The ‘Pride of Atlanta’

Atlanta is no doubt a good and modern city. Fine people call it home.

Sadly for them, however, the city’s reputation has taken it on the chin lately because its most famous resident, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, has become the No. 1 joke in the land.

After nine weeks of salacious testimony, Judge Scott McAfee last week boiled down Ms. Willis’ conduct to one word: “Unprofessional.” Hell, he could have called her a “one-woman circus” and still been accused of downplaying it.

It started when Ms. Willis brought charges against former President Trump and others for allegedly trying to steal the 2020 election. Her theory in the case hinges on a creative use of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. I’m not an attorney, but it seems like a stretch. I’ll be interested to see how that plays out. But that’s not the embarrassing part.

It’s Ms. Willis’ extracurricular conduct while advancing the unusual case that brings her ridicule.

First, she “schtuped” the hired help. Never a good attribute.

Secondly, she’s unlikable in the extreme. Case in point, she testified in open court and on national TV like a wet cat, wagging her finger at defense counsel for daring to question her sex romp with her special prosecutor and then snapped at inquiries about how they then allegedly split expenses on romantic getaways. It became so out of hand, Judge McAfee had to take an unscheduled recess to rein her in. It looked and felt like an episode of “Atlanta Housewives.” It’s now being replayed on social media every half hour.

Finally, and this is most unforgivable in my mind, she race-baited the Trump case by publicly characterizing complaints about her as “white people” out to get her because she’s Black.

Think about how icky that is. Injecting race into an already emotionally charged case? Can you imagine if the roles were reversed and a white prosecutor incited the public clamoring around a case involving Black defendants?

The judge rightly called this “legally improper.”

He said: “Instead of attributing the criticism to a criminal accused’s general aversion to being convicted and facing a prison sentence, the District Attorney ascribed the effort as motivated by ‘playing the race card.’”

He admonished her conduct as an example of how dangerous it is for a prosecuting attorney making public comments on a case.

He also criticized her “unprofessional” testimony in court and strongly hinted details of her testimony may not hold up under further scrutiny.

The lesson in all this is that Ms. Willis is a prosecutor with a political agenda. This is a trend in America that cuts at the fabric of what holds us together – a nation of laws administered fairly and with dispassion. Her judgment and trustworthiness is 100% an open question. While the Trump case will carry on, what also will continue on are questions about Ms. Willis’ fitness as a member of the Georgia Bar Association.

Race baiting a jury pool is no small thing. Alleged perjury about small things lead to questions about one’s voracity in big things.

Good luck, Atlanta.

As long as Ms. Willis – “The Pride of Atlanta” – stays on the job, you need it.

THE BIG LIE

Buried deep into an NBC report last week on Joe Biden’s frustration with his re-election polling numbers (they’re very bad), comes this recurring lie told by Biden insiders: “(Joe) has felt cocooned at times and has been eager to get out more, meet voters face-to-face and take the fight directly to Trump.”

This is similar to others who have told us that behind the scenes Mr. Biden is a dynamo – energetic and running intellectual circles around his staff.

I can’t believe any national reporter is still buying this lie. If it were true, Mr. Biden would actually do it. He doesn’t do it, because he can’t. Even when taking comments off the record, reporters need to do a little more BS on the big Biden lie.

ONE MORE THING

– My body cracks like a glow stick every time I move. Yet, it refuses to glow. Very disappointing.

Sherman R. Frederick is a longtime Nevada newspaperman. He is a member of the Nevada Press Association Hall of Fame. He can be reached at shermfrederick@gmail.com.)