After a more than three month hiatus one of Alabama’s few conservative bloggers has found his keyboard.

A quick look around the Alabama blogosphere today revealed a number of posts on the Alabama Supreme Court’s decision to overturn a lower court’s decision to levy a $3.6 billion punitive award against ExxonMobil.

Doc’s viewed the decision through the prism of lawmakers who had been lusting at the windfall.  He included a quote from Rep. Yusuf Salaam who viewed the potential payoff not as an opportunity to relieve the tax burden on Alabamians, but as a chance to implement “progressive” legislation.  Translation: he wanted to kick start a bunch of unnecessary programs with money that would soon be gone at which point he would wail on the House floor that we needed to raise taxes to fund those “essential” programs.

The always humorous Left in Alabama predictably lamented the decision not because they felt there was compelling evidence in the case to support the huge award (at least they didn’t try to make such a point), but because it involved a rich oil company that clearly needs to be punished because it is A) large, B) an oil company, C) profitable, D) evil, and E) ostensibly Republican.

Birmingham Blues proffered innuendo from the previous election that this decision - which must have already been made for the narrative to hold - was delayed so that it didn’t hurt Drayton Nabers in his failed bid for Chief Justice.

One thing that should be kept in mind is that the huge multi billion dollar award was punitive damages.  This is not about reimbursement, i.e. compensatory damages, which the court upheld.  In other words, Alabama will get repaid for any money Exxon should have paid with interest.  This case was all about Alabama getting greedy and playing the jackpot justice game.

The case reminds me of how I would reform the legal system if I were king.  I’m not keen on loser pays ideas because that would effectively dissuade some credible plaintiffs from pressing charges when necessary due to fear of paying up if they lose.  I prefer a system where the successful plaintiff gets the compensatory damages, but the punitive damages do not go to the plaintiff.  They could go into the municipality, state, or federal coffers or could go into a charitably run fund that seeks to prevent the wrong that was perpetrated to bring about the lawsuit.  That would allow for people who have been harmed to seek out justice without fear of paying two sets of legal fees, but it culls out the others who just hope to get rich off of punitive damages - like the state in this case.

Between the Links has changed domains and is now known as Daily Dixie.

So sayeth Jeff Emerson, a spokesman for Bob Riley, in response to conjecture that Riley was summoned to Washington to confer about the ramifications of the Siegelman/Scrushy sentencing.

Gov. Bob Riley left Alabama on Thursday for an economic development trip to Washington, but by Friday morning Internet blogs had some people wondering if he was whisked away to a high-level Republican strategy session to deal with nagging questions about a possible political conspiracy behind former Democratic Gov. Don Siegelman’s prosecution.

That’s simply not true, a Riley spokesman said between laughs.

“Don’t believe those stupid blogs,” Jeff Emerson, a Riley spokesman, said Friday. “I can’t believe reporters are listening to that stuff. Yeah, he’s in Washington today, but he was not called to Washington. It’s got nothing to do with Don Siegelman.”

Riley was meeting with Secretary of the Air Force Michael W. Wynne about an Air Force tanker refueling project that could bring 1,000 to 1,500 jobs to the state. If French company Airbus wins the contract, they would build the tankers in the Mobile area.

The governor also planned to have lunch with Rep. Jo Bonner and Sens. Richard Shelby and Jeff Sessions before returning, Emerson said.

I bet Rove told Emerson to say all that  (I had to throw that in there for you conspiracy theorists). 

I suspect that the primary blog in question is Doc’s Political Parlor, which published this post on the matter.  There were other blogs that proffered such speculation, but none with the solid history of political neutrality and bona fide access to insiders to rival Doc’s that would incite an actual response from the Gov’s office.

Details at Local Tint.

I guess my effort to recruit (pun intended) a friend to blog about his tour in Iraq won’t happen now.  The Army has effectively banned milblogging.  They claim that front line (and even rear area) bloggers are a threat to OpSec.  While there is certainly some merit to that claim, I’m a bit skeptical.  I think most, like me, look to people that we know and trust to find out the real story about how the war is going - at least on the grunt level.  I personally don’t think we can fully trust the media’s reporting or the government’s official accounts.  The media is too desirous of negative stories about death and destruction for the ratings, while the government will always tell you the weather is sunny and the pollen count is low.

I was going to write a summary of the first Rocket City & B’ham Bloggers meeting tonight in Huntsville (Madison actually), but Sniper One has already done an excellent job.  He even took pictures.  What an over achiever.  A good time was had by all and hopefully we’ll do it again in the future.

Dan from Between the Links let his recent press in the Huntsville Times get to his head and shunned the meeting.  OK, so I’m making that up.

Carol is organizing a little soiree for Alabama bloggers on March 21, 2007, possibly in Huntsville.  I plan on being there, not that that is necessarily a significant motivator for you to attend!

Dan beat me to it, but I thought I would highlight the brouhaha going on right now between Wheeler and Lee.

Wheeler spilled a goodly amount of virtual ink responding to two of Lee’s posts (here and here).  Lee responded (here, here, and here) and proffered an apt, although not terribly funny, joke here.

Now that all that is straightened out I’ll brazenly and unnecessarily interject myself into the battle.

Lee - your view of state’s rights is too expansive.  States can basically do whatever they want to as long as they don’t violate the Constitution.  You’re a smart guy, you know that.  Why, then, do you get sooo bent out of shape when some citizens, who happen to be professors, think they see the U.S. Constitution being violated and take the matter to court?  If they are wrong then you have nothing to worry about and if they are right then you should be thankful that they are securing everyone’s constitutional rights.

Don’t use terms like “judicial fiat.”  Like it or not our Constitution is a living document, open to interpretations that change with time.  The classic example is slavery.  Strict originalists either have to cherry pick what they think should apply now or swallow the bitter pill of codified approval of slavery.  The words and intentions of the Founding Fathers should not be forgotten, but they should be evaluated within the context of what has happened since that time.  People, typically conservatives, use the term “judicial fiat” to bemoan the fact that the definition of constitutional isn’t based on the views of the majority.

As an aside, my wife took Dr. Flynt’s History of the South class at Auburn.  From what she says the man has both a very deep understanding and appreciation of southern history and culture.  He’s not some deranged liberal trying to undermine our sacred tax code.

Wheeler - Lee rightly called you to task for throwing out numerous ad hominem attacks.  Attack the claims, not the character.  If I were grading your rebuttal I would simply hand it back to you and ask for a revised copy sans the specious attacks.

Both of you - on the debated topic of Columbus arriving in America, I suggest reading Guns, Germs, and Steel.  It is a very good anthropological summary of the rise and spread of cultures throughout the world, including the arrival of Europeans in the Americas.  It is actually a very readable book.

The number of bloggers in Alabama has grown by one in the past month.  After months of watching me constantly peck away at the keyboard, my wife has decided to take the plunge.  Her blog will be decidedly more apolitical than mine, instead focusing on the trials and tribulations of raising our three young children.  So now I get to jockey for time on the computer as we both try to pound out posts while the kids sleep (or under the duress of having them sneak up to the keyboard and inserting unnecessary characters here and there).

Visit her here at the War Eagle Mom.