Cobb bar "Mulligans" portrays Obama as Curious George, a monkey. (Marietta: bill, eat)

[Scraper Enthusiast]

Originally Posted by south-to-west

Cobb County overall is pretty decent for those looking for a reasonably priced home in a suburban environment with good schools. Downtown Marietta is also one of the gems in the Atlanta burbs with its historic architecture and pedestrian-friendly environment. Despite all of the good things about Cobb County, there is still a small segment of the population that's very vocal and extremist at times. I mean this is the area that sent Larry McDonald, a John Bircher, to Congress.

Overall, it's very diverse and it would be unfair to label the whole population as being extreme right-wing. However, that vocal minority up there can sometimes come out and stir things up for the worse at times.

What's wrong with the John Birch Society? They're a patriotic American organization who supported limited government and the principles upon that which our nation was founded. Oh yeah, that's really "extreme".

[Scraper Enthusiast]

Originally Posted by south-to-west

Seriously? In this day and age you don't think that some ignorant a-hole prouldy displaying his racism doesn't make the city look bad. Of course Clayton County's situation is disgraceful. As far as DeKalb County's crime...whatever. I can name you plenty of other places in this country with worse crime or crime that's just as bad. But the sad truth is that little ignorant stunts like the one that this bar-owner is pulling generates media coverage and it does make us look bad and backwards. Companies also notice that and may become reluctant to open offices in Cobb so it can protect some of its employees from a perceived hostile racist environment.

If you don't think that race relations affect the prosperity of a city then drive over to Birmingham. Atlanta and Birmingham were the same size in population and economy in the 60s, but during the Civil Rights Movement, one took the low road and the other took the high road. Fast forward to the 90s--when Cobb County pulled that stupid stunt of "condemning the gay lifestyle", the Olympic Committe refused to run the torch relay through there. Ten years later, many organizations that sometimes host major events in Atlanta like the NCAA's Final Four and the NFL Super Bowl threatened to stop holding events in Atlanta if Georgia didn't removed the Confederate Battle emblem from the state flag. If the state wouldn't have acted, we would have lost billions in tax revenue generated from Atlanta's lucrative tourism and convention industry. So to answer your argument--yes it does matter. It matters a lot.

Wow, "racism" is the worst evil in the world, in your opinion. That's quite sad. There are far worse things, such as murder, theft, assault, etc. Cultural Marxism has indoctrinated you, a bit, I'd say. You need to put things in perspective.

How do you even "foreshadow" that this shirt is "racist". It didn't have any racial slurs painted on it, and it had a popular cartoon character, "Curious George", which has been used to depict numerous politicians in the past.

[Scraper Enthusiast]

Originally Posted by mg83

I didn't ask a question. Sure it matters, but the weight placed on different situations that many areas of the country deal with is a matter of personal opinion. My opinion is that an entire county losing accreditation (only the second or third district in the United States to lose it) serves as a much bigger black eye on Atlanta metro than some ridiculous pot stirrers in the affluent Cobb County.

75% of the Clayton kids live below the poverty level - to experience a blow like their schools losing accreditation is unbelievably tragic, in a city that claims to be so 'progressive'. This is the real issue. A murder every night in DeKalb county is the REAL issue in my humble opinion.

I agree. Those are much more pertinent issues to be concerned with.

[Scraper Enthusiast]

Originally Posted by south-to-west

You're absolutely correct with Clayton and DeKalb Counties--it is an absolute disgrace. Sad to say, when you add all of these events up, including the $140 million budget shortfall in Atlanta and the refusal of the state to act to solve Metro Atlanta's transportation problems--this latest incident in Cobb County really puts the icing on the cake for Metro Atlanta's current dismal state of affairs.

All places have "problems". It is a part of life. People in other major cities are saying the same thing about themselves. The reality is that very few people will even hear this report, or even know about the state of affairs of particular incidents that take place in another metro.

[grindin]

Well, anyone with half a gnat's brain would realize the racial connotations behind depicting black people as monkeys, but I forgot how some people on this board are. I'd be better off banging my head on a brick wall than trying to explain this.

[Scraper Enthusiast]

Originally Posted by zoonik

The media picked up on this story because there is a blatently obvious racial undertone in the sale of these shirts. You can make excuses all you want about how it could be interpreted but the bottom line is, someone created and sold these shirts to get attention on the shock factor. If you read the article in the AJC, it makes note of the previous inflamatory statements Mike Norman displayed on his sign facing Cobb Pkwy. This guy is a bigot hiding behind the liberty of free speech. I would not let this idiot's inflamatory publicity stunts represent Marietta/Cobb much less the city of Atlanta.

The First Amendment Guarantees him that right. He's not hiding behind anything. It even guarantees Obama's pastor to say the nonsense he spews.

[Scraper Enthusiast]

Originally Posted by Cubancoffee

Despite the large number of progressives living in Atlanta (and trying valliantly to drag it into the 20th century), this sort of thing is just what drove my wife and I to give up good jobs and leave the state last year. We just couldn't stand to live in a place where the undercurrent of racism and general intolerance was so strong. I wonder if the apologists who dismiss this as "just a joke" or "he's got his First Amendment rights" realize how twisted they sound. Bringing up past examples of the same kind of behavior by others reminds me of the old (true) adage: Two wrongs don't make a right. And the other one that says something like: All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing. Enjoy stewing in your own juices, Atlanta.

So what "tolerant" place did you take off to?

[Scraper Enthusiast]

Originally Posted by neil0311

The place is a redneck biker bar that is patronized by throwbacks without teeth. I'll give them credit for at least doing it in the open and taking the heat without running away from it. Sure it's offensive, but people are also way too sensitive these days. Look at all the free publicity this guy has gotten on TV because of his stupidity. Helping his business is the wrong way to hurt him.

Are you sure that they don't have teeth? Have you actually conducted a study to determine if in fact that they don't have teeth, or that a majority don't have teeth? Or, is this your own biased perceptions based on nothing more than stereotypes?

[Scraper Enthusiast]

I hope you all realize that there are Mulligan's in other cities.

[south-to-west]

Originally Posted by Scraper Enthusiast

The First Amendment Guarantees him that right. He's not hiding behind anything. It even guarantees Obama's pastor to say the nonsense he spews.

Oh boy. Well since you're a racial separatist, it's not surprising that you feel that the John Birch Society isn't extremist. Obviously your knowledge of history is limited and the racial connotations of comparing blacks to monkeys flies right over your head.

Sure that barowner in Marietta has a First Amendment right that he can hide behind. And it's my First Amendment right to call him an ignorant, low-class a**hole.

He also has a right to expect a mean arse whuppin' by someone who doesn't find him too funny.