Saturday Must Reads: On Racial Demonization and Political Demonization

#ICantBreathe In Black & White --> (Cartoon by @AnnTelnaes) #EricGarner #p2 pic.twitter.com/mn9n7Iu75r
— Eric Wolfson (@EricWolfson) December 6, 2014

No More Mister Nice Blog

 I've long felt that, since the days of Reagan, conservatives have
thrived by modifying the "Southern strategy" demonization of blacks --
the demons now include Democrats, liberals, college professors,
Hollywood stars, feminists, gay people, immigrants, and other groups.
The rhetoric frequently circles back to race, of course -- especially,
needless to say, while we have a black president -- but the same basic
anger is stoked when the top Democrat is Bill Clinton or Nancy Pelosi.

When White Supremacy is respectable again.

So, now we're at the point where beginning to see signs that openly
racist messaging is on the verge of becoming respectable again. When
right-wing politicians start justifying the murder of black citizens by
white police officers regardless of the specifics of the case, we're one
step below the level of just calling for a system that acknowledges
white supremacy as the natural and "correct" order of things. We're just
one step away from openly saying that equality before the law is not
the goal, and never should be. Recent remarks by Rep. Peter King and Rudy Giuliani, plus the openly-expressed sentiments of countless white citizens, indicates that
we're dangerously close to a situation where white supremacy is just one
side of the political argument...again. And we have the Conservative Movement to thank for that.

 The information age is actually a media age. We have war by media; censorship by media; demonology by media.

In 2003, I filmed an interview in Washington with
Charles Lewis, the distinguished American investigative journalist.  We
discussed the invasion of Iraq a few months earlier.  I asked him, “What
if the freest media in the world had seriously challenged George Bush
and Donald Rumsfeld and investigated their claims, instead of channeling
what turned out to be crude propaganda?”

He replied that if we journalists had done our job “there is a very, very good chance we would have not gone to war in Iraq.”

It's the Media.  They think we are stupid.

Hump Day Hypocrisy Diary Trifecta Edition

There is so much hypocrisy going around I don't know where to start.  All I can say is the Talking TeeVee Pundit Heads must think We The People have amnesia, or, they think we are stupid enough to believe everything they tell us just because they keep saying it over and over on TeeVee. 

The TTPH's have the nerve to trot out some of the same ones who enabled Bush and Dick to take us to war based on DEAD WRONG INTELLIGENCE and NO EXIT STRATEGY,  telling us Syria is not like Iraq.

 Yeah right.

Republicans like to bomb people.  That's messed up.  House majority leader John Boehner backs President Obama when it comes to dropping bombs,  but when it comes to access quality affordable health care, public education, jobs, women's right, or sensible gun control legislation, not so much.

 How could Obama let himself be pushed into this catastrophe you ask?  IMHO, and mine only,  our President suffers from Bipartisan Syndrome,  he keeps reaching out to republicans, and they keep sawing his arm off.  What part of republicans do not like him, and will never like him doesn't he understand?  We F--king Retarded, and Professional Left tried to tell him, but did he listen to us?  Noooooooo.

 Speaking of The Left, Writing for the Huffington Post,  Frank Schaeffer says The Left and the Right Entirely Missed the Point of Obama deferring Syria to Congress.

 The pundits mostly are trying to figure out the president's tactics short term on the "next war" or "what this means politically." But Syria isn't the point. Politics isn't either. Our Constitution is. What they don't get is that irrespective of the outcome now in this case, President Obama has injected an old/new note of constitutional restraint into the American war making game that is revolutionary for our times.
It's a very big story that the media seems to be missing by concentrating on the short term situation, Syria, and politics. The real story here isn't Syria--it is presidential power. President Obama just put our country's good ahead of his power and handed a little of presidential power back to We The People. Thank you Mr. President.

Uh, I don't think we should be thanking Mr. President for handing a little bit of presidential power back to We The People just yet. House minority leader Nancy Pelosi said she supported the president and sent a letter to fellow Democrats urging that they fall into line. But she conceded, “In my district, I don’t think people are convinced that military action is necessary.”

Booman keeps harping on it

She can feel the pulse of the progressive caucus, but she's supporting the president.
Did that last sentence make you cringe? Cause a little cognitive dissonance?
It should, because the progressive caucus, as opposed to the predominately white progressive blogosphere, has been the strongest supporter of the president. But progressives of all stripes are scratching their heads over the presentation of the evidence and the logic behind the strategy.
Nancy's right. Progressives need to see more.

I agree with the rude pundit

Across this America, city after city and state after state, the basics of daily life (and death) are being wrecked, in part, by our failure to spend on things that matter to Americans, things that actually would make this a great country. A nation that has a city that, even briefly, couldn't provide death or birth certificates because it didn't have paper is a nation that has absolutely no business spending millions, perhaps billions of dollars to bomb Syria just because the mad president there did something insane.

Fix America First because we still have a great distance to go.

Hump Day Must Read
Why I can  no longer just stay in my lane

I have not been speaking publicly about the relationship between drones abroad and the War on Drugs at home. I have not been talking about the connections between the corrupt capitalism that bails out Wall Street bankers, moves jobs overseas and forecloses on homes with zeal, all while private prisons yield high returns and expand operations into a new market: caging immigrants. I have not been connecting the dots between the NSA spying on millions of Americans, the labeling of mosques as “terrorist organizations” and the spy programs of the 1960s and ‘70s – specifically the FBI and COINTELPRO programs that placed civil rights advocates under constant surveillance, infiltrated civil rights organizations and assassinated racial justice leaders.

"For those of you who are tired of hearing about racism, imagine how much more tired we are constantly experiencing it." - Barbara Smith

We Won A TeaPublican Gang Banging

Comment of the week;

Even more frustrating is the fact that, once again, the republicans are driving the debate. Two years in and it is obvious that this president is either 1-A bad negotiator or 2-A Capitulator of major proportions. No wonder he's lost the excitement of the majority of folks who got him elected.

Obama Caved Once More and Right-Wing Bullies Will Continue to Hold the Nation Hostage Again and Again

When I was a small boy I was bullied more than most, mainly because I was a foot shorter than than everyone else. They demanded the cupcake my mother had packed in my lunchbox, or, they said, they’d beat me up. After a close call in the boy’s room, I paid up. Weeks later, they demanded half my sandwich as well. I gave in to that one, too. But I could see what was coming next. They’d demand everything else. Somewhere along the line I decided I’d have a take a stand. The fight wasn’t pleasant. But the bullies stopped their bullying.

Deja Voodoo all over coming again in May

Congressional Republicans are vowing that before they will agree to raise the current $14.25 trillion federal debt ceiling — a step that will become necessary in as little as five weeks — President Obama and Senate Democrats will have to agree to far deeper spending cuts for next year and beyond than those contained in the six-month budget deal agreed to late Friday night that cut $38 billion and averted a government shutdown

The Real Speaker of the House is the Tea Bag Gang

“John Boehner is having a difficult time in his caucus ….” Oh, really? Then someone should tell him that He’s in charge and stop trying to appease the Tea Bag gang in his caucus, take them to school and tell them to shut the hell up and go pound sand, or they don’t get a second term on the Hill. Period.

That kind of leadership was the reasons the public respected Tip O’Neill and Nancy Pelosi. Their caucus knew who was in charge.

Avoiding the Government Shut down was good....for John McCain

President Obama has brokered a deal between the Democratic-run Senate and the Republican-run House that avoids a shutdown of the federal government, while also stripping the bill of issues such as Planned Parenthood funding and decisions about the EPA’s authority.

Yet somehow, I’m seeing from some – particularly Ezra Klein, who should honestly know better – that this was a bad deal for the President

Curtis Abby at Progressive Electorate takes us Professional Lefty's to task

But look at all the venom now that we're reaping the results of our big loss last fall. Everyone wants to focus on the President, but what did we do last year?

What more could we have done? That is the question.

What could we have done is more of the question instead of what did we do. We did our part. We voted. We blogged. We organized. We wrote letters to the Editor. We went door to door. We contributed. What more could we have done?

THIS is what President Obama should have said

"Look, I'm not thrilled with how this came together, but I was negotiating with rabid conservatives and didn't want a shutdown. If folks wanted a better outcome, voters shouldn't have elected intemperate children to run the House of Representatives. Don't blame me for your bad decisions."

That's how you handle Bully's Mister President, Sir.

An open letter to John Boehner~corrected

You knew it was coming.. H/T MES

Dear Mr. Speaker,

Is the gavel to compensate for something? They say that men want large cars to compensate for a small phallus, Freud would say that your gavel would be an attempt to compensate for a lack of sexual prowess. You would have to in order to walk around looking like a goldfish and crying more than a virgin at a prison rodeo.

Where are the jobs? That's what you in your wonderful John Wayne cowboy charm told the mindless masses as you convinced them to vote against their interests. To once again, pull up to the picnic table for the fish fry along with Opie and Floyd and have a mint julep with the honey suckle on the veranda at Tara waiting for the vapors. Yes, we love to gasp and swoon for the vapors...You promised jobs, because the axis of evil, Obama, Pelosi and Reid was going on a shopping spree with the Nations credit card trying to get the nation out of the quagmire that the Duke of Hazard and his band of Merry Thugs got the country into.

Now, you decide it's a good idea to penalize federal employees and cut their jobs in your effort to trim the deficit. So...to create jobs you cut jobs? How does that make logical sense? Aren't you a federal employee? So, couldn't you cut your job in your pathetic effort to cut the deficit? "So be it", is what you say. You remember how people were trying to compare Michelle Obama to Marie Antoinette because of a top she wore, even though she didn't make the "let them eat cake" statement? This is a let them eat cake statement if I ever heard one.

Maybe if you left the tanning alone, this is something you would know. Making more people unemployed will do what to the deficit? It will ADD to the deficit because these people will be filing unemployment insurance, along with people like me, who can't get a job. If they were making over $50k, what kind of job do you think they are going to get? Outside of a greedy corporate lobbyist, if they are in that field, but those people aren't going to be one's that's going to get screwed. It's going to be post office workers and other lowly people that no one thanks or cares about until election year.

30 days and what have you accomplished other than systematically attempt to repress women's reproductive rights and go back on your campaign promises. I thought you idiots said you were done with social issues.

Here is a tip, don't tell anyone, it's a secret: Don't start a pre-emptive war based on lies before you end the first war. That's really expensive. I don't recall anyone pissing and complaining about "spending" when the US government was outsourcing everything to Haliburton and Blackwater during the Bush retard years, but now the Nubian Sharia Law terrorist is in office, so now it's bad....They wasted billions of tax payer dollars, contractors sent to Iraq got $100k tax free. Sure, they ran the risk of being beheaded, but still it was tax free.

You are third in line to the presidency and I truly am fearful for the future. Every interview you give you can't even say that the President was born in America and he has a legitimate birth certificate. Any birther bill should automatically be tabled because you are a leader of a major party and not a group of lunatics. Or are you? I can understand your need to connect to your base, but some topics should really be mentally draining to a person over the age of 12.

Get a map explain that Hawaii is one of the 50 states in the union along with Alaska where caribou Barbie originated from. If Obama has to show his birth certificate yet again, then I need to see Palin's kindergarten, middle and high school graduation certificates. I'm not sure she can walk and chew gum at the same time...she's better suited for being a pop artist than a politician. Easy on the eyes, no talent, no substance, just a stylist and some makeup and a catch phrase. I don't see her dry humping a mic stand in a bathing suit with fringe singing off key, but maybe God will answer our prayers and get her off the political stage before she "refudiates" more historical facts.

Have fun when your limo breaks down in the potholes and there is no one to fix it on the broken down highways in Dept of Transportation, or no policeman when you get car jacked from the scores of unemployed that you decided to sacrifice for your political agenda. I hope your family doesn't get sick and need to use the ambulance, that goes back to my first point. They won't have "Obamacare" or should I say "Romneycare", they can have the hope and pray medical program. Where they pray to God and hope that he answers. You can have power outages because no one replaces the bulbs in the street lights and no one trims the trees...You get my gist.

We can use you for light, you practically glow in the dark.

It seems that Nancy Pelosi is more of a man and leader than you and to think she had a smaller gavel than you, and she never cries. Boner, I am going to send you a box Kleenex. Hopefully if you sit in a seat you will disappear.

This is what happens when Hate wins over Hope

Remember the health care reform town meetings Summer 09?

Tampa Town Hall on Health Care Reform Disrupted by violence.

Will Alaska Town Hall meeting be disrupted by violence like this?

Health care debate turns violent

Swfitboating Town Halls

A Health Care Town Hall Strategy Memo update

Flashback; Gabby Giffords faced threats over health care vote

Tea Party sympathizer shoots Rep. Giffords, kills and wounds others.

Nancy Pelosi chokes up over fear of political violence

God.....please help America.

Redeyes Week In Review

Or, We must laugh to keep from crying like House Speaker Orange Bohener.

Or, Here Comes the Clowns

The week begin with Speaker Elect John Boehner weeping and wailing his way to the House podium. The Rude Pundit has the best description I've heard, here is an excerpt (warning post contains Rude Pundit language)

So the demonstrably unstable Speaker of the House, John Boehner, took his new position from Nancy Pelosi by requesting a comically large gavel. Overcompensating to the hilt, he held his surrogate penis aloft and made a speech that left the Rude Pundit wondering a few things.

Yep, The Wingnuts are here reading the parts of the U.S. Constitution they like! This is what happens when Hate wins over HOPE. I wonder how long it's going to take the Tea Baggers to realized they've been Punk'd big time?

After calling for bills to go through a regular committee process, the bill that would repeal the health care law will not go through a single committee. Despite promising a more open amendment process for bills, amendments for the health care repeal will be all but shut down. After calling for a strict committee attendance list to be posted online, Republicans backpedaled and ditched that from the rules. They promised constitutional citations for every bill but have yet to add that language to early bills.
Republicans say there are subtle reasons for these moves and that they certainly will follow their own rules throughout the 112th Congress. But the hedging on some promises shows just how hard it will be to always match the sharp rhetoric of the campaign with the ugly and complex work of running the House.

Ya Think?

Republicans took control of the House last fall based on commitments to slash government

spending, yet even as they basked in their rise to power Wednesday, they were already under fire for reducing the amount of spending they plan to cut right away.

Republican leaders such as Paul Ryan of Wisconsin took to the airwaves early in the day to deny that they were retreating on spending cuts, following reports Tuesday that the cuts would be $50 billion instead of $100 billion.

Ryan’s explanation of why the number went down was plausible, but also technical and legalistic-sounding. It likely did little to alter the perception for many grassroots conservatives whose busy lives allow sometimes only a few moments a day to pay attention to headlines. The lesson for those absorbing at a glance: Republicans were already letting them down.

I agree with Booman, They have so much Stupid to give. It will be like a fire hose of Stupid for at least the first nine or ten months here.

President Obama really shook up his White House Staff this week...he replace a short, white guy from Chicago, with a tall, white guy from Chicago as his COS. This made the MSM very happy because it was proof Obama was moving to the Center blah, blah, blab, blab.

Our economy still sucks for 98% of America. Jobs are STILL being outsourced. Wall Street is now riding a hooker and cocaine driven surge. Labor has been ignored by the Democratic Party for the last two years. Americans want JOBS and HIGHER TAXES FOR THE RICH, not cuts to social security and more war.

The last thing Obama needs to hear from is MORE banksters.

And in my honest opinion, Blue Dogs are just Republicans who can trick Democrats into voting for them.

Are some progressives to passive? Hell YES they are! Enough!

The greatest tyranny exists on an inner level. This negative rule of the inner critic or superego harasses us, mocks us, undermines our decisions, and assumes to know what is best for us. Meanwhile, our inner passivity (called the subordinate ego in psychoanalysis) is an enabler, a hidden codependent, which allows the harsh inner critic to punish and limit us. With insight we're able to resolve the conflict between inner aggression and inner passivity and claim our authentic self.

OK, I started out laughing but all of a sudden it's not funny anymore.

So, cool, the shiny, new House opens with a series of lies and hypocrisies, with the craven traditional Republicans trying to keep the lid on the just-elected nutzoids so they don't f^&k up 2012.~The Rude Pundit

"I just left my district this morning, and I saw people who came to me saying, 'Look, I need a job.' I just dealt with -- I just helped my fifth foreclosure progression process, many of them with tears, losing their houses. "~Rep. Isiah Cummings (D MD)

The CBC took a gut punch in the last election. In the Tea Party swarm of the House of Representatives, CBC members lost 3 committee chairmanships and more than a dozen subcommittee chairmanships. CBC alum Barack Obama did pretty well for himself these past 2 years with lots of partners in the 111th Congress, but the 112th is a new ballgame. And the Tea Party would like to strip some of the very programs that have benefited the middle class and Black America, if they can.~Jill Tubman

"One finger pointing the blame don't make no impact. But you ball up all them fingers into a fist and you can strike a mighty blow."~Irma Hall's character, "Mother Joe", in the movie Soul Food

President Obama is NOT moving to the Center

Despite the latest right wing Talking TeeVee Pundit Head chatter, President Obama has not abandoned his "base" and decided to govern from the center. That's just the C-Y-A spin they are trying to put on the shellacking President Obama (D), Senate Majority leader Harry Reid (D), and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D) laid on them. They never saw it coming. *snicker* I repeat...Liberals don't hate President Obama.

Do Liberals hate the Obama Compromise, where the super rich get a tax cut for two years, unemployment is extended for one year and the 99's get nothing? Hell yes we do! As well we should.

The bill, H.R.4853, is estimated to cost $858 billion, and is entirely financed by increasing the federal deficit. In addition to the income tax extension and the unemployment insurance, the bill includes a one-year reduction in social security taxes, a two-year reduction of the estate tax (35% with the first $5 million fully exempt), a smattering of tax cuts designed to help middle-class families, and about $55 billion in pork for special interests.

Serioulsy, what's so wrong with being "far left"? Think about it,, what has the "far left" ever been wrong about? Were we wrong about the Iraq war? When has the "far left" ever been on the wrong side of social issues? Was the far left wrong about the Civil Rights Act? President Obama is being urged by some to govern from the center. The center of what? My daddy says the only thing down the center of the road is a yellow line. The President can't govern from center

Black Agenda Report editor and columnist Jared A. Bell says it's the Professional Left versus the Left of Us.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs was partially right when earlier this year he dismissed the “professional left.” There is indeed a professional left, those whose entire careers and claims to fame are based on permanent liberal challenges to power and who arrogantly dismiss as immature, and worse dangerous, those who would push leftward beyond those limits. “Don’t go too far,” they tell us, “vote for us or THEY will get elected and then we’re in real trouble!” But that’s because liberals aren’t in real trouble. They don’t really believe that. If they did really believe that corporations were leading the planet to doom or that the fascists they are protecting us from are just outside the gates would they really only respond by a few rallies and a vote for a Democrat? Then maybe they are as “f&*king stupid” as Rahm Emanuel said they are.

Way, way under the mainstream media radar the biggest prison strike since Attica went unnoticed in the MSM in favor of a "missing popular dancer in Las Vegas".

In the spirit of Attica, nearly 40 years later, prisoners at six prisons in Georgia organized a non-violent labor strike to demand better conditions for themselves. Specifically the inmates demanded a living wage for their work, educational opportunities, decent health care, an end to cruel and unusual punishment, decent living conditions, nutritional meals, opportunities for self-improvement (rehabilitation), access to their families and just parole decisions.

Perhaps even more remarkable than the strike, in which inmates shared information via text messaging on phones bought from prison guards, is that the strike went virtually unnoticed by mainstream American media. That so many chose to ignore what has been called the largest strike of its nature in American history, speak volumes to how Americans continue to think of the American Prison System or what scholars and activists have more commonly referred to as the "Prison Industrial Complex." The inmates themselves have another word for their reality: "Slavery."

So, if prison inmate can rise up in protest of their conditions what's wrong with us so called free folks? IMHO, until President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder make good on their promise to restore integrity to the Justice Department,there will be no peace on this earth.

The Department’s public integrity section is under new leadership—the most highly qualified it has seen in recent decades. It has seized the right moment for an internal reassessment of the approach to prosecuting public corruption. That should entail recognizing that dedication to fair process must take a center seat even if some scoundrels get off the hook as a result. This reassessment must include some introspection about mistakes and abuses of the past as well, because the most serious misjudgments in the public integrity arena relate to active cases in which the Justice Department is defending utterly indefensible positions. In the end, the Justice Department will also have to learn to operate in the harsh sunlight of public attention, disclosing its mistakes and striving to correct them. This is the essential path back to public trust after years spent straying in the wilderness.

As long as elected officials pander to what Ministry of Truth describes as the perfect gop voter there will be no peace on this earth, they are not in the center, they are far right, and us far lefty's are nothing like them.

You can basically break Republican voters into 4 subgroups, and they are Cruel, Hateful, Wildly Misinformed, and Constantly Scared S#@tless. The perfect storm of Republican ideology on the MooseMeter of "WTF are they talking about" is all 4 at once.

The four steps of creating the perfect GOP voter:

1. Find some way to wildly misinform people
2. Play up to their hate (Try calling your opponents Hitler)
3. Play to their cruelty in persecuting the object of their hatred
4. Do your best to scare the living s&*t out of your captive, misinformed viewers about the IMMINENT DANGER of terrorist attacks, socialists, communists, race based cruelty, anti immigrant furor or the Next Big Government Takeover that is going to destroy America.

Our President is not walking the center line down the center of the road just because the gop put a horse head in his bed. They got their tax cut for the rich, at the expense of the country, but that's OK, because it exposes the gop for what it really stands for, Greed Over People. President Obama takes the far left position on DADT, the Dream Act, Equal pay for equal work and access to health care reform. His job approval rating among us far left liberals is just fine.

A friend of mine said they wanted President Obama to act more like George W. Bush and just bull doze his agenda through. I said I wanted President Obama to act more like John Shaft (Richard Roundtree or Samuel L. Jackson). But in the end I believe he acts more like Paul Newman in Cool Hand Luke, what we've gote here is a failure to communicate directly to the American people with out the mainstream media distorting what we decide with all spin all the time, unfair and unbalanced, pandering to the typical gop voter.

President is NOT moving to the Center. There is NO Center.

The Democratic Wing of the Democratic Party shows you how to deal right wing republican Bully's

And NO, you don't bend over and take your gang banging like Girlie Men, and NO you don't resign yourself to go along to get along. YOU CALL THEIR BLUFF. You call out they HYPOCRISY. You stand up to them. Kudos to Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the progressive, I mean LIBERAL caucus. This is what I'm talking about!

From Talking Points Memo

"If we're going to lose, let's lose with a strong message," Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) -- chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus -- told me and another reporter in the Speaker's Lobby this afternoon.

Earlier today, he and other progressives interrupted the tax plan's glide path by blocking a key procedural measure -- a stalling tactic they hope to leverage into being given a chance to vote on substantial changes to the bill. All efforts to amend the legislation are expected to fail. But rank and file Dems are angry that during the brief floor debate over the cuts they were given only one shot at a relatively narrow, symbolic amendment to raise the estate tax.

As long as they're being set up to fail, progressives want that measure to include a whole range of changes to the bill.

Oh, and remember how the righty's were complaining about Congress not knowing what was in the health care bill, that President Obama didn't have hearings on C-Span nor did he include the republicans? Can't find a link, but outgoing Florida democratic Congressman Alan Grayon (Liberal) makes note the government is getting ready to spend trillions without what's knowing what's in the bill(besides tax cuts for the rich, the estate tax and unemployment insurance) without hearings or mark ups. Now ain't that a dip?

I heard a Talking TeeVee Chuckle head say the democrats want to push this bill through before the republicans take over the house because "they would come up with something much worse and cut off unemployment insurance" blah, blah, blab, blab. I say Let em Bring it On. The blood will be on their hands. To quote Governor Howard Dean, I'm tired of being bullied by the right wing. If you don't stand for something you will fall for anything. Freedom is worth fighting for.

Edit~Where in the world is Congresswoman elect Terri Sewell?

Apologies to readers for the many errors contained in this post. That's what I get for trying to write a diary, prepare Sunday dinner and watch the football game at the same time.


I'm not the only one who is wondering with the restructuring of the Alabama Democratic Party, will the "top democrat" in the state assist or influence it? Other than a blurb about her support for Nancy Pelosi and hiring an out of state Chief of staff, we've heard nary a peep out out of Little Miss Sewell.

You would think after her historic election as the the first African American women elected to Congress from Alabama and being on the list of Freshmen to Watch and the states top elected democratic official we'd be hearing something from Miss Sewell about the Obama Compromise, ethics reform, who the new head of the ADP should or should not be, education, AEA, ethics reform,something. I know there are those who are adopting the "give her a chance" and "let her cast her first vote" meme, but we've been there and done that.

Remember?

Where in the world is Terri Sewell? How are we going to "watch" her if we can't find her?

Some insight into the duties of Congressional staffers and an offer of help from one of Sewells constituents from my inbox.

Let me in this discussion, since I worked in congress for Earl Hilliard and have some experience. The Chief of Staff should always be someone who is well acquainted with Congress and networked there. S/he controls the money and all that the Congressperson deals with, and has to know what she is doing. I’ve see abject failures in that position.

It is the District Director who has to know the district people, and deals directly with them. That person should be located in the district office, not DC.

A third person, the Legislative Director, deals directly with the real work of what we laughingly call democracy.

I was going to offer to assist her in finding personnel (not including me) among those I know and getting her networked in and ready to work. I never could find her to discuss anything. All I wanted was to assist her in what she wanted to do.

If President Obama had listened to the "Professional Left" we wouldn't be in this mess

According to Liz Sidoti and Jeffinfer Aglesta the results of the midterm election are proof Obama's party is in trouble with independents. I don't know why Obama's party is in trouble with so called "independents", he did everything but bend over and kiss their rear ends.

Near the midpoint of his presidency, Barack Obama's diverse voter coalition reveals giant cracks and he faces major work repairing his standing among independents in states crucial to his re-election chances. Catholics. Older people. Women. Young adults. They shifted toward Republicans in this month's elections and failed to support Obama's Democratic Party as they did in 2008.

Two years before voters render judgment on his tenure, Obama's most critical task may be winning back those who aren't affiliated with a party but who hold enormous sway in close contests. National exit polls from the midterm elections show these voters broke heavily for Republicans after helping elect Obama and Democrats in the two previous elections.

Psst President Obama! Independents are really republicans who are ashamed to call themselves republicans. They are not, and will never be your friend. You stand for everything thing they oppose. You need to stop listening to the gaggle heads and listen to us Professional Leftys. You need to surround yourself with some real Political Scientist and kick the clueless consultants and their enablers to the curb.

Watching CNN's gaggle of idiots – and I do mean gaggle, as there were at least 15 of them rotating through an archipelago of tables while Anderson Cooper was forced to play ringmaster – "explain" the election last Tuesday was enough to drive me to drink. They were absolutely obsessed with thematic explanations and sweeping claims of mandates and referendums. A referendum on health care reform. On Obama. On government spending. A mandate for Change. For the Tea Party. For John Boehner. A sign of voters' anger. Or their fears. Or their desperation. Or their impatience. Basically they did what the media do best – vomit a dozen explanations at the camera and let viewers pick whichever they most prefer.

The blue dogs and their progressive enablers just don't get it.

And that is the real story of the 2010 elections. Blue Dogs have traditionally won by voting in such a business-friendly way that they can swamp their opponents with corporate cash. This year, Karl Rove made sure their opponents were competitive. So, without a huge cash advantage, they had to run on their records. And their records sucked, because they wouldn't defend the good their party had done, and they actually bad-mouthed what their party had done. If I'm a socially conservative person of modest means, the only way I'm voting for the Democrat is if it's clear to me that he or she is going to side with me against the fat cats who ruined the economy.

One thing I can say about the gop, they vote for candidates who share their ideology regardless of the color or their skin. Modern day Minstrel show here we come.

Defying the odds, West and Scott were the only two winners of the 32 black Republican candidates seeking seats in the U.S. House this year. By surviving, they are poised to command the spotlight as soon as they arrive in Washington. No doubt they will be in great demand by conservative television and talk radio, offering up living proof that the GOP has a drop of melanin in its lily-white portrait. Scott, in particular, landed a plumb assignment within the first week of his victory. He’s one of three incoming freshmen legislators appointed to the 22-member transition team that will craft House rules under the Republican leadership.

West and Scott are far-right conservatives who owe their seats to the Tea Party and its princess, Sarah Palin, who endorsed both of them. This will complicate their mission. They must embrace the Tea Party and the far-right wing of the GOP as it pushes traditionalists within the House leadership to the extremist margins of politics. All of this drama promises to make West and Scott must-see political theater.

Nancy Pelosi is the hero of the Professional Left because she stood up for our core values. Maybe that's why every DINO who ran against her LOST, why democrats lost the House, and almost lost the Senate.

You are not going to keep a majority if you don’t have core principles that the people know you are going to fight for. And they can’t be core principles that some will fight for; it has to be everyone or no one.

If there is one lesson democrats need from the midterm massacre its play to win. Another is don't throw your base under the bus and expect them to vote for you.

If the Republicans are so dumb, why are they winning? Clearly, the “know-thing” party understands some things a lot better than the Democrats – including the actual workings of race and racism in America. Meanwhile, the Democrats seem incapable of self-help. “Just one legislative triumph for working people would have been enough to give Democrats a margin for victory.”

The political landscape is dismal but I am not without hope. I am hopeful because we can still be resourceful. I am hopeful because we can still be creative. I am hopeful because we can still serve, taking what we have and making what we need. It is this hope with which I go forth to serve during this exacting moment in history.

EPILOGUE – Every victory contains the seeds of defeat. Every defeat contains the seeds of victory. We just have to find the seeds of victory, create the conditions so they will germinate, sprout and grow. Then we must cultivate them until they bear future fruits of victory.~AL State Senator Hank Sanders

The White Backlash has arrived. The gop infused, media enabled Tea Party managed to turn Hope for Change we can believe in to a black president leading the charge to eviscerate Medicare, Medicaid and social security in the name of “deficit reduction,”.

We Professional Lefty's tried to tell you. Can you hear us now?

Redeye's Week in Review

It's been a week since the gop infused, media enabled Tea Baggers took control of the U.S. House and the Alabama State House and what's their first order of business? Is it creating jobs and putting people back to work? Nope. It's a call for endless investigations, redistricting, *cough cough* ethics reform, tax cuts for the rich, declaring war on Grandma, and going back to the land of slavery and Jim Crow. And they are still mad because AL State Senator Hanks Sanders tried to sound the alarm. Only in AmeriBama.

Evidently the gop believes because they won it was a mandate for them to tell democrats who their national/state party leaders should be. On the national level, they tried to replace Nancy Pelosi, on the state level they are trying to decide who should replace Joe Turnham as ADP chair. Thank goodness, Nancy Pelosi will be the Minority Leader, and continue to be a major thorn in the rear of the Tan Man and the Tea Baggers, assisted by Rep. Steney Hoyer and Rep. Jim Clyburn. It. Is. On.

Top House Democrats said late Friday night that they had settled on an arrangement that avoided a divisive fight for the No. 2 position in the party when it reverts to the minority in January.

In a statement, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she would nominate Representative James E. Clyburn of South Carolina to be the No. 3 Democrat when the party holds an internal party election on Wednesday.

The high tech lynching of Auburn Quarterback Cam Newton kicked up a notch this week. You know the drill...someone(s) leaks allegations of wrong doing to the media...the media runs with the leak....Newton can't respond because anything he says can and will be used against him..Voila! Get the rope! Uh, what ever happened to innocent until proven guilty in a court of law not the court of public opinion? Some of us saw this coming.

Newton stood so tall, looked like so much of a man among boys, I'm pretty sure irate angry Arkansas State parents were demanding to see his birth certificate, the way they do in peewee football when a Goliath appears.

The sad, sorry state of public education in Huntsville City schools Part II

City city school board members Topper Birney, Jennie Robinson and David Blair need a lecture on the state's open meetings law. Honesty and public trust should be part of that lesson.

Only a week or so after the municipal elections, the three huddled privately at a local restaurant to discuss board business, including the search for a superintendent and who might be the next school board chairman.

Blair, Robinson, and Birney need more than a lecture on the state's open meeting law IMHO. Unlike the allegations against Cam Newton, it's a fact they violated the open meetings law (again). If all they need is a lecture, give Cam Newton a lecture too and let's be through with this. I'm just saying....

Who is WE fundmaker?

Confederate General Robert E. Lee sig line blogger fundmaker has the nerve to ask Does Nancy Pelosi deserve to be Dem leader on the front page at right leaning Left in Alabama.

Nancy Pelosi held a news conference on Friday to announce that she intends to remain leader of the Democrats in the House. While she recieved statements of support from a few veteran Dem's such as Jesse Jackson Jr. (Ill), she has drawn multiple comments of criticism from other Democrats, based on concerns that she may not represent the consensus anymore. Other worries are that she has played a direct role in the defeat Democrats suffered at the hands of the Republicans in the recent mid-term elections.

Does Pelosi deserve to remain leader? Do we need fresh blood? Do we need a more mainstream leader?

First of all it should be Does Nancy Pelosi deserve to the DEMOCRATIC leader and secondly who the heck is WE?

Because of the branding issues and stigmas associated with the words, "Conservative, Liberal, Socialist, Right-Winger, Lefty, Yellow" it is very hard to find descriptives to use for ones political mindset. Even if there were no stigmas, the descriptives are so broadly interpreted now that you still have to wonder what they actually mean.

Let me explain. If I call myself a "Liberal", that does not mean I am pro-abortion and anti-gun in my opinion. But, it might mean that to someone else. The definitions of descriptives are far too broad today.

On a personal level, I feel like the most descriptive words to actually describe my ideaological platform would be "Socialist" and "Conservative". No, I am not a Soviet era sympathizer. In fact, I despise communistic principles. I do however support some socialistic aspects. I want to list some of my views on issues and you guys try to describe me using descriptives. Rename me....

Have you been defined yet? And what do you mean by do WE need someone "more mainstream"? Somebody like this?

If I like a candidate, I vote for them. If I don't like the candidate, I don't vote for them. If I like both candidates, I go with the one I like the best. If I don't like either, I either go with the lesser of two evils (if the other choice is truly horrible) or don't vote at all in that particular race.

The letter next to a person's name has little to do with who I vote for. Everyone has good folks and bad folks. I'm not going to vote for a bad candidate or hold back from voting for a good one just because of his party affiliation.

What's up with the race baiting? Never mind, WE know.

While she recieved statements of support from a few veteran Dem's such as Jesse Jackson Jr. (Ill),

Since you have privileges I don't have at LiA let a DEMOCRAT answer your question.
Does Nancy Pelosi DESERVE to the the DEMOCRATIC Leader?

HELL YES. Nancy Pelosi is effective and is reading willing and able to stand up to Boehner. She has proven she is not skeered to stand up to the right wing Bully's. Any other Minority leader will be nothing but a republican enabler. Which is why republicans are skeered to death of her.

Let's revisit the post from yesterday about the Blue Dogs and other conservatives who threw Pelosi-- and the Democratic brand-- under the bus to try to save their own asses. The question was, "did it help any of them?" Well, every single challenger who came out with idiotic statements like, "I'll support Allen Boyd for Speaker" (grotesquely corrupt Alabama lobbyist Steve Raby), was defeated. The three most aggressively anti-Pelosi Blue Dogs, Bobby Bright (AL), Jim Marshall (GA) and Gene Taylor (MS), were defeated. Blue Dogs Mike McIntyre (NC) and Jason Altmire (PA) managed to survive the slaughter. More than half the Blue Dogs were defeated or retired. Only 47% of them, a number which will go down when Jim Costa's (CA-20) likely loss is announced later today) were reelected. Contrast that to the 95% of the Congressional Progressive Caucus members who were reelected.

If WE democrats wanted a republican leader WE democrats would elect republican leader.

The reason the gop infused, media enabled Tea Party hijacked Hope and Change was because republicans were UNIFED in their opposition. Unlike democrats, they put party before country.

I think when you run against your own party in this age of polarization you are begging the electorate to vote for your opponent. We aren't in an age of ticket splitting and the parties are breaking pretty clearly along ideological lines (even if the Democrats haven't figured that out yet.)

When WE democrats stop enabling and appeasing republicats WE democrats will win. Because WE Democrats are for right and THEY are for wrong.

Amen and Amen

The one thing that is needed with the Democrats in the state of Alabama is strength. We have too many Democrats that are afraid to call out Republicans for lying to the people of Alabama. The number one reason that Republicans have dominated this state is: the message of the Republican Party.

Democrats have allowed Republicans to dominate the message in this state. They used the right leaning media in this state. However, when Democrats have the chance to get quality media coverage, the message is one of cow towing instead of calling out Republicans. Sure Ron Sparks called out Dr. Bentley for not wanting kids in this state to get a college education, however, did he truly explain why Republicans feel this way? Republicans feel this way because they want to keep the masses “down and dumb” so they promote the message of “I am pro life guy” and people who have nothing will fall for it every time. From 2001 – 2007 Republicans controlled the White House, Congress, and the Supreme Court, however, Roe v. Wade was not overturned. Why did not any Democrat (Sparks, Anderson, Folsom) call out Republicans? Do Republicans really have your best interest?

It's kind of hard for democrats to get their message out and counter the right wing spin out when progressive voices are suppressed and cenosored.

Bring. It. On. Update

Dag, I step away from the blogosphere for a little while and all hell breaks loose on the political front.

Update: Sign the petition to put Keith Olbermann on the air now!

MSNBC suspended Keith Olberman without pay because he didn't disclose contributions made to three democratic congressional candidate. Psst KO! Don't you know thanks to the Supreme Court ruling all you have to do is incorporate (become a corporation)and you can donate as much money as you want. And, you can do it anonymously. Or you can be a right wing republican TeeVee Talking Head.

Even if you set aside the hypocrisy of the Joe Scarborough double-standard, Phil Griffin's explanation for suspending Keith Olbermann doesn't add up.

Griffin says Olbermann violated a policy requiring NBC News reporters to obtain approval for making political campaign donations that "jeopardize his or her standing as an impartial journalist." But Olbermann isn't an "impartial journalist" and doesn't claim to be. Neither is Joe Scarborough, a point that NBC itself made in excusing Scarborough's donations.

Yep. There is something rotten in the Cotton over at MSNBC.

MSNBC suspended host Keith Olbermann today, following revelations that he made campaign contributions to three Democrats in the elections -- a violation of MSNBC policy.

But a search of OpenSecrets.org reveals that MSNBC host Joe Scarborough and MSNBC contributor Pat Buchanan have also made contributions to political campaigns.

If the democrats had gonads (which we know they don't)Before the 112th Congress convenes, the Senate of the 111th would pass the 400 bills sent to them by the industrious House… That's what the republicans would do. Another thing the republicans would do is pick the member with the biggest gonads to lead them. But do the democrats do that? Nooooo. They want to throw the member with the biggest gonads under the bus in favor of the member with no gonads. The Talking TeeVee Pundit Heads are breathlessly talking about the brewing fight between Steny Hoyer (Blue dog), Jim Clyburn (too nice) and Nancy Pelosi to be Minority leader.

Let me say right off the bat I am behind Nancy Pelosi 100%. Why should she fall on the sword? She did her part. Plus that, she does not cut and run. If mild mannered Harry Reid, who barely won re-election can remain Senate Minority Leader, Nancy Pelosi can be House Minority Leader. If Robert Gibbs, David Axelrod, Eric Holder, Tom Villseck and Valerie Jarret can keep their jobs, Nancy can keep hers. Plus that republicans are skeered to death of Nancy Pelosi.

Just because democrats lost the majority and squandered a filibuster proof Senate doesn't mean we should roll over and play dead. On the contrary it should make us fight harder. There are three things in our favor.
1. Democrats are still the majority in the Senate so they can check any craziness that comes from the house.

2. President Obama is still in the White House and has his trusty VETO pen and signing statements.

3. Most of the Blue Dogs are history. Progressives prevailed. The democratic minority is going to be as effective as the republican minority was because they will be UNITED in their opposition. Snicker

We don't need a mealy mouth or a Blue Dog as our leader, we need a proud, courageous liberal leading us. Like lamh32 said;

We need Nancy knocking heads now more than ever, since we are no longer in the Majority. Nancy seems like the ONLY one who can do that and who has a credible chance of being elected.

Sign the petition in support of Nancy Pelosi.

Hmmm...I wonder who 7th district Congresswoman Terri Sewell will vote for?

On October 19th, U.S. Rep. Steny Hoyer, the Majority Leader of the House, will be coming to Birmingham as Terri's special guest at a fundraiser for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC). She's also made financial contributions to other Dems in Alabama and is campaigning with Alabama Democrats up and down the ballot to prevent a Republican takeover.

It. Is. On.

If democrats lose blame it on black voters

The script is already written; Democrats lost the majority in congress. Blame it on them there trifling black voters. I can already hear the post election, armchair quarterbacks and Talking TeeVee Pundit Heads blaming black folks because the gop infused, media enabled, Tea Party is in control of the government again. They are counting on black folks not showing up at the polls because "Obama is not on the ticket" and everyone knows they only showed up to vote for the black guy. *Snark*

Democrats know black voters hold the fate of the democratic majority in their hands and turnout is the key. Republicans also know their fate is in the hands of black folks, that's why they are already planning stuff like THIS. But I digress.

Democrats' hope could depend on black voter turnout

ATLANTA --- How Georgia Democrats fare in next month's election could depend on whether black voters show up at the polls.

Observers say turnout will be especially key among African-Americans, who turned out in record numbers two years ago across the country to elect President Obama. Obama's absence on the ballot, combined with an overall lack of interest in the midterm vote, will likely mean waning black support this year for Democratic candidates.

Democrats courting black voters in midterm elections

While President Obama's approval rating among African-Americans remains high, Democrats have voiced concerns that his popularity may not translate into votes come November's midterm elections.

The party has an added worry in that, historically, midterm elections generate smaller voter turnout than in presidential election years. The level of African-American votes Obama won in 2008, which was abnormally high, may be all but impossible to recreate during this less popular election season.

Bright's fate may depend on black voter turnout (Ain't this a dip?)

WASHINGTON -- The fate of Democrats in 20 competitive House races, including Rep. Bobby Bright, could rest on how many black voters show up at the polls on Election Day, a new report says.

Bobby not so Bright republican is the perfect example of candidates who run on the democratic ticket to take advantage of black voters and after they win govern like republicans. Bright voted with the republicans on 13 out of 15 major issues. Black democratic voters didn't vote for that. Democratic women didn't vote for that. Democratic labor voters didn't vote for that. If they had wanted that they would have voted for the republican candidate. Oh wait. They did. He's already saying he won't vote support Nancy Pelosi as SOH . Black democratic voters are damned if they do, damned if they don't vote for Bobby not so Bright republican. @#$%! And they wonder why black folks aren't excited about voting?

I blame the democratic leadership, specifically the DCCC, for the Bright fiasco. Their first mistake was letting Bobby Bright decide if he was going to run as a republican or a democrat. Psst! If a candidate has to decide which party he's a member of that should be your first clue. This is your second clue they are NOT a democrat;

A Southern Baptist deacon, Bright opposes abortion. He favors gun rights and once, angered by a crime wave, urged Montgomery citizens to buy firearms, learn how to use them, and do so when necessary. He champions the military in a region that is home to big installations. He frowns on taxes.

Their second mistake was not supporting the real, progressive democrat Cheryl Sable for US Congress.

I believe that Alabama is ready for positive change. I am the only candidate in this race who is promising something different. I have spent the better part of my life standing for equality and social justice. I fought for human rights in Alabama , and I will fight for justice in Washington. I have the background and qualifications to do a good job.

Hate to say it, but the democratic party takes black voters for granted. They need the black vote to get elected and to stay elected, but if they could figure out a way to accomplish either task without the black vote they would. What are black voters to do and where are black voters to go?

Can Democrats get the votes they need simply because they're not Republicans? You might think so in this presidential campaign. African-American and urban votes are critical to any Democratic victory. Bill Clinton won two terms without winning the most white votes. His margin was the overwhelming support of black voters. George Bush learned that lesson; that's why his campaigns spent so much effort suppressing the black vote in key states like Florida in 2000 and Ohio in 2004. His victory margin was the tally of votes suppressed or uncounted.
Republicans are looking at another bloodbath in House and Senate elections next year -- the Presidential race is their great hope to hang onto some power and they will throw everything but the kitchen sink at it. Look at their committee fundraising if you don't believe me on that. Democrats can't afford to turn off African American voters -- or any other big chunk of our coalition -- if we want to win next November.

African American voters are the most loyal democratic voting block. The right to vote for African Americans is steeped in blood, sweat, tears, and pain. African Americans don't vote for candidates based on race, gender or sexual orientation. African American voters for candidates who share their INTERESTS.

Time and time again white democratic voters prove they will vote based on race/sex and against their INTEREST. For example,more Alabama white democrats voted for McCain/Palin than Obama/Biden in the 2008 Presidential election. More white democrats voted for Artur Davis than Ron Sparks in the Alabama democratic gubernatorial primary. Some would say it's because Davis didn't evoke a negative fear among whites. Based on the theory "the politicians that evoke negative fear among whites are those who have done the most for black representation in this state...especially Joe Reed. Hank Sanders and Richard Arrington have worked to increase political opportunity for blacks, but not at the expense of whites. Are you only liked by white voters if you water down the truth and ignore political reality?"

If democrats want to get African Americans out to vote they should start by working on their friends, neighbors, and co-workers now! Tell them to quit voting against their own interests. Black democrats will do our part, as we always do, so don't expect us to "take one for the team". In other words, give us something to vote for or we'll stay our Ebony Donkey's at home. The right NOT to vote for candidates who don't share our INTEREST is sacred to us too.

Tea for Two, Two for Tea

The ten commandments bagger version. h/t chris_i_am

I. Thou shalt talk about Christian principles, but not live by them.

II. Thou shalt attack opponents personally when you can't win on policies.

III. Thou shalt call yourself pro-life, but be in favor of the death penalty.

IV. Thou shalt do nothing on principle and expect payment in kind.

V. Thou shalt give lip service to democracy while taking away civil
liberties.

VI. Profit is the Lord Thy God, thou shalt not put the people's interest
above those of your corporate contributors and personal greed.

VII. Thou shalt make sure fetuses have health coverage, but leave children
and babies behind.

VIII. Thou shalt bear false witness against your opponents and liberals, and
demonize them.

IX. Thou shalt run on a crazy town platform,and enact right-wing policies as
soon as possible.

X. Thou shalt call the media liberal, so that people forget that the media
is owned by corporations with a conservative fiscal agenda.

Saith I the TeaBagging Lord!
(Edited by author 1 day ago)

This is what we are up against.

This is what they believe.

President Obama (ObamaCare) wants to take money from people who work for it and give it to people who won't work.

Nancy Pelosi is the devil incarnate because she's Nancy Pelosi.

Democrats are the party of cronyism and corruption.

And they VOTE.....

Whining whiners, Poverty, Health, Back Stabbers, Cowards and Doggy Doo, Oh My!

The Artur Davis, sore loser, farewell, whine tour goes on and on like the Energizer Bunny;

Having had four months to process the collapse of a 30-point lead in the polls into a 24-point loss in his race for governor, he's reached some conclusions. For all the early talk about whether whites would vote for a black to be governor, Davis now says he ran into racism in a primary that is dominated by black voters. He said he lost black votes because black political leaders -- who disliked Davis' centrist record and go-it-alone style -- successfully convinced black voters that a black couldn't win, and this black in particular shouldn't win.

Psst Artur! Don't try and blame black leadership for your miserable failure. Black leaders didn't tell you to pander to the right at the expense of the traditional base and to take black voters for granted. You can thank your white campaign advisers for that. And just maybe your loss had more to do with the state of your district and the fact you didn't have plan than it did your race and black leaders.

Alabama is one of 31 states that saw one-year increases in both the number and the percentage of the population living in poverty.

"It's not good news," said Jim Carnes, spokesman for the anti-poverty advocacy group Alabama Arise in Montgomery. "We're seeing record numbers on food stamps and insurance programs, and there really is a direct correlation -- as the poverty rate increases, government services have a greater demand."

The data shows 26 percent more households received food stamps in 2009 than in 2008. The median household income in the state also dropped 4.5 percent, from $42,408 to $40,489. Nationally, the drop was 2.9 percent, from $51,726 to $50,221. Only one state saw an increase: North Dakota.

For those who believe our Government can do no wrong check out the U.S. Government sponsored human medical experimentation from Tuskegee to Guatemala.

“The poorly educated black farmers in Alabama and the prisoners and mental patients in Guatemala had one important thing in common. They were not white.”

Deja Voodoo all over again in Sweet Home Alabama. Fool me once....can't fool me again.

If the people who voted for Barack Obama in 2008 were sending one central message, it probably went something like this: "Whatever you do, don't act like George W. Bush."

Those voters must feel like they've been stabbed in the back after recent events in Alabama. The Obama Department of Justice arrested 11 individuals on Monday in a gambling-related investigation that has been heavy handed, misguided, politically motivated, and strategically timed to affect an election--all of the attributes we came to expect from the Bush DOJ.

This is why the right fears Nancy Pelosi."We'll Tie The GOP with Corporate Cash Like Doggy Doo Stuck on your shoe" . This is what I'm talking about! Girl Power!

"Whenever you get hit with an overwhelming weight, you have to jujitsu it. So we want to turn it against them... I want to tattoo them right on to the Republican candidate," she said, smacking her hand for emphasis. "Big oil, big banks, big health insurance: We're going to tattoo you with that, so it's like doggy-doo stuck on your shoe. Wherever you go, people will know."

The democratic party doesn't stand for cowardice. One thing I will give the gop credit for is their unity and their courage. They stand behind their party right or wrong. You don't hear about them reaching across the aisle and voting with democrats. You don't hear of them bashing their leader. You don't hear of them helping democrats put their people in prison. Heck George W. Bush got them to send our troops to Iraq and Afghanistan without an exit plan. Hate to say it but maybe democrats need to borrow a spine from the gop.

What if Democrats hold on to their majorities? What if the same thing happens in 2010 that happened in 2006 and 2008? What would happen is that it would be game over for the Republican party. Anger is their only plan and if it fails then there is nothing else. Republicans are more vulnerable than they have ever been. If Democrats merely show up to vote this year then the Republicans are gone.

Get off your Donkey's and VOTE!

They are who we thought they were~Edited/Amended

Please disregard previous post I hit post by mistake~Redeye


Remember when Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D. California) said, "Let them define themselves, let them reveal who they are." Referring to the overt racism of the gop infused, media enabled, Tea Party congress critters?Ministry of Truth said;

I can only imagine how much class and restraint it must take our African American members of Congress to even look their Republican colleagues in the face after the last 7+ months of racist, vitriolic nonsense about birth certificates, monkey comparisons and other open acts of hatred.

Well they have revealed themselves,and to think these are the congress critters who, according to the Talking TeeVee Pundit Head class, are poised to regain control of the Congress. *Cringe* And yes, this is the same Maxine Waters who is conveniently faces an *cough cough* ethics hearing. Bring It On!

Let me give you a local, state and national rundown of just who THEY are.

On the local level we have Po Mo Brooks, the current Madison County Commissioner and republican congressional nominee who signed a pact with the devil, I mean the Tea Party before he unsigned a pact with the Tea Party because at the time he didn't know what he was signing. Confused yet?

Mo Brooks has unintentionally provided a perfect example of why candidates need to be -- and typically are -- darned careful about signing on to pledges, contracts and so forth put out by political action groups. Signing is easy; unsigning is a public relations nightmare.

*Snicker*

Moving on down the road to AL-7 Congressional District rich Republican Don Chamberlain wants to replace current, soon be to former Congress Critter Artur Davis by running on anti health care reform, anti choice, anti Nancy Pelosi/President Obama, pro gun platform, and, he's endorsed by Rolls Royce, L&L Industrial Supply, and Carol Hendrickson. Maybe he thinks the voters in the 7th district like being thrown under the bus by their Congress Critters or something. Uh, the voter in the 7th district already had 8 years of that,it's time for a change. Enough!

Davis is running for governor of Alabama and even though his constituents are among the Yellow Hammer state's poorest and most in need of comprehensive health care reform, he voted against their needs to position himself as a moderate. He knows that in order to win the votes of white moderates (he'll never win the votes of white conservatives) he must show that he is against the expansion of government

Then you have NRA and republican leaning Alabama Farm Federation endorsed AL-02 Congressional candidate Bobby Bright joking about the death of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. Oh wait, he's a democrat. Why?

Alabama Democratic Party Chairman Joe Turnham said voters tend to know their members of Congress and vote for the person rather than the party.

He said he doesn’t believe anti-Washington Republican rhetoric will fool voters.

“I don’t think you need to run against something, you have to position yourself to be the best candidate and advocate for your district and your people,” Turnham said.

Never fear, Sweet Home Alabama candidates don't monopolize the crazy, its from sea to shining to sea.

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) - Republican gubernatorial candidate Paul LePage told a group of fishermen at a GOP forum that he won't be afraid to tell President Barack Obama to "go to hell."

LePage, a favorite of tea partiers, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that he regretted the words he chose Sunday in the small coastal town of Brooksville but that he wasn't backing down in his criticism of the administration for what he describes as free-spending, anti business policies.

Rep. Louie Gohmert (r. Texas) wants to replace welfare refrom with sharecropping. For real. Warning this post contains raw language and racial slurs.

Why on earth is this Texan ********* allowed in the halls of our congressional chambers to spew this utterly shameful, disgusting, racist, bulls%*t? Make no mistake about it, if this ********* advocates this nonsense, you can bank on it that a few of his peers are on board with poor folks going back to the good old days of sharecropping. Can you say 14th Amendment shenanigans!

They are who we thought they were.

As with other forms of dementia, the signs weren't obvious at first. After the 2008 election, when former House majority leader Tom DeLay suggested that instead of a formal inauguration, Barack Obama should "have a nice little chicken dinner, and we'll save the $125 million," black folks didn't miss the implication. References to chicken, particularly of the fried variety, have long served as a kind of code when white folks referred to black people and their gustatory preferences—and weren't many of us already accustomed to older white politicians making such gaffes? But who among us sensed that it was a harbinger that an entire nation was plunging into madness?

This is why all men and women of good will must get out and vote Democratic in the mid term elections, because they (gop) are who we thought they (gop) were. They (gop) want to take us backwards not forward.

Redeye's Week in Review

Well what do you know? Tea Party Candidates Benefit From Stimulus and Federal Spending.

Tea party backed Republican candidates -- indeed most Republican candidates -- base their campaigns largely on opposition to President Obama's agenda, and an imprecise pledge to reduce the federal deficit. Perhaps no single issue encapsulates that pledge better than the Democrats' stimulus bill -- one of the President's signature initiatives that is, by design, a big deficit booster. Government can't create jobs, they say, the stimulus wasted tax payer dollars, and simply bloated the federal government.

Scratch under the surface a bit, though, and these candidates' opposition to government spending isn't very deep at all -- particularly when they benefit directly.

Why am I not surprised? The gop rolled out their whites only vision for America.

What’s interesting is that up until now, the GOP has been so careful to cloak their deep unpopularity with people of color by featuring them prominently whenever possible. Thus we are forced to endure the sorry spectacles of GOP.com’s bizarre photos, Black Tea Party members, the black people paid to be on Glenn Beck’s show and the entire careers of Michael Steele and Clarence Thomas.

So the photos from the GOP’s Pledge to America specifying how they plan to take back America and destroy it all over again (except for the rich, of course) are a fascinating departure from the norm and a telling shift in tactics. I think this tells us all we need to know about who the Tea Party and GOP plan to take America back from and who they plan to give it to — the KKK. It’s pretty dang sinister and terribly honest about their real agenda. If you squint real hard, you might see an Hispanic here and one black person there. And maybe that cowboy in silhouette — that guy could totally be black maybe!

Question. Why would we the voters want to fire the people who are trying to get the country out of the ditch and re-hire the people who drove the country into the ditch? I'm just saying...

What's that you say? The Iraq War was planned pre 9/11? I'm shocked! Shocked I tell you! NOT.

Newly declassified documents published at the National Security Archive prove beyond all reasonable doubt that the Bush administration planned to topple Saddam Hussein and invade Iraq as early as January, 2001, and were making strategic plans and resource allocations as early as November, 2001.

Will they or won't the gop shut down the government again? Only the Orange Boehner knows for sure.

Boehner, in an interview following the release of the House Republicans' "Pledge to America," said he would not rule out a government shutdown, but he would look to avoid it should his party take control of Congress in the fall.

Peace!

It's A Wonderful What If Wednesday!

The Talking TeeVee Pundit Heads and the Polling Pollsters were as WRONG about yesterdays' elections as the intelligence that took us to war in Iraq. Their *cough cough* predictions republicans and DINO's were going to snatch the keys to the car from the hands of progressives/liberals and drive the car back into the ditch like drunk frat boys proved to be DEAD WRONG. *Snicker*

Let the Talking TeeVee Heads tell it, there was an anti Washington (Obama), anti incumbent (Obama), anti spending (Obama), anti big government (Obama), grassroots (Tea Baggers) mood that was going to snatch our government back from the clutches of Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid and them there evil liberals.

The various prophets of doom will need to revisit some of their theories.

The election results are proof most Americans want to work with President Obama's agenda, not against President Obama's agenda. You hear that Artur Davis/Steve Raby and Taze Sheppard? Running against CHANGE and HOPE won't help you WIN elections, it will make you LOSE elections. Most Americans want President Obama to be sucessful regardless of his race. That's why he WON in November.

The Tea Party vs. The Tea Baggers in Kentucky.

Yep, that's just about all that's required of Republican success in this, the 21st century: unadulterated anger, served with a side of exotic, mid-20th-century Austrian economics, which, if followed, would hurl us back into the malign economics of the 19th century.

Which further, for reasons not entirely clear to rational minds, seems to be the political desideratum of Mr. Paul's Tea Party and all its Kentucky tea partyers. "We have come," said Paul at the oddly chosen Bowling Green Country Club last night, "to take our government back" -- a most appropriate slogan.

Appropriate, certainly, for the reactionary recesses of the Tea Party's collective brain, composed as it is of frenzied, heat-packing opponents of Barack Obama, who actually concedes the Second Amendment's rather right-wing interpretation; of tax protesters, who happen to be paying the lowest American taxes in 60 years, thanks again to their chief villain in the White House; of downright weird "devotees of the gold standard," as the Post's Eugene Robinson observed recently; of "Sarah Palin," Robinson continued, of "insurance company lobbyists, 'constitutionalists' who have not read the Constitution, Medicare recipients who oppose government-run health care, crazy 'birthers' who claim President Obama was born in another country, a contingent of outright racists ... and a bunch of fat-cat professional politicians pretending to be 'outsiders.' "

What if the Alabama Democratic Party recruited and supported progressive candidates instead of conservative candidates?

What if Alabama Democratic candidates didn't pander to the right (who are wrong about everything) at the expense of the traditional democratic base?

Conservatives prefer to think of themselves as the party of “principles”, not “ideas”. In the radical sense, the party is more concerned about its blind faith in God and blind loyalty to country and patriotism. The very nature of the word "conservatism" is to preserve old traditions and resist change. They have a belief that every thing must conform to their moral code. Conservatives are intolerant of anything or any one that doesn’t fit into their belief system, which separates the righteous from the unworthy. Clinging to the old ways gives them comfort in an uncertain world. Conservatives are only open to change if it doesn’t cost them anything or impact their life in any way.

Liberals, by the definition of the word, are open to pragmatic change. They embrace new ideas to remedy problems. They are more tolerant of social and religious differences in American society. Liberals have an existential view of the world and want the greatest good for the greatest number of people, by using the most effective policies possible. Liberals believe in progress and that solutions can be found by human endeavor and engagement. True liberals believe in stewardship of the planet, civil rights, and the equality of all people, no matter what their social status, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, or skin color. Liberals are willing to pay a little more for positive change.

What if Alabama Democratic candidates listened to the people instead of the polling pollsters?


What if the Alabama school teacher using the assassination of a President as a teaching tool were named Barack Obama Mohamed and the President was named George W. Bush? Do you think he would have gotten off a slap on the wrist, or whisked off to Gitmo for some water boarding or worse?

What if President Obama had appointed an African American female from UCLA with no Judicial experience to the United States Supreme Court?

What if Liberal/Progressives voices were heard and not suppressed?

Have a wonderful Wednesday!