Edit~Jim Folsom lost, blame Hank Sanders Robo Call

There is an old saying in Alabama..if you throw a rock at a pen full of pigs the one that squeals is the one that was hit. Well, there's a whole lot of squealing going on about Alabama State Senators Mad as Hell Robo Call to DEMOCRATIC, I repeat DEMOCRATIC supporters. I emphasize DEMOCRATIC supporters because the non DEMOCRATIC supporters are squealing like pigs because gasp! Anderson Cooper discussed the robo call on AC 360 and showed Sweet Home Alabama for what it really is, I mean in a bad light, for all the world to see. Not only that... according to them, the race baiting robo call may have hurt Jim Folsom.

CNN reaches a lot of people, even in Alabama. Folsom only lost to Kay Ivey by about 45,000 votes. There's no way to know how many people came out to vote for Folsom because they got the call vs. how many were motivated to vote against him because they heard about it, but I'd love to see what kind of movement Folsom and/or Ivey's internal polls showed between October 15th, when the calls hit Alabama answering machines, and Election Day. I recall hearing of a similar robocall using highly charged language in the 2009 special election that sent Paul Sanford (R, SD7) to the Alabama State Senate. The call was on behalf of his opponent, Rep. Laura Hall, who is black, but it ended up on some of the wrong answering machines and fueled charges of reverse racism. GOP turnout was very high for a special and Hall lost badly.

Let's not re-write history. If I recall radio boy, aka Dale Jackson, sent out an email with the official state seal of the Alabama Secretary of State on it telling democrats they were to vote on Wednesday instead of Thursday, in addition to calling State Representative Laura Hall a racist coward  on his blog. GOP turnout was very high because Bob Riley's evil plan worked. Remember?

The Riley administration has carefully planned the special elections this year to minimize turnout, especially Democratic turnout. They set the special elections in Madison county after Alabama A&M and UAH had finished their spring semesters, and they set the House District 6 primary to fall right after the Memorial Day holiday - when people might be distracted, or otherwise stretching a holiday weekend out for another day

And let's not forget WHY we were having a special elections in the first place, because of the so called democratic culture of corruption and cronyism.

And sometimes prosecutions of Republicans by the Bush Justice Department reflects not even-handedness, but equally insidious corruption. That’s the point for my notes today.

If we had to pick one state in the nation where these evil tendencies are most obviously on display, then certainly it is Alabama, home to the nation’s highest profile and most abusive political prosecution. A major television network will shortly be exposing a number of lurid details surrounding the Siegelman case which point to corruption inside of the Justice Department. I have formed the view that the corruption on the prosecutorial side of the ledger greatly outweighs the corruption charged against the defendants in the Siegelman matter. The corruption inside of the Justice Department is exhibited on several different levels:

• The politicization of the U.S. attorney’s office
• The process of “targeting” political victims
• The corrupt manipulation of evidence
• The process of working to secure convictions through collaboration with “friendly” media

Yeah, we've got it all in Alabama. Lucky us. H/T mooncat

What Hank Sanders said!

Cooper asked Sanders what evidence he had that the Republican opponents would take Alabama back to Jim Crow days. Sanders said, "Well, there's a certain mean spiritness that's out there, not only in Alabama but it's in America. And that makes this election extremely important."

If some white voters didn't vote for Jim Folsom because of Hank Sanders robo call, they probably weren't going to vote for him anyway. But what does this whole controversy say about white voters? Are they squealing because the robo call hit a nerve? Did it expose the dirty little secret about racism not only in Alabama but in America? Racism is that thing you did, not that thing you said. Remember?The way to eradicate racism is to expose it.

State Senator Hank Sanders is a grown a$$ man. He has the right (no pun) to say whatever he chooses, however he chooses. If some cats are "offended by it" tough titty said the kitty.

There is a real dilemma in communicating with masses of people. If we speak in a way that is acceptable to everyone, we move few. If we speak in a way that effectively moves many, we offend some others. I have worked for years to effectively communicate so I move many without offending many. I don’t always succeed.

Well, I cut a second robo ad. I did not back away from the word “hell.” I said, “I will stand until hell freezes over!” I said “Hell no, I will not go back!” One of the first responses to the ad came from a woman in Mobile. She said that she had not intended to vote, but after my robo call, she not only was going to vote, but was urging others to vote. She said that she was “also mad as hell.” Our perceptions, judgments, and responses are so different.

Lt. Governor Jim Folsom was asked to renounce, reject and repudiate State Senators Sanders and like a big man he refused to play the part of Plantation Overseer.

"It wasn't by me," Folsom said. "I have no responsibility for it."

Asked what changes he would make if he wrote the script, Folsom said he would not use any four-letter words.

State Senator Sanders robo call didn't hurt Jim Folsom, removing the Confederate Flag from the state capitol hurt Jim Folsom.

James E. Folsom Jr. was Alabama's governor from 1993-95 and the only governor so far to assume that office as a result of the felony conviction of his predecessor. He is also one of only two fathers and sons who served as governors of Alabama, the other being Edward and Emmet O'Neal. Folsom is notable for his removal of the Confederate battle flag from the state capital, and he appointed a number of African Americans and women to his staff. He also helped initiate the movement of the automotive industry to the Southeast when he helped bring a Mercedes-Benz plant to the state.

I have more R-E-S-P-E-C-T for State Senator Sanders, and Lt. Governor Jim Folsom than I do for Anderson Cooper and his merry panel of all white, except one, African American Talking TeeVee Pundit Heads.

It wasn't the Robo Call that hurt Folsom. It was the stoopid racist and the stoopid racism. Of course it's easier to blame it on the black guy.