As we’ve all heard by now, the big automakers have submitted their plans that would justify the billion dollars in loans, courtesy of American taxpayers. And too, we’ve all heard the latest out of the sports world and how the NFL has suspended six players for failed drug tests, including the “heart of the Minnesota Vikings”, Kevin Williams and Pat Williams (no relation). The official charges say they violated the league’s steroid policies.

As if these stories and what feels like a million others in yesterdays news weren’t disheartening enough, Birmingham, AL mayor Larry Langford was arrested by the FBI for charges that make one’s head spin. Although information regarding the FBI arrest hasn’t been completely revealed, an SEC

Larry Langford

lawsuit (filed earlier this year) says a Montgomery banker, Bill Blount and Al LaPierre, who is one of Langford’s many cronies, didn’t disclose over $150,000 in payments to Mayor Langford. These payments were the price for some sort of business scheme (probably illegal) within the city of Birmingham. Not only that, but the lawsuit goes on to say the mayor hid the fact that after he received these monies, a 6.7 million dollar contract was conveniently handed to the banker and the cronie. The former commissioner for Jefferson County, John Katopodis, has already been indicted over a bogus charity that Langford founded when he was mayor of a smaller city outside Birmingham. The buzzards are circling, no doubt.

After he was arrested yesterday, his chief of staff in City Hall released a statement that said the arrest was anticipated but suggested the entire “error” was due to bad blood between Langford and a U.S. Attorney, Alice Martin, saying she knows her “days are numbered” as she prepares to exit her current post. Ah, but her hands aren’t necessarily clean either. Her office was ordered to pay $360,000 in June for “misguided prosecution” of an Alabama contractor. Read this story here. It doesn’t stop there. Her less than stellar image has been hit by several controversies, including criticism for her uninvited input during a lawsuit regarding Alabama’s former governor, Don Siegelman. And too, the story with the misguided prosecution of the Alabama contractor has triggered an investigation by the Justice Department into possible misconduct during this trial. There is a fascinating piece that was featured in Harper’s Magazine. Fair warning - it doesn’t put the state of Alabama in a flattering light. In fact, the author, Scott Horton, calls Alabama “home to the nation’s highest profile and most abusive political prosecution”. My guess is Mississippi’s favorite lawyer, John Grisham, will be penning a best-seller regarding these scandals (if he’s not already doing so).

It’s rare that those of us living in the south experience brutally cold temperatures, but it’s heating up fast here, even if it is December. In the meantime, everyone’s waiting to hear the details from Langdon’s arrest yesterday. If you’re interested, he made bail in time yesterday to ensure he’d be present during a City Hall meeting. Those in the know insist this is the tip of the iceberg and promises many heads will roll by the time this scandal wraps up.