Larisa Alexandrovna
It's official, Alabama is the Soviet Union...
Posted April 5, 2008 | 10:24 PM (EST)
When I lived behind the iron curtain, my parents taught me never to talk anyone about anything. This caveat was not restricted to the typical warning given by regular parents to their regular children about the regular concerns of every day life.
No, the lecture I got, as did so many others like me, was a sober lecture given by Soviet parents to their Soviet children, who had to begin schooling in big brother's tactics at an early age. One wrong word could send an entire family to a work camp or prison. This was not the fear of over-protective parents, or even parents who have to live in a reality of constant Amber alerts blaring across their screen and fear that some sick, lone pedophile will abduct their child in broad daylight, as so often happens in the West these days. No, this was the reality of life under the Soviet regime, knowing that everything was watched, everyone was listening, no one could be trusted, and children were often the targets for inquiry into what their parents say behind closed doors. Friends were the next best thing, which may explain what we are about to hear out of the halls of the state legislature of Alabama.
Alabama is the Soviet Union
Although the whole of the United States appears to be collapsing into this type of model, Alabama in particular appears to be leaping in that direction at a faster pace. When I first blogged about the subpoenas that were served en masse to Democrats in the Alabama state legislature last month, it was crickets from across the blogs of both isles, the corporate press, and the general public. Now the New York Times has thankfully noticed this very brazen act of political intimidation and I hope that others might follow. Here is the news from Soviet Alabama today:
"MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- There is fear in the halls of the Alabama State House. Your colleague may be wired. Somebody may be watching you. An indictment looms.
After a dozen legislators received subpoenas one day last month in a criminal investigation, an atmosphere of paranoia and anxiety has descended on the gleaming white building that houses the State Legislature, many of its occupants say.
Legislators are sweeping their offices for bugs. Routine horse-trading for votes is stymied, for fear it could be misinterpreted. A wary lawmaker agrees to meet a reporter only in a wide-open parking lot. After-hours get-togethers are off.
The concern is a result of a long-running federal investigation into corruption within the state's system of two-year colleges that has led to guilty pleas on bribery and corruption charges by one state lawmaker and the system's former chancellor. The Birmingham News reported in 2006 that a quarter of the 140 members of the Legislature had financial ties to the college system, with most of the jobs or contracts going to lawmakers or their relatives. Recent reports indicate the number has grown to nearly a third of the Legislature."
more...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/larisa-alexandrovna/its-official-alabama-is-t_b_95260.html
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