Police and the Law

       I support Confederate veterans and because of that I have repeatedly been called a racist. People have stated that I support the idiot that killed George Floyd. Believe me, there is no love lost for this police officer. I don't think he deserves jail time, just announce to the public where he will be released and drop him off there. Justice will quickly be served. Trust me, you don't have to be black to have problems with some of these "Clint Eastwood" police officers. They tend to forget they work for us and are there for us. I've heard that George Floyd was on drugs, etc, but does this give a civil servant the right to kill him? This is not the kind of America the founding fathers envisioned when they formed this government. 

       Having explained to everyone my personal feelings on the matter, I would like to explain what we have serving as police officers in this country. During the recent shut down of the state of Alabama, Huntsville Police took action against a salon for operating without being an essential business. Three such businesses were cited. Now fast forward to when the shutdown is over and look at the city of Birmingham, Alabama. A Confederate monument was attacked and damaged against state law by rioters and the police are too afraid to intervene. Oh, they are a cocky bunch against hair dressers and store owners, but when they face a real challenge, they are nowhere to be found. Doesn't that remind you of the bullies you faced in school. They are extremely tough when they face the weak, but when they face a challenge, they always back down. Welcome to our police force today. Scared of their shadows unless they outnumber their opponents five to one. 

Tuscumbia Prosecutor Hal Hughston III

       Let's take this all a step further. My mom was in city court in Tuscumbia, Alabama and asked for a trial. (City courts in Alabama are make believe courts to obtain these small towns money and that is all they are concerned with). The prosecutor named Harold Hughston III had been through a rough day (according to him). I was representing my mom because she was almost deaf and couldn't hear. He instructed me to inform her that there would be no trial, she was going to pay the court cost and be done with it. I told him that she wanted a trial and that was her right under the U.S. Constitution. He replied, "I already told you, there is not going to be a trial, I've had a long day!" I began to argue with him when he turned to the city judge named John Kennemer (a local lawyer) and instructed him to throw me out of the courtroom. I don't know what Kennemer said because I turned and headed for the door. Just before reaching the door, a Tuscumbia police officer pushed me in the back almost sending me through the glass doors. This officer is one of those police officers like Derek Chauvin and believes he is the next Dirty Harry. His name is Steve Higginbotham and he is the type who wears his uniform about five sizes too small so he can show off his muscles. My dad always referred to him as Tuscumbia's version of "Barney Fife." We all know his type. 

Officer Higginbotham the "badass"

       I know nothing about this super cop with the enormous ego who works in this small town and probably makes little more than minimum wage, but I've been told many rumors about him. None are very appealing. I was told he had been a New York police officer by a volunteer firefighter near town and he couldn't cut it there, so he had to come to Tuscumbia, Alabama to get a job. I have no idea and I don't care. Everyone in the area refers to the Tuscumbia Police Department as America's version of the Soviet police. They heard a rumor that someone was growing marijuana on Colbert Heights Mountain outside of their jurisdiction and they got all dressed up in combat gear and raided this man's farm to no avail. They also traveled west about fifteen miles to Cherokee, Alabama to write a ticket to the mayor's wife for driving a golf cart on the street. It sounds like they have little to do. Another citizen of the town of Cherokee had an arrest warrant over some small affair. He didn't know he had this warrant. He was pulled over and handcuffed by Tuscumbia Police and then beaten up. He was on crutches with a broken leg because of these super cops, yet there was nothing he could do about it. They are extremely tough when they have someone handcuffed or alone and outnumber their opponent, the rest of the time, you won't see them. Another episode occurred a little over a year ago when they were going to arrest a man named Howard. They shot his house full of tear gas and one of the canisters caught the house on fire. They then told the media that he started the fire himself. Remember Waco? We've heard this story before. So, who do these super cops answer to? Nobody, because, just like in my case, the mayor Billy Shoemaker sent my dad to the city prosecutor Kennemer for a copy of the video. Kennemer sent dad back to the mayor and the mayor sent dad back to Kennemer. Kennemer informed my dad that he couldn't release the video because he was instructed by the mayor not to and he had to work for these people. Enough said. When are we going to stand up to these overbearing, thieving local and state governments. All they want is for us to give them our money and shut up. 

Huntsville's Early Works Museum: A Field Trip To Remember

Early Works Museum in Huntsville, Alabama

       My wife encouraged me to write this blog. I came home and vented to her about how I felt about Timmy's field trip to Huntsville, Alabama's Early Works Museum. I had vented and then as my wife can tell you, I'm pretty much over the matter. She had a better idea. She said, "You need to write a blog about this trip." This is that blog.

       We arrived in Huntsville at 10 a.m., which is about an hour east of where we live. The first stop was in Constitution Village which happens to be an example of early Alabama life. I was alright with our first stop which happened to feature a guy playing the part of John Coffee. The next stop is where I first became perturbed. An elderly gentleman passed out a piece of paper with the Alabama State Flag without any colors. He asked, "What color is the Alabama flag?" My son Timmy raises his hand and gives the correct answer. The fellow then asks, "Where did that cross originate?" Timmy again raised his hand, but another kid was called on. This boy answered, "It was designed like the Confederate flag." This is a known fact, but this guy is either ignorant or chose to be politically correct. He told the kid that he was wrong. He said, "Alabama became a state in 1819, way before the Confederacy existed, so it can't be based on the Confederate flag." He then proceeds into a long story about how people from Scotland had settled around Montgomery as his theory of where the flag came from. Then the guy begins to contradict himself. He said, "This flag of Alabama came into existence in 1892." This is about 30 years after the Confederacy. 

       My old high school history teacher was the bus driver for this trip. He and I began to discuss what this man had said. My teacher shook his head and said, "I'm not sure if they are being politically correct or they truly believe what they are teaching." I'm proud to say my old history teacher was disappointed in the way this country is becoming regarding Southern history and being politically correct. It is an attack on history. If history offends one group of people, then we must rewrite it. 

The Confederate Battle Flag and the Alabama State Flag

       The field trip then proceeded to the Early Works Museum. I understand the museum is set up for children, but I found a lot in the museum that made little sense to me. The tour guide discussed Alabama history to some degree. She spent almost five minutes discussing Native American history in Alabama. The Civil War was quickly passed over. (Dad and I found a small machine hidden away in the corner of a small room that had you match Civil War leaders with their bio's, of course it was unplugged and useless.) 

       African American history lasted forty-five minutes and the mistreatment of slaves by Southerners was repeated over and over. There were talking tree's, talking clocks, about 50 stuffed dogs that had very little to do with our state's history. 

The talking tree that traumatized my son and his best friend

       It wasn't only the lack of history, there was some history, but because so many schools had scheduled field trips there on the same day, everything became discombobulated. Groups were running into each other, tour guides arguing over where they should be, and there was no order to the timeline of history. 

       I told my old high school history teacher that I loved museums, especially history museums, but this one had done absolutely nothing for me. He agreed and mentioned that he would like to get out of there in the next fifteen minutes. I can't say it was the worst field trip I'd been on (that trip was to see the movie "Curious George" with my oldest son some ten years ago, which I slept through it was so boring), but it wasn't at all what I expected. If you can't teach history truthfully, then just don't teach it at all is what I believe. 

Leroy Pope Walker and his handkerchief

Leroy Pope Walker

       Leroy Pope Walker was born in 1817 in Huntsville, Alabama. His father was a United States Senator. He attended college at the University of Alabama, but left there to study law at the University of Virginia. He then returned to Huntsville where he began his profession as an attorney at the age of 21. Six years later he began his political career in the Alabama state legislature. He was a supporter of secession. By the time the war began Walker was one of the wealthiest men in the state. 

Home of Walker in Huntsville

       Walker was a leader in taking Alabama out of the Union and then went to Tennessee to help that state prepare for secession. Davis made Walker the Confederacy's first secretary of war, although the lawyer had no military experience whatsoever. Walker truly believed there would be no war, that there would be a peaceful separation. He is famous for making the statement that all the blood shed as a result of secession could be wiped up with a handkerchief. 

       Walker was a very unpopular secretary of war. Men found him to be extremely aloof although he was a very considerate man, his quite manners caused him to be misunderstood. Davis constantly interfered with Walker's job because of his own experience as secretary of war in the United States and also because a lack of experience on the part of Walker. 

       Walker was actually attempting to accomplish something extremely important for the Confederate States when he was forced from office. He was trying to prevent Leonidas Polk from moving into Kentucky knowing that would throw Kentucky onto the Federal side of the war. He lost a lot of favor in the Confederate Congress and with Davis and his cabinet. He then resigned his seat. Polk moved into Kentucky and that state was lost forever to the Union side. 

       President Davis was happy to see Walker go, but also understood that the man had powerful friends in Alabama. The Confederate president would commission Walker a brigadier general in the Confederate Army. He returned to Huntsville, Alabama where he took command of a brigade and they were sent to Mobile, Alabama under Braxton Bragg. 

Braxton Bragg

       Bragg despised Walker as a political general and openly stated that he would make the man miserable. Bragg stayed true to his word. Walker only lasted five months as a soldier before resigning his commission without seeing any action at all. 

       Following the war, Walker returned to his profession of lawyer. He would never be involved in politics again. His son once said that Walker was no politician. He wasn't much of a soldier either having never gotten the chance to be. Walker is probably more famous for being the attorney of Frank James during his trial in the state. Walker County, Alabama is named in his honor. 

Walker in his later years

       Walker died in 1884 and was buried in Maple Hill Cemetery, Huntsville, Alabama where he rests today. 

Me at the grave of Leroy Pope Walker