If the state of Alabama had been around in 1776, elected officials here would have blasted Congress for the Declaration of Independence.

Dangerous overreach. Revolutionary. We’re tired of Washington ordering us around.

That’s what our leaders do.

It’s a long Alabama political tradition. Maybe even a rite of passage. No conservative official in this state gets attention until they perform the sacred act of facing north-northeast and shaking a fist at the Potomac, blaming it for all the problems we’ve brought on ourselves.

When Gov. Kay Ivey called a special session last week to redo the state’s congressional maps – after the conservative U.S. Supreme Court determined that they violated the Voting Rights Act – she first made sure to utter a loud sigh.

“Our Legislature knows our state, our people and our districts better than the federal courts or activist groups do,” she said in a statement. (The “activist groups,” in this case, being Black Alabamians — including legislators — justly arguing that the original maps locked Black voters out of the political process.)

The next day, U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville greeted the release of federal money for infrastructure by saying it […]