This is an opinion column.

Governor. Ponder the word.

Leader. Guardian. Protector. Of all.

Please.

We’ve clearly strayed from the nostalgic notion that our public officials should lead, guard and protect all of us. Whether we voted for them or not. Whether we look like them or not.

Whether we pray like them or not.

Tommy Tuberville wants to be Alabama’s governor, and his party is rolling over for him like puppies panting for a belly rub.

Instead of questioning his qualifications (y’all know the man barely lives here), they’re caving to the former football coach turned empty-suited U.S. Senator.

They’re paving a path to Montgomery for him even though it is clear Tuberville has no desire to lead, guard and protect Alabamians who may not vote for him or look like him.

And he certainly does not want to lead, guard and protect those who do not pray like him.

He made that emphatically clear this week. On a podcast, he said residents of major American cities are not welcome in Alabama if they are going to “bring that Communist, Islamic atmosphere with them,” he said.

“We’re not going to deal with it. I’m telling you right now,” he added.

Oh, and that was after calling them “rats.” Yes, the man who wants to be our governor called humans rats. Yes, he did.

Zohran Mamdani’s name didn’t come out of Tuberville’s mouth. The senator’s remarks, though, came after the 33-year-old Indian-American New York assemblyman won the city’s mayoral Democratic primary. He did so without the backing of the state’s Democratic party leadership.

Because everyone has to be labeled these days, Mamdani is a “democratic socialist.” I’m not gonna pretend to have an iron-clad definition of the term, so I’ll just say this: Mamdani ran on a platform aimed at what remains of New York’s working class and GenZers by lowering housing costs, addressing health disparities, promising free public transportation, government-run grocery stores and no-cost childcare.

Nah, we don’t want any of that down here.

You can almost laugh at Tuberville taunting Mamdani as a “communist.” The man who struggled to articulate the three branches of our government also doesn’t know the difference between a communist and a democratic socialist. But that’s okay, using the big, scary C-word is much easier than actually articulating the man’s political positions.

Of course, Tuberville isn’t alone in his ignorance. Donald Trump called Mamdani “100% Communist Lunatic.” No matter how many times you repeat a lie, it’s still a lie.

A day before the primary, a conservative podcast host blasted Mamdani, saying “[he’s] even FURTHER left than Bernie Sanders. He wants government-run grocery stores.”

Nah, we don’t want any of that down here.

Government-run liquor stores, okay. But government-run grocery stores equitably seeded in food-starved neighborhoods — nah, can’t have that.

Mamdani is Muslim. When Tuberville added to his ill-informed slur with the snide attempt to insult Mamdani by calling him “Islamic,” well, that just makes it clear the man who wants to be our governor has no desire to represent anyone whose God is Allah, anyone who prays five times daily, who ascribes to the teachings of Islam found in the Quran.

Nah, can’t welcome that down here, Tuberville said. Better to feed the hysteria of Islamophobia, which is at an all-time high nationwide.

Better to ignore that Muslims are already down here. They’re our neighbors, co-workers and friends.

“American Muslims have been thriving in Alabama for decades, creating an atmosphere of fellowship, charity, and devotion to God,” she said Britton Shields, staff attorney for the Alabama chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

The group invited Tuberville to visit one of the numerous mosques in the state. Maybe even pray with its members.

He’d still be welcomed. Ponder the word.

Let’s be better tomorrow than we are today. My column appears on AL.com, and digital editions of The Birmingham News, Huntsville Times, and Mobile Press-Register. Tell me what you think at [email protected], and follow me at twitter.com/roysj, Instagram @roysj and BlueSky.