By Bill Britt
Alabama Political Reporter
The first week of the Legislative session is now in the books. It was a smooth affair, part burlesque and part first day of school.
Both Houses of the Legislature were busy laying the groundwork to pass the mostly meaningless “Commonsense Conservative” agenda. The agenda was going to be titled,
“Holy Cow! Let’s pass some window-dressing, non-sense bills, consolidate a little more power, don’t forget Bob Riley and please hurry so we can get out of here to raise some money because Hubbard doesn’t have the $10 million he told us he would.”
But, the PR firm creating the graphics for the caucus didn’t see how to get all of that on a slick, little Facebook ad.
Most of the bills being carried by the GOP are little more than the continued seduction of the faithful voters and a wet, sloppy kiss for legislators’ favorite lobbyists.
No doubt there are some dangerous bills in the hopper, SB11 and SB178 are ones that need to be killed quickly. Once again, Speaker Mike Hubbard and Pro Tem Del Marsh have given Sen. Jimmy Holley the odious task of carrying these terrible bills in the Senate. These bills are designed to create a super authority over the Legislature. If enacted, these bills will place more power into the hands of the Speaker, Pro Tem and Lt. Governor, as if that is a good idea.
The short-sighted GOP doesn’t envision a day when they will be out of power, so they arrogantly move to create a ruling junta under their sole control. This is bad for the legislature and bad for the people of Alabama.
On the fifth floor, Hubbard and his confederates are spinning like tops, continuing to tell legislators that Hubbard is going to walk away from the Grand Jury investigations unscathed. But, only the Kool-aid drinkers are partaking in this communion for the crazies Hubbard is offering.
Early on, Hubbard told his little band of thugs that if they would stick together and not cooperate, his chief white collar crime investigator Matt Hart, that they—like the defendants in the Bingo Trial—would walk away free men and women. This is a dubious strategy at best. Perhaps Hubbard has never looked at the prisoner’s dilemma or perhaps he thinks his comrades are more loyal than they really are.
Rumors abound as to who has rolled on Hubbard; perhaps a Dear John letter might give him a clue. Of course, most people know Hubbard is going down, they just don’t know when.
So, the first week is over. The exotic dancers have taken the stage to tease the State’s conservative voters into believing they actually want more than their votes. It is terribly sad what some people will do for a little power. Too bad they can’t just do what’s right. But, doing the right thing always costs the doer.
The customer always pays for the striptease at the Moulin Rouge.
