Sen. April Weaver Needs to Brush up on her Topic/Rep. Ed Oliver Needs to Go

 

April Weaver is a State Senator from Alabaster. Like many others, Ms. Weaver has jumped on the "Good Time" band wagon. This past week, her opinion on the state's correctional incentive time law was featured in several state political publications.

That law is currently in such a state of flux that the end result may be a deep six of the law altogether. Our problem with Ms. Weaver is that she didn't care enough to check her facts. She claims the name of the program was changed at some point from Correctional Incentive Time to Good Time. No, it wasn't. We're guessing most state lawmakers can't pronounce words of more than two syllables and simply use the latter term instead.

Weaver also claims that the program begins upon day one of incarceration. In truth, it begins on day 31. While it's a small error, it proves the State Senator simply decided to write something without checking her facts.

That leads to State Representative Ed Oliver from Dadeville. He recently took it upon himself to claim thefts of supplies at a VA home in his district. He then took it a step farther and implied nurses had been euthanizing patients. We sincerely hope the nurses working at the Bill Nichols Home in Alexander City are suing him for whatever paltry life savings he may have accumulated.

Our state deserves better. If we don't demand improvement in our representatives, we're not going to get it.

New Comedy Show Debuts January 9th

Yes, indeed, a new comedy show will be debuting on January 9th. That's the date the latest session of the Alabama Legislature convenes. We have some predictions:

* The legislature won't start to overhaul the state's constitution.

* The legislature won't rescind of even amend the certificate of need law.

* The legislature won't pass a state budget in a timely fashion, requiring a special session.

* The legislature will pass at least one bill that it knows won't stand up in court, but makes legislators look good, costing the taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars.

* The legislature will abdicate any responsibility it may have toward the children of this state.

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Concerning our last prediction, did you know that AL.com again honored Sen. Larry Stutts for his work in 2017. Yes, you must certainly remember that in 2016, Doc Larry was named Scumbag of the Year. He didn't rank quite as high in 2017, coming in tied for second runner up.

What was Doc Larry's achievement? He voted against church day cares having to meet the minimum standards that other day care facilities must maintain. We have to wonder just what specific standards Doc Larry doesn't feel are needed in these church day cares that you or I would need to meet if we opened such a business...

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We assume everyone has heard by now that Roy Moore accuser Leigh Corfman has filed a defamation suit against him. Such cases are civil and apt to produce a multitude of back stories. Moore's attorneys can ask for all proceedings and records to be private and sealed, but of course his side would never do that since he's so innocent and all. Stock up on your popcorn.

Needless Abortion Laws from Useless Legislators

The Alabama legislature recently concluded Pro-Life Day. One of the four pro-life laws passed stated that medical personnel couldn't be forced into participating in an induced abortion. This included physicians, nurses, and techs, but we'll guess the law was aimed at the latter two. So was this law needed, and will it work?

From the last year that statistics are available we see that abortions are performed nationally in:

1. Family planning clinics commonly called abortion clinics
2. Other clinics
3. Hospitals
4. Physicians' offices

Alabama reported that nine such facilities were available in the state in 2014, five of them being abortion clinics. That means that the remaining four fall into the last three categories named. We're guessing these four in our state are "other clinics" that somehow fly under the radar of the controversial name abortion clinic, but we don't know for sure. For the sake of argument, let's say that at least one is a hospital or obstetrician's office.

We're sure anyone seeking employment in a family planning clinic knows that abortions are performed there. What about the nurse or tech who goes to work in a physician's office or hospital and then finds that assisting in an abortion is mandatory? The new law says they can't be fired for refusing. Sounds good, doesn't it?

But wait! Alabama is a right to work state. That mean's you can be fired on your employer's whim. Sure, you can sue under the new law, but you won't win. You'll just be out money you can't afford to lose, plus have to sit in court while your former employer relates every incident he/she can think of where you were late, back talked, picked up the wrong instrument first...you get the idea.

For once, just for once, could our legislature concentrate on a workable budget? Is that too much to ask? Oh, wait, this is Alabama; it probably is.

Superfluous Bills? Superfluous Legislature!

To say that the State of Alabama has problems is to put it mildly. Eliminate the feel good and personal interest bills and our legislature might just get something done. "Might" is still a pretty big word there.

Personal interest bill? A number of years ago a state legislator introduced a bill making it illegal to honk horns or play radios or initiate any other noise on streets and land adjacent to known hunting property during hunting seasons. Why? One of his friends had been upset by passing motorists and neighbors ruining his dove hunting...

BTW, such a law if passed, wouldn't hold up in court. "Judge, I was attempting to make the 18-wheeler headed toward me in my lane aware of my presence." "Judge, I was playing music to calm my grandson who was teething." You get the idea.

Now we "need" a state amendment to uphold a federal amendment? "Well, constituents, at least I did something." Please, yes, please, do something, but be sure it's the right thing and not something utterly useless.

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Why would Anon Ghost hack American Legion Post 11's website? We have no idea. Not too many subversive Legionairres around that we've noticed. Our opinion is it was easy to hack, so this group had a go at it. It's also possible the group is composed mainly of those from other countries who wouldn't know the American Legion from the Symbionese Liberation Army.

The Lauderdale County Sheriff's Department is a different matter. For several weeks, Pen-N-Sword has been working on a detailed report of various ongoing legal wranglings in that office. Expect an interesting investigative article coming soon.

And there are those who ask why Ronnie (PassMeTheDonutsYouPrettyYoungThing) Willis would want to retire?



Shoalanda