Does Adam Bourne have an identity problem?

I enjoyed reading Robert Ludlum as a lad and will even admit I've enjoyed the recent Matt Damon movies yet didn't know a 1988 mini-series existed. Neither did I know Adam Bourne until today. Adam is on the Alabama Democratic Party Executive Committee, serves on the Chickasaw Industrial and Commercial Development Board, and is even running for City Council down there to boot. In today's Mobile Press-Register I found a "Special to the Press-Register" piece titled FELON VOTING from Adam Bourne. And darned if my Scots isn't up a little. Adam begins:

As a former assistant attorney general for the State Elections Division, I must disagree with the guest essay titled "Penalty after the penalty," which advocated allowing convicted felons to vote.

"As a ..., I must ..." confused me. Was it part of his contract to write reactionary responses to reasonable requests? The essay he references is here. The same appears in today's Huntsville Times. Sam Brooke of the ACLU of Alabama and Kimble Forrister of Alabama Arise are the authors.

First of all, neither the ACLU or Alabama Arise are "some here-today-gone-tomorrow special-interest group." A young man just getting started ought to be careful is hurling invectives such as these. Love 'em or hate 'em , they've both been doing work long before either of us arrived on the scene and likely will well after we've departed.

The Mobile P-R weighed in the issue recently and scolded those filing the lawsuit. However, reading their obligatory bashing of the ACLU shows the legitimate need for the Legislature to act. This solid Montgomery Advertiser reporting filed today by Markeshia Ricks does as well. There's also the Gray Lady's Shaila Dewan's In Alabama, a Fight to Regain Voting Rights Some Felons Never Lost from this March.

The Op-Ed that troubled Mr. Bourne so much that he "must disagree" I'd argue shows Sam and Kimble have a rather solid handle on the issues presented. I'll share much of what they wrote in the following:

... The short answer is that confusion over Alabama voting laws has long vexed citizens and state officials alike.

... We have a shameful history of voter disfranchisement, and conflicting statements from the attorney general and the Legislature haven't helped.

Our constitution was amended in 1996 after prior voting laws were struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court as being racially discriminatory. Now, termination of voting rights occurs only for felonies involving "moral turpitude" — an antiquated term that is not defined in the constitution.

As an Alabama court explained, this term fails to "make clear to all citizens which crimes are those that would subject the guilty to the additional penalty of loss of voting rights." Such arbitrariness has no place in our law, especially in regard to the fundamental right to vote. ...

Yet in 2005, Attorney General Troy King came up with his own, broader list of disfranchising felonies, as well as a short list of those which are not.

The opinion includes many new felonies that are disqualifying (including passing a bad check), and six that are definitely not disqualifying (including possession of controlled substances and DUI-related offenses).

Many other felonies were simply not addressed.

Here's another complication. Even though the constitution clearly says that only the Legislature can specify voter qualifications, registrars across the state have adopted a contrary approach.

When registrars see a conviction that the attorney general says is not disfranchising (like simple possession or felony DUI), they correctly register the voter. But any other felony conviction — whether it is on the Legislature's list, the broader attorney general's list, or no list at all — is treated as disqualifying. ...

Nearly all individuals with a past felony conviction can get their voting rights restored by applying to the Board of Pardons and Paroles after they have completed their sentence, finished supervised release, and paid off all fines and restitution awards ...

This system is vastly inferior to processes in place in 41 other states, where the right to vote is restored automatically without burdening the parole board or the voter with the application process.

But more fundamentally, it is absurd to require citizens who have never been deemed by the Legislature to be disfranchised in the first place to go through this process to exercise a right they never legally lost.

Voting is the cornerstone of our democratic government, a right every American should exercise. Encouraging people with past felony convictions to vote and take ownership in their community is in everyone's interest.

In fact, studies show that incorporating voter participation into rehabilitation plans makes recidivism less likely.

We hope this lawsuit will dramatically reform the illegal practices occurring in Alabama, and ...

We also hope that all eligible former felons will seek to have their rights restored on their own from the Board of Pardons and Paroles.

It's not fair that they have to do this, but for now it's the only way to regain a right unjustly denied.

In reply, Adam lobs language of "unreformed predators" and "violent criminals" as he writes:

... in recent years, out-of-state groups have repeatedly tried to force Alabama to change the sensible practice of barring unreformed predators from the polls.

The ACLU's latest lawsuit is another effort to compel Alabama to register felons to vote. ...

The ACLU's lawsuit is nothing but a first step toward setting up polling places in prisons and jails. ...

... allowing incarcerated people to vote would be a nightmare for election officials, who would have to decide in what districts prisoners live and who would put themselves in danger by spending entire, 12-hour voting days within jailhouse walls.

Additionally, Alabama citizens would quickly lose confidence in a government selected, at least in part, by murderers and rapists.

Alabama is the cradle of modern voting rights. Even now, state election officials are completing a task that I helped begin by developing systems to allow all military men and women serving overseas to vote easily and quickly.

Banning violent criminals from the polls is not a reflection of a lack of a state commitment to voting rights. It is only a commonsense statement that those who tear down society should not be permitted to choose its public officials.

Mercy! A blend of ringing one's own bell, "tough on crime" rhetoric, ACLU attacks, and "the sky is falling". Neither the national ACLU or Alabama ACLU or Alabama Arise has advocated anything toward having those incarcerated voting beyond via one of the methods already available to them now. If a man or woman is merely awaiting trial they of course have a right to vote. As do those convicted of offenses that don't result in a loss of the right to vote. The problem is that right now the standards aren't clear. If Adam has so much concern for state election officials and others dealing with the actual problem wouldn't this lawsuit helping resolve the mess be something to be welcomed rather than walloped?

The Sentencing Project's efforts as to felony disenfranchisement, Right to Vote, is certainly worthy of a link. I also wonder what would Adam think of reforms to the Census processes on allocating those incarcerated to their home districts? The history of felon disenfranchisement (here's another link) is likewise interesting and like many things relatively complicated.

Adam also recently scolded the Alabama State Bar's efforts in boosting Judicial salaries after Executive Director Keith Norman wrote:

Since (1999), state employees, including attorney IVs, have received five cost-of-living increases. Unfortunately, the legislature has excluded judges from these same increases. From 2000 through 2006, the legislature has provided state employees cost-of-living increases totaling 18 percent, or 19.2 percent due to compounding. Despite pay increases for other state employees, the base pay for circuit judges remained frozen at $111,973 (district judges $110,973). Fortunately, the legislature chose to include judges in the 3.5 percent cost of living increase passed in the 2007 legislative session. This became effective October 1, 2007. Although the base pay for circuit judges is now $115,892 (district judges, $114,892), this small increase hardly makes up for the five years of cost-of living increases that other state employees have enjoyed.

According to the National Center for State Courts, the base salary for trial judges in Alabama ranks in the bottom 10 percent nationally and 15th out of 17 southern states. ...

Adam replied in a Letter to the Editor to The Alabama Lawyer in part with:

Tough choices are the order of the day in Montgomery; and no legislator could justify sacrificing pressing state needs to raise comfortable, six-figure judicial salaries to an amount that would eclipse both the income of everyday Alabamians and that of Alabama lawyers.

An acceptable argument I suppose and yet it seemed like Adam was making an excuse for politicians to not rationally examine the concerns of the Bar and then legislate accordingly. I've already written that I like what the Mobile Press-Register shared on the issue.

The title of the post asked 'Does Adam Bourne have an identity problem?" yet that is certainly not for anybody to decide but him. However, the Alabama Democratic Party Principles reads in part as follows:

That every citizen no matter what his religion or race or how humble or exalted his origin or station owes the duty to participate fully at every level of government and is entitled to an equal voice and to equal treatment at its hand; that all Democrats are bound to defend, protect and honor our Nation, our state, or Party, that when they are right, it is our privilege to sustain them, that when they err, it is our duty to correct them.

I simply think Adam erred. It's hardly personal to question his positions and I appreciate him sharing his ideas. And I've surely sinned rather often. What motivates Adam matters not. Even if he's engaged in an effort to merely be noticed and build creds, I've learned something in crafting this post. However, if Adam wants to serve on a party's Executive Committee I'd suggest he might fit in better over at the Alabama GOP. John Gunn

UPDATE ~ August 26, 2008 - Prince Troy thinks "Those who violate the laws should not have any role in electing the officials who make and enforce the law." His defense of his actions pretty much leaves off a response to various courts' concerns. Also, although I personally celebrate the ACLU's involvement they are joined in this effort Prince Troy.

How'd the Mobile Press-Register teach these kids?

I asked just yesterday how the Mobile Press-Register might educate the children of parents appearing before local Juvenile Court Judge Edmond Naman for failing to send their kids to school. I'll avoid the "Thank God for Tennessee" (or Georgia) angle here but send you to Knoxville for today's Plaintiffs to seek retrial in flag case: Mistrial declared after jury deadlocks over suit vs. school from Jim Balloch. Additional coverage is supplied via AP.

First of all, as any card-carrying ACLU member should be, I'm sympathetic to anybody asserting their First Amendment rights. I've written a rather solid paper on student websites where I went into Tinker and subsequent cases. I firmly fall on the side of "let the little monsters wear (or write) what they want" and yet I know schools have a tough call at times.

Additionally, I can tolerate people like Dewey Barber of Dixie Outfitters trying to make bank. I just wish they wouldn't divide and distract. I can't help but think of Will Campbell's all too true quote. I can't however find much positive to write about goobers like those at the non-profit Southern Legal Resource Center in their work "defending the rights of Southerners to honor their history and culture". Plaintiff's counsel Van R. Irion, and certainly Kirk Lyons (here's a nice interview he gave to Stormfront back in 1994) are Plaintiff's counsel in the Tennessee case referenced above. Will we get a "frivolous lawsuit" lamentation here?

I've tried my best to teach young "scholars" like I'm rather certain young Tom Defoe was throughout in his academic career. I had some students that I truly don't think ever wore clothing without a Confederate Battle Flag somehow another as part of their wardrobe statement. There were some with purses and others with notebooks and even a few, both hens and roosters, with earrings. Overwhelmingly, they struggled when it came down to demonstrating their commitment to understanding history. Anti-intellectualism roots run deep in this nation yet I'll submit that the average little redneck sporting Dixie Outfitters clothing ranked rather high on that scale.

I could offer nearly the same criticism of some gansta rap aficionados I tried to teach yet at least some of what they built their identity around went beyond bitches and whores to question economics, power, sexuality ... Despite my rural, truly earthy, roots I struggled reaching the Unreconstructed Rebels I taught. I came as close as I could with conservation, hunting/fishing ... yet most seemed to reject pretty much everything I tried. All I wanted to do was stretch their little minds and do the job I often still feel I was called to do. Yet often as not I think we merely frustrated each other.

My question remains ... How would the Mobile Press-Register (or those business know it all types) teach these kids? Would the marvelous markets really solve our troubles? John Gunn

US Congresscritter Bill Sali ~ Thank God for Idaho!

He's never kissed Dubyah, at least to my knowledge, certainly not publicly like Minnesota's Representative Michele Bachmann did. However, like her, Bill Sali is (or plans to soon be) part of the GOP's campaign stunt up in DC that has been labeled "Drill, Drill, Drill" by loons like Larry Kudlow. Via Daily Kos, mcjoan serves up ID-01: Like Shooting Fish in a Barrel and it's her usual gem. Some might want to send Sali to serve but I'd want Walt! Like Miss Michele he's apparently a Christianist nutjob but doesn't get nearly the timely coverage she earns from OneNewsNow. Donald Wildmon's American Family Association didn't let him down completely however as Idahoans concerned about Mexican consolate mentioned his efforts. I'm however sure some recent quotes would be appreciated by all of us, including Walt Minnick. His broad concerns seem a little more in line with Christian values to this heathen. I expect these two "social values" motivated representatives from Alabama sent to write the Republican platform might vote for Bill but why would any not of their ilk even given him a second look? John Gunn

How'd the Press-Register teach these folks' kids?

WKRG.com Video

Tiffany Craig of WKRG News 5 reports Parents Get Probation for Truant Kids and the Mobile Press-Register's Robert McClendon reports Parents explain truancy: Many of the parents who plead guilty then fail drug tests after court session. I'm conflicted over the decision of Ms. Craig's station to place these parents on the tube yet I'll need to stew on my bottom line. I also can't imagine a Juvenile Court Judge allowing such access to those proceedings. I suppose since adults are involved that provides the out. I don't care for the drug testing angle either. Then there's the ... I do love me some civil liberties!

One thing I do agree with is that I've seen essentially the same sort of "parents" in both courts and classrooms in both Georgia and Alabama. Some had dreadful limitations, challenges, sicknesses, ... The Judge might think "too often they just don't care" but I usually found it a little more complicated.

How might the powers that be which have tied us to a high stakes testing accountability model make allowances for teaching the children of these "parents"? Would they accept that children living in their homes might be a rather challenging population to educate? Do they still think market solutions applied to a hundred year old industrial model of most American schools will deliver us from ruin?

As an aside, I recall having one of my administrators designing all sorts of incentive programs to get our little darlings to come to school, not to mention crunching numbers all day related to the damned data, instead of truly leading on our instructional efforts. I find it too rich that schools can fail under No Child Left Behind and not meet AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress) if attendance numbers aren't acceptable. If the law can't effectively make parents deliver little Johnny or Sally to the school then how might the educators? Going back on track ...

The right wing has created an almost universal acceptance that many schools aren't doing their jobs based on "measurements" of "learning". They take data which shows, rightly in some cases, that poor or minority or ... kids are struggling and then urge reforms that generally rely on the magic of the markets. "School choice" via "vouchers" is one of their main thrusts yet would "parents" such as those covered above likely do much better under such an arrangement? To make it all the more bothersome, conservatives also insult or at least dismiss what professional educators attempt rather often.

The Mobile Press-Register for instance has been a long advocate for "competition" in education. In October of 2007 they opined Parents lack top school choices (dead link I regret) which began

Fed up with poorly performing schools, some parents are taking matters into their own hands by moving their children into areas with better schools. In particular, many of these parents who are moving their children are making great sacrifices to get their children into better schools in Jefferson and Shelby counties. According to an article in The Birmingham News, since 2000 the Birmingham city school system has experienced a 23 percent decline in enrollment. ...

In November of 2007 their Children lose when school choice loses (the link is dead) begins with

The mighty education establishment has never spared any effort or expense fighting to keep children captives of the government-run school system. That's why they've compiled a perfect 10-0 record in statewide referendums on school choice. On Tuesday, the teachers' unions and the education bureaucracy scored another big win. Children trapped in substandard schools in Utah were the losers. Voters in that conservative state rejected the nation's first statewide school voucher program.

Stupid voters! Those terrible teachers might not teach worth a damn but they sure can sway elections. Going across the pond, the BBC covered a similar vote in California early in the Reign of Error plus they pointed out that the research is hardly supportive of the claims of the free market ideologues.

In January of this year the P-R gave us Seek more competition (again with a dead link) where they started with

Alabama's education system falls short of the standards of the mythical Lake Wobegon, where all the children are above average. According to the annual "Quality Counts" report published by Education Week magazine, Alabama schools are just average. Middle of the pack. So-so. Mediocre. In the magazine's ratings, the state received an overall grade of 75.7, which translated into a fair-to-middling "C." The state's standing in ...

In May the P-R shared Take a stand for choice which let them get a swipe in on Senator Obama, "liberal orthodoxy", and "teachers' unions" with this being at least a foundation of their argument:

During a meeting in February with the editorial board of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the Illinois senator said he was skeptical of allowing families to use publicly funded vouchers to send their children to private schools. Then he added, "If there was any argument for vouchers, it was 'All right, let's see if this experiment works,' and if it does, then whatever my preconceptions, my attitude is you do what works for the kids. I will not allow my predispositions to stand in the way of making sure our kids can learn. We're losing several generations of kids and something has to be done."

That was far from a ringing endorsement of vouchers, but for school choice advocates, who span the spectrum from the liberal Brookings Institution to the conservative Heritage Foundation, Sen. Obama's words were encouraging.

First of all, they ought to stop labeling Brookings as "liberal". Centrist at most yet they surely are funded by some of the usual suspects. Source Watch debunks that ridiculous claim as well.

As for Senator Obama's opening the door to this experiment, the evidence from said experimenting isn't coming up so rosy for the Friedmanites. Two years ago I posted over on Captain Jimi on how Bu$hCo's Department of Education buried their very own studies that didn't support right wing theory. Like any reasonable person, Senator Obama wants to make a rational decision rather than a radical one. Just who is acting "conservative" here?

Also, the P-R claimed, "Polls show people who live in urban areas with lousy public schools strongly favor vouchers." Actually, those polls might depend how the question is phrased. Not that the right wing, movement conservative set would use flawed "evidence" or anything of course.

In July the most conservative paper in the Newhouse Triad opined Obama says 'no' to low-income parents where they do some simultaneous shilling. Getting a two for one lick in for vouchers and against Senator Obama, they write, "Not too long ago, Sen. Obama said he was willing to consider supporting publicly funded voucher programs that allow low-income parents to send their children to private schools." Operative words from their own prior Editorial were "let's see if this experiment works". The Mobile P-R lectures

Sen. Obama apparently prefers to lecture parents about their responsibilities. He makes some good points, but misses the fact that, in America, responsibility and freedom usually travel together.

Again, we see the above parents in action. Senator Obama was quoted as stating, "Responsibility for our children's education starts at home." Any further questions P-R?

As I've said before, Jim "The Tool" Wooten really belongs in Mobile. Yet even Jim accepts the many, many variable that influence learning. Over two years ago I posted No Wonder We Have So Many Dropouts & Darlings where I looked at consequences of poverty and pampered prosperity. It's as much of a rant as perhaps I've ever done. I had or about set aside the chalk to pursue other adventures and perhaps I was frustrated over leaving work that I found rewarding and challenging. I walked away for several reasons but never because I didn't deeply care.

Once again I'm frustrated over the right wing war on schools. I told Jim Wooten he needed a new topic or at least new sources and I think the Mobile Press-Register might as well. A swith Jim, I'll not hold my breath on the P-R advocating for income integration as Raleigh, NC has seen some successes with recently. In fact, they'd likely go on the warpath attacking "social engineering" or "leftist education theories" or ... Only the marvelous markets supplies solutions you silly radicals! Nor do I expect them to ponder Education Funding and Low Income Children; A Review of Current Research from Kevin Carey, then of The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. I doubt they'd consider merely spending a few moments considering the ideas presented via Education Sector.

I'm becoming more and more convinced the Mobile Press-Register's Editorial Board is made up of movement conservatives rather than journalists. John Gunn

UPDATE ~ August 27, 2008 - Jeff Amy of the Mobile P-R tells us "Mobile County remains among the 10 poorest large U.S. counties ..."

Who is "off base" Mobile Press-Register?

The Mobile Press-Register opines today Democrats off base on tanker-related jobs relating to a Democratic National Committee advertisement they claimed "had disappeared from YouTube by mid-week." Obviously the above clip is there and going strong. "The spot was a misleading and cheap trick" claims the Mobile P-R. Here's the DNC's press release with the relevant portion following:

Earlier this year, reports revealed that McCain helped steer a $35 billion Air Force tanker deal away from Boeing and towards a European defense contractor that seven of the lobbyists running and raising money for his campaign lobbied on behalf of.

I doubt nobody beyond political junkies bothered with the Press Release so I expect for most people the ad stands alone. While there's some legitimacy behind the Mobile P-R's lamentations, I know they know that Alabama is out of play for this fall. While Virginia, where some EADS job will be located, might not be the best place for this ad to run, Washington State will likely, but not certainly, go to Senator Obama. The battleground state is Ohio. That where this ad is getting massive air time. This reality yields another argument for Electoral College reforms. Then again, the undeniable fact that TV spots are required to reach the average American "citizen" is another concern.

I'm not sure where the Mobile P-R is going with "Mobile - which, we feel compelled to point out yet again, is part of the United States of America. " It might be that they are following the right wing tendency to play the victim, like Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III for instance, but I'm no media mind reader.

The DNC has rightly been pointing out the McCain Myth for some time citing for instance the following:

John McCain says "[a]ccountability and transparency are the pillars of essential reform" and that he will fight to make government more transparent as president. But on the campaign trail, McCain refuses to answer questions about his own role in steering a $35 billion tanker deal to a European defense contractor--a deal that will outsource 44,000 American jobs to Europe. [johnmccain.com, accessed 3/12/08]

According to reports, after the Pentagon started from scratch on a tanker contract process, McCain weighed in on behalf of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. (EADS) at key steps in the process. When EADS wanted the Pentagon to take extra features on its planes into account when awarding the contract, McCain asked for it. When EADS wanted the Pentagon to ignore unfair subsidies it was receiving from European governments, McCain asked for it. When EADS wanted the tanker deal to be awarded in a split contract, McCain asked for it. [Mobile Register, 1/16/2007; Inside the Airforce, 2/2/2007; Seattle Times, 6/10/2006; Aviation Weekly, 10/2/06; New York Times, 12/26/2006; Financial Times, 8/6/2007; Mobile Register, 10/2/2007]

Now we know that McCain's campaign is being run by at least two lobbyists who worked for EADS. A third lobbyist was raising millions for his campaign while working for EADS, while EADS executives were steering campaign cash to McCain when he needed it most. In response to concerns about the appearance that he weighed in on behalf of lobbyists and donors, McCain said it is "one of the more bizarre things that I have ever seen in my life." McCain has yet to explain why he sent two letters to the Pentagon making the same arguments EADS had about how to award the contract, if lobbyists or representatives for EADS discussed the tanker deal with his Senate staff, or why he is still using a four-year-old investigation of Boeing to cover his efforts to tilt the scale towards EADS. [CNN Live Feed (Exeter, NH), 3/12/08]

Keep reading for more. Ouch! The Economic Policy Institute's Bailing out on America: Air Force tanker decision will ground at least 14,000 U.S. jobs is also cited by the Mobile P-R.

I appreciate the Mobile P-R pointing out the following:

But the Democratic National Committee failed to note what EPI's briefing paper acknowledged: that Boeing Co. and a key union, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, provide "general research support" to the institute.

I've felt the same frustrations with commentators, columnists, hacks, operative ... not digging deep enough to see who might be paying for what. It's not like y'all would shill paid for research. Or allow Gary Palmer or Lawrence McQuillan or ... to do this in your paper. we know how fairly you've covered Don Siegelman's troubles. No Big Lies would ever appear in the Mobile P-R I'm sure.

Y'all even admit,

"The DNC's "Job Killing John" campaign video was a response to a leaked internal McCain campaign memo purporting that Sen. McCain would label Sen. Barack Obama as a "job-killing machine."

Poor Huggy Bear! The DNC fights back but they are the ones that dare "muddy" things up. It's hardly hardball politics and this is especially certain given the right wing smear machine. Will y'all be covering Jerome Corsi's latest work? How will you cover other ads this campaign?

I can accept that y'all are seriously part of the effort to bring that tanker contract back to Mobile. Papers out here in Washington State are likewise doing their part for Boeing. However, I truly think the Mobile Press-Register is mostly motivated by a desire to beat up on the Democratic Party and Senator Obama.

I'm no huge Obama supporter as he and his aren't clearly Progressive enough for my preferences yet I'm certain St. John would largely continue the same flawed and thus failed policies of "conservatism". John Gunn

Retail subsidies for the rugged outdoorsman set

I'd bet my best bird dog (if I kept one anymore ... her name was Sadie) the average Bubba or Bubbette waddling into one of the several Bass Pro Shops in Alabama frowns on "welfare" yet they don't realize that where they are shopping is at least partially on the dole. I'd recently read David Cay Johnson's Free Lunch: How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense (and Stick You with the Bill) so I was wise to the racket. Here's a small sample via Reason.

I came to this theme by reading Bass Pro megastore opens its doors from Kathy Jumper, the Mobile Press-Register's Real Estate Editor. This last Sunday she shared New retail opening despite national slump. In June Ms. Jumper filed Bass Pro Shop taking shape for late August opening. In the P-R I also found Kaija Wilkinson's Bass Pro seeks employees from May of this year.

In alternatives to the M P-R I find Staubach given key to city at ‘roof raising’ for Bass Pro Shops from Kathy Ferniany. Way back in 2004 there's Spanish Fort to become retail mecca - overnight: Mega-shopping, including state's first Bass Pro Shops store, coming soon to Baldwin County from Birmingham Business Journal's Gilbert Nicholson.

I noted some coverage of the tax incentives the fryling Johnny Morris grew into a lunker reeled in from Baldwin County and surely the Baldwin County Economic Development Alliance isn't shy about telling prospective developers what's available. I figured Roger the Dodger and/or his Cypress Equities got a little help from Baldwin County. Reckon who all else got a taste? Ms. Jumper has reported:

The city of Spanish Fort created a capital improve ment district to borrow about $30 million to finance construction of roads, utilities and other infrastructure improvements for the Cypress Equities project. A special tax on sales in the shopping center is targeted to pay off the debt.

I'm going to need to pass on that "special tax on sales" language as I've got a feeling she's writing of Tax Increment Financing yet I might need to first ask somebody that knows all this backwards and forwards. Going back to 2004 we can locate the following:

"The Bass Pro Shops transaction is a private transaction between Cypress and Bass," Harrington (Scott Harrington was then the Atlanta managing partner in Atlanta) said. "It has been made very clear to us that the city of Spanish Fort has no money or any appetite for liability in the project. There is no cash available. We are currently making arrangements to meet with city officials and the Planning Commission to commence our rezoning and discuss the project as a whole.

So Spanish Fort had no money but went out and borrowed millions. In today's economy? Well played rich folks! Hell, in the time I started this post I've found yet another piece from today's paper on one of these deals in the M P-R related to a Gulf Shores development. The hits just keep on coming!

Bass Pro Shops also has projects open or being built in Prattville, Leeds/Moody/St. Clair County, and Decatur/Morgan County. Lots of folks have a stake in those efforts. I guarantee you some banks, attorneys, ... are cashing in. The Prattville Chamber at least admit to the costs. As does Prattville's Mayor. The Leeds/Moody project has just hit a stumble yet I'm sure those in the know, and most importantly dialed in to the levers of power, will soldier on. In North Alabama the incentives are there as well. Sweetwater is indeed getting a sweet deal.

I can only imagine what small outfitters think of being sold down the river but I also wonder what citizens would think if they realized what they'd lost. Giving Away the Store to Get a Store: Tax increment financing is no bargain for taxpayers from Daniel McGraw via Reason is a good jumping off point. Curbing Corporate Welfare plus their Big Box Tool Kit from New Rules, an effort of The Institute for Local Self-Reliance, are other resources I'll send you to for more information. John Gunn

Alabama Policy Institute attacks Steve Flowers

They're willing to insult Steve Flowers? I know they've got to earn their keep from the Big Mules but couldn't they have picked on somebody like The New Yorker's Hendrick Hertzberg? Michael Ciamarra and Bob McKee have a spell of the vapors, with a version here (not sure about their citing the 2004 election and Al Gore's numbers) and a shorter one that made it into the Cullman Times here, over presumably Steve Flowers: Obama needs Clinton to have a chance which appeared in the Piedmont Journal. I missed this dust up. Although a bit dated I can't pass it up.

Steve, again hardly a DFH, wrote:

Many of you have wondered about my prognosis in last week’s column that Barack Obama would probably not win the presidency, although he has all but wrapped up the Democratic nomination.

The reasoning is based on the fact that we do not have a direct election of the president in this country. The person who gets the most votes does not necessarily win the White House.

Our Electoral College system is archaic, antiquated and undemocratic. Most Americans are not aware of the fact that the person who gets the most votes does not win in our American process. Whoever gets the most votes is each state gets all the electoral votes in that state. Each state’s electoral number is equal to the state’s number of congressmen and senators and these electors elect the president.

Steve responds to inquiries with a rational explanation, even though I think he's wrong on the general election prediction, and the hatchet men at API swing into action. Since the Cullman Times, where Steve's columns appear, rightly removed some of their hateful language, I'll go directly to API's hit job. The two gentlemen write:

He wants to elect the President of the United States by popular vote, a radical change fostered by those who are either abysmally ignorant of basic civics or think they’re smarter than the framers of the Constitution.

Huh? Where did Steve advocate anything of the such? Why would they be claiming he's a "wag of today" engaged in advocating a "scheme"? Would Maine and Nebraska be engaged in a "scheme" with their Congressional District system? Is Maryland?

API's Michael Ciamarra and Bob McKee claim:

The Electoral College ... was created to protect minorities and maintain a balance between large and small states and between regional interest groups. The Founders were especially concerned about maintaining balance between agrarian and industrial interests and between Northern and Southern states. The Electoral College serves these purposes.

I'd like either of these two to show us where the Founders mentioned "Electoral College" in the Constitution. Article Two surely doesn't nor does the Twelfth Amendment. Yet the idea Steve writes about is a "scheme"? Spare us the Founders argument! I don't dismiss their admitting a good number of the Founders distrusted the masses but I'd also suggest the arrangement agreed upon in those early years of the Republic was at least partly about protecting slavery in the agricultural South. That's something to build off isn't it? C'mon guys, the "small states" already have a tyranny of the tiny in the Senate. Why not consider ways to make our democracy more democratic?

I like what Hendrick Hertzberg wrote in another New Yorker piece.

... the deepest argument for a national popular vote has nothing to do with who wins. It has to do with the over-all health of a democratic order.

As has become increasingly clear over the past few general elections, with their red states and blue states, an American Presidential campaign is no longer truly national. It takes place almost exclusively in the purple states—the “battleground states,” where neither party can be sure of a lock. ...

The worst of it is the death of participatory politics in two-thirds of the country. If you live in a spectator state, it might be fun to persuade your neighbors to vote your way, or ring their doorbells, or hand them leaflets. But it can’t make a difference. And it doesn’t matter which side you’re on or which color your state is. Widening your ticket’s margin of victory or narrowing its margin of defeat is equally pointless. In this sense, our Presidential campaigns are not only not national; in most of the country they’re not local, either. They’re just not.

For fifty years, polls have consistently shown that seventy per cent of the public favors direct election.

Hardly a loony argument is it? National Popular Vote Inc. is a good place to examine some of the options we have. Here's another.

I know Michael Ciamarra and Bob McKee are but a part of Alabama's version of the right's "counterintelligentsia" but surely y'all have got better game than this? I'm sure API and their type like things just as they are. Actually, their attacking Steve Flowers might show just how much. John Gunn

Neal Boortz, Big Fat Idiot, ... attack Big Ag's Boy

Is Neal Boortz another puppet like Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III? The right's message machine does often seem to get their marching orders from on high and like the good authoritarians many are just follow orders. Following the lead of The Wall Street Journal Opinion pages' Kimberley A. Strassel, who in August of 2001 attacked "Ms. Clinton's cock legislation" claiming "rooster fights are perfectly legitimate", alleged libertarian Boortz pounced on Saxby Chambliss for his joining the "Gang of Ten". Boortz whines "the Republicans had a winning issue — that I think y’all just knocked the props out, from right underneath ‘em." Gainesville Georgia's Martha Zoller gets space in Human Events to also pile on Captain Plaid's favorite frat boy. Perhaps Obama's coattails will drag Jim Martin toward success but I'm not so sure Saxby isn't trying to shore up his internals by at least acting like he's reasonable. I can't help but note that while Sugar was partying at UGA Jim Martin was serving in Vietnam. At least Martin, unlike Max Cleland, came back with his legs. John Gunn

UPDATE ~ Evening of August 18, 2008 - Rasmussen reports Georgia Senate: Chambliss Leads Martin by Six which might suggest this race is a whole lot closer than some might have thought. I predict the right wing troops will rally around Big Ag's Boy.

James K. Galbraith's The Predator State

The Predator State: How Conservatives Abandoned the Free Market and Why Liberals Should Too goes on the Amazon wish list. I located it via TPM Cafe's Book Club. (I especially appreciated Max Sawicky reminding us that The Clenis promised much and delivered little.) I've long been a John Kenneth Galbraith fan and love how this son is carrying on the good fight. The Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs is lucky to have him. In the product description I found the following:

The real economy is not a free-market economy. It is a complex combination of private and public institutions, including Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, higher education, the housing finance system, and a vast federal research establishment. The real problems and challenges -- inequality, climate change, the infrastructure deficit, the subprime crisis, and the future of the dollar -- are problems that cannot be solved by incantations about the market. They will be solved only with planning, with standards and other policies that transcend and even transform markets.

A timely, provocative work whose message will endure beyond this election season, The Predator State will appeal to the broad audience of thoughtful Americans who wish to understand the forces at work in our economy and culture and who seek to live in a nation that is both prosperous and progressive.

I doubt this will be a best seller if it is targeted towards "the broad audience of thoughtful Americans". Nevertheless, the book looks like a gem. For a sneak preview you can step back in time for this 2005 article in MoJo. John Gunn

Saturday's Royal Rumble at Saddleback Church

California mega-church pastor Rick Warren is hosting an early opportunity to see John McCain and Barack Obama on the same stage. It is hardly a debate but Saddleback's Civil Forum on the Presidency is a promising event. The WaPo's On Faith effort gives Mississippi's Robert S. McElvaine space to share The Purpose-Driven Presidency which can give you some background. CNN is carrying the event live. I've actually read the book and I appreciate much of what Warren is trying to accomplish. That some nutjobs claim he's the anti-Christ likely makes him all the better. On the faith front, news of Huggy's fundraiser with Ralph Reed, no stranger to Alabama politics, is an avenue I might explore later yet for now I'll merely say that I'll take Rick over Ralph any day. John Gunn

UPDATE ~ As to Ralph Reed and Black Jack Abramoff, and certainly even more relevant given the Russia-Georgia crisis, the Gray Lady's Michael Cooper delivers a timely In Split Role, McCain Adviser Is Sometimes a Lobbyist. As to Alabama's Governor Riley's involvement, nothing to see here ... move along. I posted on the Governor's involvement in 2006 on Tin Shop Tartan and wonder what "Tim" would now offer in his comments.

Beagles threaten boycott of Captain Plaid

Actually I think I'm OK with the beagles. I had one pictured with some cool shades when I took the Mobile Press-Register to task recently yet here we go again. I'm a big beagle fan so perhaps the breed will forgive me. And I bet most are good lefty types anyhow. The B'ham News opines Alabama Gov. Bob Riley should lead the way in trying to figure out what happened to rape evidence in the capital murder case against Thomas Arthur. They writes:

Gov. Bob Riley never has been inclined to order DNA tests requested by inmates on Death Row. Their stories are never compelling enough, or the timing is wrong, or maybe the dog ate Riley's homework. There's always a reason to say no.

I've been reliably pleased with the B'ham News on their coverage of the Tommy Arthur saga. Governor Riley certainly has some 'splaining to do yet they are asking him to "lead the way"? I'll not hold my breath. John Gunn

Outrageous? Tragedy? Cry me a river Jeffy B!

Senator Water Carrier? Senator Southern Company? Where to begin with Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III? Charles Dean of the B'ham News reports U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions wants Arctic National Wildlife Refuge open for oil drilling: No new nuclear plants `unbelievable' and it is rich with material. I appreciate Mr. Dean providing a little context and sharing some alternatives to this politicking.

Speaking before "a joint gathering of the Gardendale Area Rotary Club and the Gardendale Chamber of Commerce at the city's civic center", Jeffy B plays the victim.

Sessions called it "unbelievable" that the nation has not built a nuclear power plant in 30 years and a "tragedy" that the country has not drilled for oil in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

JBS III, a member of the Senate's Energy and Natural Resources Committee, surely knows better on nuclear power. The fact is that our providing massive subsidies to Big Energy is the only reason we are on the verge of a "nuclear renaissance". The GOP, and Corporatist Democrats to a lesser extent, talk up "the market" and dismiss "welfare" and yet once again show they don't walk the talk if and when the Big Mules need a little help. Let's also not forget that all the gov't money could be spent on clean energy research and the like. Surely Jeffy B knows how cheap energy conservation programs are compared to building new nuclear power plants?

I doubt our junior Senator follows the work of the Center for American Progress but they recently unveiled 10 Reasons Not to Invest in Nuclear Energy. Likewise, I figure he's hardly a fan of the Natural Resource Defense Council yet their The Future Role of Nuclear Power in the United States is a well written and clear summary of the issues facing our nation. Then again, we all know who he's really working for.

JBS III also shared the talking points on ANWR.

"The ANWR region of Alaska is so remote, and it's as big as the state of South Carolina ... and the region they want to drill is just in 2,000 acres, just a small speck on the map, and it has millions and millions of barrels of oil and it would keep American wealth here and American jobs here," Sessions told the lunchtime crowd.

I covered many of the ANWR lies recently with API's Gary Palmer demonstrates the blame game and Mike Rogers ~ "We are all environmentalists ..." so I'll merely address one I perhaps left off. The alleged 2000 acre "footprint" he cites leaves off infrastructure, housing, transportation, etc.

As for Russia and Georgia, JBS III shared:

"Putin and his team has been just drifting to the dark side, and I just wish it wasn't so," Sessions said, referring to former Russian President and current Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

Sessions said President Bush has done all he could to try to work with Putin to assure Russia would develop in a "good way" but that Russia's attack on Georgia is part of a pattern of threats and intimidation increasingly used by the Kremlin to get its way.

Dubyah looked into Putin's soul way back when and SOS Condi Rice, who let's not forget had a Chevron oil tanker named after her when she served on their Board of Directors, is allegedly an expert on Russia yet she's going down as one of the worst we've ever had in that position. Heck of a job Condi?

No mention was made of his election and I do fear he thinks he can coast. His claim that Bu$h has "done all he could" reveals much. JBS III protected Alberto Gonzales and has recently been caught once again covering for Bu$hCo as to the Presidential Records Act. What a gem we have in Jeffy. He and his party, let's not forget the Cheney Energy Task Force, have pretty much had power for decades and yet he want to play the poor pitiful me part. Unbelievable. John Gunn

UPDATE ~ The LA Times' Maura Reynolds files Russia's aim in Georgia battle was strategic: U.S. experts say Moscow's goal in the Georgia battle has been to lay claim to a sphere of influence on Russia's periphery which might help Jeffy B understand this complex region a little better. Then again, a cut-and-paste foreign policy might suit JBS III.

Auburn's Bob Mount ~ Get off my grass!

I liked it better when Bob Mount stuck to rodents as in here and here. Yesterday's Frayed moral fabric tearing at nation was a rant worthy of note. Since when have "criminal-coddlers gained the upper hand?" He asks if Obama is "in favor of stemming the flow of illegal aliens into the country?" He wonders "if Obama approves of the vulgarity, obscenity, and graphic sex displayed on TV and in some movies." He then goes off on some isolationist venture yet I suppose he knows St. John, genuine War Hero, isn't about to "to close every overseas base that is not vital to our security or to that of nations we have pledged to protect and want us to remain." Nevertheless, I bet Professor Bob will be supporting President McNasty. John Gunn

Michele Bachmann ~ Thank God for Minnesota?

I've known Miss Michele since she put the rub down and then lip lock on Dubyah at his 2007 SOTU. I'd never noticed but she has that look in her eyes that reminds me of my crazy run over dog. She's apparently hitched her horse to Donald Wildmon's American Family Alliance over in Tupelo. Their OneNewsNow.com via American Family News Network (no liberal bias here) is proving to be a great source for wingnut quotes. For instance ... we get this especially ridiculous attack on Democrats:

"This is their agenda," Bachmann states bluntly. "I know it is hard to believe, it's hard to fathom -- but this is 'mission accomplished' for them," she asserts. "They want Americans to take transit and move to the inner cities. They want Americans to move to the urban core, live in tenements, [and] take light rail to their government jobs. That's their vision for America."

Oh my! It gets better with this:

"[Pelosi] is committed to her global warming fanaticism to the point where she has said that she's just trying to save the planet. We all know that someone did that over 2,000 years ago, they saved the planet -- we didn't need Nancy Pelosi to do that," says Bachmann.

Onward Christian Soldier! Dance with the ones what brung you Michele! You were I think Dr. Dobson's only win in 2006. Then again ... it might have been a win for Big Oil. If you've got a few spare dimes, and want to send the nutjobs a message via MN-6, a district that's been described as a bellweather, why not show El Tinklenberg some love. John Gunn

Time Warner's CNN announces new politics talent

We here on the loony left just get these two? The WaPo's Dana Milbank was recently scolded in a post I'll not bother linking to yet it contained this link. Ombudsman Little Debbie Howell, hardly a flaming lefty herself, even reprimanded him for that dreadful work. I appreciate Hilary Rosen and knows she's surely got game yet her work as "chairman and CEO of the Recording Industry Association of America" is hardly placing her in the socialist set I'd argue. The right gets Tara Wall of the Moonie Times, David Brody from Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network, and Alex Castellanos of The Mittster's failed campaign and National Media, Inc. Our "liberals" seem rather centrists or at least corporate. I'll pass on an opportunity to question CNN paying Glen Beck and Nancy Grace and ... Another day with corporate media I suppose yet I'm bothered when they don't even make it deniable. John Gunn

The Conservative Columnists in The Anniston Star

I mentioned the Media Matters' Black and White and Re(a)d All Over study in a recent post where both Cal Thomas and George Will received attention. They're back ...

First of all, I am totally lost after reading George Will. Thankfully I had a dictionary handy as he's dropping some doozies in Monday's column. I've read the damn thing three times and I'm still not certain of his point(s).

Cal Thomas engages in his rather common self-righteousness and claims of "liberal media bias" in looking at the John Edwards scandal in 'Mama Mia' without the music. That Cal labels Elizabeth Edwards as "a co-conspirator in the cover-up" ought to show where he's willing to go. Here's a portion of Cal's writing:

The big media were enablers in the Edwards mess, though the Charlotte Observer, McClatchy and Raleigh News & Observer broke the news of the Edwards affair before his ABC confessional. After the National Enquirer scooped major papers on Bill Clinton's "relationship" with Gennifer Flowers in 1992, one might have expected them to be more aware this time.

The Los Angeles Times and The New York Times knew about the Enquirer stories on Edwards, but refused to assign reporters to look into them. When California Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was said to have sexually harassed several women, the L.A. Times assigned up to half a dozen reporters to investigate.

Remember "Troopergate"? The L.A. Times had the story about Arkansas state troopers allegedly procuring women for Bill Clinton while he was governor, but didn't publish it until after the 1992 election.

Funny how it isn't important, or it couldn't be corroborated when Democrats are the subject, but let a Republican stray (Larry Craig, Mark Foley and David Vitter are some recent examples) and it immediately becomes front-page news.

It's odd that Cal is the top opinion columnist and he's ranting about "big media". Cal writes for Tribune Media Services after all. And Tribune now actually owns The LA Times. Tribune's Samuel Zell is trying to straighten out those Left Coast slackers Cal. Mr. Zell in fact just ran off Publisher David Hiller, hardly a left wing hippie I'd point out.

Does Cal really want to use the word "stray" to describe the conduct of Mark Foley? Or Larry Craig? (Yes, theAP title in that prior link is priceless!) Or David Vitter? I also wondered if he'd forgotten the recent fall of Eliot Spitzer? I also find it rather rich that concerns that John Edwards might be "rehabilitated" come from Cal Thomas after he teamed up with "Democrat" Bob Beckel to write Common Ground. Does Cal actually want to compare allegations of sexual harrassment, that The Governator admitted had some basis in truth, with a consentual affair? Finally, since the National Enquirer is such a solid example of journalism, reckon Cal wants to follow up on this line of stories? A tip of the tam is surely due Redeye at Left in Alabama for that last link to Buzzflash.

I certainly don't fault the Anniston Star for giving George Will and Cal Thomas ink yet I do like the ability to at least challenge them via my lame blog. Comment possibilities are increasingly becoming part of online papers and while plenty of threads aren't worth even reading it is I think a sign of progress that readers can share their thoughts on what the papers print. John Gunn

UPDATE ~ I might as well mention that alleged lefty Nat Hentoff supported the invasion of Iraq and is generally seen as anti-choice on abortion.

UPDATE #2 ~ I can't leave Cal's attack on Elizabeth Edwards. Citing People is not something I do every day but this reveals her "anguish". This classy, smart lady is facing death from cancer. She's already lost one child to a tragic accident. They have an older daughter but most importantly two young children. They've been married thirty years. I believe she believed, as I did, and still do for that matter, in John's populist message. She makes a tough call on a tough situtation and this wingnut SOB labels her a "co-conspirator". What a dick!

What do Bama GOP's Platform Reps worry about?

Mary Orndorff of the B'ham News reports Alabama Republicans send social conservatives to GOP platform debate. The piece explores the possibility that "Sen. John McCain's more moderate positions on things such as stem cell research or global climate change could spark a debate." To the left appears Dr. Robert Bentley of Tuscaloosa who is the Representative for Alabama's 63rd House District. I'll confess he'd escaped my notice.. Thanks Goodness for The Google!

The following interview by Maria Hinojosa of PBS in their Taxing the Poor effort from April 11, 2008 reveals plenty.



"If they really are poor ..." and "may not be poor in spirit" and "not being able to buy the conveniences you think they ought to have" truly gets my Scots up. Doc's got so much on his mind to make regressive taxation not high on his list of things to worry about? Huh? The PBS link above has a video that's worth clicking through to see more. That Ms. Hinajosa brings up the phenomenal subsidies Alabama has given to some very profitable corporations is so appreciated. Amen!

Quotes from both Bama GOP head Rep. Mike Hubbard of Auburn are provided as well as some references to St. John's positions on various issues. Dr. Bentley is quoted in part in the Orndorff piece as follows:

"I still think we need to continue to support our conservative base, especially pro-life and family values."

Martha Stokes of Carrollton, described as "a retiree who is attending her first GOP convention" yet apparently connected enough to serve on the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway Authority, is the other social conservatives referenced in Miss Mary's reporting. I also quickly learned that Miss Martha was a Bu$h elector in 2000 and 2004. Miss Martha, just a 'little ole retiree', is quoted as saying:

"I really want to keep a very conservative platform, especially on the social issues."

As to the stem-cell research quandary, Ms. Ordorff writes:

Bentley said he opposes federal funds for embryonic stem cell research, and he would balk at platform language that would endorse it.

"I'm a physician, and I'm pretty conservative, especially on life issues," Bentley said. "It's hard to be a physician and not be for life, but I'm also for research. There are a lot of scientific studies going on that are not necessarily embryonic, and we need to put a lot of money into that."

As to climate change Ms. Orndorff reports:

Bentley said it's not an issue the platform committee should spend much time on.

"I think it's mainly elitist groups that are interested in global warming," he said. "Average Alabamians and Americans aren't interested in global warning."

At the end of the reporting on the GOP, a quote from Mike Duncan, the chairman of the Republican National Committee in Washington, is shared.

"I'm confident at the end of the day we're going to have a platform that accommodates the party at this particular time," Duncan said. "I'm not concerned that it's going to change dramatically over where we are as a party that believes in less government, lower taxes, individual responsibility and a strong national defense."

I'd have appreciated Mary Orndorff asking these two, especially Miss Martha, how she thinks things worked out for "social conservatives" during the Bu$hCo years.

As for Mr. Duncan's claims, I'd suggest "accommodates the party" could be seen to be "whatever it takes to get these Bible thumping rubes" to continue voting against their economic interests yet his brand of right wingery might very well lean toward social conservatism. I'd also have liked to have seen some fleshing out of the fact that government spending, especially that via privatization for profit, has exploded under Bu$hCo. The fact that taxes have been cut for the fat cats rather than the regular folks might have been worth exploring. The "evolution: of St. John's position on the Bu$hCo tax cuts for the top brackets might have been worth a look, What "individual responsibility" means remains unclear. What a strong national defense exactly means also remains out there.

Dr. Bentley waffles a little on the stem cell issue, so I'll hope for hope. The best approach I'd suggest is to push forward on both embryonic and adult cells. The reason there are "a lot" relates to the funding that has been out there. Those that we've lost and will lose, or will merely suffer more, because of your "culture of life" can judge you Doc. The embryonic line that made the cut because they were already destroyed had serious flaws. While some adult cell research is promising few serious scientists would suggest we'd not be way ahead but for reactionaries ruining our efforts.

With all the above out of my system, I couldn't help but note this successful physician (the largest dermatology practice in the South!) throwing around "elitist". "Average" Alabamians or Americans might not be interested in "global warming" but even your own Southern Baptist denomination recently noted concerns. His political backers, the usual suspects indeed, are here yet given his likely wealth I suppose it might not matter.

I'd expect Mrs. Stokes might be doing OK as well but the main beef I had was that Mary Orndorff didn't tell her whole history. She's a solid reporter I think yet I've been giving her more attention after she recently missed the mark in describing Karl Rove's recent "testimony to Congress."

Finally, I couldn't help but note that Dr. Bentley's four sons are named John, Paul, Luke, and Matthew. No Mark? John Gunn

UPDATE ~ August 13, 2008 - Doc Bentley thinks "it's mainly elitist groups that are interested in global warming" and that "Average Alabamians and Americans aren't" yet I find three news pieces in just today's state papers that suggests otherwise. The Anniston Star's editorial On the energy bandwagon: Southern governors' plan reminds us of what regional cooperation on energy solutions might accomplish. That federal funding is an issue is certain. Our universities certainly have a role in seeking remedies. Bryan Lyman of the Mobile Press-Register files State high in carbon output where he explains Alabama ranking 13th on the list of states. About 31 tons of carbon are generated for each resident of the state as compared to the average of 20 tons per citizen nationally. I guess Alabama Power is an "elitist group" as they surely seem interested in the prior piece plus most certainly Mr. Lyman's Alabama Power looks for new ways to make coal work.

I'll try to be back in the saddle on Tuesday

Unless something changes I should be out of pocket until at least Tuesday. I'm doing a twenty four hour duty starting in the morning. There are some of my own books I'll take plus five from the library that I hope to be able to read in any down time I should get. One is Morgan Spurlock's Where in the World is Osama bin Laden and that might be where I'll start. Scottsboro: A Novel by Ellen Feldman is another possibility yet I wonder if the fiction can equal the facts. John Gunn

The Onion ~ Pentagon's Unmanned Spokesdrone

Pentagon's Unmanned Spokesdrone Completes First Press Conference Mission from The Onion News Network is rather clever. I'm sure it is hard to replace Torie Clark however. John Gunn

UPDATE ~ August 14, 2008 - Here's a link that lets you search the Pentagon's documents related to their military analyst program. Lipstick on a pig Torie?

"What Bush Got Right" from Fareed Zakaria

Lord knows I loathe Bu$hCo and yet I became hardly a fan of The Clenis. He was always too centrist for me yet the rise of toe-sucking scumbag consultant Dick Morris surely doomed that administration's effectiveness. The lies he told related to Ms. Lewinsky surely damaged his effectiveness and I agree he brought dishonor to the White House. A "censure and move on" approach always suited me. Yet I must share a "Nobody died when Clinton lied!" before I move on.

Bu$hCo has done more to rehabilitate The Clenis than I'd have ever been able to imagine just a decade ago. To find any good from Bu$h is tough but Fareed Zakaria has managed. His Newsweek piece What Bush Got Right: For the next president, simply reversing this administration's policies is not the answer is a must read. I'll share the following:

... this is not meant as a defense of George W. Bush. The administration made monumental errors in its first few years, ones that have cost the United States enormously. ...

... Bush 43 has surely been the most fiscally irresponsible president in American history, taking surpluses that equaled 2.5 percent of GDP and turning them into deficits that are 3 percent. This is a $4 trillion hit on the country's balance sheet. On the central issue of energy policy—the greatest economic challenge and opportunity of our times—Bush has been utterly obstructionist, recycling the self-serving arguments of industry lobbyists. On the whole, Bush's record remains one of failure and missed opportunities.

So why offer this corrective? Because we cannot go back to 2001. The next president will inherit the world as it is in 2009. He will have to examine the Bush administration's policies as they stand in January 2009—not as they were in 2001 or 2002 or 2003—and decide how to accept, modify and alter them. There was a U.S. president who came into office convinced that everything his predecessor had done was feckless, stupid, ill-informed and venal. He rejected and tried to reverse everything that he could, almost as an article of faith. Before he had even examined the policies carefully, he knew that they had to be changed. The base of his party was delighted by his clarity and fighting spirit.

That president, of course, was George W. Bush. His decision to blindly repudiate anything associated with Bill Clinton is what got us into this mess in the first place. Let's hope that the next president, no matter how much he despises Bush, will take a careful look at his administration's policies, America's interests, and the world beyond and do the right thing for the country and its future.

"Do the right thing" begins I'd suggest with and rejecting Conservatism and embracing Progressivism. I know St. John and especially those handling Huggy will not come close. I fear Senator Obama and his rather corporatist, centrist effort will not go nearly far enough. So it comes down to groups and people ranging from those in Congress to regular folks all the way down to the net/grassroots. "We are the ones we've been waiting for." John Gunn

... Aren't we the state? Does society celebrate education? How do we measure learning? ...

Melinda Manley, a teacher at Alma Bryant High down in Mobile County, Alabama got ink in today's Mobile Press-Register with her Is it the state's goal to educate or just graduate? Much of what she wrote is dead on and I also know I've felt her frustrations with students, parents, bureaucrats, ... However, I'm not sure teachers, principals and school systems are judged by merely the graduation rate. NCLB's AYP gives us plenty of benchmarks to reach beyond that one measure.

One main worry I have over her piece relates to the following:

Instead of hanging tough, however, state leaders are doing the opposite. They have politicized the problem. ...

It used to be that we called our children "our greatest natural resource." They still are, but our state leaders have hobbled them by exchanging a philosophy of excellence for a program of entitlement.

By this I mean that the genuine wealth and governmental entitlement in this nation have created a society in which resourcefulness, determination, hard work and sacrifice are seldom taught or praised. There are few traces of Puritan stamina.

I'm not sure where she's going with this. Is she worried about this "genuine wealth" construct? I'd suggest that's hardly dominating our discourse in either the nation or Alabama. "Entitlement" often seems like a loaded word given how easily it is thrown around by various right wing types yet I'll pass on trying to label Ms. Manley. Here's an academic definition of "entitlement program" from Dr. Paul Johnson at Auburn.

Although I'm generally no fan of Puritanism, stamina seems like a positive virtue. As are "resourcefulness, determination, hard work and sacrifice" but I'll suggest that society (it would be tempting to go after "gangsta rap" or "celebrity obsessed media" or "sexualized advertising" or "consumerism" or ... for instance) is more to blame than schools as to why those traits don't get that much attention. Plus, I expect kids best learn those traits from models at home, in their communities, and the like. I do, however, think modeling of solid attitudes and consistent conduct is a critical part of what better professional educators do for their students. I also strongly believe teachers could more easily demonstrate (and perhaps even explore those virtues!) if they weren't so focused on high stakes testing.

I'm somewhat lost when Ms. Manley writes, "Instead of hanging tough, however, state leaders ... have politicized the problem." Aren't all laws, rules, regulations, ... politicized? I'd argue the move toward "accountability" since at least the early eighties has been the ultimate in politicization. The model of "measurement" of "outcomes" tied to "standards" and "benchmarks" via "objective" use of "data" as some sort of "reform" has long dominated public education. The move toward allowing "market solutions" has been gaining ground yet one might argue this is merely phase two of the last three decades. As a proud Progressive I certainly think wise policies can yield positive results. I just think we've got the wrong policies that come from the wrong politicians.

In a recent post titled The Mobile Press-Register's rose-colored glasses I wrote at length on how NCLB's AYP is hardly the whole of the story on how we are educating our children. In that post I linked to my Good teachers, not bureaucrats, are celebrated! post from two years ago. I remain very sympathetic to the ideas of Professors Alfie Kohn and Michael Apple and Paulo Freire and ... Professor Freire might very have something to offer up on Ms. Manley's lament over how future employers might view how well we prepared their labor yet I'll not go into his colonialism in the classroom worries.

As for the graduation exam, the Anniston Star provides a sample that can even be scored. I'm embarrassed to admit my results. I obviously need to brush up on the Math and Science. The Language wasn't perfect yet the Social Studies was. However, even in my field, I'm not so sure knowing those answers is much more than knowing one damn fact after another. I also wonder how the average resident of the blessed "business community" that might moan and groan over allegedly dreadful schools would perform on this test. High stakes testing is not totally without value and yet it is merely one facet to evaluating the process. Ms. Manley seems to focus far too much on this one measure.

I found it interesting that Ms. Manley, rightly frustrated I'm sure over some of her students and their parents, made no reference to poverty. She's working in a rather poor area of Alabama just below I-10. (As an aside, I once taught in the Troup County Georgia Schools which was then under the direction of Dr. Roy Nichols who is now the Superintendent of Mobile County.) I've most recently taught in a system with many poor students. It is tough work to teach children from poor homes. From attitudes toward learning to basic limitations (like Internet-connected computers to look up grades that Ms. Manley seems to assume all possess) the barriers are plentiful.

Finally, I couldn't help but note on the sidebar of Bryant High the appearance of apparent advertisements (I hope they've paid at least a small price for this tribute) from State Senator Rusty Glover and State Representative Spencer Collier. Rep. Collier is actually from Irvington, the home of the Hurricanes and Sen. Glover is a high school history teacher. I'm sure these two gems up on Goat Hill will be part of the solution. John Gunn

UPDATE ~ I failed to notice State Senator Ben Brooks on the (so far every single page has these pols and an Army recruiter and ... on the right sidebar) Bryant High pages. I know little if anything about him other than the fact that he, like these other two, is a Republican. In fact, his own Senate Bio states "Senator Brooks is a Republican and a Christian."

UPDATE #2 ~ Heading to North Alabama we get Schools parade sure way to keep politicians in line from Steve Campbell of the Huntsville Times. Huh?

UPDATE #3 ~ The Montgomery Advertiser examines The Schott Foundation for Public Education’s 50 State Report on Public Education and Black Males titled "Given Half a Chance" and shares the following:

Alabama has a 20 percent gap between the graduation rates of the two groups, which is smaller than the 28 percent gap for the nation as a whole.

But a closer examination shows that Alabama does relatively well compared with other states not because it does a better job of graduating black males, but because it does a worse job of graduating white males. ...

There is some good news in all of this for Alabama. The statistics used in the Schott report all predate several meaningful new programs instituted by state and local school officials in Alabama to address overall graduation rates.

Those programs include a change in requirements for graduation that allow students to get a degree if they pass only three of five sections of the state graduation test, as long as two of the three sections passed are math and reading. There are several initiatives designed to push students to take more challenging academic courses. Both the state and the Montgomery systems are developing credit-recovery programs that allow students to receive course credit without repeating a full course. And the state is moving to put graduation coaches in all high schools with low graduation rates.

UPDATE #3 ~ Even if you graduate from college and not "merely" high school this might not be a guarantee of success. The Montgomery Advertiser's Cosby Woodruff reports Economic downturn harder on recent graduates where the following appears:

Jim Ramsey, with the Department of Industrial Relation's Montgomery career center, said those entering the job market straight out of high school are having the most difficulty.