7. The rich get richer as Alabama has the number one signing class after the first day of the early signing period
— As if being in the College Football Playoff wasn’t enough, Alabama was able to win the first day of the early signing period with 22 signees.
— The top four spots are all SEC teams with Georgia following Alabama, then Texas A&M and LSU behind them at number four.
6. After a pause, protests in Hoover may start up again if demands aren’t met
— The absurdly named “Birmingham Justice League” has issued the list of demands that the City of Hoover must implement to keep the protests at bay. They include creating a citizen review board, an independent review of minority complaints regarding traffic stops and granting clemency to protesters charged with disorderly conduct.
— The deal requires the city to implement a series of reforms that have very little chance of happening as a whole, but the protests will now move to ALEA and Attorney General Steve Marshall, who is now investigating the case.
5. A GoFundMe account for a border wall has raised over $1.9 million out of a $1 billion sought
— The campaign was started by Brian Kolfage, a 37-year-old injured Iraq war vet who reasoned on his campaign page, “Democrats are going to stall this project by every means possible and play political games to ensure President Trump doesn’t get his victor[y].”
— While the $1 billion requested is far under the $5 billion the president originally requested, it is the max allowable by GoFundMe, but Kolfage is still seeking to raise $80 from every person who voted for Trump which would put his campaign over the $5 billion requested.
4. Shutdown almost averted as Senate passes short-term funding bill
— The funding bill will keep the government funded until February 8, 2019. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi lamented the fact that it didn’t go further, saying, “Democrats will be ready to fully, responsibly fund our government in January, and we will support this continuing resolution.”
—Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, the current second highest-ranking Senate Republican, predicted on Wednesday that Trump would sign it. “He will sign a clean [continuing resolution],” Cornyn told CNN.
3. Freedom Caucus is pushing back against Trump’s decision to walk back on the wall
— The group of conservative lawmakers in the House of Representatives implored the president to stick to his previous vow. There are some signs that Trump is wary of walking back his pledge.
— Radio talker Rush Limbaugh and others decried the “compromise” with Limbaugh saying, “Trump gets nothing and the Democrats get everything.”
2. Ethics complaint against Attorney General Steve Marshall dismissed by the Alabama Ethics Commission
— The Alabama Ethics Commission dismissed an election year ethics complaint by Marshall’s vanquished opponent Troy King which questioned the legality of Marshall accepting contributions from the Republican Attorneys General Association.
— The commission found they had “insufficient facts” to declare that Marshall violated state law. Former State Senator Dick Brewbacker declared this ruling was a mistake, stating, “The [PAC] to [PAC] ban passed by the legislature (outlawing “soft” money) just became worthless.”
1. Seemingly out of nowhere, President Trump announces the United States will be leaving Syria
— The Trump White House ordered the Pentagon to pull U.S. troops from Syria, saying that ISIS is defeated so there is no reason to be there.
— Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Angus King (I-ME), Tom Cotton (R-AR) and Marco Rubio (R-FL) asked the president to reconsider his latest move with a letter stating, “If you decide to follow through with your decision to pull our troops out of Syria, any remnants of ISIS in Syria will surely renew and embolden their efforts in the region.”
