BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Alabama politics are at a low point even by Alabama standards. Three top elected officials are embroiled in scandal or facing removal from office, while a former governor serves time in federal prison on a corruption conviction.
Chief Justice Roy Moore was suspended from his job Friday and faces possible ouster over his attempts to block gay marriage following the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that effectively legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. It’s familiar territory for the Republican Moore, a Christian conservative who was previously removed from the same position in 2003 over a Ten Commandments monument and easily won re-election later.
Meanwhile, fellow Republicans tried to remove Gov. Robert Bentley by impeachment in the just-ended legislative session over a sexually charged scandal involving a top political aide, and an investigation continues. At the same time, GOP House Speaker Mike Hubbard awaits a state trial on 23 felony ethics charges that could result in his removal.
All in all, it’s some of the worst of times for Republicans who promised to clean up state government after seizing control from Democrats who dominated for generations.
PHILADELPHIA – An Ivy League professor said his flight was delayed because a fellow passenger thought the math equations he was writing might be a sign he was a terrorist.
Menzio said he was flying from Philadelphia to Syracuse on Thursday night and was solving a differential equation related to a speech he was set to give at Queen’s University in Ontario, Canada. He said the woman sitting next to him passed a note to a flight attendant and the plane headed back to the gate. Menzio, who is Italian and has curly, dark hair, said the pilot then asked for a word and he was questioned by an official.
Menzio said he explained what he had been doing and the flight took off soon afterward.
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama said Saturday that the country is “a better place today” than when he graduated from college more than 30 years ago, citing his historic election as “one indicator of how attitudes have changed.”
But gaps persist, he told Howard University’s class of 2016, citing racism and inequality.
In a commencement speech, Obama said there were no black CEOs of Fortune 500 companies and few black judges when Columbia University awarded him a bachelor’s degree in 1983.
“When I was a graduate, the main black hero on TV was Mr. T. Rap and hip-hop were counter-culture,” Obama said. “Now (“Scandal” and “Grey’s Anatomy” producer) Shonda Rhimes owns Thursday night and Beyoncé runs the world.”
Associated Press
