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Joey Kennedy: Alabama is Full of Grinches this Holiday Season, Still Defending HB 56 Immigration Law

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joey kennedyIt’s almost Christmastime…unless you’re in Alabama.  Across the Yellowhammer State, government leaders are still too busy defending the HB 56 extremist immigration law to really start thinking about “the reason for the season.”

Our good friend Joey Kennedy posted this blog at the Birmingham News today, reminding Alabama’s Grinches what the spirit of Christmas really means.  We wanted to share it with you:

A group of Alabama’s religious leaders asked Gov. Robert Bentley to support repeal of the state’s hideous immigration law. It took Bentley’s office about a nanosecond to respond: Nope. Can’t do it. Bah! Humbug!

Yes, Christmastime also is a time for giving, and as Bentley confirmed in snubbing the religious leaders, Alabama wants to give undocumented residents as much trouble as possible.

Merry Christmas. And have an unhappy New Year! (You’re a mean one, Mr. Grinch!)

If we can’t muster even a tad of grace during the time of Jesus’ birth celebration, we are in trouble. Christ is the symbol of grace. You know, love your neighbor, don’t throw stones, turn the other cheek and all that…

But the prayer is unanswered. No courage; no leadership. Instead, there was a vague pledge to work with lawmakers to “ensure that Alabama has not only the nation’s most effective law, but one that is fair and just, promotes economic growth, preserves jobs for those in Alabama legally, and can be enforced effectively and without prejudice.”

As this discriminatory law (as determined after a hearing before U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson) has shown already, those goals are irreconcilably at odds. We can’t promote economic growth while arresting workers visiting our international auto plants. The law can’t be enforced without prejudice when it focuses on one specific ethnic group more than any other. ‘Fair’ and ‘just’ are just trite words used by politicians when they’re too stubborn to admit they’re wrong and made a mistake. “Unfair” and “unjust” are what’s left in the wake of HB56…

The religious leaders who appealed to Bentley have already been the target of vicious written attacks by intolerant posters on these blogs. They’ll no doubt get more, because they had the gall to ask for compassion and kindness during the one time of the year it should be easiest to give. 

But not Bentley. Nor Scott Beason nor Micky Hammon. Not Mike Hubbard nor Del Marsh nor probably most Alabama lawmakers for that matter.  If these are the “Alabama values” we proudly, stubbornly hold up for the world to see, even during Christmas, we have earned our mangled reputation.

Bah, humbug indeed.