Why Democrats Can't Win in #SweetHomeAlabama, Hint...It's the Media

Regular readers know EYE don't "celebrate" Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday because it reminds me of his murder, specifically why he was murdered.  IMHO the King Holiday is a chance for those who hated in him life to celebrate his death.   You know the drill. Recite  selected quotes from  his "I have a Dream" speech,  join hands and sing "We Shall Overcome", leave the venue, go back to wag the tail  politics/business as usual.  EYE call it "See we aren't racist day."

Alabama Media Groups'  Kyle Whitmire, John Archibald, John Hammontree, must have experienced an awful King Birthday 2016, because the day after, they came out shooting, both barrels blazing.

Kyle Whitmire took aim at Joe Reed and his supporters (of which EYE am one), likening him to a self serving plantation overseer, and his supporters as slaves.  He blames Joe Reed and Hillary Clinton because the Alabama Democratic Party looked like America instead of the Alabama Republican party.

Bernie Sanders' stop in Birmingham Monday night revealed at least two important things.
It revealed what's wrong with the Alabama Democratic Party.
And it revealed what's wrong with Hillary Clinton.
But to understand exactly how, you have to know one man in Alabama politics. That man is Joe Reed.

Because everybody hates Joe Reed and his bunch.

John Archibald takes aim at Hezekiah Jackson, president of the Birmingham Chapter of the NAACP, political action group Team Seven, Jefferson County Commissioner Sandra Little Brown, and The Young Democrats thrown in for color (pun intended).  Their alleged crime?  Forcing people to pay for endorsements, like it's a black thing, counting on misinformed readers to assume the NAACP is involved.

It's not unique to Team Seven. But it is rarely displayed in a manner as brash, and mercenary, if perhaps as honestly as in the team's email.

Because why would anyone want an endorsement from Team Seven or the NAACP?

John Hammontree rounds out the Trifecta accusing Bernie Sanders of literally leaving poor people out in the cold as a weapon of mass distraction from the unexpected success of the rally and to keep from talking about the substance of the rally. You know, like who was there, what was said, etc.

The failure of the city of Birmingham to plan and account for its homeless population while accommodating a Sanders rally shows how absurd it is to believe that simply voting for Bernie Sanders will somehow end systemic poverty and racism. Particularly in a state like Alabama that will remain under the control of a Republican-controlled state government skewed to favor the wealthy.

And you wonder why Alabama remains under the control of a Republican-controlled state government skewed to favor the wealthy?  Really?  Look in the media, EYE mean, mirror.

EYE understand the fear in #SweetHomeAlabama #DonaldTrumpSupporters vs #BlackLivesMatterBirmingham Edition

Mercutio Southall was arrested in April 2015 during a protest in front of Birmingham police headquarters on First Avenue North. (Carol Robinson)

Remember what GOP presidential front runner Donald Trump said would happen if #BlackLivesMatter protesters dared try to shut him down?  

I don’t know if I’ll do the fighting myself or if other people will.

Well now we know... other people will do the fighting for him.

Trump supporters — yes, the same crowd that attracts “White Power Rangers” in droves — finally had an opportunity to do what they all secretly want to do anyway: beat up a black guy. At a campaign event in Birmingham, Alabama, a city with a long history of racism, discrimination, and violence against minorities, an African-American man became too disruptive for Trump’s liking, so the billionaire screamed “Get him the hell out of here.”

EYE thought Governor Bentley said it was his responsibility to protect us? 

Trump, the front-running Republican presidential candidate, had Southall thrown out. Secret Service agents and Birmingham police escorted Southall from the room. "They were trying to protect them from me and I was like, 'where were you when they were attacking me and choking me?" he said.
Southall said he was repeatedly called a "n****r" and "monkey" and told his life doesn't matter. It's nothing new to him. "When I wake up in the morning, I pretty much expect trouble,'' he said. "We're not the Negros from the 60s. I believe in defending myself, defending my people and sticking up for my people."
"I'm not violent. I'm not out threatening to blow up people,'' he said. "Self-preservation is an instinct every creature has and we deserve respect."

Nope, Mr. Southall, Donald Trump said you got what you deserved, and it wasn't r-e-s-p-e-c-t.

Trump was asked to weigh in on his supporters’ actions on Fox & Friends Sunday morning. “Maybe he should have been roughed up,” he said. “It was disgusting what he was doing.”
The Republican frontrunner compared what happened at his rally to a Black Lives Matter protest at a Bernie Sanders event, which prompted the Democratic candidate to release a detailed racial justice plan. “This is not the way Bernie Sanders handled his problem, I will tell you, but I have a lot of fans and they were not happy about it. And this was a very obnoxious guy, a troublemaker, looking to make trouble,” Trump said. 

AL.com captured a video of Southall flipping off the crowd while being led out of the building by police, but they didn't capture a video of Southall being attacked by trump supporters. Typical case of the media turning the victim into the criminal.

EYE understand the fear in Sweet Home Alabama.  Maybe they should change the slogan from Alabama the Beautiful to something else.....

The Power of the Press to turn the pigs into farmers, and the farmers into pigs #SweetHomeAlabama

The 2010 Republican takeover of the Alabama Legislature was supposed to bring powerful ethics reform to Montgomery, but instead we got something worse that what we had. (Julie Bennett/jbennett@al.com)

According to Alabama Media Group columnist Kyle Whitmire: It took Alabama Democrats 136 years to be this corrupt, the GOP matched it in four

The story usually starts with hopeful promise of something different -- you know, the thing that's going to go rotten by the end.
Like 2010.
That was the year the Alabama Republican Party took control of the Alabama Legislature for the first time in 136 years. The mini Republican Revolution came with promises -- the Handshake with Alabama was supposed to be the state's own Contract with America.
At its core was ethics reforms that Goat Hill Democrats had rejected for years.
Among them was a ban on PAC-to-PAC transfers, which lobbyists and politicians had used to launder campaign money.
Wham! Promise delivered!
Also there were to be new restrictions on lawmakers doing business with those who do business with the state.
Zip! Done!
And finally, the Alabama Ethics Commission -- long a toothless tiger -- would finally have subpoena power to investigate corrupt public officials.
Ding! Dong!
The Witch?
Dead!
Here we are a quadrennium later, the Alabama Republican majority has proven that it is unquestionably superior to the all-but-extinct Alabama Democrats. The level of corruption Democrats took 136 years to achieve, the GOP has bested in just four years.

First, let's decode the code words, Democrats is code for the blacks. The media driven false narrative makes it socially acceptable to express the idea that black politicians are corrupt and inept and do not behave like adults.  So the party that tries to help the little guys and gals is corrupt, and the party that helps the rich get richer is not. What's up is down, what's down is up.  

And this time we can tell the pigs from the farmers, because the pigs are even worse.

EYE want my Liberal Media back.

Update: There is more than a whiff of hypocrisy in #SweetHomeAlabama

Gov. Robert Bentley and Dianne Bentley attend the Montgomery Prayer Breakfast on May 7. Source: Governor’s Office website

Poor John Archibald.  He can't see the fire for all the smoke, therefore he can't confirm or deny if Alabama Governor Robert Bentley (R. Tuscaloosa) is having an affair ..or not.

Several media outlets – bloggers and radio talkers – this morning cited "sources" as they reported that Gov. Robert Bentley has without question had an affair with a female staff member, a torrid love cuddle that caused the governor's wife of a half century, Dianne Bentley, to file for divorce and ask for everything the guy ever made.
All they offered was "sources." Not proof or fact or anything more than smoke.
Perhaps they are right. Perhaps the governor is a two-timing overgrown teenager who better start taking his state salary before he loses everything. Or perhaps they are wrong. They offered nothing in the way of facts, and until we see those we cannot know enough to judge.
I don't know. I just don't know.

EYE just don't know either, but EYE do know this is another glaring example of media enabled hypocrisy. The Alabama Media Group doesn't want to rush to judgement regarding allegations Gov. Bentley is having an affair, but they have plenty to say about the allegations against Bill Cosby.  Which leads me to believe the allegations the media is afraid of Gov. Bentley are true.  And, if the media is afraid we should all be afraid.  

Mainstream media organizations are afraid to report the details of Governor Bentley's secret love affair. Such reporting will likely cost the print media corporate advertising dollars and sponsorships, as well as revenues derived from legal notices published by the state of Alabama. It is well known that Bentley is mean-spirited, reckless, and vindictive. He is known to retaliate against individuals and entities that do not support this love affair. Additionally, they have a conflict of interest because nearly all of them endorsed Bentley's bid for reelection last November.

We may never know what we don't know about the Bentley's divorce because the proceedings are cloaked in secrecy. 

The sealing of the records was unusual in several respects. First, both parties are 72 years-old. Second, there are no minor children involved. Third, both parties are public officials in the state - Robert Bentley is Governor and Dianne Bentley is First Lady (until the divorce is granted). Fourth, the Governor's financial profile already appears on his ethics forms, which are filed annually.
The Governor has won the first round of legal action that is designed to shield the fascinating details of his love affair from the public. It is unlikely that the state's mainstream media organizations will challenge this questionable ruling. Frankly, they are too afraid to do so.

 Are the worms beginning to turn on each other?

There is no private matters in public life. If you want to be private, then you need to get out of politics," Farley said.
Farley said the governor needs to clear the air over the allegations but there are other concerns. He said there are also allegations of misuse of taxpayers resources.
The lawmaker said possible misuse of state trooper overtime involved with the governor's security and use of state planes need to investigated for any possible wrongdoing.

"If our chief executive officer has been improperly utilizing some of the funds in our coffers, then I think that needs to be brought out and investigated and the appropriate measures taken," Farley said.
As a man of faith, Farley finds all the speculation unsettling.
"So if you are looking at somebody from our eyes, from our Christian perspective this was bigger than a bombshell. It was Hiroshima," Farley said.
Farley said he will ask Attorney General Luther Strange’s office to investigate those allegations.

Psst Luther....you might want to start here .

If Robert Bentley had been a democrat the media would have been on this like white on rice. EYE sure do miss the good old days when the media prevented candidates and elected officials from lying to we the people, instead of enabling them.

#ItsTheHypocrisy 

"The Republican Party supposedly stands for higher values and morals than this. With all the indictments, DUI's, and alleged affairs it makes the party look like a bunch of hypocrites. It's a disgrace to the State of Alabama," Dunn added, referring to the indictments against Speaker of the House Mike Hubbard and the recent driving while impaired arrest of Sen. Cam Ward of Alabaster.

EYE report, You decide. 

B-But They Looked So Happy Together....#SweetHomeAlabama #Hypocrisy

Governor Robert Bentley and First Lady Dianne Bentley watch the Inauguration Parade in Montgomery, Ala. on Monday January 19, 2015. , Mickey Welsh / Advertiser

Don't get me wrong, EYE am not gloating because a 50 year marriage is ending, EYE am gloating at the exposure of the rank hypocrisy of Alabama Governor Robert Bentley, soon to be ex First Lady Dianne Bentley, and the Alabama media  who enabled them to lie to the citizens of Alabama.

According to a Facebook post by Donald Watkins, the warm, fuzzy, hand holding, and smiles in Montgomery, AL  on Jan. 19, 2015 were as phony as a three dollar bill.  EYE blame Dianne Bentley for enabling this charade too.  She should have informed the voters Bentley was a Bible thumping, cheater before the election. 

The First Lady was prepared to end the marriage last Fall after she discovered the Governor's extramarital affair. The Governor convinced her to wait until after the November general election before filing her divorce complaint. The Governor won his race by a landslide. The couple then separated in January.

The Governor spent the New Year's holidays in New Orleans with his paramour. They basked together in the warm glow of their professed love for each other. The First Lady spent her holidays in Alabama.

Let the Alabama Media Group tell it, the only clouds on an otherwise perfect day were A small group of protesters affiliated with Birthplace for Justice 

The group sang "We Shall Overcome," chanted "black lives matter," and then turned their back on Bentley as he spoke.
A person associated with the group said protesters were upset the Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade was cancelled in favor of the inauguration parade.
"We protested today because in addition to it being the inauguration, it's Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day," said member Michael Eric Grant in a statement. "We're fighting to keep his dream of unity and justice alive. We hope that Gov. Bentley will carry out his oath to office with a similar commitment."

So, for the past three years the republican Governor of Alabama has been having an affair with an unnamed (so far) reportedly younger paramour  right under our noses and not a peep in the press.   EYE wonder why?  Snark

Mainstream media organizations are afraid to report the details of Governor Bentley's secret love affair. Such reporting will likely cost the print media corporate advertising dollars and sponsorships, as well as revenues derived from legal notices published by the state of Alabama. It is well known that Bentley is mean-spirited, reckless, and vindictive. He is known to retaliate against individuals and entities that do not support this love affair. Additionally, they have a conflict of interest because nearly all of them endorsed Bentley's bid for reelection last November.

If Robert Bentley had been a democrat the media would have been on this like white on rice.  EYE sure do miss the good old days when the media prevented candidates and elected officials from lying to we the people, instead of enabling them. 

If Mrs. Bentley can be remembered for one thing as First Lady, she hopes that the people of Alabama will remember her stand for Christ. After all, the Bentleys feel that they have been called “for such a time as this” (Esther 4:14) and always strive to remain in God’s will.

Un Huh. 

Edit~Alabama Democrats want to go back to the future. #Dixiecrats

The Alabama Democratic Party isn't a big tent party. It doesn't even have a tent. http://t.co/hDqwO21WHR #alpolitics

— Kyle Whitmire (@WarOnDumb) July 14, 2015

EYE am still seething at Alabama Media Group columnist Kyle Whitmire's assertion the Alabama Democratic Party is racist and  being lead by an "old black man named Joe Reed."  First of all, who/what gives Kyle Whitmire the right (pun intended)  to determine who/what is racist/racism?  Secondly, someone who works for the white, male-dominated Alabama Media Group has some nerve calling the Alabama Democratic Party a "Country Club."  There is more than a whiff of hypocrisy, which is why EYE decided to as the young people say Flip the Script.  

Want to see racism at work?  Meet the Alabama Media Groups all white/ male/ columnist.  According to Whitmire, the Alabama Democratic Party does not have a tent, much less a big tent because whites can't infiltrate the Minority Caucus under the guise of inclusion to dilute its power on the committee.  But I digress. It could be said the Alabama Media Group doesn't have a big tent either.  All of the columnists above are white males, two of which who hate Dr. Joe Reed with a passion that is unparalleled.   But it's not reverse racism.  

Let's cut to the real nitty-gritty.   Race is the big white elephant in the big white tent.  There is the perception the Alabama democratic party is the party of blacks and as long as that's the case republicans will continue to win elections and rule the state.  So, instead of embracing diversity, democrats want to dilute and destroy diversity.  They want to go back to before.  Back to the party of Strom Thurmond, Jesse Helms, George Wallace, and Bull Conner.  The Dixiecrats.

The Dixiecrat Party was formed after 35 Democratic delegates from Mississippi and Alabama walked out of the 1948 Democratic National Convention. These delegates were protesting the adoption of Sen. Hubert Humphrey's (D-Minnesota) proposal of civil rights planks calling for racial integration and the reversal of Jim Crow laws in the party platform.
They met in Birmingham, Alabama, and nominated Gov. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina for president. They opposed abolition of the poll tax, while endorsing segregation and the "racial integrity" of each race. Their campaign slogan was "Segregation Forever!" and their platform also included the call for "states' rights." Like the modern day Tea Party, the Dixiecrats called for freedom from governmental interference in an individuals or organization's prerogative to do business with whomever they wanted. Thurmond received more than one million votes in the 1948 election, won four states and 39 electoral votes.

White Democrats believe the Alabama Democratic Party is the black man's party, like that's a bad thing, and blame black democrats for wrecking their party.  Again, the reason EYE oppose the republican party has nothing to do with me being a democrat, and EYE don't oppose republicans just to support democrats. EYE oppose republicans because the people who perpetrated the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing and other terrorist acts joined the GOP.

Did EYE say White Democrats believe the Alabama Democratic Party is the black man's party, like that's a bad thing, and blame black democrats, specifically Joe Reed,  for wrecking their party?

What is the Joe Reed problem you ask? For one thing he's not one of those go along to get along Negroes who is content with being seen and not heard. He refuses to be treated like Chattel. There are some who believe black voters don't have enough sense to know who to vote for unless white folks tell them who their leaders should be. (cue in Eyes on the Prize).

EYE say let them take their party back.

Pulitzer Prize winning columnist Joey Kennedy has been fired from the Alabama Media Group for being too liberal

Joey Kennedy via Alabama Political Reporter

Another one bites the dust.....
According to a Facebook post by Veronica Kennedy, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Joey Kennedy has been fired from the Alabama Media Group.

“For those of you who haven't heard: My husband, Joey Kennedy, was fired by Alabama Media Group on Thursday for being 'too personally involved' in covering his beat and for 'threatening sources' wrote Mrs. Kennedy wrote of her husband's fate.
For years Kennedy has been pilloried over of his left-leaning columns. But it was his refusal to tailor his message to fit nicely into the every growing echo chamber of faux right-wing talking points that led to his declining voice on the pages of the Birmingham News and at al.com.

And they wonder why Alabama is solidly republican?

It's the media.

It doesn't pay to be too liberal in AmeriBama.

From the Files of Stuck on Stoopid in Alabama Second Editon

Artur Davis

Just when you thought things couldn't get any wackier in Sweet Home Alabama we learn former democrat turned republican,  Congress Critter Artur Davis is back and running for Mayor of Montgomery, Al.

Either Davis  believes voters in Montgomery have a chronic case of amnesia, or, he thinks they are stuck on stoopid.

Bye-bye, Democratic Party ... or as the right wing Daily Caller originally put it: Former Alabama Democratic Rep. Artur Davis has come out of the closet -- as a Republican.

In the interest of full disclosure, and for those who don't know,  Artur Davis ripped his drawers with me a six ago, and I hold my non support of his gubernatorial aspirations partially responsible for me being booted and banned from the pages of Left in Alabama. 

Davis supporter, and regular columnist for Alabama Media Group Cameron Smith  says,  Even if you don't like Artur Davis Montgomery should hear him out.

Alabamians from both ends of the political spectrum are willing to take pot shots at Davis. Democrats rejected his gubernatorial bid because he was not liberal enough for their base, and many Republicans are skeptical of a candidate who used to be a Democratic gubernatorial candidate. And then there is the matter of his leaving for Virginia once that race was done.
But unlike many politicians, Davis is more interested in answering his critics than avoiding them.

 Pots shots?  Is that what you call honest criticism of Davis' actions?

Alabama District 7 is 61.7% African-American. 72.2% live in urban areas (primarily Birmingham, Bessemer, Tuscaloosa, Selma and Demopolis). The district’s median per capita income was $26,672.
NO group is disproportionately uninsured than Black folks, and he voted AGAINST healthcare reform.
Uh huh.
No group is at the BOTTOM of nearly all healthcare statistics like Black folks, and he voted AGAINST healthcare reform.
Uh huh.

RedEYE can't wait to see how Davis answers his critics. 

Davis is a political enigma in Alabama, the kind of moderate pragmatist that drives the partisan purists wild, a market-minded politician who sees a helpful role for government to play. Davis embraces it noting,

RedEYE can't wait to see how that embracing nothing works out for Artur this time.

Stuck on Stoopid in Alabama to be continued.....

It depends on what the defintion of a #HateCrime IS in Sweet Home Alabama

Racism alive and well in Limestone County, Alabama http://t.co/siEv8Gzpne pic.twitter.com/9qCNf7uBTf
— Mic (@micnews) January 5, 2015

"We can't change what we refuse to acknowledge."

Poor Alabama Media Group. they can't decide if they are for Hate Crimes or against Hate Crimes.  *Sigh* Yesterday they reported the FBI is now assisting the  Limestone County Sheriffs Office in the case, and said  This is 2015, not 1965, and hate crimes shouldn't be tolerated by the community or law enforcement:

"In the short term, the Limestone County Sheriff's Office should make it a priority to find out who committed this crime and prosecute them to the fullest extent the law allows."

Yes, this from the group who allows anonymous commenter's to spew all manner of hate speech on a daily basis.

 If you want to take the pulse of Huntsville, and find out what's really going on, who the people in positions of power and influence cater and pander to, and how they really feel about an issue, look no further than the comment section of Al.com.

Well, not only have they deleted the offensive comments from the comment section, today they ran a story asking if the incident is a hate crime  reporting the DA says "It depends". 

Jones said charges can be elevated to a hate crime after the suspect is caught but the use of the slur doesn't automatically make it a hate crime. "It'll come down to, 'Why did you do this?'" he said. "We have to catch the person first to determine why somebody would do this."

Huh?  It will come down to why did you do this? Uh, why does someone spray the N-word on someones door Mr. Jones?  Because they can?  Because rappers and rap music?  Because it's a term of endearment?  Because Obama?  I mean, really?

Jones said, for example, if someone spray-painted the word "honky" on his home, would it be considered a hate crime if a white person was charged?

Now if this isn't a classic example of false narrative and a straw man argument I don't know what is.   Of course it wouldn't be a hate crime if a white person spay-painted the word "honky" on his home, but it would it an African American did it. A better example would be if someone of either race spray painted the F-word on your home.

But then.... this is Sweet Home Alabama.....

Case in point: Artur Davis’ recent vote AGAINST the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act. The purpose of the bill is to provide Federal assistance to States and local jurisdictions to prosecute hate crimes. Considering that Davis represents Alabama’s blackbelt, the ancestral home of hate crimes, you would think he would support such a bill. Well, actually, he did support it two years ago when he voted FOR hate crimes legislation. But I guess that was before he was trying to run for Governor and before he realized he could use some of those KKK votes.

In a recent statement released after his vote against the current bill, Davis “explains” what influenced his decision. He says:

Some of my constituents ask why our federal laws should pick out some Americans for more protections than others. Some wonder why, in a culture that rejects violence against any human being, we should say that an attack on a black, or a woman, or a gay individual should be punished more severely than an attack on someone who happens to be a senior citizen, or a soldier, or a teacher. Others ask why some motives based on certain ideas should be punished by our criminal laws more aggressively than others.

 Racism won't end until it's confronted.  We can't confront racism until it is defined. 

 What can you do to end racism?  Nothing.  You can't control peoples thoughts and feelings, but you can stop electing and giving power to the the people who have those thoughts and feelings. You can speak up and speak out. Silence equals consent.