RedEye Around #SweetHomeAmeriBAMA

"Listen up! Jockey Boy Restaurant ONLY serves #Pepsi from now on! Got it?" pic.twitter.com/prlkyeX7PG

— Donald J. Trump (@BiglyPrez) April 5, 2017

EYE Never liked #Pepsi

Is downtown Huntsville, home of Mayor Tommy Battle for whites only? EYE report.  You decide.

Update on the "Luv Guv" scandal.  It's not looking too good for the Governor, but then again this is Alabama and he could come out of this smelling like a rose. 

#WarOnBlackWomenAtWork.......  Alabama Style

The buck stops with the State School Board.  Good luck with that.

Why bother having elections?  The white male dominated media has already decided who the next Governor of the great state of Alabama will be.  And they wonder why Alabama is stuck on stupid?

RedEye Out 

Sidewalks/Streets/Subdivisions in Madison, AL are not safe for "really skinny" black/brown guys/gals

Madison Police Officer Eric Parker is back from leave and headed for active duty today after Madison's acting police chief decided he did not violate policy in the sidewalk stop and takedown of an Indian pedestrian that led to federal civil rights charges and international publicity.

Let's recap:

Madison, AL Police Officer Eric Parker avoided a conviction after two mistrials.  In the first mistrial the black jurors refused to acquit, and in the second trial, the white jurors refused to acquit. Two strikes and you're out said the Federal Judge.

The only person to be found guilty of a crime is former Madison Police Chief Larry Muncey.

So now we know if someone calls and reports a really skinny black guy is walking around in the neighborhood acting suspiciously in Madison, AL it's within MPD policy to body slam said skinny black guy to the ground and partially paralyze them.

Are we safe yet? 

This is why EYE am #SittingDownWithColinKaepernic7

EYE Shall Return!

Rosa Parks: 60th anniversary of a historic day in Alabama – in pictures

EYE am trying to catch up on current events as EYE recover from Thanksgiving, which also gave me the opportunity to take a mental health break.   As always EYE am thankful, and humbled by the fact you read this blog even when I don't post.  Full post coming soon, stay tuned!

What EYE am working on:

Fiscally Conservative Republicans My Donkey

And the winners is...not equal/civil rights that's for sure.

Alabama the not Beautiful

It's the Media

B-But EYE thought All Lives Mattered?

TheBlacks and Donald Trump

Did EYE say It's the Media?

Blast from the Past.  What You are Reading

If you can't run on your record resort to race baiting and mudslinging~Sigh

Desegregation, white privilege, reparations, the "r" word, racism. I'm back!

Governor Bentley: We need to protect people of our state from them there refugees

#PatelAlabama: Governor apologizes to the government of India for Alabama police treating one of their citizens like "a skinny black man"

Just in case you missed it, our Governor was interviewed on CNN this morning pontificating about his stand on the state line to keep Alabamans safe from them there Muslims, EYE mean, Syrian refugees.  He really didn't have a good reason to offer, so he named dropped that he was with Condolezza Rice yesterday, who allegedly told him Syria should set up a refugee camp over there to contain them.

This is the same Condolezza Rice who was the National Security Advisor that gave pResident George W. Bush a daily briefing one month prior to the 9/11 attacks that said Osama determined to attack inside the U.S. and didn't know what that meant.  The same Condolezza Rice who was the Secretary of State before, during and after Hurricane Katrina.

Governor Bentley also name dropped the director of Homeland Security, and the FBI, both of which are federal agencies, as in the federal government, as in the federal government he plans to obstruct and defy in order to keep Alabamans safe from them there refugees.  The same federal government that is the largest employer in Sweet Home Alabama.

Governors, 1950s: No black kids in our schools, some might be violent Governors, 2010s: No Syrian kids in our states, some might be violent

— Max Fisher (@Max_Fisher) November 16, 2015

More Alabamians have died from guns, natural disasters, and because they don't have access to quality affordable health care than from Muslims, EYE mean, refugees.  But don't let a little thing like facts get in the way of bigotry in the name of The Lord.  Our Governor kept saying he was at war with his heart and his head, and his head was winning.  As someone who claims to be a Christian doesn't he realize baby Jesus and His parents were refugees?

OH BOOM! pic.twitter.com/g5r0cCnWd0

— philip harris (@pharris830) November 16, 2015

EYE wish the citizens of Alabama had somewhere to run.

Governor Robert Bentley has made it clear: Alabama is open for business, but is closed for compassion. https://t.co/5TihHgU8vP

— AL.com (@aldotcom) November 16, 2015

To make the irony more explicit, Bentley will be joined at the conference with the Japanese by Martin Luther King III. An Alabama Governor is meeting with the Japanese – a population that America once forcibly detained for fear of the color of their skin – and is accompanied by the son of a man who Alabama once detained for fear of the color of his skin. The only thing that could make it more ironic would be if they convened in Huntsville, a city that prospered as the result of Alabama welcoming German scientists in the wake of World War II.

EYE Don't Think #SweetHomeAlabama is on any refugees' list of desired destinations

Go away, kids. Alabama is too scared of you.

So, here we go again.  You know the drill.  Make Alabama proud by inflaming fear and bigotry in the name of The Lord.

Charming, just charming. Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley has hit on a way to posture about the Paris terrorist attacks that feeds right into a whole bunch of the worst stereotypes about his state. Bentley “will not stand complicit to a policy that places the citizens of Alabama in harm’s way,” which is to say he has announced he’s refusing to host Syrian refugees in his state. You know, the Syrian refugees fleeing daily violence as bad as or worse than the Paris attacks.

Yep. This is the same Governor who places the citizens of Alabama in harm's way everyday because Obama.

Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley used part of his State of the State Address on Tuesday to offer a full-throated defense of his decision to reject Medicaid expansion, one of the key components of President Barack Obama’s health care law.
Under the Affordable Care Act, the federal government will pay 100 percent of the cost of expansion for the first three years and then 90 percent after that.
“But how can we believe the federal government will keep its word?” said Bentley, one of a number of governors who took advantage of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling to turn down the deal. “The anything but Affordable Care Act has done nothing to gain our trust.”

EYE wonder if the Syrian Refugees could play football would they be welcome in #SweetHomeAlabama?  

So much for Christian...Conservative... Compassion in Sweet Home Alabama

EYE am just saying... there is more than a whiff of hypocrisy.

28 minutes ago

"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

— Yellowhammer (@yhn) September 23, 2015

#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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Officially, the news out of Alabama is this:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

There is no #ShameOnAlabama None. Zilch. Nada.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

#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 Real Scandal in #SweetHomeAlabama is not the #TeamBentley divorce

"Did you lie to your wife?"

Again, EYE could care less about the scandalous rumors swirling around about Bentley's divorce, and believe me there are plenty.  It's the hypocrisy and the projection...A way to transfer guilt for your own thoughts, emotions, and actions onto another as a way of not admitting your guilt to yourself.

Remember  the so-called IRS scandal, when republicans accused the Obama administration of targeting conservative tax-exempt organizations

It's strange how "scandal" gets defined these days in Washington. At the moment, everyone is screaming about the "scandal" of the Internal Revenue Service scrutinizing conservative nonprofits before granting them tax-exempt status.
Here are the genuine scandals in this affair: Political organizations are being allowed to masquerade as charities to avoid taxes and keep their donors secret, and the IRS has allowed them to do this for years.

Fast forward to 2015 and what we know now about the Bentley administration. 

February 2015 – Cooper Shattuck, general counsel for the University of Alabama board of trustees and Bentley's former legal adviser, forms Alabama Council for Excellent Government, a 501c4 group formed to promote Gov. Bentley's tax increase proposals. Shattuck said the organization was formed at Bentley's request but it is not known where the funds to start the group originated. As a 501c4, ALGOV does not have to report its funding sources or expenditures.

This is the real scandal

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.

EYE report. 

The real scandal is that:
The IRS has interpreted our tax laws to allow big corporations and wealthy individuals to make unlimited secret campaign donations through sham political fronts called “social welfare organizations,” like Karl Rove’s “Crossroads,” the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and “Priorites USA.”
This campaign money has been used to bribe Congress to keep in place tax loopholes like the “carried interest” rule that allows the managers of hedge funds and private equity funds to treat their income as capital gains, subject only to low capital gains taxes rather than ordinary income taxes, and other loopholes that allow CEOs to get special tax treatment on giant compensation packages that now average $10 million a year.

 You decide.

Can You Say #Hypocrite? #SweetHomeAlabama

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. 

When a comment becomes a blog post #Selma50 #WhiteGuilt

In the 1800s, the Black Belt area of Dallas County, Alabama -- home of Selma -- was one of the most prosperous areas in the country, enjoyed by the white elite. Today it has the highest poverty rate in the state. (Photo: Chris Kromm/Facing South)

In a lame attempt at tone deaf, racial, concern trolling, Upset Resident, aka FED Up, aka DARYAL Pinchon, had this to say in response to my #Selma50 Round Up. 

Selma: "One small step for a black man, one giant leap for inducing white guilt"
By every possible metric measuring social capital in a community, the 80 percent black city of Selma is a monumental failure.


Here’s a brief overview of 80 percent black Selma in 2015 (courtesy of Hunter Wallace):

In 2015, Selma is 80 percent black and now has a black mayor, a black chief of police, a black district attorney, a black school superintendent, a majority black city council, and a majority black police force.

In 2015, Selma City Schools are 97 percent black. Last year, the Alabama Department of Education’s Board of Education voted unanimously to take over Selma City Schools in the aftermath of a scathing state investigation.

In 2015, fifty years after the Voting Rights Act was passed, Selma has lost a third of its population, around 10,000 White people.

In 2015, 42 percent of the population of Selma lives in poverty, which is twice the state average in Alabama.

In 2015, Selma is represented in the US Congress by a black woman, Rep. Terri Sewell, in the Alabama House of Representatives by a black man, State Rep. Darrio Melton, and in the Alabama Senate by a black man, nine-term incumbent State Sen. Hank Sanders.

In 2015, Selma is the fourth most dangerous city in Alabama with the third highest number of murders per capita and the fourth highest number of property crimes.

In 2015, Selma is struggling with code enforcement on numerous blighted, abandoned homes.

In 2015, Selma is one of the worst cities in which to do business in Alabama.

In 2015, Selma is an epicenter of new HIV infections in rural Alabama. The HIV infection rate in Dallas County is 106.8 percent above the national average.

So, the new and improved Selma in 2015 is plagued by extreme poverty, STDs, high crime, terrible schools, a terrible business climate, high unemployment, low property value, low civic engagement and racial strife by the likes of Faya Rose Toure. Yet the Voting Rights Act was unquestionably a huge success in Selma where blacks now occupy every public office which their numbers allow them to dominate.

It's their city now, with Selma's current conditions a reflection of its majority black population. [Selma's message on civil rights 50 years later:As President Obama prepares to visit Selma five decades after 'Bloody Sunday,' how the civil rights struggle has – and hasn't – changed an epicenter of the movement., Christian Science-Monitor, 3-6-15]:

True, Selma now has black leaders in positions of power, including the mayor, police chief, district attorney, six out of eight city council members, and four out of five school board members. True, Selma’s black population is quick to speak out against injustices – and has overcome innumerable ones.

But the journey toward equality is still a long march. Black children here are more likely to grow up in poverty, less likely to graduate, less likely to attend college, and less likely to become homeowners. Sections of Selma remain sharply segregated, partly because of white flight and partly by choice. Jobs are scarce, and even harder to obtain for those who lack adequate education and skills.

But none of this matters, because Selma is only recognized every March when every last ounce of white guilt can be squeezed out of the crumbling majority black city.

March 10, 2015 at 5:00 AM

 This is my response with links inserted for emphasis and clarity. 

Selma is a crumbling black majority city located in a majority white/republican state, with a white/republican Governor, two white/republican Senators, and 6 white/republican and one black/democrat (who will vote with white/republican) members of Congress, a majority white/republican state legislature,  a white/republican State Attorney General, a majority White/republican State Board of Education, and an all white/republican State Supreme Court.

A white/republican Governor who refuses to expand medicaid despite the FACT " The HIV infection rate in Dallas County is 106.8 percent above the national average."
A white/republican Governor who is closing State Mental Health Hospitals and Women's Wellness and Health Clinics despite the fact "42 percent of the population of Selma lives in poverty, which is twice the state average in Alabama." Then whine about the STD rate.

A majority white/republican state legislature that cuts the budgets of law enforcement while passing Open Carry gun laws,  then whine about the crime rate.

A majority white/republican state legislature whose first order of business when they took control of the state legislature was to file Shelby County v. Holder paving the way for the majority white/republican Supreme Court to gut section 5 of the voting rights act, allowing white/republican legislature to pass Voter ID bills and Gerrymander they way into lifetime jobs.

A white/republican Governor/Senator, Congress and State Legislature who have made sure Selma is one of the worst cities in which to do business in Alabama.

Selma Behind the Scenes

In 1965, Selma was about half-white; today only 18 percent of residents are. Many affluent whites live near the Selma Country Club, located just west of downtown and the Edmund Pettus Bridge. The Los Angeles Times reports that the club today doesn't have a single black member.

Across the street from the country club is Live Oak Cemetery, divided into "Old" and "New" sections. In 2012, protests erupted when whites moved a statue of Confederate and Klan member Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest to the site; at one point the bust was stolen off of Forrest's statue.

Rolling under the Edmund Pettus Bridge is the Alabama River. A recent report found Alabama to have the third-most toxic waterways in the country, including the lower sections of the Alabama. The biggest employer in Dallas County is International Paper Co.'s Riverdale Mill, which ranks 21st in the state for toxic releases -- more than 1.3 million pounds annually (although some have applauded the company's pollution-reduction efforts). The short-changing of the environment for economic development usually affects poor and black communities the most: Just north of Selma, majority-black Perry County -- where local civil rights activist Jimmie Lee Jackson was murdered in 1965, helping spark the Selma protests -- became the dumpsite for toxic coal ash spilled in 2009 in Tennessee. The dump is the target of civil rights complaint.

The Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) was busy under cover of night distributing leaflets around Selma. Atlanta Progressive News obtained an image of one of the flyers.
Also a billboard, visible from the historic Edmund Pettus Bridge, features a Confederate flag and invites visitors to tour “Selma’s War Between the State’s Historic Sites.”

"But none of this matters, because Selma is only recognized every March when every last ounce of white guilt can be squeezed out of the crumbling majority black city." 

 As well it should be, and not just in March, but year long.

#PatelAlabama: It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. A tale of tale of two grandfathers. One black. One brown. One American. One Not.

A tale of two elderly men of who were both brutalized by police but treated differently.

 

William Frazier, 80, in an emergency room shows injuries he says were inflicted by Huntsville police

Remember William Frazier,  who filed a brutality claim against the Huntsville Police Department and was arrested after he failed to stop for a pursuing police car for more than three miles, ran a red light, hit a curb and swerved around a stop stick before five officers pulled him from the car and took him to the ground?  This comes to mind in light of the recent take down by a Madison police officer  of the Indian grandfather, Sureshbhai Patel, who was partially paralyzed, after someone called to report a skinny black man in the neighborhood.

Fraziers' crime was being black.
Patel's crime seems to be being mistaken for black.


William Frazier files $8 million claim against the city of Huntsville.
 Sureshbhai Patel files suit against the City of Madison and the Police.

Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle defends the actions of Huntsville Police officers and blames the victim.
Madison Mayor Troy Trulock continued discussions with local Indian residents, and Alabama Governor Robert Bentley met with India's general consul.

The Huntsville City Attorney said Fraziers' injuries after police encounter are from arrest, not excessive force.
Madison Police fire, arrest officer who badly injured Indian grandfather during sidewalk stop

North Huntsville residents press for changes after elderly driver's police brutality claim

Sureshbhai Patel at Huntsville Hospital

Indian grandfather's injury by Madison Police officers prompts calls for cultural education.

Madison residents are embarrassed,  offended, and defensive by police assault on elderly grandfather, and a member of the local Indian community, started a Go Fund Me account to help raise funds for the Patel family.  

William Frazier was found guilty of attempting to allude police in city court

#PatelAlabama: It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. A tale of tale of two grandfathers. One black. One brown. One American. One Not.

Eye Report.

You Decide.

What looks like crazy on the left and the right on an ordinary day in Alabama Politics

 

Well, well, well.  Look what I stumbled upon on my morning Blog stroll...... those crazy republicans are trying to send crazy back to the attic.  That's right (pun intended), Radio Boy,  who enabled the birthers and crazy conspiracy theorists that have taken over the local Republican Party… is now trying to help a group called Republican Refresh defeat them at the ballot box.  Snicker

"Republican Refresh is a group Madison County residents tired of the embarrassing antics of the Madison County Republican Executive Party. We have decided to unify under the idea of getting new competent Republican Leadership on the Madison County Republican Executive Committee. For too long, us everyday Republicans have been embarrassed, ashamed, and confused by some of the current members of the Madison County Republican Executive Committee. The time for a refresh is now and starts with you voting on Tuesday June 3rd in the Republican Primary for new local leadership in the Republican Party."

RedEye's Translation:  It's time to send the crazy Aunts and Uncles who say out loud what we say behind closed doors back to the attic.  Uh...good luck with that.  Have you ever heard the saying you can't un ring a bell?

Happy Birthday Left in Alabama!

Speaking of un ringing a bell, lets mosey on over to slightly Left in Alabama, the Informed. Involved. Progressive. blog of record for Alabama politics, where Blogger Smedley  asks readers:

Talk to me.  Tell me what you like, or don't like, about the two Democratic candidates for governor this year, Parker Griffith and Kevin Bass. Parker Griffith I know is a Democrat  Republican Democrat who has served in the State Senate and the US House.  He has a history of right-wing votes. Kevin Bass I know is a former minor-league baseball player with no history of elected office.

And..

 What do you know about these two?  Why should a voter choose one over the other?  Are there reasons to vote for one of them, as opposed to against the other?

I've been giving that question a lot of thought and I'm glad Smedley posed that question, since I'm banned from Left in Alabama for life, allow me respond here in my own sandbox.  I believe in second chances, therefore I'm willing to forgive Parker Griffith for walking on the wild side, but I can't forget Parker Griffith walked on the wild side.  That said, we all make mistakes, ask former Governor George C.Wallace.  Griffith is talking the talk when it comes to jobs, health care, and education, I'm willing to give him the chance to walk the walk.  As my Daddy used to say... vote for the candidate with the smallest foot so when they kick you in your Donkey it won't hurt as bad. 

RedEye tiptoeing away from the computer keeping an Eye on the Reddest of the Red States....