RedEye Around #SweetHomeAlaBAMA

Alabama is rolling in cash.with Tide lifting all boats

What's up with Governor Robert Bentley's decision to neuter Luther Strange?

Why did Alabama Governor Robert Bentley last week remove authority to enforce gambling lawsfrom Attorney General Luther Strange?
That is the question of political intrigue that now envelops "The Heart of Dixie," which has been ranked as the sixth most corrupt state in country--and, with Bentley's help, is making a strong push for No. 1. Experience with Alabama politics tells us that a straightforward answer to our question probably is not forthcoming. So what's the real reason for Bentley's action last week, what is--to borrow a phrase from the late Paul Harvey--"the rest of the story"?

Psst Left in Alabama!  Do you want some cheese to go along with that whine?  Your non video synopsis of Saturday's ADP Yellowdog Presidential Luncheon  was one long whine. 

You didn't get to video.  You didn't get to take a picture with James Carville.  Brian Clemmons, the ADP Compliance Officer was the most memorable, but not in a good way. He talked about money and reporting. This guy was B-O-R-I-N-G, not really the subject, but his cadence reminded me of Ben Stein in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. The food was mediocre.  Nancy Worley was complimented on being the “best state chair in the USA.  

Um,  this is what happens when the majority of voters who show up to vote hate President Obama more than they love themselves. 

When Alabama Governor Robert Bentley refused to expand Medicaid with the Affordable Care Act, the state lost millions of dollars in federal revenue.  At the same time, hundreds, if not thousands of Alabamians lost access to medical care.

The police chief says Tasing and beating of a white Alabama student is a black (pun intended?) eye for the University of Alabama. 

  Now, if it had been black students, you probably wouldn't even know about it yet....you know, because the black kids would have been told, by the white population, to just obey, do what you're told and none of this would have happened.

Uh, who knew there is a mural depicting African Americans picking cotton on a plantation hanging in the Courthouse in Jefferson County, Alabama.  Psst!  You might want to check out the murals hanging on the walls of ALL Alabama Courthouses.  So much for Justice for all. 

So, the students, faculty joined the University of Missouri (Mizzo) football team and stood up to racism, bigotry, and discrimination, and the usual suspects are having a complete and total meltdown. 

The possible death of a Black #Mizzou student on a hunger strike did not move Wolfe to action but the threat of a $1M football fine did.

— Rahiel Tesfamariam (@RahielT) November 10, 2015

It's all about the Benjamin's 

Artur Davis vs Joe Reed Round 2

Poor Artur Davis is a man without a party , and according to him, it's all Joe Reed's fault. Sigh

Yep,  Joe Reed told him to pander to the right at the expense of his constituents for his personal political gain.

The endorsement of these groups is not about who has the best position on health care, or bingo or ethics reform, or unemployment, or jobs — New South endorsed Earl Hilliard, Jr. over Davis in both 2000 and 2002 and they've never given him more than token support in the years since. These endorsements are about kow-towing to the power brokers and Artur Davis has never been willing to do that. 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.

Joe Reed made him throw President Obama and the Democratic Party under the bus 

Joe Reed is the reason he accused African American Alabamians of wholesale voter fraud.

Former Alabama Rep. Artur Davis is either trying to out-Harold Ford Harold Ford by being a Democratic turn-coat, or he's auditioning for a slot on Fox News. Or maybe this is all just sour grapes because he lost in a Democratic primary to Ron Sparks when he ran in 2010.
Anyway, Davis made news last week (the only news he's made since losing in the primary) bywriting an editorial in the Montgomery Advertiser alleging that voter suppression laws were perfectly reasonable. That's because, he says, "the most aggressive contemporary voter suppression in the African American community, at least in Alabama, is the wholesale manufacture of ballots, at the polls and absentee, in parts of the Black Belt."

It's all Joe Reed's fault.

It would be easy to look at yesterday's defeat for Artur Davis as simply a case of Joe Reed's ADC (Alabama Democratic Conference) having its way, but it would be as wrong to assume that, as it was to assume that black voters would automatically vote FOR Davis because he is black.
The fact is, that after punching the ADC in the mouth, which I'm glad he did, Davis didn't seem to have a real plan for connecting with black voters, which was still possible, despite the rift with the ADC. Believe it or not, there's no overwhelming love for Mr. Reed or the ADC in the black community, of which I'm aware.

Not.  But don't let the facts get in the way of the truth.  

Even IF Artur is elected he will not replace the so called aging black political establishment that isn’t ready to give up its out sized role in political affairs. As a matter of fact it will energize the so called aging black political establishment because they know Artur Davis will throw black folks under the bus in a New York minuet. IF Davis is elected he will not be the so called new leader of black folks. Black folks don't follow leaders that will lead them off a cliff. 

Here is another painful truth, if the Alabama Democratic Party can forgive Parker Griffin they have to forgive Artur Davis too.  Note EYE said forgive, not forget.  And trust me, voters have a long memory for traitors, ask Parker Griffin.

Party-switching Rep. Parker Griffith (R-Ala.) on Tuesday became the fourth congressional incumbent this year to be defeated in a primary, losing decisively in his first test before voters in his new party.
With his loss, Griffith became the second party switcher to fall short in as many weeks, following the May 18 defeat of Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.), a former Republican who lost the seat he had held for three decades in a Democratic primary.

Here is a modest proposal, allow Artur Davis back into the party, but don't let his name appear on the ballot until we are sure he's learned his lesson.  Until then, EYE don't want to hear another word about Artur Davis.  Not one.

Artur, you lost--and you were wrong. Do us all a favor: Find a comfy place to live in Virginia, lick your wounds, and stay the hell away from Alabama--at least our political world. We have plenty of corporate suck-ups down here. We don't need another one.

RedEye Over and Out 

Updated~ You get who/what you vote for. The misinformed and the uniformed "win" again

BREAKING: Tea Partier Wins KY Gov Race After Promising To Take Healthcare From 400,000 in KY https://t.co/6V1rkVjVP8 pic.twitter.com/D3JpXjURR0

— The Baxter Bean (@TheBaxterBean) November 4, 2015

EYE HOPE you are happy now.

EYE have to give credit where credit is due, low information voters will turn out and vote.  EYE wish someone would figure out a way to suppress their vote.  Thanks to their willful ignorance we can't even vote them out.  Strike that ,we can vote them out if white democrats/progressives ,or whatever they want to call themselves these days, would get off their Donkey's and VOTE.

That said, Democrats must have someone to get off their Donkey's to vote FOR.  In some cases republicans are running unopposed. What does that tell you about the sorry state of affairs when the party that is anti minority, anti choice/women, anti labor, anti public education, anti LBGT, pro war, and debt as far as they can see has a full slate of proud candidates, and the party that is supposed to be for the little guys and gals have none?  What is wrong with this picture when democrats are ashamed/afraid to be called liberal/progressive, and bend over backwards to be conservative?

It used to be the job of the media to inform the public so we could make informed decisions.  Now it's the job of the media to misinform the uniformed, which enabled the gerrymandering, voter suppression, and dark money, creating this situation where we can't even vote them out of office.

EYE sure do miss the good old days when the the candidate with the most votes won instead of the candidate with the most money to use the public airways to keep misinformed uninformed.

Let America Be America Again.

RedEye's Rundown #LiberalMediaMyDonkey

Think there's a quite dangerous tendency in media to rationalize and minimize the extent to which bigotry animates GOP primary electorate

— Greg Pinelo (@gregpinelo) November 2, 2015

Yes, We're Still a Nation of Cowards

Dear Black Children Everyone Can Beat You

B-But Black Culture....

If the media were liberal we wouldn't be in this mess.

Parents are the first teachers.

Correction: Huntsville City Schools took away J.O.Johnson's name, now they are trying to take their fame away too. Why?

Johnson players take the field. West Point vs. J.O. Johnson at Milton Frank Stadium Thursday evening Oct. 1, 2015. (Bob Gathany/bgathany@AL.com)

Thank you for the correction Brian: They hadn't won a title yet. JO Johnson wasn't even champions of their region. What they had done was qualify for the state playoffs. They were in 3rd place in Class 5A Region 8 behind Russellville (9-1 overall and 7-0 in the region and had a 29-26 victory over JOJ) and East Limestone (8-2 overall, 6-1 region, 24-14 victory over JOJ). They were scheduled to go to Kimberly, Alabama and play Mortimer Jordan High School in the 1st round of the playoffs.



WHNT reported  the 2015-16 J.O.Johnson Jaguars Football team violated the  Alabama High School Athletic Association Transfer policy that states a student who transfers from a private school to a public school is ineligible to play for one year. 

Huntsville City Schools said the district received information about the student, then investigated the issue and self-reported findings to the AHSAA. The student violated the rule of "Overlapping School Zones," found on page 33 of the AHSAA 2015-2015 handbook:
“A student whose parents reside in an area served by more than one school lives in the school zone of each school, thus in overlapping school zones. A student who changes schools within these overlapping school zones is ineligible for one year at the new school.”
Ward said the Johnson student attended a private school in Huntsville last year, but didn't even play.
"And that makes him ineligible? There's nothing we could really do," Ward said. "If you read that rule, it's pretty specific. Very narrowly focused."

 EYE don't know if this "very narrowly"  policy applies to students who transfer from a public school to a private school, but EYE digress.  Evidently the HCS AD was not aware of this rule when  he submitted the required online eligibility form, because he allowed the transfer student player to play for the entire season before it was bought to the attention of the school district.  In other words the district "self reported" their incompetence, after J.O. qqualified for the state playoffs. 

"Huntsville City Schools said the district received information about the student, then investigated the issue and self-reported findings to the AHSAA. The student violated the rule of "Overlapping School Zones," found on page 33 of the AHSAA 2015-2015 handbook:"

The student athletes demonstrated good sportsmanship and won their title fair, and square only to have it snatched away.   

The interscholastic athletic program provided in the Huntsville City Schools shall be restricted to grades 7 through 12. In keeping with the philosophy of the Huntsville City Schools Board of Education that the primary goal of all school programs should be the development of worthy citizens, the interscholastic athletic program in the Huntsville City Schools shall be planned to provide opportunities for all students to develop a sense of fair play, exercise responsibility, and demonstrate good sportsmanship.

My question is why should the J.O.Johnson football team, and the community who support them, be penalized for the failures of the adults in charge?  How is that fair?  What is the lesson to students.... do everything right, but we will self report when we discover we violated our own policy (if it's convenient of course).

This is a blow to Johnson -- the Jaguars were playoff bound with a record of 6-3. This is also Johnson's last year as a school. Next year, students will move to the new Jemison High School. Keith Ward, spokesperson for Huntsville City Schools, said Johnson is taking the news hard.  "They're devastated by it," he said.

Is Keith Ward bragging or complaining?  Of course they are devastated, but this is a devastation that didn't have to happen.  The decision to "self report" will have a negative impact on student athletes who played, practiced, and prayed, the entire season. Does this mean individual records will be erased? This includes tackles, interceptions, touchdowns, passes, and any other individual accomplishment. How will this affect possible scholarship opportunities?  Did Huntsville City Schools consider how their decision to "self report" would affect players future hopes and dreams?  

This shouldn't be The End of an Era, it should be a new beginning.  The J.O.Johnson Community doesn't  deserve to have their heritage ripped away from them.

Those who make the rules get to break the rules. 

If you smell something........ say something.