Several years ago, I wrote a column critical of Jeffrey Epstein getting a lenient deal in his original sentencing. I got angry replies, including someone in politics who informed me how ignorant I was, and that there was nothing wrong with such a mild sentence. It’s why I’ve been a little gun-shy about writing another column calling for more investigations of Epstein.
The week of Independence Day, the U.S. Senate took on the tall order of passing President Trump’s sweeping domestic policy package—the One Big Beautiful Bill. After more than 26 hours of voting, the Senate passed the bill, which was then sent to the House of Representatives for final passage. On July 4, President Trump signed it into law.
For the last few years after every Civic Group or Chamber banquet I spoke to, I would typically open the floor for questions and invariably the most prominent inquiry was who is going to run for Governor in 2026.
As early as last Thanksgiving, there were smoke signals coming out of Washington that our popular Senior Senator, Tommy Tuberville, was going to forgo an easy re-election jaunt to a second, six-year term in the United States Senate, to run for Governor of Alabama in 2026. The coveted Governor’s office was going to be open because Governor Kay Ivey could not run for another term. Kay will have served as Governor longer than anyone in state history, other than George Wallace, when her decade long tenure ends in January of 2027.
It’s almost time to go to the polls again. This time ballots will be cast in towns and cities to select mayors, council members and, in some cases, boards of education members.
As I write this, the House and Senate are rushing to pass what’s become known as “The Big Beautiful Bill.” There’s resistance to even a Senate reading of the nearly 1,000-page piece of legislation. The richest get thousands of dollars in tax breaks, the poor will lose over $1,500 each, and the bill increases the budget deficit by trillions of dollars. But there are solutions.
In the summer of 1974, the Watergate scandal was raging as Congressional hearings revealed the shady dealings of the “plumbers” who had done President Nixon’s bidding for him: dirty deeds such as breaking into the office of Daniel Ellsberg’s psychiatrist (Ellsberg had been a whistleblower with the release of the Pentagon Papers); secretly recording every conversation on an elaborate tape system in the White House; and, of course, the infamous break-in at the Watergate office building, home to the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee.
“Liberty, when it begins to take root, is a plant of rapid growth,” George Washington once said.
As Americans find themselves dragged into yet another Middle East conflict, it’s worth looking at how we wound up here, the role of Israel’s Prime Minister and his political problems, the impact of Hamas and how this has all increasingly undermined the American people’s support for Israel, as well as Israeli frustration with their regime.
Last year, Alabama became the 11th state in the nation to pass a universal school choice bill. We established the CHOOSE Act to give more Alabama families the ability to CHOOSE the education that best suits their own child, plain and simple.
