WASHINGTON – Late on a Saturday night early this month, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi was able to force through a 1,990-page document by a slim 220-215 margin, and it is now on its way to be debated in the U.S. Senate. But it wasn’t without a little pushback from Rep. Jo Bonner. He lamented its size and remarked that it was longer than a book a lot of people, although probably not a lot of readers of this publication can relate to – the Holy Bible.

“I’ve got a copy of the Pelosi bill on one side of my desk and I’ve got a copy of the Republican alternative on the other side and it makes for quite a dramatic contrast,” Bonner said to Lagniappe last week. “I was reading my Bible last night and realized that are more pages in the Pelosi health care bill than there are in the Holy Book and that’s somewhat scary.”

There were a few protests on the lead up to the actual vote and Bonner said there were a few, though not many, visitors from Alabama’s First Congressional District, which he represents.

“We had some folks drop by,” Bonner said. “It was inspirational quite frankly to see so many thousands of people on such short notice stop what they were doing and come to Washington and send a message that I hope and pray the Speaker and the other Democratic leader in Congress listen to.”

Bonner said he met with one lady from Orange Beach and some others from other parts of his district. He said he posed for a photo with a lady holding the bill.

“I thanked her for coming by and she held the bill and I was worried she was going to get a hernia,” Bonner said.

But a lot of this protest is unique. Although it has been purported by its detractors to be ginned up by big corporate-funded organizations, Bonner, who is on his fourth term as congressman and served for his predecessor Sonny Callahan as a press secretary and his chief of staff, said he doesn’t recall anything like it.

“I don’t remember in ’93 or ’92 this much organic movement,” Bonner said. “You know in April, when the first tea party was held, there were some who said this was just the disgruntled Republicans who lost the election, who remained sour on the results and were trying to stir up trouble.”

As Bonner explained, Republicans aren’t as organized as some may think they are when it comes to this type of activism. Protests and rallies are more of a tradition of the American left. Still, the Mobile congressman said this is the sign of a sea change and pointed to this month’s Virginia gubernatorial election as evidence.

“Quite frankly, what you saw last Tuesday, in many of the congressional districts in Virginia, where there is now a Democrat, like in Tom Davis’ old seat and Thelma Drake’s old seat and Virgil Goode old seat – Bob McDonnell won with at least 55 percent and in some cases 60 percent in congressional districts,” Bonner explained.

Pensacola Congressman Notes Ethics Leak-Boeing Ties, Dismisses Them

Last week, after The Washington Post stumbled across a confidential document revealing an investigation by the Ethics Committee, on which Bonner is the ranking Republican, into a handful of members of Congress. However, there were some names that had been involved in the push for Boeing to be awarded the very lucrative KC-X refueling tanker defense contract, for which Northrop Grumman, EADS and the majority of people in Mobile had been vying.

Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., told Lagniappe he had noticed in the Post report on the leaked names as well, specifically Reps. Norm Dicks, D-Wash., and Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Kan. and said it’s interesting, but likely irrelevant.

“I noticed right off that,” Miller said last week. “You’re the first person that has actually raised the issue. It’s very interesting. Does it change the dynamics much? Probably not. It’s just very interesting that the pro-Boeing folks were prominently featured in the leak.”

He emphasized that although those names were listed in the leak, it didn’t meant those individuals were necessarily under investigation.

“And again, I think everybody needs to bear in mind, you know, the folks on the Ethics Committee made it very clear just because their name was on a list does not mean that they are definitely under investigation.”

Miller has been a staunch advocate of Mobile’s effort because there would likely be some benefit to his district even though the assembling facility for an EADS/Northrop Grumman prototype would be 60 miles from the nearest point in his district.

“I am fully supportive of the Northrop/EADS bid,” Miller said. “I think it was done fairly. I thought everybody had agreed in to the parameters of the first RFP. And I think Boeing has done everything they could do. They’ve used every bit of political muscle they could to get a RFP now that looks like it is solely based on price, which is not the way the Air Force needs to be going.”

And Miller said he was optimistic.

“I think in the long run, the best tanker is going to prevail and that’s the one that will be assembled right there in Mobile, Ala.,” Miller said.

PBS’s Gwen Ifill Says Artur Davis a Breakthrough Candidate

So it’s not quite an Oprah endorsement, but PBS host Gwen Ifill, who has been out around Washington pushing the paperback version of her book, “The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama” seems to think Rep. Artur Davis and his bid for governor of Alabama is the next big thing.

In an appearance with Andrea Mitchell, she cited him specifically and said if Davis were to be elected, it would be a major milestone.

“There is Artur Davis, who I talk about in this book and is truly the personification of the audacity of hope,” Ifill said. “He’s a congressman from Alabama who is running for governor. Understand in my lifetime, George Wallace was the governor of Alabama.”

Based on the statement, it’s clear some of the Washington elites still view Alabama as the Old South, but the upcoming gubernatorial election in Alabama will get a lot of national attention should Davis defeat State Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks in the Democratic primary.