Alabama: Sharpton to protest appointment of Sessions, et al. The Rev. Al Sharpton, a fiery civil rights activist, told The Hill that he is organizing a rally to protest President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination of US Sen. Jeff Sessions (R) to be attorney general. The rally will be held on Jan. 14 at the Martin Luther King Memorial in Washington, DC. “Our focus is that the Democrats should not weaken” in bringing out what the Leadership Council on Civil Rights has called Session’s “record of hostility toward voting rights.” ……. Texas: Illegal alien foes against McCaul. Groups that have campaigned for deporting undocumented immigrants, such as NumbersUSA and the Center for Immigration Studies, have signaled their strong opposition to Trump’s picking US Rep. Michael McCaul (R) to head the Department of Homeland Security. They contend, reports The Hill, that McCaul is too close to House Speaker Paul Ryan (R), who is more moderate on such issues ……. South Carolina: Scott/Gowdy ticket in 2018? The Spartanburg Herald Journal reported last week that US Sen. Tim Scott (R) is considering a gubernatorial bid in 2018, possibly with US Rep. Trey Gowdy (R) as his running mate. A Scott spokeswoman told the newspaper that Scott was “going to pray about it.” …….