The White Elephant in the Alabama Democratic Tent

Allow me to give you a history lesson of the Alabama Democratic Party in the words of someone who not only lived the overt racism of a political party that refused to accept blacks as members, but continues to work tirelessly to make sure marginalized voices are heard in the body politic of Alabama. H/T RevJZ

Back in 1966, after an election in which, having won voting rights after the
1965 Selma to Montgomery March, in which I lost two dear friend, Rev Jim
Reeb and Viola Liuzzo, blacks rushed to register to vote and to run for office, most considered themselves to be Democrats . Gov Wallace (a democrat) refused to allow them to run for office as Democrats. To combat the continuing absolute racism of the Alabama Democratic Party, some of us created another Democratic Party, the National Democratic Party of Alabama (NDPA), went through a difficult struggle, and elected the first blacks to office in Alabama as Democrats! But the ADP fought as a fully segregated party for almost 10 years as the NDPA came to hold over 100 elected offices,more than any other state!!! Then and only then did the ADP want us, and we forgivingly moved into the ADP. But of course its leadership remained fully racist and we have been struggling to change that ever since. But racists continued to run for and hold office as Democrats. It never fully changed. That makes it clear why people are still very suspicious of attitudes in the ADP.

It was the party of George Wallace then, it's the party of George Wallace now.The question is, will it be the party of George Wallace forever?

Links for clarity;
Viola Luizzo

Rev. James Reeb

Voting Rights Act 1965

Selma to Montgomery March

George C. Wallace

"We were living in terrible times. We were fighting for the right to breath"

African American Alabama democrats are still fighting for the right to be members of the ADP because everyone tiptoes around the big white elephant standing in the middle of the Alabama Democratic Party Tent.

In the end we will not remember the words of enemies, but the silence of our friends.~Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.

It's the Stupid Racism

Racism won't end until it's confronted.

Racism can't be confronted until it is defined.

Let's start with the definition of racism.

racism -noun
The belief that some races are inherently superior (physically, intellectually, or culturally) to others and therefore have a right to dominate them. In the United States, racism, particularly by whites against blacks, has created profound racial tension and conflict in virtually all aspects of American society. Until the breakthroughs achieved by the civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s, white domination over blacks was institutionalized and supported in all branches and levels of government, by denying blacks their civil rights and opportunities to participate in political, economic, and social communities.

Now let's define racist:

A person with a prejudiced belief that one race is superior to others

Note, both words are nouns, but one describes an act(racism) and one describes a person (racist). This is very important

The final word we need to define is prejudice:

A hostile opinion about some person or class of persons. Prejudice is socially learned and is usually grounded in misconception, misunderstanding, and inflexible generalizations. In particular, African-Americans have been victims of prejudice on a variety of social, economic, and political levels.

Racism is an action. It's that thing you did not that thing you said.

But I'm NOT A RACIST / HOW DARE YOU."

Thing is they're ALWAYS going to come at it from that point of view, because being called a racist has become more taboo than actually being one. People get more upset about the possibility they might have been called racist than the fact that their actions are racist as hell. They'll harp and linger on all their deeds in the past and what clubs they belong to and who their friends are. They'll START any rebuttal to your first words with that. And in the end you end up talking to yourself or talking to the wind, because they've drawn a crowd to chant the "I AM NOT A RACIST" mantra to the point where any on lookers without reading/listening to the whole thing, think that's what it's all about. Then people start picking sides and - boom- it's all over.

The things that divide us are rooted in sin (greed, pride). We need to be wall breakers instead of wall builders and tear down the wall that divide us. The white privilege mindset is the way of thinking that grows out of having white privilege, from the advantages of being white in America.

In order to overcome racial prejudice we need understand and respect each others differences and experiences. When love and understanding move into our hearts it has the power to remove all forms of hatred. It's time for us to become part of the solution and not be the problem.

I'm not a racist....I'm a Democrat. Not.

A liberal democrat is just as capable of being a racist as a conservative wingnut. I suppose the difference is that the liberal doesn't really think he is a racist and doesn't want to be painted as such. The wingnut, on the other hand, embraces his racism, and indeed wears it like a badge of honor.

Please watch, listen and learn as Tim Wise confronts the stupid racism in this 9 minute video.

Redeye's Bah Humbug Week In Review

The first National Prom of the United States of America was held Tuesday night in the well of the Capitol. President Obama (D.) was crowned prom King and Rep. Michelle Bachman (r.) was crowned prom Queen, the media had an orgasm and we the peeps got the shaft. That is my reaction to the State of Union Address. President Obama had something for the republicans, big business, corporations, the military, even the media, but nothing, I repeat nothing, about jobs, foreclosures, gun control, poverty. Nothing for the people who voted him into office. Where are the JOBS?

Speaking of the State of the Union WTF was Congresswoman Terri Sewell? After sending out a press release saying she and 6 other freshmen Democrats were going to escort President Obama into the House Chamber we didn't see hide nor hair of Little Miss Sewell. First fan mooncat caught a glimpse of her. Why was HD Brantley chosen to represent the 7th district at the SOTU address? Never mind. We know. Psst Terri! It's not about you. Remember?

The Civil War within the Democratic Party is going to break out this weekend when the ADP selects a new Chair. Looks like the Artur Davis wing of the democratic party is posed to assume power. Oh well, it's fitting since the Alabama State Government turned blood red, the ADP might was well turn blood red too. I have it on good authority black democrats have had enough of the DEMS. I know one thing, this is the end of the road for me. From now on, I am a Bernie Sanders Independent. I'm going to vote for candidates and not the party. I didn't leave the Alabama Democratic Party. The Alabama Democratic Party left me.

There is a perception that the ADP caters to black voters but ignores white voters. A significant number of Democrats, some on the SDEC, have expressed concern to me that the ADP will "become like Mississippi" where, I gather, race is the significant difference between the two parties. If you want to run for office and you're white, you run as a Republican, if you're black you run as a Democrat. Now, I know that isn't strictly the case in Mississippi since they recently had a white Democrat run (unsuccessfully) for Senate, but this is a huge concern for people who care about the Democratic party in Alabama.

It's a fool's bargain that way. Give an oppressed minority a guaranteed amount of power, but make sure it isn't enough power for them to ever get out of the minority. And white Dems who live outside the minority districts get nothing so they start voting for the least objectionable Republican. The party continues to dwindle ... that's a very bad road.

See what I mean? If the ADP catered to black voters the Alabama Government wouldn't be blood red. If white democrats weren't fair weather liberals they wouldn't have to try and figure out how they were going to rise again. If democrats weren't so busy appeasing republicans we wouldn't be in this mess.

Redeye stomping away from the computer muttering bah humbug.

Why there is no hope for The Huntsville City Schools

The story of the African American mother who was convicted for enrolling her children in an out of district school in Ohio could very well be an African American mother right here in the great state of Alabama and Huntsville City Schools in particular. It exemplifies the desperate measures and risks African American parents face in their quest to provide a quality public education for their children.

Contrary to the misconceptions and media driven stereotypes, African American taxpayers value education and want the same educational opportunity for their children as white taxpayers. Maybe it stems back to the days of slavery when it was illegal for blacks to learn to read and write, but there seems to be a concerted effort to this day to keep blacks from being educated.

Fifty years after Brown v. Board declared separate but equal schools unconstitutional Huntsville City Schools are segregated according to race in spite of a federal court order to desegregate.

Back in the day, Huntsville City Schools quietly and successfully integrated. There were no stands in the school house door. No angry mobs. No federal troops.

Back in the day ALL of the Huntsville City Schools were excellent schools. There were no identifiably black and white schools. All the teachers taught all the students, and all the students learned. Back in the day it didn't matter where a student lived because the quality of the school in the neighborhood wasn't tied to property values. Fast forward to the present and the reverse is true.


As long as the quality of public education in Huntsville is based on parental income and property values there is no hope for the Huntsville City Schools.


As long as those in positions of power believe it’s a silly, unrealistic, line that every school should be as good as Grissom, there is no hope for Huntsville City Schools.

As long as those in positions of power believe them uppity coloreds and sneaky Mexicans would receive an education only white, god-fearing, clean, and law-abiding children deserve, there is no hope for the Huntsville City Schools.

As long as black parents aren't politically involved to the same extent as white parents there is no hope for the Huntsville City Schools.

I don't care how many Superintendents, clueless consultants and school boards are hired and fired, there is no hope for the Huntsville City Schools as long as people with racist beliefs have the power to exercise racism.

One would think a school system whose motto is Education is the Hope of the Republic would make an effort to educate ALL students regardless of race, gender, sex or address.

President Obama said he intends to replace the Bush era Leave no Child Behind education initiative with the Race to the Top initiative which IMHO is a back door push for Charter Schools. If ALL children don't have equal access to a quality public school a whole lot of children will be left behind in the race to the top.

There is no HOPE for the future of the republic until ALL children have equal access to a quality public education.

What I want to hear President Obama say in the State of the Union

I want President Obama to have one of those Harrison Ford/Air Force One Moments when he tells the republicans to get the hell out of the way.

I want President Obama to have one of those Michael Douglas/An American President Moments when he tells the country he was so busy trying to keep his job he forgot to do his job.

I want a Josh Bartlett/West Wing State of the Union address.

I want President Obama to have one of those defining moments. And not just on TeeVee or on the big screen, but in real life.


Will he say this? h/t Alan Grayson

“My fellow Americans. Two years ago, 69 million of us voted for me to be our President. It was the largest vote for President that any person has ever received. But I understand that you did not support me merely because I have an unusual name. Especially the middle one. No, you supported me because I promised the change we need.

“We have been through two hard years, with many people losing their jobs, and many people losing their homes. You know that I did nothing to cause these problems, and I tried hard to solve them. Although our accomplishments have been substantial, an intransigent Republican minority in the Senate has blocked much of my legislative program.

“But a President is more than a legislative program. Although my title is ‘President,’ you did not elect me to preside. You elected me to lead.

“We are at a fork in the road. The Republican House Leadership demonstrated last week that its highest legislative priority is to prevent 30 million Americans from seeing a doctor when they are sick. We can let Republican control of the House of Representatives doom us to no progress, no change, for the next two years. Or I can exercise my powers under the Constitution and our laws to deliver the change we need.

“I choose the latter. As for the Republican leaders, they can lead, follow, or just get out of the way.

“These are the things that I will do now, to give us the good government that we Americans deserve, and the change we need:

“First, to give the economy an immediate boost, I will direct the executive agencies to accelerate the obligation of federal contracts and grants, rather than waiting until the end of the fiscal year.

“Second, I will recognize the obvious, declare China a ‘currency manipulator,’ and end the forced currency union with China that we never asked for and we don’t want, which has cost us 5 million manufacturing jobs in the last decade. I will institute ‘anti-dumping’ actions to protect American jobs.

“Third, I will direct Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the FHA and the VA to include in every home loan that they issue or finance a provision that requires mandatory mediation, at the bank’s expense, before foreclosure. Families who are in danger of losing their homes deserve at least that much.

“Fourth, I will direct both the Financial Stability Oversight Council and the Antitrust Division of the Justice Department to break up any financial institution that is considered ‘too big to fail.’ Too big to fail should mean too big to exist. There will be no more bailouts, no more Wall Street welfare.

“Fifth, I will ask the FBI to investigate and DOJ to prosecute anyone who committed criminal misconduct in connection with the collapse of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, AIG, Bear Stearns, Countrywide, Merrill Lynch, and all the rest. I will ask the SEC to bar such people from publicly traded companies and the capital markets. In the 18 months before I took office, twenty percent of our national wealth was wiped out, and no one has been punished for that. If we leave the same people doing the same things, then those same disasters may well happen again. We can’t take that chance.

“Sixth, because corporate income tax revenues have dropped by half in the past decade, while Big Business is enjoying record profits, I will ask the IRS to audit every one of the Fortune 500. This will ensure that they are paying the taxes that are due, rather than evading taxes through transfer pricing and offshore tax havens. And I will ask FASB and the SEC to mandate that public companies keep one set of books, rather than one set for investors and a different one for the IRS.

“Seventh, I will direct the EPA to exercise its authority to treat carbon dioxide as a pollutant. I expect to be able to reduce our emissions and pollution as much as other countries do. If they can do it, then so can we.

“Eighth, I will ask the SEC to direct that shareholders in public companies must authorize all campaign expenditures in advance, and that public companies disclose all such expenditures within 48 hours. We cannot allow trillion-dollar multinational companies to dictate the outcome of our elections secretly. We have to keep sewer money out of politics.

“Ninth, I ask the NLRB to take all available steps to ensure that the right of employees to organize, which is rooted in the Constitution’s ‘freedom of association,’ be defended – including the promulgation of ‘card check’ by regulation under the National Labor Relations Act.

“Finally, as Commander in Chief, I will bring all of our troops home from Iraq and Afghanistan by the end of this year, if not sooner. After a decade of war, it’s time for peace.

“Many of you heard me for the first time six years ago, when I said that I believe not in a Blue America or a Red America, but rather, I believe in America. I still do. Americans deserve a good government, which delivers public services effectively and economically. America also deserves leadership that recognizes our problems, attacks them, and solves them. That’s the change we need, and the change we deserve. I won’t settle for less.”

Congresswoman Terri Sewell is putting the R in Represent again

Fresh off of being the only member of the Alabama Congressional Delegation to put the health and welfare of children before politics and vote against the republican repeal of the Affordable Health Care Act, Terri Sewell will escort President Obama into the House Chamber for tonight's state of the Union Address. How symbolic is it for the first African American Congresswoman elected from the Cradle of the Confederacy to escort the first African American President to the State of the Union Address?

For Immediate Release Contact: Allison Abney
January 24, 2011 (202) 225-2665
Allison.abney@mail.house.gov

Congresswoman Terri A. Sewell Selected to Escort President Obama into House Chamber at State of the Union Address

WASHINGTON DC – Tomorrow, Congresswoman Terri A. Sewell (AL-7) will escort President Barack Obama into the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol prior to the Joint Session of Congress. Rep. Sewell was one of seven Democrats selected to serve on the Escort Committee. The committee is composed of House and Senate Democrats and Republicans.

“It is an honor to be chosen to escort the President,” said Rep. Sewell. “I look forward to hearing the President outline his agenda for moving America’s families and businesses forward. And I look forward to working with my colleagues in the House to advance an agenda that works for and with America’s families and businesses.”


Rep. Sewell chose HB Brantley, a Birmingham small business owner, to represent the 7th Congressional District at the State of the Union address. Brantley owns a project management firm that designs, engineers, and manages construction projects. His company was hit hard by the lull in construction projects created by the recession.

“The construction industry was hit very hard by the recession,” said Brantley. “The problem is that people are still hesitant to invest in new building projects. I am excited to attend the State of the Union and to hear about what the President’s plans are to help businesses like mine in the coming year.”

President Obama will deliver the annual address to a joint session of Congress at 9 p.m. Eastern Standard Time and 8 p.m. Central Standard Time on Tuesday, Jan. 25, from the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol. The State of the Union gives the President an opportunity to report on the condition of our Nation, and to outline his legislative agenda and priorities to Congress and the American people.

I HOPE there is some substance to the symbolism and President Obama and Congresswoman Sewell working together will not let the Alabama citizens pay for the sins of the rest of the Alabama Congressional Critters.

So while the rest of the Obama/Pelosi hating Alabama Congressional Congress Critters are looking on from the sidelines, Democratic Representative Terri Sewell and CD7 resident HB Brantley will be front and center. That's what I call representing Alabama in a positive light.

Rep. Terri Sewell is the only pro-life member of the Alabama Congressional Delegation

I must give credit when credit is due. Representative Terri Sewell (D. CD7) was the only member of the Alabama Congressional Delegation who voted against repealing the Affordable Health Care Act because of the harm it will do to children.

Maybe it's because she's a democratic woman she realizes the correlation between health and the quality of life.

Maybe it's because she's a democrat she wants her fellow Americans to have access to the same health care she and our other Congress Critters have.

Maybe it's because she cares more about children then she cares about the insurance companies.

According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, health reform will not only reduce the budget deficit in the next ten years by more than $100 billion, it also will ensure that an estimated 32 million Americans who are uninsured or under insured can get high quality, affordable health coverage they can rely on. Investing in our children's health is investing in America's future. When we help children grow and succeed, we are paving the way for our country's next generation of workers and leaders to fulfill the American Dream.

Just to be clear, this is what all of the Alabama Congressional Congress Critters except DEMOCRAT Terri Sewell voted to repeal, and for those of you who were mis-educated in the Alabama public school system repeal means TAKE AWAY.

Republicans voted to repeal the new law’s guarantee that children with pre-existing conditions cannot be denied coverage, and to do away with new rules limiting insurance company premium hikes and requirements that they spend money on health care not CEO perks.

Republicans voted against children with terminal illnesses having access to compassionate end-of-life hospice care unless they agreed to forgo looking for a cure for their illness.

Republicans voted to allow insurers to resume the practice of charging co-payments for preventive health services, including essential well-baby and well-child visits, and vaccinations, creating financial disincentives for parents to get care for their children that keeps them healthy.

Republicans voted against children who are in foster care qualifying for Medicaid beyond age 18.

Republicans voted to repeal eliminating bureaucratic red tape and streamlining the enrollment processes for children who are already eligible but not enrolled in public health coverage.

Republicans are pro life my Donkey.

Representative Terri Sewell is pro life and pro health care, unlike the republicans who are pro life as long as it's in the womb, after that they don't give a rats donkey about a baby's quality of life.

Way to put the R in Represent, Representative Sewell.

Sunday Shock, Shame and Awe

If You Don't Think Olbermann Was Fired Because of Comcast, I Have an Igloo in the Mojave Desert to Sell You

Comcast is a right-leaning, big media entertainment corporation that is about to control content, television, telephone and Internet service, all through one giant portal. Its interests are in dictating what consumers pay, see and hear by owning the delivery system and what it delivers.

Its acquisition of NBC Universal will accelerate an already-monopolized big media presence on television to include content control that extends even to the Internet.

Anybody who thinks that a company that is the epitome of Pac-Man corporate growth is going to tolerate liberal programming on MSNBC that is critical of corporate governance - well, you're floating down the river of "de-Nile."

Keith is gone and black folks need not apply.

I wonder if a black anchor at one of these cable shows would be talking about the bomb that was found in Washington? The lame stream media sure is quiet about it. Or, the cop from the "windy city" who was doing his best John Demjanjuk impersonation on black folks for years. I guess racial tensions and hate groups aren't selling in A-merry-ca these days. One political act of terror is enough for now. We are just getting over Tucson, we can't overload the public. There is just so much hate we can take here in A-merry-ca. You can't pursue happiness when you are hating anybody.

Black Radical Thought Will Save Us All

White Left resistance to effective, comradely collaboration with Black Leftists “makes impossible the ‘revolution of social values’ called for by Dr. King.” Whites control far more resources on the Left, especially in media. However, “the general absence of Black intelligence in White media, specifically that which is defined as White Left or Progressive media, inhibits broad social movement building.”

Redeye tiptoeing away from the computer to go pray.

A Democrats .02 worth on the Alabama Democratic Party

How will Alabama Democrats rise again? According to the resident Left in Alabama righty , the south, I mean the Alabama Democratic party could rise again if them there special interest groups would get out of the way and stop standing in the school house, I mean party door.

The ADP, and in particular the Democratic primary, has come to be dominated by two special interests groups, AEA and ADC. Now, there is nothing wrong with special interests groups except that these two have demonstrated a willingness to torpedo any candidate that doesn't march in lockstep with their agenda, no matter how good that candidate may be overall.

For those who don't know AEA stands for the Alabama Education Association,

The Alabama Education Association (AEA) is the largest education association in the state of Alabama. The AEA is an advocate organization that leads the movement for excellence in education and is the voice of education professionals in Alabama. Our mission is to promote educational excellence.

ADC stands for the Alabama Democratic Conference.

The Alabama Democratic Conference (the Black Political Caucus of Alabama) was founded in 1960 by a small group of black citizens who banded together that year in an effort to influence black voters to support the Democratic presidential ticket of John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. Among the founders were: Arthur Shores, a highly respected civil rights lawyer in Birmingham; Rufus Lewis, a successful Montgomery businessman and former coach at Alabama State University; Dr. C. G. Gomillion, a college professor and activist at Tuskegee Institute; Q. D. Adams a gifted salesman and civic promoter from Gadsden; Isom Clemon, a powerful labor leader among Mobile County longshoremen; and Beulah Johnson, a feisty Tuskegee educator.

After seeing the special interest (teachers, students, administrators, support personnel, minorities,labor) these two groups represent, why in the world wouldn't they torpedo anyone who doesn't march lock step with their agenda? I mean, really? What is the point of having an overall good candidate (whatever that means) if they oppose everything you stand and fight for?

I guess it depends on what the definition of a good candidate overall IS.

We began this last state election cycle with two good candidates (IMHO), Davis on the Democratic side and Byrne on the Republican side. Both (again in IMHO) got torpedoed by the two groups I mentioned.

Actually the torpedoing was the other way around. Davis on the democratic side torpedoed the ADC by pandering to the right and expecting them to vote for him because he was an African American running on the democratic ticket. Byrne on the republican side torpedoed AEA with this so called 2 year college corruption probe allowing the legislature to switch from blue to red.

Further more states the resident righty the agenda of these two groups are so out of line with the average voter that a candidate who meets their approval can not win a general election. Yes, in a primary, they can still defeat a candidate but that is far different than electing a candidate.

Translation, they cater to them there minorities, public school teachers, and labor unions. I don't know who the average Alabama voter is exactly....but I'd be willing to make an educated guess it's a right wing, bible thumping, anti public education, anti minority, anti labor, anti choice republican. So you're darn Skippy the agenda of these two groups don't meet the approval of the AEA and the ADC. Sure don't. That would be like a chicken supporting Colonel Sanders.

It's not about electing a candidate. It's about electing a political philosophy/agenda. Average Alabama voters rejected, renounced and repudiated Artur Davis and Bradley Byrne agenda's. End of story.

Fear of serious injury cannot alone justify suppression of free speech and assembly. Men feared witches and burned women. It is the function of speech to free men from the bondage of irrational fears.~Justice Louis D. Brandeis

Redeye's Saturday Must Reads and Open Thread

Warning readers, this is not one of those uplifting forward thinking posts. I still reserve the right to complain... LOUDLY over folk's FOOLISHNESS!~Gina, The Blogmother

Over the Mountain Dems are looking for a solution to the Joe Reed problem.

10,000 Pound Elephant (4.00 / 1)
The all danced around a very pertinent issue, Joe Reed. He has got to go and will be used as the poster boy to beat Dems going forward for many years. Good lord, how badly do we have todo in elections before stupid people at the top get it.

I can't say I didn't see this coming. Comast in. Keith Olberman out.

Which of these statements are true?

There is no such thing as white privilege.
Blacks like to complain.
Blacks are their own worst enemy, not white people or their supposed racism.
Blacks need to pull themselves up by their bootstraps just like everyone else.
I made it on my own, I did not get any special favours. Why should blacks?
If anything, blacks have it easier than whites, what with affirmative action and all.
Affirmative action is unfair to whites.
Whites are a better judge of whether something is racist than blacks are. Blacks are oversensitive.
It is unfair to have a Black History Month when there is no White History Month.
Blacks are just as racist as whites.

The Tea Party will be No Party for the poor and the middle class

Republicans and Tea Partiers have no compunction when it comes to lowering the hammer on the lives and welfare of taxpayers (the "low-hanging fruit"), while the rich and the powerful are advocated for with full press--the extension of the Bush tax cuts which will increase this nation's deficit hole, although economists are mostly in agreement that such an extension will do little to stimulate our lethargic economy.

Why can't our government officials share in the pain?

Every time I hear the phrase "it's gonna be painful", what comes to mind is that the only ones that are feeling the pain are the downtrodden and poor. However, our government officials always seem to glide through the pain as untouchables.

What's on your Saturday reading list?

Republicans are pro life but anti health care, go figure

In stunning public disregard for the separation of church and state, Area pastors and local government officials, will be participating in a Pro Life Rally on the steps of the County Courthouse. Don't get me wrong, my problem is not with the joining of politics and religion, but the shear hypocrisy of republicans holding a *cough* pro life rally, especially when two of the elected officials scheduled to attend are fresh off a vote to repeal The Affordable Health Care Act because it's President Obama's idea.

Congressman Robert Aderholt will be the keynote speaker at the Pro Life Rally in Huntsville on Saturday, Jan 22, at Noon.

Who isn't pro life? I mean, really. Do you know of anyone who says they are anti life? What gets me is the righty's don't get the correlation between access to quality affordable health care and life. They are pro life as long as it's in the womb after that all bets are off and Baby you are on your own.

If a bunch of men want to stand outside on a cold winter day and protest a woman's right to choose to have a legal abortion that's their right (no pun). At the end of the rally they will go home and Roe v Wade will still be the law of the land. So it's not about being pro life, it's about being pro choice.

Do they only care about the unborn? Do they not realize the mother and the child need access to quality affordable health care in order to like live?

Do they honestly believe only those who can afford it are the only ones who should have access to quality, affordable health care?Do they honestly believe people don't have health insurance because they don't want to purchase it, but wait for someone to hand it to them?

Do they honestly believe Hospital emergency room treats the uninsured?
And if they believe this who do they think pays for it? Hint the answer starts with the letter T and ends with the letter R.

I don't understand how you can call yourself pro life and be against health care reform at the same time.

These anti-choice politicians are out of touch with Americans’ values and priorities,” said Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL. “These same lawmakers voted to repeal a health-care law that provides prenatal care and the promise of no-cost birth control to women. Now, they want to make it even harder for women to purchase private health insurance that includes abortion coverage with their own money. Their hypocrisy is astounding. It seems that they’re fine with government intrusion, as long as it involves interfering in women’s personal, private decisions.”

Un Huh.

Edit~Redeye's Week in Review~Alabama

Alabama Republican Governor-elect Robert Bentley intends to be the governor for all but the media can't have that. How dare he go to the church where Martin Luther King, Jr preached and cater to them there minorities? How dare he try and bring the state together in the spirit of brotherly love? No Siree, can't have no foolishness like that in Sweet Home Alabama. We've got to nip that in the bud. *Big Snark*

''I was elected as a Republican candidate. But once I became governor ... I became the governor of all the people. I intend to live up to that. I am color blind," Bentley said in a short speech given about an hour after he took the oath of office as governor.

While the public was distracted with Non-Christian Gate (RedEye roll), Governor Bentley abolished the illegal gambling task force. Bentley also signed an executive order directing state agencies to make a priority out of creating private-sector jobs.

Only in Alabama can two Birmingham Police Officers be found not guilty in a videotaped beating of an unarmed kid after he was thrown from his car. Only in Alabama would the beating of an unarmed black kid be excused. Only in Alabama may a jury have decided this suspect deserved to get his butt kicked and decided not to convict the officers. only in Alabama is how she felt all that matters. *Big Sigh*

Police dashboard camera video clips widely viewed on television and the In?ternet show Dewitt hitting Warren with a baton and Doran striking Warren with his fists and later his feet.

All the jurors saw all of the police dashboard videotaped chase from the beginning in Birmingham to the end of the chase in Hoover, and the aftermath, said Mary Carlene Walker, one of the jurors. "That made a big, big difference in how we viewed what we saw," she said.

Personally, Walker said, after seeing the whole chase and hearing the testimony of the men themselves, and even after hearing the prosecution, she decided. "I personally felt that what transpired in the ditch, which was 5 to 7 seconds long, I felt that under the circumstances they had done what they are supposed to do and that's how I felt," she said.

I wonder how she would have felt if it were her son, grandson, nephew, brother, cousin, friend, father, or grandfather? I wonder how she would have felt if black officers were videotaped beating an unarmed white kid?

Speaking of Alabama InJustice, former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman is headed back to federal court for a reversal of his conviction or at least a fair, I mean a new trial. Click HERE for background on how we have arrived at this point. Governor Siegelman remains hopeful and so do I that justice will prevail and the rule of law restored.

Redeye's Wacky Week in Review~National

Those crazy republicans baffled their base with BullPoo this week voting lock step to repeal The Affordable Health Care Reform Act. Although they claim them there illegal immigrants are getting free government health care, the dirty little secret is the republican attack on health care=an attack on real peoples lives.

Fact is, only insurance company profits benefit from the current Republican vision of reform. What they call “Obama care” is actually leveling the playing field to put more power in the hands of the people and make sure more people get better health care. The Affordable Care Act (its actual name) will lower the deficit, increase market competition, lower premiums and ensure greater access. You’d think Republicans would be all over that.

Allen West (TeaPublican Florida) and every one of the the African American Congressman who voted to repeal health care reform replaces Artur Davis (DINO Alabama) as House Negroes for the day.

It's the joblessness stoopid!

In the political theater exhibited last December where 13 months of unemployment extensions were linked to continuing tax breaks for the rich, a significant issue was left out of the drama, though it directly impacts the lives of millions.

The mainstream media we have was busy distorting what we decide this week. They turned Alabama Governor Robert Bentley saying I want to the be the Governor of ALL Alabamians into Alabama Governor Bentley not brother of non Christians. They also turned Rep. Steve Cohen (D.TN) comparison of Republican health care arguments to Nazi propaganda to republicans are Nazi's.

And we wonder why the public is uniformed?

"Just like Goebbels, you say it enough, you repeat the lie, you repeat the lie, you repeat the lie, and eventually people believe it," Cohen said on the House floor. "The Germans said enough about the Jews and the people believed it and you had the Holocaust."

In a statement released Thursday, Cohen said he never called Republicans Nazis and insisted he was referencing only their messaging tactics. He said critics and the media are taking his comments out of context.

Psst republicans! Here is the out of control government spending we the peeps really want cut.

Stay tuned for Redeye's Alabama Week in Review.

Edit~The Public Banning of Dale Jackson-Part II

Dale Jackson gets a second chance on Christmas Eve, 2009 in response to my Christmas Eve wish.

I hope to receive the gift of my front page privileges back but I know I'm not likely to get them. :) (0.00 / 0)
The historic passage of the health care semi reform bill is just about the best Christmas present I could wish for. I cried this morning when Senator Robert Byrd said he was casting his vote in honor of his friend Senator Ted Kennedy. I laughed when Harry Reid voted no before he voted yes. Despite the best effort of the republicans, the tea parties, the birthers, the deathers and the talking teevee pundit heads, 30 million tax paying Americans will have access to quality, affordable health care. Now that's change we can believe in.

Merry Everything to Everyone!

No Justice.

No Peace.

Know Justice.

Know Peace.

Peace be with all.

Now, I'm going to be tiptoeing on back up to my nice comfy attic,have some holiday cheer and make merry with friends and family. Keep Hope Alive y'all!

To which mooncat responded by granting Dale Jackson's fondest wish;

In the spirit of Peace and Universal Brotherhood (4.00 / 1)
I've granted Dale Jackson's fondest wish and reinstated his privileges as a user -- at the absolute bottom of the LiA ladder. He will retain these privileges as long as he behaves well. My wish is for the all of us to judge his future contributions on their own merits rather than his past behavior ...

... and for everyone to abide by some simple rules ALL THE TIME:

Maintain a civil tone

Respect the opinions of others, even while explaining why they're wrong
Bring something of value to the conversation

Be accurate in your statements

Don't use language here that you wouldn't say in front of your mother

So mooncat forgives Dale's past *ahem* transgressions, and after appearing as a guest on his radio show proceeds to help the Tea Party replace Parker Griffith with Mo Brooks but I digress.

It's a Christmas Miracle... (4.00 / 1)
Mooncat, Thanks for the unblock. You are welcome on my show anytime. I had quite a few, "why are you giving her airtime" but I like dissenting views. Even if on this case of the good doctor we are in agreement. If you missed mooncat when she was on my show, she said I was right at least twice. Merry Christmas moviehouse!

Fast forward to January 2010 and Dale Jackson has reverted to his old tricks, name calling personal attacks, insults and lies to the point frequent commenter Gayla ask who the hell is Dale Jackson and why is he on this site.

I realize I'm a relative newbie to the site, but why is someone with deliberate taunts as part of their signature posting here? Why is someone of the same ilk as the Becks, Limbaughs and Hannities spewing their toxins on this site?

Diverse opinions? I'm all for them. But there is a difference in an opinion and the toxic propaganda spread by these hatemongers - toxity that most folks with the least bit of common sense knows leads to violence, threats, and actually killings. There is a difference in debate and outright lies and distortions for partisan sake.

Do I wish Limbaugh was dead? Absolutely not. But I wish he would shut the f*ck up, not because I so vehemently disagree with him, but because he's dangerous. He feeds hate. And so do Beck, Hannity, Coutler, and O'Reilly.

And Dale Jackson wants to be just like them. Why is he on this site?

I accept full responsibility for the return of Radio Boy after he and mooncat yuk it up on his radio show in a quid pro quo sorta way.

Does this mean you and radio boy are going to kiss and make up (0.00 / 0)
and you're going to un-ban him since you may have found "common ground"? :) Sorry but I can't bring myself to listen to hate radio even if you are a guest. Good luck.

Which Dale Jackson confirmed

Don't be so hard on yourself Redeye, (0.00 / 0)
you had nothing to do with it.

I invited mooncat on my show after Griffith's switch (mostly so i could say, I told you so) and at the end I asked for reinstatement. She said, we will have to set some rules, she did and here I am.

Differing opinions won't kill you.

mooncat accused me of overestimating my influence, but fast forward to January 2011, Dale Jackson is still causing trouble, people are still asking why he's allowed to post on the site and I'm still respectfully requesting not only my front page privileges be reinstated but that my user name and pass word be reinstated.

At least Dale Jackson got a second chance and some semblance of due process before his public banning.

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere~Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.

When we dig a hole for someone else, we may as well dig two for we will surely fall in the first one we dug. I heard these words from my mama and other wise old folks.~AL State Senator Hank Sanders

I swear to the Lord I just can't see why freedom of speech means everybody but me~Redeye

So, now we know how "white Dems" really feel

This is one of those times I really hate no longer being allowed to post at Left in Alabama, but it's also one of those times I realize why I'm no longer allowed to post at Left in Alabama. The white wing of the Birmingham/Jefferson County Alabama democratic party held a forum to try and figure out How will Alabama Dems Rise Again after the November massacre. Calling themselves Dems instead of Democrats should have been my first clue, but this comment by mooncat defines how Dems really feel about the Democratic Party and African American Democrats specifically.

There is a perception that the ADP caters to black voters but ignores white voters. A significant number of Democrats, some on the SDEC, have expressed concern to me that the ADP will "become like Mississippi" where, I gather, race is the significant difference between the two parties. If you want to run for office and you're white, you run as a Republican, if you're black you run as a Democrat. Now, I know that isn't strictly the case in Mississippi since they recently had a white Democrat run (unsuccessfully) for Senate, but this is a huge concern for people who care about the Democratic party in Alabama.

Wrong mooncat, the ADP doesn't cater to black voters, they take black voters for granted. If you want to run for office and you're white in Alabama you run as a conservative democrat, with emphasis on conservative, to garner the white vote. and democrat to garner the black vote. Black voters have no where else to go but the ADP.

And how exactly does the ADP cater to black voters? By giving them a seat at the table? By addressing their issues and concerns?

If race is the elephant (is that a pun?) Joe Reed is the mahout And this is why he needs to step back gracefully.

Oh really now?

So now we know how white democrats, strike that, we know how some white democrats feel about it's minority members and it's leader. Black democrats need to go somewhere and STFU and STFD because they are driving white democrats away. Not.

In last year's midterm election, white voters favored the GOP by a margin of 60 percent to 37, according to the national exit poll conducted by Edison Research. It was a higher percentage than the margin claimed by the GOP during its 1994 landslide victory.
Anzalone argued that margin was reflective of the "political environment" and didn't mean there was a "death sentence" on Southern Democrats.
"We had this same conversation after the 1994 elections," he said, before citing a series of Democratic victories over the last two decades. "The reality is that white voters are up for grabs for Democrats.
"You've got to be patient, you've got to build your argument. Will it come immediately after a big swing like this? Not with big gains," he said.
White voters will come back to the party when they feel "comfortable" with a particular Democratic candidate, Anzalone predicted.

Rep. John Lewis doesn't have to be concerned about a "mass migration" of African-Americans to the GOP. He needs to be concerned about a mass migration of African Americans becoming Independents because as much as it pains me to para quote Dale Jackson, the democratic party doesn't want us and the republican party won't have us.

 What to do and where to go?

Redeye's Congress Critter Watch~Edit

It was a very good day for CD 7 Congresswoman Terri Sewell, she was elected the most popular new democrat in the freshman class. Yes, that was a snark. Seriously, Sewell was elected to serve as the President of the Democratic Freshman Class for the first session of the 112th Congress. She was also selected to serve as a Senior Whip by House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD) and elected by her colleagues to serve as Regional Whip for Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Florida, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.

That's nice, but more importantly, Sewell will serve on the House Committee on Agriculture and the House Committee on Science & Technology. I'm pleased she's on these committees for several reasons. Her service on the Agriculture Committee is important because of the Pickford Settlement for discrimination against black farmers.

The Obama administration announced a $1.25 billion settlement Thursday to resolve charges by thousands of black farmers who say that for decades the Agriculture Department discriminated against them in loan programs.

Cabinet officials exhorted Congress to approve the deal by setting aside money for the farmers, who have fought through three administrations to secure a measure of justice. In the starkest cases, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said, farmers lost their property after local administrators slow-pedaled loan applications, leaving them unable to plant key crops.

Of course the GOP is calling the Pickford Settlement "reparations" but that's just what they do.

Sewell being a member of the Science and Technology Committee is good for North Alabama, having an African American democrat to counter an Obama/Pelosi hating, right-wing republican is good for an area who relies on government contracts.

Speaking of right-wing republican hypocrites from the great state of Alabama, how about this from the annals of oxyMorons....fresh from voting to repeal health care reform Congress Critters Mo Brooks and Robert Aderholt will speak at Huntsville Pastors' Pro-Life Rally. Uh, how can you be pro-life and anti health care?

RedEye Congress Critter Watch over and out....for now.

The Shirley Sherroding of Robert Bentley

Here we go again.

You know the drill.

Take a snippet of someones remarks out of context and spin them like top so people will focus on who said instead of what was said.

Poor Governor Dr. Bentley is the latest victim of the Shirley Sherrod treatment. I will admit to jumping on the bandwagon before I went inside David White's story. The Shirley Sherroding starts with his lead (emphasis mine);

APGov.-elect Robert Bentley
MONTGOMERY -- Gov.-elect Robert Bentley in a speech at a Baptist church this afternoon said he plans to be the governor of all Alabamians and be color-blind, but he also said people who aren't ''saved" Christians aren't his brothers and sisters.

For those who don't know the lead, or the first paragraph of a news article is supposed to contain just the FACTS, also known as the 5 W's, who, what, where, where, and why. This is called context and allows readers to form opinions based on facts and not the writers opinion(s).

As an African American democrat I choose to focus on these words from Governor Bentley (emphasis mine);

Bentley told a big crowd at Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church, where the late civil rights leader Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. once was pastor, that he believed it was important for Alabamians ''that we love and care for each other."

''I was elected as a Republican candidate. But once I became governor ... I became the governor of all the people. I intend to live up to that. I am color blind," Bentley said in a short speech given about an hour after he took the oath of office as governor.

The fact he attended an event at Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church says a lot to me about his character. As a Christian I can appreciate these words from the governor(emphasis mine).

"There may be some people here today who do not have living within them the Holy Spirit," Bentley said. ''But if you have been adopted in God's family like I have, and like you have if you're a Christian and if you're saved, and the Holy Spirit lives within you just like the Holy Spirit lives within me, then you know what that makes? It makes you and me brothers. And it makes you and me brother and sister."

Here is where the Shirley Sherroding begins (emphasis mine);

Bentley added, ''Now I will have to say that, if we don't have the same daddy, we're not brothers and sisters. So anybody here today who has not accepted Jesus Christ as their savior, I'm telling you, you're not my brother and you're not my sister, and I want to be your brother."

Is Bentley saying he doesn't want to be the governor of non Christians? No, he's saying I want to be your brother. In the spirit of brotherly love he is reaching out to all the citizens of Alabama. Did Bentley get carried away by emotion? Yes. But he was in a historic Baptist church full of God fearing people. Did he mean any harm? No. Was he trying to bring us together? Yes.

Asked later if he meant to be insulting to people of other faiths, Bentley replied, ''We're not trying to insult anybody."

Bentley's communications director, Rebekah Caldwell Mason, when asked about Bentley's comments said, ''He is the governor of all the people, Christians, non-Christians alike."

Bentley in his speech also told the crowd, which was celebrating King's birthday, that, ''I think that Dr. Martin Luther King was one of the greatest men that has ever lived."

''I appreciate what he has done for not only the African-American community but for the white community, because he helped everything to change, even though he had to give his life for it," Bentley said.

Bentley then said he would work to help Alabamians whether they live in Wilcox County, where many poor blacks live, or Mountain Brook, where many upper-income whites live.

''You know, (for) a lot of people, it's hard to trust a Republican governor," Bentley said. ''Let me tell you. I want to tell you today that I promise you that I'm going to do everything I can for everybody in this state."

I have it on good authority Governor Bentley is really a good guy, just a member of the wrong party. I choose to focus on everything he said and not a snippet of what he said. I'm not going to call him Governor Hunt or Judge Roy Moore. Yet. I'm going to give him a chance to practice what he preaches and be the Governor of ALL of us, regardless of race, religion,gender, address or party.

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." ~Alabama State Senator Hank Sanders

Pandering to the WRONG at the expense of what is Right

Today is the big pay back. At the end of the day TeaPublicans who have access to quality, affordable, government run health care health care will vote to take away that same access from people who need it the most.

They claim to have a mandate from a majority of the American people, but that's not true. They have a mandate from the Tea Party who refer to health care reform as ObamaCare, emphasis on Obama. If it were BushCare, or McCainCare, or HuckabeeCare they wouldn't have a problem. They certainly didn't have a problem with Bush sending our troops to war based on DEAD WRONG Intelligence, but I digress.

President Obama CARES about the health and welfare of ALL the American people, even those who didn't vote for him because it's the right thing to do.

President Obama Cares enough to protect Americans with pre-existing conditions because it's the right thing to do.

President Obama Cares that insurers can no longer deny coverage to children because of a pre-existing condition because it's the right thing to do.

President Obama Cares that insurers can no longer take away coverage because of a mistake on an application and they cannot limit lifetime coverage to a fixed dollar amount because it's the right thing to do.

President Obama Cares that young adults now have the option of staying on their parents’ coverage up to the age of 26 if they lack access to job-based insurance of their own because it's the right thing to do.

President Obama Cares about the American People. TeaPublicans care about the insurance companies and getting re-elected.

The Affordable Care Act is making sure that you have health coverage when you need it most, and is putting your health care where it belongs – in your hands, not in the hands of your insurance company.

Here they go again...panding to the WRONG at the expense of what is RIGHT (pun intended).

The public banning of Dale Jackson Part 1

The cats and other critters at Left in Alabama have banished right-wing radio shock jock Dale Jackson from its pages. Again. Unlike yours truly, Dale Jackson had a democratic (pun intended) process complete with pro/con discussion and was allowed to defend himself prior to his banning. 

The administrators claim I am lying about being banned but when your user name and password are invalid and they are the only ones who can render them invalid what do you call it? See that's how they operate over there, throw a rock then hide their hand.

Anyhoo since my name was mentioned several times during the debate and since I'm the reason Dale Jackson started posting on Left in Alabama in the first place, I thought it might be helpful to take a trip down memory lane to set the record straight because there is more than a whiff of censorship and suppression at Left in Alabama.

I am not a trained investigative reporter and I don't play one in the blogosphere so bare with me as I attempt to connect the dots.

To be clear, this is not the first time Dale Jackson was banned from Left in Alabama, this is his second strike, but hey at least he got a second chance.

Mooncat has the ultimate decision making responsibility and she wanted this thread, to help with the decision. It was not "piggieheart being pissed off at Dale Jackson" although that describes how I have felt a number of times.

Dale Jackson's first post at Left in Alabama was on Tue May 06, 2008, at 05:24:10 AM CDT in response to my post-All Politics are (should be is) Local; Help fight the Right-Wing Media

Help the USBA today.

A local talk radio station, has been unfair to the USBA in its reporting of news and information about the USBA, its members, the Downtown Rescue Mission and the citizens that live in the area’s affected. However, they have voluntarily put a ballot on their website to allow for the listening public to express their opinion on whether they have been fair to our association or not. All you have to do is go to http://www.wvnn.com/ and on the right hand side just below the lineup box you will see the WVNN Daily Poll. The question is : Has the University Sparkman Business Association been treated unfairly on "The Dale Jackson Show." Just Vote Yes or No and hit the Vote button. Do this from as many different computers as possible if you want your votes to count.

Secondly: This type of so called journalism, where talkers are just cut off in the middle of a sentence, and the show management refuses to confer with proper spokespersons, and sometimes may even just outright lie trying to persuade the public to their viewpoint is not the kind of professionalism we are accustomed to here in the Tennessee Valley as it relates to media coverage. (Virtually all other forms of local media have been by and large fair and reasonably accurate. This includes all 4 TV stations, The Huntsville Times, and AL.com) Thus, we also suggest you consider calling AND emailing Bill West, General Manager for Cumulus media, the parent company for this station and several others in the area.billg.west@cumulus.com Tel.: (256) 830-8300 Fax: (256) 232-6842 . Mr. West may not be aware that this kind of stuff has infuriated our business community.

The USBA is not perfect, but for a business organization that has only been together for about 2 weeks, we have and will continue to make phenomenal progress in participation, organization, and progress toward reaching our goals. We know of no other new born business organization anywhere that has made so much progress in so short of time. Your assistance is appreciated and helps the USBA toward attaining is goals of representing you .

Fast forward to Tue Oct 28, 2008, at 05:45:00 AM CDT Dale Jackson gets his wish and is banned from Left in Alabama.

After begging for months, WVNN talk show host DaleJackson has at last been banned from Left in Alabama. The magic words were "Kill them!" Yesterday BenGoshi, a valued member of the Left in Alabama community, wrote and posted a diary alerting this site to the Skinhead/Neo-Nazi plot hatched to mass-murder African-American children and assassinate Senator Barack Obama.

Note BenGoshi is no longer a valued member of the Left in Alabama community either but that's another story. Hint, it has something to do with Artur Davis.

I was one of the few who was against Dale Jackson being banned:

I wanted Dale Jackson to continue posting his name calling, personal attacks, insults and lies for the world to see. I wanted the world to see the mentality of the people who selected Bush and Dick to drive our country into the ditch and who are presently supporting John Mc$ame and Sarah Quaylin to drive us further into the ditch.

I was also one of the dissenting voices because I was banned from the al.com forum. Not because of behavior like Dale Jacksons, but because I was able to effectively articulate the "liberal" point of view and refute and debunk the right wing spin. The Latte drinking, Birkenstock wearing, Tree Hugging, Bleeding Heart, First Amendment Loving, Hippy, Peacenik, LIBERAL that I am deplores banning of any American from forums. I may not agree with what someone is saying or how they are saying it, but I believe in their right to say it. Our sons and daughters are fighting, dying and being maimed for life in Iraq supposedly fighting for our "freedoms", in my opinion banning citizens is a slap in their face and all of our faces.

That's the way I felt then and it's the way I feel now. Plus I knew if Dale Jackson could be banned I could be banned and sure enough, Friday, November 13, 2009, was my unlucky day and I was no longer a valued member of the Left in Alabama Community because of the content and comments of my post. Hint, content, and comments about Artur Davis.

Stay tuned for part II-Dale Jackson's second chance. In the meantime check out Whatever happened to LiA for more background.

I can't post at Left in Alabama, however, Left in Alabama commenters are welcome to post here. I don't rate or moderate comments. I believe in the first amendment. Tolerant people can agree to disagree without being disagreeable and resorting to name-calling, personal attacks or insults.

This is welcome Mo Brooks to Congress Day!

From Organizing for America
Repealing the Affordable Care Act is bad for our health, our economy, and our country. Rep. Mo Brooks, needs to know where you stand.

Call Rep. Brooks now at (202) 225-4801.
Tell the person on the phone that you're a constituent, that Alabama does not support repeal, and that you're counting on them to protect the Affordable Care Act, regardless of party affiliation.

Then click here to let us know how it went.

According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, repealing the Affordable Care Act will add hundreds of billions to the deficit, increase costs for those who are covered, and result in 32 million fewer people receiving coverage. Health reform continues to provide greater freedom and control in our health care choices -- it's no surprise most Americans oppose repeal.

Chances are the Affordable Care Act is already benefiting you or someone you know.

Reform is at work for you:

-- If you're a senior who fell into the "donut hole" of prescription drug coverage and needed help covering that cost;
-- If you're a young adult who can benefit from staying on your parents' insurance until age 26;
-- If you've ever worried about your insurer dropping your coverage unexpectedly if you or someone on your policy gets sick or injured;
-- If you're a small-business owner trying to compete with large employers while providing insurance to your employees; or
-- If you're a taxpayer worried about the national deficit.

The very first item on the Republicans' agenda involves reducing this important legislation to an abstract, partisan fight.

Instead of working to find solutions to build on our recovery and make the United States more competitive, Republicans in Congress would rather appease their right-wing base and insurance-industry allies by re-litigating the last two years -- and returning control of our health care system to insurance companies.

They need to know we're paying attention: We will not stand by and allow Republicans to undo our progress.

Call Rep. Brooks now at (202) 225-4801. Say you're counting on the new Congress to do the right thing by their constituents -- and that's not repealing health reform.

Then please let us know what you heard:

http://my.barackobama.com/RepealCallsThanks for your help,

Yohannes

Yohannes Abraham
Political Director
Organizing for America

You can fool uniformed people all of the time

Today is the day the gop baffles their base with BullPoo. They are going to waste time and tax dollars with a *ahem* symbolic vote to repeal the Affordable Health Care Act, also known as ObamaCare or the job killing health care reform bill.

The gop is counting on the uninformed and the misinformed not knowing the media enabled TeaPublicans are voting for the following:
1. Forcing vulnerable seniors to pay thousands of additional out-of-pocket dollars for their medication.

2. Allowing insurers insurers to discriminate against children with pre-existing conditions.

3.Raising taxes on small businesses, forcing young people off their family's insurance plan.

4. Forcing young people off their family's insurance plan.

Because the TeaPublicans control the House the bill will pass but die quickly in the democratically controlled Senate. Then comes round two of Baffle the uninformed with BullPoo.

Republicans, who already know that repeal will fail, are preparing to begin the longer and more complex campaign to replace, rewrite, or simply undermine various parts of the bill. [. . .] That will allow them to focus their energies on the parts of the legislation that are tough for Democrats to defend, rather than letting the Democrats force them to focus on the parts of the legislation that are easy for Democrats to defend.

Now if democrats were smart, and if the media would do it's J-O-B and inform the public with facts and not spin, they would connect health care with J-O-B-S.

In a great example of farcical rhetoric, House Republicans have named their health care bill the "Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act," as part of a silly campaign to argue the law is responsible for job losses.

Just at the surface level, the charge is transparently false. Since the Affordable Care Act was signed into law, the private sector has added 1.1 million jobs. Roughly a fifth of that total -- more than 200,000 -- were jobs created in the health care industry. If GOP rhetoric were true, these jobs wouldn't have been created.

If we had more Jon Stewarts and Bill Mahers and fewer Talking TeeVeePundit Heads the country wouldn't be in this mess because the American people would know support for expanding the health care bill is stronger than for repeal.

The right (who is wrong about everything) has managed to convince the uniformed they don't need no stinking access to affordable health reform because they are unaware half of Americans under the age of 65 have pre-existing conditions.

Republicans immediately disparaged the analysis as "public relations." An insurance industry spokesman acknowledged that sick people can have trouble buying insurance on their own but said the analysis overstates the problem.

The study found that one-fifth to one-half of non-elderly people in the United States have ailments that trigger rejection or higher prices in the individual insurance market. They range from cancer to chronic illnesses such as heart disease, asthma and high blood pressure.

We don't know what we don't know we don't know~Donald Rumsfield

The Lynching of Public Education in Alabama

I'm convinced the status quo republicans in the state of Alabama want to destroy public education in Alabama. After all we just inaugurated a governor who doesn't believe every child has the right to go to college, and elected a red, republican state legislature whose first order of business was to destroy the Alabama Education Association.

Now comes the Lynch v State of Alabama school funding lawsuit where civil rights attorney's claim the states method of funding schools purposefully discriminates based on race.

Alabama history is headed before a federal judge in Huntsville, as civil rights attorneys argue that the state's method of funding schools purposefully discriminates based on race.

At stake are the state's property tax rates, the lowest in the nation. Attorney James Blacksher of Birmingham contends that tax structure violates the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, largely by limiting the ability of rural counties to tax wealthy white landowners.

"Because of the anemic property taxes available to most local school systems, low-income students throughout Alabama, who are disproportionately black, suffer from underfunding," contends the suit.

Sweet Home Alabama is a state that cares more about property values than they do educating it's children. Strike that, the State of Alabama cares more about protecting property values than they do educating poor/disenfranchised/minority students.

Concerns over public housing can still draw a crowd, as almost 250 people on Tuesday gathered for the second meeting of the South Huntsville Civic Association.

"We need something in south Huntsville they've had in other parts of Huntsville for years - a cohesive voice," Madison County Commissioner Mo Brooks announced from the stage at Grissom High School.

Brooks, one of two key speakers, said that the Huntsville Housing Authority has quietly used vouchers to send poor families south and plans now to single out south Huntsville for more.

In February, the authority surprised homeowners with the outright purchase of 50 units at Stone Manor near Chaffee Elementary. That sparked a raucous public meeting at Chaffee on April 6 and led to the creation of the civic association.

On Tuesday, the upstart group drew an influential crowd, including Republican Brooks, a former legislator; newly elected state Sen. Paul Sanford, R-Huntsville; state Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur; and Republican gubernatorial candidate Bradley Byrne.

Going through the numbers at Whitesburg Elementary, Brooks argued that schools in south Huntsville have seen test scores drop "thanks in large part to what the Huntsville Housing Authority has done to us."

This is what happens when property values are tied to student/school achievement.

But the state argues that any forced change in tax rates would decrease all property values, injure all property owners who plan to sell, paralyze the commercial real estate market and cause "widespread havoc in Alabama's government and real estate markets."

Yep, opponents know what buttons to push to distract from the real issue, which is racial discrimination.

It has been projected that the relief sought in Lynch could result in 1000% property tax increases on residential and forest land, 500% on business property and 300% on utility properties.

Projected by whom? According to new anointed Left in Alabama Legal Contributor Old Prosecutor, the information is from unsourced articles. I thought factually incorrect information wasn't allowed on the front pages of Left in Alabama, but I digress.

Alabama's property tax rates are the lowest in the nation as is student achievement. Because of the current property tax structure low income students in Alabama, who are disproportionately black suffer from the underfunding. Students live where their parents can afford to live. Students with affluent parents have access to the best public education their parents tax dollars can buy. Students with low income parents have access to the worst education their parents tax dollars can buy.

The state of Alabama might as well give up trying to run a public education system because it's obvious some don't believe believe every child should have access to a quality public education regardless of race, gender, religion or their parents station in life, like this ;

If you live in a poor county and you dont (sic)believe that the school in your area is up to standards the simple and obvious solution is that you move. I would not let my children attend a school that I believed did not prepare them for the future. The problem is you could throw billions at the schools in these black belt areas and you would still end up with the same low level perfomance (sic)that they have now. The reason is that education begains(sic) at home with a caring father and a mother with values and a work ethic who push their kids to do well. And that is something the vast majorty(sic) of these kids dont(sic) have and will never have no matter how much you spend...

That's right, blame the parents with false, media driven, racial stereotypes. Education begins in the classroom with a certified teacher who is given the resources to educate children in a safe, orderly environment that is conducive to learning. One things for sure, not throwing billions at the schools in the black belt areas has produced the same low level performance. Only a fool does the same thing hoping for a different result, so let's "throw billions at the schools in the black belt" and see if we get a different result.

I have a dream one day the citizens of Alabama will care more about the future of it's children than they do maintaining their property values.