In politics, no stars are falling on Alabama | ELAINE HARRIS SPEARMAN

Several states have been memorialized in songs; for instance, there's “Georgia on My Mind.” The song for Alabama is from many years ago. Most young people have probably never heard or want to hear “Stars Fell on Alabama” and the refrain. That’s all too bad because maybe they won’t have to. “Sweet Home Alabama” is the modern, upbeat homage to Alabama.

Stars from my point of view generally bespeak something wonderful to behold. From the star of Bethlehem to the modern usage of the word "star." There are no stars falling on Alabama. As I look at the Alabama Legislature, it has become a microcosm of the Republican-led U.S. Senate and the most radical speaker in U.S. history.

Mike Johnson, speaker of the House, made a trek to Mar-a-Lago following his star before our very eyes. Johnson was a major architect of the attempt to impede the peaceful transfer of power after his candidate lost the presidential election.

What is falling from the Republican-led U.S. Congress is 18th-century bullet points. Those bullet points are landing squarely on the heads of Alabama Legislature members, as well as the head of a great number of statewide elected officials.

More: ELAINE HARRIS SPEARMAN: Ask yourself, what really makes America great?

These people are assisting in maintaining Alabama’s lead in being the darling of comedians across the world. They assist those who might want to think that Alabama has outgrown some of its past into understanding that it has not and does not present a positive outlook for the future.

The elected officials on the state level seem to give little thought to how they make Alabama so uninviting to fair-minded people across the world.

The U.S. Congress, as it is presently configured, has been deemed the most unproductive in history, having done nothing to make the lives of American citizens better, or at least the very least, more livable. What did they spend their time and our money on? Let’s look at just a few. Attempts to impeach President Joe Biden with no facts or evidence to support such a time-waster. Attempts to impeach the head of Homeland Security, again with no supporting evidence or facts. Saddest of all, a continuing hunt-down of Hunter Biden, who is not a government employee.

All of this activity was purely revenge politics. No amount of this time-wasting can obliterate what Donald Trump has done to the Republican Party or America as a whole. This as their titular leader, Trump, and family profited from his presidency in foreign countries as a matter of record.

Much of this priority setting has slithered down to the Alabama Legislature and its elected officials. What do we offer Alabama residents and anyone who gives any thought to moving to this state? What about a bill that addresses an issue created by the Legislature? There is no evidence of “ballot harvesting.” Attempting to curtail absentee ballot assistance to the elderly, disabled and those who need help is so trickle-down from the Republican-led U.S. Congress.

More: ELAINE HARRIS SPEARMAN: Free speech has its limits, even on social media

What about the “school choice" bill? This bill is an end run around public school funding and education. On the one hand, the Alabama Legislature has passed the anti-diversity, equity and inclusion legislation, which mandates that no state funds be used for such programs. Yet this bill would allow parents qualifying for tax credits advance access to their state income tax credit (of up to $7,000 or $2,000, depending) each year through an education savings account. There is nothing that prevents misuse of the funds. What if the home-schoolers and private and so-called private schools teach wrongful, hate-driven matters?

It appears that the standards will not be uniform with those that are applicable to public schools. When a change to schooling occurs, public school teachers will become the ones responsible for those that have not been well taught.

The advocacy organizations are right to sue Alabama officials for their unconscionable behavior with the legislation that affects voting rights across the state. There should be no person in 2024 still battling for equal access to vote.

Legislators could have spent time and our money on real issues facing Alabama, such as Alabama being one of 10 states without Medicaid expansion. What about the fact that all over Alabama there are people living in abject poverty without proper sewage disposal or that rural healthcare is becoming extinct?

Alabama voters deserve better representation at the national and state level. District 2 offers the best opportunity for a facelift for Alabama. House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels and Mobile attorney Shomari Figures offer Alabama residents an opportunity for knowledgeable, honest and compassionate representation on the national level.

This given that all America faces the realization that Alabama’s two Republican U.S. senators joined in filing an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Trump v. Norma Anderson ― the high-profile case over whether Colorado Supreme Court can keep the former president off the state's 2024 ballot.

Note the hypocrisy of it all. We watched in real-time as Trump said abortion rights should be left to the states. Why not whether a man who spawned an insurrection at the nation’s capital should be on the states' ballot as ruled by the highest court in the state?

Elaine Harris Spearman, Esq., a Gadsden native, is an attorney and is the retired legal advisor to the comptroller of the City of St. Louis. The views expressed are her own. 

This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: Despite song, no stars are falling on Alabama | ELAINE HARRIS SPEARMAN