7. A Republican Congressional candidate in California was almost assassinated by a liberal with a pink switchblade
— Don’t expect to see this political violence to lead the newscasts today: Rudy Peters was attacked by Farzad Vincent Fazeli as he screamed about President Donald Trump. In the attack, he attempted to pull a switchblade but could not get the blade out.
— Peters is the opponent of Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-California), who was in Alabama last week campaigning against Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Huntsville) and Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Saks)
6. Former Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard continues appeal on his ethics violation convictions
— Hubbard sought a rehearing of his appeal, thought to be a formality before an appeal to the Alabama Supreme Court, seeking to overturn his conviction on multiple ethics violations.
— The court already affirmed 11 of his 12 convictions, Hubbard will remain free until the court hears his appeals.
5. Alabama pastor cuts up Nike gear in protest of Colin Kaepernick
— The controversy over Nike’s continued support of NFL-kneeler Colin Kaepernick has made its way to the pulpit in Woodridge Baptist Church in Mobile.
— Senior Pastor Dr. Mack Morris told his congregation that he felt this was about those who sacrificed it all for the flag Kaepernick and other’s won’t stand for. He stated, “America may not be the best country in the world and we have a lot of faults, but I tell you what, a lot of folks died for the sake of what the flag represents.”
4. Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin sees himself as the leader of Alabama’s “blue wave”
— The likelihood of a blue wave may be growing in the United States, but most expect Alabama to remain pretty red. But that isn’t stopping Birmingham’s progressive mayor from trying to play a role.
— By forming the “Next Generation Alabama” PAC, Woodfin says he hopes to find blue people in a “sea of red.” The mayor believes he can help find the Democrat “bench,” which is pretty non-existent.
3. It wasn’t just MSNBC’s Alabama graduate Joe Scarborough who decided 9/11 was a good way to attack President Trump
— Trump was attacked for early morning tweets, watching TV, fist-pumping, being a threat to our voting system and, as Scarborough put it, “damaging the dream of America more than any terrorist attack ever could.”
— The pushback on social media was pretty strong, leading to Scarborough to offer up a weak defense of his column instead of an apology. He said, “I should have shown more care on the tweet’s wording and the column’s conclusion.”
2. Another Alabama high school student is caught on video saying the n-word
— The parent who found the video placed the blame on the school system for some reason asking, “Really? Is this really what we’re teaching our children in Birmingham, AL, ‘Over the Mountain?’” and telling the Board of Education, which said they will punish the student, “here I come.”
— Oddly, the parent also said the video could lead to violence that sounded like a threat, saying, “Her behavior is something that could lend itself to violence. I hope not, but we’ll see”, she proclaimed.
1. Newly-appointed Senator Jon Kyl says he would vote to repeal Obamacare, and now Republicans don’t have the will
— In a famous moment, the late John McCain delivered the final “thumbs down” to Republican attempts to repeal Obamacare. His replacement says he would vote to kill it for good.
— Now that Kyl is in the Senate, Republicans in leadership like Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) have declared, “I’m not going to be asking for another vote on that this year.” House leaders like Rep. Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana) say that the focus is on winning elections in November.