By Josh Moon
Alabama Political Reporter
One of the most awful things about politics is that it pushes people to do incredibly petty and self-serving things.
Which is how, I guess, a group of reporters, myself included, wound up standing on the steps of the Alabama State House on Wednesday morning, listening to Rep. Mike Ball ramble on about an alleged crime he uncovered.
Ball has been pushing this particular story since some time in 2015, and at some point in 2016 everyone stopped caring.
To be fair, no one cared much about it at any point. Because, and Iโm being kind here, itโs dumb.
Here it is in a nutshell: In 2014, shortly after former House Speaker and future Big House resident Mike Hubbard was indicted on 23 felony counts for misusing his office for personal gain, Ball began โdamage control.โ Those were his words.
Damage control apparently included standing on stage with Hubbard in a rally-like gathering and going on some radio show to say that Matt Hart, the Attorney Generalโs Office investigator leading the investigation into Hubbard, was politically motivated, in Ballโs opinion.
From what I can tell, Ball had no real evidence that it was politically motivated. It just sounded good.
Well, shortly after going on the radio, Ball says Hart called him up and said some mean things to him. And to Ball, that equated to Hart attempting to use his public office to influence political activity โ the political activity in this instance being the self-defined โdamage controlโ that Ball was doing.
(I should probably point out that while Ball calls it โdamage control,โ quite a few others call it shilling for a guy who was convicted of felonies.)
Now, if a person actually did use his or her public office to influence political activity, it would be a crime. Surprisingly, however, the AG at the time, Luther Strange, did not consider his lead investigator calling a lawmaker about dumb things said on a radio show to rise to the level of influencing political activity.
I will now say an odd thing: I agree with Luther Strange.
Because who in their right mind wouldnโt agree?
Ball has shopped this story all over the place, and he claims that some other lawmakers have agreed with him.
But a judge didnโt. All of this played out during the Hubbard trial, with Hubbardโs defense team pushing allegations of misconduct against Hart. Ball and his story were part of that, and it went exactly nowhere.
Yet, here he is again, standing in the 90-degree heat, appearing to melt into his suit, spinning it again.
Because thereโs an election going on.
And because thereโs an election going on โ the special called election for U.S. Senate โ Mike Ball can make a headline or two, maybe pocket a few donations.
Politics, 2017.
Unfortunately, Ballโs not alone.
Perry Hooper did the same thing a few weeks back when he tossed his support to Strange. That came a few days after Hooper had written a letter in which he was openly critical of Strange.
But the truth doesnโt matter. All that matters is the money, the power and the glory. Mostly the money.
Itโs what makes men critical of a bill on Monday and its biggest supporter on Tuesday. Itโs what makes them shed years of party affiliation or even ideology.
Just ask current AG Steve Marshall.
Marshall was a Democrat for more than a decade while serving as the district attorney in Marshall County. He was appointed by former Democratic Gov. Don Siegelman and stayed with the party through the election of President Obama and the GOP-revival in the 2010 midterms.
But with money in the state Democratic Party drying up, Marshall made the jump the Rs in late 2011. And there he was at the podium in February telling everyone of his conservative values and how he voted for Donald Trump. (The latter being an example of decision making so poor that he shouldnโt be allowed to get a driverโs license, much less be the stateโs top cop.)
Marshall isnโt alone, of course. Many people have switched parties to chase the money โ Artur Davis comes to mind immediately.
But that doesnโt mean we have to like it, or buy it. Or buy any of the other self-serving drivel that continues to pour from our elected leadersโ mouths.
Maybe if everyone stops rewarding this nonsense, itโll stop.
