RedEye's Rundown

Here's a rundown of all the dirty work happening in #SweetHomeAlabama

COVID19 Voter Suppression by Mass Murder

The 17 counties that make up Alabama’s Black Belt region are home to just 11 percent of the state’s population, but as of Thursday, 27 percent of all confirmed coronavirus cases in the state could be found there. A quarter of all coronavirus deaths in Alabama have been Black Belt residents.

And don't tell me it's not by design.

Hours after the Birmingham City Council approved a mandate requiring that people wear face coverings while in public, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall issued a cautionary statement, reminding cities and towns that while they have power, there is a limit.

 #MissionAccomplished 

Some hard-hit areas, like Lowndes County, outside Montgomery, the state capital, don't have a single intensive care bed, according to the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center.

The battle for control of the Plantation, EYE mean Alabama Democratic Party is over and the Minority now officially rules the Majority.

Worley said lawyers advised her not to appeal. She said it doesn’t help that Republicans hold all the seats on Alabama’s appeal courts.

“They were certainly not about to do any favors for us, longtime Democratic stalwarts,” Worley said. "They were much more inclined to help the nouveau regime than they were us."

The past is prologue. 

The fight for control of the Alabama Democratic Party between Sen. Doug Jones (D) and Nancy Worley, the current head of the party, has revived painful allegations of racial discrimination, never far from the surface in a state at the heart of the battle for civil rights — even though both Jones and Worley are white and their chief allies are black.

But what makes matters complicated are the countercharges of generational discrimination and acrimony between the African American Democrats who were on the front lines of the fight for civil rights in the 1950s and 1960s and a younger group of rising leaders who say they are being shut out of the party they will soon control.

Influencers beware or you will be blamed for things you didn't do. 

Huntsville police had edited the photos to black out a portion of Shapiro’s face but that didn’t do enough to make him unidentifiable.

McMurray told AL.com that he included Shapiro’s images in the presentation in an attempt to “educate” the public about antifa and anarchists. He said some deny that antifa is in Huntsville and believe police overreacted to the protesters. He says he was trying to prove them wrong.


“I didn’t accuse him of anything,” McMurray said. “Sympathizers are here. If you’re posting sympathetic likes and finds on your website, you very likely could be (a sympathizer). They put that on their website, not me.”

What a difference a Mayor and Police Chief Make

The EXACT same rumors that turned Huntsville PD & Madison deputies into combat soldiers ran rampant a few days earlier in Montgomery. Mayor Steven Reed & Chief Earnest Finley weren't duped. They talked to people. Forbid cops from wearing military garb. Look at the difference.

— Josh Moon (@Josh_Moon) June 19, 2020

RedEye Over and Out for Now 

Standing 6 feet apart so African American Alabamians will not be 6 feet under #COVID19 #ExpandMedicaidNow

"Stand up and fight back Don't let them stop us God has not given us the spirit of fear but the power and a sound mind, Forward together not one step back. Now we must fight back just to stay alive. Wake-up everybody. "

Members of the Save Ourselves for Justice and Democracy Movement are fighting back against Governor Kay Ivy's dangerous gamble putting Black Alabamians at risk.

Attorney and former State Senator Hank Sanders said: “I was here 55 years ago today when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. asked the question, “How Long?” about voting rights and other rights. I and the rest of the massive crowd responded, “Not Long!” We are here today standing six feet apart so that Alabamians will not be lying six feet under. Dr. King asked, “How Long?” 55 years ago, and today we are asking, “How Long” will it be until Alabama expands Medicaid so that the working poor can have health insurance and health care so they can stand a chance to be tested and treated, not only during the coronavirus pandemic but afterwards? I hope and pray the answer to “How Long? is “Not Long!”

B-But every life is precious.....

“When it hits the black belt, when you see how few clinics and hospitals are in those rural areas, there’s no way in the world you’re going to be able to deal with all those cases,”

Residents in the #BlackBelt are already underserved

“We have a very serious problem with medical care and accessibility to it. Our rural transportation services can help, but it’s very difficult for a lot of our citizens not only in Macon but as far west as Sumpter and Green County, they’re having the same problem," said Lee. "So, counties across the Black Belt are experiencing extreme difficulty getting health care, even before this epidemic.”

Its time to stop playing petty partisan politics with people's lives. 

Therefore, we are here, standing six feet apart so fewer Alabamians will not be lying six feet under. We know we take a risk by being here, even with all of our precautions, but the risk of not standing up and speaking out now and not expanding Medicaid now is profoundly greater. That is why we are here.

EYE am willing to forgive you Governor Bentley, but first you must repent!

Dear Governor Bentley,
EYE saw where you threw yourself on the altar and pulled the "I'm seeking forgiveness from y'all and God for what I've done card the 
other day in an attempt to justify your remaining in office, despite being caught red-handed doing some un-Godly stuff with a woman who was not your wife.

Being the good Deacon and Sunday School teacher you are, EYE mean, were,  EYE know you believe in the Ten Commandments, by my count you broke numbers,1, 7, 9, and 10.  Thou shall not kill ( your refusal to expand Medicaid is killing people), Thou shall not commit adultery, Thou shall not bear false witness (lie), and Tough shall not covet (another man's wife).

EYE am willing to forgive your transgressions because the alternative is worse,  but first, you must repent.  Here's a list of things you can do to repent for your sins and earn the forgiveness of the citizens of Sweet Home Alabama.  

The first thing you can do is stop standing up to Obama and expand Medicaid.  President Obama has access to the best medical care our tax dollars can buy, as do you.  Medicaid expansion isn't about sticking it to President Obama.  Rather, it's about the working poor — those who, right now, are working and making too much money to qualify for Medicaid as it is but who are not making enough to afford health insurance, even after subsidies from the Affordable Care Act.

Second, you can rescind the Voter Suppression,  EYE mean Voter ID Bill now that we have proof it's keeping registered voters from casting their vote.  This voter purge is undermining our democracy, you have the power to restore the right to vote.

Third, you can rescind the bill that cut off funding for women's health clinics, reducing the number of women's health clinics to six, making it hard, if not impossible for poor women, not to be confused with affluent women, to have access to health care. As a result of this bill, thousands of women across Alabama are no longer be able to access essential reproductive health care, such as cancer screenings, birth control, and well-woman exams. This is a cruel bill is designed to rip health care away from those most at risk.

Fourth, you know that mean-spirited immigration bill you signed that put Alabama on the map that crashed and burned?  Now it's time for you to shut down the detention centers.  Actually, EYE am more afraid of you and the republicans than EYE am of Syrian refugees.

After the recent death of Mr. Teka Gulema in late January – an Ethiopian immigrant who passed away after spending nearly a year in serious condition while in detention – activists are again highlighting why Etowah must be closed. Gulema’s death comes on the heels of a two-week hunger strike waged by Bangladeshi detainees against the inhumane treatment they’ve been subjected to in Etowah. Activists have been highlighting that the conditions in Etowah can be deadly if not at least torturous.

Finally, please let the citizens of Alabama gamble with their own damn money, in their own damn state if they choose to do so.  attorney General Luther Strange has caused "economic devastation" to the residents of the Black Belt by unlawfully closing the Victory Land casino.

Fortunately, the Supreme Court struck down the keep gays from getting married bill so you don't have to worry about that, just say you're sorry you care more about keeping gays from getting married than you do keeping your marriage vows and move on.

2 Chronicles 7:14  says,  If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

RedEye

EYE owe Rep. Terri Sewell, the NAACP, the Congressional Black Caucus and others, an apology

U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell

Never,  EYE repeat, Never, let it be said EYE won't admit when EYE make a mistake, or,  that EYE refuse to correct factually incorrect information . That said,  EYE owe Congresswoman Terri Sewell, the NAACP, and the Congressional Black Caucus , a mega apology for accusing them wasting time/resources requesting a DOJ investigation into the DMV closings in Alabama. Without an investigation, we the taxpayers, would have never known  Alabama faces a lawsuit from the Department of Justice because it is not in compliance with the National Voter Registration Act – and never has been.

What is the National Voter Registration Act Alabama is not in compliance with you ask?

According to the National Voter Registration Act, also known as the “motor voter” law, citizens must be given the opportunity to register to vote when they renew their drivers license, apply for Medicaid or have other interactions with the state government. States across the old Confederacy have run afoul of this law in recent years, withNorth Carolina and Texas failing to process voter registrations in their DMVs and leading many eligible voters to be denied ballot access.
According to the Star, Alabama hasn’t completely ignored the law for 22 years. Rather, they had been implementing the law incorrectly, and in a way that has almost certainly led to fewer Alabamans registering to vote. Rather than allowing citizens to fill out one form, which served as both their drivers license application and voter registration, the state had been giving citizens a separate card that they were supposed to fill out and mail in, rather than submitting it to the DMV on site.

EYE guess EYE should also thank the Red, Republican, controlled state Legislature for making photo ID mandatory for voting then close  then DMV offices in the Black Belt, your plan almost worked.

Via Charles Thomas at Demos "Actually, this helps clarify why Alabama closed Driver's License offices in 31 counties. If getting your driver's license automatically triggers voter registration (provided that you are of age to vote), then Alabama doesn't want it to be easy to get a driver's license in counties with large African-American populations -- which is the case in the 31 counties where the offices were closed. That would enable more Black folks to vote. Shenanigans like this and many others are what prompted adoption of the Voting Rights Act in the first place. Will this cause the Supreme Court to revise its finding that the prior review provision of the VRA is no longer necessary? We shall see. If not, that will make it even clearer the the Court is now willing to connive in racist policies." #RestoreTheVRA

Please accept my humble and sincere apologies.  Thank you for requesting an investigation, and a mega thank you to the Department of Justice for granting the request.

The National Voter Registration Act is more than 20 years old and allows voter registration at the same office people can receive or renew their drive licenses or other public assistance. But, according to AL.com, Alabama has never been compliant with the Motor Voter Act.

You done good, but you might want to check on this while you're at it.

RedEye

Light Bulb Moment! It's not about saving money, It's about the Motor Voter Law! #VoterSuppression #RestoreTheVRA #SweetHomeAlabama

Even with its strict voter-ID law, more than 30 offices in the state are set to close.

EYE had one of those lightbulb moments while perusing Facebook today.  All of sudden the fog lifted and EYE could see clearly.  You see,  EYE kept wondering why the Justice Department was threatening to sue Alabama in September for failing it's obligation to voters.  What obligation?, EYE asked.  Then it hit me... Alabama did not comply with the Motor Voter law, which explains why the red, republican controlled legislature closed DMV offices in 31 counties, that just so happen to be predominately black, under the guise of saving money. Nod Nod Wink Wink

This comment via Demos Facebook page spells it out loud and clear with links inserted for clarity: 

Actually, this helps clarify why Alabama closed Driver's License offices in 31 counties. If getting your driver's license automatically triggers voter registration (provided that you are of age to vote), then Alabama doesn't want it to be easy to get a driver's license in counties with large African-American populations -- which is the case in the 31 counties where the offices were closed. That would enable more Black folks to vote. Shenanigans like this and many others are what prompted adoption of the Voting Rights Act in the first place. Will this cause the Supreme Court to revise its finding that the prior review provision of the VRA is no longer necessary? We shall see. If not, that will make it even clearer the the Court is now willing to connive in racist policies.

In other news, Judge Myron Thompson has ordered the State of Alabama to resume funding of Planned Parenthood. Now let's see if Governor Bentley is going to comply or defy...

Bentley not backing down in court battle to strip Planned Parenthood’s Alabama funding http://t.co/Zwh3mFlmdD pic.twitter.com/xfQ0spd4Rh

— Yellowhammer (@yhn) September 23, 2015

RedEye's #SweetHomeAlabama Rundown #BloodSuckers #DMV #VoterSuppression #BlackBelt #DebtorsPrison #ArturDavis #ParkerGriffin

B-But Black on Black Crime....It's not about the Blood-Sucking Judge, it's about the Blood-Sucking SYSTEM.  So, the Concern Trolls have their knickers in a knot because Circuit Judge Marvin Wiggins offered  people the option of donating blood to pay their fines, or go to jail for non violent offenses.  Instead of concentrating on the fact people were put in the position of paying with blood  they chose to concentrate on Judge Wiggins.  Sigh

Arrestees that are too poor to afford the bond money - $500 for each misdemeanor charge - must remain in jail until the following Tuesday, when they appear via video conference from the jail at the city's only weekly court session, according to the lawsuit.
Last Friday, the U.S. DOJ filed a "statement of interest" in the case, in which they agreed to help provide the court a framework to assess the plaintiff's claim of an unlawful bail scheme.
The statement of interest does not take a position on Varden's claims. But U.S. DOJ Acting Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta said in a statement that the "criminal justice system should not work differently for the indigent and the wealthy."
"Bail practices that create a two tiered system of justice by treating the indigent and the wealthy differently undermine fundamental fairness in our nation's criminal justice system," she stated.

Sirrus XM radio host Joe Madison constantly reminds his audience to go inside the story and to listen with a third ear so let's do just that.   Judge Marvin Wiggins is a judge in the 4th Circuit in Alabama. He has served in this position since January 19, 1999, following his election in 1998.  Judge Wiggins was also removed  from the Alabama State University Board of Trustees by Governor Robert Bentley last year.  Hmmm

Maybe Judge Wiggins was trying not to end up like his fellow 4th Circuit Judge Jo Celeste Pettway who was suspended without pay after a complaint was filed against her for get this...emphasis mine

The complaint alleges Pettway was slow to rule on small claims cases, did not follow the law, has a disorganized court and is biased towards defendants – or debtors – in the small claims cases.

Can you imagine being suspended for 90 days without pay?   As my Daddy used to say we are all just one pay check away from poverty.  But maybe that's the plan...

Everybody is wrong about the Alabama DMV office closings  & why it matters.   It's not about the Voter ID card, it's about registered voters being required to obtain a special ID card in order to exercise their right to vote.  There is no right way to do the wrong thing.  Congress should restore the Voting Rights Act, and the Alabama State Legislature should repeal the Voter ID Bill.  Problem solved. 

If the Alabama Democratic Party can forgive Parker Griffin, they have to forgive Artur Davis.  They just do.  There are some in the ADP who refuse to see that Artur Davis is being punished more harshly than other party switchers.  Again,  other than the obvious there is not a dimes worth of difference between Artur Davis and Parker Griffin.  Allow me to refresh the memory of those who are trying to rewrite history with a stroll down Memory Lane.

Read all of our coverage of Parker Griffith's party switch 

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee wants Parker Griffith contributions back

Parker Griffith: Democrats 'do not share my values' 

Artur Davis: It's ironic that Parker Griffith joining party that bashed him in 2008Republican

candidates for Congress speak up after Parker Griffith's switch to GO

Griffith's switch to GOP 'a pleasant surprise,' Rep. Mike Hubbard says

State Democratic party feels 'betrayed' by Parker Griffith, asks for campaign donations back

U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt welcomes Griffith to the Republican fold

A look at Parker Griffith's voting record

Political Web site says U.S. Rep. Parker Griffith, D-Huntsville, will join GOP today

EYE think EYE have figured out what is wrong with the Alabama Democratic Party...they are really Dixiecrats.  They had no problem with Artur Davis when he pandered to the right at the expense of the traditional democratic base when he was running for Governor, but now it's a problem.  It's also why he will probably win in court.  If the ADP were smart, and EYE am not saying they are, they would let him back in and let the voters decide is fate.  Again.  

All told, Davis is requesting the court uphold his assertions that the term "asset" is unconstitutionally vague and his denial was an unfair double standard.

It is what it is.  It just is. 

#SweetHomeAlabama Governor Robert Bentley (r. Tuscaloosa) says the "outcry" over the racism of closing the DVM offices is "race politics at it's worse."

Alabama one of the most corrupt states in the country

Project much Governor?    EYE think balancing the budget on the backs of Alabama's Black Belt, refusing to expand Medicaid, signing a Voter ID Bill , closing DVM offices in the Black Belt, robbing the public education budget, and cutting off state funding to planned parenthood, preventing poor /black women from having access to a safe legal abortion is playing race politics at it's worst, but that' s just me.

"Alabama is not George Wallace's state. I don't want it to be George Wallace's state." said Bentley. "I want us to be inclusive. I don't want us to look at the color of people's skin. I don't want us to look at whether they are male or female. We are all Alabamians and I'm their governor. I know most of them (blacks in the affected counties losing driver's license offices) are not going to vote Republican. But you are not going to win people over by not being inclusive."

Psst Governor Bentley.....look in the mirror and say that so you can see how race politics at it's worse looks.   

Blaming the victim is so GOP.

Brian wants to know "How would expanding Medicaid save money?"

Hundreds gathered at the Alabama State Capitol on May 31, 2014 to ask Gov. Robert Bentley to save lives and expand Medicaid in the state. They chanted, sang and told their stories. (Erin Edgemon/eedgemon@al.com)

Brian said:

How would expanding Medicaid save money? The Federal Government says it would pay for 100% of the expansion for the first three years of the expansion. Yes, Medicare has been expanded, but only the expansion is being paid for. After three years, the amount the federal government will pay for drops to 90%. 

How would expanding Medicaid save money?

EYE am glad you asked how Governor Bentley's refusal to expand Medicaid will cost the state of Alabama BILLIONS of dollars.

Alabama is one of fourteen states that have chosen not to expand Medicaid, the federal-state program that provides health insurance to low-income families. The Affordable Care Act provides support to expand Medicaid to include families that earn up to 138% of the federal poverty level. The federal government will pay 100% of the costs for expanding Medicaid beginning in 2014 through 2016, and then gradually decrease support to 90% beginning in 2020.
A new study by the nonprofit research group, the RAND Corporation, shows the decision rejecting the expansion will cost these 14 states $1 billion more in spending on uncompensated care in 2016 alone, plus $8.4 billion annually in federal payments, and leave 3.6 million people without health insurance. The study's authors found that expanding Medicaid is "in the best economic interests of states."

Of course EYE don't expect you to believe expanding Medicaid is in the the best econominic interest of Alabama, but it's true.

In Alabama, Medicaid expansion would mean health care for about 300,000 additional people, most of whom will otherwise remain uninsured. Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health estimate the expansion would generate nearly $20 billion in new income, which would mean $1.7 billion in additional tax revenue in state and local governments across the state.

EYE don't know what part of not expanding Medicaid is killing people you and our Doctor/Governor don't understand.

Experts estimate that expanding Medicaid in Alabama would save 550 lives each year. 

Alabama's governor, a doctor, rejected the Medicaid expansion option after the United States Supreme Court ruled that states can refuse to participate in that part of the new health care law. A recent poll shows that 64% of Alabama residents support expanding Medicaid to cover more low-income adults.

EYE thought Republicans were pro-life?

Oh, and if you don't believe the Equal Justice Initiative report, maybe you will believe this report by the University of Alabama in Birmingham.

In short, their analysis points to a win-win scenario for the state and Medicaid-eligible patients.
“Across the first seven years of Medicaid expansion, the net budgetary effect is positive throughout,” Becker said. “In a very real sense, the state makes money while expanding coverage to nearly 300,000 Alabamians.”
Under the PPACA, the federal government will cover 100 percent of health care expenditures from 2014 through 2016. During these first years of the program, Alabama would be responsible for a share of the administrative costs of the expansion. The federal matching rate declines after 2016, falling to 95 percent in 2017, 94 percent in 2018, 93 in 2019 and 90 percent in 2020. As a result, the annual costs to the state increase from $39 million in 2014 to $222 million in 2020 for a total of about $771 million.
However, during those same years, the federal government will spend an additional $11.7 billion more on Medicaid in Alabama.
“While this is a substantial increase in federal spending, it is new income flowing into Alabama,” Becker said. “Moreover, when physicians, hospital employees, pharmacists and other employees in the health care sector receive these new dollars, they spend them on gasoline and groceries and clothes. This second-round spending generates additional economic activity.”

Yes, Brian, Red States, not  expanding medicare  is actually killing people,  and costing the state  billions, but you already knew  that.

In an interview with AL.com, Greer asked "How important is a human life?"
"We have to fight back," she said. "It is not like we are asking for something unrealistic. (Health care) is a human right."

EYE hope this answers your question. 

Balancing the Budget on the Backs of Alabama's Black Belt

Obama, Alabama officials pledge aid for white storm survivors, black storm storm survivors not so much.

If you look closely at the photograph attached to this diary of a VIP group walking with President Obama, I count nine individuals....Two in the front row, three in the middle row and four in the back, one of whom is barely visible as a pair of grey-trousered legs and the corner of a face. Two of them -- counting the President -- are non-white, one more may be.

The proportion of non-white persons in Alabama's population is about 29%, so 22%, or better 33%, persons of color (2 or 3 out of 9) would not be far out of line with the state population.

According to the same source, the proportion of persons in the population of Alabama who happen to be female is almost 52%. Female persons in the VIP group including President Obama: precisely zero.

Band Director Ryan Campbell watched his Sumter Central High School Tigers marching band strut last week on a field outside the gleaming new public high school in Sumter County.

"Where are the white kids?" a visitor asked.

"At the academy down the road," Campbell said, referring to private Sumter Academy.

And this is why Governor Bentley and the red, republican controlled state legislature robbed the public education budget to the tune of $80 million dollars.   This is why public schools (not to be confused with segregation academies) are failing, or should EYE say, being failed? 

If you're thinking of moving to Huntsville, or the State of Alabama I hope you don't have any k-12 school children. If you are not affluent enough to live in a neighborhood with the best public schools your tax dollars can buy, or afford to send your student to private schools, your children are tough out of luck, because of the sad, sorry state of separate and unequal education in Huntsville, and the state of Alabama. Over 50 years after Brown v. Board ordered schools to integrate Alabama is still the state of segregation today, segregation tomorrow, and it looks like segregation forever.

Officially, the news out of Alabama is this:

Alabama's Republican-controlled legislature and governor's office are committed to cutting the state's budget and the size of state government. That means the state will slice into the money available to a number of public agencies. And the Department of Public Safety, which includes the state's offices that issue driver's licenses, will simply have to take an $11 million hit. To make that math work, the agency will shutter driver's license offices in the state's most sparsely populated counties.

B-But it's not racial, it's just a coincidence the DMV offices slated for closing are in the Black Belt.  If it was really about saving money Governor Bentley would expand Medicaid.  But if he did that people who need access to health care the most might benefit.

Alabama’s Seventh Congressional District in the center of the state. It includes a region called the Black Belt, which has some of the poorest counties in the Southeast and the nation.

A recent national study on county-by-county health rankings published by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation found that several counties in Davis’ district had high poverty, inadequate access to primary care doctors and a large numbers of uninsured residents.

Sumter, Hale and Greene counties had less than half the number of doctors recommended for their size populations, and 13 percent to 16 percent of the residents were uninsured, the survey showed.

Saving money my Donkey.  If it were about saving money they wouldn't be appealing  the Victory Land verdict.  Heck, they wouldn't have closed Victory Land in the first place.

If the cries of Montgomery politicians under indictment don’t generate sympathy, certainly the lamentation of unemployed workers in the Black Belt does. One effect of the bribe-induced Riley-Canary war on bingo in Alabama is the closure of bingo operations in Greene, Macon and Houston Counties, that employed literally thousands of workers, and brought millions of dollars annually to local government treasuries. We all wish that overwhelmingly black Greene and Macon Counties had bulldozers clearing land for new automotive and electronics plants, or for high-powered biology labs or computer engineering firms, but that’s the progress of the next generation. Right now, those counties are absolutely dependent on the entertainment and gaming business for their economic survival, and Obama’s what-me-worry attitude about Canary has placed that survival in jeopardy. Even in the white-majority Wiregrass, it’s probably safe to assume that Country Crossing employed a fair number of African-Americans in its service sector jobs. Had Bob Riley needed to worry about a U.S. Attorney with integrity in Montgomery, he would likely not have earned his Mississippi Choctaw bribes by shutting down the bingo halls, and the Legislature would probably have put a bingo referendum on this November’s ballot.

This is why EYE weep for the residents of Alabama's Black Belt, our state, and our country.

You’re either going to treat us right, or we’re going to withdraw from you our economic support,We intend to boycott Christmas, but not Jesus,”said Farrakhan. “So on Black Friday, we won’t be there.”‪#‎JusticeOrElse‬ #NotOneDime

There is no #ShameOnAlabama None. Zilch. Nada.

Alabama Sucks Because it Dishonors It's Own African American Heritage

What part of Alabama has no shame don't they understand? 

Governor Bentley says Congresswoman Terri Sewell is impulsive and ill informed on onehand, and that's she's done a good job on, EYE mean for, her district on the other hand. EYE wonder if he realizes how condescending he sounds?  He also claims the decision to close DVM office in predominately black counties is not race based it's about saving money.  Yeah right, so was Slavery.

"We will go to people's houses to have their picture made if they don't have a photo ID in the state of Alabama," said Bentley. "We're not ever going to do anything to keep people in the state of Alabama from voting. And for them to jump to a conclusion like that, that is politics at its worst."

See what EYE mean? If it were all about saving money the Governor would expand Medicaid, but I digress.  So how does Congresswoman Sewell and the Congressional Black Caucus respond...with a big old hashtag?

U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Birmingham, and other members of the Congressional Black Caucus are using the hashtag #ShameonAL on Twitter on Wednesday to describe the state's decision to close driver's license satellite offices in the state that disproportionately affect African Americans, the poor and the elderly.

How does the NAACP respond....with a thinly veiled threat, sorta, kinda...?

A top civil rights legal group, citing a likely violation of voting rights, suggested possible legal action against Alabama for its decision to close 31 of its driver's license offices. The NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund has requested to meet with Alabama state officials in person to express the group's concerns that the DMV closures will make it harder for residents -- particularly African Americans in the state's "Black Belt" -- to obtain the government-issued photo IDs required to vote under Alabama law.

They pull out a knife you pull out a gun.   Now is not the time for hashtag and threats.  Now is the time for action.  The Alabama Legislature can't be shamed into repealing the Voter ID Bill.  The United States Congress can't be shamed into restoring the Voting Rights Act.  We the People are going to have to make them hear us.