#SweetHomeAlabama State Senator Alvin Holmes points out the hypocrisy regarding Governor Bentley

Alabama State Senator Alvin Holmes (D.Montogmery)

According to The Alabama Political Reporter,  Senator Alvin Holmes (D-Montgomery) is defending Governor Robert Bentley's  (r. Tuscaloosa) right to have a side piece.  Although that makes for a provocative headline, the facts don't fit the narrative.  Holmes is so NOT defending Bentley, he is pointing out the hypocrisy.

Rep. Holmes said on the floor of the House, “I have been up here many many years and I know what every person has done and what they have not done. Now there is no law against having a girlfriend. Ain’t no law against having a girlfriend. And you bring an impeachment resolution concerning Governor Bentley? I am going to have an amendment and I am going to add 12 members of the Legislature names to it. For allegedly have done the same thing or things that are worse….and they Democrats and Republicans.

Sniff Sniff...there is more than a whiff of hypocrisy 

Holmes said, I am not going to vote for any impeachment resolution unless everybody is added to it. Everybody is going to be added to it. 

Attorney Donald Watkins seems to collaborate his claims.  According to Watkins, the state is being run by a cabal of side pieces. 

Sadly, the Bentley-Mason sex scandal has shown us ugly underbelly of politics in state government. Lobbyists, major corporations, mistresses, girlfriends, "escorts", “dark money” sponsors, and other power players have an icon-clad grip on the state of Alabama and they are running its business affairs. What is more, the mistresses, girlfriends, and "escorts" do not have to register as lobbyists. They only needed their man’s cell phone number and the correct hotel room number for the night. Their bedroom skills often enable them to run the daytime show and carry the night in Alabama.
It has been my observation over the years that a legislator’s alliance to voters and other concerned citizens is usually the first casualty of politics after he/she is sworn into office. Once they take office, many legislators cannot wait to get into the swing of things in Montgomery’s taxpayer-sponsored dens of sin and debauchery.
As Robert Bentley and Rebekah Mason have shown us, the art of sexual pleasure is the strongest form of power on Goat Hill.

EYE agree with Holmes, it's not about the side piece, it's about the alleged misuse of campaign funds and other resources to conduct and conceal the affair, and everyone involved in the cover up should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law just like former Governor Don Siegelman, former Birmingham mayor Larry Langford and all of the other democrats who were convicted for so-called crimes by republicans.  

It's time for all of them to go.
RedEye

If this is true, EYE am through with the alleged Democratic #HumanShields in #SweetHomeAlabama

Alabama House Democrat threatens to expose colleagues’ affairs if Bentley impeached

Everyone knows the Mainstream Media was Tardy to the Party, and it was Social Media/Bloggers who first broke the Dr. Love / Freaky Becky story. The mainstream media's excuse was they didn't  have proof of the rumors, even though the elected Governor, and the De Facto Governor. were carrying on in plain sight.

Attorney Donald Watkins has been right on the money so far, so EYE have no reason to doubt him or his credibility, but if he is right about Joe Reed being a human shield for Governor Bentley... EYE am through with Joe Reed, Alvin Holmes, and The Alabama Democratic Conference. If what Donald Watkins is true, EYE apologize for ever defending any of them.  Regular readers, pick your teeth up off the floor.

Our Facebook news team has solved the Alvin Holmes-Robert Bentley human shield mystery. Holmes is a longtime political "puppet" of Alabama Democratic Conference Chairman Joe L. Reed and deceased Alabama Education Association Executive Secretary Paul Hubbert. Reed and Hubbert teamed up to help Bentley defeat Bradley Byrne in the 2010 Republican primary elections. Reed also privately supported Bentley in his 2014 election against Democratic gubernatorial nominee Parker Griffin. As a result, Bentley and Reed have developed a close personal friendship.
Away from public view, Reed functions as one of Bentley's trusted political advisors. In this undisclosed capacity, Reed works closely with Bentley and his chief legal counsel, David Byrne. Reed identifies "safe" blacks for Bentley to appoint to vacant judgeships and government boards, among other tasks.

With democrats like these,  who needs republicans?

EYE feel so betrayed.

#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.

Edit~ The #ConfederateFlag has been taken down in South Carolina, It's too bad it took a #Massacre to #TakeItDown

Meanwhile back in Washington D.C. fresh from leading a Congressional Delegation to the funeral for one the #CharlestonMassacre victims, State Senator Rev. ClementaPickney, the "clowns in Washington are actually debating whether it is appropriate to remove that very same flag from National Park Service run cemeteries and federal lands". There is more than a whiff of hypocrisy.

For those who don't know The Heart of Dixie, aka, Sweet Home Alabama... had not one, but four #ConfederateFlags flying on the grounds of the State Capitol. Although Governor Robert Bentley is being credited for suddenly developing a spine and removing the flag out of the kindness of his heart, it's really a vindication for former democratic governor Jim Folsom Jr.,  Alabama State Senator Alvin Holmes  and 14 other black lawmakers who tried for years to remove the Confederate Flag from the capital grounds.

1976: Alvin Holmes filed a suit against Wallace and others to prohibit the flying of the Confederate flag over the Capitol. The federal district court ruled against Holmes.
1988: The NAACP, Alvin Holmes and others filed a lawsuit against Gov. Guy Hunt seeking to remove the Confederate battle flag from the State Capitol grounds. The district court again ruled against Holmes.
Late 1980s-Early 1990s: The Alabama Capitol was flying the U.S., Alabama and Confederate battle flags. All three were taken down due to a massive renovation of the capitol in the early 1990s.
Alvin Holmes and other legislators filed a third lawsuit using a different argument than the first two (1976 and 1988). They argued that an Alabama law from 1975 doesn't allow for the flying of any flag above the Capitol other than the U.S. and Alabama flags.
Jan. 4, 1993: Circuit Judge William Gordon rules in favor of Alvin Holmes. Judge ordered Alabama law allows only the state and national flag be flown over Alabama's capitol and enjoined the governor from raising the Confederate, or any other flag.
Gov. Folsom didn't appeal the judge's ruling.
Late 1990s-Early 2000s: Gov. Don Siegelman made a provision that when the state restored the Confederate Memorial Monument it would be appropriate to fly Confederate flags for historical display. Four flags of the confederacy were raised on the north grounds of the Capitol. Three of the flags are the national flags of the Confederacy and the final flag is the Confederate battle flag, according to Ed Bridges with the Alabama Department of Archives and History.

Alabama, aka, The Heart of Dixie had a Confederate Flag removal from public cemeteries flap too, starring none other than present candidate for Mayor  of the Cradle of the Confederacy, aka Montgomery, AL , Artur Davis, the latest delusional puppet of republican racial propaganda.

EYE wonder what it is going to take to remove The Heart of Dixie from ALL Alabama state license plates?

One behalf of all the martyrs EYE would like to thank former Governor Jim Folsom Jr., State Senator Alvin Holmes, Rep. Thomas Reed and others, for daring defending our right to remove the Confederate Battle flag from the grounds of the State House. Your perseverance and courage in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds will never be forgotten.  Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. 

RedEye tiptoeing away from the computer humming We Shall Overcome One Day....at a time.

#FlagDown

Plans for Two Separate #Selma Bloody Sunday Marches Cancelled as Groups Unify! Mission Accomplished!

Sen. Hank Sanders, D-Selma, said Friday he had hoped President Barack Obama would move his planned visit to Selma from Friday, March 7 to Sunday, March 8 to better accommodate local commemorations of the 50th anniversary of “Bloody Sunday.” Sanders was joined by (left to right) Rep. Alvin Holmes, D-Montgomery; Rep. John Knight, D-Montgomery; Rep. Thad McClammy, D-Montgomery and Alabama Democratic Conference chairman Joe Reed.(Photo: Brian Lyman/Advertiser)

Hallelujah!  Organizers of the annual  Bridge Crossing Jubilee in #Selma, AL prevailed against an attempt by the largely White-run, Faith and Politics group, enabled by Rep. John Lewis (D. GA), to hijack Bloody Sunday for their own  partisan political gain.

The annual march, usually held on a Sunday in the first week of March, has been planned by state Sen. Hank Sanders, D-Selma, and others annually since the 1970s. Sanders and other leaders said they were blindsided by Obama's announcement -- made in conjunction with U.S. Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga. -- that the president would march on the anniversary date: March 7.

, and the largely White-run The Faith & Politics Institute, - See more at: http://www.afro.com/plans-for-two-separate-selma-marches-cancelled-as-groups-unify/#sthash.JamYsTEM.S0qzrYOZ.dpuf

and the largely White-run The Faith & Politics Institute, - See more at: http://www.afro.com/plans-for-two-separate-selma-marches-cancelled-as-groups-unify/#sthash.JamYsTEM.S0qzrYOZ.dpuf

Alabama's Black leaders and march organizers were right to be upset.

Sanders said there is a very specific reason for a Sunday march -- to commemorate "Bloody Sunday," that day on March 7, 1965, when state police beat marchers attempting to walk from Selma to Montgomery.
The marchers were stopped on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, and driven back. The incident was recently captured in the Paramount film, "Selma."
Sanders said it has always been especially poignant that the civil rights marchers were beaten on a Sunday.
The 1965 march, which was eventually successful later in March 1965, was seen as helping pass the U.S. Voting Rights Act, which invalidated state laws designed to keep blacks from voting.
Sanders said any attempt to hold two marches, one on March 7 and one on March 8, would be "divisive," and would send the wrong signals to the world.

Ya think?  The end result, President Obama will speak in Selma on March 7, but there will be no march.  The one and only march will take place on SUNDAY, March 8, 2015.

 “Senator Barack Obama came to Selma and marched on Bloody Sunday when he was seeking to be President. President Bill Clinton came to Selma and marched on Bloody Sunday on March 5, 2000, on the 35^th Anniversary. Vice President Joe Biden came to Selma in 2013 and marched on Bloody Sunday. Attorney General Eric Holder came to Selma and marched on Bloody Sunday. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton came to Selma and marched on Bloody Sunday. They and so many others all recognized the sacredness of Bloody Sunday in their pilgrimages to Selma. Many leaders, civil rights and otherwise, have come to Bloody Sunday every single year for decades. Bloody Sunday is sacred. The Bloody Sunday March is sacred and cannot be aborted or redirected. It must be commemorated. It must be reenacted. It must be respected. It must be lifted. And it will on Sunday, March 8^th,” said Sen. Sanders.

The Bloody Sunday march is about something far greater than a presidential visit, rescheduling the observance to fit the schedule of a dignitary is unreasonable. State Sen. Hank Sanders, Tuskegee Mayor Johnny Ford and others who have stood firm on the scheduling should be commended.

Consider this your commendation.



One day when the Glory comes it will be ours....

The end result is that President Obama will speak in Selma on March 7, the actual anniversary of the Bloody Sunday, but there will be no march in Selma that Saturday or in Montgomery on Sunday. - See more at: http://www.afro.com/plans-for-two-separate-selma-marches-cancelled-as-groups-unify/#sthash.JamYsTEM.dpuf

Organizers of the annual Bridge Crossing in #Selma are upset President Obama is having a seperate but equal march on Friday to commemorate Bloody Sunday

Sen. Hank Sanders, D-Selma, said Friday he had hoped President Barack Obama would move his planned visit to Selma from Friday, March 7 to Sunday, March 8 to better accommodate local commemorations of the 50th anniversary of “Bloody Sunday.” Sanders was joined by (left to right) Rep. Alvin Holmes, D-Montgomery; Rep. John Knight, D-Montgomery; Rep. Thad McClammy, D-Montgomery and Alabama Democratic Conference chairman Joe Reed.(Photo: Brian Lyman/Advertiser)

 Let's recap.

The White House announced President Obama plans to visit #Selma on March 7, 2015 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday and the signing of the Voting Rights Act, which was gutted under his administration, but I digress.  There is just one little problem....the organizers of the annual event are upset President Obama decided to come to #Selma on Friday, March 7, instead of  Sunday, March 8.  As a matter of fact, organizers didn't even know the President was planning to attend until they heard about it from via the media.  That's a nice way of saying he invited himself, which is fine, he is the President of the United States of America, but it seems like he's making it about politics and not about the substance of the annual occasion.

The annual march, usually held on a Sunday in the first week of March, has been planned by state Sen. Hank Sanders, D-Selma, and others annually since the 1970s. Sanders and other leaders said they were blindsided by Obama's announcement -- made in conjunction with U.S. Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga. -- that the president would march on the anniversary date: March 7.
Sanders said there is a very specific reason for a Sunday march -- to commemorate "Bloody Sunday," that day on March 7, 1965, when state police beat marchers attempting to walk from Selma to Montgomery.
The marchers were stopped on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, and driven back. The incident was recently captured in the Paramount film, "Selma."
Sanders said it has always been especially poignant that the civil rights marchers were beaten on a Sunday.
The 1965 march, which was eventually successful later in March 1965, was seen as helping pass the U.S. Voting Rights Act, which invalidated state laws designed to keep blacks from voting.
Sanders said any attempt to hold two marches, one on March 7 and one on March 8, would be "divisive," and would send the wrong signals to the world.

You think?  I agree with what Hank Sanders said:

"We are always glad when the president comes, but the Bloody Sunday march is sacred," said Sanders, joined at the podium by Democratic Montgomery representatives Alvin Holmes, John Knight and Thad McClammy; Alabama Democratic Conference chairman Joe Reed and Tuskegee mayor Johnny Ford. "It's sacred of that blood that was spilled on that Sunday . . . it's sacred because it's been commemorated every year, for 40-some years, and we intend that sacredness shall be preserved."

That's a nice way of saying you are hurting and not helping Mr. President Obama, Sir.

The anniversary date is something Sanders said the march organizers never focused on in their decades of commemoration. Instead, the march organizers focused on a Sunday march near the date of March 7.
And it's that tradition that people have planned around for the last year, Sanders said -- targeting March 8 for the 50th anniversary march. Sanders said Obama's announcement has thrown things into a state of confusion, and that people from all over the nation -- people with plans, reservations and travel schedules -- have been calling local organizers with questions.

Bloody Sunday is not about celebrating President Obama, it's about remembering the blood, sweat, tears, and personal sacrifice of those who suffered  and died so an African American could someday be elected President of the United States.  Selma is not about a photo op.  It's about HOPE for CHANGE we can believe in.

Now if President Obama is coming to Selma on Friday to pardon for former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman that's another story....

Update~ Mo Brooks is right (pun intended) #waronwhites

No brainer

Mo Brooks (r. AL 05) is the Trent Lott (r. MS) of the republican party.  Like Lott, he said publicly what  some circles say privately.  Don't get it twisted, some (not to be confused with all)  aren't mad at what Mo said, they are  mad because he said on the radio and on TeeVee.  Rule 101 of James Crow Esq. is don't reveal your identity or your strategy.  If you hate blacks/women/Hispanics/LBGT, pretend you love them, that way you can be more effective  in thwarting their success or advancement, i.e. justice system, school system, housing system, banking system, employment system, and last but not least the social system.

"I want the American people to start recognizing what the heck's going on," Brooks said. "When the Democrats bring up race time after time after time, what's the theme? It's skin color. Who are they saying who dislikes whom? They're saying the whites dislike the blacks, the whites dislike the Hispanics and the Democrats are the ones who will protect you from those whites.
"That's the subliminal and sometimes open message."

Rep.Mo Brooks has a documented history in the 5th Congressional District, this is not his first tell us how you really feel moment.  This is the former appointed DA who voters, black and white, rejected in the general election (thank goodness). This is same individual who ran for a seat on the Madison County Commission and won due to it's gerrymandered composition.  This is the gentleman, who believes whites have a higher I.Q. than blacks, and children who live in public housing should not be allowed to attend south Huntsville schools because they lower test scores.  This is the sitting United States Congressman who was forced to withdraw use of the word socialist on the house floor, and,  who refused to back off his "anything short of shooting them" illegal immigration threat.

 And Mo says democrats are waging a war on white folks?

" Certainly if you were to flip the coin and a white person were to say vote for me because I'm white, it would be an uproar and deservedly so. So why do we allow blacks to say vote for me because I'm black or Hispanics vote for me because I'm Hispanic? " 

 Shhh!  Don't tell anyone but that is exactly what Mo Brooks is saying to his base, you know, the people who hate President Obama more than they love themselves.

Not to be left out, AL.com's  Mark McCarter wasted no time jumping into the fray to defend Mo by attempting to drag state Representative Alvin Holmes into Mo's mess.   This is not about Alvin Holmes or anyone else.  It's about Mo Brooks and the dark heart that is represented by his views.  These views speak to the content Mo's character, and those of his supporters, not to Alvin Holmes character, or any other false equivalency.

Congressman Brooks is an embarrassment to the state of Alabama, and the voters who elected him.  He is not the first Alabama politico to rant racist views, but hopefully he will be the last.  Voters have the chance to send him, and others like him, to the unemployment line.

Before Mo and Company took over, north Alabama was considered to  more cosmopolitan (for lack of a better word) than other parts of the state because of it's diversity. These views most certainly do not represent the diverse community Mo was elected to represent.  Huntsville depends on federal programs to fuel it's economy.  Local leaders must be cringing with fear.  Of course I won't hold my breath waiting for someone to step up and denounce, repudiate, and reject Mo Brooks they way they made candidate Obama reject Rev. Jeremiah Wright.  That would be too much like right (pun intended).

Let me end by saying we all have some degree of prejudice in our hearts, but it takes power to exercise racism.

Ordinarily we might expect to hear talk of a “war on whites” from those on the radical fringes of American society. When the phrase comes from a sitting member of Congress, the rhetoric is far more alarming.

I'm talking about you Mark Kennedy and the Alabama Democratic Majority.  Where are all those candidates you were going to recruit once you got rid of Joe Reed and his bunch?

In theory, these are the kind of remarks that would tarnish, if not irreparably harm, a politician’s career, but Brooks has very little to worry about – his Alabama district is ruby red, and this fall, Democrats won’t bother to run a candidate against him.

 Enough!

Anti Choice activist protest being moved to the black community in Huntsville

Fist Dap Left in Alabama

Before I type another word let's get some terminology straight.

First of all, they are not pro-life, they are anti-choice.

I want anybody that cares about what a woman is allowed to do with her body to do one simple thing. Do not let ANYBODY use the term pro-life, ever. If they do, stop and challenge immediately. "Oh, so you are against the death penalty?" listen to them hem and haw, justify, evade, deny and then declare they are not. "Then you are anti-choice."

Secondly, pro-choice does not mean pro-abortion.  I'm talking to you Paul Gettis whose article on the protest was rightly condemned as biased. 

 What is unthinkable now is made to be radical, then it is made acceptable, then... likely. This is how we lose our freedoms, and how the Overton window is utilized. To prevent this, the core basis of the emotional appeal of "Pro-Life" must be addressed. The idea is that the enemies of a woman's right to choose are not in fact crusaders for defenseless unarmed babies. They are hypocrites who could give a damn about a person AFTER they are born, this is the foundation for the moral disconnect that suggests killing a doctor that performs abortions could be justifiable homicide. (legislation currently tabled at the time of this writing)

Don't want an abortion? Don't get one.  

It's a remarkably clear and strong statement, especially since so many "protectors of the unborn" tend to be old white dudes. However, it does not work because religion requires proselytization, and the saving of the souls that need it. You can mock it, you can castigate it. It only makes the believer more resolute in their stance. An effective approach is to put the burden of justification on the believer, it is a small thing that every one of us can engage in with minimal effort. if you are "pro life" does that extend to AFTER the fetus is born and becomes a child or not?

Now that we have that out of the way, let's move on to the topic at hand with some background info via Left in Alabama Blogger countrycat: 

 Huntsville anti-choice protesters are worried about the "impact on children" if the city's lone women's clinic moves from its present location to a new building that complies with the state's TRAP law.  The problem, they assert, is that the new location is directly across from a middle school and so represents both a safety and moral hazard for the children.

Here is AL.com's Paul Gattis version:

Abortion advocates are targeting the black community in northwest Huntsville with plans to relocate its downtown clinic to a facility on Sparkman Drive, anti-abortion protesters said Saturday.
A sidewalk rally held in front of the proposed new facility – the Alabama Women's Wellness Center – across the street from Ed White Middle School attracted about 50 protesters Saturday morning who heard a series of speakers.

Now here's truth and nothing but the truth according to RedEye.

Anti-choice activist are not concerned about the clinic being located across the street from a middle school, they don't want the clinic located in Huntsville period, much less in north Huntsville because it has the perception of being ground zero for all kinds of vices. So much so students in north Huntsville are forced to wear uniforms so teachers and administrators can identify them from gang members.

The anti-choice activist can't be concerned about the health and safety of middle school children in north Huntsville because they didn't say a word when the Downtown Rescue Mission was moved to north Huntsville near day care centers, churches and what was then a middle-class neighborhood.

The anti-choice activist can't be concerned about property values declining in north Huntsville any more than they already are.  It's not like people are building million dollars home in the area.  Heck people aren't building homes period.  What they are building is a $65 million dollar predominately black school named after black astronauts less than half a mile from an active rock quarry.

The anti-choice activist can't be concerned about the health and safety of middle or high school children who will be exposed to Silica dust when the new north Huntsville Middle/High School located less than half a mile from an active rock quarry.

Speaking of the new north Huntsville Middle School,  the proposed new facility – the Alabama Women's Wellness Center – across the street from Ed White Middle School will be closing, combining with Davis Hills Middle School, which is also closing,  and become the new location for the  Academy for Academics and Arts.  Can't have those precious darlings and their parents seeing protesters passing out fetus dolls, and busing in school children to sing such ditties as "Happy Birthday, Dead Baby" to women entering the building. (Good one countrycat)

Listen to this interview and you will hear the callous disregard for the safety of the student's, teachers, and support personnel at the new north high school.  Funny how Wardynski and Company are concerned about the crime and drugs in north Huntsville but not about the potential health and safety risk associated with building a school less than half a mile from an active rock quarry.

As the young people say, Let's get real.

Democratic lawmakers and civil rights leaders denounced conservative commentator William J. Bennett yesterday for suggesting on his syndicated radio show that aborting black children would reduce the U.S. crime rate.
The former U.S. education secretary-turned-talk show host said Wednesday that "if you wanted to reduce crime, you could -- if that were your sole purpose -- you could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down." Bennett quickly added that such an idea would be "an impossible, ridiculous and morally reprehensible thing to do." But, he said, "your crime rate would go down."

This is about the anti-choice crowd trying to prevent poor black women from having access to a safe, legal, abortion,  coupled with the fact the anti-choice crowd doesn't want to leave their cushy Twickenham digs and come to crime infested north Huntsville.  After all, they would look pretty silly waving their pro-life signs while exercising their second amendment rights,  armed to the teeth out of fear of the black people they claim to want to protect.

Yes campers, locating a reproductive health clinic that provides affordable services to women including pap smears, STD screenings, pregnancy tests, birth control, and abortion in an existing building that's zoned as a medical clinic and happens to be in a low-income, mostly African American neighborhood is now a racist act.  The clinic welcomes all women - even if they don't have health insurance, which many do not since our state declined to expand Medicaid.  Have you ever tried to call a local OB/GYN and make an appointment?  The first question is "What kind of insurance do you have?" See how much farther you get if the answer is "none." 

Without the anti-choice protestors camped out  in front of this facility it looks just like what it is, a place that provides affordable reproductive services to women including pap smears, STD screenings, pregnancy tests, birth control, and abortion, in a building that complies with Trap regulations, which happens to be in a low-income, mostly African American neighborhood. 

  Because make no mistake, this bill will not prevent any women with means from having access to an abortion, this bill adversely and disproportionately affects black/brown/poor Alabama women and children who are already born.  Children republicans don't want to have access to quality affordable health care, access to a quality public education, or even  food.

I will believe it is about the safety and moral hazard for the children when I see them protesting building a school less than half a mile from an active rock quarry.

That is all.

A woman voting republican is like a Turkey voting for Thanksgiving

There’s one thing women’s bodies can shut down…and it’s called The Republican Party (poster) pic.twitter.com/auS9CMcDxz #StandWithWomen
— TQJ (@tqjones44) March 11, 2014

I do not want to hear another word about what Alvin Holmes said. Not one.

State Rep. Alvin Holmes, D-Montgomery

It is not my intention, in this post, either to defend what state Rep. Alvin Holmes (D) said, or to praise what state Rep. Alvin Holmes said.  It is my intention to defend Rep. Alvin Holmes right (pun intended) to say what he said.

Once upon a time, a black man would never raise his voice at a white man. Once upon a time, when a white man told a black man to do something, the black man would say, "Yes sir boss." Those days are gone.
Even nowadays, many black politicians are afraid to be perceived as "the angry black man" or "the angry black woman".  Many lower their voices and moderate their speech patterns, expressions and mannerisms to appease hyper-sensitive white voters.

Thank goodness state Rep. Alvin Holmes is not that kind of black elected official.  I commend Rep. Holmes for speaking out for the rights of all Alabama women to choose to have a safe, legal, abortion.  Because make no mistake, this bill will not prevent any women with means from having access to an abortion, this bill adversely and disproportionately affects black/brown/poor Alabama women and children who are already born.  Children republicans don't want to have access to quality affordable health care, access to a quality public education, or even  food.

If you want to know who and what the Alabama GOP panders too,  all you have to do is read some of the comments on  Al.com.  See what I mean below:

 Actually, Holmes can bait for race or race for bait....whites have grown totally indifferent to the whining, crying and moaning of the black underclass. For anyone who could possibly be concerned, consider the source.

 Mr. Holmes is just angry because he knows the days of race baiting by black politicians is coming to an end. The black vote has been bought and paid for by the Democrat party and the party has moved on to the new kid in town....illegal aliens.

 Alvin Holmes is a race baiter. He always plays the race card to get the uninformed voters to vote for him. He does nothing but stir up hate, He is what wrong with Alabama now.

State Rep. Alvin Holmes, D-Montgomery is dumbing down those who vote for him. Vote him out before everyone is owned by the Government.

I don't agree with the point of view expressed above, but I defend their right to express their point of view without being vilified/castigated. Racism is not about what was said,  it's about what is done.

I am sick and tired of some (not to be confused with all) white people telling grown a$$ black folks what they can or cannot say, how loud they can play their music, what they can wear , or, when they can protest about the way they are being treated. It is condescending at best, racist/racism at worst.

Enough!

"It is apparent that Mr Holmes was decrying the blatant hypocrisy of most of the legislature members. They bring to the forum legislation written by outside sources such as ALEC that is divisive, unnecessary, and counter to existing law. A thinking person wonders why his words would bring the ire of so many. The answer for me is that they know he is speaking the truth and cannot deal with it."

 It's not about what Alvin Holmes said, it was about what house republicans did.

None dare call it racist/racism, but that's exactly what it is.

Abort Alvin Holmes Mouth J.D Crowe

It's not about what Alvin Holmes said, it's about what Alabama House republicans did.

Bama house republicans voted to deny black/poor women access to a safe legal abortion yesterday, blame Alvin Holmes callous rant.  Not.  According to a report by the Kaiser Foundation African American women obtained the majority of legal abortions in Alabama. 

Yellowdog hits the nail on the head:

And all these issues adversely and disproportionately affect black and brown Alabamians.

The ides that this is not racially motivated is ludicrous. Slavery followed by Jim Crow was overt, what we have now is covert.

It can even go to our base natures. We are psychologically programmed to prefer and select those other people who look and act like ourselves.

Until we break down the barriers and the institutionalized racism and create equality, not just lip-service, it will not change.

Standing by and ignoring or pretending this doesn't exist as a fact of our lives and existence is shameful and evil.

 Institutional racism is any system of inequality based on race. It can occur in institutions such as public government bodies, private business corporations (such as media outlets), and universities (public and private).

 It's easier to blame Alvin Holmes  for the institutionalized racism than to confront the real perpetrators. 

It's not about what Alvin Holmes said, it's about what Alabama House Republicans did

Mission  Not Accomplished

Bama house republicans voted to deny black/poor women access to a safe legal abortion yesterday, blame Alvin Holmes callous rant.  Not.  According to a report by the Kaiser Foundation African American women obtained the majority of legal abortions in Alabama. 

What Rep Holmes said was no more outrageous than the Republicans pushing the unconstitutional bill to begin with. He was fighting ridiculous statements from the Right with ridiculous statement of his own. Fighting fire with fire.

Racist statements are just a form of stupidity. it was stupid vs stupid, only the Republican stupidity will cost the state of Alabama hundreds of thousands of dollars trying to defend their stupidity in court.

 Ill doctrine says racism is not about that thing you said, it's about that thing you did.  Let's be clear about what Alabama House republicans did, not what Alabama State Rep.Alvin Holmes said.

Look at the facts in Alabama.
It is a racially divided state where the good ole boys rule.
Holmes statement is provocative for sure but when is Alabama going to wake up.
There is a prison system crisis, a poverty crisis, an education system crisis, a health care crisis(and the governor rejects federal money)a huge gap in income between whites and other ethnic and racial groups.

Alabama House republicans voted  for more children born into poverty blame Alvin Holmes. Snark

Inflammatory Rhetoric Begets Inflammatory Rhetoric~ Update

State Rep. Alvin Holmes, D-Montgomery

Newsflash!!  Alabama House Republicans pass the keep poor/black WOMEN from having access to a safe legal abortion bill while the Alabama Senate passes bill allowing free, lifetime permit to carry pistols in vehicles.

Fresh after giving conservatives/ republicans a Wedgie because he dared call  out United States Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas,  Alabama State Rep. Alvin Holmes strikes again!

A debate Tuesday over a bill to ban abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected turned to race after Rep. Mary Sue McClurkin, R-Indian Springs, compared her bill to Brown vs. the Board of Education.

But during the debate, Rep. Alvin Holmes, D-Montgomery, said that his Republican colleagues would support abortion if their daughters were impregnated by black men.

Media enabled weapon of mass distraction from the real issue here we come! Yee Haw!
It's easier to talk about what Alvin Holmes said instead of what Alvin Holmes was talking about which is Alabama State Rep. Mary (Fetus are Organs) McClurkin's bill to end access to safe legal abortions for poor women in Alabama.

On Tuesday, a panel of Alabama lawmakers advanced four stringent anti-abortion bills that would prevent women in the state from exercising their reproductive rights. The proposed legislation would ban abortions after just six weeks; force women to wait 48 hours before getting an abortion; make it more difficult for minors to end an unwanted pregnancy; and impose more emotional trauma on women who choose to have an abortion after discovering lethal fetal abnormalities.

Note I said the bill to end access to safe, legal  abortions for poor women in Alabama.  Women like Mary Sue, not so much.

If Alabama chooses to expand Medicaid under the federal Affordable Care Act, the state could gain about $1 billion in new tax revenue, according to a pair of University of Alabama at Birmingham health care economists in a study released today.
In the most likely scenario, some 300,000 more state residents would be covered under an expansion, according to David Becker and Michael Morrisey at the UAB School of Public Health.
UAB, which has the largest hospital in the state and one of the largest public hospitals in the country, released the report this morning saying the research was a "win-win" 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 UAB press release. "In a very real sense, the state makes money while expanding coverage to nearly 300,000 Alabamians."

So here's the deal, a bunch of people, who if they choose, have access to a safe legal abortion are trying to keep black/ poor WOMEN from having access to a safe legal abortion.  These same people are anti access to affordable health care because Obama,  anti access to quality public schools because Obama,  and anti welfare just because.

But let's talk about what Alvin Holmes said out of context so we won't have to talk about the substance of what Alvin Holmes said.

Mission Accomplished.

Redeye's Week in Review

Radical is not a bad word.  You got that Progressives?   Conservative on the other hand.....Remember this when you hear the TTPH's and the mainstream media talk about candidates appealing to solid conservatives and promoting the centrist meme.  Conservatives are the ones that got us into the mess in the first place. Remember?  Now they are running around calling President Obama a failure because they obstructed the clean up.  They must think we are Suckers. 

Has America's Stolen Election Process Finally Hit Prime Time?  I HOPE so.

Mass Incarceration of blacks coming to an end?  Not if Lawmakers keep making laws like THIS.

Left in Alabama is running a two part ranking of the 10 dumbest things republicans said in 2010.  NewsOne compiled The Top Ten Racist Quotes of 2010.  Psst!  It's the dumb racism.

Mack Lyons said...
Sigh. The state is so damned corrupt that there's little to no hope of fixing any of this shit, save a federally-directed purge. Fat chance of that happening any time soon.

You think?  Federal Appeals Court Balks at Deciding Alabama Education Association Political Case. 

RedEye Week In Review Over and Out for 2011.

Stupid is as Stupid does Bama Style

With all the pressing issues facing Alabamians,  State Representative Alvin Holmes, who I usually admire and agree ,  is seeking a ban on sagging pants.  Why?

Psst Rep. Holmes!  What part of you can't legislate personal behavior don't you understand?  If you don't like sagging pants, don't wear sagging pants.   It's like telling a woman she can't choose to have an abortion.  It's like telling gay people they can't serve in the military.  It''s like telling women they can't wear pants to work.  It's like telling grown people they can't gamble  in their own state with their own damn money.  It's like telling Michelle Obama she can't show her arms.  It's like telling someone you can't drink alcohol on Sunday.  You get my drift?

The Declaration of Independence declares We the People are entitled to Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  If wearing sagging pants makes someone happy, so be it.  If they can't get a job because their pants are sagging that's on them.  If they can't run from danger because their pants fall down around their knees and trip them up, that's on them.  If an airline won't let them  board the plane with sagging pants, that's on them.  You feel me?

How about passing some J-O-B-S legislation?

How about repealing the Alabama immigration bill?

How about repealing the Alabama voter ID law?

If your anti sagging bill passes how are they going to pay the fine with no J-O-B?  They will end up in the all ready over crowed jails ,  where the sagging pants culture begin, with the other non violent offenders.

Maybe if they had a J-O-B and a future they wouldn't wear sagging pants.

It's not about sagging pants.  Where are the J-O-B-S?