Regular readers know Friday, November 13, 2009 was indeed unlucky for me because it was the beginning of the end of my posting privileges at the Informed. Involved. Progressive. democratic blog of record, Left in Alabama, supposedly because of the content of my comments and other posts. EYE still think it was because of my non support of a gubernatorial candidate (which EYE ended up being right about). So from now until November 13, 2014, EYE will re post links to the posts EYE (pun intended) believe led to my being banned from Left in Alabama and let you decide.
Blast from the Past Re-Post #1: Cynthia Tucker Looks at the Alabama Governors Race
Artur Davis
has to walk the fine line in this campaign: convince the big middle of
the electorate to judge him on the issues -- he's a fairly moderate
reformer with broad appeal -- without turning off voters who may have followed Joe Reed's advice in the past. He needs to convince those voters to judge him on the issues instead of listening to Reed's advice.
There's
a generational power struggle going on in Alabama that has nothing to
do with race. It's all about whether the current gatekeepers and power
brokers in the Democratic party can maintain their hold on the party --
and whether they get to exercise veto power over candidates. Davis
stands largely outside the current party structure and a win for him
will signal diminished influence for the folks currently running the
show.
Gatekeepers like Reed and AEA Executive Secretary Paul Hubbert (both of whom are vice-chairs of the state party) probably don't have enough power to deny Davis the nomination outright, but they might have enough power to throw the general election to a Republican. The November election will be that close and the rift between Davis and Reed appears deep enough that such extreme action is imaginable -- check the examples of John Tyson or Patricia Todd
if you don't believe it. While denying Davis the governorship because
he didn't come, hat in hand, to ask permissions and make deals would
probably feel good for a few nanoseconds, it's squarely in the category
of "cutting off your nose to spite your face." The aftermath of such a
strategy would certainly bring the Old Guard down in a wave of
resentment.
Be sure and read the comments (please excuse the typos and grammatical errors).
I
respect Cynthia Tucker as a a Nobel prize winning journalist and
Alabama native, but she doesn't know what she's talking about. She is
playing the old tried and true race baiting card from the bottom of the race deck of cards and saying what white folks say privately but can't say out loud.
RedEye Reports what You decide.
Oops, I mean the formation of the Democratic Majority. :) So, Judge Mark Kennedy basically gave the same speech to the Democratic Majority he gave to the Alabama Democratic Party two years ago. I hope he has a different result with his "new organization" , because you know what they say about doing the same thing over and over again. Since he won't have Joe Reed and his bunch to obstruct him at every turn, he's leaving the ADP millions of dollars in debt, raided most of the ADP staff and opened field office in Birmingham, he shouldn't have a problem turning the ADP into his uncle's ADP.
You can think what you want, but If you have any doubt Kennedy took his toys and went home because of Joe Reed and his bunch look no farther than this statement by Madison County Democratic Chair Clete Wetli.
"Part of the issue is just the way Joe Reed has operated and some of
the decisions he has made, especially recently, it kind of promotes a
divisive sort of politics that most Democrats are not interested in,"
Wetli said. "What we're interested in doing is fixing the economy in
Alabama, ensuring public education is where it needs to be, making sure
we promote a message of real equality and real inclusion.
Now why wouldn't Joe Reed be interested in fixing the economy in Alabama, ensuring every child has access to a public education, and making sure we promote a message of real equality and real inclusion? It's not like that's what he's fought for all his life.
"If you
look back, unfortunately, over the past decade of how Joe Reed has
operated in Montgomery, that certainly hasn't been the message he put
out there. I think Judge Kennedy did his absolute best to try to change
things from within. When that became impossible, he decided to do
something different."
So let's look at what things Judge Kennedy did his absolute best to try to change from within and how Joe Reed obstructed, I mean operated in Montgomery. As John Archibald says, It's all about the Racism. Intolerance. Prejudice. of Joe Reed and his bunch.
And
none of this would have happened if not for the blatant politics of race. It
would not have been necessary – let's be real – without Nikki Still.
You remember Still? She was a
candidate for a Jefferson County judgeship who finished second in her party
primary. When the first place finisher was disqualified, the Alabama Democratic
Executive Committee met and ...
The rest is disturbing history.
The committee – controlled in
large part by Joe Reed, the powerful lightning-rod leader of the black wing of
the party -- refused to appoint Still to the judgeship because she is white.
Really.
They chose a black woman
candidate – one who did not even run in the primary – because the first-place
finisher was a black woman.
It was a powerful message of
racial politics, from the party that claims to have a big umbrella.
Of course, the split wouldn't
have happened without Patricia Todd, either. Todd is a white woman from
Birmingham, the first openly gay member of the Alabama Legislature and a
representative who has gained grudging respect from Democrats and Republicans
alike.
Reed tried – and failed – to have
Todd kicked out of office.
Because, as he saw it, a white woman
had no business representing a majority black district. Even if it was the
majority black district that elected her.
Let's debunk the Nikki Still misinformation first.
It continues to be a source of consternation to the Alabama, white power structure they keep being outsmarted by the State Democratic Executive Committee led by their arch enemy Dr. Joe L. Reed.
Just like Andrew Breitbart took
a snippet of Shirley Sherrods' speech to the NAACP out of context to
illustrate so called "black racism", The Big Mules, aided and abetted by
some white democrats, accuse the SDEC of blatant racism because they
didn't select the white women who lost the election to replace the black
woman who won the election, after she was removed from the ballot.
Marshall, who is black, had her law license suspended, and that
caused her to be removed as the Democratic Party nominee for a Jefferson
County judgeship. That led the Alabama Democratic Executive Committee
(ADEC) to replace Marshall with Elisabeth French, who is black, instead
of Nicole Gordon Still, who is white and was runner up to Marshall in the
primary election.
Legal Schnauzer breaks it down.
Alabama's mainstream press has tended to portray ADEC's decision as
based on race. French is black and Still is white--and the nomination
came open when Kenya Lavender Marshall, who is black and won the
Democratic primary, had her law license suspended over allegations from the Alabama State Bar that she had misappropriated some $30,000 from a client account.
But this is not the first time recently that Alabama Democrats have
rejected a candidate who seemed too cozy with the state's elites. Just a
few weeks back, Artur Davis was beaten soundly in the party's primary
for governor. Davis, who is black, had sought support from the Business
Council of Alabama and other corporate types. Still had been appointed
to the judicial seat last June by GOP Governor Bob Riley, and we suspect
that helped sink her chances with the Democratic committee.
Thanks to the folks at Left in Alabama, we can see for ourselves.
Here is a video from the event, with Reed's comments starting at about
the 2:10 mark. Elisabeth French speaks at about 4:50, and a clearly
agitated Nichole Gordon Still speaks at about 6:08.
As for the Patrica Todd affair, her opponent, Gaynell Hendricks mother in law, Mattie Childress contested the election on these grounds:
In a document filed on July 27,
Ms. Childress accused Jefferson County election officials of
“malconduct which occurred [that] was calculated to prevent a fair, free
and full exercise of the elective franchise”. She claimed that Patricia
received “illegal” votes and that vote totals were changed without
notification to Ms. Hendricks.
It is true Patrica Todd is a white woman represented a majority black district. It is true Joe Reed opposed her election as he should have. Attorney Jerome Grey explains why:
In 2000, the district was drawn with a 63 percent black majority.
In the years since, gentrification has shrunk that proportion, and some
estimate the current black population at about 50 percent. In
his letter endorsing Hendricks, [Joe] Reed warned black community
leaders that if they elected a white candidate, the district could be
redrawn without a black majority.
It was NEVER about Todd or her sexual orientation,
it was about the district and the real possibility a the
district lines would be redrawn to the exclusion of African American
representation. Yes,the same African American representation mean,
evil, old Joe Reed fought and sacrificed for.
Joe Reed is known as a “fighter for fairness” for black representation.
In 1975, Joe Reed led the efforts to get equitable representation for
blacks on the Montgomery City Council. His efforts resulted in four (4)
blacks of nine (9) being elected. He served on the Montgomery City
Council for 24 years. In the Democratic Party today, Alabama’s black
representation exceeds all other states in the nation. For over 40 years
he has led the effort to get more blacks elected and appointed to
public office, including federal marshals, federal and state judges,
members of the boards of registrars, legislators, county commissioners,
city councils, and school boards. Due largely to his leadership, today
Alabama has more black elected officials than any state in the nation.
He drafted two (2) plans that increased black representation in the
Alabama House of Representatives from 13 to 27; and in the Senate from 3
to 8 in 1982, and 1992, respectively. He also drew a reapportionment
plan that provided for 25% (two of eight) majority black districts on
the State Board of Education. Alabama is the only state in the nation
where the Legislature reflects the state’s population of blacks and
whites. Dr. Reed’s congressional plan also led to Alabama’s gaining a
black congressional seat.
And let me clear
something else up while I'm on a roll. Black folks aren't stupid. We
don't sit around and wait on Joe Reed to tell us what to do and when to
do it. We don't sit around and wait on Joe Reed to give us advice. We
don't hate Joe Reed. We admire Joe Reed. We are grateful to Joe Reed
for his SERVICE and his accomplishments.... because without Joe Reed there would be no Congressman Artur Davis (DINO).
No one will be able lead the Alabama Democratic
Party until it becomes less about race and more about ideology.Until that happens, Alabama will never be a two-party state.~ John Archibald
