If I have had the chance to talk to you over the last couple of weeks, odds are that I have shared this dandy of a campaign promise. Yes, I have been smitten with ironic Tim James fever. But can you blame me? The man is a walking, campaigning punch line.
The ad is a liberal's dream come true. James plays into many of the stereotypes that liberals have about southern conservatives. His thick southern drawl, pandering to xenophobic voters, condescending delivery, and emotional appeal to "common business sense" all are stereotypes mocked by liberals and news satire like SNL and the Onion.
But James is tapping into more than just stereotypes about southern Conservatives. In 1990, Alabama voted on a Constitutional amendment establishing English as the only official language of Alabama. The good citizens of Alabama voted overwhelmingly in favor--it received 88% of the vote. However those pesky lawyers intervened and a series of lawsuits ensued culminating in a 1998 US Supreme Court case ruling that only the Alabama Governor could determine whether or not to make languages available in English only.
However, Governor Bob Riley chose not to do this. Concerns over Federal transportation funds conditioned on multi-lingual drivers exams funds derailed the application of the Constitutional amendment.
So it does appear that, if elected, James could easily make the executive decision to use English-only exams. But it would probably cost Alabama Federal funding. As a business man, does that make sense?
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Friday, May 7, 2010
Messersmith at the Cedar Cultural Center (file under chamber pop)
I had a chance to see local Jeremy Messermith play a packed show at the Cedar Cultural Center tonight. In case anyone wondered about the influences on Jeremy Messersmith's new album The Reluctant Graveyard, those questions were answered by the replica-McCartney bass and an encore performance of "Nowhere Man."
The new albums contains some of his strongest work. Always the able songsmith, this installment finds him scoring a string quartet and horns as well as the traditional guitar/bass/drums/piano model. The string sounded their finest on "John the Determinist," this album's Elanor Rigby. The live quartet brought out a depth and fullness of sound which I the album didn't fully capture. Other standout performances included "Franklin Ave" and "Lazy Bones."
Messermith seems to have reached a steady following. The crowd nervously sang along to the choruses of fan favorites "Novocaine" and "Great Times" and Jeremy was called back on stage for an encore (the first time that I saw him called for one).
Messermith started the set with "Novocaine." He played material from all three of his LPs and finished the set with an acoustic rendition of "Miracles."
Messersmith kicks off his 12 gig May tour tomorrow in Sioux Falls. If you are interested in his music check out his website. He has listings for his shows, streams all three albums and lets you download them at a price that you choose.
The new albums contains some of his strongest work. Always the able songsmith, this installment finds him scoring a string quartet and horns as well as the traditional guitar/bass/drums/piano model. The string sounded their finest on "John the Determinist," this album's Elanor Rigby. The live quartet brought out a depth and fullness of sound which I the album didn't fully capture. Other standout performances included "Franklin Ave" and "Lazy Bones."
Messermith seems to have reached a steady following. The crowd nervously sang along to the choruses of fan favorites "Novocaine" and "Great Times" and Jeremy was called back on stage for an encore (the first time that I saw him called for one).
Messermith started the set with "Novocaine." He played material from all three of his LPs and finished the set with an acoustic rendition of "Miracles."
Messersmith kicks off his 12 gig May tour tomorrow in Sioux Falls. If you are interested in his music check out his website. He has listings for his shows, streams all three albums and lets you download them at a price that you choose.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Franky's Back! Twins Win!
The Twins clobbered the Cleveland Indians today, pounding out twenty hits en route to an 8-3 victory this afternoon. Although his three runs raised his ERA to 1.50, Fransisco "Franchiso" Liriano pitched seven strong innings, striking out 9, to get the W.
After sitting out the 2007 season with Tommy Johns surgery and a disappointing years in 2008 and 2009 which saw him splitting time between the majors and AAA, Frankie has returned to the form that made him a contender for the 2006 Cy Young and rookie of the year.
Liriano's high-90s fastball and devastating slider make him the only real power pitcher in the Twins' rotation. He has been the surprise of the Twins starters as Opening Day Starter Scott Baker and Nick Blackburn, both sinkerballers, have struggled to keep the ball low at times and have let a lot of pitches end up in the left field bleachers.
Although he shows no signs of waring down, Liriano has never opened thirty games a season. If the Twins are to make it past the first round of the playoffs, they will need Liriano to continue his dominance throughout the summer and down the stretch.
An interesting note of Twins trivia, many of you may know this, Franchiso came to the Twins as a minor-leaguer from the Giants as well as all-world closer Joe Nathan and erstwhile starter Boof Bonser in exchange for half of a season of A.J. Pierzinski's catching and hitting services. This is just part of the Twins' long history of stealing through trades. See generally the demise of Chuck Knoblauch vs. Eric Milton/Christian Guzman or Carlos Gomez vs. J.J. Hardy.
After sitting out the 2007 season with Tommy Johns surgery and a disappointing years in 2008 and 2009 which saw him splitting time between the majors and AAA, Frankie has returned to the form that made him a contender for the 2006 Cy Young and rookie of the year.
Liriano's high-90s fastball and devastating slider make him the only real power pitcher in the Twins' rotation. He has been the surprise of the Twins starters as Opening Day Starter Scott Baker and Nick Blackburn, both sinkerballers, have struggled to keep the ball low at times and have let a lot of pitches end up in the left field bleachers.
Although he shows no signs of waring down, Liriano has never opened thirty games a season. If the Twins are to make it past the first round of the playoffs, they will need Liriano to continue his dominance throughout the summer and down the stretch.
An interesting note of Twins trivia, many of you may know this, Franchiso came to the Twins as a minor-leaguer from the Giants as well as all-world closer Joe Nathan and erstwhile starter Boof Bonser in exchange for half of a season of A.J. Pierzinski's catching and hitting services. This is just part of the Twins' long history of stealing through trades. See generally the demise of Chuck Knoblauch vs. Eric Milton/Christian Guzman or Carlos Gomez vs. J.J. Hardy.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)