‘Obnoxious’ Sharia Law attack, GOP hypocrisy & Democratic divisions

March 20, 2026 38

Atlanta Journal Constitution columnist ⁠Bill Torpy wrote of a recent anti-Muslim AI-generated video⁠ state Senator Greg Dolezal shared on social media – not just to pile on with the immense disgust for it (which came not just from Democrats), but also to pinpoint this being the moment former state Senator Nabila Parkes opted to pivot from running for insurance commissioner to joining Senator Josh McLaurin to seek the nomination for lieutenant governor in the Democratic primary instead. That exposed rifts within the party, too, but also left Democrats with one less Senate vote to fend off GOP bills the remainder of the general assembly session.

Speaking of in-party division, the routine examination of ideology within the Democratic party has come about again, with yet another ⁠study on how likely primary voters are identifying themselves to be, ideologically⁠. Now, bear in mind the poll’s being done by the centrist thinktank, Third Way, but let’s chew on their findings, nonetheless. Their determination is that the party’s electorate is less progressive and more moderate, to which I point out that they also say they’re less moderate than liberal, and that it wasn’t that long ago folks were afraid to use the “L-word” to describe themselves out of fear of being demonized for it. That was a societal norm in the “Rush Limbaugh” era of discourse, and now we see a lot of that aimed at the word “progressive,” too. Read into that what you will, but my hunch is there’s a good bit of “progressive” in the “liberal” portion of the base, and it vastly outnumbers self-identified moderates and conservatives.

It’s that sort of divisiveness within the party – I’d argue made worse by outside forces and a lack of self-awareness within, too, that concerns me heading into a 2026 election cycle where Democrats – if they can unite – stand to gain much. I see way too much social media declarations exhorting an unwillingness to vote for any of the seven Georgia gubernatorial candidates, for example, when each of the seven in the race are vastly superior to Burt Jones or Rick Jackson (apologies to Carr and Raffensperger, neither standing a chance on the right).

It’s also why I made an example of myself and shared that I’ve landed at voting for Jason Esteves but won’t need to “hold my nose” to vote for whomever the nominee will be after May 19th and the likely run-off. I explain why Esteves is the most electable and why I believe that should matter to primary voters but also reveal that it was RIck Jackson’s (way too early) attack mailer aimed at Keisha Lance Bottoms that settled it for me.

Speaking of Esteves, he ⁠revealed earlier this week that his mother is in the end-of-life chapter⁠, having Alzheimer’s and being cared for via home hospice. He also reminded followers the importance of having an advance health directive prepared.
His “sandwich generation” status is relatable, and for me, brought up an important ⁠reminder that far too many of us in this country don’t even have the safety net of not being a fiscal burden for our loved ones⁠; that the economic toll our seniors place on our kids and grandkids is avoidable with more from government invested in “us” and less in wars of choice.

Finally, ⁠Senator Jon Ossoff’s grilling of Tulsi Gabbard was a thing of beauty⁠, but it also triggered my recollection of who Tulsi Gabbard used to be – notably when she sought the Democratic party’s nomination for President in 2020. Hear as I take a trip back into time (thanks to ⁠her unblemished Youtube page⁠) when Tulsi loathed Donald Trump and our country’s insatiable appetite for war.