The Ron Show

Ron Roberts
  • 4.8 (12)
  • Politics
  • Updated Daily

Welcome to the Ron Show - Atlanta's only progressive audio platform airing five days a week on Georgia Now, M-F 4-6pm (replaying 8-10am the next weekday). Host Ron Roberts covers Atlanta, metro Atlanta, Georgia and national politics from a pretty unique lens ... he's just your run-of-the-mill Georgia-born gay progressive cat-dad realtor & talk show host. Dime a dozen, right?

  1. 1d ago

    What Bottoms, Ossoff & Democrats can (or can't) do this cycle with Andrew Heaton

    With less than 45 days to the midterm election, it was great catching up with metro Atlanta-based political consultant (Sagamore Hill Consulting) Andrew Heaton to talk Bottoms-Jackson, Collins-Ossoff, and down-ballot opportunities for Georgia Democrats, too.

  2. 3d ago

    Ed owns up & progressives won't take the W & Rick Jackson suddenly likes diversity?

    I'm a diehard 'Bernie Sanders' progressive and yet I often find myself at odds with 'litmus test-driven' progressives who - in my opinion - poison their movement (whichever one it might be) by being unforgiving or intransigent purists. I happen to think that's playing out now with the whole Ed Sheeran / Macklemore flap and there's evidence of it when Sheeran can't go on stage and 'fess up to making a mistake or not being what he's obviously uncomfortable being: outspoken about political issues that matter to him quietly and internally. What does it solve, I ask, to try and ruin (or "cancel") Ed Sheeran for "the cause?" Nothing; but I do happen to think it repels people from wanting to be as involved in said movement altogether which - if we have self-awareness - we'd realize is why there are a lot of Ed Sheerans out there in the first place. =+=+=+= Rick Jackson, he of the 'deported or departed' messaging aimed at Muslims and Mongolians (among others, of course) was confronted by a Muslim Georgian, Palestinian-American state Representative Ruwa Romman (D) last weekend. So much to unwrap here. The 'deported or departed' TV ad from the heated GOP primary season leads with Jackson telling people "you don't have the right for force your culture on our country." That's something of a dog whistle in that conservatives have been hand-wringing about 'Sharia law' being what governs us (zero evidence of that occurring all the while radical wight Christian nationalism has crept into power), but what I found ironic about that statement (then) and Jackson's campaign strategy (now) is that he was confronted by a burka-wearing Romman at a Korean festival where Jackson and his team were there for a photo opp with Korean-American voters either in Korean "hanboks" or campaign t-shirts with his logo in Korean and American-English. Isn't that interesting? To me it is, anyway; the pivot Jackson has taken from blowing into that dog whistle to pander to the white nationalist base of the Georgia GOP to now seeking to connect with voters of color with deep ties to foreign countries while blanketing the airwaves with black and brown former foster youth feting his support for foster children is noteworthy if nothing else. Now with THAT in mind ... =+=+=+=Meanwhile FOIA requests show the Trump Department of Homeland Security was working feverishly to scrutinize counties in Georgia that offered non-English ballots in hopes of finding election fraud.

  3. 5d ago

    Why I'm 'team Macklemore' AND 'team Ed Sheeran'

    Being a former pop music radio exec, I know a lot about both Macklemore and Ed Sheeran; enough to know their character and a good bit about the business side of what they do. I mention that because I've seen a lot of vilification of both: Macklemore by pro-Israeli people who think that nation's military actions in Gaza are/were fully justified and can see no wrong done by anyone involved, and for Sheeran, those who see those actions by Israel in Gaza as a genocide. Leading up to billionaire Robert Kraft orchestrating a near-boycott of Ed Sheeran's "Loop" tour, it was no secret that Macklemore is an artist and activist. It's not even as if his position on the plight of the Palestinians was a secret; but it was his speaking on it in MetLife Stadium days ago that drew the ire of Gillette Stadium owner Robert Kraft, who gave the tour's promoter an ultimatum: either Macklemore's dropped or the venue's no longer available. Kraft also sought out the support of other venues' management (like those managing the publicly funded Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia and Mercedes Benz Stadium here in Atlanta) to join in his ultimatum. In my mind, that put Ed Sheeran in a pickle. One, he'd never been public facing with his political views and for good reason: people of all stripes come to his shows and enjoy the music unaware someone they're beside, behind or in front of may disagree with them on divisive issues - which is sort of nice, no? Two, Ed was being made to decide between his friend (Macklemore) and his fans and those employed by his tour - and with little time to pivot. Understanding the 'business' side of this sort of helps (I believe) fair-minded people understand why Sheeran was being played, and not so much a villain in this matter. That's why I believe it unfair the criticism Sheeran's faced from the pro-Palestinian activists (I am, I believe among them) is unfair and sort of emblematic of the larger wedge that cannot be bridged between Palestinians and Israelis. Even Pink, a pop star (and Jewish American pop star at that) recalibrated what she initially said through a social media repost, not that she's been immune from the backlash, either. Then there's this: why is there this "all-or-nothing" response if someone speaks up for the plight of the innocent Gazan? You do so and risk being labeled an 'antisemite,' and if you don't say a word you're permitting a 'genocide?' The Nexus Project's president Jonathan Jacoby - a Jewish American himself, obviously - joined Germany's DW News to dispel the notion that Macklemore (or anyone) can say the things he did and should be viewed as an antisemite. Lastly, where is local media when someone should be asking AMB Sports & Entertainment (the company managing the mostly taxpayer-funded Mercedes Benz Stadium) what their role was in this near-blackballing of a tour at the expense of an artist's free speech?

  4. 6d ago

    Georgia polling & the wide gap (in money, not support) between Bottoms & Jackson

    The latest Rasmussen poll on the Georgia gubernatorial race seems a bit of a Jackson-leaning outlier, but its there are some unmistakable truths: 1) the early lead Keisha Lance Bottoms seemed to enjoy in most polls has shrunk and 2) Rick Jackson's campaign, its allies and party have WAY more to spend than Bottoms' campaign, allies and the Democratic Party of Georgia. The Georgia Senate poll by Rasmussen also shows some disparities in the support Senator Jon Ossoff gets that Bottoms isn't.

  5. Sep 16

    Did SCOTUS signal that the MAGA fever has broken?

    The Supreme Court, this week, pulled the reins on the Trump administration's intent to use the United States Postal Service - to curb mail-in voting this cycle. Good! Does this mean we're at the precipice of swinging momentum away from the dark Trump chapter in American history? Leave nothing to chance, I say, and underestimate that man and his minions at your own peril, but time is - and tools are - running in short supply for effort to stem what's likely to come at the polls in November. Lest we forget MAGA's ballot seizure antics here in Atlanta/Fulton County and how it may have tipped their hand at what they'll attempt on and after election day. =+=+=+= Meanwhile as prices on everything soar in the throes of the Trump war of choice against Iran, Republicans keep trying to compare today's inflationary numbers to those in 2021-2022, but Democratic pundits remain - STILL - flat-footed with an inability to offer the clapback I've been offering since 2023: that even the Biden-era hyper-inflation and soaring gas price conundrum is easily traced back to a Trump/OPEC agreement made in April of 2020 that didn't expire until May 1, 2022. Inflation and gas prices began cooling a month later. =+=+=+= Meanwhile with Democratic gubernatorial candidate Keisha Lance Bottoms and other down-ballot Georgia Democrats not faring as well as Senator Jon Ossoff has in fundraising, we learned earlier this week he's funneled $3.6 million into the state party's coordinated campaign coffers to assist. Good; in this current political climate where he and only a handful of prominent Democrats enjoy popularity while the party doesn't, that's going to be necessary.

  6. Sep 16

    Will this swing GA House district think 'Cleveland rocks?'

    Adam Cleveland, husband, father, UGA alum, handyman-turned-lawyer is now also a politician - the Democratic nominee for state House District 48. He joined me Tuesday to explain why he felt he had to upend his ideal life to step into the fray to defend democracy in trying to help flip the Georgia House for the Democratic Party. His district (R+9 in 2024) is one of a handful in the state and among the dozens throughout the country that pro-democracy advocates and Democrats near and far will be watching on election night. =+=+=+= Rick Jackson's latest TV attack ad aimed at former Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms isn't quite as it appears to be - at least that's after some noteworthy sleuthing by Marcus Terrell, Isaac Hayes and Seth Taylor. In the ad, "everyday Georgians" turn out to be Jackson campaign operatives and/or Republican former candidates and/or operatives.

  7. Sep 15

    Rick Jackson's Medicaid 'pathway' lacks details; will it also lack expansion?

    Ariel Hart, writing for the Georgia Recorder and States' Newsrooms, covered the rollout of GOP gubernatorial candidate Rick Jackson's healthcare coverage initiative in a piece Ron reviewed. Details are lacking while bluster and proclamations were offered in abundance. He did say he'd be 'Trump with a southern accent,' though, so that shouldn't be a surprise. On Trump, it's the 'One Big Beautiful Bill' he signed that makes the "Jackson Action Plan" really difficult a needle to thread. Whereas forty other states - many of them GOP-led - took Affordable Care Act Medicaid subsidies to expand Medicaid to its poorest residents without stringent work requirements, Brian Kemp's "Pathways" program has spent more money on administrative costs than actual coverage. Is Jackson's "Action" plan more of the same? That said, is there evidence of some areas even the "Jackson Plan" might improve the burden applicants go through just to apply? Again, details are murky, but the vow was made it would be. We'll see. Or Keisha Lance Bottoms will win in November, and we'll know that Georgia will take the easier path forty other U.S. states have. =+=+=+= Senator Jon Ossoff's latest rally in Athens over the weekend gave attendees more of that sharpened rhetoric he's become known for; the kind of rhetoric that's made him an early 2028 darling for another race not on his radar.

  8. Sep 11

    Assessing "us" 25 years after September 11, 2001

    On the 25th anniversary of the horrific three-pronged terror attack on American soil, Ron assesses where the United States is, societally, diplomatically and politically. Are we any less Islamophobic a society? Ehh. As the mayor of New York City, ⁠Zohran Mamdani gave remarks at Ground Zero⁠ - which drew (Islamophobic) outrage. Okay, but are we less-prone to involving our military in a Middle East theater lacking necessity to be there? Ehh. Maybe the next 25 years we'll do better. =+=+=+= Rep. Buddy Carter on CNN got cornered by anchor Boris Sanchez over Trump's $5000 bribe that he supports while continuing to insist Joe Biden's stimulus triggered record inflation. Never mind that what Biden doled out was roughly half what Trump parsed out first and is vastly less than the $5000 bribe. ((Watch))

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4.8
out of 5
12 Ratings

About

Welcome to the Ron Show - Atlanta's only progressive audio platform airing five days a week on Georgia Now, M-F 4-6pm (replaying 8-10am the next weekday). Host Ron Roberts covers Atlanta, metro Atlanta, Georgia and national politics from a pretty unique lens ... he's just your run-of-the-mill Georgia-born gay progressive cat-dad realtor & talk show host. Dime a dozen, right?

Information

  • Creator
    Ron Roberts
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2026
  • Episodes
    796
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Ron Roberts
  • Show Website
    The Ron Show