November 28, 2013
The political spotlight has been focused on Mobile for most of this year. They had a historical and sensational mayor’s race that ended in early fall. It resulted in a new mayor, Sandy Stimpson. Incumbent mayor Sam Jones lost to Stimpson after eight years in office.
Although mayors do not run under partisan labels, it was a classic Republican versus Democrat race. Stimpson is a wealthy white businessman. Mayor Jones is the classic African American Democratic politician. Both men are in their 60’s and have been successful in their careers. Stimpson will approach running the port city in an open and businesslike fashion. He defeated Jones with a plan that always works in politics. He outspent him and, more importantly, he outworked him.Read more
November 21, 2013
By all accounts Alabama is a very religious and pro-family state. We are considered the Heart of the Bible Belt. However, Alabama flourished as a divorce mill for about 25 years from 1945-1970. Yes folks, good old conservative Alabama was known as the haven for quickie divorces. Famous people flocked here to get unhitched.
This practice of granting quickie divorces began in 1945 when a law was abolished that required a one-year residency before folks could divorce in Alabama. Most states had a similar requirement at that time and a good many still do today.Read more
November 14, 2013
In recent years, there has been significant emphasis on warning people about the dangers of texting and driving and rightfully so. The number of accidents caused by texting is alarming. However, the primary culprit for accidents among young people is still due to underage drinking.
Surveys reveal that 40 percent of Alabama students in grades 9-12 have had one or more drinks within the past month. By age 18 more than 17 percent of teens have taken a drink of alcohol. In Alabama 41 percent of young people ages 18-20, still illegal drinkers, say they have engaged in dangerous binge drinking. The measure for binge drinking is when they have at least five drinks on the same occasion. Among all college students, 61 percent are drinkers and 40 percent are binge drinkers. Again, most of these college students are under age 21 so they are illegal drinkers as well.
Binge drinking is especially dangerous. They are 14 times more likely to drive drunk than non-binge drinkers. The cost of underage and binge drinking is amazing. Nationwide about 5,000 people under age 21 die from alcohol related car crashes, homicides, suicides, and accidents. In one year more than 180,000 people under age 21 went to emergency rooms for alcohol related injuries. Among older college students, ages 18-24, nearly 600,000 were injured while under the influence of alcohol. More than three million students drove while under the influence of alcohol in 2009.
These staggering statistics are the reason that the Alabama Beverage Control Board administrator, Mac Gipson, is launching a new program targeting both underage and binge drinking. They are calling it, “Underage Under Arrest.”
Alabama is one of seventeen states that are control states. In other words they are the wholesaler, retailer, and regulator of all alcoholic beverages in Alabama. The ABC board is responsible for enforcing all alcohol and drug laws in the state. Mac Gipson and associate administrator, William Thigpen, are former legislators and are doing an excellent job overseeing this very important agency. They are being joined in their effort by Mothers Against Drunk Driving (“MADD”) and the Alabama Citizens Action Program (“ALCAP”).
ALCAP is an interdenominational ministry that works with the churches of Alabama. They have been an integral part of making Alabama a more moral place to live. Indeed in their Mission Statement they strive to be “Alabama’s Moral Compass.” ALCAP has a long history of working with the legislature to advocate moral issues. The organization was actually derived from the prohibition era of the 1920’s and, at that time, was called the Alabama Temperance Alliance. Its goal was to keep Alabama free from alcohol consumption. Today they still diligently adhere to fighting alcohol, tobacco, drugs and any other related addictive behavior in Alabama.
The Reverend Dan Ireland spent forty years working the halls of the State House on behalf of ALCAP. He was beloved by everyone even though they might not always agree or vote with him. He must have felt like he was in the Lion’s Den while working with the legislature over those four decades.
The Reverend Dan was an Alabama Baptist preacher for more than sixty years. Besides his heading ALCAP, he served as a pastor at churches in Birmingham, LaFayette, Hueytown, Huffman, Ft. Payne, and Huntsville. Dr. Dan retired a few years ago. Following in his footsteps has been the very able and diligent Dr. Joe Godfrey. He took over as Executive Director about six years ago. Godfrey pastored churches in Alabama for 27 years before ascending to the leadership of ALCAP. He is doing a yeoman’s effort to uphold moral issues the same way Dr. Dan did.
Hopefully, this underage binge drinking campaign will produce results and save lives in our state. Our good doctor governor, Robert Bentley, is an ally for ALCAP. During his eight-year tenure in the legislature he proved to be an advocate on all ALCAP’s issues. Dr. Bentley is a longtime deacon in his Tuscaloosa Baptist church.
See you next week.
November 07, 2013
Alabama is without a doubt one of the most heavily laden military employee states in the union. In fact, if you took the federal military employment and automobile manufacturing employment out of Alabama we would be decimated.
When the federal furloughs occurred recently it had a profound affect on Alabama. When the furloughs hit more than 20,000 Alabama workers, mostly civilians, were affected.
We have tremendously important and significant federal bases in strategic parts of the state. These military bases are the heart and soul of their regions. These bases are vitally important to Alabama.
Huntsville’s Redstone Arsenal, Dothan’s Fort Rucker and Montgomery’s Maxwell Air Force Base are the most important economic engines of these areas of the state. When you throw in Mobile’s Corp of Engineers, you are talking about a lot of good paying jobs.Read more
October 31, 2013
The greatest partisan change in American political history has occurred during my lifetime. The transformation of Alabama and our sister Deep South states from an all Democratic region to an all Republican territory has been remarkable and historic.
Exactly 50 years ago today Alabama’s entire delegation in Washington was Democratic. Democrats held all seven constitutional offices. Every member of the Supreme Court ran as a Democrat. Sixty-six out of 67 sheriffs were Democrats and 138 of 140 members of the legislature were Democrats.
Fast-forward 50 years to October of 2013. You see just the opposite picture. All seven executive constitutional offices including governor are held by Republicans. Every member of the Supreme Court and all ten appellate judges are Republican. Six of our seven congressmen are Republican and both U.S. Senators are stalwart members of the GOP. Both the State House of Representatives and our State Senate are overwhelmingly Republican. That is quite a change.Read more
October 24, 2013
During the summer the U.S. Supreme Court rendered two significant rulings. They were quite different philosophically.
The high tribunal, in a far-reaching landmark decision, rendered same sex marriage legal in America. By granting all legal rights to same sex marriage they gave credence and official sanction to these unions. Their decisions are the law of the land. This is a significant verdict. The Supreme Court is omnipotent. Therefore, when it comes to federal benefits, such as Social Security, state laws like Alabama’s that prohibit same sex marriage are irrelevant. If a gay couple that was married in Connecticut moves to Alabama they are officially married.
In a contrasting decision on an appeal of a case that originated in Shelby County, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a ruling that voided a portion of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. The decision allows Alabama and 14 other states to avoid the preclearance requirement, which previously required these states to seek approval from the Department of Justice for any changes made in election laws and voting districts.Read more
October 17, 2013
Fall is my favorite time of year and October is my favorite month. The pristine air, glorious foliage and football season are enthralling. Every October I think of a traumatic experience for our nation. It was 51 years ago this month that the Cuban Missile Crisis occurred. I remember it like it was yesterday. It appeared eminent that we were headed for a nuclear holocaust.
It was October of 1962. The Russians had secretly planted a nuclear arsenal in Cuba and the warheads were aimed in our direction only 90 miles from our border. John Kennedy was a youthful president who had been in office less than 20 months. The young president showed what he was made of. He told the Russians to take their nuclear weapons out of the western hemisphere and gave them a short deadline to dismantle and go home.
It was a very tense time. I remember vividly a clear beautiful October afternoon during the 10-day standoff. I was 10 years old and was practicing with my peewee football team for our biggest game but even as 10 year olds it was hard for us to concentrate. Jets were flying over our field constantly. They were headed south to Florida. Our coach was getting ready to be called into battle at any time. It appeared that our little boy world would soon come to an end. We were scared that our days as children were over. We did not know what the results of a nuclear war would bring to the world.Read more
October 10, 2013
Throughout history cities that sit on a coast have been perceived as sinful places. Perhaps it is because seafaring people land there and are in search of raucous recreation. Therefore, port cities give rise to transiency and a more whimsical and capricious environment than their inland neighbors.
Even in biblical times the Apostle Paul would decry or pray intensely prior to his journeys to the wicked, sinful and libertine coastal city of Corinth. He found it a difficult place to win souls and even precarious to his survival.
In southern politics the port cities have been thought of as foreign regions of the state. These cities did indeed lend themselves to a more cosmopolitan setting than their inland brethren. They were considered islands and political hinterlands. In fact, the inlanders or mainstream folks would run against them. They would ridicule them as sinners who drink alcohol, go to country clubs and attend church only on Sunday and even then at an Episcopal church or maybe even worse. Some of them were Catholics and some were even Jewish.Read more
October 03, 2013
Believe it or not the 2014 state elections are only eight months away. This gubernatorial year, which usually portends a plethora of interesting and exciting races, is shaping up as a ho hum year.
Gov. Robert Bentley appears to be on a path to breeze toward reelection to a second four-year term. Bentley has done a good job as governor and folks seem satisfied with him. Bentley’s stratospheric approval ratings stem from his likeability and trustworthiness. When asked about those two traits his numbers shoot off the charts. Folks simply trust him the way people trusted their family doctor. To put it into layman terms or country jargon, he fits like an old shoe. Bentley is a plow horse, not a show horse.Read more
September 26, 2013
During the summer Alabama had a rash of major political figures step down from office in the middle of their elected terms. The first to go was 1st District Congressman Jo Bonner. Beth Chapman also quit her job as Secretary of State as did State Representative Jay Love of Montgomery, who chaired the powerful House Ways and Means Education Budget Committee. Love’s counterpart, Rep. Jim Barton of Mobile, who chaired the House General Fund Committee, quit his House seat. Elmore County Rep. Barry Mask also resigned. All five left in August for personal financial gain.
Bonner left his safe congressional seat to accept a position with the University of Alabama system. He doubled his $174,000 annual congressional salary with his move. Chapman accepted a position with Alfa, which she said was too good to pass up. Love left for business reasons. Barton quit midstream to lobby. Mask quit to head the Alabama Association of Realtors.Read more