Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

It is possible to do the right thing without the promise of a cookie.

We can show the world that autocracy can be defeated.

He wakes up lying, and he lies all day.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

How stupid are these people?

Fear or fury? The choice is ours.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

Shut up, hissy kitty!

They are not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

I desperately hope that, yet again, i am wrong.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

This really is a full service blog.

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

We can’t confuse what’s necessary to win elections with the policies that we want to implement when we do.

Trump’s cabinet: like a magic 8 ball that only gives wrong answers.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

If a good thing happens for a bad reason, it’s still a good thing.

Republicans: slavery is when you own me. freedom is when I own you.

I have other things to bitch about but those will have to wait.

Celebrate the fucking wins.

Dumb motherfuckers cannot understand a consequence that most 4 year olds have fully sorted out.

They punch you in the face and then start crying because their fist hurts.

You are here: Home / ALEC Exposed

Reader Interactions

135Comments

  1. 1.

    sharl

    Saw that a couple days ago – it IS some good local journalism. Hopefully that Atlanta TV news piece will get a lot of attention.

  4. 4.

    Allan

    Yes, when I saw this it occurred to me how much it would shame most network news reporters, if they had the capacity for it.

  6. 6.

    Valdivia

    Excellent reporting. I loved that euphemism “scholarship” for money given to lawmakers to attend ALEC junkets. Wish this kind of report was done in each state where crazy bills get passed every year.

  8. 8.

    Kropadope

    Well, you gotta give it to ALEC and the Republicans. If the sausage making happens behind closed doors and not in Congress, there isn’t much opportunity to marshal opposition to awful bills, PLUS! they know ahead of time that it’s approved by their donors.

  9. 9.

    Valdivia

    What totally gets me: the people who yell states rights are outsourcing their governing to a national organization who drafts identical bills for all the states.

  12. 12.

    Kropadope

    @Valdivia: The only state right they support is the right of states to do their bidding. Look how the Rs in Congress pass laws to stop states from enacting laws that those Rs agree with. This phenomenon is more pervasive still when you look at how R-run state governments prevent towns/cities from making their own laws.

  14. 14.

    srv

    Conservatives meet and talk. Tinfoil News at 11. Meanwhile, Robert Kaplan has big ideas:

    It’s Time to Bring Imperialism Back to the Middle East

    Though imperialism is now held in disrepute, empire has been the default means of governance for most of recorded history, and the collapse of empires has always been messy business, whether in China and India from antiquity through the early 20th century or in Europe following World War I.
    …

  15. 15.

    Little Boots

    @srv:

    oh good friggin luck with all that.

    yes, wingnuts, go there, fight isis, be wingnuts for the cause.

  20. 20.

    Eric U.

    I wish there was a pie filter that only did political posts on facebook. If it has a breitbart or newsmax link, don’t show. Baby pictures, ok

  27. 27.

    Roger Moore

    @Valdivia:
    States’ Rights has never been anything but a whine about the federal government doing stuff they don’t like. Even when you go back to the days of slavery, the people who were crying loudest about States’ Rights were also the ones demanding a fugitive slave law that forced free states to enforce slavery whether they wanted to or not.

  28. 28.

    Little Boots

    @Roger Moore:

    would actually love to see some state, any state, tax the rich, seriously. watch states rights disappear from the wingnut vocabulary with a quickness.

  29. 29.

    gene108

    What sickens me, is if our legislators are going to be bribed to pass laws, they should at least demand some real money.

    3 legislators got $22k total to ban asbestos law suits.

    The ROI on that for industry must be mind bogglingly high.

    We do not just elect corporate whores, we elect cheap corporate whores.

  31. 31.

    Cervantes

    @srv:

    I hope you weren’t fooled by that headline. I don’t think much of Kaplan but the article does not say what you seem to think it does. Witness this excerpt:

    A new American president in 2017 may seek to reinstate Western imperial influence — calling it by another name, of course. But he or she will be constrained by the very collapse of central authority across the Middle East that began with the fall of Saddam Hussein and continued through the post-Arab Spring years. Strong Arab dictatorships across the region were convenient to American interests, since they provided a single address in each country for America to go to in the event of regional crises. But now there is much less of that. In several countries, there is simply no one in charge to whom we can bring our concerns. Chaos is not only a security and humanitarian problem, but a severe impediment to American power projection.

    Thus, the near-term and perhaps middle-term future of the Middle East will likely be grim.

  33. 33.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Kropadope:
    ‘State’s Rights’ is a good rallying cry for conservatism, because the bigger the population, the more inclusive. They are much more likely to be able to enforce their bigotries on a smaller scale, which is why they also love ‘communities’ so much. You know, small towns where everyone polices everyone else to keep out the freaks and freethinkers. But as you’ve noted, while ‘State’s Rights’ may usually work their way, when they need a bigger government to stomp on smaller ones that don’t accept their bigotries, they leap to it.

  34. 34.

    ms_canadada

    @Valdivia: It will take real boots on the ground to expose those bastards and their minions (traitors). I’m watching up here in Canada, and am starting to see some inroads by those ALEC ingrates in some communities. The Council of Canadians is watching and we will expose anyone involved with those bastard people.

  35. 35.

    Arclite

    @sharl:

    Saw that a couple days ago – it IS some good local journalism. Hopefully that Atlanta TV news piece will get a lot of attention.

    I watched CNN this past week, being stuck in a hotel. It’s nothing but entertainment:

    – Scary biker gangs shooting each other!
    – Scary black man murdered and burned down the house of a DC family!

  37. 37.

    Arclite

    If legislators don’t pay their own way, doesn’t this count as a gift?

    Congrats on these guys for committing an act of journalism.

  39. 39.

    schrodinger's cat

    @srv: Neo-cons have always been empire fan boys. Remember reading a similar piece by Niall Ferguson at the beginning of the Iraq misadventure. Seems like Kaplan has fantasies of becoming the Middle Eastern Robert Clive.

  41. 41.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @sharl:

    Saw that a couple days ago – it IS some good local journalism. Hopefully that Atlanta TV news piece will get a lot of attention.

    I think (will have to check) that I’m still a member in good standing of the Atlanta Press Club. They can make some noise, put forward the 11 Alive reporting and production team for recognition, and make sure local/area journalists know how significant a story this is. I’ll send an email tomorrow.

  43. 43.

    Arclite

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    I’ll send an email tomorrow.

    Might want to send actual mail too. Has more impact and notice since no one does it any longer.

  45. 45.

    tybee

    ah, yes. georgia politiks at its finest.

    i’ve had a drink or 12 at that same bar downtown.

    ALEC wasn’t buying. dammit.

  48. 48.

    mainmata

    I am fortunate to be the brother of two brothers who are both multiple times Pullitzer Prize winning journalists. One works for the Dallas Morning News and the other for Reuters in Singapore. All of us originally Pittsburghers and had excellent high school backgrounds that led to competitive colleges. Good journalism starts from working in the trenches but also having a solid educational background. One brother started at Stars and Stripes in Darmstadt but earned his first Pullitzer in a team investigating the ghettos of Bridgeport, CT. The other brother started the leading English language paper in Indonesia and just last year won Reuters first Pullitzer (on the plight of the Rohinga refugees). They are both no bullshit reporters who are also fluent in multimedia. Stick to the facts. The DC Pundit Circle are not real journos.

  52. 52.

    Kay

    @gene108:

    They begin to have a vote on what they’d like to do in the next state assembly session. And after the legislators have voted the companies get to vote and essentially they have a veto. If they don’t vote by at least 50 percent to approve a piece of legislation going forward, it doesn’t happen. If they think they do approve of it, it goes ahead and becomes a model bill, which is like a blueprint for a piece of legislation that ALEC wants to see spread across America.

  54. 54.

    jl

    Some nice journalistic busts in that video clip.

    This was pulled off by a local station? If so, it figures. Local news can still do some gutsy and very high quality work, unlike our hideously corrupt and incompetent national corporate press.

  57. 57.

    Linnaeus

    Anchorwoman: “This is just baffling.”

    No, not really.

    ETA: Which is not to say this isn’t good work on the part of the local station. More stations should do more work like this.

  60. 60.

    hoodie

    @gene108: No kidding. I’ve met some of these jackasses, and they’re every bit the corrupt little aluminum siding salesmen you’d expect them to be. They can be bought for next to nothing, and now they want to make their jobs full time in NC — with a full year’s pay. I guess they can’t stuff campaign funds directly into their pockets, so they’ll make their constituents pay them to have more opportunities for perks from lobbyists.

  61. 61.

    Major Major Major Major

    @srv:

    I guess since Omnes doesn’t stalk me anymore, you think you’ve been promoted.

    Well, I’ve got to hand it to you, that sentence is grammatically correct. Then again, so is “colorless green ideas sleep furiously.”

  62. 62.

    jl

    @hoodie: I remember reading about the Mike Royko. He wrote a hilarious and disgusting column full of outrage at how little it takes for local and state pols to sell out.

  64. 64.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Arclite:

    Well, I’ll start with phone call or email, and if something more formal is wanted, of course I’ll send a proper letter, in an envelope, with a stamp.

  66. 66.

    Germy Shoemangler

    LOS ANGELES — Legendary “Lawrence of Arabia” actor Omar Sharif is battling Alzheimer’s disease, his agent Steve Kenis confirmed to The Associated Press on Monday. No additional details were provided about the 83-year-old or his care. His son, Tarek Sharif, revealed the diagnosis in an interview with Spanish newspaper El Mundo on May 23. The Egyptian-born Sharif rose to international stardom with his role in the 1962 epic “Lawrence of Arabia”— Sharif’s first English-language film.

  68. 68.

    Germy Shoemangler

    I saw on the news today B.B. King’s daughter is calling his death a homicide.

  70. 70.

    Botsplainer

    @jl:

    Royko was a national goddamn treasure – an unabashed liberal army veteran who was utterly fearless. God, he despised conservatives.

    He’d have sliced Brooks and Friedman to bits.

  71. 71.

    Germy Shoemangler

    @Botsplainer:

    He’d have sliced Brooks and Friedman to bits.

    Agreed.

    Whenever I read about some fresh outrage, I wonder “what would Royko write about this?”

  72. 72.

    dww44

    @SiubhanDuinne: I do hope your efforts results in more visibility for this sort of reporting. Interestingly, my local CBS affiliate in the midstate showed this yesterday on their Sunday morning news show ahead of CBS Sunday Morning. I was gobsmacked that such a conservative TV station, never known for making political waves, had the nerve to broadcast this piece. This is exactly the sort of investigative journalism that we don’t have enough of. Kudos to 11 Alive.

  73. 73.

    jl

    @Botsplainer: “But, $200, now we’re talking REAL money for a Chicago alderman!”

    I think that column was written back in the 1970s or 1980s.
    So, I guess today, Royko would write. “But, $1000, now we’re talking REAL money for a Chicago alderman!”

    Edit: I am paraphrasing from memory. Royko wrote some great columns. Too bad I only read most of them after he was gone.

  78. 78.

    Linnaeus

    @Botsplainer:

    Royko was proof that you didn’t need to go to New York or Los Angeles to get incisive and often funny liberal commentary.

  81. 81.

    gene108

    Can you find out which state legislators are members of ALEC?

    If you can, I think it would be worth hammering about it come campaign time, with enough social media pressure to inform people about what is what, you might be able to clean house a little bit at a time.

  82. 82.

    Kropadope

    @gene108: If there isn’t an official registry, a person with more time on their hands than I have could cross-reference proposed bills with ALEC-sponsored legislation and find out that way.

  84. 84.

    Kropadope

    @efgoldman: No, they’ll allow it, but they like to mess with its finances to make it appear as a failure/force it to raise prices.

  87. 87.

    jl

    A nice moment for Memorial Day from Arizona.

    GOP state legislative goon is pestered by crummy students complaining about funding slashes for AZ higher education:

    ‘ That’s not how the meeting turned out, however. “She actually was pretty rude to him,” recalls Brooks, a fifth-year PhD student in second-language acquisition. According to all three students, Ward called Blessinger “entitled” and told him, “If you don’t like being here, other states have different programs for vets, and maybe you should go there.” ‘

    Bessinger is a veteran who has run through his GI Bill benefits, and is working as a TA, and holding down two pat time jobs to fulfill his dream of getting a PhD to help improve access to education among poor and other vets.

    Nice thought for Memorial Day. The GOP has turned into a fetid scum.

    This Is What Happens When You Slash Funding for Public Universities
    Michelle Goldberg, The Nation
    http://www.thenation.com/article/207697/gentrification-higher-ed

    Edit found via post at Lawyers Guns and Money blog.

  91. 91.

    jl

    @Little Boots: The AZ leg goon is Kelli Ward, august member of the august AZ state Senate.

    Can’t say the GOP is totally mean and stingy. They seem to be very happy that University of Arizona is raking in dough in catering to high income out of state students.

  93. 93.

    Debbie(aussie)

    Little Boots, thanks for the music. I’m not Omnes but I will send you some love {{{Deb}}}}
    Edit to change auto correct

  95. 95.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @jl: What are those “students” trying to accomplish in college? As you well know any knowledge you need can be found in the Bible. Ya don’t need any “college” or fancy degrees. You know I’m right.

  97. 97.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @Little Boots: See, that’s what happens when you don’t read your Bible enough. Ya think about and molest’n your sister, or worse yet…your brother.

  108. 108.

    Roger Moore

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    See, that’s what happens when you don’t read your Bible enough. Ya think about and molest’n your sister, or worse yet…your brother.

    Yeah, because nobody could get weird ideas about sex by reading the story of Lot.

  111. 111.

    Valdivia

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    oh that it is. probably the only part I enjoyed reading.

    יִשָּׁקֵנִי מִנְּשִׁיקוֹת פִּיהוּ, כִּי-טוֹבִים דֹּדֶיךָ מִיָּיִן

  113. 113.

    Valdivia

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    I don’t get to use my hebrew very often :)

    That’s from the very beginning

    Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth (I think the KJV translation is the same)

    Modern orthodox jews use the Song of Songs a lot in wedding ceremonies.

  114. 114.

    Tokyokie

    ALEC’s use of uniformed sheriff’s deputies as security sure strikes me as depriving the news team of their civil rights under color of law, which is an express violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. And ALEC hasn’t been able to revoke that one, yet. The reporter should have familiarized those goons of this salient fact and reminded them the act allows plaintiffs to sue those acting under color of law in both their official and private capacities and to collect treble damages. “Are you boys so stupid that you’d risk sacrificing your families’ well-being to make a few buck on the side acting as muscle for fascists?”

  115. 115.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Valdivia: I am not really sure why they decided to include something that reads like a John Wilmot poem in the Bible/Torah. Palate cleanser? Gratuitous nudity?

  116. 116.

    Valdivia

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    in my younger days when I was unfortunate enough to be around orthodox rabbis a lot I heard an explanation that it was really about the love of god for his people, the israelites, and that the physical descriptions are really about Jerusalem. Sounded too conveniently political to me. I personally think it was about gratuitous nudity (since they had already taken care of the sex and the violence).

    I am sure there are more modern readings of it, for example ny jewish feminists who say it gives women a more equal footing than the more legally oriented portions of the Torah.

  117. 117.

    jl

    @Valdivia: hey, wait. If everyone really understood the Bible like fundie Prots did, they would know that it is a very chaste celebration of the marriage between Christ and the Church. And so liable to naughty misinterpretation, that it should not be read.

    Sort of like Ecclesiastes, which God actually put in as a test to see if people could reckognize godlessness even if it was in the Bible. That book should be ignored. You are supposed to read Proverbs, except the ones about Lady Wisdom, which don’t count.

    The Bible is infallible and true! If you know how to read it right.

  118. 118.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Valdivia:

    and that the physical descriptions are really about Jerusalem.

    Eep?

    I personally think it was about gratuitous nudity (since they had already taken care of the sex and the violence).

    As I have said, I have only read the KJV, but It is beautifully written.

  119. 119.

    Valdivia

    @jl:

    basically yes, but it’s really about the jews and god. you know, the chosen people! :)

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    I wish I had paid attention so I could attemot some explanation, I just remember something about the hills. Ahem.

    Tongue now not firmly in cheek: it really is a beautiful poem. I don’t find hebrew a language that is easily sensual, and this is effortlessly so.

  120. 120.

    jl

    @Valdivia: Actully, I go with your wild guess that its about a hot babe and dude, nudity and sexyfuntime, at least as much as anything else. But I am obstinate, stiff necked and wicked.

    Edit: I well remember them thar hills too!

  125. 125.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Valdivia: Good for you… My family tradition comes from NE Puritans, yet, while I buy their idea that education is important for all; I am, at heart, a libertine, but one who thinks that people should clean up after themselves.

  126. 126.

    Valdivia

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    yes, three cheers for being a responsible libertine.
    The jewish/latino tradition is a little heavy handed so it was inevitable I would rebel (though my family were very supportive of my academic aspirations and me living my life out in the big wide world)

  127. 127.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Valdivia: When I was in OSC, I once received a “Safety Briefing” that resonated: Remember, no glove, no love.

  129. 129.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Valdivia: Well, it would have made more sense if I had typed OCS correctly at the beginning, but the point remains. Best safety briefing I ever got, besides “Just don’t sell shit to the Czechs.” Story to follow some day.

  130. 130.

    Valdivia

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    the closest I ever got to such a warning in Grad School was the “keep the door open when you go to office hours”, not that it made a difference since Professors and grad students always end up involved.

    Oh, I want to hear the Czech story. I can volunteer a story about how I ended up sleeping under a bridge with bedouins and a camel after spending a night in jail in Israel.

    Now I must to crash. Buenas noches Omnes.

  132. 132.

    PIGL

    @Germy Shoemangler: I am sorry to hear that, but even sorrier to see the ridiculous phrase “battling alzheimer’s disease”. It’s not something that can be battled; there are no forces to be marshalled, no skirmishes to be fought, no champion can gouge its eyes and crush its skull. It just kills, far too slowly, and waits until it’s taken away everything before it does.

  133. 133.

    Arclite

    Also, those coppers know where their bread is buttered. Just guns for hire, attack dogs, despite the fact that what goes on behind ALEC’s doors hurts them just as much.

  134. 134.

    Shantanu Saha

    The embedded video loses its audio feed a few seconds into the report. So I guess ALEC is doing its utter best to keep the reporting on it quiet.

  135. 135.

    polyorchnid octopunch

    @ms_canadada: You’re involved with the Council of Canadians?

    …and yeah, your point about ALEC and Canada is well taken. I mostly blame Presto Manning and his “Institute of Democracy” for that.

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