Three Strikes?

     To be fair, Alabama is criticized by outsiders for a lot or reasons, and those outsiders sometimes come to the fight with a preconceived bias against the state, and the South in general.

     But the state sometimes helps by providing ammunition.

     And Alabama offered up a hat-trick this past week.

• Governor Ivy signed the bill virtually banning abortion because she said "Alabamians' deeply held belief that every life is precious & that every life is a sacred gift from God." The very next day the Ivy-approved execution of a death row inmate was carried out. So much for every life being precious. 

• Fallout continued from Alabama's longstanding mistreatment of people it places in its prisons. The Justice Department is on the case and could even take over the Department of Corrections. Some State officials may be urging the Feds to please do just that. 

• Then my former employers, Alabama Public Television, became the only public TV stations in the U.S. to refuse to carry the episode of the cartoon series Arthur because the main cartoon character was shown getting married. Same-sex Cartoon married. Same-sex cartoon animal married. Not only did Alabama fight tooth and a nail against real living gay people getting married, she couldn't even let two cartoon animals do it (er, get married). The program is available online. 

Update: 

CBS's Steven Colbert and his take on the APT decision: "Today in Unfortunate News from Alabama". HERE.