Praise the Lord and pass the ballots
Forget the teachers' union and the business leaders. If you want to be the next Republican nominee for Alabama governor, you'd better convince people God is on your side.
Looming large on the state's political scene, as always, is former Chief Justice Roy Moore, the consummate grandstanding demagogue with a taste for granite. He said last month that he's "considering" a gubernatorial campaign, though he emphasized that he's still "praying about it." At any rate, did I mention he's got a book coming out in March and it'd be just swell if you'd shell out a few bucks for it? Not that he intends to profit from your deeply held religious faith or anything.
But fear not, loyal readers. Gov. Bob Riley wants you to know that Jesus loves him, too, and he's got the not-in-the-least-political Washington prayer breakfast paid for by campaign funds to prove it. Riley also said he hasn't decided if he'll run for governor again, but just in case he does, he made sure to tell everyone who would listen that he's personally all for official government references to God, school prayer, prayers before football games, and pretty much anything related to Christianity.
And if all of those pronouncements weren't clear enough for you, Riley's wife, Patsy, cut to the chase, informing breakfast attendees that her husband was "hand-picked by God to be your governor at this time, at this moment in time." I was unaware we had cut the voters out of the process, but since our state constitution is approaching 800 amendments, I could well be wrong.
Lost in all of this posturing is any substantive discussion of the serious issues confronting Alabama. But sadly, it's unclear if GOP primary voters will demand that sort of talk in the race for the nomination. A political-minded friend gave his cynical take on the situation today: "Just say you're gonna put a burning bush in front of the Capitol and you've got it."
Looming large on the state's political scene, as always, is former Chief Justice Roy Moore, the consummate grandstanding demagogue with a taste for granite. He said last month that he's "considering" a gubernatorial campaign, though he emphasized that he's still "praying about it." At any rate, did I mention he's got a book coming out in March and it'd be just swell if you'd shell out a few bucks for it? Not that he intends to profit from your deeply held religious faith or anything.
But fear not, loyal readers. Gov. Bob Riley wants you to know that Jesus loves him, too, and he's got the not-in-the-least-political Washington prayer breakfast paid for by campaign funds to prove it. Riley also said he hasn't decided if he'll run for governor again, but just in case he does, he made sure to tell everyone who would listen that he's personally all for official government references to God, school prayer, prayers before football games, and pretty much anything related to Christianity.
And if all of those pronouncements weren't clear enough for you, Riley's wife, Patsy, cut to the chase, informing breakfast attendees that her husband was "hand-picked by God to be your governor at this time, at this moment in time." I was unaware we had cut the voters out of the process, but since our state constitution is approaching 800 amendments, I could well be wrong.
Lost in all of this posturing is any substantive discussion of the serious issues confronting Alabama. But sadly, it's unclear if GOP primary voters will demand that sort of talk in the race for the nomination. A political-minded friend gave his cynical take on the situation today: "Just say you're gonna put a burning bush in front of the Capitol and you've got it."
posted by Alabamian at 7:00 PM
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