You’ll have to forgive day two of this.

Last night I had a marathon city council session. The interstate through Macon is to be expanded and made safer. The arts and activist crowd that lives no where near the interstate is up in arms over the project because, dare I say it, it’ll bring more people driving through our beloved city.

Meanwhile, Pleasant Hill, a neighborhood in town that was, in a most accurate description of the events, raped when the interstate came through in the 60′s, was able to negotiate a way to mitigate damage from the construction. The anti-interstate crowd would have rather destroyed the rest of Pleasant Hill than see city council vote to approve Pleasant Hill’s plan with the Department of Transportation.

We passed the plan though. The activists are upset, but the neighborhood is saved. Back in the 60′s, the white folks in town didn’t want the interstate coming through their neighborhoods, so they bulldozed through Pleasant Hill, which at the time was a thriving middle class black community. Now it is falling apart and gang infested. Little Richard was born there. His house survives barely.

Just how awful was Pleasant Hill treated back in the 60′s? The local cemetery was bulldozed through and the bodies thrown in the landfill. One house, which we now call the “half-house”, wasn’t entirely needed for the interstate, so the highway guys literally sawed it in half, boarded up the open side, and told the family that lived there that they’d get no compensation because their house was not taken. The half-house will finally be torn down.

Anyway, Pleasant Hill won. The well meaning arts and activist crowd lost. Macon will get the interstate whether we want it or not. We have no say, but at least Pleasant Hill is now made as right as we can make it.

So on to the morning news.

1. You have got to read this. It is stunning. I think the McCain camp was right to go after the New York Times. The Times is clearly fabricating the news. And not only is the Times fabricating the news, but it is also leaving out key facts favorable to McCain.

2. The Democrats have called the Republican bluff on the mortgage bailout. The Dems won’t go along with it unless the GOP does too. But enough members of the GOP are turning up their noses at the plan, so it looks like the deal is off. I’m in favor of a plan. I’d even be inclined to support the Paulson plan. But they intend to buy the MBS’s at a higher price than they are worth. That is a Wall Street bailout, not a main street salve. And that is unacceptable. Let’s put the bad guys out of business and let the good guys stay in business.

3. The FBI is in on the act now. That’s not really a bad thing. What’s most noticeable from the article is that the Wall Street Journal has completed its redesign. I don’t know that I like it. But maybe it’ll grow on me.

4. Good news! We have a plan on the site issue. No, I’m not going to tell you. It’s not really out of the box thinking, but it’ll work really well and reduce the 500 errors. And it’ll give you guys some added flexibility.