The Star's editorial on the political banner that flew over the Rose Bowl highlighted two principles. The first is that sports and politics shouldn't mix, and the second is it bad taste to air internal squabbling outside one's state. The national championship football game was certainly not the venue from which to launch political potshots.
What Tuscaloosa businessman Stan Pate did was one thing, but the response from the governor's spokesman comparing criticism of the governor to an assassination was likewise off-the-mark. Both instances underscore the ways in which petty squabbling has come to define state politics. Could this not be a factor in Alabama lagging behind, in the seeming stalemate of state politics?
Imagine how the $3,000 could have been spent more constructively. The banner attacked the governor as corrupt; whether wrong or right is in the eye of the beholder. However, the money could have gone a long way to actually fight corruption.
It could have gone towards a grassroots effort making people aware of corruption in state politics or public institutions. Or it could have contributed to publishing a landmark study on corruption in the state.
Certainly, it is up to the discretion of the owner to spend it as they see fit. However, if one wanted to do something constructive, there were better options than to use what appears to be a cheap political ploy.
Sean Jobst
Oxford
