If this is true, EYE am through with the alleged Democratic #HumanShields in #SweetHomeAlabama

Alabama House Democrat threatens to expose colleagues’ affairs if Bentley impeached

Everyone knows the Mainstream Media was Tardy to the Party, and it was Social Media/Bloggers who first broke the Dr. Love / Freaky Becky story. The mainstream media's excuse was they didn't  have proof of the rumors, even though the elected Governor, and the De Facto Governor. were carrying on in plain sight.

Attorney Donald Watkins has been right on the money so far, so EYE have no reason to doubt him or his credibility, but if he is right about Joe Reed being a human shield for Governor Bentley... EYE am through with Joe Reed, Alvin Holmes, and The Alabama Democratic Conference. If what Donald Watkins is true, EYE apologize for ever defending any of them.  Regular readers, pick your teeth up off the floor.

Our Facebook news team has solved the Alvin Holmes-Robert Bentley human shield mystery. Holmes is a longtime political "puppet" of Alabama Democratic Conference Chairman Joe L. Reed and deceased Alabama Education Association Executive Secretary Paul Hubbert. Reed and Hubbert teamed up to help Bentley defeat Bradley Byrne in the 2010 Republican primary elections. Reed also privately supported Bentley in his 2014 election against Democratic gubernatorial nominee Parker Griffin. As a result, Bentley and Reed have developed a close personal friendship.
Away from public view, Reed functions as one of Bentley's trusted political advisors. In this undisclosed capacity, Reed works closely with Bentley and his chief legal counsel, David Byrne. Reed identifies "safe" blacks for Bentley to appoint to vacant judgeships and government boards, among other tasks.

With democrats like these,  who needs republicans?

EYE feel so betrayed.

Tuesday Talking Points~Edit

Hello Readers!  I'm going through one of those times when my real life and my blog life collide.  Postings will be sparse until the stars in  my universe align again.   ~RedEye

This is the United States Senator representing Alabama  I wish we had instead of the United States Senator we have.

Retired Public Educator, former State Representative/Senator and former AEA State President Gerald Waldrop writes one of the best explanations in defense of public education and educators I've read so far.  Snipet:

Regression in public education, by rabid, right-wing Republican loonies, was put in motion when newly elected members of the Alabama Legislature were called into Special Session by out-going Governor Bob Riley shortly after the General Election of November 2, 2010.  On surface, the Session was called (with the approval of incoming Governor Robert Bentley) to enact "Ethics" Reform but the hidden agenda was to kill the reliable "Keeper of the Gate" for Public Education in Alabama, AEA.

This was done by repealing the Dues Check-Off Law of 1983, thus dramatically reducing the ability of the Alabama Education Association to protect and promote public education - its students and the employees who serve them.  Contrary to portrayals by the media, public education enemies and their political allies,  AEA was never Paul Hubbert and Joe Reed.  They were hired hands with good guns who represented their members well and thus public education.

It is rare al.com, Pultzer Prize winner columnist Joey Kennedy and I disagree, disagree with  his criticism of State Rep. Mary Moore (D. Birmingham)  for "bringing a racial motivation" into the discussion regarding the the republican majority legislature's Alabama School Accountability Act (gag).  Commenter Car54 said it best:

Rep. Moore was responding in anger to the realities of this bill. Bottom line is that the bill takes tax money out of the public school system in Alabama (white kids, black kids, Hispanic and other minority kids) and puts the tax money into the private schools in Alabama that are nearly 100% white. "In my book that's a racist policy."

 Blast from the past re-post, A RedEye Rant about whining and complaining

 This is exactly why I didn't want an African American President, I knew if black folks dared complain we would be accused of wanting preferential treatment and be told to stop whining because America is post racial. *Snark*

Today's Must Read
An Apology to Jesse Jackson 

 As much as I hate to admit it, Jackson got it right when he accused Obama of “talking down to Black people.” Everyone, including myself, eviscerated him for making the comment and accused him of being jealous of Obama. How can we forget when Obama spoke at the Congressional Black Caucus dinner a couple years ago and told Blacks to “stop complaining?” Obviously, Jackson saw something in Obama early that the rest of us missed. Now, we are paying the price for it, especially Blacks.

Read On!  Read Often!

RedEye Around Alabama

I wonder what part of separation of church and state don't Bay Minette Police Chief Mike Rowland and Pastor Bruce Hooks understand?

An Alabama city is turning to churches as an option to keep criminals out of jail.

"It's not a crime prevention program,' Bay Minette Police Chief Mike Rowland said, "It's a crime intervention program."

Pastor Bruce Hooks says he's ready to give it a try.
"Oh, yeah! I'm excited, man. I'm eager, anticipating!"
The new initiative would allow some first time offenders to wind up in church rather than jail.
56 churches have agreed to take part in Operation ROC: Restore Our Community.

Uh, NO. It's called forcing the religious beliefs of Rowland and Hooks on *cough* first time, non violent offenders. I wonder what rock (pun intended) head came up with this idea? Evidently I don't know as much about the justice system and the United States Constitution as I thought I did. The constitution couldn't keep an innocent man from death by lethal injection, but first time offenders can either go to church or go to jail. These crazy, compassionate, Christan, conservatives crack me up. It would be funny if it weren't so sad. Paging the Alabama ACLU.

Speaking of the ACLU, I wonder if they can help me get my privileges back at Left in Alabama? There are some many discussions going on over there I would love to be able to participate in, number one being this little nugget...Al-07 Representative Terri Sewell a "Breakout Star"?

A glowing article in the Washington Post's Entertainment section yesterday spotlighted Alabama's freshman Democrat, Terri Sewell. Considering that Sessions, Shelby, & company all seem to be poster children for the failures of the country's mental health system, it's refreshing to see positive stories about Sewell:

Sewell, who won her seat in November with more than 70% of the vote, is the first African-American woman elected to congress from Alabama, the only Democrat currently serving from the state, and president of this year’s tiny Democratic freshman class. No wonder she’s the breakout star of the CBC this year.

“I feel like it’s a coming-out of sorts,” a beaming Sewell told us Wednesday at the Library of Congress where she was honored by her Alpha Kappa Alpha sisters (included her mom, Nancy Sewell), as well as special guests Nancy Pelosi and Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

Now isn't that special? Psst Terri, it's not about Y-O-U remember? A search of your website has lots of pretty pictures, town halls,statements and appointments, but not one piece of legislation to benefit the people you were sent to Congress to represent. Remember them?

Today, Alabama's Black Belt includes some of the poorest counties in the United States. Along with high rates of poverty, the area is typified by declining populations, a primarily agricultural landscape with low-density settlement, high unemployment, poor access to education and medical care, substandard housing and high rates of crime.

The residents of the 7th district don't care about cool factoids or hearing about your pop-corn eating slumber parties with your roomies. In case you've forgotten African American Poverty and unemployment is at an all time high. While you're munching pop corn with your roomies get some advice on writing some bills and creating some J-O-B's in the 7th district. OK?

While I'm on the topic of Left in Alabama, mooncat is of the misguided opinion Dr. Paul Hubbard and Dr. Joe Reed got the Governor wanted. Seriously? WTF would Hubbard and Reed want Bentley to be the Governor? Bentley is for everything Reed and Hubbard spent a life time fighting for...voting rights, the rights of immigrants, public schools and public school employees, and access to health care for everyone. Reed and Hubbard weren't the ones asking why on earth they should vote for Ron Sparks.

And about that segregation at the University of Alabama The African American Greek system does not discriminate based on race, as a matter of fact they were formed in part to combat racism. They are also not social organizations, they are public service organizations. Almoderate said:

AKA... (4.00 / 1)
...is a black sorority. And while there were member who were hassling the poor black girl who joined our white sorority, I can't say for certain (and in fact I doubt) that this was behavior that was encouraged by the chapter itself. I can certainly say that the national AKA organization does not condone such.

That's why this isn't going to be easy to crack down on. The University of Alabama when it was integrated had previously had an official policy of discrimination. The Greek organizations have no such policy and in fact are very diverse in some chapters (though this is rare). Plus, there's not exactly a stack of complaints from people who have wanted to cross over into other organizations and feel that they were discriminated against. And even if there were, you'd have to still be able to show that there were not other factors (GPA, conduct, etc.) that contributed to not being accepted.

Affirmative action scenarios are insulting to all parties and are in fact a polar opposite of the very purpose of the Greek system-- which is to be grouped with similar interests. If you're bringing in a black girl who plays no sports into a white sorority filled with jocks just because she's black, it's going to be miserable for everyone.

The last paragraph hits the nail on it's head. The purpose of the Greek System for African American is public service, not jocks and debutantes.Black Greeks can cite examples of recruiting whites. Can white Greek organizations do the same?

TUSCALOOSA, Alabama -- As a dialogue continues over the integration of the University of Alabama's traditionally white fraternities and sororities, the student newspaper reports that black organizations can point to instances of recruiting whites.

The article focuses on Eve Dempsey, a white woman who joined the historically black sorority Zeta Phi Beta during the spring 2007 semester because she felt the organization shared her own values. Dempsey was the sorority's only white member at the time, though the organization had previously integrated in the 1980s, the report says. And another white joined Zeti Phi Beta in 2008, Dempsey said.

National Pan-Hellenic Council President Xavier Burgin told the CW that white students join black fraternities and sororities on a "somewhat" regular basis, estimating that NPHC organizations have accepted five to seven white members in the last 10 years.

I will close with my big RedEYE on the South Huntsville Civic Association School System H/T Geek Palaver for exposing the double standards in hiring and firing.

It would seem that the school system currently has two sets of hiring policies: one for senior administration and a second one for basically everyone else.
This is wrong.
Back in June when the board announced that they had reached a decision and agreement with Dr. Wardynski concerning his contract, I asked two of the board members (two of the three who voted for him), how they could justify paying a man with 11 months experience a salary that was $55,000 over the minimum salary of $120,000 when teachers’ salaries were set at the state minimum. According to the 2010 Superintendent Salaries, Dr. Wardynski is the fourth highest paid superintendent in the state.
Both of these board members separately said the same thing to me: “He’s the best man for the job, and he wouldn’t come for anything less.”

Oh really? The principal at Davis Hills came here from Mississippi where he was principal of an elementary alternative school. Uh, isn't Mississippi behind Alabama in in terms of student achievement? I'm just saying...

RedEye over and out...for now.

File this under "Let them reveal who they are"

"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."~Representative Maxine Waters (D.CA)

They are Hypocrites

Alabama Republicans are still not concerned about your job, or creating a job for your neighbor who's been out of work for 7 months, or passing job-creating legislation in general to help 200,000 unemployed Alabamians ... but they are suddenly all in a lather about the job of Republican Rep. Alan Boothe's* (R) daughter. Here's why: AEA laid her off.

More accurately, AEA offered her a job in a different location and she refused it. As a result, Boothe and his fellow AEA-bashers in the Legislature are alleging that her "firing" is some kind of political payback.

Did I say they were Hypocrites?

Stupidly, the union is pushing for pay increases…

Rex Cheatham, Uniserv director for the Alabama Education Association’s Huntsville chapter, said he was disappointed that Richardson failed to live up to his promise.

‘I am very disappointed that the employees did not receive the new salary schedule as Dr. Richardson had promised the board and employees,’ Cheatham said.

‘We hope he will bring that schedule to the June meeting as again promised.’
This is why people hate unions… this right here. We have a ECONOMICAL disaster in Huntsville Schools and the union wants raises,

They promote media driven racial stereotypes in an attempt to justify their "beliefs".

This is how ALL blacks were transformed into welfare recipients, a whole group of people looking for handouts, although that was a myth. Nope, I take that back it was an outright lie! Images of black women was the old “welfare queen” trick used by Ronald Reagan to drum up negative opinions and attack black women, attaching a negative stigma to them in the process. But more so Reagan used it to stir up negative sentiments towards poor people, which resulted in selfishness and cold heartedness in the charity department. Yup, they want to eliminate help for the poor. It works every time.

They are Polluters

San Francisco's Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment (CRPE) announced today that it received the judge's writ in its lawsuit against the California Air Resources Board (CARB). The writ gives the green light to most of the policies advanced under AB32, California's Global Warming Solutions Act, but puts a permanent hold on cap and trade.

They are Cowards.

Democrats didn’t hold back their disgust at a voter bill — or as some call it, a voter suppression bill — signed by Rick Scott on Thursday.
Florida Democratic Party Chairman Smith released this statement:
“Today is a tragic day for the Sunshine State, with Governor Rick Scott signing into law a bill that disenfranchises voters, makes it harder for Floridians to vote and limits access to the polls.
“Since Rick Scott’s own Republican Secretary of State, Kurt Browning, has repeatedly debunked the claims made by Republicans regarding any issues with Florida’s current elections law, Floridians should see that this bill is simply an attack on the voting rights of all Floridians.
“We are confident that this bill, which is nothing more than a power-grab by Republicans, will be overturned by the courts and rejected by the U.S. Justice Department.”

They are Greedy.

MONTGOMERY - Three Republican state senators, including two from Madison County, said today they routinely sleep in their Statehouse offices while the Legislature is in session.
Ben Brooks of Mobile, Bill Holtzclaw of Madison and Paul Sanford of Huntsville said they stay in their seventh floor offices at the Statehouse as a convenience and to save on hotel bills.

I guess They learned greed by example

Who has been sleeping in your taxpayer funded federal building to avoid paying DC rent (and taxes)?

Utah Republican Congressman Jason Chaffetz, that’s who!

Instead of renting out an apartment in DC, Jason Chaffetz lives on the couch in his office on The Hill.

Say WHAT?

They use washrooms and a shower on the same floor.
The practice was sharply criticized today by Mark Kennedy, chairman of the Alabama Democratic Party, who said it was unseemly for lawmakers "to be camped out in the Statehouse."
"Members of the legislature have been spotted in the halls in jogging pants all while still accepting the state-paid per diem provided to them for a hotel room or a local apartment," he said. "I just hope they contacted their accountants about their new public housing arrangements before they filed their taxes."

Did I say they were Greedy?

Legislators who live in or near Montgomery can go home for the evening and pocket the per diem.
Brooks, an attorney, said he stays at the Statehouse because it's convenient and saves him money. He said did not take the 62 percent pay raise in 2007 or any of the cost of living raises since. Holtzclaw and Sanford also declined the raise.
"I have to be cognizant being a father with kids in college and expenses," Brooks said. "I find I'm able to start work real early in the morning and work later at night. It really does help me with being more productive."

They are done, stick a fork in them.

Republicans are going to have plenty of questions about their plan to turn Medicare into a voucher program tomorrow morning after Democrats romped to an improbable victory in a special election focused almost entirely on the issue.

They have revealed themselves for who they are.

WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report) – One day after Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) stirred controversy by withholding funds for tornado relief, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) took the extraordinary step of declaring Rep. Cantor a disaster area.

Within hours of the declaration, FEMA officials were dispatched to assess the damage to Mr. Cantor’s status as a human being capable of empathy.

“I’ve seen a lot of hurricanes and tornados, but this is something new,” said FEMA spokesman Tracy Klugian. “Rep. Cantor appears to have been caught up in a moral vacuum.”

While concerned FEMA officials looked on, the morally ravaged House Majority Leader took to the floor of the House to make the case for denying funds to repair himself.

So much hypocrisy, so little time

Excuse me, but if you campaign on a platform form of ethics reform, shouldn't you at least have some ethics?

If you run on a platform of taking out the trash in Montgomery, shouldn't your own damn house be clean?

If you hold candidates and and elected officials to the highest ethical and moral standards shouldn't you hold yourself to those same standards?

If you uphold the principle that All men/women are created equal and are entitled to equal rights how do you justify discrimination?

Consider this a righteous Redeye Rant because I am sick and tired of all the double talk and back talk. The cats and other critters over at Left in Alabama seem shocked the Alabama gop used ethics/reform and anti corruption as a campaign slogan.

With Governor Riley's ethics reform proposals, the Republican Wrecking Crew is at it again and they are making yet another effort to Defund the Left by wrecking the Democratic Party by starving its constituent movements or shutting down the avenues by which its leaders receive contributions.
Now, we have the outlines of Governor Riley's ethics reform package. Two key proposals of Governor Bob Riley's ethics reform package are nothing more than a blatant attempt to defund the Left and the AEA, a key interest group within the Alabama Democratic Party. Those are the proposals to prohibit AEA from collecting dues by payroll deduction and the ban on so-called "double dipping," i.e., so as to prohibit a member of the Alabama Legislature from holding another government job including public school jobs. Both of these proposals have already passed in a Senate committee.

I tried to tell them this was about putting Dr. Joe Reed in his place, but did they listen? Noooo. According to them Joe Reed is the cause of all of Alabama's ills. He's the reason the Alabama legislature turned from blue to blood red. Never mind that Joe Reed wasn't the head of the Alabama Democratic Party and has never been the head of the Democratic Party. Never mind that Joe Reed has spent his life fighting for the rights of the disenfranchised. Never mind Joe Reed was the duly elected leader of the Alabama Education Association. Never mind Joe Reed was not afraid to speak truth to power. Never mind all of those things. Joe Reed had to be put in his place once and for all because it was time for some *ahem* new leadership.

By new leadership I suppose they mean someone who will be the opposite of Joe Reed. Well are you happy with your "new leadership" now? Are you happy the good guys have been replaced by the bad guys? Any teacher who voted for the Alabama gop will get what they deserve. They bit of their nose to spite their face. But don't worry, the Alabama Democratic Party, Dr. Joe Reed and Dr. Paul Hubbert will save you, because that's the kind of organization/people they are. They fight for what is right.

''This is about power,'' said Sen. Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro. ''This is about a group that has not had power for 136 years. These are mechanisms by which they will be able to maintain power in this august body.''
Voters on Nov. 2 broke more than a century of Democratic control of the Legislature. Republicans now run both the House and Senate.
Sen. Roger Bedford, D-Russellville, said the bill "rises to the top of petty politics.'' He said Riley pushed for the bill to punish AEA and ASEA because they didn't support his favorite candidate for governor, Bradley Byrne. Byrne lost the Republican primary to Gov.-elect Robert Bentley.

wargolem has one of the best explanations of the rank gop hypocrisy and what it means for teachers, strike that, liberals in Alabama.

As for me i personally know what i call it - Hypocrisy 101. This particular person said of his opponent during the election "Well all he did was go down there to montgomery and vote himself a raise." Guess what? All you did was go down there and the first thing you did was to screw over the teachers and they tend to have a long memory.

Redeye Rant over and out...for now.

"Slave Labor in Alabama: Why Not?"

The first order of business for the Reddest State Legislature in the Reddest State in the Union will be Raiding the retirement fund and health benefits for teachers, cops, firefighters, and other public servants" because if they don't,  Either the costs will have to be reduced or taxes raised drastically which is unlikely given the current taxpayer mood."

State Senator Hank Sanders, Dr. Paul Hubbert and Dr. Joe Reed, tried to tell y'all.

MONTGOMERY -- Top Republican leaders say they believe state government must curb its rising costs of providing health insurance and retirement coverage for teachers and other public employees and retirees.

"We can't afford to keep doing what we're doing. We cannot sustain the growth in expenses," said state Rep. Mike Hubbard, R-Auburn, the nominee of Republicans in the state House of Representatives to be the next House speaker, or leader.

Read the following letters to the editor of The Huntsville Times to gauge the mood of current taxpayers, republican and democratic. Name and personal information redacted.

Letter to the Editor (#1)
Huntsville Times
October 9, 2010
Huntsville Alabama

My name is XXXXX ZZZZZZZZ. I am a Child Nutrition Professional (CNP or
cafeteria) worker at XXXXXXXXXX School in South Huntsville. I have worked
for the Huntsville City School System full time almost five years. My July,
2010 take home payroll check was $ 685.38. This is not a living wage. It is
not a surviving wage. It is economic slavery.

Between my wife and I, we work four jobs - three part-time and one full
time.
W-2 Statements for 2009 total? $ 20,000. Four thousand dollars less than
minimum for POVERTY level ($ 24,000) for family of four.

This is slavery. Slavery exists in Alabama and across the USA. Economic
slavery is worse than slavery of 160 years ago. It destroys lives and
families and cripples communities and economies. Slavery is not accidental.
It is a simple economic factor.

Slavery is hidden. Economic slaves do not want to tell others that they are
slaves. It is un-American. Being poor is bad. What is wrong with you? Lazy?
Not working hard enough? Working two full time jobs, still not able to put
food on the table?

Slave owners valued their slaves. Slaves cost their owners a lot of money.
If you got sick, the slave owner wanted you well (because when sick you
could not help in harvesting the crops). Today's, workers are not valued.
The bottom line does not value workers. If you don't want to work at a
place, don't like the pay, unsafe working conditions, etc. - go someplace
else.



Letter to the Editor (#2)
Huntsville Times
October 9, 2010
Huntsville Alabama

My name is XXXXX ZZZZZZZZ. I am a Child Nutrition Professional (CNP or
cafeteria) worker at XXXXXXXXXX School in South Huntsville. I have worked
for the Huntsville City School System full time almost five years. My July,
2010 take home payroll check was $ 685.38. This is not a living wage. It is
not a surviving wage. It is economic slavery.

Around Christmas time every year, the school administrators takes up a
collection of money from the students for the lunch room workers and
janitors. Why? Because the support workers don't get paid very much. The
administrators they feel sorry about that fact.

Question: Why don't the lunch room workers or janitors get paid very much?
Because the school system CHOOSES NOT to pay them very much. It is kind of
sick, sad and twisted that the children of the school system donate money to
give to the support workers in their school, when the school system itself
is responsible for the slave labor wages the workers receive.

This apparent show of generosity manipulates the children's views of cooks,
and janitors. Why do we give money to these guys and gals? They don't work
hard enough? What is THEIR problem? Why don't we give money to the teachers
too?

Don't you all think it is time to stop slavery in the South? Again.

Maybe next time instead of attacking Sanders, Reed and Hubbert for speaking up and speaking out, y'all will listen to them. But then again, maybe not.

The teabaggers have won, let the blood bath begin. I truly hope that the new republican House, and the soon to be republican Senate in Washington do the exact same thing to federal employees and their contractors who make millions compared to the state of Alabama employees. Teachers in Alabama, who have to pay every cent of the cost of operating their classrooms for the last few years - can you imagine operating a classroom without having paper, pens, xerox copies of tests, etc?- and who have not had a raise in over three years (federal employees get a cost of living every year!), while having to take uncaring students to higher standards year after year after year are now going to have fewer benefits, no retirement except a 401K (and we see how much those grew during 2000-2009)!! What is the incentive for teaching under pretty hostile conditions with a largely unmotivated population and an angry mob that seems to be against you? NONE! Thanks, teabaggers and ill-informed Alabamians for letting the "haves" gain control of the "have nots" once again!

Back to the "good old days"...here we come. The doctors, lawyers, and indian chiefs will have it all, and the common man will work his/her fingers to the bone.

PS from Redeye; The reddest state legislature from the reddest state in the union voted themselves a 63% pay raise last year. They must have known then they could count on the majority of Alabama's white mainstream voters to care more about keeping those darn teachers, cops, firefighters and other public servents from having health benefits than they did their city, county, state or their country.

Redeye tiptoeing away from the computer humming Look away! Look away! Look away, Dixieland.

"The republican health care plan, don't get sick. If you get sick, die quickly"~Rep. Alan Grayson D. FL

Don't Think. Vote republican!

How's that for a gop bumper sticker? I mean, really? Who wants to go back to before?

I don't want to a turn to the right, I don't want to go back. And I really think I'm not alone. My generation suffered through a Republican shut down of government, not in 1994 but from 98 and on. When Bill Clinton's private life became all of our most important business. I don't want that again. Bombing Baghdad for no good reason... I don't want that again.

Or, how about Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me--you can't fool me again.

What is it about those who make less than, say $200K, that makes them even think about voting for them?

How about I'm exhausted too?

I’m exhausted when I see people working against their own best interests out of spite.

Tempest in a Tea Pot

Judge the Tea Party purely on the grounds of effectiveness and you have to admire how a very small group has shaken American political life and seized the microphone offered by the media, including the so-called liberal media.

Annoy the middle class, Vote republican!

''People will choose a government that helps them over no government at all,''

If you are against the lottery don't play the lottery.

If you are against having access to quality, affordable health care, vote republican!

Starting now, insurance companies will no longer be permitted to exclude children because of pre-existing health conditions, which the White House said could enable 72,000 uninsured to gain coverage. Insurers also will be prohibited from imposing lifetime limits on benefits.

The law will now forbid insurers to drop sick and costly customers after discovering technical mistakes on applications. It requires that they offer coverage to children under 26 on their parents’ policies.

It establishes a menu of preventive procedures, like colonoscopies, mammograms and immunizations, that must be covered without co-payments. And it allows consumers who join a new plan to keep their own doctors and to appeal insurance company reimbursement decisions to a third party.

If can read this, thank a teacher!

We would suggest that national Democrats take a page from the Hubbert playbook, before it is too late and Republicans have taken back one or both houses of Congress

Vote like it's 2008 all over again!

Interestingly, Boehner's Ohio media allies can only make one rationale for re-electing him again-- he might wind up as Speaker (as though that might be beneficial for Ohio voters, instead of the disaster his term in office has already proven!). But will the lazy, hard-drinking golfer wind up as Speaker if the Republican manage to win in November? Republican House members prefer to not discuss it openly but there's a lot of chatter about kicking the corrupt Boehner out of the leadership (again) and inserting a more ideologically extreme candidate more in line with the teabaggers. Mike Pence is the obvious choice.

Peace!

Updated ~WTF did Joe Reed do to you?

 I've noticed a renewed interest in this post which gave me the opportunity to correct some typo's and update some links. The original content is unchanged.

Looking back I have to wonder how Left in Alabama feels about Joe Reed now. Their candidate, Artur Davis ,was anti AEA and pro privatizing  public education in Alabama, and he was backed by the business community in and outside of the state.  That's a group with little love for entitlements, I mean,  social programs such as access to quality, affordable health care, equal access to a quality public education, a poor woman's right to choose to have a safe, legal abortion, access to birth control, LBGT rights, and the right to vote, and have that vote count.  ~RedEye

That is the question I would like answered by those *ahem* democrats who resent (for lack of a better word) Joe Reed for the power he wields as chairman of the Alabama Democratic Conference.

The Democratic Party has had considerable political power in Alabama for a long time. As head of the ADC, Reed has had a big share of that power -- he derives it from his apparent ability to deliver votes and campaign workers.

Uh NO. Joe Reed doesn't have the ability to "deliver votes and campaign workers", he has the ability to get out the vote and recruit campaign volunteers. It's his J-O-B to get out the vote.

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.

Also known as "community organizing".

Community organizing is a process where people who live in proximity to each other come together into an organization that acts in their shared self-interest. Unlike those who promote more-consensual community building, community organizers generally assume that social change necessarily involves conflict and social struggle in order to generate collective power for the powerless. A core goal of community organizing is to generate durable power for an organization representing the community, allowing it to influence key decision-makers on a range of issues over time. In the ideal, for example, this can get community organizing groups a place at the table before important decisions are made.^[1] Community organizers work with and develop new local leaders, facilitating coalitions and assisting in the development of campaigns.

So, what's the problem with Joe Reed wielding power? What power is he wielding? Who/what is he wielding power over?

So, what's the problem with Joe Reed getting out the vote and recruiting campaign workers?

So, what has Joe Reed done to satisfy his need and desire for total control ? Total control of what? Total control of whom?

So, what has Joe Reed done to severely damage the Alabama Democratic Party?

Is the "change that's afoot in the democratic party" about white insecurity because a black man "wields power"?

reed's focus is so dominated by control of what there is, what's going to be left means nothing to him so long as he controls it. and there still is no real solution.

Go ahead and just spit it out, I want to know why Joe Reed is considered by some to be the evil enemy of the Alabama Democratic Party.  in the African American community Joe Reed is known as a fighter for fairness,  not some power hungry, racist, dictator.

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

Seriously, some of y'all are beginning to remind me of the Obama is a Kenya born/Muslim/Socialist/Nazi/Dictator gang.

I have been troubled lately by the ADC, New South and especially Joe Reed. Artur was damned if he did, and damned if he didn't by courting either of them! And like you, I thought it took guts to say "I don't need you to tell me that I'm Black, care about Blacks" but instead, his campaign said, "I am like you and this is 2010 and I care about all Alabamians. I care about a better Health Care Bill."

Could the problem be:

1. They don't like educated black men unless they are Artur Davis.
2. They don't think that Blacks are capable of being in charge unless they are Artur Davis
3. They resent the fact that a black IS in charge unless it's Artur Davis.

Bottom line, history tells us Joe Reed would move heaven and earth to keep ADC from endorsing Artur Davis. Ditto Hank Sanders and New South Coalition. It's the status quo vs. a new way of doing business in Alabama, and the folks who wield power with the current system aren't going to give it up quietly.

Ron Sparks will happily kow-tow and they'll endorse him. No surprise there.

I'm tired of hearing the  ADP is comparable to a social club of good old boys; why include anything new or different when they're exactly where they want to be - in charge and in power, even though theirs is a shrinking, failing club.

I'm tired of the threats to leave the party because of Joe Reed. Where are you going to go? The gop? Are you going to start your own party? What to do and where to go? 

forming a new democratic party from scratch would be legally very complicated and formers would be accused of racism, regardless of make-up of initiators group. But, the coalition that produced the statement could study initiating a law suit on the basis that the makeup of the state democratic committee is disproprtionately minority, and that the fact of disproprtionate minority detracts from the electability of Democrats of any race. So, the court is asked to find that the racial make up of the committee deprives citiznes of their ability to nominate and elect persons of the majority's choosing. and, following up, the court should decree that a plan proposed by the new south coalition for allocating seats on the state cttee be adopted.

I'm tired of pretending the criticism against Joe Reed isn't rooted in prejudice. I know I'm going to be accused of playing the race card, but I don't care. For most white Americans slavery, segregation and Jim Crow are ancient history and they want to just forget about it and move on. But for me and mine,  that history is as close as my children, my parents, my grandparents and my great grandparents. I don't have to do a google search to recall America's racial history. I live it everyday. So yes, I can be hypersensitive about racial issues, I guess that's why I take the vilification of Joe Reed personally. I don't feel like it's just Joe Reed is being attacked, I feel like it's an attack on all black leaders and all of the members of the ADC. You call them black gate keepers, I call them black freedom fighters.

The Alabama Democratic Conference (the Black Political Caucus of Alabama) was founded in 1960 by a small group of black citizens who banded together that year in an effort to influence black voters to support the Democratic presidential ticket of John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. Among the founders were: Arthur Shores, a highly respected civil rights lawyer in Birmingham; Rufus Lewis, a successful Montgomery businessman and former coach at Alabama State University; Dr. C. G. Gomillion, a college professor and activist at Tuskegee Institute; Q. D. Adams a gifted salesman and civic promoter from Gadsden; Isom Clemon, a powerful labor leader among Mobile County longshoremen; and Beulah Johnson, a feisty Tuskegee educator.

I was raised by educated parents who taught me I could be anything I wanted to be if I worked hard and played by the rules. I grew up in an environment where respected black leaders promised one day I would be judged by the content of my character not the color of my skin. I'm still waiting on that day.

So please tell me WTF Joe Reed did to you? I asked this question on Left in Alabama before I was banned, Here is what I wrote. Click on the link to read the comments.

Something to think about today by: Redeye Tue Sep 01, 2009 at 09:41:52 AM CDT


Postings and comments will be light for me today as I have some personal, family health issues to deal with, but I've noticed a "trend" here on LiA that I want to bring to your attention (because I'm sure you're not aware of it), and hopefully give you something to think and comment about.
I have noticed that true liberals/progressives/community organizers/those that stand up and fight for the rights of the "little people" get bashed, slammed and held to a higher level of accountability than those who are and do the opposite.

Take Joe Reed and Paul Hubbert for example. I don't understand the animosity (for lack of a better word) and distrust (also for lack of a better word) coming from progressives.

Joe Reed and Paul Hubbert are the duly elected leaders of the Alabama Education Association. They have spent most of their lives representing the interest of Alabama school students, teachers, administrators and support staff. What pray tell is so wrong with that?

My Mom says Reed and Hubbert are hated (for lack of a better word) because they are powerful. If true, what's wrong with them being powerful?

Think about it and get back to me.

Redeye

Redeye's Week In Review

Artur Davis, I mean Terri Sewell is the democratic congressional nominee from the 7th district. She was quoting Shirley Chisholm on Wednesday and announcing she wasn't going to be a rubber stamp for President Obama on Thursday. Now we see why Emily's list was so *ahem* invested in 7th district congressional race. If the republicans were smart, and I'm not saying they are, they would run a social liberal, fiscal conservative candidate against Sewell in the fall and take a "safe" democratic seat. But why should they bother to run a candidate when they have Artur, I mean Sewell? I wonder if Sewell is going to vote for Nancy Pelosi for speaker of the house? Naahhh. This is messed up on too many levels to enumerate. The voters in the 7th district don't deserve this. If the Alabama democratic party were courageous, and I'm not saying they are, they would run a real democrat as an independent in the fall. With democratic nominees like Sewell who needs republicans?

Speaking of Artur Davis, he's exhibiting the learned helplessness democrats are famous for in Alabama.

U.S. Rep. Artur Davis, D-Birmingham, praised Robert Bentley for his victory in Tuesday's runoff election and predicted the Republican Party nominee will be tough to beat in the general election.

With democrats like Davis who needs republicans?

Republicans and *ahem* progressive cats won't have Dr. Paul Hubbert to kick around anymore since he is stepping down as the State Party Vice Chair. He is public enemy #1 because he is an effective advocate for public schools, public school students, teachers, administrators and support staff. Dr. Joe L. Reed is public enemy#2 because he is responsible for "gerrymandering" them there black voting districts thanks to that there Voting Rights Act.

Districts with huge majorities of minority voters? Not good. Those are intended to actually dilute the effect of minorities at the voting booth and shouldn't be tolerated by anyone on the progressive side of the map.

With progressives like these who needs democrats.

The political career of Bradley Byrnes is over, thanks in large part to democrats and the AEA. Yep, those so called anti corruption, anti gambling corporate candidates crashed and burned. Schnauzer I join you and Mrs. Schnauzer in your childish delight

So we hope you will excuse our childish delight at the thumping corporate candidates have taken at the election box recently in Alabama. The battle for honest governance is far from over--in Alabama and beyond. But we must admit to feeling a tiny bit of vindication today--and even a sense of "up yours" to those who have soiled our democracy.

The NAACP called on the Tea Party Gang to reject the racist elements and found themselves under attack from the mainstream media. That's right (no pun), the organization that fights racism is under attack for exposing the racist elements of the Tea Party gang at the same time the media is doing everything but ironing the white sheets, lighting torches and getting the rope for Mel Gipson. So, how come the media, which is predominately white, gets to defend the Tea Party Movement, attacking the NAACP and convicting Mel Gipson? Who made them the arbiters of racism? This is the same media who painted anti war protesters as anti American, anti military, namby, pamby, tree huggers and Cindy Sheehan as a traitor because she dared ask why her son died in Iraq.

President Obama is cautiously optimistic the oil well gusher is plugged in the Gulf of Mexico. Republicans voted lock step against extending unemployment benefits and financial reform. The Tea Party candidates crashed and burned. And republicans still think think they are going to regain control of the government in November.

Ain't that a dip?