Does John McCain have ethics troubles?

The New York Times recently ran a story regarding John McCain's lobbyist ties, specifically those involving Vicki Iseman. The story mentioned some McCain aides who feared that the relationship, which McCain said was never sexual, would draw attention (negative, of course) to their boss, possibly hurting McCain's career.

The NYT story was not an editorial, however, in true form, the Republican presidential candidate's campaign issued this statement:

"It is a shame that The New York Times has lowered its standards to engage in a hit-and-run smear campaign."

Instead of blaming the Senator for being a little too cozy with lobbyists, which involved flights on corporate jets, etc, they blame the media for reporting it. Classic.

Change in Alabama

Last night, Joseph Patton and I represented the Capital City Free Press doing election coverage for WAUD 1230 am and WQSI 93.9 fm in Auburn. It was funny, entertaining and informative, just like the last time when host Lane Powell called it "The Daily Show meets Animal House."

If you missed the news, Alabama's Democratic primary voters (total turnout for the primary broke a record at 40%; previous record was 29%) voted for Senator Barack Obama.

My new article is about this historic win in a state with a sordid history of race and justice. It's called "Change in Alabama" and is online at the Capital City Free Press.

Senator Bishop removed from committees...good for him

Well, since no assault charges were filed and the ethics committee let him go without so much as a punch to the face, Senator Charles Bishop, Republican hot-head from Arley (or the [back]woods of Arkansas) will not be on legislative committees, including the General Fund budget committee.

Good for him. He assaulted a colleague in the freakin' senate chamber and made Alabama look worse than we normally do, not only nationally, but internationally.

Ps - Thanks for that...I think the backwoods of Arkansas miss you.

More info in the Birmingham News and here.

Free The Hops calls for a boycott of all things Budweiser

The Alabama non-profit organization dedicated to changing Alabama's archaic laws hindering beer lovers from enjoying beers that contain more than 6% alcohol has called for a boycott of Budweiser.

Free the Hops (www.freethehops.org) called for the boycott because Budweiser has opposed a local Birmingham bill that would allow various "craft beers" and other imports into the city of Birmingham.

Of course, Free the Hops wants a state law allowing this (as do I), but I guess you have to start somewhere.

Budweiser says they want the state law changed and that the local law would be "confusing" as a distributor.

Stuart Carter, president of Free the Hops, says that under current state law, Alabama cannot get 96 of the top 100 beers of the world as rated by www.BeerAdvocate.com because the beers exceed the legal limit.

The irony, or ignorance, of this situation is that you can buy wine in Alabama that can be as much as 14.9% alcohol by volume, and the Alabama Beverage Control (state-owned, mind you) can sell you liquor like Everclear, which is 95% alcohol by volume.

Support Free the Hops!

So, does this mean assault is OK in Alabama?

The headline reads: "Alabama Senate Ethics Committee takes no public action over punch"

This was the punch that you probably saw on CNN or some other national news broadcast.

Did Alabama make the news because of new techonological developments? Nope.
A great humanitarian saved someone's life? Nope.
How about a truck that runs on a saliva/chewing "tobaccy" mixture? Nope.

A punch between two legislators.

Anyway, read these two posts for some background on this story: "Have you punched your state senator today?" and "Quick note about Charles Bishop being raised in the woods...."

So the ethics panel takes no public action over a punch, which in legal terms might be referred to as "assault." Try getting away with punching your co-worker and see what happens to you.

This leads me to this question: If a state senator can assault a co-worker and not get into trouble, what would happen if a voter punched a state senator?

Here's hoping someone finds out. Cheers.

Kucinich calls it quits

Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich has officially withdrawn from the race to the White House. He will now focus on keeping his seat in the US Congress.

He follows in the footsteps of Republican Fred Thompson, who recently gave up his presidential ambitions. Remember how he was expected to jump in the Republican race, steal a bunch of thunder to become the next Ronald Reagan? Well...maybe he can go back to Law and Order...or something.

The field is getting more and more narrow.........

Do you feel safe NOW? (The FBI didn't pay their phone bill...oops)

Look at this Associated Press headline: FBI wiretaps dropped due to unpaid bills.

Some telephone companies have cut off FBI wiretaps because the FBI can't seem to pay their phone bill on time.

This includes some wiretaps under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA...you've probably heard that acronym when discussing wiretaps before...you know, like "illegal wiretaps" that didn't go through "FISA"....that kind of stuff).

The FISA wiretaps are used for suspected spies and terrorists.

Let this be a lesson to our government: You can't have wiretaps, legal or otherwise, if you don't pay your phone bill.

Also.... the FBI went all Enron-style, blaming "faulty bookkeeping" for some of the mistakes, including one involving a former agent who managed to steal $25,000 for her own, personal use. That agent pleaded guilty in June 2006 - which kind of means the problem was known, at minimum, a year and a half ago.

This has been another episode of "Our Tax Dollars at Work."

Is 2008 the Year of Change?

My new column is now online at the Capital City Free Press. It asks, "Is 2008 the Year of Change?"

It's about one particular congressman by the name of Robert Wexler (D-FL) who started a web site called WexlerWantsHearings.com. The web site involved Vice President Dick Cheney and the word "impeachment."

Read it here.

Happy New Year! Let's make it count.