Right-Wing Blogger Humiliates A Nine-Year-Old Alabama School Child

Cliff Sims of "Yellow Hammer Politics" photo credit: POLITICO The Arena

*Updated 4/16
Kids are off limits in political discourse. Leave them alone.

That’s a universally accepted rule of our society, usually followed by Democrats and Republicans alike. Both sides can point to instances where it hasn’t been respected, but there are almost no circumstances where children of a tender age are criticized – particularly for an act as seemingly benign as writing to their legislative representative.

Cliff Sims, the 28-year-old ‘GOP boy wonder’ who maintains what he describes as a ‘lofty perch’ over Alabama through his site “Yellow Hammer Politics,” does not adhere to the old adage of ‘kids are off limits.’ That self-serving description is puzzling considering the fact that he’s, chronologically speaking, barely beyond the angst of teenage silliness.

Perhaps he hasn’t transitioned properly into maturity, and maybe we’d be willing to cut him a little slack if he wasn’t as cocksure of his self-anointed status as a “Renaissance man in the making” and considers himself damned important and “in the know” on the Alabama political scene.

He isn’t. So we won’t.

Spitting out press releases and talking points isn’t journalism. If it was, Xerox machines and Mynah birds would be news writers.

Young Master Sims published a blog entry on April 9th entitled “Alabama Liberals Using Elementary Children to Fight Their Battles.” The brief article contained a copy of a letter allegedly written by a nine-year-old student from Vestavia Hills West Elementary school. The letter was addressed and sent to long-time Alabama State Senator Jabo Waggoner-R (not Cliff Sims).

“Of course, as with almost every other pro-economic development piece of legislation, the Alabama Education Association has fought it every step of the way.”  Sims writes, and then says:

However, this past week, the HB 159/160 opposition took their efforts to a pathetic new low by making elementary children fight their PR battle for them. Numerous legislators have received letters from children that include sentences like, “Please don’t let the government take money away from my school” (a frequently used mischaracterization of the bill) and my personal favorite, “I wish I could trust the government to take care of me.” His blog then offers a photo of hands holding a letter written on school note paper. Sims goes on:

“The following letter was sent to Sen. Jabo Waggoner and Rep. Jack Williams by a 9-year-old little girl this past week. I’ve blurred her name to protect her identity.”

A “received stamp” appears at the top left corner of the letter. We do not know if the stamp is the same one that the Alabama State House uses as a matter of course, or if it is some generic stamp one might find anywhere. The identity of the smallish fingers holding the letter can’t possibly belong to the child, so we assume they are the dirty little digits of a Yellow Hammer troublemaker, who has blurred the signer’s name, but failed to remove the letter writer's school and grade, which leaves some kid out there very close to being identified.

Vestavia Hills is not a bastion of liberal ideals by any stretch of the imagination. Finding anyone, let alone a school child, who would parrot the line "I hope the government takes care of me" in the tiny kingdom of the "Little Rebels" has about the same odds of winning a Mega Millions lottery prize.

Sims knows this, and so does Senator Waggoner. Right-wing catch phrases just aren't part of a young child's vocabulary, which casts doubt on the authenticity of the letter in our humble opinions, but if you're going to use the letter to make a public point then criticism of the action is more than fair game.

Additionally, we do have a few questions about the intentions involved and why Sims chose to toss a little moldy political hay at the child's expense:

• Who gave him access this letter? 

• Did he have the permission of the letter writer to publish the letter? 

• Why is he reading legislators mail? 

• Did he ever reflect for a nanosecond about his sources and their motives?

Or is he like a school-aged brat who shouts out naughty words in the schoolyard to get the grownups attention without comprehending what he is actually saying? Whatever his agenda was, it’s over the line noxious abuse to go into a child’s correspondence and attribute things that aren’t there. 

Unless he interviewed the child and her parents he has no way of knowing where the letter was penned. He alludes to the letter being written in class, probably the plot (in his mind at least) by one of those 'evil, socialist teachers' who belong to the ALGOP dubbed 'Spawn of Satan' Alabama Education Association (AEA).

(We acknowledge that the AEA has had its share of self-inflicted controversy over the years, and remain hopeful they've learned some lessons from their past actions. That said, the Republicans target them for obliteration solely on their democratic-leaning voting block. As Senator Waggoner himself once said about Alabama Democrats: "I'd like to drive them out of existence forever.")

That’s the same organization, not a union, that Rep Darrell Issa’s House Committee conveniently decided to lean on for their policies regarding teacher’s contributions and how those monies are used. Isn’t it amazing that all the way from Washington, Mr. Issa, unprompted and completely out of the blue, decided to send a letter to the AEA, based on a complaint the FEC investigated and dismissed in 2004?

Cliff Sims (or Mr. Issa) can’t be bothered with that important fact: the FEC dismissed the complaint. 

(Sims also had access to Mr. Issa's letter to the AEA and published it on his site.)

Instead, he turns his attention to a school child and the contents of their letter in an effort to bolster the state Republicans American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) inspired legislation for Charter Schools.

That is what the letter refers to. It has nothing to do with HB 159/160. Those equally bad bills have to do with ‘economic development,’ and in essence allow a business to keep their employees income tax credits, without their consent (the same basis the FEC complaint centered around) to apply for job expansion.

The Charter School legislation proposed by the state's Republican lawmakers will drain money from Alabama’s ailing public school systems, and that’s the main point the child made in the letter, along with “I love my school.”

School children don’t care about economic development.

What they (and their parents) care about is where they spend eight hours of their days, nine months of the year, and if that place is a flourishing forest of ideas that cultivate children to a better future or a barren wasteland of neglect that holds them back due to intentional (and sometimes corruptible) bad political decisions.

Proponents of education reform can find plenty of examples to buttress either side of the education debate, however, assigning real reform to a corporate-based profit model, as Charter Schools are, is wrong-headed on its face.

Alabama has consistently ranked at the bottom nationally in education not due to a pervasive liberal agenda - greed, corruption and apathy have inflicted more harm to our education system than any identifiable culprit Sims and his Republican minions can point to.

But that doesn't stop them from trying.

Whoever annotated the child's letter “Re: HB 159/160” didn’t bother to read it, because it’s impossible to connect the contents with those bills. Sims is equally remiss by blurting it out on his blog and proving himself to be no smarter than a 5th grader.

If the letter is authentic, what does it say about Alabama’s senior state senator, who’s a grandfather and great-grandfather to many offspring himself? We don’t imagine he would be pleased to see one of his own children’s or grandchildren's correspondence used in such an obviously partisan political purpose.

Shame on you Senator Waggoner, if you, and Rep. Jack Williams, had any hand in this disgusting ploy.

As for young Sims, clearly he’s been studying diligently at the school of nasty Alabama politics and stayed after hours for extra credit from the headmasters. This time, he went too far – miles out of the bounds of decency in fact.

It's political child abuse to expose and malign a private communication as Sims did. 

Leave the kids alone.

*Update - Cliff Sims has since removed the child's letter from his website with this explanation: 

[Editor's note: I removed the letter at the request of the child's mother who sent me this email: "This is a letter written by my child. You DO NOT have permission to post it on your web site. I want it removed from your web site immediately!"]

In place of the image of the letter (which was our source for the linked image we captured), Sims placed a stock picture of an adult female's hand over a young child's in a clear attempt to convey a 'forced' letter.

Senator Waggoner's office has finally 'responded' regarding the letter and Sims' assertions, but the response was defensive and odd given the generic question that was asked.  Our caller made no mention of the letter and asked this:

"I would like to ask a general question about the type of stamp used to mark correspondence received by you on behalf of Senator Waggoner - can you tell me what it is?

Response: "I don't know how that letter was leaked, and we are working on it. I can tell you that the Senator is most unhappy about that."

The caller, again, never mentioned the letter. 

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Governor Bentley "Fires Back" at NY Times Article on Alabama's 'ALEC Styled' Anti-Immigration Law

Updated 11/17
Alabama Governor Robert Bentley sat for an interview with Fox News Channel's Megyn Kelley this afternoon to respond to a November 13th NYT article about Alabama's HB 56 passed into law earlier this year. Alabama's law was modeled after Arizona's anti-immigrant law and the same xenophobic mindset was present in both state's laws from the shadowy group called ALEC.

The Fox News interview with Kelley revealed that Decatur Utilities has been cutting off electric, gas, water and sewer service to immigrant families under the guise of following HB 56. Huntsville Utilities is set to follow suit:

The human toll of the policy could be devastating, said Stephen Stetson, a policy analyst for Alabama Arise. He heard about DU’s policy Saturday while listening to a radio station playing Christmas music.
“I’m listening to these songs about charity and compassion,” Stetson said. “It struck me as a cruel and ironic policy as we head into the coldest months of the year.”

The governor feigned ignorance of that fact (the story came out 6 days ago) and repeated over and over that HB 56 "is not racist." He goes on to say that "if the federal government would do their job we wouldn't have to pass these kinds of bills."

It's compelling to note that Governor Bentley considers himself a man of God. He's bragged about being a deacon in his church and labels himself one of the compassionate Christians the state GOP party defines itself by. If the law, as he claims is not racist (debatable), then at the very least it is completely heartless, an economic disaster and utterly devoid of compassion:

“People who have their power cut off are going to be among the most disadvantaged,” he said. “It’s kicking them when they are down.”
He worried about the health ramifications of the policy and the impact it would have on immigrants’ ability to care for their children, many of whom are U.S. citizens.

“Opponents of the law see it as self-evident that the element of human tragedy is a sign the law is defective. They need to remember the law’s supporters see it differently,” Stetson said. “It’s designed to make life more difficult. By destroying households and families, it’s doing that.”

The highly controversial (and equally religious) main sponsor of HB 56, Senator Scott Beason, lost his committee position earlier today according to a press release put out this morning by Senate President Pro Tempore Del Marsh-R. Beason was given the opportunity to resign his post and he refused to do so resulting in the Senate Committee on Assignments ousting him from his powerful position.

Beason's replacement, Senator Jabo Waggoner-R, is another story of corruption out and corruption in that we''ll cover soon. In the meantime, the passage of HB 56 is widely viewed as the harshest anti-immigration bill in the country, and we believe Governor Bentley didn't do the state's tarnished image any luster by signing it.

In the following interview, Bentley comes across as meek and unable to intelligently articulate a credible argument for what he did when he signed that law. It is a law that was straight out of the ALEC legislative handbook. Kansas Republican Kris Kobach conceived Alabama's law in a turkey blind in Kansas before handing it off to Senator Beason.

Kobach (and ALEC) were also the forces behind Arizon'a anti-immigration law and many of the voter ID laws across America:

Kansas Republican Kris Kobach, who along with ALEC itself helped draft Arizona’s anti-immigration law, has warned of “illegally registered aliens.” ALEC’s magazine, Inside ALEC, featured a cover story titled “Preventing Election Fraud” following Obama’s election. Shortly afterward, in the summer of 2009, the Public Safety and Elections Task Force adopted voter ID model legislation. And when midterm elections put Republicans in charge of both chambers of the legislature in twenty-six states (up from fifteen), GOP legislators began moving bills resembling ALEC’s model.

*Update: (Kris Kobach is helping to "coordinate the state's legal strategy" for defending HB 56 and is accusing the DOJ of "overplaying it's hand" by demanding enrollment records to see how Alabama HB 56 has affected schoolchildren. Our question is: Who's paying Mr. Kobach and from what fund source?)

Where are we going in Alabama Governor Bentley and who (and what) is leading the way? Upright elected officials of high character and ethics, or men (and women) who are following the orders of the ever elusive ALEC organization? We're continuing to ask the question your office refuses to answer: Are you a member of ALEC?

It's not a tough question. Why won't your office answer it?

The same question to you, Senator Waggoner, now the head of legislation in the state legislature, are you still a member of ALEC, and how will that affect your positions on what legislation comes up and passes into law?

Alabamians deserve some transparency and answers to what the "new republicans" agenda is based in. Governor, you promised the citizens of this state "complete transparency" from your administration and that you would "not be beholden to lobbyists or special interests" during your 2010 gubernatorial campaign:

"The people of Alabama deserve a Governor who is responsive to the needs of all the people, not just the well connected.
....ensure complete transparency in the efforts of special interests to influence public policy so that voters can decide whether their representatives are serving their needs, or the needs of campaign benefactors.
I have never been, nor will I ever be, beholden to lobbyists or special interests;
I will make our state's government one of the most transparent in the country by creating a strong executive branch code of ethics for myself, all cabinet officials, and our staffs."

We believe it's time for you to stand and deliver on those promises you made to Alabamians when you stumped for our vote. From your actions in office so far, what we're seeing is you are willing to tell us what you think we want to hear, meanwhile, you're going along with ALEC's agenda and believing that no one will catch on to who you really serve.

Matthew 7:16--By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?

The jigs up Dr. Dr. Bentley. Consider yourself caught and "ALEC Exposed."

*Update 11/17: Bloomberg Business Names Alabama's Biggest Loser

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