By Bill Britt
Alabama Political Reporter
“Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive!” ~ Sir Walter Scott
Republican Speaker of the House Mike Hubbard has said that he is going on the offensive. Hubbard, a football promoter but never a player, seems to mean that he is going to score points. He most certainly will attempt to destroy his opponents as well.
So far, Hubbard’s public offense has been to weave a story of his innocence, while ignoring or changing all the facts that point to his guilt of using his office for personal gain. He whines that he is under “political attack,” while he himself uses political smears to divert attention away from his wrong doing.
He blames liberal special interests, biased media, teachers and somewhere in all the lies and subterfuge there is President Obama, presiding over the attacks on the beleaguered Speaker.
His white collar criminal attorney, J. Mark White should remind Hubbard that in his case speaker is a noun not a verb.
In reality, Hubbard is the victim of his own personal greed and lust for power. He thought that he was the master of Alabama politics but he is a two-bit hustler and a thug.
Now, the swift sword of justice hangs over his neck, and the pain of ruin is a daily reminder of his flawed strategies. Of course, the new fighting spirit that Hubbard is trying to exhibit is merely criminal euphoria; the elated sense that every narcissistic miscreant feels right before they are taken down.
His lawyers will try to keep him in this elated state because there is nothing better for a criminal defense attorney than a wealthy client who is as guilty as sin.
Hubbard’s PR campaign is designed to assure the Republican base that all is well. It may have some effect on a potential jury pool and it will certainly make Hubbard feel better.
But Hubbard is in real trouble. Hubbard became the de facto leader of the Republican Party and the Speaker of the House because of his ability to weave a compiling narrative and his fundraising prowess. Now, he is being seen by many republicans as a weaver of lies and a failure at raising campaign cash.
In the past, Hubbard was able to use campaign cash as a carrot or a stick over House members. Now, he has neither and is little more than a dream weaver, living in a fantasy world where a mysterious $10 million is sitting in the Bank of Neverland, designated for incumbent protection.
After a recent fundraiser in Huntsville, it was rumored that Hubbard and former Governor/Lobbyist-in-Chief Bob Riley met with members of the Republican House caucus. And at that meeting, it has been said that, the House members told Hubbard, indictments or not, they would not be supporting him for a second term as Speaker of the House.
Those with knowledge of the meeting said that Riley tried to intervene saying something like, “Boys, let’s not be hasty here, we have got this thing worked out. We all need to stick together behind Mike and see this through.”
Riley perhaps more than anyone, has more to gain and more to lose if Hubbard is taken down by law enforcement. If this defection is real, then Hubbard power is gone, and so is Riley’s.
As for offense, Hubbard’s wife has come out on facebook and in a campaign mailer extolling the virtues of her Hubbard. Again, according to Mrs. Hubbard, all his trouble can be traced to the liberal special interest, blah, blah, blah.
Mrs. Hubbard does say in the mailer that Hubbard is the same at home as he is in Montgomery.
Wow, now that is a statement: Does he bully his kids? Does he threaten his dog? Does he promise to bring Holy Hell down on Mrs. Hubbard if she burns Sunday dinner?
Surely, Hubbard’s family doesn’t have to endure the tyrant that he is when he is in Montgomery.
Does he lie to his children? Does he abuse the dog? Does he cheat on his wife? He certainly has done that to House members and the people of Alabama while sitting on his high dais in Montgomery. Surely, this is not true.
Perhaps the most “award winning” of Hubbard’s new offensive ads is the one in which the narrator asked, “What happens when conservatives stand up to Barack Obama?” the answer is, “They get attacked.”
It then goes on to claim that the reason Hubbard is under attack is because he has dared to fight against Obamacare.”
(See, I told you he would get around to blaming Obama)
Sadly, most Republicans running for office in Alabama have boiled their campaign rhetoric down to a noun, a verb and Obama.
I hate to be the one to inform the Speaker, but Obama does not know who you are and could care less what you think or have been doing.
Hubbard, in his long tenure in state government, has stood for only one thing: feeding-off the taxpayers for personal gain.
Hubbard is not under attack because of political ideology, because he has none.
He is under attack because he is a crook.
And people need to know that.
