It depends on what the defintion of a #HateCrime IS in Sweet Home Alabama

Racism alive and well in Limestone County, Alabama http://t.co/siEv8Gzpne pic.twitter.com/9qCNf7uBTf
— Mic (@micnews) January 5, 2015

"We can't change what we refuse to acknowledge."

Poor Alabama Media Group. they can't decide if they are for Hate Crimes or against Hate Crimes.  *Sigh* Yesterday they reported the FBI is now assisting the  Limestone County Sheriffs Office in the case, and said  This is 2015, not 1965, and hate crimes shouldn't be tolerated by the community or law enforcement:

"In the short term, the Limestone County Sheriff's Office should make it a priority to find out who committed this crime and prosecute them to the fullest extent the law allows."

Yes, this from the group who allows anonymous commenter's to spew all manner of hate speech on a daily basis.

 If you want to take the pulse of Huntsville, and find out what's really going on, who the people in positions of power and influence cater and pander to, and how they really feel about an issue, look no further than the comment section of Al.com.

Well, not only have they deleted the offensive comments from the comment section, today they ran a story asking if the incident is a hate crime  reporting the DA says "It depends". 

Jones said charges can be elevated to a hate crime after the suspect is caught but the use of the slur doesn't automatically make it a hate crime. "It'll come down to, 'Why did you do this?'" he said. "We have to catch the person first to determine why somebody would do this."

Huh?  It will come down to why did you do this? Uh, why does someone spray the N-word on someones door Mr. Jones?  Because they can?  Because rappers and rap music?  Because it's a term of endearment?  Because Obama?  I mean, really?

Jones said, for example, if someone spray-painted the word "honky" on his home, would it be considered a hate crime if a white person was charged?

Now if this isn't a classic example of false narrative and a straw man argument I don't know what is.   Of course it wouldn't be a hate crime if a white person spay-painted the word "honky" on his home, but it would it an African American did it. A better example would be if someone of either race spray painted the F-word on your home.

But then.... this is Sweet Home Alabama.....

Case in point: Artur Davis’ recent vote AGAINST the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act. The purpose of the bill is to provide Federal assistance to States and local jurisdictions to prosecute hate crimes. Considering that Davis represents Alabama’s blackbelt, the ancestral home of hate crimes, you would think he would support such a bill. Well, actually, he did support it two years ago when he voted FOR hate crimes legislation. But I guess that was before he was trying to run for Governor and before he realized he could use some of those KKK votes.

In a recent statement released after his vote against the current bill, Davis “explains” what influenced his decision. He says:

Some of my constituents ask why our federal laws should pick out some Americans for more protections than others. Some wonder why, in a culture that rejects violence against any human being, we should say that an attack on a black, or a woman, or a gay individual should be punished more severely than an attack on someone who happens to be a senior citizen, or a soldier, or a teacher. Others ask why some motives based on certain ideas should be punished by our criminal laws more aggressively than others.

 Racism won't end until it's confronted.  We can't confront racism until it is defined. 

 What can you do to end racism?  Nothing.  You can't control peoples thoughts and feelings, but you can stop electing and giving power to the the people who have those thoughts and feelings. You can speak up and speak out. Silence equals consent.

We still have more progress to make,and 2 more years of Barack Obama's Presidency to do it in.

Welfare queens reporting back to work, where they plan to do nothing at all whatsoever and bitch about it too. pic.twitter.com/ygkvTrroOR
— Diane Howell (@DianeHowell11) January 4, 2015

#FireBoehner or not. Either way the GOP controlled House will still be full of ineffectual, incompetent, bible thumping, Tea Party nuts.
— Aღanda (@AC_BOwen) January 6, 2015

Edited~ Proof there is more than a whiff of hypocrisy by "both sides" on all sides

Via Armed Democrats on fb and @armeddemocrats #UniteBlue pic.twitter.com/1OvtF9TXPa
— Republicans R Evil (@CanProveIt) January 5, 2015

Everybody knows the media is not the voice of the voiceless, it's the voice of the corporations answerable to it's shareholders, and if there's one thing you can count on from our cable "news" hosts, it's that Republicans will never be called out for their false equivalencies and endless game of 'bothsiderism. Which is why cable and network news should be avoided by elected Democrats and candidates, and others who want to be informed instead of misinformed.

No one is surprised republicans are standing by Rep. Steve Scalise over revelations that the House's No. 3 Republican spoke to a white supremacist group 12 years ago.   After all,  this is how they have defined themselves.  This is who and what  they represent.  They are who and what we thought they were.

There are two things I reluctantly give republicans credit for, they are loyal and unified in support of their party.  They support their guys or gals no matter what.  You won't see republicans breaking rank, reaching across the aisle, calling for bipartianship and compromise.  No Sir.

So what does it say about Democrats and the corporate media's values when they won't call for the resignation of Steve Scalise ,but they called for the resignation of Anthony Weiner when someone hacked his Twitter account and leaked pictures of his male member?

There is more than a whiff of hypocrisy on both sides.

What Alabama State Senator Hank Sanders, D. Selma said....

A mean spirit is on the loose....

 "Well, there's a certain mean spiritness that's out there, not only in Alabama but it's in America.  And that makes this election extremely important."

The 2015 #GOP #tcot Clown Car: Bigger, Meaner & More Dangerous Than Ever. http://t.co/utNk5ATChg pic.twitter.com/VAE4wvaQSq
— The Right is Wrong  (@therightswrong) January 3, 2015

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

 Ya' think?

 It's a new year though and the clown car about to be sworn in next week is bigger than ever with a majority in both the Senate and the House. A car full of gun loving, poor hating, veteran screwing, climate change denying, Wall Street deregulating, health care repealing, and wealthy old white man loving clowns. Their plans so far include repealing Dodd-Frank, cutting and privatizing social security, cutting pensions, defunding Obamacare, eliminating food stamps and welfare, raising taxes on the middle class and working poor, cutting taxes for the super-rich and corporations, and who knows how many other Benghazi, IRS, and impeachment hearings we'll have to endure. They have the numbers to do what they want and by this time next year we could be having a completely different conversation in a completely different country.

Are your Ducks taped?

 Today, the Republican Party depends on a broad coalition of voters, weighted toward the South, that ranges in views from traditional Main Street conservatives to anti-government radicals who believe that menacing helicopters are about to descend any minute. One thing these GOP voters have in common is that the vast majority of them are white.

New Year same as the Old Year, only worse....

#Scalise #scaliseexcuses Well said!!! pic.twitter.com/j9cvdrUJ9P
— Jeremy Meredith (@SosukeAizen) December 31, 2014

I'm sorry, but I can't bring myself to start the year with a post full of HOPE for the future of our country in 2015.  Maybe things have to get worse before they get better.  Between the gop infused, media enabled, Tea Party gaining control of the House, the Senate, and  republican gerrymandering to ensure they maintain control until eternity, and the dark money thanks to Citizens United, the game is rigged.  And who wins in the end?  Not us liberals that's for sure.

RedEye's Predictions:

But, but, black on black crime will continue to be the excuse for the extra judicial killing of black folks.

But, but, guns don't kill people will continue be the excuse for mentally ill people and toddlers to exercise their second amendment rights.

But, but, I'm not a white supremacist because I know some good Negroes will continue to be used as a an excuse for those in positions of power and influence to exercise their racism.

But, but, let's not throw any more money to fund public education will be used as an excuse to justify not funding public education.

But, but, Obama is a Kenyan, Muslim, Socialist, will continue to be used as an excuse for red state governors not to expand medicaid.

But, but, excuse me while I go back to eating drinking and being merry for a little while longer.