Biting off your nose to spite your face Bama style

Not only do liberal/democrats in Sweet Home Alabama have to fight the gop infused, media enabled, Teabaggers, we have to fight the so called Progressive/Grassroots/DemoCats too.   Sigh

Here's the latest:
This doesn't happen that often, campers!  The Alabama Democratic Party has scheduled its next meeting in Birmingham instead of Montgomery, so mark your calendars, ignore the football games, and show up to see the party leadership in action.
The time hasn't been set yet, but we'll let you know. These meetings usually begin around midday.  The meeting will be at the Wynfrey Hotel near the Galleria.
The scuttlebut before the meeting is that the interim chair Nancy Worley will ask the executive committee to open qualifying in October, which is several months earlier than the party usually does so.  If the committee agrees to do so, it could allow candiates to boost their public profiles before the primary and it would certainly help fill the party's depleted coffers with qualifying fees.
In any case, make plans to attend.  The Over The Mountain Democrats said it best in a recent email:

As a Democrat or a Progressive, with any interest in politics in general, and how your state's party operates and governs itself, in particular, you need to come to this meeting and see for yourself how party politics works at the Executive Committee level. 

Hope to see y'all there! 

Not content to have formed their own separate but unequal party  because they couldn't stand the leadership of the Alabama Democratic Party, the Democrat or Progressives (I wish they would make up their daggum minds) are planning to crash the Alabama Democratic Party meeting in Birmingham.

Why?

Reed had almost all of his troops present Saturday, and still only produced 90-95 votes on the typical issue. There is every chance that he can be outvoted if 200 or more members (including the Reed group) grace us with their presence, and engage in the slightest degree of organization and planning. Futility is no more valid an excuse for your absence than one of a dozen soccer games in your child’s season.

OK, so you stage a coup d'état and get rid of Joe Reed and his Bunch and then what?

 Has Joe Reed, like a certain British monarch, tragically stayed too long in his post, to the detriment of the realm? That is a topic far beyond the scope of this blog post. I will tell both sides of that fight, that we cannot beat the Republicans without the votes Joe Reed and his supporters represent. Neither can we beat them if we cannot reach beyond those voters.

 What part of you the voters you want to reach beyond are not democrats today, will not be democrats tomorrow, and will not ever be democrats, don't you understand?

 A party divided will not and can not stand.  

While democrats, and I use the term loosely,  were distracted and wasting time forming an anti Joe Reed and his bunch organization the AL GOP is hard at work.

  You cannot curse Bubba and Cooter, Big Man, and June Bug in the daytime and beg them at night.~ Dr. Joe Reed 

 "When you talk about the law discriminating, the law granting a privilege here, and a right here and denying it there, that's a civil rights issue. And I can't take that away from anybody." - Rev. Joseph Lowery

Hump Day Hypocrisy Diary # 2

 2000+ Comments

From DaleJackson @aol.com

To Redeyeblog.Alabama@yahoo.com

Wednesday, 

Sent Monday August 26, 2013 at 9:04 AM

You can continue to make them all day, but you will be blocked and I will not engage you on Twitter UNTIL you acknowledge you will NOT play the "I don't understand card"...

Ignore this e-mail if you want.

Dale Jackson
PD/ Host of The Dale Jackson Show 6AM-9AMThe Attack Machine Blog
NewsTalk 770 AM/92.5 FM WVNN
Cumulus Media - Huntsville , ALdale.jackson@cumulus.com
Office:  (256) 216-0165
Fax: (256) 232-6842

This is a copy of an email I received this morning from conservative radio talk show host, and Rush Limbaugh wannabe, Dale "Jackson" informing me he is still standing in the Blogosphere Door and preventing me from commenting unless I bow down to his demand and admit I will NOT play the "I don't understand card"...  In other words, it's my way or the highway.  

 What exactly is playing  the "I don't understand card" you ask?   It's when a person dares ask Dale to clarify, explain or justify, his comments/point of view. You know, that thingy that usually happens during the course of a civilized, respectful, mature,  debate/discussion.

Either Dale thinks I can read his mind, knows when he's joking, or, what he's trying to say, or, he feels as if he is one who can not be questioned.

Yes, the same Dale Jackson who is accusing Huntsville City Council member Will Culver of running away from his questions,  demanding answers from high profile city officials,  and, who filed a freedom of information request with the City of Huntsville regarding the hiring of Kenneth Anderson as the Multicultural Affairs head.

What's amazing to me is the fact Dale doesn't see the gross hypocrisy of his actions. He can dish it out, because he's not government..

RT @RedEyesPage: @TheDaleJackson you can't complain about the 1st amend when you don't practice the first amend // DJ: I am not government.
— Dale Jackson (@TheDaleJackson) August 23, 2013

He can't take it because according to him,  he's press but not a journalist. Huh?

RT @RedEyesPage: @TheDaleJackson And according to you, you are "free press" // DJ: I never said I wasn't press, I am NOT a journalist.
— Dale Jackson (@TheDaleJackson) August 23, 2013

There is more than a whiff of hypocrisy.  

 Yeah! (0.00 / 0)

Figure it out...
Downrating coming in 3...2...1...
Squash dissent!

Do better. Dale, I have to say you were right - mooncat You're an entertainer son! -Parker Griffith

 This is how Dale Jackson responds to people he doesn't agree with.

Again,  I don't know Jeff Mosley, but I wish he'd spoken up for himself at the City Council Meeting, or at least had someone to speak on his behalf that doesn't censor liberal comments on his blog, screen liberal callers to his radio show,  and resort to name calling, personal attacks, and insults when the substance of his arguments fail.

Happy Confederate Memorial, I mean, Independence Day~ RedEye Rant Edition

Praising the Post Racial South my Donkey

Please excuse my cynicism, but every since the Robert's Court decided to pay black folks back  for daring exercise their right to vote and not only elect, but re-elect, the nations first African American President, siding with Shelby County Alabama (of all places) to make sure that doesn't happen again, and Republicans will be in control of our government until eternity, I don't feel like celebrating America's Independence Day Hypocrisy.

I just don't.

I just can't.

On this day  jobsanger points out. the American dream is more like an American nightmare for most of the  people, and Bill Quigley reminds us the real patriots aren't waiving their rights while waving their confederate, I mean,  American flags, they  are the ones risking  lives and lively hood fighting injustice every single day.

I'm still pi$$ed off at the Alabama Democratic Majority/Party (or what ever they call themselves these days), for taking their eyes off the prize and dividing the party instead of uniting the party at a time when it was needed the most.  Call me crazy, but I firmly believe this whole Mark Kennedy vs Joe Kennedy BullPoo another  media enabled weapon of mass distraction to keep democrats from organizing and mobilizing.  Looks like it worked.

 Happy now?

I close this  RedEye Rant with an excerpt from  Essential reading for the 4th of July in the words of  Frederick Douglas;

Standing, there, identified with the American bondman, making his wrongs mine, I do not hesitate to declare, with all my soul, that the character and conduct of this nation never looked blacker to me than on this 4th of July!

Hate to think it, much less say it, but the conduct of this nation never looked blacker  (pun intended) to me either.

This Independence Day more African Americans are dependent on the government, it might sound like a Republican talking point used to justify lower taxes, smaller government and the cutting of social programs, but it is a fact. And it stems from the unique history of black people in this country.

Redeye tiptoeing away from the computer humming We Shall Overcome One day .

On a personal note, welcome back to the battlefield Leftwing Nutjob, you were missed, you are needed.

Almost Everybody Hates Joe Reed Sunday Edition

Graphic H/T Left in Alabama

Why does almost everybody hate Joe Reed?

If it's one thing Dr. Joe L. Reed can do it's unify republicans and democrats in their strong and extreme animosity. You would think he was lighting torches, getting the rope, raping women and men, selling slaves, kidnapping children, sending our troops to war for nothing, raiding the surplus to give the rich a tax cut and spying on the American people without a warrant or something.

 According to some Democrats (not to be confused with all), Joe Reed single handily knocked down every wonderful idea the former chair of the ADP had just because of his dislike for the former chair.

According to some Democrats (not to be confused with all), Joe Reed refuses to accept responsibility for the republicans taking control of the state House, the governor's office, the Alabama Supreme Court and is the main reason white Democrats defected from the party in droves.

According to some Democrats (not to be confused with all),  Joe Reed refuses to accept responsibility for the massive debt he created by borrowing and spending to pay for travel for the Executive Committee and other such nonsense.

According to some Democrats (not to be confused with all), Joe Reed is the de facto head of the ADP and the reason candidates, donors and a new generation of leaders are afraid to step up because he is a power hungry, manipulative, corrupt, bigot and the ADC (Alabama Democratic Caucus)  which he chairs an obstructionist organization.

According to some Democrats (and I use that term loosely) If Joe Reed would step down and take all of his cheerleaders with him eventually others would step up to lead the Alabama Democratic Party   and the ADP will have awesome, qualified, dedicated people coming out of the woodwork to step up to leadership positions including Chair & Vice-chair of the ADP as well as candidates for office.

Dr. Reed, I say test their theory, step down from your position and take all your cheerleaders with you.  If they are right (no pun), it's a win-win,  but if they are wrong....

 So be careful what you wish for 'Cause you just might get it and if you get it Then you just might not know what to do wit' it 'Cause it might just come back on you ten fold EMINEM - CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR LYRICS

RedEye tiptoeing away from the computer to go pray.

Why I can't support the Alabama Democratic Majority

I've received more emails from Judge Mark Kennedy and the Alabama Democratic Majority than I ever did when he was Chairman of the Alabama Democratic Party.   It appears Kennedy and Company looted the Alabama Democratic Party's email list because I never gave them my email address or my name.  As far as I'm concerned they raided the Alabama Democratic Party of its valuable resources to start their own separate but equal party.  Much like the Segregation Academies that sprung up in the south like mushrooms after the Brown v. Board decision.

The Alabama Democratic Majority was formed because the Alabama Democratic Party was seen as the party of black citizens (like that's a bad thing) and it drove white men out in droves.  I remember being at a local Democratic County Meeting where the topic was how to get white men to come back to the democratic party.  I said then, and I say now, the only way to get white men to come back is for the Alabama Democratic Party to turn it's back on its core principals and beliefs.  In other words, turn into the Alabama Republican Party.

 If white democrats want white males to rejoin the democratic party they should start by working on their friends, relatives neighbors, and co-workers who put party over people.  Tell them to quit voting against their own interests.  

SaintSatinStain said: Some things like rational gun regulation are neither left nor right; some things like we feed, clothe, shelter, and insure all neither left nor right; some things like the Constitution protects all individual citizens, right, middle, and left is neither right or left. Just saying. Say the obvious because some of you have forgotten if you ever knew and felt. 

It seems to me the Alabama Democratic Majority may have forgotten what the Alabama Democratic Party has always stood for, and decided to pander to those who might vote for the right (pun intended) democrat. 

 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, "On some positions, cowardice asks the question, is it safe? Expediency asks the question, is it politics? Vanity asks the question, is it popular? But conscience asks the question, is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a stand that's neither safe nor politics nor popular but he must take the stand because it's right."

It's no secret that I didn't support Judge Mark Kennedy as Chairman of the Alabama Democratic Party because, to be honest,  I was concerned about his lack of experience, and his close ties to former Congressman Artur Davis (DINO).  Say what you want about Joe Reed and Nancy Worley but the fact remains they delivered more tangible benefits to the Alabama Democratic Party than Mark Kennedy ever has. This is one reason why I support the ADP.  So while the ADM wants to make this an "old versus new" argument and demonize the "old guard", when you consider what Reed and Company have accomplished in this state that in itself should make some of you question the motives of the ADM...that is If you are a Democrat.

 The Democratic Party has been infiltrated by progressives, there in lies the dilemma, there is a  difference between Democrats and Progressives and the two will never be one in the same. 

I have to take issue with Joe Reed's assertion the chair of the Democratic Party should be a white man or women, that's reverse affirmative action in my view.  The next chair should be elected based on the content of their character not the color of their skin.  IF whites don't want to be affiliated with a party where the person welding power is a person of color they can join the Alabama Democratic Majority or the Alabama Republican Party.

The former staff of the ADP have resigned en masse, effective at noon yesterday and most of them will be working for the new organization.  Former ADP Executive Director Bradley Davidson will be the Director of the ADM.  Coincidentally, the ADM's Birmingham office will be located in what was the ADP's field office in that city, the very office the ADP's Executive Board recently directed Kennedy to close.  Kennedy also said the ADM will have an office in Montgomery.  He very pointedly said that the ADM is not a political party and "does not stand in opposition to our state Democratic Party", but rather intends to augment and improve it.

Yeah right.  Pun intended.

 "No one can cooperate with folks who do nothing to pay off their debts but in fact add to the debt and then walk away,"

Today's Must Read
Alabama Democratic Party in Serious Trouble

Edited: How did the Alabama Democratic Majority get my email address?

 

First, Alabama Democratic Majority Chairman Mark Kennedy sent me an email wishing me a Happy Mother's day asking me to donate a few dollars to the ADM.  Click. 

Then,  I get another email from ADM Executive Director Bradley Davidson announcing the first month anniversary of the Alabama Democratic Majority asking me to like them on facebook and twitter and help them out by donating a few bucks a month to the ADM.  Click

I don't know how the ADM (of which I am NOT A MEMBER) got my email address but I suspect they got it from the Alabama Democratic Party (of which I AM A MEMBER).   I never received emails asking for support or money from  Kennedy or Bradley during their tenure at the ADP, so why am I receiving them now? 

The Alabama Democratic Majority came in for heated criticism at the board meeting by not just Worley but by Joe Reed, the party's long time vice chairman and chairman of the party's black wing, the Alabama Democratic Conference.
Worley said in addition to the financial chaos there are equipment, supplies and art work missing from party headquarters. Worley charged that a quick review has shown that Kennedy and the party staff he took with him appear to have taken data including information on over 2.8 million voters and to have cut off bank drafts from donors to the party and diverted them to Kennedy's new organization.
Among the alleged missing equipment are laptops, cell phones and printing paper. Worley said she personally observed a car parked at the back rear of party headquarters over the weekend of April 20^th and saw equipment and art work and printer paper lined along the back wall.

Psst, Alabama Democratic Majority!   Remove me from your email, phone, or any other list you have with my name on it.  I am a proud member of the Alabama Democratic Party.  You know, the party that stands up for the least of these and the middle class.  The party that stands up for civil rights, equal rights, and human rights.  The party that stands up for public education and public educators.  The party that stands up for labor.  The party stands up for a woman's right to chose to have a safe legal abortion.  The party that stands up for immigrants.  The party that stands up for our LBGT sisters and brothers. Not the party who doesn't want to be seen as the party that caters to black voters at the expense of white voters.

The Alabama Democratic Party may be broke, broke, broke but WE ARE NOT BROKEN.  I know someone with the courage and the fortitude will step forward and lead the Alabama Democratic Party because if they don't, who wins in the end?  Not us "progressives" that's for sure.

"Right now, it's a hard job, a really hard job given the fact the party has no money, no staff, no office and a debt of $600,000. You'd have to be a little crazy to want to take on all that but I'm sure someone will want it but it won't be me. I'm winding down. This job will need a young person."
And it still needs a white person, said Reed.

 Uh, NO Mr. Reed, the Alabama Democratic Party needs the RIGHT person, regardless of age, race, gender, or sexual orientation.  You are beginning to sound like the republicans and those who say they won't contribute to the ADP as long as YOU are in power. 

Again:

So while the red, republican controlled Alabama State Legislature is waging a full scale war against poor women, poor children, the voting rights act,  public education and teachers, the Alabama Democratic Party continues to embarrass itself  trying to figure out who can herd the white cats and the black cats.

Enough!  It's time to move FORWARD.

The New Democratic Majority or, The New "Democratic" Party of Artur Davis? I Report. You Decide.

 

A Noteworthy Endorsement for Artur Davis

One of the things I like about cold, rainy weekends is I have the perfect excuse not to leave the house and I can sit at my computer all day without being distracted by my real life.  I had the perfect excuse for not working in the yard, cleaning the patio/ furniture and running errands this past weekend.  I put on a crock pot of Turkey and White Bean Chili and got the reading and begin to notice a disturbing pattern...The New Democratic Majority are most of the same people who supported Artur Davis for governor in 2010, and, they are saying some of the exact same things about Dr. Joe Reed and the ADC now that they said then.

Peggy Wallace Kennedy says she will support Artur Davis for governor according to David Persons' report for the Huntsville Times (emphasis mine):

U.S. Rep. Artur Davis, D-Birmingham, may have gotten his first celebrity endorsement for the gubernatorial campaign. Peggy Wallace Kennedy expressed unqualified support for him when I interviewed her on WEUP-AM earlier this week.

"I certainly think he has a good shot and I certainly will support him," Kennedy said. "Mark (her husband) and I both will. He is a fine man and smart. He could go down as one of the greatest governors we've had."

Regular readers know some of us tried to tell some of them Artur Davis was not the second coming of Obama, but it was never about Artur Davis, it was about replacing Joe Reed with someone who is more ahem acceptable, because there is the perception the democratic party caters to black voters at the expense of white voters.  Our rich southern heritage teaches us the greatest insults to some whites is to be seen as the party of black voters.  Ask former governor Don Siegelman and any democrat/ elected official(s) who dared defend the rights of black folks.

 Regular readers know some of us tried to tell some of them Artur Davis was not the second coming of Obama, but it was never about Artur Davis, it was about replacing Joe Reed with someone who is more ahem acceptable, because there is the perception the democratic party caters to black voters at the expense of white voters.  Our rich southern heritage teaches us the greatest insults to some whites is to be seen as the party of black voters.  Ask former governor Don Siegelman and any democrat/ elected official(s) who dared defend the rights of black folks.

It took a long time for the basic pattern established in ’64 to be reflected up and down the ballot, but today white southerners are almost as loyal to the Republican Party as they once were to the Democrats. GOP presidential candidates customarily win more than 70 percent of the white vote in the South, success that in the past two decades has at last trickled down to the local and state legislative levels. This is particularly true in the Deep South, which encompasses South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. Exit polling was intermittent last November, but in Mississippi Mitt Romney gobbled up 89 percent of the white vote; with Barack Obama winning 96 percent of the black vote, this translated into a 55-44 percent Romney win in the state.
In this environment, Democratic success in the Deep South is mostly limited to district-level races in majority black areas. A number of African American Democrats represent the region in the U.S. House, with districts created and protected by the Voting Rights Act. But where white voters constitute majorities, affiliation with the Democratic Party is often the kiss of death for a candidate.

In a previous post, I asked who gets to decide is something is racism or someone is a racist, but I should have asked since when does the white, male, dominated mainstream media get to decide who/what/when/where racist racism occurs?  They are quick to tell African Americans to get past race, which is really code for STFU and let us decide when we are going to treat you fairly.

It's the story of modern day southern politics.

From the end of Reconstruction through the civil rights revolution, the South was an almost uniformly Democratic region. In 1936, for example, Franklin Roosevelt won more than 98 percent of the vote in South Carolina. Race wasn’t the only reason for the South’s shift toward the GOP, but it was the biggest single driver. In 1948, northern liberals inserted a civil rights plank into the national Democratic platform, prompting a walkout of southern delegations – which then coalesced around the third party Dixiecrat candidacy of Strom Thurmond. An uneasy truce between national and southern Democrats was reached after that election, but it was untenable. When LBJ signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the modern southern GOP was born. Nationally, LBJ crushed Barry Goldwater in the fall of ’64, racking up more than 60 percent of the popular vote. But Goldwater carried five southern states – winning 59 percent in South Carolina, 69 percent in Alabama and 87 percent in Mississippi.

We can pretend the split between the ADP and the ADM isn't racial, but deep down we know it's the truth. If it weren't there never would have been a split in the first place.

How can anyone go forward when the driver is stuck in "R" or reverse?~AF2010
 
How can Alabama Democrats go forward when the driver is stuck in "R" or reverse?~RedEye 2013

Legal Schnauzer: Macon County Residents File Federal Lawsuit Alleging Voting Rights Violations From Bingo Raids

Legal Schnauzer: Macon County Residents File Federal Lawsuit Alleging Voting Rights Violations From Bingo Raids

The Macon County lawsuit shines new light on racism in high places--and the Alabama mainstream press clearly wants no part of telling that story. ~Legal Schnauzer

Nope, the "Alabama mainstream press", and I use that term lightly,  wants no part of telling that story, because they are too busy reporting on the democratic cat, I mean, infighting while providing a weapon of mass distraction for the AL GOP.

While democrats, and I use the term loosely,  were distracted and wasting time forming an anti Joe Reed and his bunch organization the AL GOP was hard at work.

Republicans approved a bill that would require drug testing of welfare recipients.

Republicans killed the workers compensation overhaul law.

Republicans approved a bill that specifies existing private school students are eligible for tax credits

Republican senate committee cut the size of teacher pay cuts.

Congress held a hearing about long term unemployment and one Congress Critter showed up.

President Barack Obama nominated former Alabama attorney general and current U.S. circuit judge Bill Pryor to be a commissioner on the U.S. Sentencing Commission.


 This is what happens when democrats take their eyes off the prize.

What Nancy Worley said all the damn way!

Worley said in a phone interview Monday it was unfortunate that Kennedy decided to resign and “take his toys and go home,” but she feels that people will return to the Alabama Democratic Party as they see the policies of the Republican supermajority in the Legislature “taking care of the rich” and how those decisions affect them.
“We’re looking at a golden opportunity in the upcoming election in 2014, because quite frankly the Republicans have so many negative situations they have created for the state that I think people are going to feel the pinch in their pocketbook and they’re going to vote Democratic, like they once did,” she said.

A house divided will not stand.  

Hump Day This and That

Some Rights are more important than others

 Left in Alabama proudly announces The Birth of the Alabama Democratic Majority for those who want to contribute  without worrying their money is going to travel expenses for the Executive Board members and staffers to be working at ADC.  Where is Branch Rickey when you need him?  Sigh

Legal Schnauzer;   What's that you say?  A black female judge in Alabama draws suspension for actions that draw a pass for a white, male judge?  I'm shocked!  Shocked I you.  Not

The Attack Machine;  Speaking of IOKIYAR (It's OK if you are republican) Poor Lowell Baron, the Democrat who was replaced by Shadack McGill, the republican lawmaker who compared abortion to destroying an Eagle Egg ( among other things),  is under attack for being out of office. SMH and RME

Crooks and Liars;  Uh, remember Paul Kevin Curtis,  the Elvis Impersonator who just happened to be a Democrat  who was arrested for sending Ricen laced letters to President Obama, Senator Wicker and several other Mississippi politicians?  Well guess what, he was released from custody and all charges were dropped, but here's the kicker.....Curtis may have been framed.  Only in America...

Quote of the Day:  Ricen Suspect released: "I don't even eat rice."  LOL!

Geek Pavaler wants parents of Huntsville City School Students to know they can opt of Star testing.  "Simply put, unless you have been ruled unfit to be the legal guardian of a child, no one has the right to force your child to do anything that you do not wish for your child to do".   Mega Fist Dap to Russ

Abagond;  “Blacks are just as racist as whites if not more so!” It is a common thing whites in America say. I do agree that blacks are racist, but just as racist? No way! Not even close.

The Rude Pundit;  Republicans Are More of a Threat to America Than Bombers:  Ya think?

Mark Kennedy resigns as ADP chair and announces the formation of the anti "Joe Reed and his bunch group"

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

Succession within the Alabama Democratic Party

When Left in Alabama Blogger country cat said outgoing ADP chair Judge Mark Kennedy was "mean a snake and likes a fight", I thought she was talking about being mean as a snake and fighting the GOP,  not Joe Reed and his bunch.

When Judge Kennedy said "we're all in this together" and are people who believe in "the fundamental rights of all people."  I didn't know he meant everybody but Joe Reed and his bunch.

When Judge Kennedy promised a restored democratic party,  I didn't know it meant excluding Joe Reed and his bunch.

And what happened to Kennedy's 5 point plan for the ADP?  Never mind.  We know.   Joe Reed and his bunch.


Decoding the code words.
Edited to add Judge Kennedy's statement on his Facebook page Sunday 4/21/13

In our organization, there will be no "majorities and no minorities" we will all be part of a growing movement and will stand equal together. The Alabama Democratic Majority supports a philosophy of inclusion.
To have a "majority" we must welcome all people that share our vision. When I chose the name of this exciting new opportunity it never occurred to me that I was using a code word for excluding minorities as some are now saying.

Psst Judge Kennedy!  It's not the name of your organization, it's the actions of your organization that are a code for excluding minorities.  Strike that, it's code for excluding some minorities like Joe Reed and his bunch.   Intentional or not,  the creation of this organization reminds me of the Southern Strategy and the creation of private and charter schools after the Brown v. Board decision, leading to the sad, sorry, state of public education not only in Alabama but our country.

This is is precisely why I oppose the creation of this organization.  It is dividing the party.  Strike that, it is destroying the Alabama Democratic Party. 

 People are taking sides. But it isn't between the Democrats and Republicans or progressives and conservatives; we are fighting each other. And if I am being frank, it ain't like we are in such a rosy position in this state that we can afford to be taking our eye away from the folks who seek to dismantle any semblance of a social safety net in this state.

Mark Kennedy vs. Joe Reed 

This is rapidly becoming the African Americans against the whites. It is racial now. The Democratic party will be known as the party of the African Americans. 

If I were allowed to post on Left in Alabama I would ask, what is wrong with the Democratic Party being "known as the party of African Americans"?  Why is that a bad thing?  African Americans don't want, or, need the government or the democratic party to take care of us.  African Americans don't want to be taken for granted and used as props to be seen and not heard.

Just to set the record straight, "what we want" is what every American should want and every democrat should stand for.

We don't want free health care, we want access to quality affordable health care.
We don't want free money, we want equal opportunity to have a good job.
We don't expect to win every election, we expect the right to cast our vote and have our vote counted.

Plato: The measure of a man is what he does with power. Joe Reed is accused of using his power for personal gain, but he's not the one creating a new democratic organization and running from why we are democrats.

In his weekly commentary in Speakin'Out News Jerry Mitchell asked when do the words bankrupt and leadership go together?

Chairman Kennedy tells us that since he became chairman in 2011, one of his key goals has been stabilize the party financially and begin the type of outreach to potential donors to grow the party in communities across the state. Obviously, the record shows that he and his leadership team are not getting the job done. The party is broke, there are no democrats that hold statewide offices, and White male democrats have gone into hiding, largely distancing themselves from President Obama's national success.

I don't know who the new leader of the Alabama Democratic Party will be, but I HOPE it is someone who is mean as a snake and likes to fight republicans instead of Joe Reed and his bunch.

Kennedy, 60, will formally announce the creation of ADM in a press conference at the Harbert Center in the heart of downtown Birmingham, the financial capital of the state. Jefferson County is considered vital by Kennedy as he begins the effort to draw donors to ADM from an affluent blue county that in November saw a majority of voters cast ballots for President Barack Obama and dominate election results for judicial seats.

Good luck with that. People who voted for President Obama and dominated the election results for judicial seats support these people:

  Today Kennedy leaves all that debt to Reed and acting Chairwoman Nancy Worley. They will also have to deal with finding a new executive director for the party. Current Executive Director Bradley Davidson is resigning to join Kennedy at the ADM.

  You cannot curse Bubba and Cooter, Big Man, and June Bug in the daytime and beg them at night.~Joe Reed

Outgoing ADP chair announces the formation of a separate and unequal new "democratic organization"

Once again I find myself having to use a scene from the Jackie Robinson biopic 42 to describe the present state of the Alabama Democratic Party, but first, let's recap.

Outgoing ADP chair Judge Mark Kennedy told al.com on Thursday he was was going to announce his resignation Friday effective  Monday.  Well, on Saturday I get an email from the Judge inviting me to a press conference on Monday to announce the formation of his new organization, the Alabama Democratic Majority.

   While my time as Chairman of the Alabama Democratic Party will come to a close at noon on Monday, a new chapter will begin at 12:01 PM in Birmingham.  I want to invite you to join me, my family, and Democrats from Ft. Payne to Fairhope and communities across the state as we unveil a new way forward.

At 12:01 PM on Monday, I will become Chairman of Alabama Democratic Majority--a non profit organization dedicated to voter registration, voter education, and voter participation--and will continue to volunteer my time and what talents I have.

We will have current and past elected officials joining me to show their support and I need you there to show our state the new face of Alabama Democrats!

Can't wait to see who the current and past elected officials joining him to show their support and the cough cough new face of Alabama Democrats are.

Tacky is as Tacky does.

Tacky is using the ADP mailing list in an attempt to divide a party that already has dwindling market share.
Tacky is announcing the press conference using the official media organs of the state Democratic Party to promote something that doesn't appear to be an official arm of the ADP .
Tacky is trying to go around Joe Reed instead of working with Joe Reed for the good of the party.
Tacky is taking his young staff from the ADP to this new organization.

Now back to 42 and the reality of the Alabama Democratic Party.

It is time that we all call ourselves Republicans since that is the only way any Democrat can win public office in Alabama. It is the painful truth that this conservative, impoverished state will not vote for anyone who is a Democrat other than in an African American community. We need to face reality.

And therein lies the reason Judge Kennedy is picking up his marbles and starting his own game.  As much as it  pains me to agree withe radio boy,  intentional or not,  Kennedy might as well hang a "no blacks allowed" sign on his new organization.  Yes, I'm sure there will be one or two non threatening blacks as window dressing, but let's be clear, this organization is for the money folks who won't contribute to the democratic party as long as there is a perception that the ADP caters to black voters but ignores white voters.

What does all this have to do with the movie 42?  Well, there is a scene  where Robinson's white team mate, Pee Reese puts his arm around him in front a hostile crowd and says (para quoting)  Thank you Jackie.  Jackie ask why he's thanking him.  Reese says, because I got family up there from Louisville and I need them to know.  I need them to know who I am. Maybe tomorrow we will all wear #42 that way they can't tell us apart.

I could understand the resentment ( for lack of a better word) directed at Joe Reed if his long record of public service and commitment to the democratic party and it's principals were in question, but  there are some  democrats who  resent (for lack of a better word) Joe Reed for the power he wields as chairman of the Alabama Democratic Conference ,which some see as catering to black voters at the expense of white voters, like that's a bad thing.

Since 1960 ADC’s basis mission has been to organize and unify the black vote and to have it respected by candidates and elected officials alike. Initially the organization moved its mission through a network of committed volunteers who traveled across the state establishing local chapters, holding district meetings, and educating voters. It took at least one decade for ADC to consolidate the black vote, build credibility, and create political clout in the state.

There are some democrats who don't believe blacks should have credibility and political clout in this state.  They believe they should be seen and not heard.  Candidates run as conservative democrats to take advantage of the black block vote, then govern like republicans.   Being seen as the party who caters to black voters, and by cater I guess they mean party that stands  for equal, civil, and human rights, access to quality affordable health care, a women's right to choose to have a safe, legal abortion, and equal access to a quality public education f,  is like the kiss of death.  And that's sad.

Instead of Mark Kennedy emulating Pee Wee Reese actions and working with Joe Reed, sending the message we are team mates on the same team,  he decided to fight against him, when Reed refused to bow out gracefully he decided to go around him and start his own team.  

All I'm going to say is good luck with that democratic majority Judge Kennedy.  Everybody knows separate is not equal.  Your end of the boat will be nice and clean, and my end of the boat will be full of holes, but guess what...the whole damn boat is going down.

"Politics is a noble profession but politics is not a love affair. Sometimes someone comes along and they say a lot of things, use a lot of nice words and people fall in the love with them, the people who think this business is a love affair. That's all fine but it won't get the hard work done of saving the party and building it back. That takes hard work every day and like I said, I get up every day and work for the party and if you find someone who works harder than me, I want to meet them."~Joe Reed

Edited~"Race is the Donkey in the room", but let's not talk about it and maybe it will go away

Alabama Democratic Party chair Judge Mark Kennedy told the media he was resigning as party chair before the told the ADP he was resigning.

MONTGOMERY, Alabama – Democratic Party Chairman Mark Kennedy will announce today his intention to resign the top job in his party.Kennedy confirmed to AL.com late Thursday that he will begin notifying leaders in the party today that he is resigning, effective noon Monday.

According to Left in Alabama Blogger countrycat, it's the beginning of the end for the ADP

Judge Mark Kennedy's resignation announcement closes a door on the Alabama Democratic Party and may succeed in bringing the whole house down.  Kennedy's resignation is effective at noon on Monday.  He cited continuing conflicts with the party's Executive Board, which is led by Dr. Joe Reed and Nancy Worley.

This whole media-enabled Civil War reminds me of the Jackie Robinson biopic 42, " that smashed the opening-weekend record for a baseball movie and is now looking, this weekend, to continue that hot streak, the reasons for the film’s success might seem to be obvious. It is — at least in my book — a rock-solid sports movie, and it’s also a drama of race in America that allows us to experience the well-worn past with a new vividness and insight. It’s worth noting that a number of people don’t agree with that: They look at 42 and see a complacent liberal message movie with a flawless and therefore overly sanded off and uncomplicated hero."    Stay with me now.

Without giving too much away for those who haven't seen it yet, there is a scene where Herb, the owner of the Philadelphia baseball team, tells Branch Ricky, the owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers, his team is not going to take the field if that negro, Jackie Robinson shows up.

Intentional or not, this it's time for Joe Reed to bow out gracefully and make room for a new generation of leaders,  withdrawing support, forming a third party, forming a new state party under Kennedy, and refusing to contribute support the Alabama Democratic Party as long as Joe Reed  has a visible role sounds a lot like what Herb said.

The Alabama Democratic Party in bankruptcy court.  I don't blame Kennedy for refusing to preside over that PR debacle.
Oh, and good luck with the fundraising and candidate recruitment after that happens.

It just does.

Mind you some of the same people making these declarations, are the same people who supported then democrat, now republican, Artur Davis for governor over the real democrat, Ron Sparks, and are the same loyalist who supported Judge Mark Kennedy for chair of the Alabama Democratic Party.

Kennedy is a former Alabama Supreme Court justice and the husband of Peggy Wallace Kennedy, the daughter of former Gov. George C. Wallace.
He agreed two years ago, at the urging of a small group of party loyalists, to seek the chairmanship when no other credible candidate wanted it. The party Kennedy took over in early 2011 had just lost control of both houses of the state Legislature for the first time since Reconstruction. That loss, coupled with the Republican Party's dominance in gubernatorial and judicial races and its almost unchallenged dominance in mostly white suburbs across the state, had combined to leave the party at perhaps its lowest point in history.Since taking over, Kennedy has attempted to stabilize the party’s teetering finances while also beginning the effort to rebuild and rebrand a party that has fallen out of favor with a majority of voters across the state.

The reason the party is bankrupt is that the GOP supermajority in the state legislature banned PAC to PAC transfers which were the lifeblood of the party. The reason the Alabama democratic party has fallen out of favor with a majority of voters across the states is that the majority of voters are Suckers.

There are two types of republicans:  millionaires and suckers.  Considering the policies of the modern Republican Party, this is very true. Their main policy is to make the rich even richer at the expense of everyone else. Anyone who is not rich and still votes Republican is voting against their own interests -- and therefore is a sucker.

For the record, I do not know Dr. Joe Reed personally, but people I know and respect do know him. Any power Joe Reed has is power he earned the hard fashioned way.

Joe Reed brilliantly championed the cause of African Americans as a Montgomery city councilman and then as the leader of the Alabama Democratic Conference. For that he deserves a revered place in Alabama history books.

Joe Reed is a bold, unapologetic, liberal.  He is a reliable voice for civil, equal, human, woman, public schools, public school teachers, labor, immigrants,  protecting the poor, the marginalized and the working class.  You know, the Democratic traditions the party stands for. Or at least traditions the party used to stand for before some felt the need to "reinvent" it. 

My Daddy use to say never burn the bridge that carried you safely over the water.  Like him or not. Joe Reed is that bridge.   Blaming the demise of the party on him is like blaming Saddam Hussein for 9/11. People who won't contribute to or support the Alabama Democratic party unless Reed bows out must care more about personalities than the democratic party agenda. 

So long as Joe Reed has control of it, there will be no viable Democratic Party in Alabama. The best we will get is a zombie.  

Oh, really?  First of all Joe Reed doesn't have "control" of the Democratic Party and he doesn't want control of the ADP,  he is an elected leader. It's up to the people who elected him to decide when it's time for him to go. The people who say they won't join the party unless Reed doesn't have a visible role are people who probably aren't real democrats in the first place.

 The Democratic Party in Alabama is never going to be stronger until we deal with the issue of race. ... To me the greatest problem with the Democratic Party right now is that we've taken every Democrat in the state of Alabama and divided them into little categories.  And everybody stays in their little category and nobody wants to work together.  So then we can't have a cohesive message about something like the sales tax on groceries, which is something that everybody agrees on.  It would have been a fantastic message for this election.  But we can't have a cohesive message until everyone gets out of their corner.

Imagine an Alabama Democratic Party without black folks. Intentional or not, that's what you are asking for when you say it's time for Joe Reed to step aside.  If the party is tired of one, the party is tired of all.   United we stand.  Divided we fall.  That's the lesson Alabama democrats should heed.

Captain America said:

 I'm as anti-Reed as aynone... (sic) but I saw little out of Kennedy and his operation to indicate that he had any real plan to move things in the right direction.He talked about blowing up dysfunctional county parties? I saw no evidence of that.He talked about throwing people off the committee who missed multiple meetings? I saw no evidence of that.He talked about distilling the ADP message into a bumper stick approach? I saw no evidence of that.He talked about reinviograting (sic) fundraising? I saw no evidence of that.In a choice between Kennedy and Reed, I'd choose Kennedy every time - but the man was chair for 2+ years and I am not sure what he did other than get into fights with Reed.

For the record, I am not anti-Kennedy or pro-Reed, I am pro the Alabama Democratic Party.  While we are waging war with each other the red, republican, controlled state legislature is getting away with murder.  Para quoting Dubya, you are either with the Alabama Democratic Party and what and who it stands for or. you are against the Alabama Democratic Party and what and who it stands for.

EYE report.
You decide.