Jennifer Foster: Roundup week: Johnson, AEA and partisan punditry

It’s roundup week – the time when we hit a variety of topics.

* First up is a rumor that’s gaining traction in the blogosphere. It holds that Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Johnson is in the race not to win, but to do a job – and, perhaps, to secure one.

Johnson is never at a loss for words, and while he’s been prolific and aggressive in his comments about other gubernatorial candidates (especially Bradley Byrne and Gov. Bob Riley, who also happens to be his former boss), it’s difficult to find anything negative that he has said about GOP gubernatorial hopeful Tim James.

As the theory goes, Johnson has become the attack dog in the campaign so that James won’t have to dirty his hands in delivering the hard hits. In exchange, conspiracy theorists say, Johnson will land a nice job in a James administration.

Assuredly, James and Johnson will call this ridiculous. But their unequivocal statements will be of more use here than outraged denials: James should say that he won’t include Johnson in his administration, and Johnson should say that he wouldn’t take such a job if it was offered.

Considering the way this rumor has spread in recent weeks, they would both help their credibility by doing so.

* Next up is the Alabama Education Association’s Twitter problem. Twitter is a social media network. The point is to … network. Twitter is a powerful tool for getting a message out and connecting with others. So you’d think that the organization that represents teachers in Alabama would want to have as many followers as possible, right?

Wrong, apparently.

AEA has protected its tweets, which means that you can’t see them unless AEA approves you – a strange move for an organization supporting teachers paid with taxpayer dollars.

But there’s more. AEA isn’t approving just anyone. I tried to follow them this week; so far, no dice. I found out from others on Twitter that I’m in good company: As it turns out, AEA isn’t approving a lot of anyone’s – Republicans, in particular, but also anyone AEA perceives as an enemy. AEA purports to be a big believer in diversity; unfortunately (especially for its members), that support for diversity doesn’t extend to political thought.

The bothersome thing about this is no longer just that the AEA wields such immeasurable influence in Montgomery. It’s also that they are increasingly unaccountable and opaque – and unapologetic – in doing so.

* Finally, I had the good fortune this week to have several conversations with readers about this column and my blog. Most remarked that they appreciate that I’m not a partisan apologist.

One friend and I agreed that such pundits, though they inevitably develop large followings, only hurt themselves with their straight-down-the-line positions; by not admitting when and where they are wrong, they damage their own credibility – and that comes back to bite them when they are right.

My friend described such media outlets and a host of commentators and syndicated authors on either side thusly: “They’re not news purveyors. They’re affirmation purveyors.” Folks tune in not to be informed, but rather to hear someone affirm what they already believe, he said.

I’m not interested in being that kind of pundit. This country has too many of them as it is. My goal will always be to seek out the truth (or lack thereof) in the talking points, to highlight the policy over the politician or his/her partisanship.

I won’t always affirm your beliefs. But I hope to earn your trust – even when we disagree.

Jennifer Foster is a political enthusiast who lives in Auburn and writes a column for the Opelika-Auburn News. She can be reached at