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- Published: Aug. 01, 2023, 2:46 p.m.
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Sign up for Alabamafication: Kyle Whitmire’s newsletter, “Alabamafication” examines the outsized influence of this very strange state, taking aim at corruption, cruelty, incompetence and hypocrisy while also seeking out those righteous folks making their state and country better places for all.
This is an opinion column.
Don’t blame Tommy Tuberville for losing Space Command.
Blame Kay Ivey.
As Alabama governor, she is supposed to be our state’s first, best champion.
Don’t blame Tommy Tuberville for losing Space Command.
Blame Tommy Battle.
As Huntsville mayor, he is supposed to look out for the interests of his city.
Don’t blame Tommy Tuberville for losing Space Command.
Blame Katie Britt.
Coach isn’t Alabama’s only U.S. senator.
Tuberville’s manipulation of Senate rules to stonewall military promotions isn’t a novel, genius political tactic. He’s a toddler who found a pistol on the nightstand. And when the gun goes off, and somebody gets hurt, it’s not the kid that’s to blame. It’s the grownups who didn’t do anything to stop it from happening in the first place.
Alabama is short of responsible grownups willing to stop Tuberville, so now it’s time to hold some of these grownups responsible.
Want to know who they are? Look around at who’s trying to blame somebody else.
Ivey, Britt and every member of our Congressional delegation — including the lone Democrat, Terri Sewell — shook their fingers and clucked their tongues at the president.
Fine. But what else did they expect? Of course, President Biden had every incentive to put Space Command in Colorado. As Birmingham Mayor Richard Arrington once said after he was accused of giving business to his friends, “Who am I supposed to give it to? My enemies?”
The time for sanctimony has passed. Bluster and bravado are worthless.
“This fight is far from over,” U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Saks, tweeted.
Ahem. It’s over.
What’s remarkable about Biden’s decision is how long it took. He could have flipped this switch the moment Donald Trump copped to rigging the game for Alabama on the Rick & Bubba Show. Trump’s dumb comments — which were probably another lie — gave Biden cover to do for Colorado what Trump claimed to have done for Alabama.
What Biden needed was a veneer of plausibility. He needed a general to say this was the right thing to do.
And what Alabama needed was military brass to say, “No, Mr. President, Colorado is not the best place for this. We did a study and …”
But who’s going to do that when Alabama’s senior senator is being a jerk to the very folks Alabama needed on our side?
In the end, the Associated Press reported, it was General James Dickinson, the head of Space Command, who persuaded the president that Colorado was the best choice.
In politics, sometimes you have to make enemies, but you always have to make friends. Tuberville doesn’t get that. And a man who’s lost his shirt in two ponzi schemes isn’t likely to learn from his mistakes.
If your senior senator can’t do that, then someone needs to tell the senator to sit down and shut up. Someone needed to put Tuberville in a corner.
Alabama’s top public officials weren’t willing to do that. Officials who knew better whispered to each other and looked nervously around the room waiting for somebody else to do something.
Meanwhile, the political delinquent acted out as he pleased.
Republicans don’t like calling out Republicans — not for Ronald Reagan’s Eleventh Commandment, or whatever. Rather, an iota of dissent could get you labeled a liberal Democrat, if not a groomer. They’re terrified they’ll get booed, like those Republican primary candidates who bring up Trump’s indictment.
If Alabama were a two-party state that would be fine. Democrats would savage Republicans for their failure and balance would be restored. There would be billboards at the gates of every Alabama military base saying “We wouldn’t hurt you like this.”
But not here. Alabama Democrats can’t run a Twitter account, much less an effective messaging strategy. They’re too busy fighting with each other to keep Republicans honest.
And what’s the result? Well, that might be the saddest thing of all.
Hidden in plain view is a clear indicator of how leaderless and desperate Alabama has become.
After decades of bribing auto manufacturers with tax breaks and cheap labor (some of it children), what do we have left when it comes to economic recruitment?
Our strategy for economic growth was having the president of the United States order people to move to Alabama, no matter if they wanted to or not.
Get much more desperate than that and you’ll trigger an Amber alert.
Alabama has to attract business and development by making itself attractive. We need elected leaders with vision, smarts and guts.
The folks we have now don’t have any of those qualities. I’m not sure they’re really in control and they certainly aren’t looking out for us. They’re just here for the ego fulfillment — not so much different than Tuberville.
Ultimately, blame doesn’t stop at these officials. If our Republican officials won’t hold Tuberville accountable, and if Democrats can’t hold Republicans accountable, then we, the voters, have to be the grownups. We have to make better choices.
We elected a day-trading, Florida-living, mediocre football coach to the U.S. Senate.
The blame lands where the responsibility always was.
We put the toddler in the room with the loose gun, and now we caught a bullet in the groin.
This one’s on us.
Kyle Whitmire is the state political columnist for AL.com and the 2023 recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for commentary. Sign up for his weekly newsletter and get “Alabamafication” in your inbox every Wednesday.
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