I do not often call upon the deity, but the current political landscape in the state of Alabama dictates urgent and desperate intervention and action. Those of you who receive this blog and live in Alabama are aware that the Republican candidate for governor is the inept, despicable and dumb, Tommy Tuberville. As you also know, he has been one of the senators from Alabama and has regularly made a fool of himself. An example of his ineptness was when he won the senate seat, he identified the three branches of government being the house, senate, and presidency and made no reference to the Supreme Court. Furthermore, he (like his mentor Trump) lies with regularity and an example of this was his promise upon his election to give his salary to veterans who had served the country. To this date not a dime has been given. During his brief tenure in the senate, he has given unbridled loyalty to his mentor and in his words, Trump can do no wrong. Afterall, according to Tuberville, God put his beloved mentor into the presidency to save American—nothing could be further from the truth.
Now that Tuberville is running to be governor of a state that is not his home state, given that he is a resident of Florida the lies and misinformation continue. He, like Trump, have become cheerleaders for the construction of data centers, especially in rural America. Indeed, there is going to be an ongoing demand for these centers as the artificial intelligence industry grows, but construction needs to be a thoughtful process supported by local communities, not the whim of politicians. It is most interesting that he has back peddled since there has been a significant amount of local criticism focused on the construction of data centers. He now states that the decision rests with the specific communities. It is highly unlikely that he will follow through on this if he is elected. It is my belief that it is nothing more than a transient lie to try and minimize my critical concerns. It needs to be understood that Tuberville has been a very significant investor in data centers as reflected in his published investment portfolio. Also, even though it is argued that America is in a race with China to have the upper hand in the artificial intelligence and data center industry, Tuberville has been an inventor in a major Chinese company in this industry.
As the strategy to promote Tuberville at the expense of his opponent continues with earnest gusto, the misrepresentations and lies continue. An example of this is in one of his ads, he states that the Democratic opponent, Doug Jones, voted to allow known criminals back into the country through immigration. This is certainly not consistent with his background or professional positions. Tuberville also talks about crimes in Montgomery, Mobile, and Birmingham and that he is going to personally recruit a new generation of law enforcement personnel to combat the criminal activity even though violent crime is down in the urban areas. What a slap at current law enforcement personnel who are busting their collective butts to control criminal behavior throughout the state. He also has stated in the same ad that he is going to develop the toughest child abuse legislation in the country. Do keep in mind that he cannot do any of this without the support of the legislature. Nor can he claim to personally hold judges and district attorneys accountable for their actions. He has no authority over this branch of the government that he is ignorant of. His final boast in this ad is that he will bring the National Guard in “on day one”—to do what? For what reason? He is trying to pander to the Republican base to support him. Yes, he is their candidate, but don’t keep the obvious mistake from going further.
The Democratic candidate, Doug Jones, is an attorney by profession. He served as the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of the Federal Court for several years and was responsible for bringing to justice those members of the Ku Klux Klan that bomb the 16th Street Baptist church in Birmingham, killing four young girls. He served in the U.S. Senate for six years and gained the reputation as being willing and able to work across the aisle in the creation of legislation. His bipartisan background would serve him and the state extremely well if chosen as the governor. Unlike his opponent, he is a resident of the state, and his legal residence is in the state. Unlike his opponent he does not put forth lies nor misrepresent the facts of a given situation. He would be a formidable governor of whom all Alabamians could be proud. Not so about his opponent who would continue to be an embarrassment beyond belief. Let us hope that there will be enough of those who vote to recognize the dramatic difference between the two candidates. Let us hope that reason will prevail and what is best for the entire state will be the result.
A final note. Even though there remain a couple of weeks until the election, the Executive Director of the Alabama Retirement System (RSA) Bronner, included a foregone conclusion in his article of the current Advisor. He mentioned that, “Yellowhammernews.com stated: the ETF Chairman is already in budget talks with the incoming Tuberville team…” This was wrong and irresponsible. The election has not yet occurred and it is likely that Tuberville will be elected, but stranger outcomes have happened. The Director of the RSA should not be taking sides at this point. Let us continue to hope there will be reason prevailing by the voters.