The World Around You

Rev. James Evans is one of the strongest progressive religious voices we have in Alabama…this kind of stuff just hacks me off.

Once again James Evans has shown that he cannot be trusted with the truth. His July 1 diatribe that this was not founded as a Christian nation was filled with half-truths and outright lies.

If Evans is this loose with historical facts, one can only wonder how he does behind a pulpit. A wolf can be hired very cheap as a shepherd. The members of Auburn’s First Baptist church need to take heed.
Robert Powell
Montgomery

I’m sorry, but can you name one half-truth or outright lie in support of your position Robert? I doubt it.

Montgomery Advertiser: Preacher’s position not grounded

If you’re going to defend yourself, do it a little quicker than this.

Sen. Barack Obama’s campaign for president is building momentum in Alabama. His support is diverse in this state and he has a strong cheerleader in Harvard classmate, Rep. Artur Davis (D-AL). Hilary Clinton will have some work to do to slow down the Obama train here.

At the Sheraton Hotel in downtown Birmingham, an energized Obama told a large, diverse and enthusiastic crowd that America under President Bush has seen a government that “can’t do, won’t do and won’t even try.”

“Americans are hungry for change. They are desperate for something new,” Obama told about 2,000 cheering fans, most of whom had paid $25 each to listen to him. “We have had so much dysfunction, so much nonsense … in Washington D.C., that people have just said enough.”

The crowd, a mixture of white and black, young and old, affluent and not, repeatedly cheered as Obama criticized Bush.

Birmingham News: Obama’s Alabama stops pull more than $100,000

UPDATE: Trent has a very good play by play of the Birmingham event, if you are interested.

UPDATE: Dan has a good feel of what the crowd was thinking.

UPDATE: Danny has a different spin in his play-by-play.

Congratulations to Nancy Worley’s attorneys for finally getting her to shut up. This is already a very positive outcome from this case.

I have sympathy for the position the Attorney General is in right now. This is a difficult case to prosecute, given how the laws are written and the judge seems to be having difficulty with it as well.

Worley is accused of sending campaign letters, campaign contribution envelopes and bumper stickers to five of her employees in the secretary of state’s office. She is charged under a state law that makes it a misdemeanor for a public official to ask for campaign donations from employees and a felony for an official to use his or her position to influence the vote of any person.

Assistant Attorney General Ben Baxley told Hobbs that Worley was trying to influence votes by asking in the letter that the employees consider putting signs in their yards or bumper stickers on their cards. But [Judge Truman] Hobbs questioned how Worley’s letter could be considered a felony.

“I have a hard time saying if I ask for a contribution it’s a misdemeanor, but if I ask you to put up a yard sign it’s a felony,” Hobbs said.

That is challenging, but I can see it, so I hope you can find a way to see it as well. The way the law is written, the kind of requests she made beyond donations are a felony. I know it’s bizarre, but it’s the law in Alabama.

Montgomery Advertiser: Judge questions Worley trial charges