Joseph O. Patton: Treason is not a political strategy

  “Gather your armies!”

  “Tyrannical government!”

  “I would impeach him!”

  Sounds like a titillating prelude to a Revolutionary War film, right? Not quite, just a few choice lines from tea-bagger extraordinaire, right-wing darling and treason-inciting Congressional candidate Rick Barber’s recent television ad. Although if you follow the script, you’d think Barber was running to be the Grand Dragon of an insurgent, violence-prone militia group rather than a representative of the people of Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District. He sure has a flair for the dramatic, though… I guess you could call him a drama queen.

Gary Palmer: Revolution from the Pulpits: Patriot Ministers and the War for Independence

  All across the United States, churches will have special services dedicated to Independence Day which falls on a Sunday this year. These services are entirely appropriate because without the influence of the churches in the preceding years, there might not have been a War for Independence. Moreover, the form and function of the Declaration of Independence would have been entirely different.

  The British historian Paul Johnson called the Great Awakening “the proto-revolutionary event, the formative moment in American history, preceding the political drive for independence and making it possible.” He added, “The Revolution could not have taken place without this religious background.”

Eric Alterman: Foolish loudmouths in the military and in the media

  If you take a look at General Stanley McChrystal’s complaints about Vice Joe President Biden, Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke, and U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry, Spencer Ackerman notes that, “All the criticisms—of Eikenberry, of Jones, of Holbrooke, of Biden—are actually just immature and arrogant snipes at how annoying Team America (what, apparently, McChrystal’s crew calls itself) finds them. This is not mission-first, to say the least.”

  Instead of an explanation of why Ambassador Eikenberry’s objections to present military strategy are misplaced or mistaken, we get snide remarks designed to discredit without deigning to engage, such as, “Here’s one that covers his flank for the history books. Now if we fail, they can say, ‘I told you so.’” “Biden?” suggests a top adviser. “Did you say: Bite Me?” and one aide calls Jim Jones, a retired four-star general and veteran of the Cold War, a “clown” who remains “stuck in 1985.” What the hell does that mean?

Jacob G. Hornberger: Obama and Chavez, birds of a feather

  In my June 21 blog post, “Barack Obama, Dictator,” I pointed out that President Obama exercised brute dictatorial powers in dictating to BP to hand over $20 billion of corporate money to federal officials, who plan on distributing the loot to victims of the BP oil spill.

  Most everyone is familiar with the term “the rule of law.” Many people, however, don’t understand what it really means. They think that it means that people should obey the law.

  But that’s not what the rule of law means. What it means is this: In a free society, people should never have to answer to the arbitrary dictates of government officials. That type of society is described as one based on the “rule of men.” It is what dictatorship is all about. In a society based on the rule of law, people have to answer only to well-defined and pre-existing laws that have been duly enacted by the legislature.

Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse: The Paul Hubbert factor

  As the Republican field for governor began to formulate almost two years ago, the players crystallized early in the game. They all figured that the winner of the primary would have a cakewalk to the governorship because they assumed that an African American congressman named Artur Davis, who had been Barack Obama’s campaign manager in Alabama, would be their Democratic opponent. Therefore, winning the Republican nomination would be tantamount to election.

Joseph O. Patton: Notes on drinking the Kool-Aid

  The strangest things creep through your mind when you’re just kicking back on the porch in the Alabama heat, watching a squirrel trying to get a nut and a golfer on the edge of your yard slinging angry redneck curses at the 16th tee.

  For whatever reason, I was nudged into childhood reminisces - most likely due to the oppressive temperature, possibly even heat stroke - and I thought longingly of Kool-Aid. But not the sugary, powdered goodness that accompanied many youthful activities, but politically-speaking how conservatives have circled the wagons - at least in terms of political discourse - and dismiss everything individuals have to say that may even carry the slightest taste of praise or approval for anything President Obama has said or done, by condescendingly screeching, “You’re drinking the Kool-Aid!” Of course these are the same sheep-like souls who will hastily redraw their maps should Glenn Beck tell them the world is flat, but….

Charles C. Haynes: School censorship undermines what kids learn in civics

  To find out how the First Amendment is supposed to work in public schools, don’t ask school officials. Ask the kids. Strange as it may seem, many students actually believe what they’re taught in civics class about their constitutional rights.

  Consider Raymond Hosier, a seventh-grader in Schenectady, N.Y. He doesn’t buy his school’s argument that his rosary beads are a “gang symbol” that should be banned. For Raymond, they are an expression of faith that he wears in memory of his uncle who died recently (and who taught Raymond to pray the rosary) and in memory of his brother who died wearing that same rosary in 2005.

Eric Alterman: Networks to women: "Never on Sunday"

  In a column this past Sunday entitled “No Mystique About Feminism,” New York Times conservative columnist Ross Douthat observes, “When historians set out to date the moment when the women’s movement of the 1970s officially consolidated its gains, they could do worse than settle on last Tuesday’s primaries.” Douthat notes that the female victors won largely running as conservative Republicans, and he offers ambivalent support for Sarah Palin’s claim in her now infamous “mama grizzlies” speech that these new candidates were forging an “emerging, conservative, feminist identity.” Douthat argues that “whether or not Palin or Fiorina or Haley can legitimately claim the label feminist, their rise is a testament to the overall triumph of the women’s movement.” In doing so, he could not resist taking a swipe at what he termed “the peculiar left-wing misogyny that greeted Palin’s candidacy.”

Gary Palmer: Dads help boys become men

  Summertime is kid time. In my case, it was more specifically "boy time."  When school let out for the summer, I entered an all-male classroom because my dad was a logger and my younger brother and I went to the woods with him. Instead of lazy days spent at the pool, on the playground or sitting in front of a television set-there were no video games-we learned how to work. More importantly, we learned how to be men.

  Before you conjure up visions of two little boys handling a chain saw or driving a log truck, let me set the record straight... we had a lot of fun. We had to work, but we got to be boys in an environment that gave full flight to everything that it means to be a boy. We explored, we climbed, we played in creeks - we even dammed one up. We learned how to shift gears in the truck and later, how to drive one. So while we were learning something about hard work and manhood, we got to be boys, too, in a way that many boys are missing out on today.

Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse: The Ron Sparks, Jim Folsom dynamic

  As the 2010 gubernatorial contest began to formulate almost two years ago, the premier face card in the mix was Lt. Gov. Jim Folsom Jr. He was expected to skate through the Democratic primary unscathed and arrive at the general election dance unblemished by negative ads and with his campaign coffers untapped. It was expected that a strong field of Republicans would clash over the GOP nomination. Throughout their family feud they would pummel each other with negative ads and the winner of the primary would emerge in mid July beaten up and broke. This bruised and broke nominee would face the fresh and flush Folsom with only three months to recover and Folsom would waltz to victory.