Speak Out

Gov. Bob Riley's proclamation designating June as "Jefferson Davis Month" is a tribute to the President of the Confederate States of America, who stood for the patriotic principle of "free and independent states," which is written bold-face three times in the Declaration of Independence.

Whereas Jefferson Davis was the last real American president, as envisioned by the Founding Fathers, Abraham Lincoln became America's first dictator when he brutally violated the Constitution, throwing tens of thousands of Northern citizens into prison without trial and closing down hundreds of opposition newspapers.

Lincoln's invasion and violent overthrow of the States abolished local self-government by the citizens and established a centralist government in Washington, reducing the States back to the status of colonies.

The Southern states were more right in withdrawing from the United States in 1861 than the colonies were in seceding from England in 1776, because the states created the United States, but the colonies were created by England.

In like manner, the United States would have the right to secede from the United Nations today, because the United States helped create the United Nations.

Jefferson Davis was right.

Roger K. Broxton, President
Confederate Heritage Fund
Andalusia

Election fallout

Optimists such as me believe we're making progress in the grassroots efforts to energize Alabama voters.

When we examine the details of two normally-innocuous primary races for seats on the State Board of Education, there are indications that voters are fed up with business as usual. Two no-name Republicans were conscripted to run against incumbents Randy McKinney of District 1 and Stephanie Bell of District 3.

McKinney and Bell have taken strong positions against double dipping and blatant nepotism in two-year colleges. The RINOs (Republicans in name only) Paul Christopher and Skip Smithwick reportedly spent nearly $400,000 in Democratic PAC money.

McKinney and Bell spent a total of $30,000 and won by huge margins. The Alabama Republican Party and numerous other organizations and individuals around the state worked to increase voter awareness and involvement.

History tells us that Alabama Education Association executive secretary Paul Hubbert and his AEA PAC, AVOTE, would usually ignore a Republican primary. Their seemingly-endless supply of money normally goes to Democrats in the general election. Joe Turnham, Alabama Democratic Party chairman, has lamely attempted to deny that AEA spends the vast majority of teacher union dues on Democrats.

Along with the defeat of the two interlopers, we were offered a rare, up-close look at the sleazy politics of PAC-to-PAC transfers. Apparently there wasn't enough time for AVOTE to pass the $400,000 through their usual maze of PACs to properly hide it. It appears that the AVOTE money went through other Democratic PACs and was disbursed immediately to the RINOs.

What was also an obvious insult to voters is that Hubbert denied involvement, saying AVOTE did not "directly" contribute to the campaigns of the board of education challengers.

Apparently, Hubbert has the same level of respect for Alabama voters as Joe Turnham.

Dan H. Broughton
Opelika