Playing catch up, Casey Anthony, gop greed, and a message to mooncat

I'm back! Did you miss me? Every now and then I have to take what I call a mental health break from the world of politics and do what my family calls normal stuff. Ironically my mental health break took me to Orlando, Florida home of the infamous Casey Anthony trial. I'm going to admit I didn't pay close attention while the trial was in process, but it was wall to wall 24/7 coverage in Orlando. Everyone, and I mean everyone, was following the trial with eager anticipation of her guilt and execution. You know why? Because the mainstream media had convinced them she was guilty.

I thought they were going to have to call out the National Guard when the jury found her not guilty. I also thought I was going to be run out of town on a rail when I reminded friends and family this is America where we are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law and not guilty until proven innocent by the media, of the media, for the media. I wish the Talking TeeVee Pundit Heads and arm chair Lawyers would exercise some discretion and stop trying people in the court of public opinion. I wonder who Nancy Grace and company will go after next?

Race played a factor. We all know of the horrendous things that happen to little black girls everyday but they don't get coverage like this.

O.J.'s trial outed every liberal or racist who found a cause to justify their negative feelings towards blacks and especially those who "allegedly" kill white folks. The fact that one of them got away has become a cyclic issue for many and will remain so for many years to come.

The Casey Anthony trial was white on white crime--if there was one and this was a nightmare and a cause of concern across all ethnic and socioeconomic lines. The dreaded issue of maternal filicide!

BTW: I'm concerned about Nancy Grace. The intensity and obsessiveness shown on her show has been rather alarming. The murder of her fiance years ago and with the birth of her twins--she seems to be eerily off centered in re: to the homicidal tendencies of others.

What's that you say? republicans might be willing to tank the economy to put President Obama in his place? I'm shocked! Shocked I tell you! Not. So,someone floated the rumor President Obama was considering cuts to Social Security and Medicare which riled up the democratic base And rightly (no pun) so.

If I’m being charitable, I’ll just assume the White House is floating a trial balloon in order to make the eventual Republican rejection look even worse. AKA “we even offered to cut social security!” But if there’s any reality to this proposal, I hope that at the very least a senator like Bernie Sanders and the few remaining Senate Dems who aren’t spineless or bought off will filibuster.

But here is what I think is going on. The republicans walked out of the debt ceiling negotiations, remember? In order to get them back President Obama had to put cuts Social Security and Medicare on the table. Just because it's on the table doesn't mean it's going to happen. In any event now republicans are caught between Barack and a hard place *snicker*. They are damned if the cut Social Security and Medicare and they are damned if the force an economic collapse in order to protect the rich. It's not President Obama's fault gop means greed over people.

Message to mooncat, not being a native Alabamian, you may or may not know the history of the formation of the ADC (Alabama Democratic Conference)

The Alabama Democratic Conference, formerly known as the Black Political Caucus of Alabama, was established in 1960. Its leaders were African Americans who wished to encourage all voters, but especially other African Americans, to vote for the democratic candidate, who at the time was John F. Kennedy with vice president Lyndon B. Johnson. The founders of this influential group include Arthur Shores, Rufus Lewis, Dr. C.G. Gomillion, Q. D. Adams, Isom Clemon, and Beulah Johnson. All of these individuals held respectable positions in their communities and were looked up to by the people, especially by other African Americans.

The mission of the ADC is as follows

The mission statement of the Alabama Democratic Conference is simple. It is to "organize" and to "unify" the vote of the African American population and also to make the African American vote and opinion appreciated and respected. The organization worked tirelessly for ten years after its inception before these results truly began to manifest themselves. It was a long, hard road, but the members were simply not willing to give up on what they thought as important. Things really changed for this group in 1970 when it began to screen and endorse actual democratic candidates. This brought more attention to and knowledge of the group. The Alabama Democratic Conference also focused on having voter registration drives, monitoring voting, employing African Americans, and helping African Americans to be able to run for office and to hold high positions. Thanks to the group's hard work, there are now more African American elected representatives in Alabama than there are in any other state. While this cannot be due entirely to the Alabama Democratic Conference, it certainly wouldn't have been possible without its dedicated efforts and concern.

The ADC suit has merit because banning PAC to PAC to transfers will eliminate the organization, which is the goal of whites who want to suppress and dilute black voices and the black vote. You said it yourself.

Those payments, coming as they do from other campaign committees or PACs, are now prohibited. For ADC and organizations like it (Alabama New South Coalition is in a similar position) to survive under the new rules, they must change their philosophy and begin raising the bulk of their money directly from individuals and/or corporations.

I'm sure individuals and/or corporations will line up to give money to the ADC and Alabama New South Coalition. Snark

Your understanding of the work, and the mission of the ADC is dead wrong.

As far as I can tell from public records, the bulk of ADC's contributions come from Democratic candidates, other PACs and the Alabama Democratic Party. A candidate who wants to speak at an ADC meeting has to pay, a candidate who wants help from ADC for GOTV has to pay, if the Alabama Democratic Party wants help from ADC for GOTV they have to pay -- it seems backwards if the goal is supporting like-minded candidates and helping them get their message out.

The ADC was formed because blacks were shut out of the Alabama Democratic Party. Political Action Committees are not the root of all evil.

A Political Action Committee, or PAC, is the name commonly given to a private group, regardless of size, organized to elect political candidates or to advance the outcome of a political issue or legislation.[1] Legally, what constitutes a "PAC" for purposes of regulation is a matter of state and federal law. Under the Federal Election Campaign Act, an organization becomes a "political committee" by receiving contributions or making expenditures in excess of $1,000 for the purpose of influencing a federal election.

This is not about as you say making it easier for ordinary citizens and the press to see how money influences Alabama government. Nor is it about informing and putting more power in the hands of the people for the good of our democracy. It's about putting Dr. Joe L. Reed and the rest of the uppity blacks in their place.


White Alabama Democrats have some serious soul (pun intended) searching to do.

White Alabama democrats have some deep soul(pun intended)searching to do. Speaking only for myself, I'm tired of the "we want black democrats to be seen but not heard" mentality of the party elite. I'm tired of the African American vote being taken for granted. I'm tired of conservatives running as democrats to take advantage of the black vote then governing like republican. I'm tired of democratic candidates pandering to the right at the expense of the traditional base. I'm tired of African Americans being treated like second class citizens with a nod, nod, wink, wink. To quote Dr. Joe Reed;You cannot curse Bubba and Cooter, Big Man, and June Bug in the daytime and beg them at night. If I wanted a republican representative/governor/senator I would vote republican.

I don't have to be member of the Alabama Democratic Party, I chose to be a member of the Alabama Democratic Party because I believed we shared goals and values. I choose not to be a member of a democratic party who would rather lose than stand up and fight for what is right.

What Old Fart said all the damn way!
This is, to put it succinctly, a political hatchet job.

I am glad and proud the Alabama Democratic Conference is fighting back.

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- The state's oldest black political group filed a federal lawsuit today challenging last year's changes to Alabama's campaign financing law banning transfer of money between political action committees.

The Alabama Democratic Conference says in the lawsuit that the new law hurts its get-out-the-vote efforts in elections and cuts money available for minority candidates.

The Alabama Democratic Conference and five of its members filed the federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama against Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange and two district attorneys, Robert Broussard in Madison County and Bryce Graham Jr. in Colbert County.

This is the kind of Alabama Democratic Party I wish we had instead of the Alabama Democratic Party we have.