About that Hank Sanders Robo Call "Reaching Democratic Voters" #BlackHistoryMonth2016

Remember the Mad as Hell robocall made by Alabama State Senator Hank Sanders (D. Selma)  during the Alabama Democratic Primary?



Well A Modern Day Slave Plantation Exists, and It's Thriving in The Heart of America.

Hello this is Hank Sanders, Alabama state Senator, and I’m still mad as hell. I say hell no! I ain’t going back to the cotton fields of Jim Crow days. I’m going forward with Ron Sparks, Jim Folsom and others who would do right by all of us. I hope you are mad as hell and will not go back, and you have the power to choose. I will stand until hell freezes over for Ron Sparks for Governor and Jim Folsom for Lt. Governor on November the 2nd.

Paid for by Alabama New South.

Can you hear him now?


#BlackHistoryMonth2016

Slavery has been in the news a lot lately. Perhaps it’s because of the increase in human trafficking on American soil or the headlines about income inequality, the mass incarceration of African Americans or discussions about reparations to the descendants of slaves. Several publications have fueled these conversations: Ta-Nehisi Coates’ The Case for Reparations in The Atlantic Monthly, French economist Thomas Picketty’s Capital in the Twenty First Century, historian Edward Baptist’s The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and The Making of American Capitalism, and law professor Bryan A. Stevenson’s Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption.

Why Reparations? 

"Republicans think President Obama should only get 3/5ths of his term". #SCOTUS #BlackHistoryMonth2016

There is a mean spirit on the loose.  Remember when Alabama State Senator Hank Sanders (D.Selma) said those powerful, provocative words, and was accused of "race baiting".... among other things?  Well, can you hear him now?

The message is clear: Making America Great Again means purging everyone who isn’t white and Christian.

There can be no more pretenses.  The mean spirit is manifested in Voter ID laws, Republican Gerrymandering, and Citizens United.  

The only thing "unprecedented" about this Supreme Court vacancy is the race of the President who gets to fill it. We see you, Republicans. Elections have consequences.

RedEYE

#BlackHistoryMonth2016

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

State Senator Hank Sanders said republicans wanted to return to the days of slavery and Jim Crow, guess what, he was right (no pun)

Remember  Alabama State Senator Hank Sanders (D. Selma) mad as hell robo call to democratic voters that apparently made it on some of the wrong answering machines?

Hello this is Hank Sanders, Alabama state Senator, and I’m still mad as hell. I say hell no! I ain’t going back to the cotton fields of Jim Crow days. I’m going forward with Ron Sparks, Jim Folsom and others who would do right by all of us. I hope you are mad as hell and will not go back, and you have the power to choose. I will stand until hell freezes over for Ron Sparks for Governor and Jim Folsom for Lt. Governor on November the 2nd.
Paid for by Alabama New South.

Remember when CNN correspondent CooperAnderson asked Alabama State Senator Hank Sanders what evidence he had that the Republican opponents would take Alabama back to Jim Crow days after Sanders  Mad as Hell robo call to democratic voters during the 2010 election?

 Well, here is your evidence Mr. Anderson Cooper and Company.

Inmates at an Alabama prison plan to stage a work stoppage this weekend and hope to spur an escalating strike wave, a leader of the effort told Salon in a Thursday phone call from his jail cell.
“We decided that the only weapon or strategy … that we have is our labor, because that’s the only reason that we’re here,” said Melvin Ray, an inmate at the St. Clair correctional facility and founder of the prison-based group Free Alabama Movement. “They’re incarcerating people for the free labor.” Spokespeople for Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley and his Department of Corrections did not respond to midday inquiries Thursday. Jobs done by inmates include kitchen and laundry work, chemical and license plate production, and furniture-making. In 2011, Alabama’s Department of Agriculture reportedly discussed using inmates to replace immigrants for agricultural work; in 2012, the state Senate passed a bill to let private businesses employ prison labor.

 Can you hear him now?

 In Alabama prisons, orange may be the new green. Now here's a compliant labor force that isn't likely to ask for raises, sue for discrimination, or try to join a union: convicts.  It could be the perfect solution for private businesses looking for cheap labor, so of course, Alabama is looking into it.

 Hell no I ain't fergittin!

The Red, Republican, Confederate, Slave States have way too much power

Slave States vs Free States 2012

Hello this is Hank Sanders, Alabama state Senator, and I’m still mad as hell. I say hell no! I ain’t going back to the cotton fields of Jim Crow days. I’m going forward with Ron Sparks, Jim Folsom and others who would do right by all of us. I hope you are mad as hell and will not go back, and you have the power to choose. I will stand until hell freezes over for Ron Sparks for Governor and Jim Folsom for Lt. Governor on November the 2nd.

Paid for by Alabama New South.

Remember Alabama State Senator Hanks Sanders warning to democratic voters prior to the 2010 election?

Remember how he was called a racist/race baiter among other things?

Remember how white democrats preferred republicans by almost 2-1 in the midterm elections?

Some even went as far as to blame  democrats for their demise.

I said then , and I say now, if white democrats had focused on WHAT Senator Sanders said, instead of WHO said it, we wouldn't be in this mess.

Thanks to the TeaPublican Congress and the red, republican, Confederate, Slave states,  voter ID laws could disenfranchise thousands of voters in 2012.   These are the states who went to war to keep black folks enslaved.  These are the states who enacted Jim Crow laws.  These are the states rights states.

African Americans recognize the code words, and the consequences of history repeating itself despite the denials, myths,  and misinformation  disseminated by the gop infused, media enabled, Tea Party, and some (not to be confused with all) white democrats sticking their heads in the sand.

Today's Must Read for White People Only

Tom Degan: Message to My Fellow White People

NOTE TO MINORITY READERS:This posting is FOR WHITES ONLY. Nothing personal but there's a conversation to be had here and it doesn't concern you. If you're African American or Hispanic or Asian or Arab - SCRAM! Gail Collins wrote a particularly witty piece in today's New York Times about a town in North Dakota where the unemployment rate is at one percent. Go read that. You'll all be welcome back with open arms when I write my next piece. Now SCAT, ya hear? 

"Well there is a certain mean spirtness  that's out there, not only in Alabama, but in America, and that's what makes this election so important"~ State Senator Hank Sanders in response to CNN's Anderson Cooper asking him what evidence he had republicans would take Alabama back to Jim Crow Days.

This is a what some "Professional Lefty Retards " tried to tell some of y'all post

Hello this is Hank Sanders, Alabama state Senator, and I’m still mad as hell. I say hell no! I ain’t going back to the cotton fields of Jim Crow days. I’m going forward with Ron Sparks, Jim Folsom and others who would do right by all of us. I hope you are mad as hell and will not go back, and you have the power to choose. I will stand until hell freezes over for Ron Sparks for Governor and Jim Folsom for Lt. Governor on November the 2nd.

Paid for by Alabama New South.

“I heard if the Republicans win the election, their first act of business was going to be sending this monkey back to his cage …” These words were posted on a web site (ala.com) in response to a robo ad I sent. There is a mean spirit on the loose.

Rangel: It's disgraceful that he has to make any explanation for anything. The intrusion of the media and Republicans into the sacred relationship that worshipers have with their spiritual leaders I think is going to come back to haunt us. To think that we have to go into the lives and the beliefs of Rabbis and Priests and ministers and Imams is absolutely ridiculous. We've got a war on. We've got an economy that's splintered. I think the media should be more responsible and start dealing with those issues. I don't think many people care what reverend Wright thinks and I don't see why any candidate should have to explain what ..

Rep Waters: "One of the things we can't do is, we can't let them distract from what we're all about, and what we're trying to accomplish. We're trying to keep the focus on comprehensive, universal health care reform, and they're going all over the place. They are desperate, uh, they don't have leadership, uh, they really don't know what to do, and so, I think we're going to continue to see a lot of crazy things happening, like all of the, uh, outrage that has been demonstrated at these town hall meetings, like the kind of statement that Congresswoman Jenkins made, and let them define themselves, let them reveal who they are. The American public needs to see that."

Howard Dean said a public health insurance option is more important than bipartisanship, and that Democrats should pass health-care legislation that includes the option with 51 votes if necessary.

Dean added that Democrats should have "no intention" of working with Republicans if it's not the strongest possible legislation that could be passed with a simple majority.


Bernie Sanders went to the floor of the Senate last December to deliver the most important congressional address of 2010, a nine-hour long, filibuster-style condemnation of economic policies that favored the rich while burdening working Americans. The independent senator from Vermont electrified the nation with a call for economic justice that challenged Obama administration compromises with Republicans on issues of tax policy and declared: "There is a war going on in this country, and I am not referring to the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan. I am talking about a war being waged by some of the wealthiest and most powerful people in this country against the working families of the United States of America, against the disappearing and shrinking middle class of our country."

Sorry but I'm going to have to throw a wet blanket on this "bipartisan" love fest.
Has anyone noticed but me that republicans are bipartisan when it's benefits them? Bipartisanship to republicans means you join us, we don't join you.

Mo, Dale, Teabaggers, how about joining with Democrats/liberals fighting for health care reform, or the Jobs bill, or bringing our troops home from Iraq? Bipartisanship is two way, not one way.

Words of caution and advice to my progressive/democratic friends. Make sure you identify yourselves as such so that you won't be lumped in with the Teabaggers. They are NOT your friend(s). Don't let yourself be used to enable the right wing/conservative agenda.


The president said the Republican Party was focused on things like tax cuts for the rich and cuts to education funding rather than helping middle class Americans and young people.

"If we don't have strong leaders in Congress who are supportive of this agenda, who are supportive of moving the country forward," the president said. "If instead we've got folks who want to move backwards to the same failed policies that got us into this mess in the first place, then it's going to be very difficult for me to keep making progress and do what folks want to see me do over the next two years."

Redeye's Top Ten Post of 2010 Part II

#5 Where in the world is Congresswoman elect Terri Sewell

#4 Update: Terri Sewell is Artur Davis in Designer Pumps, all style no substance

#3 WTF did Joe Reed do to you?

#2 Jim Folsom lost, blame Hank Sanders Robo call

#1 Why Dr. Joe Reed should be the next chairperson of the Alabama Democratic Party

Hank Sanders was right (no pun)

Well what do you know? Southern Slavery Apologist Plan Celebration of Confederacy and Civil War on the steps of the Cradle of the Confederacy in Montgomery, Alabama.

The events include a “secession ball” in the former slave port of Charleston (“a joyous night of music, dancing, food and drink,” says the invitation), which will be replicated on a smaller scale in other cities. A parade is being planned in Montgomery, Ala., along with a mock swearing-in of Jefferson Davis as president of the Confederacy.

I wonder if they are going to make black folks dress up like slaves and wear chains and shackles? Yes that was a snark. Kinda. And before the it's about our Southern Heritage/History crowd kicks into full gear, what Oliver Willis said;

No, it isn’t “southern pride” or any of the b.s. euphemisms used down south to defend raping history and promoting the whitewash of the confederacy. It’s apologizing for those who went to war for the right to keep slaves:

Hell No! We ain't fergittin! Evah!

A friend of mine was drafted into the Army in 1963(4). While serving at Restone Arsenal he was the first African American to be awarded base soldier of the month. White soldiers were given a $50.00 meal allowance and a free night at the Russell Erskine Hotel (whites only). Black soldiers were given $50.00 and a free night at the Gladys Jane Hotel(black owned but anyone could stay there). My friend thought that was fundamentally unfair so he went through the base chain of command and with the help of the local NAACP was allowed to spend the night and eat dinner at the Russell Erskine Hotel the same as his white counter parts.

A few months later, in the jungle of Viet Nam he says one of his Vietnamese friends asked him, "If democracy is so great why do you have to go all over the world pushing it down people's throats"?

I guess it depends on what definition of modern day reparations IS.

Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, likened the black farmers program to "modern-day reparations" for African-Americans and argued along with Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., that the claims process is rife with fraud.

Reparations? Not hardly.

My mother and I were talking about the institution and the legacy of Slavery today. We were wondering why the republicans were so mean and hateful, when she reminded me today's republicans are yesterday's democrats, and this is the same mindset that fought a war and died in order to keep other human beings in bondage.

Slavery says on its existence that some human do not, cannot, and should own their selves.

So true.

So, theres a saying in Alabama, if you throw a rock at a pen full of pigs the one that squeals is the one that was hit. Ask Alabama State Senator Hank Sanders.

Hello this is Hank Sanders, Alabama state Senator, and I’m still mad as hell. I say hell no! I ain’t going back to the cotton fields of Jim Crow days. I’m going forward with Ron Sparks, Jim Folsom and others who would do right by all of us. I hope you are mad as hell and will not go back, and you have the power to choose. I will stand until hell freezes over for Ron Sparks for Governor and Jim Folsom for Lt. Governor on November the 2nd.

Paid for by Alabama New South.

Might as well change that to Alabama Old South.

Song of the South

Redeye's Tuesday Must Reads

There are two sides to every story and we finally get to hear Keith Olbermans side, not from MSM but via buzzflash.com

You should also know that I did not attempt to keep any of these political contributions secret; I knew they would be known to you and the rest of the public. I did not make them through a relative, friend, corporation, PAC, or any other intermediary, and I did not blame them on some kind of convenient 'mistake' by their recipients.

The South Shall Rise Again!

As the Democrats get clobbered time and again, I note how these successes remind me of he the Southern Strategy used to gain control of the Congress before the Civil War and how again they used it to almost win the Civil War.

Yep. Alabama's' own Senator Jefferson Beauregard Sessions fired the first shot when he made sure the Azalea Trail Maids were Alabama's only representative in the inaugural parade of the first African American President of the United States of America. When Alabama State NAACP VP Edward Vaughn, myself and others tried to sound the alarm, we were called racist and accused of attacking the "girls" and told to STFD and STFU.

Get over it. This is such a non-issue. No one see these girls as a representation of racism except those who get bent out of shape over trivial little matters.
Complete nonissue. It is pretty funny to see how much time and attention you have put into this.

Note, some of these same people complain media attention given to AL State Senator Hank Sanders' mad as hell robo call to DEMOCRATIC voters cost Lt. Governor Jim Folsom the election, and portrayed Alabama in a negative light. There is more than a whiff of hypocrisy.

CNN reaches a lot of people, even in Alabama. Folsom only lost to Kay Ivey by about 45,000 votes. There's no way to know how many people came out to vote for Folsom because they got the call vs. how many were motivated to vote against him because they heard about it, but I'd love to see what kind of movement Folsom and/or Ivey's internal polls showed between October 15th, when the calls hit Alabama answering machines, and Election Day.

The fix is in.

Hmmmm, sooooooo we just experienced a wave election fueled by anger in the electorate over the lack of jobs and feelings about the economy. YET it is now reported that the economy was showing these really positive signs of improvement for the last couple months - BUT news outlets like MSNBC sat on the numbers and only released them AFTER the elections, along with a glowing commentary encouraging people to be optimistic.
Don't sleep... The Hustler's are coming home to roost.

It’s funny but having the first black President has been a dual edged sword. On the one hand we have been given the boost to our pride of finally achieving the highest office in the land and that black folks have all the skills necessary to overcome centuries of racism and on the other hand we have a President who can barely use the word black in public for fear of agitating the racist who will be agitated no matter what he says.

"All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent."
--Thomas Jefferson

Peace be with you.

Who is WE fundmaker?

Confederate General Robert E. Lee sig line blogger fundmaker has the nerve to ask Does Nancy Pelosi deserve to be Dem leader on the front page at right leaning Left in Alabama.

Nancy Pelosi held a news conference on Friday to announce that she intends to remain leader of the Democrats in the House. While she recieved statements of support from a few veteran Dem's such as Jesse Jackson Jr. (Ill), she has drawn multiple comments of criticism from other Democrats, based on concerns that she may not represent the consensus anymore. Other worries are that she has played a direct role in the defeat Democrats suffered at the hands of the Republicans in the recent mid-term elections.

Does Pelosi deserve to remain leader? Do we need fresh blood? Do we need a more mainstream leader?

First of all it should be Does Nancy Pelosi deserve to the DEMOCRATIC leader and secondly who the heck is WE?

Because of the branding issues and stigmas associated with the words, "Conservative, Liberal, Socialist, Right-Winger, Lefty, Yellow" it is very hard to find descriptives to use for ones political mindset. Even if there were no stigmas, the descriptives are so broadly interpreted now that you still have to wonder what they actually mean.

Let me explain. If I call myself a "Liberal", that does not mean I am pro-abortion and anti-gun in my opinion. But, it might mean that to someone else. The definitions of descriptives are far too broad today.

On a personal level, I feel like the most descriptive words to actually describe my ideaological platform would be "Socialist" and "Conservative". No, I am not a Soviet era sympathizer. In fact, I despise communistic principles. I do however support some socialistic aspects. I want to list some of my views on issues and you guys try to describe me using descriptives. Rename me....

Have you been defined yet? And what do you mean by do WE need someone "more mainstream"? Somebody like this?

If I like a candidate, I vote for them. If I don't like the candidate, I don't vote for them. If I like both candidates, I go with the one I like the best. If I don't like either, I either go with the lesser of two evils (if the other choice is truly horrible) or don't vote at all in that particular race.

The letter next to a person's name has little to do with who I vote for. Everyone has good folks and bad folks. I'm not going to vote for a bad candidate or hold back from voting for a good one just because of his party affiliation.

What's up with the race baiting? Never mind, WE know.

While she recieved statements of support from a few veteran Dem's such as Jesse Jackson Jr. (Ill),

Since you have privileges I don't have at LiA let a DEMOCRAT answer your question.
Does Nancy Pelosi DESERVE to the the DEMOCRATIC Leader?

HELL YES. Nancy Pelosi is effective and is reading willing and able to stand up to Boehner. She has proven she is not skeered to stand up to the right wing Bully's. Any other Minority leader will be nothing but a republican enabler. Which is why republicans are skeered to death of her.

Let's revisit the post from yesterday about the Blue Dogs and other conservatives who threw Pelosi-- and the Democratic brand-- under the bus to try to save their own asses. The question was, "did it help any of them?" Well, every single challenger who came out with idiotic statements like, "I'll support Allen Boyd for Speaker" (grotesquely corrupt Alabama lobbyist Steve Raby), was defeated. The three most aggressively anti-Pelosi Blue Dogs, Bobby Bright (AL), Jim Marshall (GA) and Gene Taylor (MS), were defeated. Blue Dogs Mike McIntyre (NC) and Jason Altmire (PA) managed to survive the slaughter. More than half the Blue Dogs were defeated or retired. Only 47% of them, a number which will go down when Jim Costa's (CA-20) likely loss is announced later today) were reelected. Contrast that to the 95% of the Congressional Progressive Caucus members who were reelected.

If WE democrats wanted a republican leader WE democrats would elect republican leader.

The reason the gop infused, media enabled Tea Party hijacked Hope and Change was because republicans were UNIFED in their opposition. Unlike democrats, they put party before country.

I think when you run against your own party in this age of polarization you are begging the electorate to vote for your opponent. We aren't in an age of ticket splitting and the parties are breaking pretty clearly along ideological lines (even if the Democrats haven't figured that out yet.)

When WE democrats stop enabling and appeasing republicats WE democrats will win. Because WE Democrats are for right and THEY are for wrong.

Amen and Amen

The one thing that is needed with the Democrats in the state of Alabama is strength. We have too many Democrats that are afraid to call out Republicans for lying to the people of Alabama. The number one reason that Republicans have dominated this state is: the message of the Republican Party.

Democrats have allowed Republicans to dominate the message in this state. They used the right leaning media in this state. However, when Democrats have the chance to get quality media coverage, the message is one of cow towing instead of calling out Republicans. Sure Ron Sparks called out Dr. Bentley for not wanting kids in this state to get a college education, however, did he truly explain why Republicans feel this way? Republicans feel this way because they want to keep the masses “down and dumb” so they promote the message of “I am pro life guy” and people who have nothing will fall for it every time. From 2001 – 2007 Republicans controlled the White House, Congress, and the Supreme Court, however, Roe v. Wade was not overturned. Why did not any Democrat (Sparks, Anderson, Folsom) call out Republicans? Do Republicans really have your best interest?

It's kind of hard for democrats to get their message out and counter the right wing spin out when progressive voices are suppressed and cenosored.

Edit~Jim Folsom lost, blame Hank Sanders Robo Call

There is an old saying in Alabama..if you throw a rock at a pen full of pigs the one that squeals is the one that was hit. Well, there's a whole lot of squealing going on about Alabama State Senators Mad as Hell Robo Call to DEMOCRATIC, I repeat DEMOCRATIC supporters. I emphasize DEMOCRATIC supporters because the non DEMOCRATIC supporters are squealing like pigs because gasp! Anderson Cooper discussed the robo call on AC 360 and showed Sweet Home Alabama for what it really is, I mean in a bad light, for all the world to see. Not only that... according to them, the race baiting robo call may have hurt Jim Folsom.

CNN reaches a lot of people, even in Alabama. Folsom only lost to Kay Ivey by about 45,000 votes. There's no way to know how many people came out to vote for Folsom because they got the call vs. how many were motivated to vote against him because they heard about it, but I'd love to see what kind of movement Folsom and/or Ivey's internal polls showed between October 15th, when the calls hit Alabama answering machines, and Election Day. I recall hearing of a similar robocall using highly charged language in the 2009 special election that sent Paul Sanford (R, SD7) to the Alabama State Senate. The call was on behalf of his opponent, Rep. Laura Hall, who is black, but it ended up on some of the wrong answering machines and fueled charges of reverse racism. GOP turnout was very high for a special and Hall lost badly.

Let's not re-write history. If I recall radio boy, aka Dale Jackson, sent out an email with the official state seal of the Alabama Secretary of State on it telling democrats they were to vote on Wednesday instead of Thursday, in addition to calling State Representative Laura Hall a racist coward  on his blog. GOP turnout was very high because Bob Riley's evil plan worked. Remember?

The Riley administration has carefully planned the special elections this year to minimize turnout, especially Democratic turnout. They set the special elections in Madison county after Alabama A&M and UAH had finished their spring semesters, and they set the House District 6 primary to fall right after the Memorial Day holiday - when people might be distracted, or otherwise stretching a holiday weekend out for another day

And let's not forget WHY we were having a special elections in the first place, because of the so called democratic culture of corruption and cronyism.

And sometimes prosecutions of Republicans by the Bush Justice Department reflects not even-handedness, but equally insidious corruption. That’s the point for my notes today.

If we had to pick one state in the nation where these evil tendencies are most obviously on display, then certainly it is Alabama, home to the nation’s highest profile and most abusive political prosecution. A major television network will shortly be exposing a number of lurid details surrounding the Siegelman case which point to corruption inside of the Justice Department. I have formed the view that the corruption on the prosecutorial side of the ledger greatly outweighs the corruption charged against the defendants in the Siegelman matter. The corruption inside of the Justice Department is exhibited on several different levels:

• The politicization of the U.S. attorney’s office
• The process of “targeting” political victims
• The corrupt manipulation of evidence
• The process of working to secure convictions through collaboration with “friendly” media

Yeah, we've got it all in Alabama. Lucky us. H/T mooncat

What Hank Sanders said!

Cooper asked Sanders what evidence he had that the Republican opponents would take Alabama back to Jim Crow days. Sanders said, "Well, there's a certain mean spiritness that's out there, not only in Alabama but it's in America. And that makes this election extremely important."

If some white voters didn't vote for Jim Folsom because of Hank Sanders robo call, they probably weren't going to vote for him anyway. But what does this whole controversy say about white voters? Are they squealing because the robo call hit a nerve? Did it expose the dirty little secret about racism not only in Alabama but in America? Racism is that thing you did, not that thing you said. Remember?The way to eradicate racism is to expose it.

State Senator Hank Sanders is a grown a$$ man. He has the right (no pun) to say whatever he chooses, however he chooses. If some cats are "offended by it" tough titty said the kitty.

There is a real dilemma in communicating with masses of people. If we speak in a way that is acceptable to everyone, we move few. If we speak in a way that effectively moves many, we offend some others. I have worked for years to effectively communicate so I move many without offending many. I don’t always succeed.

Well, I cut a second robo ad. I did not back away from the word “hell.” I said, “I will stand until hell freezes over!” I said “Hell no, I will not go back!” One of the first responses to the ad came from a woman in Mobile. She said that she had not intended to vote, but after my robo call, she not only was going to vote, but was urging others to vote. She said that she was “also mad as hell.” Our perceptions, judgments, and responses are so different.

Lt. Governor Jim Folsom was asked to renounce, reject and repudiate State Senators Sanders and like a big man he refused to play the part of Plantation Overseer.

"It wasn't by me," Folsom said. "I have no responsibility for it."

Asked what changes he would make if he wrote the script, Folsom said he would not use any four-letter words.

State Senator Sanders robo call didn't hurt Jim Folsom, removing the Confederate Flag from the state capitol hurt Jim Folsom.

James E. Folsom Jr. was Alabama's governor from 1993-95 and the only governor so far to assume that office as a result of the felony conviction of his predecessor. He is also one of only two fathers and sons who served as governors of Alabama, the other being Edward and Emmet O'Neal. Folsom is notable for his removal of the Confederate battle flag from the state capital, and he appointed a number of African Americans and women to his staff. He also helped initiate the movement of the automotive industry to the Southeast when he helped bring a Mercedes-Benz plant to the state.

I have more R-E-S-P-E-C-T for State Senator Sanders, and Lt. Governor Jim Folsom than I do for Anderson Cooper and his merry panel of all white, except one, African American Talking TeeVee Pundit Heads.

It wasn't the Robo Call that hurt Folsom. It was the stoopid racist and the stoopid racism. Of course it's easier to blame it on the black guy.

Redeye's Under the Radar Report

You won't hear about this on TeeVee;

Imagine the look of contempt on Karl Rove’s face this past Sunday as he swaggered toward his star turn on CBS’s Face the Nation only to be served with our subpoena sanctioned by the Secretary of the State of Ohio.

The federal subpoena orders Rove to testify in deposition. Our attorney, Cliff Arnebeck, intends to ask Mr. Rove about his role in the theft of the 2004 election, and to discuss his orchestration of tens of millions of corporate/billionaire dollars in the one coming up on November 2, 2010.

The Talking TeeVee Pundit heads are talking about Alex Sinks text message, the Rhode Island democratic gubernatorial nominee telling President Obama to shove it, and Rand Paul's *cough cough* professionalism but not a peep about this

The talking heads on Morning Joe told me that Rand Paul won his debate with Jack Conway last night because he came off as 'professorial.' But I don't think you can win a debate if all the news coverage coming out of it is related to one of your supporters stomping on the head of a woman.

Senator Ted Kennedy was right (pun intended), Torture was under new management in Iraq. Shoot the messenger.

A Fox News contributor and former state department adviser has accused WikiLeaks of conducting "political warfare against the US" and called for those behind the whistleblowing website to be declared "enemy combatants" so they can be subjected to "non-judicial actions".

In an opinion piece on the Fox News site, Christian Whiton lambasts Congress and the White House for failing to tackle the leaking of hundreds of thousands of files about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and demands action.

Here is why republicans want to control the
Governors office, the Lt. Governors office and the Alabama legislature and what they plan to do;

the Lt. Gov. appoints HALF of the Redistricting Committee in Alabama? A Folsom victory could result in a split Committee, which could maintain or increase Democrat control… or, at the very least, make it very hard for Republican to change the districts. Alabama needs permanent, positive change, and that starts with redistricting. An “under vote” on LT. GOV. is a vote for the status quo, and a vote for Folsom is a vote for politics as usual. Kind of only leaves one choice, eh?

I'd like to know who's in charge of the Alabama Democratic Party strategy-specifically who's big bright idea it was to Fight for Alabama with a right leaning blog? Trust the ADP to take a butter knife to a gunfight. *Sigh*

It ain't over till it's over
While Sparks has not had the advantage of the corporate money dump that Bentley is using, he has done a fairly brilliant job of playing the hand he has been dealt.

If you think Halloween is scary, stay your Donkey at home on November 2nd and see how frightful things will be. I will be voting a straight ticket because that's the kind of democrat I am.

The Shirley Sherroding of Hank Sanders

You know the drill by now.

Take a snippet of AL State Senator Hanks Sanders robo call to DEMOCRATIC voters out of context and spin it like a top. It's not what you say, it's what other people hear.

What AL State Senator Hank Sanders actually said;

Hello this is Hank Sanders, Alabama state Senator, and I’m still mad as hell. I say hell no! I ain’t going back to the cotton fields of Jim Crow days. I’m going forward with Ron Sparks, Jim Folsom and others who would do right by all of us. I hope you are mad as hell and will not go back, and you have the power to choose. I will stand until hell freezes over for Ron Sparks for Governor and Jim Folsom for Lt. Governor on November the 2nd.

Paid for by Alabama New South.

This is what the Reactionaries heard.
Here;

Sanders comments shouldn't shock any of you. The democrat power brokers like Hank have played low income blacks for fools for decades now. I probably mentioned this before but Ill never forget being in a democrat party headquarters on election day along the stateline when I was a little boy back in the 80’s and hearing a certain democrat elected county schools superintendent yell at volunteer drivers to be sure and take the [archaic, inappropriate term for a black person] to vote before you take them to get some fried chicken and beer at the Qmart store. But until the GOP starts recruiting credible young black gentlemen into the party in these areas. You might as well continue to get used to the Hank Sanders of the world….

This is what he should have said;

A message that might appeal to both Democratic groups is something like:

Republicans are taking care of the rich people; Democrats care about people like you.

And this;

I am upset that a politician by the name of Hank Sanders keeps calling my house campaigning for Ron Sparks and Jim Folsom using foul language. This is very unprofessional and I do not appreciate such language being brought into my home and left on my machine.

He goes into how he is mad as “h—-” and he hopes that we are mad as “h—-” and that he is not going back to Jim Crow days. The number he is calling from blocks all incoming calls or I would tell him this myself.

America, when did we become so immoral?

There's an old saying, if you throw a rock at a pen full of pigs the one that squeals is the one that was hit. Looks like there's a whole lot of squealing going on. We can all pretend the Tea Party movement of today is yesterday's Southern Strategy. We can pretend the gop is tolerant and inclusive of minorities. We can pretend KY republican Senatorial nominee Rand Paul doesn't want to repeal the 14th amendment. We can pretend AL 05 Congressional nominee Mo Brooks and AL Senate nominee Paul Sandford didn't snub the NAACP. We can pretend Alabama isn't the home of former Governor George C. Wallace and Bull Conner. We can pretend Alabama democrats aren't under attack. We can pretend we don't know what the gop infused, media enabled, Tea Party candidates mean when they say "they want to take their country BACK". We can pretend Alabama and America is post racial, but that's exactly what we would be doing. I'm sick and tired of pretending everything is lovey dovey.

I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.
Elie Wiesel

Senator Sanders said he was supporting candidates like Ron Sparks and Jim Folsom who will take us forward, not backwards. Instead of focusing on going forward the Reactionaries focused on re-enslavement and the word hell. Project much?

In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.
Martin Luther King Jr.
US black civil rights leader & clergyman (1929 - 1968)

Those who do not remember their past are condemned to repeat their mistakes. ... the mistakes of their predecessors are destined to repeat them~George Santayana



Hell no I ain't fergittin!