UPDATE: Davis story up

By Jennifer J. Foster

I promised you a link to a news article about Joan Davis’s elevation to interim chancellor, and here it is, from the Birmingham News:

Bradley Byrne, chancellor of Alabama’s two-year college system, resigned today, and was replaced on an interim basis by the board’s general counsel, Joan Davis.

The vote for Davis was 7-0-2.

I hope Davis continues the outstanding work Bradley Byrne did in that position. And when they find a permanent chancellor, I hope they find someone who is trustworthy and focused on ethics.

We cannot go backward in the two-year college system. We have made too much progress on our way out of the pit of sleaze and corruption.

They didn’t ask, so he didn’t tell

By Jennifer J. Foster

U.S. Sen. Roland I-didn’t-know-the-phone-was-tapped Burris has an explanation for why he didn’t give complete testimony to either the legislative committee seeking to impeach Gov. Rod Blagojevich or the federal investigators looking into corruption charges against the former Illinois governor.

According to the Associated Press:

Sen. Roland Burris said Wednesday he did not tell an Illinois House impeachment committee that he promised to help then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s campaign while also pushing for a Senate appointment because, like any good lawyer, he did not want to volunteer information he was not asked about.

Burris, 71, told The Associated Press on Wednesday it never occurred to him he should have told lawmakers in January about his conversation with the former governor’s brother, Robert Blagojevich, about both the empty seat and raising money for the governor.

“You’re being asked questions and one thing you don’t do is to try to volunteer information that wasn’t asked,“ Burris said at a union hall in Decatur. “There was no obligation there.“

Burris said he did not consider informing members of the committee afterward. “Why would I in hindsight turn around and say, ‘I shoulda, shoulda, shoulda?“‘

See? “There was no obligation” to fill in the blanks the first time. So why would he have any instinct to tell the truth later?

Really, Sen. Burris? You’re a lawyer. You’re familiar, I assume, with the oath witnesses take when they give testimony in legal matters. I assume you took that oath on at least two occasions before you gave this incomplete testimony.

The oath doesn’t read, “I swear to tell the truth, but only the part that the lawyers ask me about, so help me God.“

The oath is, “I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God.“

Get it? “The whole truth.“

By your own admission, you told only part of the story. What a pathetic excuse, that “good lawyers,“ as a matter of practice, don’t volunteer information not asked of them.

Way to go. I’m sure Lady Justice is very proud of the way you deftly maneuvered around legal technicalities.

Democrats in the U.S. Senate have realized the millstone this guy is on their caucus and the mistake they made in seating him. Don’t expect it to be much longer before they have a strong candidate recruited to challenge him in 2010.

They know that the sooner they can get rid of the double-talking, half-truth-telling, Blagojevich-appointed junior senator from Illinois, the better.

More on Sessions/Sotomayor

By Jennifer J. Foster

Mary Orndorff of the Birmingham News has more from U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions on Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor and his comment that her nomination deserves “a fresh start.“

You might remember that I pointed out a similar phrase—“a new hearing”—from Sessions’ remarks on Tuesday, when President Obama made Sotomayor’s nomination official.

Sessions says that over the next few weeks, he will be reviewing the transcripts of the 1997 Senate Judiciary Committee hearings in which Sotomayor was vetted before being confirmed to the federal appeals court.

Sessions voted against Sotomayor on committee, and U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby joined him in opposing her confirmation on the floor.

We are all still learning about Sotomayor and her views on the Constitution and jurisprudence. But I feel comfortable in saying this: Among the things I’m least concerned about is whether she stood for Justice Clarence Thomas’s introduction when he appeared at a conference she attended.

There are plenty of important things to talk about. For example, The New York Times had this piece yesterday that discussed the efforts NARAL is taking to ensure that Sotomayor’s views on privacy are vetted in the confirmation hearings. Apparently, NARAL—one of the nation’s most active abortion-rights organizations—and conservatives agree: They don’t know enough about where she stands on abortion. The Times story details some of Sotomayor’s abortion-related rulings. Take the time to read the article. Her record isn’t what you might think.

In addition, Sotomayor sided with the City of New Haven, Conn., when it threw out a promotions test because no minorities passed it (though, at least some observers are wondering why she “punted” by simply agreeing with the decision without comment and not taking on the difficult issues involved in the case). (You might remember that I covered that case in a recent column and on this blog.) As we know, the Supreme Court heard arguments in that case last month; given the timelines for the Court’s decision on that matter and Sotomayor’s expected confirmation hearings, there is at least an outside chance that the Court could rule on that case while Sotomayor is before the Judiciary Committee.

I think her hearing are going to be must-see TV.

Byrne for Governor

By Jennifer J. Foster

Two-year college system Chancellor Bradley Byrne made it official today: He’s running for governor in 2010.

Byrne said this morning during his remarks that he will base his candidacy on the three Es: Ethics reform, education and economic development.

Byrne was gracious in his remarks toward Gov. Bob Riley as he embarked on the campaign to replace him. Byrne said that Alabamians have seen in Riley what a conservative, Republican reform-minded governor can do for this state; Byrne will be a governor in that mold, he said.

It’s not surprising that the man who became a gubernatorial prospect because of the way he handled the cleanup of corruption in the two-year college system would be at his best on the stump when discussing ethics reform. You can catch a segment of his remarks here, or you can read his complete press release here.

Incidentally, I was forwarded a link to this story by a friend earlier today. It discusses the tension between some of the State Board of Education members and Byrne and their perception that he has used the chancellor’s post as a springboard to governor.

I couldn’t help but provide you with this excerpt, because I believe it demonstrates the bold, bottom-line, take-no-prisoners streak in Bradley Byrne that makes him such an effective crusading reformer. It details an exchange between Byrne and SBOE member Ella B. Bell, who was the lone board member to vote against Byrne’s appointment as chancellor:

Upon hearing of Byrne’s departure, Bell said she had never heard anything from him about leaving the chancellorship before his fulfilling his three-year contract. Still, like many critics, she said his intentions were obvious.

“It’s been apparent every since the day you came here that you would run for governor,” said Bell, restating her words to Byrne at a recent board meeting. “You came here to build a platform off of state dollars. Everybody knows you were put here to run.”

Of this criticism, which many union members have also echoed, Byrne only offered a simple response.

“I don’t know of a single person who has gotten to be elected governor as a chancellor of a two-year college system that is between two major criminal investigations and amidst Pulitzer Prize-winning coverage of a scandal by a local newspaper,” Byrne retorted.

As Michael Kelso would say, “BURRRRN!“

Come to think of it, “burn” is a homophone for our candidate—and it’s an indication of what he’ll do to those who still seek to cheat and steal from this state and its taxpayers.

Byrne is on the web at ByrneforAlabama.com, and you can follow him on Twitter @bradleybyrne.

Tim Turnham faces the judge

By Jennifer J. Foster

Opelika-Auburn News staff writer Joe McAdory has a story in tomorrow’s paper about Auburn businessman Tim Turnham’s sentencing before a federal court judge.

But ... it’s online tonight:

Auburn businessman Tim Turnham pleaded guilty two years ago to obstruction of justice as part of a sweeping corruption scandal involving former Alabama two-year college chancellor Roy Johnson of Opelika.

Wednesday, a federal court judge in Birmingham sentenced Turnham, 58, to two years probation and fined the Alabama Contract Sales Inc. executive $1,000, according to a report by The Birmingham News.

Turnham’s case was part of a scandal that led to numerous charges against leaders within the state’s two-year college system. Johnson is still awaiting sentencing ...

Turnham’s business allegedly doctored invoices for work and furnishings at Johnson’s Opelika home. At the time, Johnson was president of Southern Union State Community College.

Turnham admitted to investigators that his business overcharged colleges, ultimately putting thousands of dollars in the pockets of Johnson.

Tim Turnham is the brother of Alabama Democratic Party chairman Joe Turnham.

I’m glad to hear that Turnham has been cooperating with investigators. That is an important part of demonstrating true remorse for one’s illegal activities.

I’m similarly glad to hear that he has made restitution of nearly $1 million. There is no place for those who would cheat the taxpayers of this state, especially at a time when lawmakers are struggling to adequately meet their obligations, including its PACT promises.

I want to believe that Tim Turnham is doing what he can to make things right, and I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt that he’s truly sorry for what he did, and not just that he got caught.

Here’s hoping that his cooperation with federal authorities will expose the other cheats and thieves that still remain out there.