One Thing's For Sure, Though

The odds of winning at Rock Paper Scissors are much better than that Alabama will be be given a fair shake in the national media.

National Public Radio's "Tavis Smiley Show" recently reported on Alabama's defeat of Amendment 2, a measure to remove segregation-era language from Alabama's constitution. Opponents argued that certain language in the amendment would have allowed the state to raise taxes.

Characterizing the amendment, NPR reporter Melanie Peeples said: "It seemed like the kind of amendment no one in the year 2004 could possibly oppose, not even in Alabama, a state that only got around to repealing a ban on interracial marriages four years ago."

Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader columnist Merline Davis also commented recently on Alabama's Amendment 2 in a column about escaping the frigid winter temperatures of Lexington.

"Mobile is warm, I thought. It has all kinds of charm about it and warmth, and gulf waters and warmth. And during the summer, the temperatures are kept in check by cool breezes from the Gulf of Mexico. Why not move to Mobile? Well, admittedly, one drawback is the state it sits in. Alabama is not noted for the welcome mat it puts out for minorities of any kind, especially black folk."