Barry Fleming has one more problem.

Rep. Paul Broun and Fleming both filed their second-quarter FEC reports today, 12 days early. Broun out-raised Fleming almost two-to-one, but Fleming has $344,000 on hand compared to Broun’s $202,000. Still, that’s great news for the Team Broun.

It’s bad news for Democrat Bobby Saxon, though, whose report is not online yet. Team Saxon had hoped that, assuming Broun won, he’d be essentially bankrupted by the primary, putting them on more or less even footing. But Broun is learning how to raise money like an incumbent.

Peach Pundit has video of the Atlanta Press Club debate. You’ve probably heard most of it before. Fleming did haul out the bankruptcy/tax lien angle, which I expected him to do Monday in Athens but he did not.

Im on ur floorz, droppin ur lejislayshun.

State Sen. Bill Cowsert, R-Athens, will be one of Sonny Perdue's floor leaders next year. Says the governor's press office:

"Cowsert joins Senator Bill Heath (District 31) and Senator Ronnie Chance (District 16) who also serve as Administration Floor Leaders in the Senate. Cowsert will replace Senator Joseph Carter, who has announced that he will run for Superior Court judge in the Tifton Judicial Circuit.

“'Bill is a smart, analytical member of the Senate that has already won the respect of his colleagues,' said Governor Perdue. 'I look forward to his contributions as we continue to move Georgia forward.'”

Things one could possibly read into this:

A) Cowsert is deathly afraid of Tommy Malcom and Perdue is giving him a little boost.

B) Cowsert is being groomed for bigger and better things.

C) Sonny just thinks Bill's a heck of a guy.

And this is one.

Fleming's Franklin County chairman resigned from the campaign today, citing Fleming's negative campaigning against Rep. Paul Broun. Bust out your Bible and read this:

Barry, Brian and Campaign Staff,

I told you when we first met that I would be happy to work for the Fleming campaign in Franklin County, GA as the individual assigned to do so by the leadership of the Franklin County Republicans. I also told you that you would have all my support and efforts provided that you did not go negative by bringing up the past against Paul Broun. It appears now that you have done so. Therefore I resign as the Franklin County Chairman for the Fleming for Congress campaign.

During the Athens Press Club’s political forum at the Melting Point Monday night, 10th District candidates U.S. Rep. Paul Broun, R-Athens and challenger state Rep. Barry Fleming, R-Harlem gave some oil slick answers to the issue of how to lower gasoline prices at the pumps.

Both men said that by simply announcing today that we would begin drilling for oil in the Artic National Wildlife Refuge and off the Gulf Coast, consumers would benefit from an immediate price reduction on gasoline. The reason, they said, was that by telling the world we would begin tapping into our own resources, speculators would stop driving the cost of a barrels of oil up, and therefore our own wallets would feel relief instantly.

Mixed feelings
I keep seeing previews for the Dark Knight and am simultaneously excited and sad about the movie and I am guessing that a lot of other people are feeling the same way. Excited because Batman Begins was great and the previews for the sequel look equally as good. But I wonder how it will feel to watch Heath Ledger's last completed film. When A Knight's Tale was on TV the other day, I'll admit I was a little sad. I'm not sure if it's because Ledger died or because I was remembering that my college newspaper got invited to the press junket when A Knight's Tale came out and I could have met him (and had a free trip to L.A.) if I had only answered the phone that day. So anyway, how is everyone else feeling about Dark Knight coming out? Will you see it? And if you do, do you think you might be a little sad?

Julie Phillips,

Arts & Entertainment Editor

ALSO READ THIS HERE

I love Beth's story today. There are boy bands, and then there are boy bands and I have to say, this kind is way more endearing (even if I'm a fan of neither genre's, um, music).

Here's a little tidbit that got left out of the online version of her story, describing said bands:

Activist judges. Judicial activism. Usurping the will of the people. Legislating from the bench.

We hear elected politicians utter those phrases on an almost daily basis in response to some perceived outrage emanating from the third branch of government. But the charge is more about whether the politician in question agrees with the decision than whether the decision was based in law.

Take, for instance, Rep. Paul Broun, R-Athens. Last week Broun, who earlier condemned the California Supreme Court gay marriage decision, railed against the U.S. Supreme Court for overturning the death sentence of a Louisiana man convicted of raping a 13-year-old because it is cruel and unusual punishment.

According to some people, the only things I care about are music and maligning Christians. But to think you can really know someone via their work blog is … well it’s just ridiculous. It’s like saying you know what someone is really like through his comedy act.

Which brings me to today’s topic. One of my favorite things to do on a Monday night is back tomorrow after a Memorial Day hiatus. On the last Monday of every month, The Loft in downtown Athens hosts a comedy night.

Let’s talk qualifying.

We’ll have two very interesting Athens-Clarke Commission races to follow: Elton Dodson versus Mike Hamby in District 10 and Red Petrovs versus Ed Robinson in District 6.

I know Petrovs far better than Robinson because I’ve been covering OneAthens and I wasn’t around for the 2004 election. This will be a race of contrasting ideas and styles where there’s a clear-cut choice.

Petrovs is a tough-talking, no-nonsense kind of guy who is conservative, especially fiscally, but is driven by facts and not ideology. His voice would be unique on the commission. He could get stuck with the Chamber of Commerce tag – the kiss of death in recent elections – but he says the chamber’s changed so much since Larry McKinney left that it’s not such an albatross anymore.

"We kind of have an informal betting pool going around in our center and that betting pool is 'does the North Pole melt out this summer?' and it may well," said the center's senior research scientist, Mark Serreze.

It’s nice to see that even scientists have a sense of humor about global warming. I guess that probably comes from the years of people ignoring what they have to say.

But it doesn’t stop him from saying the inevitable … "It's a situation where we hate to say we told you so, but we told you so," he Serreze.

But it seems that even though the North Pole might be ice-free this fall, the scientists say it’s not that big of a deal.