ALABAMA'S GOVERNOR ROBERT BENTLEY HAS AGREED TO RESIGN
AFTER NEGOTIATIONS FOLLOWING A REPORT INDICATING THAT HE NOT
ONLY HAD A QUESTIONABLE AFFAIR, BUT HE USED TAXPAYER MONEY TO
MAINTAIN THAT AFFAIR, AND ALSO COVERED UP.
VIDEO BUFFERING --
AND HOW HE ESSENTIALLY SHUT THEM DOWN FOR POLITICAL REASONS.
SO, THE GOVERNOR REACHED AN AGREEMENT WITH STATE LAWMAKERS
AND LAW-ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS MONDAY MORNING, TO STEP DOWN.
THE TERMS OF THE DEAL WERE NOT IMMEDIATELY AVAILABLE."
A REPORT WAS RELEASED BY JACK SHARMAN, THE HOUSE JUDICIARY
COMMITTEE SPECIAL COUNSEL, AND THE REPORT AND ITS SUPPORTING
DOCUMENTATION REVEALED IN PARIS AND DETAILS ABOUT HIS
RELATIONSHIP WITH FORMER AIDE AND PROVIDED EVIDENCE ABOUT
USES OF STATE RESOURCES."
LAST FRIDAY WHEN WE COVERED THIS STORY HE HAD NOT RESIGNED AND
WAS QUITE DEFIANT, BUT WE DID HAVE YOU LISTEN TO AUDIO
EVIDENCE OF THE AFFAIR THAT HE HAD.
I APOLOGIZE IF YOU'VE ALREADY HEARD THIS AND YOU HAVE TO
LISTEN TO IT AGAIN, BUT I AM GOING TO PLAY IT, LET'S
TAKE A LISTEN.
YOU KNOW WHAT?
I STAND BEHIND YOU, AND I PUT MY ARMS AROUND THE AND I PUT MY
HANDS ON YOUR BREAST, AND I PUT MY FINGERS AROUND YOU, I LOVE
THAT TOO.
PUTTING MY HANDS UNDER YOU.
YOU KNOW?
IS HE TALKING IN THE BATHROOM?
HE'S IN THE 70S,
HE'S TALKING ABOUT CUPPING HER AMPLE BOSOM FROM BEHIND.
REMARKABLY SIMILAR TO BILL O'REILLY'S CONVERSATIONS
THAT TOOK PLACE, FROM WHAT WE KNOW FROM THE
SEXUAL-HARASSMENT THING, AND ALSO HIS AUDIOBOOK.
THIS IS INCREDIBLE.
SO, I'VE SAID THIS BEFORE AND I WANT TO REPEAT IT AGAIN, I DON'T
CARE ABOUT THE AFFAIR.
EVEN IF HE'S A FAMILY VALUES CONSERVATIVE DUDE, YES
THERE'S HYPOCRISY AND YES IT'S ANNOYING, AND THAT'S ENOUGH
TO REALLY ANGER PEOPLE.
THE PART THAT REALLY FRUSTRATED ME ABOUT HIS ACTIONS WERE
THE MISUSE OF TAXPAYER MONEY.
AND THEN NOW ALL OF A SUDDEN WE HAVE MORE INFORMATION ABOUT
WHAT HE DID BECAUSE OF THIS REPORT.
IT HAS TO DO WITH VOTING RIGHTS, IT HAS TO DO WITH POLITICAL
MANIPULATION AND EXPLOITING PEOPLE; COERCION.
SO WE'LL GET TO THAT IN THE SECOND.
THERE'S JUST SO MUCH WITH THIS GUY.
WHERE TO BEGIN?
WE COULD TALK ABOUT THE PRESENT SITUATION GOING ON IN
ALABAMA RIGHT NOW, AND HIS PROPOSAL FOR MORE MASS
INCARCERATION, BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT HE FEELS IS THE SOLVENT
FOR WHAT'S GOING ON IN THESE OVERPOPULATED ALABAMA PRISONS.
OR WE COULD TALK ABOUT THE CLOSURES OF MULTIPLE DMD'S,
EIGHT OUT OF 10
WERE IN DISTRICTS OF COLOR, PROMINENTLY AMERICANS OF COLOR.
I MEAN, WHERE TO START WITH THIS GUY?
YOU COULD ALSO TALK ABOUT THE VOTER ID LAWS, SO THAT THEY
CAN EFFECTIVELY ELIMINATE PEOPLE FROM VOTING.
OR POCKET VETOING.
WHAT ABOUT LONGER HOURS FOR THE DMV'S THAT WE DO HAVE?
AND HE JUST POCKET VETOED IT.
THIS GUY SUCKS ON EVERY LEVEL.
LET ME FILL IN THE BLANKS WITH THAT COMPONENT OF THE STORY,
BECAUSE IT IS IMPORTANT AND NO ONE HAS FOCUSED ON IT, BECAUSE
LET'S BE REAL, A SEX SCANDAL IS MUCH MORE TITILLATING
RATHER THAN FOCUSING ON THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN
DISENFRANCHISED AND HAD THEIR VOTING RIGHTS TAKEN AWAY
FROM HIM, AS A RESULT OF THIS, A GUY.
SO HIS ADMIN STATIONS DECISION TO CLOSE DOWN MANY DRIVER'S
LICENSE OFFICES, MANY IN AFRICAN-AMERICAN HEAVY CAN ñ
COUNTIES, PROMPTING A NATIONAL OUTCRY OVER HOW THE CLOSURES
WOULD --
SO, ACTION NUMBER ONE IS THAT YOU NEED A ñ YOU NEED AN ID TO
VOTE, SO A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN THESE PROMINENTLY BLACK
NEIGHBORHOODS DON'T HAVE PHOTO IDS BECAUSE THEY RELY HEAVILY ON
PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION, AND THEY NEVER NEEDED TO GET A PHOTO ID.
SO THAT ALREADY AFFECT THEM NEGATIVELY WHEN IT CAME TO
VOTING, AND THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN YOU SHUT DOWN DMV'S IN
PREDOMINANTLY BLACK NEIGHBORHOODS, AND SO IT BECOMES
EVEN HARDER TO BECOME ñ TO GET THE ID.
SO YOU ARE PROBABLY THINKING THIS ONLY HAS TO DO WITH
DISCRIMINATION, WITH THEM ASSESSING THE OPPOSITION BY
MAKING IT EVEN MORE DIFFICULT, OR IN SOME CASES IMPOSSIBLE
TO VOTE.
SO THAT'S BAD ENOUGH, BUT THIS WAS ALSO DONE AS A WAY TO
BASICALLY CONVINCE LAWMAKERS TO GO ALONG WITH HIS BUDGET
PROPOSAL, BECAUSE HE PROPOSED A BUDGET THAT WOULD RAISE TAXES,
AND ALSO SPENT A LOT MORE OF TAXPAYER MONEY, AND A LOT OF
LAWMAKERS IN THE STATE WERE LIKE, NO, THIS IS NOT A GOOD
IDEA, SO THEY DID NOT WANT TO SIGN ONTO IT.
SO AS A RESULT HE WAS LIKE, I MIGHT SHUT DOWN THE DMV'S
IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOODS UNLESS YOU AGREE WITH ME.
BECAUSE WE ARE TALKING ABOUT A BUDGET PROPOSAL THAT WAS
SOMETHING LIKE 800 MILLION ñ THAT'S NOT RIGHT, BUT IT WAS
ñ IT WASN'T $100 MILLION FOR A PRISON?
IT WAS $800 MILLION TO BUILD FOR NEW PRISONS.
SO THE CLOSURES THAT WERE TAKING PLACE WERE AFFECTING AN AREA OF
ALABAMA CALLED THE BLACK BELT, BASICALLY THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN
COMMUNITIES IN ALABAMA, SO WHEN THE LAWMAKERS WERE BEING
THREATENED BY THIS, HE NEVER ñ IT WAS BECAUSE NO ONE WAS
SUPPORTING THIS BUDGET THAT ALSO DISPROPORTIONATELY WAS
AFFECTING THE CONSTITUENTS OF THOSE COUNTIES, BECAUSE AS WE
KNOW, PRISONS DISPROPORTIONATELY AFFECT BLACK AMERICANS.
SO, IT'S SO SICK AND IT'S SO GROSS, AND ALABAMA HAS THESE
MANDATORY MINIMUMS, IT'S SO FRUSTRATING TO READ THIS
THROUGH.
WELL THE GOOD NEWS IS, BECAUSE OF THIS REPORT, BECAUSE OF
THIS INVESTIGATION, HE WILL BE STEPPING DOWN.
AGAIN, HE WAS FIGHTING TOOTH AND NAIL TO REMAIN IN THIS POSITION,
EVEN THOUGH THERE WERE SO MANY INSTANCES OF WRONGDOING HERE.
SO I'M GLAD THAT HE WILL STEP DOWN, AND IT'S JUST VERY
IMPORTANT FOR EVERYONE TO KEEP A VERY CLOSE EYE ON WHAT LAWMAKERS
ARE DOING IN VARIOUS STATES WHEN IT COMES TO VOTING, WHETHER IT'S
GERRYMANDERING, WHICH JOHN OLIVER DID AN EXCELLENT PIECE
ON, OR CLOSING DOWN DMV'S, PASSING THESE VOTER ID LAWS.
VOTER FRAUD IS NOT AN ISSUE, THE ONLY TIME WE EVER HEAR ABOUT
VOTER FRAUD IS WHEN THERE IS A REPUBLICAN DOING IT, AND ALSO A
LOT OF PEOPLE DON'T HAVE DRIVER'S LICENSES BECAUSE THEY
DON'T DRIVE.
THEY DON'T HAVE STATE IDS BECAUSE THEY DON'T NEED
STATE IDS.
THESE ARE USUALLY THE PEOPLE WHO RELY ON THINGS LIKE PUBLIC
TRANSPORTATION.
THESE ARE WAYS TO ESSENTIALLY DO AWAY WITH OUR DEMOCRATIC
SYSTEM, OR WHATEVER IS LEFT OF IT.
SO, JUST BE VERY COGNIZANT OF THAT AND SUSPICIOUS WHEN
YOU SEE THIS TYPE OF BEHAVIOR.
ONE LITTLE LAST TIDBIT OF IRONY IN THIS ENTIRE ñ THIS DELICIOUS
CAKE OF WEIRDNESS HERE IN ALABAMA, WHEN HE GOT CAUGHT, AND
ñ I MEAN, HE GOT CAUGHT FOR USING STATE FUNDS, HE
WASN'T CHARGED WITH A PRISON SENTENCE EVEN THOUGH HE'S
VERY GUNG HO ON CRIME HIMSELF.
HE ONLY GOT 30 DAYS OF COMMUNITY SERVICE.