Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse: 2014 and beyond

  With each passing day it becomes less likely that Gov. Robert Bentley will get any serious opposition in his reelection bid. We are only five months away from the June 3, 2014 GOP primary. It would be very difficult for someone to mount a significant challenge to the popular incumbent in that time span.

  It also appears that Sen. Jeff Sessions and Attorney General Luther Strange will have smooth sailing towards their reelections. Young Boozer and John McMillan also appear to be headed towards reelection to second terms as Treasurer and Agriculture Commissioner.

Sheldon Richman: Congress must not cede its war power to Israel

  The American people should know that pending right now in Congress is a bipartisan bill that would virtually commit the United States to go to war against Iran if Israel attacks the Islamic Republic. "The bill outsources any decision about resort to military action to the government of Israel," Columbia University Iran expert Gary Sick wrote to Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) in protest, one of the bill’s principal sponsors.

  The mind boggles at the thought that Congress would let a foreign government decide when America goes to war, so here is the language (PDF):

Michael Josephson: Make 2014 the best year ever

  I hope the past year will go down in your book of life as one filled with great pleasures and grand memories. But whether the year was good, bad, or indifferent, I hope you’ll enter the new year wiser and stronger for your experiences, and optimistic that the best is yet to come.

  A vital quality of a happy and successful personal and professional life is continual growth spurred by a commitment to learn through study and experience. This requires the humility to accept that however good you are you can get better and the ambition to be better.

Jacob G. Hornberger: Why federal spending continues to soar

  The Washington establishment, not surprisingly, is celebrating the budget deal that Republican Rep. Paul Ryan and Democrat Sen. Patty Murray reached. They’re calling it a great example of "bipartisanship."

  And why not? The deal calls for increases in federal spending, doesn’t it? What’s not to like about that, from the standpoint of the Washington establishment?

Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse: A final salute

  As the year 2013 comes to an end, as is our custom, we will reminisce and remember some of the great names of Alabama politics that have passed away this year.

  Former Supreme Court Justice, John Tyson, passed away at 86 at his Montgomery home. Tyson was a revered, Montgomerian and a real gentleman. His best friend was Bubba Trotman of Montgomery. If I had to define the term Southern gentleman, Judge Tyson and Bubba Trotman epitomize this demeanor.

Gene Policinski: Here are three ‘Duck Dynasty’ free-speech lessons

  Okay, America: Here’s a quick, basic course in the First Amendment:

  Lesson #1."Duck Dynasty"’s Phil Robertson has a First Amendment right to state his views on homosexuality, minorities and pretty much anything else on this unlikely reality-TV star’s mind, whenever he wants.

Michael Josephson: ‘Tis the season to be jolly — even while shopping

  People are not at their best in crowds. It’s as if every survival-of-the-fittest primordial instinct comes out to obliterate thousands of years of civilization. Pre-and post-holiday shopping, and the inevitable lines, test our character.

  My wife’s a professional shopper. She has strategies on where to park and how to find the fastest moving line (which I’ve discovered is not always the shortest). But what I admire most is her resolve not to let it get her down. In fact, this is her "good attitude Olympics."

Katherine Green Robertson: Food trucks hit speed bump at Birmingham City Council

  When you hear the phrase "burdensome regulations," what comes to mind? The U.S. EPA’s endless list of red-tape and hefty compliance costs or the thousands of pages of onerous regulations contained in the Affordable Care Act? Especially in business, regulatory burdens are synonymous with federal agencies; yet, for small businesses and independent citizens, some of the most oppressive regulations originate at the local level.

  This week, the Birmingham City Council passed an ordinance that establishes a general operating permit fee for food trucks, creates "food zones" where trucks can set up, requires that the trucks be parked at least 150 feet from existing restaurants, and limits the hours of truck operation from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. with some exceptions.

Gene Policinski: When and why we need to hear 911 calls

  The word "restraint" and the First Amendment usually exist in uneasy tension.

  The 45 words of the First Amendment don’t include it. The Pentagon Papers case in 1971 settled the issue of "prior restraint" by the government on what the press may publish: Nothing doing.

  Many critics of the news media slam news outlets for a lack of it, from graphic TV images beamed live from car chases to unrestrained paparazzi photographers stalking celebrities. And in the digital age, whole new ethical controversies have arisen over images being captured and distributed via the ubiquitous presence of cell phone cameras.

Sally Steenland: Love and work

  Here’s a puzzle: Many conservatives who praise marriage and its values of fidelity, protection, and commitment seem to forget those values when it comes to another institution that gives our life meaning—work.

  When it comes to marriage, for instance, many conservatives support state covenant laws that make it harder for couples to divorce by limiting the grounds on which they can do so. While opponents of covenant laws argue that they can be used to endanger domestic violence victims, many conservatives dismiss such claims as being more theoretical than real, arguing that laws that make it harder to dissolve the bonds of marriage are good for society.