“Free2be does not share the values of most Alabamians.”
— Scott Dawson, Republican candidate for governor of Alabama.
Scott Dawson might be right.
But if he is, and if it’s true that Alabamians don’t share the values of Free2be, a group whose primary goal is to provide mental health counseling and counseling to prevent violence and bullying against LGBTQ individuals, it is one pathetic commentary on this state and the apparently awful humans who reside here.
And I mean that.
Because here’s what Free2be does: it provides mental health counseling and counseling directed towards domestic violence, bullying and sexual assault specifically, but not limited to, the LGBTQ community in an effort to prevent suicides, assaults and murders.
And if you’re not OK with that, leave.
Not the state.
The planet.
Oh, and don’t think this is some sort of advocacy for the Kay Ivey campaign, either. Because it’s not. Yes, ADECA under her watch continued to ship federal funds to Free2be, but on Tuesday, her camp couldn’t wait to get out a statement making it clear that Ivey doesn’t share the values of Free2be.
Of course, given her last few weeks of pandering to the base — or, more appropriately, the debased — it’s fairly clear by now that equality, compassion and decency have taken a backseat to scrapping up votes from the worst of them.
Honestly, I’m starting to wonder where rock bottom is for Alabama Republicans these days. For both the GOP voters and the GOP candidates.
Where does the hate, indifference to human suffering, bigotry and hate stop for you?
Because I’ve watched the political ads and sorted through the polling, and I’ll be damned if I can find the bottom.
You know what one of the most popular issues is with Alabama voters?
Support for Donald Trump’s immigration plan.
Yes, illegal immigration is a YUGE problem in Alabama — not because we share a border with a foreign nation or have a particularly large number of immigrants, but because those Mexican immigrants are brown.
And apparently, the Alabama GOP voters have a definite aversion to anyone darker than khaki.
So, that’s why all of these candidates can’t wait to tell you about their support for Trump’s immigration plan. In ads where they’re carrying Bibles and touting their Christianity — a religion based upon the teachings of kindness and compassion, particularly for the poor and displaced, from a refugee — they explain their unyielding support for a plan to rip children away from their desperate parents who have committed the horrible crimes of fleeing violence and seeking safety for their kids.
But what are you gonna do, right? Jesus clearly said, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you … unless they’re a different race and speak a different language, in which case screw ‘em.”
Oh, but it doesn’t stop there for the Alabama Republican.
Support for Trump in general is right near the top of the polls as well.
And why wouldn’t it be? These conservative Christians love a guy who was just caught paying off a porn star to keep secret cheating on his third wife — a man who was caught on tape describing how to get away with sexual assault, who has cussed so many times at rallies that they’re no longer kid-friendly events and who managed to find the good side of modern-day Nazis.
And last week, when Trump’s White House joked about the impending death of a bonafide war hero, and then refused to apologize to him or his family, not one ad from an Alabama GOP politician was pulled. Or even delayed.
Because let’s be honest, this is who you are. It’s who you really want to be.
You want to believe that minorities are inferior, that treating women fairly is PC BS, that LGBTQ folks need to suck it up, that you can attack anyone who opposes you with vile, nasty comments and then laugh it off, and that it’s OK to be a greedy, self-centered, egotistical jackass.
This is what the ALGOP has become.
And the bottom of this deplorable hole apparently doesn’t exist.
