Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Troy King Owns Alabama? Bullshit!



I learned an interesting thing today, from the office of the Alabama Attorney General...

You may remember Troy King; he's the guy who, despite being the top law enforcement official in Alabama, somehow finds the time to obsess over what you may be doing in the privacy of your bedroom.

People of my political persuasion -- or is it just people who think the Attorney General is an idiot? -- aren't welcome in Alabama, at least if you believe AG King's office. To quote the news story, "King spokesman Chris Bence said the West Coast is a good fit for Elliott. 'Outside the state is the best place for him,' Bence said."

Sounds about a half-goosestep from "You come back heah, you in a heap o'trouble, BOY."

Oh, please.

I guess ol' Troy and his sidekick "Makes You Wince" Bence have decided they own the damn place. Grant a little power to a little mind, and this is what you get, folks...

The attorney general, "a thin-skinned little man," as the Alabama press has called him, is a short-of-intellect, big-of-ego-and-ambition politician in the old-fashioned Southern demagogue tradition, and has made a career based on people's fears and prejudices.

You know what I mean -- of the two types of politicians, one who appeals to our higher natures, and one who appeals to our dark sides, he's definitely the second type.

I'm already way too familiar with that type of politician, and have been for most of my life.

When I was only six years old, my uncle, eight-term Congressman Carl Elliott (from the old 7th District in Alabama) ran for Governor of the state against Lurleen Wallace, who was running as proxy for her racist demagogue husband, George.

Even now, almost 42 years later, I can remember how Uncle Carl's campaign against the forces of fear and racism opened my young eyes to a side of human nature that isn't so pretty. The defaced campaign billboards... the literature ripped up and thrown back at campaign workers... the bomb threats at his speeches. It was an intense initiation for a six-year-old, and I never forgot how it feels to confront ignorance and prejudice.

Uncle Carl was eventually vindicated -- 25 years later -- when he won the very first John F. Kennedy Profiles In Courage Award.










Well, let me acquaint you with the facts, Mr. Attorney General King: There are a lot more people like me who are still IN Alabama and who ain't goin' ANYWHERE. You and your right-wing nutjob cronies don't own the state. Get used to it. And get used to the fact that they are all going to vote your ignorant ass out of office in 2010.


If you want to send a sex toy to Mr. King, here's his address:

Office of the Attorney General
Alabama State House
11 South Union Street, Third Floor
Montgomery, AL 36130

Here's the original news article from the Tuscaloosa News:

Published Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Former resident mocks AG's sex-toy stance via YouTube

By Dana Beyerle
Montgomery Bureau Chief

MONTGOMERY | With an Internet connection and a little YouTube know-how, anyone can ridicule a high-ranking public official.

Attorney General Troy King found that out Tuesday.

Alabama native and writer Steve Elliott, who now lives in Washington state, posted a video on site mocking King for defending a state law prohibiting sex toys in Alabama.

"That's what I'm trying to do, make him look ridiculous, because that's how he's making the state of Alabama look," Elliott said Tuesday.

The 30-second video is a montage that uses King's singing "duet" with the late Johnny Cash as a soundtrack. The video includes an image of Cash making an offensive hand gesture.

The Mobile Press-Register reported Sunday that King created a CD last year in which he added his vocals to a little-known recording by Cash of the song "My Elusive Dreams," which was never released. King distributed about 25 copies of his recording as a Christmas gift, the Press-Register reported.

Elliott said he was inspired to create the YouTube video after reading a blog written by one-time third-party gubernatorial candidate and marijuana advocate Loretta Nall, in which she described sending King an inflatable pig sex aid last year.

"He is required to uphold the laws of Alabama but he's mis-prioritizing the law and should not try to gain so much publicity," Nall said Tuesday.

Nall's blog recounted King's efforts to enforce the sex toy ban, and asked people to mail sex toys to King's office. The Press-Register first wrote about Nall's sex toy campaign last year.

Elliott said he was embarrassed for Alabama after reading Nall's blog entries about King.

"It makes me mad when some ambitious politician makes the state look ridiculous in the eyes of the state and the nation," he said. "They need to keep their laws off our bodies."

Elliott said he grew up in Franklin County and lived in Alabama for 39 years before moving to the West Coast nine years ago. He served a year in a California jail for assault, which he said was self-defense.

Elliott said new technology enables anyone to bypass traditional media.

"YouTube represents the democratization of mass media," Elliott said. "Anyone with a Web camera and a fast Internet connection can post information on the Internet. We're seeing rules of the game changing and they're not totally written yet."

King spokesman Chris Bence said the West Coast is a good fit for Elliott. "Outside the state is the best place for him," Bence said.

As for Nall's proposed mail-in campaign, Bence said the only sex toy mailed to King's office was the inflatable pig.

Nall, who ran for governor in 2006 on the Libertarian ticket, said she blogs about King because of his stance on issues important to her. "He's probably my arch-enemy in the state of Alabama in the times I've worked on drug policy and prison reform," she said.

Former resident mocks AG's sex toy stance via YouTube

Here's the video in question:




And here are Loretta Nall's thoughts on the Tuscaloosa News article:

Troy King Must Go!

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