The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Alabama Apocalypse: Tim James, Bradley Byrne and Quin’s Vow of Revenge

My American Spectator article today: Tim James was Tea Party before Tea Party was cool. Before the federal bailouts, before most Americans had heard of Barack Obama, before Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck became household names, James helped lead the 2003 effort to stop a tax increase proposed by Alabama’s Republican Gov. Bob Riley. The […]

The Army of Davids: ‘All Is Proceeding As I Have Foreseen’

From my latest column at The American Spectator: The prime congressional target for Alabama’s Republicans is Rep. Bobby Bright, whose 2nd District encompasses the Wiregrass region where Odom’s group has become a force to be reckoned with, as has the Wetumpka Tea Party, led by Eric and Becky Gerritson. The anti-establishment mood represented by the […]

VIDEO: GOP Candidate Rick Barber Talks Tea Parties, Pool Halls and Blue Dogs

MONTGOMERY, Ala. Pubs and alehouses like Tondee’s Tavern served as meeting places where colonists planned the American Revolution, and that tradition is being carried on by Tea Party activists in Alabama. Every Tuesday is “Patriot Night” at Montgomery’s Deja Vu Billiards, owned by Republican congressional candidate Rick Barber: By the way, describing Barber as a […]

Fallout From Sarah Palin’s Kentucky Senate Endorsement of Rand Paul

For several weeks, I’ve been in communication with Lisa Graas, a Kentucky conservative who operated the PalinTwibe feed on Twitter, with nearly 4,000 followers. Lisa is a Sarah Palin supporter who also supports Bill Johnson in Kentucky’s GOP Senate primary, and was extremely disappointed by Palin’s endorsement of Rand Paul in that primary. Now Lisa has […]

Cue Your TiVo Now: Allen West Will Be On ‘Fox & Friends’ Monday

According to the press release, the Iraq war hero and FL22 congressional candidate will be on shortly after 6 a.m. ET Monday. I also understand from Rhonda Lee Welsch (whom I profiled for the American Spectator in December) that Lt. Col. West (whom I profiled for the American Spectator in June 2008) will be a speaker […]

Politics and Mardi Gras Beads in ‘Bama: Rick Barber Campaigns in Millbrook

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Bailey Barber greeted us at the front door of her family home Saturday morning with ecstatic news. “We’re going to a parade,” announced the 6-year-old daughter of Republican congressional candidate Rick Barber. Retail politics requires a relentless press-the-flesh effort on the part of the candidate, and Barber hit the streets Saturday. After […]

‘Truth on Troy’ Challenges Alabama Republican Leaders on Attorney General

Alabama blogger Truth on Troy has posted an open letter to the state Republican Party: Dear Chairman Hubbard and Members of the ALGOP Executive Committee, The time has come to encourage your expeditious review of Troy King’s actions as attorney general which directly contradict the conservative principles of the Republican Party. As Alabamians prepare to head […]

Don’t Pay the Ransom, I Escaped

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Please excuse my unusually long silence since yesterday’s post about the state attorney general. From Birmingham, we left en route to Montgomery for the winter meeting of the Alabama Republican Party, arriving about 6:30 p.m. Central time. Six hours of heavy-duty reporting/schmoozing ensued, and then we departed for an unknown location near […]

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