Pete McCommons

Jan 8, 2025 | flagpole.com | Pete McCommons

This article was originally published in the Jan. 17, 2007 issue of Flagpole, around the time UGA held a conference reassessing the Carter presidency. Jimmy Carter belongs to the world, but most Georgians have their own memories of him, and I have mine. He was originally known politically as Jimmy Who? He seemed always to be running for something as an unknown.

Nov 12, 2024 | flagpole.com | Pete McCommons

This column is reprinted from the Dec. 13, 2017 issue of Flagpole, at the end of Donald Trump’s first year as president. Here we go again, except that MAGA has a greater potential for damage to our country and to our world than even the Nazis had. Resistance is more important than ever. Casablanca will be screened at the ACC Library Nov. 14 , and is always enjoyable and a good litmus test for America in the world. As Victor Laslo says, “If we stop breathing, we will die.

Aug 27, 2024 | flagpole.com | Pete McCommons

Now that UGA has reconvened, a slow drive down Milledge—which is the only kind you can do now that UGA has reconvened—reveals an update on current student attire. Women’s shorts, like the Dow Jones average, just keep on going up, even shorter this year than last.The Milledge journey also provides an opportunity to see just how closely men are coordinating their clothing.

Jun 11, 2024 | flagpole.com | Pete McCommons

Why is it that a garden takes so much work to make things grow—vegetables and flowers, shrubs and trees—while weeds will grow anywhere without being watered, fertilized, mulched, pruned or, well, weeded? The beauty produced by a well-tended garden is a delight to the eye, a respite for the soul and a triumph of purpose over chaos, wrought out of hot, hard work by people who accept the effort because their vision of what can be achieved makes it all worthwhile.

Apr 30, 2024 | flagpole.com | Pete McCommons

Don’t blame me. I’m a Democrat. I grew up in it, just like I grew up in the Methodist Church. Everybody was a Democrat. There weren’t any Republicans, except for Cousin Nita next door, who taught us history in high school, smoked cigarettes, wore her husband’s old shirts and trousers to go fishing in her pond and drove a Studebaker. The Democratic primary decided elections. The general election was irrelevant.