I am sick and tired of being sick and tired of fickle demoCats

I can understand the gop having their underwear in a wad over DEMOCRATIC Alabama State Senator Hank Sanders robo calls to DEMOCRATIC voters, but why do those who call themselves progressive/democrats have a problem with this?

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

Paid for by Alabama New South.

I'll tell you what I think the problem is, feel free to disagree with me. The democratic party has been infiltrated by conservatives masquerading as progressives which resulted in an internal war between hard core liberals and hard core conservatives illustrated by the following statement:

The Democratic dream coalition this year is supposed to be African-American voters (often termed simply "Obama voters" which ignores the fact that lots of white Alabamians also voted for Obama) and rural white voters.

This statement is totally false. The majority of white Alabamians, democratic and republican, and the majority of rural white voters voted for McCain/Palin in 08. President Obama got 10% of the white vote in Alabama.

Yes, there are two different campaigns being run inside the same party.

Yep. The strategy this year (4.00 / 2)
for white Democrats running in "conservative" rural districts is to campaign as if rural white Alabamians have one foot dragging off the trailer steps and one arm in a KKK robe.

So how does Hank Sanders' robocall fit with the overall strategy? It seems insane to run two totally different campaigns inside the same party and think that neither side is going to catch on.

A huge and wonderful exception to this effort is the campaign being run by Greg Varner in SD-13.

Why the ADP isn't following his strategy statewide is beyond me. This lowest common denominator campaign is depressing as hell and an embarrassment to the state.

Why is the ADP following this strategy statewide you ask? Because the democratic party is divided that's why. The ADP party wants and needs the African American vote but they don't want the African American voters.

I have complicated reasons for wanting to call myself a Democrat. Those reasons are firm and cannot be swayed, even from within. But for all of those other moderates out there, doesn't this come across as just berating and ignorant type of campaigning? It sounds like something I would hear from a wannabe civil rights activist who has Venerable Reverend preceding their name. The black vote is very important. More important than the vote, is actually serving the black people of Alabama with meaningful representation. Does Hank Sanders represent anyone other than a small segment of the uninformed race voting blacks? This embarrass me to have some association with it. I know you guys get tired of me harping on the same old point, but if Democrats want to keep swapping power every four to eight years, then let Hank Sanders types keep preaching. I know that there will always be a extreme element of both parties. But those elements only account for very small percentages of the parties as a whole. 10% representation is not what America needs. I am so concerned that the polarization will continue due to foolish actions such as the Hank Sanders campaigning phone message above. Mad as Hell, Hell no, No way in Hell, Hell freeze over! I think Hank Sanders is caught up on words that begin with H and end with ell.

This commenter has it twisted. The Alabama African American vote was slightly more than 26% in 2008, not 10%. As a matter of fact, the 10% is the number of white voters for Obama, so I will agree with the commenter 10% representation is not what Alabama or America needs, so candidates like Artur Davis, Bobby Bright and Butch Taylor need to stop pandering to them.

AL State Senator Hank Sanders is not the problem, nor is the substance of his robo call.

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

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

So called super minority/partisan districts aren't the problem either. They are the solution to the problem.

Prior to the Civil War, African Americans were almost totally disenfranchised throughout the states. Latino voters faced similar barriers to voting in Texas and other parts of the Southwest., as did Native American and Asian American voters in the West. Even after enactment of the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution, in 1870, which gave all men, regardless of race, color, or previous condition of servitude the right to vote, many states continued to use various methods to prevent people of color from voting, including literacy tests, poll taxes, the disenfranchisement of former inmates, intimidation, threats, and even violence. Also, until 1965, federal laws did not challenge the authority of states and localities to establish and administer their own voting requirements.

I take issue with the following comment;

We have an amazing diversity of views for a site called "Left in Alabama." I think that's healthy and makes the site a better, more informative resource. The echo chamber effect just leads to group think and is the ticket to irrelevance. Pretty much all of us here agree 90% of the time on the basics. We diverge often on the strategies and tactics needed to achieve our goals, but that's how policies get negotiated in the real world. Why not on a blog?

In case you haven't noticed there is NO diversity in your font page viewpoint. Like the NPR/Juan Williams firing my front page privileges were rescinded because the content of my comments didn't conform to the group think mentality.

But losing his job for saying the sight of Muslims on a plane makes him a little nervous is wrong. It makes me wonder just how much any commentator, including myself, will have to go to water down his or her comments just to avoid offending some one's sensitivities.

As long as the ADP elite, progressives/democrats pander to right and take the of the base (African American voters)for granted there will be conflict within the democratic party. As long as African Americans stay in their place they are fine, but if they dare speak up and speak out they sound a nutty as the worst elements of the GOP or are told to start their own blog. As I said earlier, you can't have the African American VOTES without the African American VOTERS. You are either for the democratic party, or you are against the democratic party, a democratic party that fights for equal rights, civil rights, women's rights and human rights for ALL including African Americans.

If the cries of Montgomery politicians under indictment don’t generate sympathy, certainly the lamentation of unemployed workers in the Black Belt does. One effect of the bribe-induced Riley-Canary war on bingo in Alabama is the closure of bingo operations in Greene, Macon and Houston Counties, that employed literally thousands of workers, and brought millions of dollars annually to local government treasuries. We all wish that overwhelmingly black Greene and Macon Counties had bulldozers clearing land for new automotive and electronics plants, or for high-powered biology labs or computer engineering firms, but that’s the progress of the next generation. Right now, those counties are absolutely dependent on the entertainment and gaming business for their economic survival, and Obama’s what-me-worry attitude about Canary has placed that survival in jeopardy. Even in the white-majority Wiregrass, it’s probably safe to assume that Country Crossing employed a fair number of African-Americans in its service sector jobs. Had Bob Riley needed to worry about a U.S. Attorney with integrity in Montgomery, he would likely not have earned his Mississippi Choctaw bribes by shutting down the bingo halls, and the Legislature would probably have put a bingo referendum on this November’s ballot. As it is, there is no way to know when, or if, these businesses will reopen. At some point, even the President’s biggest supporters have to ask if he’s paying attention.

At some point I have to ask if the ADP is paying attention? It may make you feel better to call yourself a progressive because you don't want to be associated with liberals/democrats, but you're either with ALL of the democratic party of NONE of the democratic party.

Redeye Rant Over and Out.

Sunday Sermon

It's time to purge the corporatist out of the democratic party. Seriously, it's time for them to go. I don't care where they go, just get the hell out of the democratic tent.

It is time to purge the corporatist from the Democratic power structure. The real work of the Democratic Party is done by grassroots activists. These activists are the Democratic Party. They should run it at every level.

President Obama better recognize as the young people say;

Obama still has not learned that the Obama Movement that put him in the White House was not really about Obama. It was about a set of progressive policies that constituted “change we can believe in.”

If he doesn't believe it he should ask his buddy and soon to be ex 7th district Congressman Artur Davis how throwing the base under the bus worked out for him.

Union activists, progressives and environmentalists are the majority of foot soldiers that go to battle for Democratic candidates at every level in every community of the nation. Along with civil rights leaders, civil libertarians, peace activists and the progressive Internet community, these activists give more money to elect Democrats than every corporation combined.

Stop the learned helplessness! We are right (pun intended) and they are as wrong as the intelligence (for lack of a better word) that took us to war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

We need to return to the values of FDR and the New Deal. We need to capture every Democratic Party office and drive out the corporatist. The Democratic Party is a much better institution because we drove out the Southern racist faction (and the northern one) and we need to do the same with the corporatist.

The democratic party has been re-infiltrated, some call it demanding party purity, I call it demanding party loyalty. To para quote George W-ar Bush, Yer either wit us democrats or yer not. You decide.

The Tea Party crowd has been captured and in some cases created by corporate forces. They cannot be the populist engine for “change you can believe in” but you and your friends can be that populist engine. Get angry, get active and fight corporatism regardless of political party.

I'm fed up and fired up. What about you?

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Congressmen John H. Lewis and Jesse Jackson Jr.= Good

Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr. = Bad

Congressmen Charlie Rangel = Bad

New Jefferson County Citizens Coalition = Bad

Jefferson County Progressives Council = Bad

State representative John Knight = Good

State Senator Hank Sanders = Bad
Lily Ledbetter = Good

Mobile Mayor Sam Jones = Good
Former Mayor Richard Arrington = Bad

Former Judge U.W. Clemons = Good

State Constitution Reform Leaders = Good

Association of Professional Firefighthers = Good
Dr. Joe Reed = Bad

Communications Workers of America Local 3902 = Good

UMWA= Very Bad

AEA = Bad
TFA = Good
African American Political Organizations = Very Bad

Fighting for Manned Space Program = Good

Fighting for Health Care Reform = BadVoting for Defense Authorization = Good
Voting Against Health Care Reform = Good

Charles Barkley = Bad

Ron Sparks running to the right = Bad
Artur Davis putting a price tag on ugly = Good

See a pattern?

Is Left in Alabama Progressive or Conservative? There is more than a whiff of conservatism IMHO.

Artur Davis claims he is a democrat because he believes in the future. O really now. It's kind of hard to have a future when you're dead because you don't have acess to quality, affordable health care. And who doesn't believe in the future? I tell you, the more Artur Davis talks the more he reminds me of George Dubya Bush and his his supporters remind me of Bushbots. They can't defend Davis' message so they attack the messanger. So, gop.

High Street asks the question if the Alabama Democratic Party Conservative or Progressive and 4 other questions. I ask if the leadership (or the lack there of) of the Alabama Democratic Party is Conservative or Progressive? IMHO the democratic party elite are more conservative than progressive. The democratic party elite suppress and down out the progressives (the traditonal democratic base). The Alabama Democratic Party has been infiltrated by Neo-Librals.

What yellowdog said, every last word;

It seems to be the position of the Alabama Democratic Party that truly Democratic liberal candidacies are unwinnable and too defining. To have some success or any success, our candidates have to appear virtually interchangeable in Party identity.

Bobby Bright is a perfect example. As he maintains one of the worst Democratic Party voting records in Congress, indistinguishable from a Republican, here in Alabama he is unopposed in the primary. He is a successful Alabama Democrat. Like most of our State Senators and State Reps. Very little liberal or Democratic legislation ever moves through our State legislative body.

In many States, the voters have to declare Party affiliation to vote in a primary. When registered Republicans and registered Democrats select their nominee, they get more ideologically core-value candidates. You get a more clearly defined Democrat and Republican choice, and the winner is who convinces the unregistered or more moderate voter in the general election.

There is an argument being put forward that the restricted Party voter primaries are creating a more radical, left/right polarization. Open primaries like in Alabama seem to create the opposite.

The Alabama Democratic Party must be calculating its best chances for success as a Party are to be vaguely different from the Republican Party, to the point where (D) or (R) is the only substantial difference in the choice.

What If Wednesday

Black Agenda Report Managing Editor Bruce Dixon ask What if BP were a human being instead of a corporation?

What if BP, the principal corporate entity responsible for the monstrous oil well rupture a mile beneath Gulf of Mexico were a human being, a flesh and blood person instead of a faceless transnational corporation? It's a fair and simple question, and the answers tell us a lot more about the world we live in.

What if they really do hate us for our freedoms? It used to aggravate me to no end to hear Bush/Dick and the Talking TeeVee Pundit heads say the "Terrist hate us for our freedoms" claiming it was why we were attacked on 911. First, we need to figure out who they are.But what if they were right (pun intended) and they really do hate us for our freedom only "they" are not the terrist but our government, because lately those freedoms we love and cherish and who are sons and daughters are "fighting for" in Iraq and Afghanistan are coming under attack.

Do they hate us for our right to vote and have our votes counted?
Do they hate us for our Miranda Rights?
Do they hate us for our right to Habeas Corpus?
Do they hate us because we are a nation of immigrants?
Do they hate for our freedom of speech?

What if President Obama had nominated the most qualified man/woman to the fill the vacancy on the United States Supreme Court? Hate to say it but the Repubs are right (pun intended) about Elana Kagen not being qualified for a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court. But hey, even a broken clock/watch is right twice a day. Lilian Sergura tells us Six things we may not know about Elana Kagen.

The nomination of Elana Kagen to the Supreme Court has produced many more questions than answers, but that has not stopped the avalanche of news stories, which could take days to sift through. Nevertheless, it seems pretty clear from what we know so far that this is not good news for anyone who hoped that the president might choose a nominee that would continue in the liberal tradition of the justice she's replacing, John Paul Stevens.

Which is why progressives must fight the nomination of Elana Kagen;

For more than 15 months, evidence has mounted that President Obama routinely combines progressive rhetoric with contrary actions. As one bad decision after another has emanated from the Oval Office, some progressives have favored denial -- even though, if the name "Bush" or "McCain" had been attached to the same presidential policies, the same progressives would have been screaming bloody murder.

What if we were investing in America's future instead of all war all the time?

Congress is being asked to vote on another appropriations bill for billions more dollars to fund military operations in Afghanistan despite reservations among many members about the corrupt regime of Afghan leader, Hamid Karzai. Operations that many in the Pentagon are beginning to question from both an tactical and strategic standpoint:

What if 9 Alabama State University students hadn't been expelled under pressure from then Governor John Patterson for protesting off campus? Note to Alabama gubernatorial candidate Artur Davis, these are the "old school" civil rights pioneers who were in the trenches when you were just a twinkle in your mother's eye. These are the "old school" warriors who helped Dr. Joe Reed with the help of African American political organizations pave the way for you to be the sitting Congressman from the 7th district of Alabama. These are the "old school" people you disrespect and threw under the bus to pander to the white, I mean right. Shame on you.

What if I hadn't been banned from Left in Alabama and they really did connect progressive voices for a new direction in Alabama politics instead of disconnecting progressive voices in favor or neo-liberal voices? :)

What If Wednesday

What if Bush and Dick had treated 911 like a crime instead of sending our sons and daughters to Iraq and Afghanistan to look for weapons of mass destruction that were not there?

What if all the votes had been counted in Florida in 2000?

What if the MSM exposed the Tea Party's race problem instead of enabling it?

What if Congressman Artur Davis had voted for the health care reform bill instead of against the health care reform bill ad were on the path to making history by being elected the first African American governor of Alabama?

What if progressive voices were encouraged instead of censored?

What is on my mind Wednesday.

If 50 Teabaggers showed up to protest President Obama or Congressman Parker Griffith (r. traitor) I'll bet there would be wall to wall media coverage complete with live interviews, but since according to al.com, it was only 50 progressive, democratic outcast protesting Dubya's former *ahem* advisor the media we have barely yawned. Thank goodness we have a real media outlet to tell us what really happened duringKKKarl Rove's trip to Sweet Home Alabama. Compare and contrast the coverage. It's like night and day. But I'm not surprised, are you?

Speaking of Bushes Brain aka KKKarl Rove, his base is repackaging their movement in a new, multicultural wrapping. Yeah right. Same stuff, different robe.

Speaking of media coverage, or the lack thereof, check out Booman's version of What if the Tea Party were black.

What would happen if we took, say, a couple hundred nicely dressed black men, to a gun show out in rural Anywhere, U.S.A.? What if we came in a couple of busloads, legally purchased firearms and left in a quiet and orderly fashion, just as we'd come. What kind of news coverage, if any, would we get?

Uh Oh! The Mainstream Media fired a warning shot at President Obama today. This is the same media who enabled Bush and Dick to send our troops to Iraq based on DEAD WRONG Intelligence, remember? What BlatantLiberal said!

I'm outraged over this meaningless story for one reason: health care. We saw this most clearly with the death panel lie. That is not a failure of communication or messaging. That was a failure of the mainstream media to educate the people. It speaks to the systemic and endemic failure of the media to simply report. And that is not the White House's fault; it's the fault of a media that will allow lies to take hold. That is willing to report a lie and give it the same billing as the policy itself warping the public's knowledge and facts.

Lord help us, Gun Nut Political Gathering Organized in PA to Shoot Up Cars Representing "Liberal Ideas": Next It's Us

On that note, remember what happened to ultra liberal radio talk show host Rhandi Rhodes when when made a joke about guns and George W-ar Bush? Remember what happened to Air America afterwards? RedEYE reports what you decide.


Paging the Alabama ACLU!!! We've got another prom situation in Dixie. This time it's in Calhoun County Alabama.

"Oxford High School, a school in Calhoun County, Ala., prom dress codes are strictly enforced. Some say too strictly. This year, the Anniston Star reports that 25 students were disciplined for violating the prom dress code. The strangest part of the story, though, is that the students were allowed to stay at the prom, but the following week, they had to choose the option of receiving corporal punishment (by paddling) or a three-day suspension....The principal, Trey Holladay, defends the policy stating that, "We're using the same policy we've had for the last five years. Being a parent, I want to make sure girls and guys act accordingly. We're a high school, and our community has certain expectations of what is appropriate."

So much discrimination, so little time.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- A sharply divided federal appeals court on Monday exposed Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to billions of dollars in legal damages when it ruled a massive class action lawsuit alleging gender discrimination over pay for female workers can go to trial.

It couldn't have happened to a more deserving company. *Snicker*

Redeye over and out for now.

Edit~ Artur Davis, Health Care Reform and Gambling

This is one of those times real life interferes with my blogging life (or should it be the other way around?) and I can't find time to update the blog.  In light of my previous post regarding Artur Davis' "historic" bid to become Alabama's first African American Governor, the Alabama BINGO Wars, and health care reform, I am going to re post a diary I composed during my tenure at my former home LeftinAlabama.com.

It is my understanding Democratic congressmen who voted against the health care reform bill are being praised for voting against the health care bill by their white constituents, while criticized for voting against health care reform by their African American constituents. Congressman  Artur Davis, democratic gubernatorial candidate voted NO. I guess he forgot the reason he has access to quality affordable health care is because the voters of  Alabama 7th district elected him to fight for their right to have access to the same.
 
Note:  1 in 5 or 19% of African Americans don't have access to health insurance. African Americans suffer from higher percentages of chronic illnesses which are perpetrated by a lack of access to quality care.

A Gambling Man
by: Redeye
Wed Nov 11, 2009 at 09:51:04 AM CST

“ You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em.

Know when to walk away, know when to run
You never count your money, when you're sittin' at the table.
There'll be time enough for countin', when the dealin's done. ~Kenny Rodgers, The Gambler

No, I these lyrics don't apply to Ron Sparks. They apply to Congressman/ gubernatorial candidate Artur Davis.

"When to hold em" Davis pandered to "white moderates" at the expense of his "traditional base" in order to garner their support. "White moderates" have money, influence, power and most importantly they vote for candidates who share their self interest, or a single issue, regardless of race or gender.

"When to fold 'em" Davis knew before the vote for affordable health care reform he was going to have to vote against it. I checked his website and couldn't find where he'd scheduled any town hall health care meetings in his district except for a panel discussion UAB (I'm sure I will be corrected if I'm wrong). The majority of his constituents voices were not heard regarding health care reform although the majority of his constituents voted for President Obama with HOPE for CHANGE they can believe in.

"You never count your money when you're sitting at the table".. According to my calculations Davis will need 30% of the African American vote to win the democratic primary. A large majority of those voters reside in the district he is currently not representing in Congress. The majority of his constituents have no money, no influence and as of late no no jobs, and no health care. Is Davis gambling 30% of African American voters will vote for him because he's black?

"There're be time enough for counting when the dealin's done". There are some that say there are no perfect candidates, but Davis says he didn't vote for the affordable health care bill because it wasn't perfect. To para quote former President Bill Clinton, doing something is better than doing nothing".

 I have a few questions for white moderates, progressive/liberals, and those who are leaning toward Davis because he's the lessor of two evils.


Q. If Davis voted for the affordable health care bill and against the Stupak amendment would you still vote for and support him?

Q. If Davis voted in favor of the Hate Crimes Bill instead of against it would you still vote for and support him.

Q. If Davis hadn't taken the positions he took on the Azalea Trail Maids, Jeremiah Wright and the Confederate Flag flap would you still vote for and support him?

Q. If Davis weren't an African American would he still have your vote and support?

Q. Do you believe having an African American Governor will change how Alabama is perceived in the world?

Q. Will the election of Artur Davis as Alabama's first African American Governor change how Alabama treats the least and the left out?

I'm not trying to offend anyone, I'm simply trying to understand why some progressives/liberals wholeheartedly support a candidate who in my opinion (and mine only) who is neither. A candidate who won't stand up to the right  for what is right.

Sunday Blog Stroll

Mitchell Howie Makes the Move---A PROGRESSIVE CHALLENGER for Congress. Yippie!!!! Let's support this man, he is the one we have been waiting for.

Judging from the first two candidates in the field, we can see how Alabama’s Fifth District got stuck with a turncoat like Parker Griffith. Luckily, there is a better option.

Now this is what I'm talking about! Obama, Arnold, Petreus finally kick some GOP Butt! It's about damn time! Arnold Schwarzenegger (r.CA) slammed the GOP stimulus hyprocrisy. The Terminator is back!

What part of you can't reason with the gop doesn't Obama understand?

CPAC had their little convention this weekend. The Revolution Is Being Televised for our viewing displeasure. Too bad they didn't televise the anti Iraq W-ar protest.

Skeptical Brother has a great diary about what the numbers tell us about race in Alabama.

Yo Tiger, get on with your life. I mean,really. You don't owe anyone an apology or an explanation but your wife and mother. If anyone needs to apologize publically it's the hussies that slept with you knowing you were a married man. It takes two to tango.