on its roster, but they also (my opinion) made the mistake of concocting "Pride Night" gear for players to wear (it was an option, and note mandated). A minor league baseball team wound...

...plus the Georgia GOP no-show rodeo & a Wynter-y cold endorsement leaves Mike Collins frozen out. The special session Governor Brian Kemp commanded out of the state legislature didn't yield much for his party (no redrawn maps, no property tax cuts passed onto consumers' sales taxes) but it did yield a mess of an election bill he'll have to sign (we're guessing) to address the...

A Tuesday update on Georgia's special legislative session takes us to one ring of a three-ring circus of GOP clown activity. As the AJC's Caleb Groves & David Wickert reported - Republicans under the Gold Dome struggled to tackle a self-mandated deadline to eliminate QR codes from ballots while also trying to saddle local elections officials with an absurd burden to hand recount top-tier races...

During the entire special session of the Georgia General Assembly, Democrats managed - time and time again - to withstand GOP efforts to offer property tax cuts while putting the burden on local electeds to find ways to make up the funding gap such cuts would put on county and municipal budgts. One such locally elected official - Jimmy Furst, Chamblee city councilman - provided his thoughts in an...

PLUS: We get a post-primary checkup on the Democrats' slate in Georgia from Atlanta-based strategist & Mike Collins will have a hard time beating Ossoff when he's unliked within GOP ranks Now that we're clear of the primary calendar (checks to make sure it's impossible there's any. more. run-offs) it's time to get to know some of the Democratic candidates throughout the...

PLUS: Kemp's 11th hour endorsement may test his political prowess for now and later. When Nabilah Parkes stepped away from use Georgia Senate seat to run for lieutenant governor, I believe she put personal aspiration ahead of party and constituents, which is why I can't vote for her today. That said, she couldn't have predicted the Supreme Court gutting the remnants of the Voting Right...

Joining me to discuss - HD 62 candidate KaVon Arnold , seeking to overcome not only a primary runoff opponent, but half a million in gaming PAC money, too. Also problematic is that her opponent, Ken Collier, doesn't have the kind of voting record that speaks to being a staunch (or even just present) Democrat. Anyhow, it was good to connect with KaVon; she's a great story of a hometown East...

World Cup hype is being met with hoteliers being less-than-impressed with bookings . Last summer, Beyonce' and baseball's All-Star game seemed to outpace FIFA's marquee event, in Atlanta bookings. This isn't just an Atlanta malaise , either. Who's to blame? A global economy stunted by war? ICE presence dampening spirits in the Latino community? Maybe it's some combination o...

Watching from afar as the Graham Platner situation continues to unfold, I'm both amused (by Kellyanne Conway and Trump's utter lack of self-awareness) and concerned that his being the Democratic nominee in Maine to unseat Susan Collins could make retaking the Senate a nailbiter. --- Meanwhile, Georgia Recorder scribe Jay Bookman joined me fresh from posting his latest op/ed: "Where is...

PLUS: Donald pisses off Knicks' fans; where's the proof from the FBI / Fulton seizure & MARTA's naysayers seem unaware of the authority's efforts to address homelessness The Atlanta Journal Constitution's Patricia Murphy - perhaps as a response to national media fawning over Jon Ossoff as a potential 2028 contender - brought the wet blanket to that notion. Okay fine; but it...

PLUS: "everyone" wants Senator Jon Ossoff to run for President. I pulled up a recent video done by the Atlanta Journal Constitution's Ernie Suggs , doing a small tour of MARTA train usage weaving in MARTA's troubled (from the start) history for some context. What frustrates me most about MARTA's issues - and the issues flowing into its stations and trains from the major city...

First, with the loss of Atlanta Civic Circle, a reminder that local journalism, local podcasting, local "scrutinizers" are in short supply even in a big city, and this economy and constantly altering landscape in news and content delivery don't make it any easier. That's why I chose to divulge that my personal income situation necessitates me taking a job that'll ensure a mor...

Notes to come ...

My conversation today was heard by hundreds or thousands on Georgia NOW & Progressive Voices, but truly, it was meant for an audience of one - former Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who's now the Democratic Party nominee for Governor of Georgia. MARTA's a PR disaster. A ghoulish, murderous stabbing of a grandmother. New trains (again) delayed prior to the FIFA World Cup. "More...

It's now abundantly clear that not only are the Georgia Republican Party's two Senate options of poor candidate quality with mid-20th century 'Jim Crow' vision, they're corrupt. Even worse for the Georgia GOP, they're golden boy - governor Brian Kemp - has been pulled into the woodchipper and exposed as well. With good local journalism disappearing - even in major hubs like Atlanta - it's importan...

Lost-n-Found Youth - an Atlanta-based organization working to take LGBTQIA+ young adults off the streets, provide them shelter and guidance to find their way to sustainability, is guided by executive director Melanea Alvarez, who joined me today to share the organization's backstory, and give a thorough audio tour of all the organization - known in thrifting circles for its popular thrift stor...

Last Thursday, WXIA-TV's Doug Richards reported on findings that showed a bit of a taxpayer cash corruption loop showing itself between Governor Brian Kemp and the Dooley family, where Brine influenced upwards of $27 million in school safety contracts, taking donations from Daniel Dooley and funneling it back to Daniel's brother Derek Dooley's Senate campaign. Meanwhile, Mike Collins h...

Atlanta-based journalist George Chidi ( The Atlanta Objective , The Guardian ) penned a thorough Substack piece taking a deep dive into the 2026 Georgia Democratic primary - going way down the ballot to give voters as much information as needed. Plus, hear how he's intrinsically tied to the death of Secoriea Turner and how that still affects him to this day, and what that wrongful death case c...

The Atlanta Voice - celebrating sixty years in publication - is guided by editor-in-chief Donnell Suggs , who's made himself available for this show on many occasions, and the Monday before the Georgia primary, it was great to catch up and get a sense where his readership and metro Atlanta's Black voting bloc is leaning on a handful of races. He recently sat down with former Atlanta mayor...

Gerald Griggs, Atlanta-based attorney , advocate and activist - and former NAACP Georgia chapter President, joined me Friday morning to weigh in on the landscape in a post-'Callais' U.S. and Georgia. He and I discussed the near-immediate aftermath of fever-pitch GOP redistricting to dilute Black voter power in Congress and even at the state level. Georgia's governor, Brian Kemp, this w...

Also, Democrats need to present an alternative to GOP and their own 'status quo' & is there a pattern of campaign finance ethics issues with Bottoms' campaigns? Not only did Brian Kemp call a special session of the General Assembly back to the Gold Dome to address a mess of its own making (mandating the elimination of QR codes from voter ballots), but the already-and-disproportiona...

Governor Brian Kemp's last hurrah with the veto pen (and the 'sign into law' pen, too) is akin to burying landmines on property just before abandoning it for someone else to step all over. Income & property tax relief measures passed by the GOP-led General Assembly will shift tax burden onto consumption taxes everyone will pay - disproportionately impacting the poor and working cla...

Fair Fight Action CEO Lauren Groh-Wargo (who's now been called to testify before a state Senate panel investigating the now-defunct New Georgia Project ) joined me to vent over the state of civil rights & marginalized voter rights in a post-'Callais' environment. Lauren spoke of the need for a "new civil rights movement." Well, that new coalition is assembling Saturday in...