#5 Total score: 15
#1 - 4 pts
#2 - 0 pts
#3 - 4 pts
#4 - 4 pts
#5 - 3 pts
 State Senator Gerald Dial says the bill came to lawmakers late in the session, near the end of a six hour filibuster, and they didn't have enough time to study it.
"And we were kind of caught in a box. We either vote for it or we vote against it. If we voted against it, it looked like we were supporting illegal immigrants into our state. So we voted for it. I made some mistakes and I'm going to try to correct those."
When the voices in Senator Gerald Dial's head get to talking, watch out. How special of Dial to share that little window into his motives. He admits being willing to pass racist legislation, opposed by many religious leaders, that has tarnished our state's reputation, shows his stupidity, and disregard for anything but his political future. Truly, the some of the worst of Alabama government is on display here.
#4 Total score: 19
#1 - 5 pts
#2 - 0 pts
#3 - 5 pts
#4 - 5 pts
#5 - 4 pts
 "So anybody here today who has not accepted Jesus Christ as their savior, I'm telling you, you're not my brother and you're not my sister, and I want to be your brother."
Newly-inaugurated Governor Robert Bentley set the tone for his administration with this comment. Just an hour after he stood on the steps of the Capitol and proclaimed himself to be "governor of all of Alabama — Democrat, Republican and independent, young and old, black and white, rich and poor," Bentley sang a different song at a church meeting. As the national media picked up the story, the new governor tried to reassure everyone: ''We're not trying to insult anybody." hmmm... perhaps this was the first of many "unintended consequences" of the GOP agenda. We gave him a "3" for the "just plain mean" category because he was speaking in a religious context and quite possibly got carried away with his evangelizing.
#3 Total score: 20
#1 - 5 pts
#2 - 5 pts
#3 - 0 pts
#4 - 5 pts
#5 - 5 pts
 McGill said he heard there are truckloads of pregnant women coming to America to have babies.
Freshman Senator Shadrack McGill (and Scott Beason roommate!) makes his second appearance in the Top 10 with this statement from his "State of the State" address in Fort Payne. McGill declined to respond to our requests for comment and documentation of this assertion. Not surprising: it's not only insulting to women but to the Border Patrol as well. How is it that these professionals routinely miss entire "truckloads of pregnant women" driving across the border? Our efforts to independently fact check were also unsuccessful. You can't even find that dubious "fact" asserted on even the most nutty, far-right anti-immigration sites. So McGill's not even parroting the GOP talking point of the day on this one. It appears to be a total figment of his sick imagination.
This topped the charts in all but "national ridicule."
#2 Total score: 20
#1 - 5 pts
#2 - 0 pts
#3 - 5 pts
#4 - 5 pts
#5 - 5 pts  “Democrats do not want to solve the illegal immigration problem because they know, this is a fact, that when more illegal immigrants move into an area, when their children grow up and get the chance to vote, they vote for Democrats,” he said. “They like big government, they like programs, they’ve benefited from the day they were born because the child was born into poverty because mom and dad are poor.”
[...]
Beason ended his speech by advising Republicans to “empty the clip, and do what has to be done”.
Senator Scott Beason really showed his true colors at a February Republican Party breakfast in Cullman. Lapping up the approval of the crowd, he apparently failed to notice the alert Cullman Times reporter scribbling away. This is the same paper remember, that reported on Richard Shelby's confusion about President Obama's citizenship status. Although the "empty the clip" comment is what went viral, it's worth noting the ugly race & class overtones from the beginning of the speech. While the whole thing was over the top, our ratings reflect just the famous "empty the clip" comment. That's why the "factually incorrect" measure has a "0." Beason was stating his opinion here, not citing facts. Otherwise, it would have been a good contender for the #1 position.
#1 Total score: 25
#1 - 5 pts
#2 - 5 pts
#3 - 5 pts
#4 - 5 pts
#5 - 5 pts
“They’re aborigines, but they’re not Indians,” Beason replied.
You just knew this had to be #1, didn't you? And, of course, it's good old Scott Beason.... Now, technically, Beason made this statement in 2010, but it didn't become public until the 2011 bingo trials. What can we say? Beason initially claimed he "didn't know" what he meant by the statement, then refused to apologize, got the state GOP establishment to defend him, and finally held a press conference in September to issue a non-apology: Reading a statement at the Gardendale Civic Center, the disgraced politician said: "Our purpose today is to say that I am very sorry and I apologise to anyone whose feelings were hurt by my comment."
Note he's not apologizing for being a racist bastard stupid enough to record himself spewing this crap. He's merely sorry if anyone's feelings were hurt. In sheer dickishness, this is over the top & and earned a perfect score! Somehow, we're sure that Beason will be prominently featured next year's Top 10. Ok... what did we miss? Tomorrow, we'll have a few "honorable mentions" that didn't make the Top 10 cut. Feel free to offer your suggestions in the comments! |
