Sheldon Richman: Persecuting a conciliator

  If a YMCA or a YMHA were planned for 51 Park Place in Lower Manhattan, two blocks from the Twin Towers’ former site, who would have noticed?

  Instead, the equivalent of a Muslim Y (without the implied male exclusivity) is to be built there. What’s the big deal?

  There can be only one answer: Consciously or not, a majority of Americans believe all American Muslims are associated with the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center. Although the U.S. government position is that the attacks were perpetrated not by Islam but rather by fanatics who warped the religion, the opposition to Cordoba House, now known as Park51, shows that most Americans don’t believe it. They hold all Muslims responsible. That’s disgraceful collective guilt based on religion.

Steve Flowers: Inside The Statehouse: The Sparks and Bentley cash race

  As we approach the Labor Day weekend it reminds me of bygone days in Alabama politics. Labor Day was the biggest campaign day of a gubernatorial election year. There were campaign rallies from one end of the state to the other. Although politics today is not as colorful, Labor Day still officially marks the start of the fall election campaign. We will have an eight week sprint to the finish line on November 2.

  The gubernatorial nominees are surprise horses in this year’s quest for the open governor’s chair. Robert Bentley and Ron Sparks were not expected to make it to the dance but here they are ready to go. The glaring uniqueness surrounding this year’s contest is the lack of money. Both candidates are having a difficult time raising campaign dough. It is a stark contrast from eight years ago when both Bob Riley and Don Siegelman each raised and spent over $6 million. It is suggested by some that Bentley and Sparks will be lucky to raise and spend $2 million in the upcoming fall contest.

Joseph O. Patton: The Real Robert Bentley steps forward

  Sorry, but arrogance won’t endear you to Alabama voters, Dr. Bentley….

  As the campaigning days roll by, ticking down to Game Day in November, we’re increasingly seeing Robert Bentley - the GOP’s nominee for governor - for who he truly is.

  At a candidate forum in Arab, Alabama, the popular subject of an education lottery slipped into the dialogue. When questioned about opponent Ron Sparks’ proposal, Bentley dismissively swiped it down and offered no solution of his own, no alternative. But he didn’t stop there… Like a scolding schoolmarm, Bentley pointed at the audience of voters and lectured them, arguing that it’s their responsibility to provide for their children’s post-secondary education.

Gary Palmer: Liberals fear renewed interest in founding principles

  One of the positives outcomes from America’s current crisis is a resurgent interest in our Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.

  Liberals decry this new interest in founding principles as misguided and perhaps even dangerous. But then that is to be expected. Liberals know that once people figure out how much the progressive agenda has corrupted our Constitution and undermined our freedoms, there will be a political backlash that will bring change that liberals don’t believe in or want.

Our Stand: District 2, House of Representatives - Your vote will mean nothing

  We have long believed that media outlets issuing endorsements in political races should refrain from back-handed, half-hearted endorsements. It leads readers to wonder, “What was the point of that?”

  Voters in Alabama’s U.S. House of Representatives 2nd District have no actual decision to make in this race though. Based on Bobby Bright’s voting record while in office and Martha Roby’s rhetoric, both would vote the same way on major issues, regardless of their professed party affiliation. Roby has admitted as much by virtue of directing her campaign attacks at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi rather than her actual opponent.

Robert Bluey: How-to guide for cleaning up Obama’s mess

  President Obama hit the campaign trail last week and returned to a familiar theme of attacking his critics for lacking ideas on key policy issues.

  “They're offering fear, and they're offering amnesia,” Obama said at a Democrat fundraiser in Los Angeles. “My campaign, you’ll recall, our slogan was, ‘Yes, we can.’ Their slogan is, ‘No, we can’t.’ On every item.”

  Chiding conservatives for a lack of policy solutions is a regular talking point for the White House. It’s a tactic Obama has used to elevate his own ideas for America’s problems—albeit ideas that resemble Socialist schemes to rapidly grow the size of government.

Steve Flowers: Inside The Statehouse: The Future of the Alabama Legislature

  The new governor, whoever is elected this year, when they enter the governor’s office in January of 2011 will be walking onto the deck of the Titanic. Never in my lifetime, nor most of yours, have we witnessed the likes of the horrific dilemma the new governor will face when he takes over the reigns of state government. However, this spring as I sat observing the Alabama Legislature it became obvious that the governor will not be alone. The legislature will be an equal partner in the impending disaster. They also will be facing the tsunami with the new administration.

  The chaos and discord in the senate has rendered them more like a sideshow in a circus than a legislative body. They have been rudderless for the entire quadrennium and will probably remain so for the next four years. The lieutenant governor, who was the leader of the senate for a century, has been removed from power and the senators are left to run the asylum. The lieutenant governor presides but the power of the gavel has been diminished and the job is meaningless.

Sam Fulwood III: The Cost of lying about the president’s religion

  Like so many other commentators who’ve written on the subject during the past week, my colleague Sally Steenland struck a generous a tone in her tongue-in-cheek assessment of the people who said in a new poll that they believe President Obama is a Muslim. I am not as kind in my assessment of the nearly one in five respondents who admit to believing this nonsense fed to them by right-wing zealots.

  Oh, I don’t question for a minute that 18 percent of the respondents told researchers from the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life that they doubt the president is a Christian. Those people probably did say that—despite President Obama’s public and repeated declarations otherwise. But I’ll tell you what Steenland and others who have bemoaned the poll’s findings have been too polite to say: Anyone who claims the president is a Muslim is lying. Or crazy. Or very possibly, both.

Joseph O. Patton: The Push Poll: An exercise in deceit and cowardice

  Here we go again….

  You’d think it would be simple to wage a campaign for elected office - you determine what issues are important to you, what you plan to do if elected, then you hit the trail and attempt to convince voters that you’re the best candidate for the job. And yet increasingly - and sadly - campaigns are devolving into a game of who can make the other guy look bad.

  Enter Alabama State Representative David Grimes - Republican, District 73 - and the most virulent form of campaign cancer in our system of elections - push polls. For those of you unfamiliar with the concept, a campaign or affiliated group strings together a disingenuous, false allegations-driven series of questions that frankly, aren’t questions at all. They’re loaded and are intended to plant a negative opinion of, or at least cast serious doubts in a prospective voter’s mind about the opposing candidate. In a simpler sense, it’s tantamount to asking someone: “Have you stopped beating your wife yet?”

Senator Hank Sanders: Senate Sketches # 1211

  “My one vote does not count,” is a refrain that I have heard many times. I took exception each time. I take exception now – strongly.

  Did you know that Hitler became head of the Nazi Party in 1923 by one vote? What would have happened if Adolph Hitler had failed by one vote? Would we have had the Second World War? Would millions of soldiers have died in war and millions of citizens in concentration camps? That’s the power of one vote.

  Our one vote always counts. It counts if we don’t vote. It counts twice if we do vote.  When we don’t vote, our one vote counts against that for which we stand. When we vote, our one vote counts once against that for which we stand and once for that which we stand. Our one vote always counts.