Finish of an period for Georgia GOP

Follow our live blog and search for Georgia dedication tidbits all day. The blog starts at 9 a.m., the inauguration begins at 11 a.m.

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With no opening balls for the new administration, the Democrats are planning a virtual celebration tonight at 7:30 a.m. Warnock, Ossoff, Stacey Abrams, US Rep Lucy McBath, US Rep Nikema Williams and others will zoom in to raise a glass.

There is no dress code, but participants are encouraged to wear their “finest couch clothes”.

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The New York Times features elected Senator Raphael Warnock in a long piece that sheds light on the history of the 10 black senators who came before him. The Times also describes the many efforts over the years to de-legitimize the elections that brought these men to Washington – including Warnock.

“But within hours, the news of (Warnock’s) victory and its significance was drowned out when a violent horde – insurgent rioters led by a veritable lynch mob – attacked the Capitol on President Trump’s admonitions to” retake our country “in the same building , which Jefferson Davis had once defiantly stepped out of to wage war against the United States, and on the same day the Senate was to send a black member to the vice presidency and win its first black member from the state of Georgia, which led to an uprising with white nationalists the Confederate flag through the halls of Congress. “

– The New York Times

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What can Georgia expect in Biden’s first 100 days? Many changes. Look for Biden to push for new COVID relief controls, changes to immigration law, new voting rights efforts, and other priorities that the incoming POTUS set during the campaign – some of which could affect the state directly.

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Another Georgian making history this month is Chairman David Scott, who serves as the first black chairman of the powerful House Agriculture Committee. In an interview with AgriTalk, Scott spoke about his new role and the upcoming Congress when he said he will focus on food security and climate change. “Nobody suffers from climate change like our farmers,” he said.

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Much-needed COVID vaccine supplies are mixed across the state and are not arriving as expected, said Public Health Commissioner Dr. Kathleen Toomey told lawmakers at a budget hearing in Atlanta yesterday.

That understandably has led Georgia officials and residents to become concerned that the two-dose regime will be properly completed.

“We literally don’t know week by week what our allocation will be,” said Toomey. “There is some separation between what we have been told and what is actually available.”

Help should come from the Biden administration, but exact details will not be known until after today’s swearing-in.

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Job offers. An eagle-eyed tipster posted a job advertisement for one of the most perpendicular jobs in Georgia’s democratic politics – Jon Ossoff’s new Senate Chief of Staff.

The ad comes from the Senate Employment Bulletin, an internal job board often used by Senate offices to fill lower-level positions. The bulletin also usually contains anonymous posts such as “Senior Democrat from a Southern State” instead of naming the office directly.

For those interested, “experience in leadership positions in the Senate” is required, which quickly limits the pool. You also need a record of “effective collaboration” with colleagues and extensive management experience.

Since neither Ossoff nor the elected Senator Raphael Warnock served in the elected office, neither the other can search for the advantages and disadvantages of the institution or the management of a Senate office. Such experienced hands will be in great demand.

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Two senators come in, one goes out. US Senator Kelly Loeffler gave her farewell speech in the Senate on Tuesday afternoon. The Atlanta Republican spoke of advocating conservative priorities during her year-long in office and said she would continue to support the Republican Party in its next phase.

She also spent time in her farewell speech to speak at the AJC about our coverage of stock deals made on her behalf at the start of the pandemic.

Even when she criticized the Fourth Estate for completely and accurately covering its financial portfolio, she also opposed the “demolition culture” which she believes seeks to silence the voices of the Conservatives.

The AJC, of ​​course, fully covered and reinforced Loeffler throughout her tenure and campaign, and did not cancel either her or her conservative views.

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Also in the departure lounge: President Donald Trump, who left the White House for the last time this morning to skip Joe Biden’s swearing-in.

Instead of taking power, Trump spent his last 24 hours as president creating his own “Patriot” party to challenge the GOP like Teddy Roosevelt without the cuddle factor. Keep your insiders informed as you see real evidence of Trump’s new grassroots party.

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POSTED: The final evidence that Trump’s attacks on the Georgia elections were nonsense came yesterday when Attorney Sidney Powell withdrew her final challenge on the most basic of grounds:

“Last week the Court of Appeals announced to Powell that she had not been admitted to the 11th Circuit. The court informed Powell that unless she applied for admission, her motions would be struck off and treated as if they had never been filed. Powell voluntarily withdrew the lawsuit on Tuesday. “

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With the Trump era ending, the New York Times took the liberty of compiling all of Trump’s Twitter slurs – and you may be surprised at the identity of his most common target in Georgia – even though we weren’t.

It wasn’t John Lewis, the late civil rights hero, who boycotted Trump’s 2017 housewarming ceremony. It wasn’t Stacey Abrams, who was narrowly defeated in the 2018 governor race and is one of Trump’s leading critics in the south.

It is Governor Brian Kemp who deserves Trump’s continued hostility for rejecting the president’s demands to illegally reverse Georgia’s 2020 election results. For your bingo cards, Trump named Kemp three times a “fool”, a “RINO” (four times) and a “shame”, an “obstructionist” and all sorts of other bad names.

See for yourself – or just focus on what Biden says during his swearing in.

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Another check is in the mail for the Savannah Harbor Expansion, which received $ 94 million under the latest Congress-approved government funding package. The money was supported by the Georgia Congress delegation and will be used for dredging, project construction and environmental monitoring.