Birmingham Blues

I meant to include this in the previous post, hence the “Other Good News…” title. Oh well. Life distracts me sometimes.
Mychal Bell, the only one of the Jena 6 to remain in prison, was freed yesterday on reduced bond after the district attorney gave up his quest to try the teenager as an [...]

The Senate passed the Matthew Shepard Act yesterday on a voice vote after nine Republicans joined in a 60-39 vote to end debate. The Act was attached to the defense authorization bill, which makes a threatened veto at least somewhat problematic (the House passed the bill as a standalone in May). The Bush [...]

The Senate passed the reauthorization and expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program yesterday 67-29. Eighteen Republicans crossed party lines to give the bill enough votes to override Bush’s expected veto. They did not include Richard Shelby (R-AL) or Jeff Sessions (R-AL), who voted no despite Gov. Bob Riley’s support for the [...]

According to the Birmingham News, three Republican members of the Jefferson County Commission are all fired up after their trip to Denver, and they think the greater Birmingham area needs a regional transit system. To that I can only reply, “Welcome to the late 20th century!” The greater Birmingham area has needed [...]

Danny is reporting that Rep. Terry Everett (R-AL 2nd District) plans to retire at the end of his current term. He’s also covering the rumors and certainties of who will run to take Everett’s place. The district, which encompasses Montgomery and several counties south (see map here), leans Republican — but not as [...]

The US House passed the reauthorization and expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program yesterday, 265-159 (roll call here). Forty-five Republicans voted for the bill, while eight Democrats voted no. The bill is expected to come up for a vote in the Senate before week’s end. Of course, Bush plans to [...]

Samantha Bee had a semi-funny segment on the Daily Show the other night called “Is America Ready for a Woman President?” It wasn’t her best work, but it did have an interesting bit featuring LaShawn Barber. LaShawn is a blogger who “offers politically conservative commentary from a Christian point of view”, and she [...]

Exhibit A:

David Shuster points out a little problem with Rep. Marsha Blackburn’s (R-TN) MoveOn obsession (partial transcript via Crooks & Liars):

Shuster: “Let’s talk about the public trust. You represent, of course, a district in western Tennessee. What was the name of the last solider from your district who was killed in Iraq?”
Blackburn:”The name of the [...]

Don McDermott, former Birmingham City Councilor for District 1, was indicted today on two federal counts of child pornography. He’s already under indictment in Jefferson County.
You may remember that McDermott was defeated after serving one term — by Joel Montgomery. It’s hard to believe, but in retrospect that looks like a step up.

Special to the Birmingham News
Well, not exactly — but we’re getting better.
Alabama fourth-graders scored the nation’s greatest gains in reading, according to a report released today by the National Assessment of Educational Progress.
The fourth-graders’ scores were up by eight points from the assessment released two years ago, but their score of 216 was still below [...]