Want to see the difference between Alabama Republicans in Congress and the only Alabama Democrat in the U.S. Senate Doug Jones?
It’s pretty stark.
Jones is co-leader on legislation in the Senate to pass the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Reauthorization Act of 2019and the Adoption Opportunities Act of 2019 with Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga. Isakson is retiring at the end of the year and would like the Senate to vote on the bills as soon as this week.
That’s bipartisanship. Two senators of different parties coming together to pass legislation that is best for Alabama and the nation. Working well with others is one of Jones’ great strengths that should be lauded by all Alabamians.
As reported by APR’s Eddie Burkhalter, “Jones said the proposed reauthorization would support a wide range of community based solutions to prevent child abuse and neglect and help strengthen families. The bill would also strengthen reporting on child fatalities and near fatalities.” Meanwhile, the Adoption Opportunities Act would eliminate barriers to adoption for children in foster care.
Alabama Republicans in Congress and state Republican leaders spent their time whining about the two articles of impeachment the House announced against Donald Trump. Their sucking up makes them look foolish as they continue to enable a dangerous, narcissistic president with authoritarian intent.
But here’s what Republican House members from Alabama were doing after the two articles of impeachment were announced, as reported by APR’s Brandon Moseley:
“Socialist horde?” “Treacherous claims?” Rogers got a little silly with a thesaurus, apparently
Actually, Never-To-Be-Sen. Byrne, the people voted for Hillary Clinton over Trump by 3 million votes. The gerrymandering and voter suppression of your party turned the election to Trump in the Electoral College.
No, Mr. Palmer, the embarrassing day for the House of Representatives was when you were elected to represent the 6thDistrict of Alabama.
Nobody is trying to “overturn the results,” Mr. Aderholt. But they are trying to eject a president who clearly is out of control and continues to use the office of president to benefit himself, first and foremost, and his family, a far-away second. Trump’s crimes are much worse than the three previous presidents who faced impeachment: Presidents Bill Clinton, Richard Nixon, and Andrew Johnson.
Trump can take credit for Barack Obama’s economy, because that’s what presidents do. But he must also take credit for damaging the United States on the world stage. He’s the laughingstock of other world leaders.
We certainly can’t expect Republicans to do what Sen. Jones also did: call for the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, which is being held up by guess who? Republicans, who don’t like a change to the gun laws that would prohibit a boyfriend from possessing a weapon if the person has beenconvicted of domestic abuse.
If the Republicans in Alabama’s U.S. House delegation were as energized as Jones, we’d be doing great things.
Instead, we’re not. Our Republican-led state continues to be bottom five in almost every quality-of-life survey, from education and mental health treatment to how well we protect abused and neglected children and the elderly.
These Republicans will literally take food out of poor children’s mouths, but they don’t mind turning into a “Socialist horde” to give the richest people in the nation, and themselves – big tax breaks. They support separating families at the border, but oppose allowing immigrants who came here and risked their lives for our nation in the armed forces to earn citizenship.
Want to see the difference between Alabama Republicans in Congress and the only Alabama Democrat elected statewide, U.S. Sen. Doug Jones?
Re-read this column.
Joey Kennedy, a Pulitzer Prize winner, writes a column every week for Alabama Political Reporter. Email: [email protected].
