Our Senate at Work
Aren’t we proud? Who needs the Don Imus controversy when we have Sen. Charles Bishop and Sen. Hank Sanders going at it? Sen. Sanders introduced a resolution this week apologizing for slavery. I’m not sure that’s something the Senate needs to spend time on, but it seems pretty harmless to me. Slavery was a horrible, brutal, dehumanizing institution, and in a historical context, it hasn’t been all that long since there were white people in Alabama who owned black people. A resolution from the legislature won’t repair the harm that was done, but it won’t hurt anyone either. (Sen. Steve French wanted to add an amendment clarifying that the resolution isn’t a means for reparations, and I have no problem with that either.)
That line of reasoning is apparently beyond Sen. Charles Bishop, who just couldn’t be any more white if he tried. (Sen. Bishop does seem to have a bit of a fixation on people of color. A couple of weeks ago, at a rally opposing the legislative pay raise, he felt the need to bring up Mexicans. Now what exactly do Mexicans have to do with legislators passing a pay raise on a voice vote? I don’t know either.) First, he pitched a fit about the resolution; now he’s proposed a bill that would put it to a statewide vote.
Yeah, that would go well. I can just hear the demagoguery now, and I’m pretty sure it would include references to certain people getting “uppity”.
April 13th, 2007 at 10:28 am
My hometown must be very proud of Bishop. NOT!
Oh my goodness. Ignorance never ceases to amaze me.
April 14th, 2007 at 3:30 pm
“For the Record” showed a clip where Bishop claimed that he and his father were both slaves because the were poor cotton farmers in Arkansas.
He does not seem to understand the difference in being poor and being owned.
April 14th, 2007 at 3:48 pm
Maybe he should talk to the cosponser of the bill Lowell Barron who has a modern day version of slavery with his payday loan business, which targets the poor with interest rates so high, they become endentured servants to pay it back (ok thats not slavery, but its as much of slavery as bishop and his father’s slavery claim).
I have no issue with the state apologizing. Spending so much time over something that wont really do anything for the state is a complete waste. Guess its easier to bring up crap like this instead of focus on PayDay loan reform, or Pac to pac bans. So for they have accomplished nothing other than giving themselves a unjust raise, and this bill is just more evidence of them fiddling around
April 14th, 2007 at 5:12 pm
Ken, I hadn’t heard that one, but it certainly fits with this clueless proposal.
Patrick, the Senate has not been at its best this year. You’re right about the insidious payday loan business, although I’ve heard that Lowell Barron sold his and had a bit of an epiphany over the past year, to the point where he’s sponsoring some more regulation on payday and title loans. Of course, given the standoff, I doubt we’ll see any action on the important stuff.
April 16th, 2007 at 3:59 pm
Mexicans??? Someone say Mexicans??? Here I am.
April 16th, 2007 at 4:45 pm
Hi, MWT — did you know you were responsible for the Alabama legislature voting itself a pay raise?
April 17th, 2007 at 1:02 am
I am drunk with power.