Southern Politics

Alabama Senate Race Could Change the Balance of Power in Washington

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By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — As the Republicans in the United States Senate release their version of a bill to gut the Affordable Care Act and leave millions of Americans without healthcare, there is a sleeper special election Senate race down in my home state of Alabama that could begin to upset the…

Lawsuit Moves Forward to Stop Cuts to Healthcare for Disabled

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By Kimberely Blackburn – JONESBORO, Ark. – A new program implemented by Arkansas Department of Human Services resulted in cuts of home health care hours for many in the disabled community of the state. Legal Aid of Arkansas won a temporary restraining order on behalf of many who suffered a cut in hours in February.…

Democrats Seek Revival Thanks to Divisiveness of Trump

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By Glynn Wilson – MOBILE, Ala. — In coffee shops, empty warehouses, churches, brewpubs and even wine bars around the country, Democrats are coming out of the woodwork to meet and get involved in public affairs again, appalled at the election of reality television celebrity Donald J. Trump as president and what he is doing…

Game Changer: Birmingham Attorney Doug Jones Qualifies to Run for US Senate

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By Glynn Wilson – MOBILE, Ala. — The surprise announcement on Wednesday that Birmingham attorney Doug Jones filed the qualifying papers to run for public office as a Democrat in the special election to fill the U.S. Senate seat long held by now Attorney General Jeff Sessions currently occupied by former state Attorney General Luther…

Alabama Republican Congressman Bradley Byrne Defends Vote on Trumpcare

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By Glynn Wilson – While the House Republicans were celebrating in the White House Rose Garden after the vote to replace Obamacare with Trumpcare on Thursday, it would have been interesting to be a fly on a bush. Did any of them even whisper a hint about the massive voter backlash that was already exploding…

Alabama Governor Robert Bentley Resigns Rather Than Face Impeachment, Jail Time

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By Glynn Wilson – Alabama’s embattled Republican Governor Robert Bentley has been convinced he has no choice but to resign or face an impeachment trial, be removed from office and perhaps face jail time in an episode that is reminiscient of Richard Nixon resigning the presidency on August 9, 1974. Only Bentley is not being…

Trump’s AG Jeff Sessions Faces New Ethics Complaint by Going After Pot Smokers, Black Lives Matter

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By Glynn Wilson – MOBILE, Ala. — Actions over the past few days by Trump’s Attorney General Jeff Sessions of Mobile, Alabama, demonstrate that rather than keeping his head down and considering resigning for lying to Congress about communicating with the Russians during the campaign before the election, he is moving with all deliberate speed…

Republican Rhetoric Doesn’t Match Report Showing Millions Would Lose Health Care Under Trump Plan

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By Glynn Wilson – In spite of all the big talk rhetoric from Republicans from the president on down about a plan to repeal and allegedly replace the Affordable Care Act with something that would cover the same number of people for less, an independent, nonpartisan U.S. Congressional Budget Office report released Monday says the…

Rather Than Announcing His Resignation, Sessions Demands Resignations of U.S. Attorneys Around the Country

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By Glynn Wilson – Rather than resigning as U.S. Attorney General for lying to Congress, Alabama Jeff Sessions announced the proactive decision this week to forcibly remove U.S. attorneys around the country from office who were appointed by President Barack Obama so the Trump administration could bring in more conservative Federalist Society lawyers to oversee…

ACLU Files Ethics Complaint Against Jeff Sessions for Lying to Congress

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By Glynn Wilson – MOBILE, Ala. — Donald Trump’s Attorney General, Jeff Sessions of Alabama, is now the subject of an ethics complaint filed with the state bar association for allegedly lying to Congress about his contact with the Russian ambassador during the election last year. The complaint was filed this week by the American…

Congressman Bradley Byrne Faces a Packed Town Hall in Mobile

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By Glynn Wilson – MOBILE, Ala. — Republican Congressman Bradley Byrne faced a packed town hall of opposition protesters and constituent supporters Monday night, answering questions about veterans health care, the environment and controversial decisions, statements and actions by the new President, Donald J. Trump. About 250 people made it into the private auditorim on…

Attorney General Jeff Sessions Recuses Himself on Russian Investigations

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Attorney General Jeff Sessions News Conference Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced in a news conference he would recuse himself from any investigations involving President Trump’s campaign and potential connections to Russia. He did so in response to reports he failed to disclose at his Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing his contacts with the Russian ambassador…

President Trump’s Liar-in-Chief Shock and Awe Continues

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By Glynn Wilson – President Donald J. Trump continues to shock and awe the country and the world with his gall and pure balderdash as he spoke to both houses of Congress on Tuesday night in a prime time speech like nothing anyone has ever seen in those hallowed halls. Clearly he has a new…

Freshman Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz Faces Protesters

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Republican Defends Bill to Abolish the EPA By Glynn Wilson – MILTON, Fla. — Freshman Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz faced protesters and supporters at his first day of town hall events since the election, defending a bill he put forward with three cosigners in the House to abolish the EPA. The Florida Panhandle Progressives, local…

New Alabama Attorney General Announces Special Prosecutor to Investigate Governor Robert Bentley

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By Glynn Wilson – A special district attorney has been appointed by Alabama’s new attorney general to investigate allegations of misconduct by Governor Robert Bentley. Steven T. Marshall, appointed by the governor as state attorney general to replace Luther Strange, who will assume the U.S. Senate seat of Jeff Sessions recently confirmed as President Donald…

How Jeff Sessions Helped Kill Equitable School Funding in Alabama

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A lawsuit in the 1990s had Alabama poised to fund poor black school districts as fairly as wealthy white schools. As state attorney general, Sessions fought the effort passionately. – By Ryan Gabrielson – ProPublica – In the early 1990s, children across Alabama’s large rural stretches still attended faltering public schools, some with exposed wiring…

Federal Court Strikes Down Race-Based Alabama Legislative Districts

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By Glynn Wilson – The gerrymandering plan rammed through the state legislature by Alabama Republicans after they took control in 2010 has now been thrown out by a three-judge panel of federal judges in Montgomery as an unconstitutionaly overtly race-based map. A three-judge panel of the Federal District Court in Montgomery unanimously agreed that in…

Senate Democrats Delay Jeff Sessions’ Confirmation as Trump’s Attorney General

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UPDATE: After this story was published, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee voted on Tuesday to confirm Senator Jeff Sessions as attorney general of the United States, sending President Donald Trump’s pick to be the nation’s top law enforcement officer to the full Senate for a final vote. By Lauren McCauley – WASHINGTON, D.C. — Democrats…

Senate Democrats Delay Judiciary Committee Vote on Jeff Sessions Nomination as Attorney General

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By Glynn Wilson – U.S. Senate Democrats are delaying a key vote on Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions’s nomination as President Donald Trump’s attorney general, according The Hill and other news outlets. They say Senators need more time to review the candidate. “As we have done for most nominees … I’m asking that the vote for…

Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions to Face Confirmation Hearing as Attorney General

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The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – MOBILE, Ala. — The first time I saw Jeff Sessions in court and then interviewed him in person 27 years ago, my human instincts and reporting acumen led me to conclude that there was something horribly wrong about this little man’s character. I never figured he would…