The race for mayor has begun in Montgomery

The four candidates vying for the opportunity to be Montgomery's newest mayor participated in a mayoral forum on July 24. Sponsored by the East Montgomery Neighborhood Alliance and held at Heritage Baptist Church in front of a standing-room only crowd, Scott Simmons, William Boyd, incumbent Mayor Bobby Bright and Jonathan Dow talked about their platforms and took questions from the audience.

I was in attendance and my reporting on the event can be found at the Capital City Free Press. Here is the link.

Further proof that ignorance isn't exclusively Southern....

Look at this headline from Yahoo! Sports:

"Fiesta Bowl star Ian Johnson says he's hired wedding security because of racist threats."

Boise State running back Ian Johnson, who is black, proposed to his girlfriend Chrissy Popadics, who is white, and now they have hired security for their wedding because they've been receiving phone calls, letters and personal threats by some backwoods, racist pieces of sh*t.

It's a shame that there are still people in this world who are so fixated on skin color. Cue the "Deliverance" music.

Is this even a real poll question?

WSFA currently has a poll on their web site.

The question they are asking is: "To date there have been 22 murders in the Capital City this year. Do you think the media is blowing the crime problem in Montgomery out of proportion?"

And your answer choices are:

1. Yes, the reports are out of proportion
2. No, the reports are not out of proportion
3. Neutral

So, let me get this straight - a medium is asking whether the media is blowing a crime problem out of proportion.....by what? - reporting the news!?!?!?

Blaming the media for Montgomery's crime problem is kind of like blaming The Weather Channel for Hurricane Katrina.

At least, as of 8:54 am today, 87% of respondents have voted "No."

Is justice blind....or blind, deaf and dumb?

"Scooter" was never really the wisest nickname for someone who was headed for prison, but now, because of an unpopular decision by an unpopular president, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, formerly an employee of Vice President Darth Vader...I mean Dick Cheney's office, will see no jail time.

That's right. Bush has continued to live up to the cronyism allegations that have been status quo in his administration by commuting Scooter's prison sentence. He wouldn't give an official 'pardon,' so Scooter still has to pay the fines, but when a person convicted of obstructing justice spends less time in jail that Paris Hilton, there's a problem.

And of course, like clockwork, I've already heard the name "Marc Rich" come up - the unpopular pardon that was given by Bill Clinton. I guess the difference is that I haven't heard any prominent democrats defend the Marc Rich pardon, while Republican presidential candidates (Rudy Giuliani) and potential presidential candidates (Fred Thompson) have defended what Bush did for Scooter. Even Paul Begala, a former Clinton advisor, said that Clinton was wrong in giving Marc Rich a pardon.

And this is just another example to add to the list - which already includes Alberto Gonzales and the U.S. attorney firing scandal - that shows this president putting politics and cronyism above justice and competence.

The outrage over the Scooter situation is growing, and the internet is helping. Presidential candidate (and current Senator) Joe Biden has put a picture of Scooter on his campaign web site with the text, "No one's above the law. Call the White House. 202-456-1414."

Someone called in The Stephanie Miller Show this morning saying that the White House main switchboard was either jammed or shut off because of the influx of phone calls. Many bloggers, however, have gotten phone numbers from the White House Phone Directory, and posted multiple numbers online, in case the main number is still jammed. CorrenteWire.com has a list of numbers if you need them.

So what's the lesson here? Cronyism, money and power can make you above the law....and apparently being Vice President can also, if you actually disregard the Constitution by claiming that your office is not part of the Executive Branch.

Where is bin Laden, you ask?

The July issue of the Capital City Free Press is online, and my new column is titled, "Where is Osama bin Laden."

The conservative organization Judial Watch filed a FOIA (Freedom of Information Act, if you were wondering) to get some FBI documents. Those documents state that a plane flew out of the U.S. on 9/19/01, just a few days after 9/11, and might possibly have been chartered by bin Laden himself.

And another interesting fact is that, according to the information from the FBI's most-wanted list, bin Laden is not wanted for anything having to do with 9/11......why is that?

You can read the article here.