December 26, 2007
As 2007 comes to an end let’s look back at what happened politically in Alabama this year.
The partisan bickering in the Alabama Senate climaxed on the final day of the annual legislative session with Republican Senator Charles Bishop slugging Democrat Lowell Barron in the face on the floor of the senate. It was seen on newscasts and internet sites all over the world. Indeed it was the blow seen round the world.
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December 19, 2007
Many of you found last week’s column on the Machine at the University of Alabama interesting and intriguing. The Machine, as mentioned last week, is a cadre of campus leaders who are members of Greek fraternities and sororities at the University. It is a farm club system where those who aspire to public service or politics get their training. This system has spawned many of the state’s leaders for over a century.
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December 12, 2007
There has been a political organization on the University of Alabama campus, called the Machine, since 1888. It is a secretive coalition of fraternities and sororities that has controlled campus politics since that time. It has completely dominated campus political life because of the cohesiveness and commitment to the Greek system within the University of Alabama. The student newspaper, the Crimson and White, has exposed the Machine periodically since the 1920s.
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December 05, 2007
During the autumn months there has been a potpourri of political happenings in Alabama. So as the fall comes to a close and we enter the Christmas season let’s look back on some the most notable events of the past few months.
Gov. Bob Riley planned to call a fall special session to deal with ethics reform but backed off. Riley did not grow up in Alabama politics. He worked most of his life as a businessman. As a result, he has shown some naiveté especially his first year in office when he proposed a huge tax increase which went down to ignominious defeat at the polls.
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November 28, 2007
Our nation’s founding fathers were determined to create a democracy where anybody could become president. They espoused and formulated an egalitarian republic that would spawn a person of common birth. The Constitution requires that our president be born in America. Our original leaders had weathered the travails of a revolution and war in order to break the shackles of a British monarchy. They fought to rid themselves of the tyrannical yoke invoked by noble born aristocrats who ruled by virtue of privilege rather than ability. A king or queen ruled England and the House of Lords and House of Commons were subservient to the crowned monarchs. However, our presidents were intended to be men of the people.
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November 21, 2007
It’s Alabama vs. Auburn weekend in Alabama. It is the fiercest of college football rivalries. It is the game of the year. It is a state civil war that divides friends and even families. It is bragging rights for the entire year. The loser has to live with his boasting next door neighbor for 364 days. It seems that one must choose a side no matter if you despise college football and could care less who wins. Newcomers to our state are bewildered on this fall day each year. They cannot comprehend the madness that surrounds this epic war. It is truly that – a war. It is the game of the year!
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November 14, 2007
It is assumed by political pundits that Hillary Clinton will be the democratic nominee for president next year. For six months she has consistently sustained a twenty point lead over her nearest rival, Barrack Obama. With less than three months to go before the February 5th mega Tuesday primaries she will be hard to derail. In fact, the Las Vegas odds makers handicap her to win the whole ball of wax next November.
November 07, 2007
Even though Barack Obama is giving Hillary Clinton a challenge in the democratic race it appears that she will be tough to beat. She has been the favorite since the beginning and she is not faltering. She is running a flawless campaign. It has been a two person race for at least six months and Obama is the only threat for an upset. It appears that the rest of the field is simply posturing in hopes that she will pick one of them as her running mate. Therefore, the big question looming is will she pick Obama as her vice presidential running mate?
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October 31, 2007
The new political professionals who run campaigns today are highly paid hired guns. They go from state-to-state running U.S. senate and governors’ races all over the country. Much like the gunslingers of the Wild West days they build a reputation. Just like the western gunslingers of bygone days, who would swagger into a bar of a new town and haughtily soak in their deference and respect or fear, these modern day political gunslingers waltz into a state demanding huge fees to elect the candidate who has hired them for that year’s campaign.
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October 24, 2007
As a young boy I was fascinated with politics. I would devour political history with an insatiable appetite. At the same time I developed a close friendship with the two most veteran and powerful politicians in my county. They perceived that we were kindred political spirits and they were amazed and amused at my interest and enthusiasm in their game of politics. It was not only a game to them, it was their livelihood.
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