7 Things: McClendon blames bureaucracy for low vaccination rates in Alabama, Jerry Carl discusses U.S. Capitol riot, coronavirus mandates making a return and more …

7. Biden upsetting his base by accurately describing communism

President Joe Biden has said that one of the options he’s considering to assist the people in Cuba is creating an internet source for them to access since the communist regime has shut down access due to protests.
Biden advised that they’re “considering whether we have the technological ability to reinstate that access.” He went on to call communism a “failed system, a universally failed system, and I don’t see socialism as a very useful substitute.” He added, “Cuba is, unfortunately, a failed state and represses their citizens.”

6. Gambling machines seized in Anniston

In Anniston, police have seized 59 gambling machines, cash and a gun from multiple gambling establishments in the area. According to Anniston Police Chief Nick Bowles, the illegal operations were warned when there was a similar raid previously.
The FBI and Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office assisted in the raid, and Bowles said that these operations are like “annoying flies” and the police department has “better things to do.” He added, “Real crime follows these places. We’ve had assaults, robberies, a shootout and even a murder at one of them,” and added that they’ve also had illegal drug and alcohol activity.

5. Congratulations to Barry Moore on his reelection

The WPA Intelligence has conducted a poll for the Club for Growth PAC that shows U.S. Representative Barry Moore (R-Enterprise) still holds a lead over former opponent Dothan businessman Jeff Coleman.
The 460 people surveyed in the second congressional district gave Moore 53% and Coleman took only 19%. There were also 25% of those surveyed that were undecided. Moore was also viewed 55% favorable to 15% unfavorable, compared to Coleman who had 30% favorable and 24% unfavorable.

4. Free speech under assault from the White House and big tech

Apparently, the White House is now playing hall monitor on the internet. White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters, “[The White House is] flagging problematic posts for Facebook that spread disinformation.” But it is actually worse than that because the White House admits it is compiling lists for social media to target. This could be illegal if companies are being coerced by the government to censor speech.
The revelation was made as reporters questioned the press secretary about the administration’s aggressive policies targeting misinformation and previous statements about working with private companies to do it. Psaki stated, “We are in regular touch with the social media platforms and those engagements typically happen through members of our senior staff and also members of our COVID-19 team — given, as Dr. Murthy conveyed, this is a big issue, of misinformation, specifically on the pandemic.”

3. Jerry Carl is about to be accused of downplaying the U.S. Capitol riot

U.S. Representative Jerry Carl (R-Mobile) spoke to a group at Prichard City Hall where he discussed the riot at the U.S. Capitol on January 6 and he described it as “a horrible event,” adding that there were also a lot of people just walking around and taking pictures.
Carl mentioned how some of the people who attended the pro-Trump rally were members of his congressional district, and they did go to the Capitol during the riot. He added that there were “a handful of bad people who tore things up. You had a lot of people, and I don’t know what the count was, but they were there to support their president, which was Trump.”

2. Restrictions and mask mandates are coming back

Los Angeles County is bringing back the masks indoors, even for people who are fully vaccinated despite the county being able to cite a single instance of a fully vaccinated person being hospitalized. This is against the directives of the California Department of Public Health and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Proving that saying things like “cases are surging” means little without context, the L.A. Times noted, “COVID-19 hospitalizations doubled over that same time frame — from 223 on June 15 to 452 as of Wednesday.” But hospitalizations are 93% below where they were at the peak of the pandemic and deaths are also very low.

1. McClendon: Bureaucracy to blame for low vaccination numbers

State Senator Jim McClendon (R-Springville) has come out with his thoughts on why Alabama’s coronavirus vaccination rates remain one of the lowest in the country. He argued that the state’s “response to getting the COVID vaccine available was unquestionably the worst in the nation.”
McClendon said that with the low vaccination rate in the state, it’s “time to throw some rocks…there needs to be some reorganization, name-calling and changes in the way that’s done because we perform miserably and are continuing to perform miserably in dealing with this pandemic.” But the vaccine is readily available statewide, and the number of vaccines going into arms isn’t increasing.