I'm supposed to be on O'Reilly tonight (unless Rehnquist or Dennis intrude)

Ramblings' Journal ^ | 7.8.05 | Michael King

[mhking]

Just got word that I'm going to be on The O'Reilly Factor tonight at 8 on Fox News Channel.

We'll be talking about a story from the first part of this week.

Overnight Monday night, a group of youngsters tossed rocks at a tanker truck, and one enterprising kid lobbed a bottle rocket into the cab of the truck. The tanker truck, carrying 7500 pounds of diesel fuel, went off the road and overturned. The driver was seriously injured.

Atlanta Police evacuated the Bankhead Courts housing project as a precaution, as there were fears of an explosion from the diesel fuel.

Police have arrested and charged an 18 year-old man with tossing the bottle-rocket, and they are close (at least in their words) to apprehending a second individual in the case.

The question - as O'Reilly's producer put it to me - is whether crime is out of control in Atlanta.

I told him that it wasn't, and that crime in Atlanta is no better nor worse than any other urban area of the country. This was the act of kids who had no business out at 2 in the morning, regardless of the notion of it being the night of the fourth of July. They were wrong, and should be punished.

The other point brought out by the producer - and presumably one that O'Reilly wants to pursue - is whether or not an increase in crime (there's that notion again) can be tied to the poor performance of the Fulton County DA, Paul Howard.

Howard, as far as I'm concerned, is an embarrassment. He has no business in the DA's office. The office, itself, needs an overhaul. That being said, the only thing that truly presents itself is the issue of a district attorney who botches high profile cases. Case after case, story after story, the one at fault becomes the DA. The APD does it's job -- I certainly can't fault the rank and file of the APD. (Management is another issue entirely, and one for another rant and another day)

On the other hand, the District Attorney's office has made a number of questionable decisions and had a questionable record in representing the people of Fulton County.

Others may point to the fact that Paul Howard ran unopposed in the last election, both in the primary as well as the general election. It's awful hard to get someone else to do the job when the guy who's there in the first place has no one to challenge him at the ballot box.

Anyway, that's what's on tap for tonight -- provided Hurricane Dennis' path of destruction and the impending retirement of Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist don't intrude.

Be there. Aloha.

[mhking]

 

Double-barrelled Mega-PING! to both lists! If you want on, FReepmail me!

[bayourod]

Which side are you taking?

[TheBigB]

Knowing that you're in the Atlanta area, I wondered what you thought about this.

Looking forward to seeing you, if you don't get bumped!

[RushCrush]

Thanks for the heads up! I'm sure you'll do us proud, as always.

Eagles Up!

[GVnana]

I'll be there!

[onyx]

I won't miss it, Michael. Go get 'em!

[Enterprise]

I'll be lurkin.

[over3Owithabrain]

Good luck, hope you get on BOR tonight. I'm in the ATL area too, and like you say, cannot say the crime is worse here than any other urban area. It is still bad however, particularly in the 'hood. Then again, there is a number of suburbanite kids who have adapted the culture and are catching up crime-wise.

[KarlInOhio]

I think that's the same interview that O'Reilly was trying to set up with Royal Marshall from Neal Boortz's show, but Royal decided he would rather be golfing this afternoon so he passed on the interview.

[lugsoul]

I was, however, waiting for the AJC to refer to the perps as 'insurgents.'

[Tax-chick]

Best wishes, mhking.

[possumdawg]

I will watch. I work for a Public Utility company in Atlanta and I have robbed, verbal abuse, physical abused and have refused to work in certain areas of Atlanta. My company refuses to go to certain areas in Atlanta due to the violence. It is a fact of life.

[Dashing Dasher]

MNKING!
We'll see you there!

B=GREAT TAGLINE!!

[Fedora]

Cool :-)

[Reagan79]

Awesome! I will make plans to watch. Thanks for the action alert.

[umgud]

I'm not a big O'Reily fan, but since you'll be there, I'll watch it.

[bmwcyle]

bttt

[acad1228]

I'll be there watching my FRiend!

[TwoSue]

We'll be watching. You're from Gary? I'm from MC.

[Sunshine Sister]

Gosh darn it! I'm home alone tonight and could control the remote. I could watch if only the old tightwad that I'm married to would go for the deluxe package. We don't get Fox. SOB!

[Tribune7]

Cool. I'll temporarily suspend my O'Reilly boycott.

[Badray]

Kick ass. I'll catch you in the early morning hours.

[Asphalt]

wish I had cable. oh well

[Diddle E. Squat]

Well I'm pretty ticked at:

1) The thug boy

2) The boy's mom

3) The boy's father

4) The idiot Atlanta judge who let him out on a $1000 bond

and perhaps

5) The DA, if he didn't ask for a much, much higher bail

[Sunshine Sister]

ping

[L98Fiero]

Tell him to drive through Memphis, TN; New Orleans, LA or Birmingham, AL if he thinks crime in Atlanta is out of control. I'm not saying it's under control but, like you said, no different than any other major city I'm aware of.

I'll be watching. Have a good show.

[JeffersonRepublic.com]

I'll tivo it. Good luck ping.

Holtz
JeffersonRepublic.com

[kaktuskid]

Atlanta Police evacuated the Bankhead Courts housing project as a precaution, as there were fears of an explosion from the diesel fuel.

An explosion probably would have improved the neighborhood.

[msnimje]

Sounds like part of BOR's ongoing war with the Atlanta DA. He wants him recalled.

[Alexander Rubin]

Congratulations and good luck. Do us proud.

[Sub-Driver]

Mike we'll be watching......

[Gatún(CraigIsaMangoTreeLawyer)]

Looking forward to your appearance tonight. Best of luck.

[Txsleuth]

I always look forward to your appearances on O'Reilly...

I can't wait. Shoot the only reason to watch him sometimes is you and Ann Coulter as guests!!!

You are always so good---have fun!

[GodBlessUSA]

Thanks for the ping! Good Luck tonight! Looking forward to seeing you on O'Reilly!

[MindBender26]

Kick ass,
Take names!

[CitizenM]

Glad to watch you again. Hope O'Reilly gives you a chance to talk and make some points without railroading you. I like O'Reilly, he does have interesting guests. I don't always agree with him but sometimes he needs to listen more and interrupt less.

Anyway I will catch you on the late re-run. We are going to be away for the early show.

You always do us and yourself proud.

[Kokojmudd]

I will turn on BOR for first time in months. Good luck!

[B4Ranch]

We'll be there watching for you!

[Sunshine Sister]

Thanks for the laugh!

[B4Ranch]

ping lists please

[Bahbah]

I shall raise the viewership of the BOR Factor tonight, with pleasure. I hope its Hurricain Mike instead of Hurricain Dennis.

[bannie]

oooo, a FamousFReeper! I guess I should have expected it in such a wise gene pool!

[Aunt Polgara]

Just Damn,

One of our own...Way to go!

[mhking]

I think that's the same interview that O'Reilly was trying to set up with Royal Marshall from Neal Boortz's show, but Royal decided he would rather be golfing this afternoon so he passed on the interview.

Wouldn't surprise me - it's a golfing kind of day...

[mhking]

Sounds like part of BOR's ongoing war with the Atlanta DA. He wants him recalled.

Most likely. I'm the accomplice d'jour. [shrug]

[peacebaby]

Do Atlanta proud, mhking. Atlanta's a big city. Crime comes with big cities. Atlanta has been in the news alot recently. Certainly the Brian Nichols case was notorious. Folks walking on cranes are like folks jumping from bridges. This stuff happens anywhere.

Crime in Atlanta isn't out of control, imo, and I've lived and worked in the Buckhead area for 20+ years.

My concern, mhking, is will the city dole out just punishment to these boys for the serious brain injury they've caused the man. A $1000 bail is small change for this crime.

[Dog]

Have a good time Mike.

[jayhorn]

I'd give you advice as to what you should tell the Leprechaun, but children may be lurking.

[Abathar]

" of an explosion from the diesel fuel."

I guess the people who wrote this have never tried to make diesel explode, unless it crashed on a fertilizer truck and they forgot to report that tidbit.