After it was announced earlier this week that Blount County Schools would no longer allow student or volunteer-led prayer over the intercom before games, fans were worried that their prayer would be silenced.
However, if Friday’s Locust Fork High School game was any indication, prayer in Blount County will continue.
In a video posted on Twitter, the crowd of students and fans can be seen banding together to use the designated pregame moment of silence to fill the stands with the Lord’s Prayer.
Friday during an appearance on Birmingham’s Talk 99.5’s “Matt & Aunie Show,” Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Saks) weighed in on the current controversy surrounding U.S. Supreme Court associate justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation and how his colleagues in the U.S. Senate are handling the confirmation process to date.
During the segment, Rogers responded to a question about his House colleague Rep. Bradley Byrne (R-Fairhope) calling on Sen. Doug Jones (D-Mountain Brook) to vote for Kavanaugh’s confirmation if Kavanaugh accuser Christine Blasey Ford did not step forward and announce her intentions to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The Calhoun County Republican agreed with Byrne and suggested Jones “represent the majority will” of Alabamians.
Excerpt:
MONROEVILLE – During Alabama’s transition from Democrat to Republican that began in the 1990s and was capped off in 2010 with the GOP finally gaining control of all the branches of government in Montgomery, the local government in Monroe County was one place that was able to resist that trend.
However, the politics of the state could finally be catching up with one of Alabama’s most historic counties.
In a setting that had the feeling of being a throwback to the heyday of political rallies staged by the likes former Gov. “Big” Jim Folsom and former Congressman Frank Boykin, the Monroe County Republican Party hosted a rally featuring Gov. Kay Ivey and Rep. Bradley Byrne (R-Fairhope) on the lawn of the old Monroe County Courthouse that is thought to be the inspiration for the courthouse in fictitious Maycomb, Alabama, the scene of Harper Lee’s “To Kill A Mockingbird.”
The goal of the event was to energize GOP voters headed into the midterm elections and flip major local offices in Monroe County, including district judge, sheriff and probate judge, currently held by Democrats to Republican.
Radio talk show host Dale Jackson and Dr. Waymon Burke take you through this week’s biggest political stories, including:
— Will Judge Brett Kavanaugh be confirmed or not based on the he said/she said accusation?
— Does Sen. Doug Jones view his issues as a reason to vote against him or an excuse?
— How much does Alabama’s love of Trump effect Alabama Democrats’ chances?
Jackson and Burke are joined by Republican candidate for State House (District 3) Andrew Sorrell.
Jackson closes the show with a “parting shot” directed at those who judge Kavanaugh’s accuser as telling the truth with no evidence.
7. An economist at Troy University says that Alabama should bet on sports betting
— Daniel Sutter’s main argument is the obvious argument for sports gambling. He wrote, “Without legalization, Alabama will not share in these jobs and tax revenues. Alabama sports bettors’ money will support businesses and government services in other states.”
— Even though he doesn’t see Alabama legalizing gambling any time soon, the professor’s main argument is one of freedom to gamble and lose one’s money in their home state as opposed to sending it elsewhere.
6. Leaked Google e-mails reveal the company did try to leverage search results against President Trump
— The furor over tech companies’ bias against conservatives has died down, but new e-mails show employees were working on using the search engine to weaponize its users against the president’s travel ban, to boost pro-immigration groups and lawmakers.
— Google says the ideas were never implemented, but the fact that they were being bantered about show that the organization is aware of its massive power and has some employees who are willing to use it.
5. More news about the president’s former personal attorney appears to be bad news for the president
— Michael Cohen, has been spending hours with special counsel Robert Mueller’s team over the last month. He has no immunity in those talks because his previous deal was with the southern district of New York’s prosecutors.
— This obviously is not good for the president, but there is a chance that Mueller could actually get that elusive Trump interview after all, with his legal counsel telling Fox News that they are “pleased with the progress being made”
4. Another Alabama municipal leader joins the chorus of calls for parents to be held responsible for their kids
— Montgomery’s City Council blocked an attempt at a citywide curfew and the mayor repeated unheeded calls to add penalties to parents who have kids that commit criminal acts.
— Earlier this month, Birmingham City Councilwoman Lashanda Scales wanted stronger laws doing the same thing. She told the council, “I’ve been trying to get a bill sponsored where we could put some teeth into holding parents accountable for what they call ‘Capricious Acts’ or contributing to acts of violence of their children.”
3. BREAKING NEWS: TRUMP NOT ANGRY
— Most news stories where Trump issues a reasonable and rational response to the day’s news are followed by stories about how the “The president is seething behind the scenes.” This isn’t happening today.
— After a week of dust-ups over Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation, Trump still isn’t mad. CNN wrote, “Rather than lashing out in anger or defensiveness, Trump said Monday he’d like to ‘see a complete process.'”
2. Sen. Doug Jones compares a baseless 36-year-old allegation to the murder of four young girls in Birmingham
— Alabama’s junior senator sent a tweet referencing his work as a prosecutor, invoking four dead girls in Birmingham. He said, “I’ve successfully prosecuted 38-year-old crimes. It wasn’t easy, but it was the right thing to do to get justice for the victims.”
— While Jones did successfully jail people for those crimes, he also had evidence and eyewitness testimony. A Republican would be crushed for saying this.
1. Now Kavanaugh’s accuser may be willing to testify if she can set the terms — and get the date she wants
— As the drama continues, the accuser’s lawyers have had phone calls with both Republicans and Democrats about coming to an agreement that would allow her to come to the table and “tell her story.”
— These demands include, “NO questions from lawyers, only Qs from Committee members, #Kavanaugh cannot be in the room, Kavanaugh must testify FIRST”.
At this point, to any fair-minded person watching the slow-motion disaster happening in Washington D.C., it is beyond crystal clear that the accusations against Judge Brett Kavanaugh are questionable at best.
That reading is charitable to the “victim.” What is obviously more likely is the fact that she is lying.
If she is not lying, Democrats have done her such a disservice that it appears that she is lying.
The timeline here is insane:
Sen. Dianne Feinstein holds an allegation that would rock any confirmation hearing until after the hearing is done.
The media, Democrats and even Republicans called for a hearing to give the witness her opportunity to testify.
Her attorney, after not answering for days, declares that the accuser just can’t possibly testify, and demands a never-happening FBI investigation.
We will watch, for decades, as the media either imply or outright declare Kavanaugh is a sexual assaulter every time he is mentioned in the news. It will be especially bad in any instance where he rules “against women.”
They still do it to Clarence Thomas, even though progressive icon Joe Biden was the leader of the Judiciary Committee. Biden found Thomas’ accusers’ witnesses to not be credible, so he cut a deal to block them, and the Democrat-controlled Senate confirmed him.
Facts don’t matter.
Since that hearing, the media has implied Justice Thomas got away with it; he was guilty and they all know it. His accuser was wronged.
But what is more likely is, just like Thomas’ accuser, Kavanaugh’s accuser thought the allegation would be enough to derail the confirmation.
Reports at the time said Thomas’ accuser “was told by Senate staffers her signed affidavit alleging sexual harassment by Clarence Thomas would be the instrument that ‘quietly and behind the scenes’ would force him to withdraw his name.”
It wasn’t.
It’s not.
America should not be in the act of destroying someone’s life for political gain with no evidence. Make no mistake, this is destruction.
Liars aren’t called liars and maybe that is because it’s impolite and, in spite of all the evidence we have to pretend that we believe that maybe there is a small thread of a tiny chance she is telling the truth.
Kavanaugh’s wife will always be married to a sexual assaulter, his kids will always be taunted, his record will always be tainted and no evidence backs the charge.
It’s despicable.
Now, the accuser doesn’t want to testify, but her enablers want the guy who denies every accusation to testify? So they can say he partied in high school and that Kavanaugh must have done it when they were all black-out drunk?
Absurd.
Fair-minded people know this is garbage. It surely doesn’t rise to a strong enough case to ruin someone.
It is women who should be furious about all of this. They are the ones who will have their legitimate claims questioned because powerful people thought they could use women to derail the will of the people without any actual evidence.
Enjoy Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
@TheDaleJackson is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts a conservative talk show from 7-11 am weekdays on WVNN
7. Alabama’s secretary of state has been sued… for blocking people on Twitter
— The three Twitter users and the American Civil Liberties Union of Alabama are claiming Secretary John Merrill is violating their First Amendment rights by blocking them. They argue it amounts to a decision to “discriminate against” citizens.
— President Donald Trump was sued for a similar offense. Some users have been unblocked.
6. Alabama still loves President Donald Trump, but not the most anymore
— Trump’s approval rating in Alabama is still at 63 percent through August, according to Morning Consult. West Virginia and Wyoming passed the Yellowhammer State, and are now at 64 and 65 points, respectively.
— Trump’s national approval rating is in the high-30s and low-40s. Democrats hold a generic ballot lead of as much as 14-points.
5. Alabama Congressman Mike Rogers explains why he doesn’t need to debate his opponent and questions her attacks on Alabama
— Gov. Kay Ivey isn’t the only Republican who feels they have a big enough lead to coast to victory in November and when he was asked about a debate he responded, “Why would I want to help her with name ID?”
— Rogers also expressed disappointment with former beauty queen Mallory Hagan’s apparent disdain for Alabama’s culture. He told Yellowhammer News, “I never left Alabama,” and, “I’ve been here over the last five decades raising a family and proud of this country, proud of the state.”
4. Trump renews attacks on Jeff Sessions, again
— Trump claimed that AG Sessions is responsible for his policy problems and the issues surrounding the Russian investigation. Even with all the attacks it appears Sessions is still safe until after the midterms.
— “I don’t have an attorney general. It’s very sad,” Trump told TheHill.TV. He also blamed Sessions for the issues at the border even though he was thwarted by the courts.
3. Walt Maddox wants a debate. His campaign says he takes on all questions, but that’s a lie
— Democrats want Gov. Kay Ivey to debate Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox, so much so that his speechwriter made a false statement on Twitter about interview requests, “I do know @WaltMaddox never turns down interview requests. Heck, he’s done interviews with grade schoolers for their yearbooks. Walt is out there, in full view, for the public. He’s never shied away from a single question.”
— This is a complete and total a lie. Maddox’s campaign has ignored multiple requests from interviews over the last few months and at least three since that tweet was sent.
2. After Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s accuser refused to testify publicly, Senator Chuck Grassley continues to try to get her on the record
— Grassley has set a deadline for information from the accuser’s attorney, telling her, “Dr. Ford’s prepared testimony and biography are due to the Committee by 10:00 a.m. on Friday, September 21, if she intends to testify on Monday.”
— Now the media doesn’t need to hear from the accusers, her attorney says she isn’t coming and Grassley is laying waste to every single terrible argument being made.
1. Alabama Senator Doug Jones continues to signal that he is just looking for an excuse to vote no on Brett Kavanaugh
— As the Kavanaugh accuser continues to signify that she will never cooperate with the confirmation, Alabama’s junior Senator wants the entire process to slow down even further. He wants an FBI investigation, and he also wants people who have denied the whole thing to be subpoenaed.
— Jones has made it clear that he will not publicly deliberate and refuse to make any clear statement on the matter. He knows he is in a perilous situation where he can either anger his voters or the state’s voters who voted for him because he wasn’t Roy Moore.
Make no mistake: the media and Alabama Democratic gubernatorial nominee Walk Maddox want a debate. They have made it their main campaign plank from day one of the general election campaign.
He insists that Governor Kay Ivey must debate him, and that to do otherwise is cowardly or, more recklessly, a sign that she is unable to run the state.
It’s silly. Polling indicates she is crushing him. It’s that simple.
Recently, Maddox’s campaign speechwriter, Lars Anderson, wrote a check that his candidate refuses to cash.
I can't speak to to @GovernorKayIvey's disappearance, but I do know @WaltMaddox never turns down interview requests. Heck, he's done interviews with grade schoolers for their yearbooks. Walt is out there, in full view, for the public. He's never shied away from a single question. https://t.co/iivUKRQ3mu
— Lars Anderson (@LarsAnderson71) September 10, 2018
Oh, really?
The producer of my radio show has reached out to Walt Maddox multiple times.
See below:
Personally, I think Kay Ivey should debate Walt Maddox, but she has made it clear this isn’t going to happen. The speaker of the Alabama State House has explained why and political scientists have explained why, but if Maddox wants to play this game, he should take on anybody — and his campaign alleges they will.
Clearly, this was an oversight and we look forward to having Walt Maddox on the show.
#WheresWalt
@TheDaleJackson is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts a conservative talk show from 7-11 am weekdays on WVNN
Alabama Democrats love bad ideas.
They also have no clue how to pay for these terrible ideas, even though some have tried to figure it out, bless their hearts.
Taxes.
— Isner for Congress (@TabithaK) September 14, 2018
Democratic gubernatorial nominee Walt Maddox has been pushing the media-friendly idea that if we would just expand Medicaid, all would be well. Unfortunately, he knows almost nothing about the program.
As Yellowhammer News exposed yesterday, Talk 99.5’s Matt Murphy embarrassed Maddox on the issue:
MADDOX: There are 33 states that have gone along with the expansion of Medicaid. There are six more that are considering it.
MURPHY: You know how much the state budget for Medicaid is right now?
MADDOX: Not offhand —
MURPHY: It’s about a quarter, a quarter of the total budget. Twenty-four percent of the total budget is Medicare and that is expected to over the next decade go up to as much as 35 percent of the total state budget and I’m wondering how we stop that.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, he also has no idea how to pay for the program.
MADDOX: You take a combination of taxing the existing gambling that is here and sports gambling. And that will be what you put in your general fund as your offset to it.
The problem is this doesn’t even come close to actually covering the cost of his idea.
If he is capable of getting the legislature to allow existing gambling to be taxed, liberal columnist Josh Moon speculates it would only bring in $15 million.
If he is capable of getting the legislature to pass a sports gambling bill, we can look to Mississippi and see that they are projecting that they will collect $30 million in taxes. Granted, Mississippi is about 60 percent of the size of Alabama, so if we play with the math that puts Alabama at about $50 million a year in revenue.
Play with the math any way you want, but the guy proposing these measures is clearly out of his depth. Clearly, Maddox has no real clue what the numbers are and we still aren’t anywhere near the $150-$200 million that he acknowledges his proposal will cost.
This remains a media favorite talking point with no substance. It’s time for Walt Maddox and his campaign to figure out how to pay for his proposal.
@TheDaleJackson is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts a conservative talk show from 7-11 am weekdays on WVNN
7. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) makes an appearance in a local city council race
— Municipal elections are generally low turnout and non-partisan, but the campaign to elect former state school board member Mary Jane Caylor to the Huntsville City Council is now invoking her opponents’ support of the failed 2016 presidential candidate.
— The Facebook post hitting “Liberal Elite Frances Akridge” for her support of “Bernie Sanders – along with a dozen ultra-left candidates – several of which also describe themselves as Socialist Democrats” and says that Huntsville needs “conservative, proven, and principled leadership.”
6. Second-grader in Alabama shoots himself in school, but does not have a life-threatening injury
— In a letter to parents, Huntsville City Schools Superintendent Christie Finley says a small child was shot in the hand after a student pulled the gun out of a book bag and shot himself in the hand while showing off the gun.
— The Madison County assistant district attorney says there is no criminal liability for the parents, explaining, “There is really no criminal liability for a second-grader unless the parent somehow sent the gun with the second-grader, there is really no criminal liability for them.”
5. Federal judge gives the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Census Bureau more time to respond to a lawsuit brought by Alabama
— Attorney General Steve Marshall and Congressman Mo Brooks brought the lawsuit to stop counting illegal immigrants in the once-a-decade counting of citizens.
— If the federal government continues with its plan to count and include illegals in its census count for representation, the state of Alabama could lose a Congressional seat, an Electoral College vote and federal funds.
4. President Donald Trump is ordering the release of FISA memos details and text messages sought by the House
— The president ordered the items declassified hoping to show there was a deep state conspiracy against him and his campaign. This includes parts of Carter Page’s Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and “all FBI reports” prepared in connection with the FISA warrant request.
— Trump also called for every text message sent from former FBI Director James Comey, former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, former FBI agent Peter Strzok, former FBI lawyer Lisa Page and Bruce Ohr related to the Russia investigation to be released.
3. Democratic gubernatorial nominee Walt Maddox has a plan to pay for Medicaid expansion — it’s not good
— Maddox said on Birmingham’s Talk 99.5 “Matt & Aunie Show” that he would pay for Medicaid expansion with a tax on existing gambling and expanding sports gambling.
— If they taxed current gambling at seven percent, it would bring in roughly $15 million a year, while sports gambling could bring in $30 million a year in neighboring Mississippi (with about 60 percent of the population) — far short of Maddox’s $150-200 million price tag.
2. President Donald Trump says of Kavanaugh nomination, “If it takes a little delay, that’s OK”
— President Trump made it clear that a delay would be fine but he is not backing down from supporting his choice for the Supreme Court.
— Trump continued to point out that Kavanaugh never “had a little blemish on his record” and repeated a point that Republicans are using to defend the judge, noting he had been through six FBI vettings (FBI will not investigate) and none of this came up until right before the vote.
1. Brett Kavanaugh and his accuser both say they will testify
— Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is forcefully pushing back against accusations that he attempted to rape 36 years ago when he was 17-years-old. He told Sen. Orrin Hatch that “he was not at a party like the one [Ford] describes.”
— The nominee and his accuser will testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday, even though Democrats held the letter, refused to participate in phone calls with Kavanaugh, and continue to call for delays or a withdrawal.
When Doug Jones beat Roy Moore to become Alabama’s junior Senator for a few years, a message was sent to politicos all over the country: Any allegation, from any time period, will be treated as absolute fact.
Discrepancies won’t matter.
Plotholes won’t matter.
Denials won’t matter.
The words “credible allegation” is bantered about as if there is some real evidence on the table that shows that Brett Kavanaugh attempted to rape and possibly murder a woman 36 years ago.
This is harrowing. It's a serious & credible allegation which deserves to be investigated. https://t.co/cqcwXBn5PV
— Jeet Heer (@HeerJeet) September 16, 2018
A lawyer “close to the WH” said “If somebody can be brought down by accusations like this, then you, me, every man certainly should be worried.” So, how should women feel if a credible allegation like this gets ignored & dismissed? https://t.co/fTbJFSmNk4
— Joyce Alene (@JoyceWhiteVance) September 16, 2018
The seriousness of the allegation is all that matters. The media and Democrats don’t care about the actual allegation, the “victim” or Kavanaugh’s innocence — all they care about is politics.
Even former President Barack Obama’s Chief of Staff David Axelrod can hardly hide his glee:
This Kavanaugh imbroglio is suddenly a five-alarm fire, filled w/peril for Senate @GOP. If they jam nomination without regard to allegation, they risk driving gender gap into an even larger chasm. If they don’t, base will rebel. High drama!
— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) September 17, 2018
The facts don’t even remotely matter.
But that won’t stop Senator Doug Jones from declaring we must “pause” the confirmation process to investigate the matter.
Kavanaugh can’t remotely exonerate himself here and everyone knows it.
Barring a recanting of the allegation, Kavanaugh will be treated as guilty.
The script for this story was written in 2017 in Alabama. Make an allegation, push that allegation as “credible,” pretend anyone who questions it as someone who doesn’t believe the women.
How does Kavanaugh exonerate himself here? What could that possibly look like?
And of course, Sen. Jones wants to use this as a justification to his “No” vote. He’s not a senator without this strategy working.
Republicans can either view the allegation as true or you hate women. Remove the nominee and you accept he probably did it. Vote for the nominee and you are sending a message to women that you hate them.
This is a no win situation for everyone involved, and the more it is successful the more it will be used.
@TheDaleJackson is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts a conservative talk show from 7-11 am weekdays on WVNN
7. As the death toll with Hurricane Florence continues to rise, media are still fixated on President Donald Trump’s insistence that the numbers in Puerto Rico were inflated for politics
— As with any severe weather event that hits, the death toll from Hurricane Florence will continue to go up as the event and recovery play out. It sits at 17 right now.
— President Trump’s insistence that the numbers were inflated for political reasons continues to be an issue with FEMA director Brock Long, who stated the estimates on deaths were “all over the place.”
6. Republicans voters believe the “blue wave” is fake and that a “red wave” is coming, but the numbers say otherwise
— With Trump’s approval ratings dipping into the 30s and Democrats leading on generic ballots by as much as 14 points, Republican politicians, pollsters and prognosticators believe this midterm election will be troubling.
— America First Action, a Trump aligned group, conducted a study that found “conservative-leaning” voters are complacent with the economy humming and believed the “blue wave” was “fake news,” and the president is pushing that message on Twitter and at rallies.
5. Democrats apparently think meeting with foreign leaders and carrying out shadow diplomacy is completely OK now
— Former Secretary of State John Kerry appears to be in violation of the Logan Act as he continues meeting with Iranians about the Iran-U.S. nuclear deal.
— Other Obama administration officials are helping Iran evade sanctions, according to a report at Breitbart. Republican operative Richard Goldberg says he has been told that “former senior Obama officials worked with European officials to design sanctions evasion schemes” before the sanctions go into place.
4. The latest book that shows chaos in the White House also has an author that says he saw nothing having to do with collusion with Russia
— “Fear” author Bob Woodward told talk show host Hugh Hewitt that after two years of looking, he found no collusion, telling Hewitt, “I did not, and of course, I looked for it, looked for it hard.”
— Hewitt asked Woodward the question multiple times, each time receiving the same answer that there was no evidence he could find of collusion. This revelation received very little acknowledgment from a media obsessed with both this book and this narrative.
3. Alabama Democrats disingenuously try to tie Gov. Kay Ivey to former Governor Robert Bentley
— The ploy here is that Ivey signed off on legal fees for the former governor, misusing state resources. The media will dutifully report this silliness without skepticism.
— The reality, as is with most things Walt Maddox is saying, is far different from the implication. the state is self-insured on these matters. this was set up in 1984, and it pays for the defense if someone is sued for actions taken in their official capacity.
2. The Kavanaugh confirmation circus gets really stupid. Democrats have a playbook
— Now we have a name and allegation for the previously unnamed and unspecified allegation that is being released days before the Judiciary Committee is to vote on Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation.
— Democrats, who sat on this allegation during public and private hearings with the nominee, now demand that the nominee be withdrawn or the process be paused while they investigate something Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) has had since mid-summer.
1. Alabama Senator Doug Jones uses the claims of sexual assault to say the confirmation process should stop after saying otherwise
— Senator Jones tweeted Sunday morning, “This was a very brave step to come forward. It is more important than ever to hit the pause button on Kavanaugh’s confirmation vote until we can fully investigate these serious and disturbing allegations. We cannot rush to move forward under this cloud.”
— Jones joins many Democrats and two Republican senators asking the confirmation to be withdrawn or process to be paused until they can investigate/speak to Kavanaugh and his accuser on this matter.
7. Cash bail could be on its way out in Alabama if Cullman County ruling gives movement steam
— A federal judge ruled that Cullman County must change its bail procedures because poor people can’t afford bail while the wealthy can get out of jail before trial, creating a two-tier justice system.
— California recently eliminated the process, opting for a series of monitoring measures like bracelets, which puts all the cost on taxpayers.
6. Security costs could total $20 more per student in Alabama, but they can’t be used for a pointless gun and a safe
— The current Alabama Education Trust Fund budget is $6.6 billion and the state superintendent wants a budget increase of $158 million dollars, which includes money for nurses and security, but not the School Sentry Program.
— The School Sentry program was an election year play by the governor that allows school systems to have firearms on campus if they are locked in safes, which defeats the purpose.
5. The city of Huntsville says it is complying with all legal requests in regards to an officer-involved shooting
— The shooting death of a suicidal man has cause controversy and claims of misdeeds by the city after they agreed to cover the costs of the officer involved in the shooting.
— Mayor Tommy Battle says the city “will respond to any evidentiary requests through the appropriate legal channels” but claims the media is “playing politics with our judicial system and the integrity of the police department.” This is a response to stories and columns at AL.com that allege there is a coverup.
4. Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox has been recklessly implying Governor Kay Ivey is out of her mind, and now the media is slavishly repeating his claim
— While speaking to state retirees, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee commented that he didn’t know who was running the state with statements like, “Who is running the governor?” and “Who is behind the governor?” and “Who is making the decisions for the governor? Or else you would want to come and debate.”
— The dutiful scribes and stooges like AL.com’s Kyle Whitmire are echoing Maddox and asking, “Who’s governor of Alabama?” He knows the answer is the same as it will be in December: Kay Ivey.
3. Democrats, and not just Walt Maddox, are embracing terrible positions on health care
— At least two Democratic Congressional candidates (Peter Joffrion and Tabitha Isner) in Alabama have decided to embrace another plan on health care: “Medicare-for-all,” which is backed by Barack Obama and Bernie Sanders. Neither has explained how you would pay for such a plan and no one is interested in asking them.
— Maddox supports a plan that he admits will cost as much as $200 million. Joffrion and Isner’s plan would cost $32.6 trillion over 10 years, and none of them have a clue how to pay for their plans.
2. President Donald Trump gives the media what they want and joins them in continuing to litigate death tolls in Puerto Rico as a new Hurricane enters the mainland
— The president’s inability to let anything go has once again caused a firestorm of negative press as he quibbles over the number of dead in the aftermath of Puerto Rico’s two previous hurricanes.
— The 3,000 number mentioned by the media and accepted by Puerto Rico’s government is one of the higher estimates of multiple estimates. Other estimates have the number near 1,000, but this doesn’t matter as the president is focused on the wrong thing.
1. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) attempted to destroy Brett Kavanaugh with an anonymous letter accusing him of something
— Democrats’ smears of Kavanaugh are nothing new. Now, Senator Dianne Feinstein brought up an allegation from Kavanaugh’s high school days and turned it over to “federal investigative authorities.” The confirmation vote has been delayed in normal procedure.
— The latest absurd attempt is a claim that Kavanaugh and a male friend had locked her in a room against her will, making her feel threatened, but she was able to get out of the room.
Healthcare has been a hot-button political issue for decades. Big government and central control are always on the wishlists of progressive candidates.
Democratic gubernatorial nominee Walt Maddox continues to bang on the Medicaid expansion drum, even without a plan to pay for what he has called “free money.”
Now, Alabama Democratic candidates for Congress in Alabama support Medicare-for-all.
“North Alabama needs leadership that fights for working families, not DC insiders and special interests. When I’m elected I’ll stand up to the special interests and work with folks like Huntsville Hospital CEO David Spillers, a self described ‘fiscal conservative’ who sees plans like Medicare for All as ‘more efficient and beneficial to this country than the system we have in place today.“
Health insurance is one way to provide healthcare but not the only option. I’ll be open to considering all options from Medicare For All to subsidized employer-based insurance and open markets. I will measure health care policy proposals according to the extent to which they make it easier for people to access and afford quality care. I don’t care who proposes it or what it’s called, as long as it gets people the care they need.”
The plan both backed by both Senator Bernie Sanders and former President Barack Obama, much like Maddox’s plan, carries with it a price tag of $32.6 billion over ten years, according to George Mason University.
None of these Alabama candidates can show us how they will pay for this, but they just keep on pushing it.
These aren’t real ideas. These are vote-buying schemes.
@TheDaleJackson is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts a conservative talk show from 7-11 am weekdays on WVNN
7. President Donald Trump continues to be a terrible investment for all of those in the media who tell us he colluded with Russia to steal the election
— Trump signed an executive order authorizing sanctions against foreigners who meddle in U.S. elections. It covers interference with campaign infrastructure, distribution of disinformation and propaganda
— Also, National Intelligence Director Dan Coats has said intelligence agencies are not seeing the same amount of Russian intervention that was experienced in 2016, but he did not rule it out.
6. Political violence continues to be a non-issue for the media, as long as Democrats attempt it
— CNN had a chance to talk about the things they usually talk about when bad stuff happens: responsibility, tone, the victims. Instead, they didn’t ask Rep. Eric Swalwell about his opponent who was almost killed at all.
— Another threat towards conservatives came in the form of a tweet where a Twitter user responded to a tweet about a “MAGA meetup” by saying he was coming to gather “bloodstained MAGA hats as trophies” and posted a picture of a handgun.
5. Disgraced loser Hillary Clinton joins the parade of Democrats smearing the next Supreme Court Justice
— Six days after Senator Kamala Harris started lying and two days after Politifact called her a liar, Clinton is still trying to imply that Brett Kavanaugh was using a “dog whistle to the extreme right” for ending Roe v. Wade.
— This fake news continues to make the rounds on the Internet in spite of the fact that it is not even remotely true. It will probably continue long after Kavanaugh is confirmed.
4. More positive economic news
— Median income up 1.8%, third consecutive year of income growth, the poverty rate declined and median household income is at the highest level in recorded US history.
— But Trump seems to not understand our national debt issue. Former economic advisor Gary Cohn reportedly said the president’s solution was to “just run the presses — print money.” Cohn denies.
3. We are still doing this thing where the media pretends there might be a debate — Governor Kay Ivey is playing along
— The League of Women Voters wanted to know if Governor Ivey would be participating in their attempt to televise a debate, but she claims she hasn’t seen the offer yet. She will not participate.
— No political consultant worth anything would advise the governor to enter into this debate. There is no evidence not debating will hurt her; at this point, Maddox and his media enablers should move on to other issues of note where Maddox can gain with voters.
2. Trump is blamed for a hurricane that hasn’t even made landfall yet — Derangement continues to grip the media
— Apparently, the president should reverse what The Washington Post Editorial Board considers a man-made problem in 18 months.
— This ignores that the number of hurricanes has decreased in recent years. Research indicates that “since the late-19th Century global (green) and tropical Atlantic (blue) temperatures have risen […] once one accounts for possible missed storms (second and third red lines) basinwide storms have not exhibited a significant increase. When one focuses only on landfalling storms (yellow lines) the nominal trend has been for a decrease.” Now, the argument is shifting to the hurricanes being “worse.”
1. Democratic nominee for governor Walt Maddox wants to expand Medicaid — He doesn’t have a plan to pay for it
— Maddox channeled the failed gubernatorial campaigns of Parker Griffith and Ron Sparks, and the favorite talking point of the political media, to declare we need to expand Medicaid (which comes with a $150-$200 million price tag).
— In the past, Maddox has foolishly called the program “free money.” Legislators aren’t talking about this because they don’t want to do it, they don’t have the money to pull it off and Maddox has no plan either.
Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox spoke to some of the state’s retirees Tuesday about his campaign for governor.
During his speech, he continued smearing Governor Kay Ivey by pretending there is some shadow government in place by asking, “Who is behind the governor?” and, “Who is making the decisions for the governor?” because she won’t debate him.
He also touted an idea that has been a talking point for loser Democratic candidates Ron Sparks and Parker Griffith — Medicaid expansion.
Maddox calls for Medicaid expansion at forum. https://t.co/uFcTNLaD2S #alpolitics
— South Union Street (@SouthUnionSt) September 12, 2018
He talked about fighting for it.
“I’m going to go county by county, if necessary, to fight for it,” Maddox said.
He also talked about the money it will bring in, asking, “Can you name me one economic development project in the state that’s going to bring $1.8 billion direct investment?”
When Maddox left the event, the media chased after him like a group of boy band groupies.
Candidate forum in Montgomery, reporters chased after @WaltMaddox and missed @willainsworthAL’s dig welcoming @drwillboyd to Alabama from Illinois…#alpolitics pic.twitter.com/GWk63zgU35
— Dale Jackson (@TheDaleJackson) September 11, 2018
Of course, the coverage of this event fails to mention the $150-$200 million a year this is going to cost.
In Maddox’s defense, he mentioned it, but those costs don’t make it into the glowing news stories. And they surely aren’t being questioned.
Legislators who will have to push this Medicaid expansion aren’t talking about this. They don’t want to do it. And if they did, they don’t have the money to pull it off.
He has called the program “free money,” but it clearly isn’t.
If Maddox’s lottery is already promised to education, what is the plan to pay for Medicaid expansion? Where does the $150-$200 million come from?
If the media and Democrats really want to push this Medicaid expansion, and they obviously do, they need to develop a plan to create and pay for this program and not just keep pushing the idea that it is some magical program that will dump a mountain of money on our state.
@TheDaleJackson is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts a conservative talk show from 7-11 am weekdays on WVNN
7. A Republican Congressional candidate in California was almost assassinated by a liberal with a pink switchblade
— Don’t expect to see this political violence to lead the newscasts today: Rudy Peters was attacked by Farzad Vincent Fazeli as he screamed about President Donald Trump. In the attack, he attempted to pull a switchblade but could not get the blade out.
— Peters is the opponent of Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-California), who was in Alabama last week campaigning against Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Huntsville) and Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Saks)
6. Former Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard continues appeal on his ethics violation convictions
— Hubbard sought a rehearing of his appeal, thought to be a formality before an appeal to the Alabama Supreme Court, seeking to overturn his conviction on multiple ethics violations.
— The court already affirmed 11 of his 12 convictions, Hubbard will remain free until the court hears his appeals.
5. Alabama pastor cuts up Nike gear in protest of Colin Kaepernick
— The controversy over Nike’s continued support of NFL-kneeler Colin Kaepernick has made its way to the pulpit in Woodridge Baptist Church in Mobile.
— Senior Pastor Dr. Mack Morris told his congregation that he felt this was about those who sacrificed it all for the flag Kaepernick and other’s won’t stand for. He stated, “America may not be the best country in the world and we have a lot of faults, but I tell you what, a lot of folks died for the sake of what the flag represents.”
4. Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin sees himself as the leader of Alabama’s “blue wave”
— The likelihood of a blue wave may be growing in the United States, but most expect Alabama to remain pretty red. But that isn’t stopping Birmingham’s progressive mayor from trying to play a role.
— By forming the “Next Generation Alabama” PAC, Woodfin says he hopes to find blue people in a “sea of red.” The mayor believes he can help find the Democrat “bench,” which is pretty non-existent.
3. It wasn’t just MSNBC’s Alabama graduate Joe Scarborough who decided 9/11 was a good way to attack President Trump
— Trump was attacked for early morning tweets, watching TV, fist-pumping, being a threat to our voting system and, as Scarborough put it, “damaging the dream of America more than any terrorist attack ever could.”
— The pushback on social media was pretty strong, leading to Scarborough to offer up a weak defense of his column instead of an apology. He said, “I should have shown more care on the tweet’s wording and the column’s conclusion.”
2. Another Alabama high school student is caught on video saying the n-word
— The parent who found the video placed the blame on the school system for some reason asking, “Really? Is this really what we’re teaching our children in Birmingham, AL, ‘Over the Mountain?'” and telling the Board of Education, which said they will punish the student, “here I come.”
— Oddly, the parent also said the video could lead to violence that sounded like a threat, saying, “Her behavior is something that could lend itself to violence. I hope not, but we’ll see”, she proclaimed.
1. Newly-appointed Senator Jon Kyl says he would vote to repeal Obamacare, and now Republicans don’t have the will
— In a famous moment, the late John McCain delivered the final “thumbs down” to Republican attempts to repeal Obamacare. His replacement says he would vote to kill it for good.
— Now that Kyl is in the Senate, Republicans in leadership like Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) have declared, “I’m not going to be asking for another vote on that this year.” House leaders like Rep. Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana) say that the focus is on winning elections in November.
If you can’t let 9/11 pass without taking potshots at your enemies in American politics, take the day off (I said the same about those ripping McCain during his memorial).
The old adage from President Barack Obama’s Chief of Staff Rham Emanuel that you should “never let a good crisis go to waste” apparently doesn’t have an expiration date when it comes to a national tragedy like 9/11.
Today should have been a commemoration of those who lost their lives that day in New York City, Washington D.C. and Shanksville, Pennsylvania. But the enemies of America’s current president were not going to let today pass without using this event to beat him up and say outrageous things.
MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough thought today would be a good day to mention that the president would do more damage to the country than “any foreign adversary,” adding “Trump is damaging the dream of America more than any terrorist attack ever could.”
My Latest—> Trump is damaging the dream of America more than any terrorist attack ever could. https://t.co/DEnYurEFmW
— Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) September 11, 2018
CNN’s Chris Cillizza is mad about the president watching TV.
No big deal — just the president of the United States watching a taped Fox Business Channel show on the 17th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks and with a massive hurricane moving toward the east coast…
— Chris Cillizza (@CillizzaCNN) September 11, 2018
Journalist Chris Riotta complained about how the president greeted supporters.
Donald Trump first marked the 17th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks with an angry morning tweet about Russia and Hillary Clinton. Now he’s seen fist bumping on his way to the field in Shanksville, PA, where 40 people died after a terror attack was thwarted. https://t.co/QkCgVoNf88
— Chris Riotta (@chrisriotta) September 11, 2018
And CQ Roll Call’s Robert Matson posted a political cartoon that is probably the dumbest thing you’ll see today.
There are bad cartoons, and then there's this. pic.twitter.com/8qo9IYoxPv
— David Freddoso (@freddoso) September 11, 2018
These people have lost their minds.
Some perspective:
9/11’s actual costs are real and they shouldn’t be some flippant vehicle to attack your political enemies.
@TheDaleJackson is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts a conservative talk show from 7-11 am weekdays on WVNN
7. Former Alabama player and current State Representative Rich Wingo (R-Tuscaloosa) says sports gambling “scares” him “to death”
— Wingo, who is clear in his opposition to gambling being legitimized and warns of a “gradual eroding of our culture,” has allowed this debate to take place. That wouldn’t have been possible in the 70s or 80s.
— The former Alabama and Green Bay Packers player explained to Alabama Public Television how the FBI would show up every year at players’ meetings, explaining that, “the mob, for the lack of a better term – professional gamblers, would try to possibly infiltrate a team or an individual through compromise … so that they could eventually, either befriend or through leverage of threat, manipulate a game.”
6. “Fact-checkers” in the media have finally gotten around to calling out Senator Kamala Harris’ (D-California) ignorant smears on Supreme Court Justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh
— Four days after Sen. Harris sent out tweets intentionally taking Kavanaugh out of context to claim he was holding a view he never expressed, Politifact finally rated her smear as “false,” and added, “The video failed to include a crucial qualifier: ‘They said.’ In fact, he was citing the definition of the religious group Priests for Life. He has not expressed his personal view.”
— CNN’s Andrew Kaczynski begrudgingly admitted, “Kamala Harris appears to have pretty deceptively edited a clip of Brett Kavanaugh to remove the context,” but this is only part of the story because many other Democratic Senators did the same thing.
5. Trump made a mistake on Twitter, but he wasn’t wrong about the economy booming
— The president’s claim that “The GDP Rate (4.2%) is higher than the Unemployment Rate (3.9%) for the first time in over 100 years!” was incorrect. This has happened at least 60 times in the last century.
— This is the kind of sloppy stuff the president doesn’t need to do. The fact that this is happening for the first time in over 10 years (2006 Q1) and blue collar jobs are growing at the fastest rate in 30 years is plenty newsworthy.
4. “Impeachment, impeachment, impeachment, impeachment, impeachment, impeachment, impeachment, impeachment”
— While most Democrats don’t want to give the president and his quasi-allies in the GOP establishment any ammo, some Democrats like Rep. Maxine Waters (D-California) cannot help themselves.
— Waters seems to want to fire-up both parties’ bases by adding, “I’m gonna get him.” She also said that Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-California) should not have apologized to Brett Kavanaugh for all the interruptions during his confirmation hearings.
3. Yet more recently released texts show that there was a plan to release info to the media to damage President Donald Trump
— More texts have been realized between Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, the FBI love-birds, apparently detailing an effort inside the DOJ to “leak” to friendly members of the press to damage the president of the United States.
— During some of the texts, the two discuss leaking info to the press that became negative stories about Carter Page. Strzok texted Page, “Well done, Page,” and told her the negative stories about the “namesake” would soon be released.
2. Alabama Congressman Mo Brooks (R-Huntsville) says 20 Congressional seats have been stolen by illegals and their enablers. Donald Trump Jr. backs him up
— Rep. Brooks has been outspoken on immigration for quite some time. This time, he brought math, “15 million comes out to roughly 20 congressional seats and 20 electoral college votes.”
— Brooks is part of a lawsuit arguing that the counting of non-citizens will cost states that have enforced the law Congressional seats and electoral college power — not to mention federal funding.
1. On the 17th anniversary of 9/11, there will be touching tributes and terrible takes. MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough could not help himself
— The former Republican Congressman ignorantly pretends that he believes the elections in 2018 are about stopping Trump from doing more damage to America than 9/11, writing, “The question for voters this fall is whether their country will move beyond this troubled chapter in history or whether they will continue supporting a politician who has done more damage to the dream of America than any foreign adversary ever could.”
— For perspective, 9/11 cost the United States over 2,996 lost lives that day alone, 5,669 of service members and hundreds of thousands of lives lost over 16 years of wars that are still ongoing and over 3.3 trillion dollars.
Last week, radio talk show hosts from around the nation converged on Washington, D.C. for the Federation for American Immigration Reform’s 12th annual “Hold Their Feet to the Fire Radio Row.”
Multiple talk hosts from Alabama were on hand to talk to politicians, family members of victims of illegal aliens, sheriffs fighting illegal immigration on the local level and even social media “stars” like “Diamond and Silk.”
While the human impact of illegal immigration was on display, the economic impact of illegal immigration for each state was beyond eye-opening.
Missing from FAIR’s infographic is the impact the illegals have on the wages of legal workers.
When I returned home from Alabama, my home was in the middle of some renovations that have been going on for some time but the work was stopped. The contractor we had hired informed me that his workers had been hired away by builders who lost all of their illegal labor when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) picked up 30 illegal immigrants. The builders, who had been keeping their costs low by hiring illegals, soon found their illegal employees were not coming to work because of the ICE activity in the area, so they offered more money to the legal construction workers in the area to get their jobs done.
After ICE’s sweep in Huntsville recently some of the illegals have bailed, builders are now hiring legal workers for more than ever. Seems to be a message here…
Posted by Dale Jackson on Saturday, September 8, 2018
The message here is quite simple: illegal labor suppresses the wages of legal workers. This isn’t a question — it is an obvious fact.
Politicians who support these open border policies know this and do not care.
@TheDaleJackson is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts a conservative talk show from 7-11 am weekdays on WVNN
Another Alabama city is threatening to create its own broadband network despite the folly shown by other municipalities that have lost billions in taxpayer money on such projects.
Andalusia Mayor Earl Johnson told Mediacom, the city’s cable franchisee, that the city would invest taxpayer dollars in building its own broadband network if the company didn’t improve its service.
“[Mediacom] operate[s] here because we let them,” Johnson said in February, as the Andalusia Star News reported. “As a city government, we can’t tell them or make them do anything. But we can locate someone who is an expert on broadband and internet who can tell us what we can do.”
Johnson didn’t return several calls from the Taxpayers Protection Alliance Foundation (TPAF) on the issue in the past few weeks. Mediacom also didn’t return a request for comment.
Johnson told the Andalusia Star News he’s been studying how Opelika Power Services (OPS) built its own broadband system to service residents there. Opelika is famously known as “Gig City,” but Yellowhammer News previously reported in 2016 that the gig service (meaning subscribers could get download and upload speeds of 1 gigabit per second) had just one subscriber at that time.
The number of gigabit subscribers has increased after OPS lowered its rates for the service, but the utility faces a new problem – a recent auditor report shows that the cost to build the broadband network has been a drain on city finances.
Opelika accountant John Boles, who conducted the audit for the city, said the telecommunications fund, OPS One, has a negative balance of $13.4 million, the only major city fund that is in the red. In addition, the power division of OPS loaned the broadband system about $7.5 million, creating a total negative position of $20.9 million for OPS One.
That debt falls in lockstep with other similar projects across the U.S., as reported on TPAF’s “Broadband Boondoggles” website. The page highlights about 200 taxpayer (or ratepayer) funded broadband networks from coast to coast that have lost money squandering resources in communities that often had existing internet service.
Johnson said he’s concerned Andalusia could be missing out on economic development without better internet.
“This city will not grow or attract businesses and industries that we want here unless they can be assured the broadband and television services that are necessary to run a business,” he said. “A lot of businesses, if they don’t have broadband, it shuts their business down. It’s a serious thing.”
But it’s not as if Andalusia, a city of about 9,000 residents near the Florida panhandle, is a broadband desert.
A search of internet service shows that Andalusia is serviced by multiple providers. Mediacom and CenturyLink both offer broadband speeds (up to 200 megabits per second for the former and up to 100 mbps for the latter), while HughesNet offers satellite internet with speeds up to 15 mbps. That’s not broadband by the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) new standard, but it’s plenty fast enough to stream video on multiple devices.
Rather than commit millions of its taxpayers’ dollars to creating a city-owned broadband network, Andalusia could instead work with the FCC to help spur the local development of 5G wireless services, which promise gigabit-capable speeds over a wide area of coverage. Just this week, FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr announced a plan to work with local governments on establishing rules that will make cities more attractive to providers looking to build 5G infrastructure.
Rather than seek to build a fiber-based system that could be obsolete in a matter of years, Andalusia should instead look to the future of wireless.
Johnny Kampis is an investigative reporter for the Taxpayers Protection Alliance Foundation.
7. “Drag Queen Story Hour” brings protests and counter-protests in Mobile
— “The Common Sense Campaign Tea Party” and “The Human Wall Against Hate” squared off in a protest over something so idiotic only the most liberal of liberals would dare defend it: a bunch of children’s books read to kids by drag queens.
— Parents were there to weaponize their children in our culture wars with thank you notes from a seven-year-old and three-year-old whose parents are “happy they finally have stuff like this.”
6. The head of the Republican Party only views their chances of keeping the House at “50-50”
— Last week, Mike Rogers told WVNN radio that he saw a 70 percent chance the Republicans lose the House. Now, RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel says the odds are 50-50 Republicans “defy history” and keep the House.
— Polling has really close races in Georgia for governor and in Ted Cruz’ Senate race in Texas, but “if you figure out a way to subtract from that equation how they feel about the president, the numbers go up dramatically.”
5. Former President Barack Obama is back, “and this time it is personal“
— While Obama was president, Democrats lost over 1,000 seats but the media and Democrats think this time will be different.
— Part of his appearances included him taking credit for job numbers that he said were never going to happen, and absurd lies about his relationship with Fox News.
4. President Trump’s supporters in Alabama want him to lay off the criticism of Attorney General Jeff Sessions
— As the media sows chaos in the White House, CNN was in Alabama reporting that “Folks around here look out for their own. They don’t like the way the president is now treating the attorney general.” The report included quotes from plenty of Alabamians.
— An Inspector General’s investigation set off by Sessions has led to a grand jury being impaneled to look at FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe. Bruce Ohr is under scrutiny as well.
3. Alabama Democrat Congressional candidate Mallory Hagan is on tape trashing Alabama
— Hagan is a former Miss America who left Alabama after one year at Auburn. Hagan said she left Alabama for New York City because she “didn’t like the culture of Alabama.”
— While she is now running for Congress in Alabama, she was a Miss America winner from New York in 2013 and saw herself as a New Yorker, saying “I’ve lived in like six different Brooklyn neighborhoods, so I definitely consider myself a New Yorker.”
2. Last week’s confirmation hearing for Brett Kavanaugh was a disgrace to the country, but he will still be confirmed in spite of Alabama Senator Doug Jones’ wishes
— Dishonesty over what was said at this hearing was prevalent all week, as was Sen. Corey Booker’s weird “I am Spartacus” routine and the constant interruptions.
— One of the silly notions was that Kavanaugh perjured himself, which he clearly did not.
1. Alabama’s Republican Congressional delegation continues touting the economy’s success
— The economy added 201,000 new jobs in August, unemployment has only been below 4% nine times since 1970 (four of those times happened this year), and the largest wage growth is happening since 2009.
— Representatives Brooks, Byrne, Roby and Rogers all put out social media messages extolling the success of President Trump at living up to his promises to help the economy grow, with Rogers adding, “think the left will still find a way to complain?”
Being a soldier is a tough responsibility, especially when you are fighting a war against dumb, and you think that you’re the second-smartest person in Alabama (behind John Archibald).
So go the life and times of Kyle Edward Whitmire, a self-proclaimed soldier in a war on dumb. And sometimes, fighting that dumb war can evoke awkward and emotional behavior — fitting of a hormonal adolescent whose mom just revoked his Fortnite privileges.
On Thursday, Whitmire lashed out in a column (that somehow snuck past his semi-adult editors at AL(dot)com) against Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
In it, Whitmire took jabs at Sessions about his “Antebellum code” (LOL, his middle name is Beauregard… Get it?), hawkish stances on immigration and marijuana. Whitmire argued that no one from the inside of the system, referring to Sessions’ position as attorney general, can effect change on the status quo.
In reading it, one quickly bores of the Sessions aspect of Whitmire’s belles-lettres. Instead, readers are likely to leave with the distinct impression that Whitmire is slowly losing grasp of his sanity.
For those concerned about Whitmire, take solace in the fact that he cannot actually believe his own arguments. If the dumb war’s warrior were actually hoping for a solution to the dysfunction in Washington, he wouldn’t shill for Democratic candidates at AL(dot)com and on social media.
Or perhaps he believes only Democrats are capable of changing things from the inside. I mean, there is real evidence Sessions’ predecessors Eric Holder and Loretta Lynch remade the culture of the Department of Justice under President Barack Obama, which has a lot to do with why we are where we are now with the troubles Donald Trump is facing. Sessions may not be capable of that in Whitmire’s view.
Nonetheless, whatever the reason for his doubts, Whitmire is suffering from a bout of romanticism. Once upon a time, before the great consolidation of three of Alabama’s newspapers owned by the Newhouse media conglomerate, what the scribes put on the pages of The Birmingham News mattered. A petulant screed aimed at one of Alabama’s own politicians by a figure like Whitmire would have mattered and might have influenced people.
But not anymore. After undergoing a transformation from the state’s papers of record to a local (and bad) impression of BuzzFeed Politics, elected officials in Alabama no longer climb over each other to kiss local reporters’ rings. Nor do they sweat what those reporters’ opinion pages might say about them.
Whitmire’s essay is just a return to his Birmingham Weekly alternative newspaper roots, a passing fad that took a symbolic hit with the closure of New York City’s The Village Voice last week. It’s a safe space for him and not meant to be taken seriously – not that you would take it seriously, Attorney General Sessions.
@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University and is the editor of Breitbart TV.
7. Former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore has now decided to sue CBS, Showtime and Sacha Baron Cohen over a joke played at his expense
— Moore’s lawsuit is based on the fact that Moore signed a release under false pretenses after Cohen invited Moore and his wife to an award ceremony and interview where he implied Moore set off a device that was supposedly invented by the Israeli Army to detect pedophiles.
— Moore’s lawyers say he has “been the subject of widespread ridicule and humiliation” and seeks $95 million for the “severe emotional distress and pain and financial damage.”
6. A Birmingham city councilwoman wants to punish parents for their kid’s crimes
— After seven teens were shot following a teen party in Birmingham, Councilwoman Lashunda Scales said Birmingham could cut down on the crimes committed by the youth if parents were held responsible the violent acts of their children.
— Scales is citing Hillary Clinton’s “it takes a village” comments saying, “We got to send a strong message to parents it is not the responsibility of the community, it is not the responsibility of the police department, it is not the responsibility of the village to raise your children.”
5. Rocket City Trash Pandas
— Jumping on board of the trend of naming Minor League Baseball something unique and silly, the now-Mobile Baybears will be renamed the Rocket City Trash Pandas with the move to Madison. They begin play in 2020.
— The Trash Pandas join the ranks of other minor league teams with marketing-friendly names, including El Paso Chihuahuas, Hartford Yard Goats, Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, Lehigh Valley IronPigs, New Orleans Baby Cakes, Reading Fightin Phils, Omaha Storm Chasers and Frisco RoughRiders.
4. Attorney General Jeff Sessions is looking into targeted political censorship at social media giants
— Sessions says he will summon state attorney generals later to talk about censorship and other issues, the DOJ said the companies “may be hurting competition and intentionally stifling the free exchange of ideas on their platforms,” but a governmental action on that level seems unlikely.
— The House Freedom Caucus is also looking at this issue, with discussion potentially leading to a conversation about the legal immunity these companies enjoy.
3. Southern Senators, including Alabama’s senior Senator Richard Shelby, stand with the South after President Donald Trump allegedly rips AG Sessions as a “dumb Southerner,” — Trump denies
— Georgia Senator Johnny Isakson clearly doesn’t believe that Southerners, like him, are inferior. He stated, “I’m a Southerner. People can judge my intellect, my IQ, by my product and what I produce rather than what somebody else says.”
— Senator Shelby reminded the president, “Without the South, he wouldn’t be the president of the United States,” and also pointed out that he also has an accent.
2. Brett Kavanaugh didn’t say he would uphold Roe. v. Wade, but he came close
— One of the more intriguing parts of the Kavanaugh appointment is the question of whether or not he would vote to do away with Roe v. Wade. When asked, he said the ruling was “an important precedent of the Supreme Court that has been reaffirmed many times.”
— What is now more likely is that a court with Kavanaugh on it would uphold restrictions on abortion in states as long as they don’t outlaw it completely.
1. Now we have an anonymous op-ed in the New York Times that where a “current Trump administration official” claims they are part of the “Resistance”
— The rare, and absurd, act of publishing this piece anonymously only further solidifies the idea that the media is on a mission to diminish this president and his objectives.
— The headline and narrative are a bit misleading, to be kind. It includes this section, “To be clear, ours is not the popular ‘resistance’ of the left. We want the administration to succeed and think that many of its policies have already made America safer and more prosperous.”
7. Most of Alabama’s voter issues have been resolved by Secretary of State John Merrill
— Each and every election has a series of voter complaints and irregularities, the secretary of state’s office says they have resolved all complaints from 2016 and 2017.
— There are 58 pending complaints from 2018. There were 764 from 2015 to 2018, which includes complaints from unauthorized campaigning at the polls up to voting fraud.
6. Former Chief Justice Sue Bell Cobb, who hired a rapist for her campaign, is now demanding that Alabama Democratic Party Chairwoman Nancy Worley and Alabama Democratic Conference Chairman Joe Reed resign
— Cobb wrote an editorial for the Anniston Star calling on the beleaguered, and powerful pair, to step down for the good of the party so new blood could be recruited.
— The complaints are obvious and have been repeated by friends and foes of the Democratic Party. She wrote, “It should be easy to take advantage of the felony conviction of the former Republican speaker of the House and for his violation of the ethics laws he championed in his rise to power”.
5. ALGOP Chairwoman Terry Lathan calls out Senator Doug Jones, says it is time for him to decide where he stands on President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee
— Alabama’s Jones has been coy about where he stands on the potential Justice Kavanaugh, but with a hearing underway, the pressure is mounting on the state’s junior Senator to make a decision before he appears to be counting votes.
— Lathan released a statement calling on Jones to “hear the voices of Alabamians” and make a decision to support Kavanaugh.
4. State Senator Phil Williams gets on Fox and Friends to tout Alabama’s economy and to invite more businesses to the state
— After California Democrats declared a boycott on In-And-Out Burger, the state Senator made a now-viral suggestion that the chain come to Alabama because “We love burgers, and we love Republicans!”
— On Tuesday’s “Fox and Friends”, Williams acted as the state’s hype-man, saying, “Alabama is sitting right now poised as one of the best business climates in the entire nation. And we are sitting at record low unemployment, 3.7 percent earlier this year.”
3. After Democratic gun-grabber Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) stumped in AL-05, he jumps to AL-03 to campaign for another Alabama Democrat
— Now, two Alabama Democrats are chasing the endorsement of a California Congressman who wants to seize guns and believes the president of the United States has committed treason.
— Congressmen Mo Brooks and Mike Rogers probably are glad to see their longshot opponents Peter Joffrion and Mallory Hagen embracing a liberal and bringing him to north Alabama, Tuskegee and Auburn.
2. Veteran journalist Bob Woodward’s book excerpts cause all the chaos you would expect from a hyper-critical Trump book, the White House has issues with it
— Trump’s insults to his staff include calling Jeff Sessions “mentally-retarded” and a dumb Southerner.” He also reportedly called Rudy Giuliani a “baby” who needed to “act like a man.”
— His staff gives as good as it gets, with John Kelly reportedly saying, “It’s pointless to try to convince him of anything. He’s gone off the rails. We’re in Crazytown.” Former Chief of Staff Reince Priebus reportedly referred to the president’s bedroom as “the devil’s playground.”
1. Absurdly partisan posturing by Democrats during the Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court hearing is surpassed only by the media’s coverage
— Democrats made it clear that they are here to play politics and posture for 2018 and 2020. They ripped Kavanaugh as a partisan, demanded more time to review documents and called for the hearing to be adjourned right as it started.
— The media has taken a series of absurd positions, including expressing concern that Kavanaugh was shunning the father of a school shooting victim and fears that one of his aides was flashing a “white power” symbol.
As much as the local and national media hate it, Alabama is a red state. Even though we elected Democrat Senator Doug Jones, Alabama is still a red state.
In order for Democrats to win in Alabama, they have to convince conservative-leaning voters that it is safe to vote for Democratic candidates; you do that by running candidates who are pro-military, moderate Democrats who can convince the electorate that they are not Nancy Pelosi in surprise.
Democrats can’t win by bringing in unashamed gun-grabbers like California Congressman Eric Swalwell.
Rep. Swalwell is the same Congressman who suggested not only banning assault weapons, but wrote a USA Today column with a headline that implores we “Ban assault weapons, buy them back, go after resisters.”
“[W]e should ban possession of military-style semiautomatic assault weapons, we should buy back such weapons from all who choose to abide by the law, and we should criminally prosecute any who choose to defy it by keeping their weapons,” Swalwell stated.
For clarity, the Congressman is advocating that we use law enforcement to track down and punish “resisters,” which is a gun-grab if there ever was one. This foolish proposal would be bloody and costly.
This terrible idea would cost $15 billion dollars, but Swalwell says we can afford it.
Does candidate Joffrion agree with these views? If not, what exactly is Swalwell known for, his regular hits on CNN inferring the president is a Russian asset?
Joffrion also employs the former AL.com columnist Clete Wetli, who was writing for them without disclosing he was a paid campaign employee. One of Wetli’s recent columns included the admission that “some of your guns have got to go.”
I’m not sure surrounding himself with all of these gun-grabbing liberals is a smart electoral strategy in Alabama, but give Joffrion credit for being consistent and honest about his anti-Second Amendment views.
@TheDaleJackson is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts a conservative talk show from 7-11 am weekdays on WVNN
7. Colin Kaepernick can’t get a job in the NFL, but Nike will hire him to be a spokesman because he has the right politics
— Nike is using the left’s favorite kneeler to sell shoes by branding his protest as a heroic principled stand. The marketing reads, “Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything.”
— Obviously, this is a silly thing to do for Nike and Kaepernick. It helps neither of them because even after tons of free publicity, Americans still think his protest is silly.
6. The confirmation hearings for Supreme Court justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh will finally begin
— Kavanaugh’s hearing will probably be focused on two things: Roe v. Wade and whether the president can be indicted, a position that he switched on in 2009, saying, it would “ill serve the public interest,” citing a financial or a national security crisis.
— The American Bar Association gave Kavanaugh their highest rating, further ramping up pressure on Senator Doug. Jones.
5. The Democratic version of a heavy hitter is Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA), who was brought in to stump for a candidate for Congress Peter Joffrion
— Joffrion’s long-shot campaign seeks momentum, ran a TV ad during college football games last weekend and is now bringing in liberal darlings to the state.
— Swalwell rose to fame in Democratic circles when he suggested that the government should “ban assault weapons, buy them back, go after resisters.”
4. Former Democratic Congressman and candidate for governor Parker Griffith is joining in on the criticism of Birmingham’s move to be more “welcoming” for illegals
— Griffith co-hosted a TV show this weekend and talked about the political ambitions of Mayor Randall Woodfin being placed over the city he oversees. He said, “So he’s positioned himself on this, not for necessarily the good of Birmingham, but for the good of his political future.”
— Part of the criticism from Griffith was that Birmingham can’t handle the crime it has without welcoming in more. Meanwhile, seven were shot at a kids party.
3. It’s a tired story, but President Donald Trump keeps pretending Attorney General Jeff Sessions is his personal sheriff
— Trump’s latest attack on Sessions is for daring to prosecute Republicans in an election year and nothing more by tweeting, “Two long-running, Obama era, investigations of two very popular Republican Congressmen were brought to a well-publicized charge, just ahead of the Mid-Terms, by the Jeff Sessions Justice Department. Two easy wins now in doubt because there is not enough time. Good job Jeff……”
— The drama between the two is mostly centering around Trump’s frustration with the Mueller probe, Sessions’ recusal from all things 2016 and the DOJ not indicting the president’s political enemies.
2. Congressman Robert Aderholt says Trump will get his wall funding or there could be a shutdown
— Aderholt believes Trump’s promise of border security must be acted on, “I feel like all us feel like he needs to do that. It is a very important it issue. I think we’ll see what the Democrats want to do.”
— He also seems to believe that Democrats will follow through with their threat of a government shutdown if funding for the wall were included in the current appropriations process. He stated, “If they want to shut down the government over saying – no funding for the wall, so I think it’s really up to them.”
1. The worst of America has been on display this weekend as elites use a funeral to attack a president while Trump supporters attack a dead Senator and his family
— U.S. Sen. John McCain’s funeral was an embarrassment reminiscent of the 2002 Wellstone Memorial debacle. Voices who knew better spent the event (funeral) ripping the current president in as tacky a way possible.
— Trump supporters spent the weekend spreading conspiracy smears about the U.S.S. Forrestal and McCain’s time as a POW in Vietnam.