Alabama
Whoopsie!
Before I begin... My Firefox crashed last night, and I lost several good links to the below information, so please excuse the lack of them. If I can dig them back up, I will be happy to edit this later.
Ettowah County police had a drug raid over the weekend looking for "spice" and "bath salts". (Don't get me started on that one.) There were three men involved. Two were able to produce their documentation immediately, proving they were here legally. The third apparently left his wallet at home. So the cops took him in on obstruction of justice and waited the weekend to see if he could produce his papers.
What happened next is too good for anyone opposing the new law to make up.
Defeatism is the new Republican flavor ... telling us about all the things we can't do instead of challenging us to reach for the stars and lead the world.
Chairman Cliff Stearns, who leads the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, told NPR that "We can't compete with China to make solar panels and wind turbines."
I heard Stearns make that comment on NPR and my jaw dropped. A while back on a telephone town hall, Rep. Mo Brooks (R, AL) told constituents we can't afford Social Security any more. And of course, we can't afford clean air and water, either, and a whole host of other things that used to comprise the American Dream.
When I was little my Daddy always told me, "Can't never could," and it's the absolute truth. As long as you believe in failure, you're doomed to fail. Republicans have officially become the "Can't Do" Party. As long as they've given up on America, America can't afford to have them in power.
Governor Robert Bentley of Alabama has expressed his desire to get the Federal Government out of the affairs of Alabama. Governor Bentley (like most GOPers) is a strong supporter of states' rights. When something goes wrong in the State of Alabama, it is the Federal Government's fault. This political belief did not stop Governor Bentley from taking FEMA money during the April 2011 Tornado outbreak, however, Governor Bentley used his states' rights priniciples for another cause.
Governor Bentley signed into law the country's meanest cruelest toughest Immigration Law. Governor Bentley stated he signed the law because the Federal Government was not doing it part. This was a swipe at the Obama Administration. However, the Governor failed to mention how the Obama Administration has deported more illegals in three years than eight years of the Bush Administration. However, the policies of the Governor should be carried out to the fulliest.
Governor Bentley wants to rid Alabama of the Federal Goverment. He believes strongly that illegal immigration is a serious threat to this state. According to the Governor, people who are here illegally are breaking the law. Also the Governor believes anyone who interacts with illegals is breaking the law. In this case, the Governor should apply his beliefs.
Farm work is hard work, literally back-breaking labor. Ivory-tower Republicans like state Sen. Scott Beason (R, Gardendale) who say there are plenty of natural born Alabamians clamoring for the physically grueling, low paying jobs in poultry plants and agricultural fields have no idea how hard that work is.
And in Beason's case, he has absolutely no interest in finding out what the back-breaking job of picking tomatoes feels like, refusing point-blank to pick even a single bucket for a farmer whose crop is rotting in the field.
After talking with famers at the tomato shed, Beason visited the Smith family's farm. Leroy Smith, Chad Smith's father, challenged the senator to pick a bucket full of tomatoes and experience the labor-intensive work.
Beason declined but promised to see what could be done to help farmers while still trying to keep illegal immigrants out of Alabama.
Smith threw down the bucket he offered Beason and said, "There, I figured it would be like that."
Well, if this isn't 2011 America in a nutshell. If you're powerful, you work the system. If you're poor, the system works you over. Just look at this contrast. TEA Party uber-funders, Charles & David Koch, train their employees ".. to steal and cheat -- using techniques they called the Koch Method." Meanwhile, Crystal Lee Sutton, the inspiration for the movie "Norma Rae," died from cancer last month - after fighting her insurance company over treatment.
The rich get richer by working the system, and the working poor struggles for the basic necessities.
Bloomberg Markets expose on the Koch Brothers empire is a tour de force that spans continents and occupied the time of 16 reporters:
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