RedEye's #Resist Blog Round Up and Mini #Rant

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Update: The double standard on environmental racism and justice in black and white in #SweetHomeAlabama

Then State Representative Oliver Robinson also argued against the listing before the Alabama Environmental Management Commission. It was also opposed by the Jefferson County Commission. The site has not been not added to the National Priorities List.

Meet Oliver Robinson, who was once one of the most decorated basketball players in UAB history, but now is a toxic waste of talent.

Former Alabama state Rep. Oliver Robinson had it going on. He was a basketball star at UAB, and his political star had been rising in the Alabama Legislature where he served for 18 years until he suddenly resigned last year.
Robinson was a rarity in red-state Alabama politics - a Democrat with power. On the other hand, it turns out he was just another in a long line of crooked Alabama politicians.

 And therein lies the problem, Democrats, especially black Democrats are more likely to be prosecuted for conspiracy, bribery, and fraud than Republicans in Alabama.  But EYE digress.  Back to Oliver Robinson

Robinson pleaded guilty, it was announced on Thursday by the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, to fraud, conspiracy, bribery and tax evasion charges. It was also announced that Robinson is actively working with the FBI, IRS and other agencies to build cases on other conspirators.
All of this stems from Robinson’s involvement, as a representative from Birmingham, in the North Birmingham Superfund Site (officially tabbed the 35thAvenue Superfund by the EPA).
That site, located in the area of Birmingham where steel mills operated for decades, is an environmental mess. Testing has found toxins in neighborhoods to be so high that the top layers of soil have been removed from hundreds of yards, businesses and school grounds. There’s pollution in the waterways and in the air, as well.

So all of a sudden the powers that be care about environmental racism?

Per the white male dominated media

His campaign implored residents in Inglenook and Tarrant not to allow the EPA to test their soil for poisons -- the same soil some of them use to garden in, the same dirt some of their children play in.

And as it turns out, Robinson wasn't pushing back against the EPA because he had strong feelings about federal encroachment or neighborhood property values. He did it because he was getting paid.
He was being paid to tell mostly poor residents, some of them in his own district, that their neighborhoods were safe places to live, when he should have had every reason to know that wasn't true.

 And why is Oliver Robinson the poster boy?

He is going to jail because be spent at least a quarter of a million dollars on personal items rather utilizing the money for the purposes for which it was solicited from corporations--to publish a magazine touting African-American businesses, organize a conference bringing African-American entrepreneurs together with business and political leaders, or produce an event celebrating black achievement.
He is going to jail because he spent campaign funds on personal items, like whatever he bought for whomever at Victoria's Secret for $400 in February 2014.

Really?  Or is he going to jail because he is a powerful African American Democrat?

Civil rights activist Angela Yvonne Davis will speak in Birmingham next week, but for some in Alabama, the Birmingham native might not be welcome.
Two weeks ago, the Alabama Legislature passed a feel-good resolution, sponsored by Rep. Oliver Robinson, D-Birmingham, honoring Davis. However, Gov. Robert Bentley refused to sign it.

Is this about environmental racism or about sending a message to powerful African American Democrats?

It's like Langford himself is pitching this thing. 

Free money! Free money! Refinance now and we can spend $65 million in "profits" on schools and mass transit and the zoo and all those things we haven't been able to spend it on because too many corrupt politicians made too many bad bond deals.
If we remember anything from those days, it's that there much (sic) be a catch.

 And there is. Because in the bill Robinson is expected to sponsor, there will be money left over. Left over, that is, for politicians to steer to their own pet projects or to bolster their own campaigns.

The bill would create a committee to oversee distribution of the cash, but legislators would pick the members and would still suggest how it is spent. It is pass-through pork. Period. And don't forget it. 

Just like former Jefferson County Commission Jeff Germany used. Before it sent him to prison. 

Just like Sen. EB McClain used. Before it sent him to prison. 

In 2004 the county, led by Langford, passed a 1 cent sales tax for a $1 billion bond issue to help schools. He was more interested in the bond deal and political points than the schools. But he rammed it through. Before he went to prison.

EYE suspect the later

Despite being a Democrat in a Republican-controlled Legislature, he held considerable power before he resigned. He had seats on the House Rules Committee, the House Financial Services Committee, and served as co-chair of the Jefferson County delegation.
The foundation later paid Robinson's daughter, Amanda, who actively sought to discourage poor north Birmingham and Tarrant residents from testing their property for pollutants.
Robinson's daughter has not been charged related to the federal investigation.

EYE report.  You decide.

#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

"Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty former Governor Don Siegelman is free at last! #SweetHomeAlabama

Former Alabama Governor and political prisoner Don Siegelman was finally released from prison today after serving time for being too liberal for Alabama (code for being fair to black folks), EYE mean, who has been serving a 78-month sentence for a 2006 bribery conviction.

Yep, there is no absence of malice in Bama and look for more political prisoners and more democrats/liberals/ to be destroyed under our new United States Attorney General who also hails from the Heart of Dixie.  

Welcome home to the Kakistocracy Governor.  Thank you for your service and your sacrifice.

EYE have two words to say about #JeffSessions nomination for #AttorneyGeneral, Lani Guinier

Lani Guinier and President-Elect Bill Clinton

Before EYE type another word please accept my apologies for the sparse postings.  EYE must admit the "election" of Donald Trump through me for a loop.  EYE was so sure there were more of us than there were of them.  Time will tell  if my faith in the American people is justified.  EYE  still refuse to believe the majority of the American people hate President Obama more than they love their country.  But EYE have my groove back and EYE am fired up and ready to go.  

So, Donald Trump plans to nominate Alabama's own Jefferson Beauregard Sessions as the chief law enforcement officer of the land as payback for his loyalty while giving African Americans, women,  veterans,  and immigrants the middle finger.

Who is Lani Guinier?

Guinier is probably best known as President Bill Clinton's nominee for Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights in April 1993.[7][8][9]
President Clinton withdrew his nomination in June 1993, following a wave of negative press that was brought on by her controversial writings, some of which even Clinton himself called "anti-democratic" and "very difficult to defend".[10]
Conservative journalists, as well as Republican Senators, mounted a campaign against Guinier's nomination. Guinier was infamously dubbed a "quota queen," a phrase first used in a Wall Street Journal op-ed by Clint Bolick, a Reagan-era Justice Department official.[11] The term was perceived by some to be racially loaded, combining the "welfare queen" stereotype with "quota," a buzzword used to challenge affirmative action.[12] In fact, Guinier was an opponent of racial quotas.[13]
Some journalists also alleged that Guinier's writings indicated that she supported the shaping of electoral districts to ensure a black majority, a process known as "race-conscious districting." One New York Times opinion piece claimed that Guinier was in favor of "segregating black voters in black-majority districts." Guinier was portrayed as a racial polarizer who believed—in the words of George Will—that "only blacks can represent blacks."
In the face of the negative media attention, many Democratic Senators, including David Pryor of Arkansas, Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts, and Carol Moseley-Braun of Illinois (the only African-American serving in the Senate at that time)[14] informed President Clinton that her interviews with senators were going poorly and urged him to withdraw Guinier's nomination.[15]
President Clinton took the senators' advice and withdrew Guinier's nomination on June 4, 1993. He stated that Guinier's writings "clearly lend themselves to interpretations that do not represent the views I expressed on civil rights during the [presidential] campaign."[16] Guinier, for her part, acknowledged that her writings were often "unclear and subject to vastly different interpretations," but believed that the political attacks had distorted and caricatured her academic philosophies.[16] William T. Coleman Jr., who had served as Secretary of Transportation under President Gerald Ford, wrote that the withdrawal was "a grave [loss], both for President Clinton and the country. The President's yanking of the nomination, caving in to shrill, unsubstantiated attacks, was not only unfair, but some would say political cowardice."[17]

Here is what the New York Times had to say about the Lani Guinier Mess:

Although he handled the nomination miserably, the President had good reason to drop it. Ms. Guinier's writings suggest that, despite her obvious talents as a civil rights attorney, she was not the right person to be Washington's civil rights enforcement chief. Mr. Clinton, already wobbling from other setbacks, had no stomach for a fight he couldn't win on behalf of a candidate whose views he now says he does not entirely endorse.
Without question the nominee herself created the basic problem. Her law review articles about voting rights -- poorly written, provocative and easy to caricature -- gave right-wing snipers a broad target for charges of radicalism. But they also alarmed moderate readers, including longtime supporters of the Voting Rights Act, who feared her extreme-sounding enforcement notions would discredit and imperil that valued law.

Here is what they have to say about Jeff Sessions

Donald Trump ran a presidential campaign that stoked white racial resentment. His choice for attorney general — which, like his other early choices, has been praised by white supremacists — embodies that worldview. We expect today’s senators, like their predecessors in 1986, to examine Mr. Sessions’s views and record with bipartisan rigor. If they do, it is hard to imagine that they will endorse a man once rejected for a low-level judgeship to safeguard justice for all Americans as attorney general.

If Lani Guinier was characterized as a racial polarizer and therefore deemed unfit, certainly the same applies to Jeff Sessions. Let's see if republicans and the white male dominated media apply the same standards to Sessions. My guess is they won't because there is more than a whiff of hypocrisy.

Who elected Rebekah Caldwell Mason Governor of #SweetHomeAlabama?

Rebekah Caldwell Mason

Meet Rebekah Caldwell Mason, everybody. She is your "real" governor of Alabama, a status she has held with her breasts and behind since 2014. 

The bigger issue isn't whether she and the governor were playing doctor or not. How much influence does she really have on Bentley? Is Ol' Doc's top adviser really his puppet master? The "de facto governor," as Spencer Collier says?

Finally, EYE would like to remind everyone how hypocritical republicans are, especially when it comes to so called #FamilyValues.  It's always the party of so called Compassionate, Conservative, Christians screaming Jesus the loudest, who are the biggest hypocrites.  

What get's me is for the most part they (republicans) get away with it.  Everybody knows if this had been a democrat, or a black lawmaker they would have been tried in the media, forced to resign, and/or convicted/imprisoned.  

Don't believe me?  Ask former Governor Don Siegelman, former Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford, former Jefferson County Commissioner Chris McNair , and others. 

And yes, EYE am playing the race card.

But a reasonable person, looking at the broad picture, could ask: Was the real reason these people were arrested that they represent a county that is mostly black, relatively poor, and largely Democratic? In other words, are political prosecutions still the tool of choice for the conservative elites who rule Karl Rove's Alabama--even with Barack Obama in the White House? Are such shenanigans still going on in other "deep red" regions of the country?

Stay Tuned.  

So, now you want a Lottery Alabama?

Via Forward Alabama: PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT (PLEASE SHARE): 3 months ago, Gov Bentley & Co took $100million from the state Education Fund to keep the state solvent. This week, Alabamians took our MILLIONS across state lines to buy lottery tickets that will fund education in OTHER states. Bentley & Co refuse to bring an education lottery to Alabama. Would you like to let him hear from you? governorrobertbentley@governor.state.al.us

Now that it's dawned on the powers that be , and anti gambling bots, they cut off their nose to spite their face, they want to vote for state lottery?

Yep, me and thousands of Alabamians trekked on over the state line and spent our own damn money in Tennessee buying Mega Millions lottery tickets, helping the Tennessee Education system, and putting money in their coffers. Not only did I purchase lottery tickets, but also gas, food, and did a some tax free shopping, thanks to the good old Christian (cough), Compassionate (cough), Conservatives (cough) Alabama anti gambling bots.

Again

Alabama voters soundly rejected the Governor's appeal for a lottery today, heeding the warnings of ministers over arguments that the revenue was vital to improve the state's lagging schools.
With 96 percent of the precincts reporting, 645,997 people, or 54 percent, voted against the lottery, and 543,321 people, or 46 percent, supported it.
The lottery was once almost sure to be approved, but it came under fire from religious groups who said it would exploit the poor. Some opponents also said a recent traffic ticket-fixing scandal showed that Gov. Donald Siegelman's administration could not be trusted.

And where is Gov. Donald Siegelman.... now? 

Now Kyle Whitmire say's 'If this is justice set Larry Langford free" RedEye Roll

After doing everything in his power to make sure Larry Langford was convicted and sent to prison for EYE still haven't figured out what,  Kyle Whitmire has a change of heart and says maybe the old crook should go free? 

I don’t know Kyle Whitmire, but if he has no love for Larry Langford it clouds his objectivity. Reporters are supposed to report just the facts, regardless if they have love for their subjects or not. Any progressive viewpoint Kyle Whitmire have should not seep into his reporting. Any love/hate Kyle Whitmire has for Larry Langford should not be a factor in his reporting. It’s a dangerous, slippery slope we thread when reporters become a part of the story and use their influence and privilege to shape public opinion. 

Well EYE guess it depends on what his definition of an "old crook" IS.  Let's recap.

The mood at the classic was rather somber this year, partially due to the rain on Friday and Saturday, and partially because Larry Langford was convicted the previous Wednesday. White suburbanites and the Birmingham news media may not have liked Larry Langford but the people who elected him loved him" because "he was cleaning up the city" . They believe his conviction will be a vehicle to over turn the election so Patrick Cooper can become Mayor. They question why Langford was convicted over some suits and a Rolex, while the two men who made millions got away scott free.

Prosecutors claimed Langford accepted cash and luxury items worth some $236,000 while serving as president of the Jefferson County Commission. In exchange, they claimed, Langford sent lucrative bond business to investment banker Bill Blount, a former chairman of the Alabama Democratic Party.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Tamarra Matthews Johnson told jurors in closing arguments that Langford was heavily in debt and accepted the gifts from Blount, along with checks or loan payoffs through a middleman, lobbyist Al LaPierre. Both Blount and LaPierre pleaded guilty in the scheme and testified against Langford under their plea agreements.

Langford's' troubles stem from the sewer construction and bond swap controversy.

In 1995, Jefferson County entered into a consent decree with the Environmental Protection Agency regarding sewer overflows into the Cahaba River watershed. A total of $3.2 billion of new construction was subsequently contracted, both to comply with the consent decree and to expand the system to newly-developing areas and increase the number of ratepayers financing the construction. Much of this work was awarded to inexperienced companies, many of which have since been convicted of bribery along with several county officials.

The "sewer controversy" caused a rate hike. People on fixed incomes had water bills that were higher than their electric bills. Renters would move leaving property owners with thousands of dollars in unpaid water bills. If the landlords didn't pay liens were placed on the property until a law was passed by the legislature property where owners were not responsible for tenets water bills.

The "old crook's" Lawyers were worried about a tainted jury pool, and EYE was worried too.

I’m worried too and this is why.
Let me preface what I’m about to say with the disclaimer that I have no personal, business or social connection to Larry Langford. I have never voted for him, campaigned for him or donated to any of his campaigns. All I know about the charges against him are what I’ve read in the media. I am not speaking on behalf of Langford or in defense of Langford personally or his policies.

It has long concerned me that Alabama Democrats, especially progressive/liberal Democrats have been under attack by the republican controlled justice system, enabled by the MSM we have. Democrats from former Governor Don Siegleman, former State Senator E.B. McClain, former Jefferson County Commissioner Jeff Germany on down to former state Representative Sue Schmitz have been tried and convicted after widely publicized allegations of corruption. If this can happen to high profile elected officials, it can happen to you or to me. If I am accused of a crime, I want a fair trail. Strike that, our system of justice demands I have fair trail.
I don’t know if Langford is guilty of the charges against him or not, and I won’t know IF he doesn’t have a fair trial by a jury of his peers, who will listen to all the evidence presented in a court of law, not the evidence presented in the media.
I’m concerned that having a Media Forum the night before his trial entitled ” What will we do when Birmingham is broke and everyone is in jail” could not only taint a jury pool, but it’s unfair to the defendant because it assumes the city is broke and he is going to jail. I just don’t that’s fair. Sorry.
Is Langford a loudmouth, flashy, anti gay, bible thumper? Yes. As an American citizen does he deserve a fair and impartial trial by a jury of his peers? Absolutely. Would I feel this way if Langford was a white, conservative republican? Yes. I believe in the rule of law. I believe in liberty and justice for all. I believe in the right to a fair trial by a jury of ones peers. I believe evidence should be presented in a court of law, not in the media.
I believe in America. Where anything is possible.

In light of one of Langford's'  biggest detractors change of hard, EYE mean heart, maybe Larry Langford was right (no pun intended), and his prosecution was political. 

EYE tried to some of Y'all Congress Critter Terri Sewell was Artur Davis is Designer Pumps

Left in Alabama: Terrie Sewell It's a historic election because it's about you,not about me.

But did y'all listen?  Nope.  As a matter fact, some of y'all accused me of inventing a straw man, making sh*t up, and peddling hypocrisy (I'm not going to call any names but you know who you are), and banned me fromyour Blogs and List Serves for life, but EYE digress.

What EYE predicted has come to pass, 7th Congressional District Congress Critter Terri Sewell (DINO Hoover), has the dubious distinction of being ranked the worst black member of Congress.  

Black Agenda Report is once again publishing the annual CBC Monitor Report Card. The former all-time worst Black Congressman, David Scott of Georgia, has passed the torch to a new generation of corporate-bought politicians, represented by Alabama’s Terri Sewell – although Scott remains a close second.

 Are you happy now?

As a Democrat running in a D+18 district, Terri Sewell is without question the Alabama Democrat most likely to be elected to Congress tomorrow. If that happens Sewell will become Alabama's first African-American Congresswoman and the first woman elected to Congress from this state in a regular election. But, as the Birmingham News recently said when they endorsed her, that isn't the best reason to vote for her. The best reason to vote for Terri Sewell on Tuesday is the same as it was last spring ...she's simply the best candidate. From the early days of her campaign Sewell has maintained, "I'm the best candidate on the issues." On the eve of the general election, she still is!

What did the residents of the 7th district to do deserve this? 

My worst fear has come to past. Republicans, enabled by the media (again) and the neo liberals (again), bought and paid for the only African American seat in congress (again). I'm sure they are patting themselves on the back and high fiving their "victory" this morning, but this is wrong on so many levels. For one thing it proves it's not about the people, it's about the money, the power and the influence. It's proof the residents of the 7th district didn't get to decide who represents them in congress (again).

Again, this is what  happens when the white wing of the Alabama Democratic Party decides who should represent the black wing of the Alabama Democratic Party.  Say what you want to about 
the Alabama Democratic Conference, not to be confused with the Alabama Democratic Party, and Dr. Joe Reed, but they didn't endorse Terri Sewell or her predecessor.  The 7th district and had a perfectly capable and effective Congress Critter until the white wing replaced him with Artur Davis.  The residents of the 7th district had the chance to replace Davis with an effective, progressive/liberal representative, but again the white wing said no. 

If the Alabama democratic party were courageous, and I'm not saying they are, they would run a real democrat against Ms. Nine West Pumps in November. The residents of the 7th district deserve better. They are the most loyal voting block the state and national democratic party has, it's time to stop taking their loyalty for granted, and stop choosing who should represent them.

EYE hate being right.

Not.

#Scandalous in #SweetHomeAlabama #Injustice #Hypocrisy

They're right, I'm not backing down. I stand by my decision to terminate Alabama's contract with #PlannedParenthood. https://t.co/DP33s980cX

— Gov. Robert Bentley (@GovernorBentley) September 23, 2015

Remember when EYE wrote this about Governor Robert Bentley back in 2010?

Even republican candidates see the Coal Bowl as the opportunity to pander, I mean woo African American voters. Dr. Death, I mean Robert Bentley showed up. I heard fans were upset they had to clear the way for his entourage to enter the sky box elevator. Overheard: Well at least he came at the right time of year.
Huh?
It's Halloween and he looks like a Scarecrow.
Also overheard regarding Bentley: He's a really nice guy he just got hooked up with the wrong party.

According to Attorney Donald Watkins Facebook page, once Bentley became Governor he changed. 

Once Bentley became governor, he changed. He was no longer the kind and gentle man his children and grandchildren had known all their lives. Everyone noticed how Bentley’s respect for Dianne began to wane.

Bentley had become a man Dianne didn’t recognize. He was enamored with the trappings of the governor’s office – the trooper escorts, use of the state airplane, global travels, access to dignitaries and celebrities, life in the Governor’s mansion, wining and dining Rebekah like a billionaire at Winston Blount’s magnificent $28 million estate, along with all the other high-life perks that come with being called “Governor”. Bentley had gone from obscurity as a little-known Tuscaloosa legislator/dermatologist to rock-star status as governor, and he simply could not handle it.

Watkins also reports  Governor Bentley and Company are lawyering up in anticipation of a possible criminal investigation.  Notice EYE said Watkins reports, not the mainstream media reports. 

The mainstream media does not have the courage or resources to report the inside story of the Bentley's divorce. This is why the Pulitzer Prize committee recently expanded its eligibility on awards for investigative journalism and feature articles to cover online journalists like me. They realize how weak and captive many mainstream media organizations have become. The Birmingham News and Montgomery Advertiser are not trying to win Pulitzer Prizes for investigative journalism. They are simply trying to stay in business while operating on the cheap. Plus, the story of the Bentley marital infidelity scandal is out of their league.

All EYE can say is thank goodness Al Gore invented the Internet (snark), because without it we the people wouldn't know what the heck was going on.  Some, not to confused with all, progressive (and EYE use that term loosely) Bloggers and Facebook Journalist have been talking about Bentley's Real Executive Protection since  2009,  2010 and  2011.  

Can you hear us now?

The mean spirit that used political prosecutions for partisan political gain. Former Governor Don Siegelman, former state Representative Sue Schmitz, former Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford, and a host of other black democrats were legally lynched by the republican controlled InJustice system. And yes, I tried to tell some of y'all it was political and not about ethics reform, but again I was suppressed (not to be confused with oppressed).

EYE  Report.
YOU Decide. 

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.

Jesus....Please Save us From Your Followers in #SweetHomeAlabama #Hypocrisy

Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley with Seth Hammett, then director of the Alabama Development Office, and Communications Director Rebekah Caldwell Mason at the Mobile Convention Center on Feb. 24, 2011 in Mobile, Ala. (Press-Register, John David Mercer)

Again, EYE could care less about the  salacious rumors  swirling around Alabama Governor Robert Bentley (R. Tuscaloosa) and his soon to be Ex, because EYE realize elected officials are human beings and therefore not perfect.  They can do what ever they want to behind closed doors as long as it doesn't negatively affect me and mine. 

EYE said the same thing about former President Bill Clinton, who republicans, enabled by the media,  impeached  for trying to conceal a consensual sexual relationship from his wife, daughter, and the world.  

It's the @#$%^& Hypocrisy!  Bill Clinton wasn't running around proclaiming to be a Compassionate, Conservative, Christian by day and a Hypocrite  by Night.

The official poverty figures for 2011 will be released by the U.S. Census Bureau this fall during the critical weeks before of the November elections, and, as the AP reports, a broad consensus of experts is expecting to see U.S. poverty levels reach their highest point since the 1960s when the war on poverty first began. At the same time, we are seeing story after story about the super-rich getting even richer, profiting from financial crises while the economy is plummeting, and stashing trillions away in off-shore tax havens.

Bill Clinton wasn't refusing to expand medicaid, prohibiting poor women ( not to be confused with affluent women) from having access to planned parenthood, signing the most restrictive immigration law, and destroying the public education system in the name of The Lord.

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

Then Bentley, who for years has been a deacon at First Baptist Church in Tuscaloosa, gave what sounded like an altar call.

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

Attack the Messenger.  All EYE can say is thank goodness for social media and Bloggers because there is no such thing as a free press anymore.  Gone are the days when the media informed the public.  Now days the media tells us what they want us to know instead of what we need to know to make informed decisions.  They turn the good guys/gals into the bad guys/gals, and the bad guys/gals into the good guys/gals .

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP/WSFA) - The owner of Alabama's largest casino, four state senators and several top lobbyists have been indicted on federal charges accusing them of vote buying on a bill to legalize electronic bingo.
The indictment was released Monday as FBI agents made arrests at several locations across the state.
It accused the casino owners and statehouse figures of conspiring to make payments and campaign donations to affect "pro-gambling legislation."

And you wonder why Alabama is a solidly red, republican, conservative state?  It's the media.   Strike that, it's the white, male dominated mainstream media.  They are the driving force behind the narrative that democrats are unethical, thieving, corrupt, baby killing, drug dealing, dependent on welfare.  

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.

Project much?

The five commissioners who govern a rural Alabama county were arrested last week. What did the entire Bullock County Commission do to merit being charged with felonies? They violated theAlabama Competitive Bid Law, according to a statement from the state attorney general's office.
It's certainly possible that Bullock County's finances and procedures are a wreck--and that criminal activity was involved. Violations reportedly showed up when the Alabama Examiners of Public Accounts conducted an audit from October 2008 to September 2009. Irregularities also appeared on audits in 2006 and '07.
But a reasonable person, looking at the broad picture, could ask: Was the real reason these people were arrested that they represent a county that is mostly black, relatively poor, and largely Democratic? In other words, are political prosecutions still the tool of choice for the conservative elites who rule Karl Rove's Alabama--even with Barack Obama in the White House? Are such shenanigans still going on in other "deep red" regions of the country?

Sounds like a double standard to me.

Lost in all the sordid rumor and implication is a rock-solid fact.
Rebekah Caldwell Mason, a chief adviser to the governor of the state of Alabama, is paid by unknown entities with money funneled through an opaque non-profit. And that shadowy operation – it doesn't have to reveal its donors -- is set up by people connected to the state's most powerful and politically aggressive institutions.
Hell, that may be the most offensive thing in this whole bizarre chain of events.

You think? 

Back in the sixties, when the citizens of Alabama wanted to get a fair report on the progress of the Civil Rights movement in their state, they had to turn to the national media, and especially the network news, to get it. The local print and broadcast media would either grossly distort what was going on, or, more likely, they would simply report nothing.

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~ 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