I know many of you are tired of hearing about the Cracker Barrel thing, but there’s much hidden in this story that explains a lot about America right now, and we need to pay attention. 1/ Let’s start with reality. Cracker Barrel is following the lifecycle we’ve seen with many chains (Looking at you, Red Lobster): Popular idea -> IPO -> rapid expansion -> market saturation -> cost cutting -> quality decline -> customer dissatisfaction -> bankruptcy. 2/

I just confirmed with the Ala. Secretary of State's office that the Alabama Democratic Party hasn't submitted the paperwork yet to put Kamala Harris on the ballot in Alabama. Today is the deadline. The DNC virtual roll call was more than two weeks ago, making her the nominee. I'll call foul on the ALGOP when they're to blame, but from the outset, it has been Alabama Republicans doing Alabama Democrats' jobs for them to get their candidate on the ballot. 2.

Alabama must pay $5.25 in plaintiffs' legal fees in a redistricting case the state is still fighting. 1/ al.com/news/2024/08/a… Alabama has agreed to pay $3 million to the Milligan plaintiffs. And $2.25 million to the Caster plaintiffs. However ... 2/

In 2022, I busted Alabama GOP chairman John Wahl voting with an ID he made himself. Recently I learned TWO separate Alabama secretaries of state forwarded voter fraud complaints to prosecutors. Buckle up for the 🧵. al.com/news/2024/06/a… In 2022, I got a tip that a Limestone County poll worker had accused Alabama GOP chairman John Wahl and his family of violating Alabama’s voter ID law. (2/15)

Fourteen years ago a spreadsheet landed in my inbox. It showed BSC, despite the administration's claims, was bleeding to death. Marietta Cameron was a whistleblower and her story comes with important lessons about courage and the need to support those who stand up when no one else will. (Thread) al.com/news/2024/04/b… 2. In 2010, BSC blamed a deficit and the need for cuts on a miscalculation in financial aid. It said the deficit was $10m.

The Alabama Archives invited an LGBTQ historian to speak. Now Alabama lawmakers are trying to fire the Archives' trustees and replace them with political appointments.
🧵 al.com/opinion/2024/0…
2. The Invisible Histories Project collects stories and archival material about LGBTQ people in the South. In June, the Alabama Department of Archives and History invited one of the group's founders to speak. All hell broke loose.

After being exposed in a blackface scandal, Alabama Gov. Ivey promised to do better when it came to race. Her record has been anything but. 🧵al.com/news/2023/04/t… Ivey had denied having participated in any such thing, but three years ago archivists at Auburn University discovered a recording of her talking about it.

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al.com/news/2019/08/g…

It's time to dispel the notion Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey is a good person. A thread. 🧵 Some folks like to call Kay Ivey "meemaw." I don't call her that. First, because it's sexist. Second, because my grandmothers would have helped people in need and not let people die if they could have done something to stop it.

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How did Alabama get like this? As questions go, it's generally more of a statement than a genuine inquiry. But in 2021, I decided I wanted to answer it. 🧵 The legislative session that year had been particularly brutal, with nasty sniping across partisan/racial lines, and we hadn't even gotten to the flood of CRT bills yet.

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Growing up in Alabama gives you a choice — believe what you’ve been told or question everything. 🧵al.com/news/2022/12/a… I grew up hearing that Reconstruction was just a bunch of predatory Yankee carpetbaggers and self-loathing scalawags pillaging the South. As it turns out, their goal was somewhat different.

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The 155 delegates came together under the banner of election integrity in Alabama. (Sound familiar?) They promised to end voter fraud — their own. 🧵al.com/news/2022/12/t… 2. In the 1890s, Alabama saw something completely new — a biracial political coalition fighting for working people. The ruling class, mostly south Alabama planters and north Alabama industrialists, would make sure nothing like that ever happened again.

Monuments have gotten a lot of attention, but this is the place where Alabama introduces its children to the Confederate myths of chivalry and valor (but not slavery). Let's take a look around.🧵al.com/news/2022/11/a… The last time I came here, among the school kids who pass through it every year, I left with a tiny Confederate flag.

The First White House of the Confederacy isn’t just a house museum. It’s a state-owned and operated shrine to Jefferson Davis.

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Last year, a source told me to look at a peculiar line item in the Alabama General Fund budget — $25,000 for the “Inzer House.” What I found would set me off on a journey. 🧵al.com/news/2022/11/a… It didn’t take long to see what was so out of the ordinary. Here was a legislative appropriation to a small museum in Ashville, Ala. with a Confederate battle flag flying out front.

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In at least two elections, Alabama's Republican Party chairman has voted with a photo ID he made himself. The state's top election official now says it wasn't a valid voter ID. 🧵
al.com/news/2022/10/a… For years, John Wahl and his family have had run-ins with Limestone County poll workers. When one of those poll workers tried to complain to state and GOP officials, Wahl asked county officials to remove the poll worker.

2. al.com/news/2022/09/a…

Most of Alabama GOP chairman John Wahl’s extended family have been blocked from voting because they won’t show photo ID.
In a 2016 deposition, his brother explained why: They consider photo ID the mark of the beast foretold in Revelation. 🧵 al.com/news/2022/09/a… John Wahl has been able to vote, but in recent elections, the GOP chairman has used an unusual photo ID that looks like it might be a state employee ID badge, but it’s not.

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al.com/news/2022/09/a…

Alabama GOP chairman refused to show a license to vote. When a poll worker fussed, the chair pushed to have him removed as a poll worker. Now he's not a poll worker anymore. 🧵al.com/news/2022/09/a… About three months ago, I first learned about Clyde Martin, a Limestone County poll worker who had been let go after he complained to state and party officials that the Alabama GOP party chairman and his family frequently refused to show photo ID at the polls.

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There's something bugging me about all the old farts bragging about how they paid their own way through school: Most of them didn't.

A thread ... 🧵 al.com/news/2022/08/s… As the cost of higher ed has risen, most states have contributed a smaller share at public colleges and universities. As a consequence, the burden has shifted from government to students and their families. This is especially true in Alabama. shef.sheeo.org/state-profile/…

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Kay Ivey's first public appearance in three weeks was weird. And her rehearsed answer (which some folks thought was video on a loop) raises more questions.

She promised transparency. Now let's have it. al.com/news/2022/08/a… Here's the video from @WVTM13. Her office needs to explain what's going on.

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https://twitter.com/i/status/1561821642573185024

For the last week, we have been trying to run down rumors of Gov. Kay Ivey's health taking a bad turn. She has made no public appearances and her office refuses to say where she is. 🧵al.com/news/2022/08/w… Beginning last Thursday, I sent direct questions to her spokesperson. No answers. I called her chief of staff and left a voicemail and text messages. No reply.

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The Alabama Democratic Party has nominated an anti-abortion candidate for governor. This has surprised many Democrats who aren't happy about it.

How could this happen? Let's discuss. 🧵al.com/news/2022/07/a… A little backstory ... The Alabama Democratic Party has been trapped in political dysfunction for years, to the point where the DNC had to intervene. At the center of this circus was party chair Nancy Worley, and party boss Joe Reed.
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al.com/news/2019/10/d…

Mo Brooks: “It’s quite clear that Donald Trump has no loyalty to anyone or anything but himself." 🧵 al.com/news/2022/06/w… 2. I asked Mo Brooks whether Trump has betrayed Trumpism. He almost wrote my column for me.