Gary Palmer: Governor Bentley makes right choice for Alabama

  Alabama Governor Robert Bentley has made the right decision not to set up the health exchanges created by The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). Contrary to what some state Democrats and other supporters of big government say, Bentley’s decision is legally and fiscally on solid ground.

  Given the Supreme Court opinion upholding PPACA and the re-election of President Obama, the assumption that PPACA, his single major accomplishment from his first term, would face little resistance to its full-implementation was wrong from the beginning.

Charles C. Haynes: In Christmas wars, it’s all or nothing

  In the angry eyes of Christians in Santa Monica, Calif., Damon Vix is the atheist who stole Christmas.

  Vix is blamed for the city’s decision to ban all private displays in Palisades Park, ending a tradition of 14 Nativity scenes erected by church groups in the park every December for the last 60 years.

Sally Steenland: Are we finally nearing the tipping point on climate change?

  If you drop a frog into a pot of boiling water, it will shriek and frantically try to escape. Drop that same frog into a pot of warm water, however, and gradually turn up the heat, and it will drift off to sleep and die.

  Some version of that second scenario is happening to us right now. I’m not saying we’re on the brink of perishing, but on a range of issues—from climate change to gun violence to women’s reproductive health—incremental changes have lulled us into complacency, relaxing our sense of danger and weakening our response reflexes.

Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse: Macon County fights back

  It would appear that being a state legislator is an exciting and challenging experience. Some of you might think that a legislator’s average day is spent molding public policy and debating important measures that could have dramatic effects on the lives of their constituents. However, let me tell you from experience that much of a legislator’s day in Alabama is spent voting on mundane local bills that only apply to individual counties.

  Our state constitution is antiquated and restricts the power of county commissioners. Therefore, legislators spend an inordinate amount of time voting on local bills like whether Fayette County can buy a tractor. Unfortunately, these local issues have to appear on a statewide ballot for your final approval. This year was no different. There were three local amendments. However, there were some constitutional amendments on this year’s ballot that actually will have ramifications and significance.

Larry M. Elkin: The Electoral College isn’t the problem

  You don't hear many people defending the Electoral College these days. But is it the undemocratic relic that its critics claim, or is it a constitutional bastion of federalism, a place where states can still flex their muscle over the most powerful office in Washington, D.C.?

  It turns out that where you stand on the Electoral College depends largely upon where you sit.

Gene Policinski: Petraeus affair reminds us how little is private

  National attention to the Petraeus affair is driven by everything from morbid curiosity to concern for national security. But for most of us, issues of privacy and the First Amendment also should take center stage.

  As shown by the FBI’s relatively quick trip through the online missives of Gen. David Petraeus’ trysts, not much — if any — of our electronic communication is genuinely “private,” not even for the director of the world’s largest spy agency.

Elizabeth Robinson: Business owners denied First Amendment protections

  On November 19th, U.S. District Judge Joe Heaton ruled that Hobby Lobby, the arts and crafts chain, and other for-profit companies must pay for the coverage of contraceptives such as birth control, the “morning-after pill” and the “week-after pill,” regardless of the religious convictions of the owners. In his ruling denying an injunction on certain provisions of The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), Judge Heaton said “…the court has not found [that]… for-profit companies such as Hobby Lobby and Mardel have a constitutional right to the free exercise of religion.”

Josh Carples: Warning: The War on Christmas is in full effect

  It’s getting closer and closer to December, which means keeping track of Jews and Muslims fighting in Gaza is pointless because there’s a bigger war that’s been raging for years: the War on Christmas.

  Yes, each year, this seasonal war seems to get bloodier and louder. Chants of “It’s Merry F*****g Christmas, you atheist f*****s!” can be heard from the Shoppes at Eastchase to the Capitol dome.

Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse: Alabama by the numbers

  In surveying the results from the election returns from two weeks ago, you realize that the country is deeply divided. It is as though we live in two Americas.

  Voters nationwide are definitely in two different camps, especially on social issues. Democrats are fervently in favor of same-sex marriage, legalized abortion and social welfare programs. The Republicans are totally opposite on these issues just as adamantly, if not more so.

Michael Josephson: We are what we think

  In the early 1900s, a little-known philosopher named James Allen wrote a powerful essay called “As a Man Thinketh” in which he argued that we are what we think, that a person’s character is the sum of his thoughts. He declared that the power to control our thoughts (whether we use that power or not) is the ability to mold our character and shape our destiny.

  This is a profound insight, making us personally responsible not only for our conduct but for our circumstances.