Give me somebody to vote FOR and EYE will turn my Donkey around

Alabama Democrats (and EYE use that term loosely) are mounting a Get Out The Vote campaign and that's fine, but where are the ads? Most importantly where are the candidates? 

EYE can't speak for the progressive wing of the democratic party, but the democratic wing of the democratic party doesn't have to begged to get out and vote.  It would nice if we had some real democratic candidates to vote FOR.  And by real, EYE mean proud card carrying liberals.  As in Joe Reed and his bunch.  You know, the bunch that be counted on to vote for democrats.  

EYE will for democrats, but EYE will not vote a straight democratic ticket.  Fool me once, can't fool me again. 

What Alabama Democrats fail it realize it doesn't matter if Hillary or Bernie win the election, they aren't going to get anything done without a democratic congress.  Now it the time for some real democratic candidates to wake up.  

EYE #FeltTheBurn and it was HOT! HOT! HOT!

The parallels between the white moderates whom Dr. Martin Luther King criticized in 1963 and certain white progressives whom many Black activists are criticizing in 2015 couldn't be clearer.

Let me see if EYE have this right (pun intended), EYE am supposed to support a candidate whose fans calls #BlackLivesMatter Activist everything but a child of God because he marched with Martin Luther King, Jr., and because these same supporters say he is the best candidate to address our issues?  Nah.  That's not going to work for me.

When black women interrupt your candidate, don't call them "thugs." And when protesters hijack your hero's microphone to have their story heard, it doesn't mean they're paid provocateurs in some elaborate plot involving George Soros and Hillary Clinton. You know who else propagates wild conspiracy theories about George Soros funding left-wing protesters? Glenn Beck and Allen West. So congratulations, white progressives – your fanaticism for Bernie has turned you into the thing you hate. - 

EYE would like to thank the Black Lives Matter Activist for speaking truth to power, and in the process exposing the large white crowds attending Bernie Sanders events for who, and what, they really are. 

Bernie's supporters need to realize that Bernie Sanders is not the leader of this political revolution. We all are. Let the revolution unfold – Bernie is welcome to join if he's ready. -

What you accuse others of doing is what you are doing yourself. The accusation/allegations the Black Lives Matters Movement is a George Soros/Hilary Clinton, Sarah Palin, Outside Agitator front group, could be a cover for republicans masquerading as progressive/liberals/Bernie Supporters. 

Eye Am Just Saying...

Black Lives Matter—which has challenged and called out respectability politics and the ties that Black politicians have to a structurally racist political system—has engaged in a backlash against Jackson, Rev. Al Sharpton and the civil rights establishment. This comes as young Black men were being dismissed by elders such as Bill Cosby and the old guard civil rights groups, often lectured to, and told to pull their pants up rather than provided with any guidance or assistance. As a result, Alicia Garza, a co-founder of #BlackLivesMatter, said, “Ferguson marked the first time in my lifetime‚ in which the Reverends Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson were begged to leave the scene of a civil rights crime.”

It's a new day and there is a new way. Bernie Sanders has ripped his drawers with me, thanks to his supporters. 

"there can be no unity when you demonstrate that you care more about order than justice."

Know Justice.  Know Peace. 

Redeye's Week in Review

Radical is not a bad word.  You got that Progressives?   Conservative on the other hand.....Remember this when you hear the TTPH's and the mainstream media talk about candidates appealing to solid conservatives and promoting the centrist meme.  Conservatives are the ones that got us into the mess in the first place. Remember?  Now they are running around calling President Obama a failure because they obstructed the clean up.  They must think we are Suckers. 

Has America's Stolen Election Process Finally Hit Prime Time?  I HOPE so.

Mass Incarceration of blacks coming to an end?  Not if Lawmakers keep making laws like THIS.

Left in Alabama is running a two part ranking of the 10 dumbest things republicans said in 2010.  NewsOne compiled The Top Ten Racist Quotes of 2010.  Psst!  It's the dumb racism.

Mack Lyons said...
Sigh. The state is so damned corrupt that there's little to no hope of fixing any of this shit, save a federally-directed purge. Fat chance of that happening any time soon.

You think?  Federal Appeals Court Balks at Deciding Alabama Education Association Political Case. 

RedEye Week In Review Over and Out for 2011.

A Redeye Rant

This is the kind of state democratic party I wish we had instead of the state democratic party we have. To para quote the late, great James Brown ,the Wisconsin Democratic Party don't take no mess and the people are behind them. Wisconsin Dems are united in their opposition, unlike Alabama Dems who are divided as hell. Real Progressives are organized and serious about recalling gop Senators. They aren't sitting back saying it's OK to declare war on working people. They don't issue press releases in response to attacks. They don't view public school educators as Public Enemy#1.

President Obama tried to tell y'all what would happen if you gave the keys to the car to the TeaPublicans. But did you listen? Nooooo. Can you hear him now?

Alabama State Senator Hank Sanders tried to tell y'all what would happen if the TeaPublicans took control of the State Legislature. Can you hear him now?

The Democratic Wing of the Democratic Party tried to tell y'all how to deal with the right wingers. Can you hear them now?

Wisconsin is, in a sense, near-ideal terrain for a showdown with the Tea Party brand of Republicanism. In other words Wisconsin is making progress.

Where is your outrage?

WHY ARE THEY REALLY MAD??????

You didn't get mad when the Supreme Court stopped a legal recount and
Appointed a President.

You didn't get mad when VP Cheney allowed Energy company officials to
dictate energy Policy.

You didn't get mad when a covert CIA Operative was revealed.

You didn't get mad when the Patriot Act was passed.

You didn't get mad when we illegally invaded a Country looking for
WMD'S(Weapons of Mass Destruction).

You didn't get mad when we spent over 600 Billion dollars(and counting)
on Iraq War.

You didn't get mad when over 10 billion dollars just disappeared in Iraq.

You didn't get mad when the government was illegally wiretapping
Americans at home and work.

You didn't get mad when we didn't catch Bin Laden.

You didn't get mad when you saw the horrible Conditions at Walter Reed.

You didn't get mad when we let New Orleans drown.

You didn't get mad when the deficit hit the trillion dollar mark.

You finally got mad when---- The government decided that people in
America deserved the right to see a doctor if they are sick.

Yes, illegal wars, lies, corruption, torture, stealing your tax dollars
to make the rich richer, are all OK with you, but helping other
Americans that is another story.

Seven presidents have tried to pass a Health Care Plan of some sort and
have failed. None have had the "hate filled" opposition of this president.

THE WORLD IS WATCHING Wisconsin.

You got that Democrats?Congress Critters?

Redeye Rant over and out....for now.

An open letter to Hugh McInnish

I'm not surprised republicans haven't denounced Hugh McInnish for the bigoted remarks expressed in a letter to the United States Department of Justice regarding the disparities in the Huntsville City School System. After all, this is who they (republicans) are and what they (republicans) believe. Hugh McInnish said publicly what they (republicans) say privately.

However, I am surprised prominent white democrats/progressives haven't denounced McInnish. These same democrats/progressives who forced President Obama to renounce, reject and repudiate his pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright for saying "They want us to sing God Bless America? No! No! No! It's God Damn America for killing innocent men, women and children in Iraq"?

The same people who had a hissy fit over Huntsville NAACP President Alice Sams John F. Kennedy quote don't have a mumbling word to say about Hugh McInnish's own words.

Here is an open letter to Hugh McInnish,republicans and democrats/progressives from a young person that hits the nail on it's head. Warning, it's raw. H/T MES, a young voice who speaks for me and who is part of a future generation who will lead us from the wilderness of the past.~Redeye

Dear Hugh,

I'm really speechless at your insane comments and your leadership in the republican party is proof positive that Alabamamians lack an intelligence chip. "Life isn't fair" is what you said about the segregated school system in Huntsville. It's unfair because blacks are inferior to whites. Interesting...Life is unfair. This is true. It isn't fair to the people that elected you and it isn't fair to the kids who obtain an inferior education.

What gives you balls to tell the Justice Department they don't know what they are talking about when they find there is in fact discrimination at the school system based on race? Is your nose growing? The letter you sent misstates so many facts and statistics that it belongs in the fiction section at the local bookstore.

Let's begin with facts..."Blacks misbehave more frequently than whites". How exactly did you come up with information? Did you pull it out of the sky or your ass? What studies have you read or published that supports this asinine assertion? White kids don't misbehave? White kids never pull pranks, take Oxy, go to raves, drink, smoke weed, have pre-marital sex and attempt to have a politically correct rebellion against their parents by embracing rap music or hard rock in your world. They never fight or shoot up schools or did Columbine, the Una bomber and Oklahoma City just slip your mind?

Your next quote, "The chart indicates that black people commit more than six times the violent crime of white people overall; it has them committing about eight times as many murders as white people and more than 14 times as many robberies." Right...again, where are these statements coming from? Your logic, destroy any hope and chance of these dangerous black monsters who happen to still be 3/5th's of a human being, and take away their chances of success.

By your own admission these blacks are NOT properly educated, what alternatives do they have? Crime. Better yet, running for public office. It seems that you don't have to be to bright to be a politician these days. All a candidate need say is, "Jesus, family values, I hate gays, I love guns, and no abortions ever.

Stating that black people don't perform well in AP classes as an excuse for why they are not offered is beyond cruel and inhuman, and frankly, stupid beyond belief. Everyone that isn't a complete bigoted dimwit should take grave offense to the implication that blacks are incapable of learning as well as whites. Is this still the antebellum south? Next you will want to have people's feet chopped off for being literate.

You might consider checking out the Uniform Crime Report at some point before you dream up delusional facts about who commits crime. The Bible Belt is at the top of the list on crime statistics. Ironic isn't it?

This is exactly why Brown v. Board was enacted, and why when someone yacks about "states rights", it becomes clear some states won't act right. Alabama is one of those states, full of closeted bigots who thinks a "Kardashian" is a country in Africa.

You don't understand how an outsider, the justice department can tell you what to do? Read the constitution, it's called the Supremacy Clause, which states federal law trumps stated law. So stupid, but you talk about the kids.

You can't fail to educate the children and then complain when they pollute the neighborhoods with drugs, guns, prostitution, and gambling. You can't cry foul when your house gets broken into or you get carjacked because you locked these "subhuman" kids out of a chance to be more than a rapper or ballplayer, because you decided to pick favorites and deem another group inferior.

Now you want to have your own private educational holocaust by trying to justify your own bigotry by using made up stats from a made up report. The disparity in education probably has more to do with income than your white supremacist misguided sense of entitlement. If you really believe what you are saying, then you exist only in the debris and hubris of an antiquated school of thought, desperately seeking spiritual justification.

If this is the republican party and the leadership that we elected, then, we deserve to be laughed at and left behind by every state in the Union. Congratulations for taking Alabama to a new low.

Now run tell THAT Homeboy!~Redeye

Tuesday Professional Left Blog Stroll

A Holiday Message from a REAL Progressive aka my kind of Progressive.

It was pride that led to Lucifer's Fall from Grace according to the Christian tradition. It is your arrogance and pride and those of your fellow travelers on the right who hate and justify wars and glorify each other for the superiority of your beliefs that are being judged by all of us and found wanting in the balance. All of you on the right who despise the poor, the meek, the diseased, the homosexuals and bisexuals and transgendered folks, and people without white skin like yours are the sinners.

There is nothing more dangerous than Arrogant Ignorance and those who enable them.

The last few years have been unnaturally kind to America's willfully ignorant. Fox News provided aid, comfort, voice and encouragement to America's once (wisely) silent-moron demographic.

Now the dumb-and-dumbers out there not only believe the unbelievable, the unverifiable and the unreal, they believe it all with prideful swagger and aggressive pushiness. Arrogant ignorance is no longer an oxymoron -- it's a growing political movement.

Thinking Americans have been complicit in this since we don't like making making anyone feel uncomfortable by challenging their cherish beliefs. And the commercial media has taken moron-coddling to a new level. When was the last time you read a story in which the reporter aggressively challenged utter nonsense and provably untrue "facts?"

As if we didn't already know, this is the GOP economic plan

Republicans continue to prove that they're willing to finish wrecking our economy for political gain and to get their dream fulfilled of busting every union we've got left in this country in the process.

Speaking of arrogant ignorance, radio boy gets the RedEye for the most arrogant ignorant comment of the day, possibly the year.

The word "lie" is the same as "racist", misuse has rendered both words meaningless.

Oh really now?

We the People can't win for the Media

If the media were liberal we wouldn't be in this mess. What liberal media do we have? Other than 1 hour each of Ed Shultz, Keith Olberman and Rachael Maddow when are true liberal voices seen or heard? Three hours out of 24 is not fair or balanced.

The majority of the Talking TeeVee Chatter Heads push the gop talking points. Example;

Howard Dean was just being interviewed on MSNBC about the tax cut package and long term deficits. He was making the basic point that upper income tax cuts do little to stimulate the economy and do add to the deficit and long term national debt. He was knocking it around with MSNBC's Chris Jansing when all of a sudden, Jansing exclaimed: Wait, since when are progressives the ones who believe in fiscal discipline and deficits?

Then we have Leslie Stall's soft ball interview of the Rep. John Bohner on 60 Minutes.

It's a shame CBS didn't show the famous video of Boehner tap-dancing around the time he was caught handing out tobacco bribes on the House floor. He may not have been compromising his principles, but what he did was far more egregious than what they're lynching Charlie Rangel for... FAR MORE EGREGIOUS. Even if it is the ultimate in DC common ground.

We can thank the Media Consolidation Act for the sad, sorry state of today's media and for our sons and daughters being sent to war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The media is used to scare the American people, or as Faux News says, distort what we decide. The media promotes selective amnesia.

People on Madison Avenue make a boatload of money figuring out how to sell crap to a bunch of people who don’t need it. I mean really do you need a 500.00 cell phone? The wing-nuts have brought those same tactics to politics and the media. They have used branding to not make the country completely conservative, just more conservative than it was 30 years ago. So now the center is no longer the center. You now have Dems espousing former wing-nut positions as if they were now mainstream and rational.

Is the Obama compromise a setup?

I think this White House has underestimated the wrath of a scorned base. I think what this White House and President failed to realize is that while he is the President of those who didn’t vote for him, he owed it to those who did vote for him to stand up for the issues they elected him to stand up for. Those who did not vote for him will never vote for him. Does he think that if he passed all of the Republican agenda that they would not run a challenger against him in 2012? The progressives have for the last two years been waiting for this White House to fight for something. It began with the stimulus package that was too small and loaded with concessions to the wing-nuts and still did not get a single wing-nut vote. Then we had health-care reform where everything was bargained away before the negotiations even begun and progressives thought at least they would fight for the public option which didn’t happen. And of course we had financial reform and again no fight.

Is President Obama afraid the media will portray him as an angry black man like they did Rev. Jeremiah Wright and scare the Bejeezus out of white folks? You know, I could understand white folks being scared of black folks if black folks had enslaved white folks for hundreds of years and had a documented history of violence towards white folks, but the truth of the matter, it's the other way around, so what are white folks scared of? They have all the privilege and the power.

Where is the diversity in the mainstream media? And NO, so called black conservatives don't count because all they do is say publicly what whites say privately. Rush, Beck and the other right wing Lords of Loud flood the public airways with misinformation.

The mainstream media yawned and marginalized Senator Bernie Sander's moment of truth.

The infamous White House/GOP tax cut deal will likely pass both the Senate and House next week and then become law. But Bernie Sanders has opened a Pandora's box of illumination that will vex the feckless, ever-retreating White House and the grossly hypocritical Republicans for some time to come.

The past is prologue.

As we pass the 10th anniversary of the Bush v. Gore decision—technically yesterday, December 12—it is interesting to note how much of our current political predicament can be discerned in the events of those days. The Bush-Gore election illustrates three key points about today’s political and media environment:

* Conservatives fight harder and dirtier for what they want than progressives.

* The mainstream media gives conservatives a pass for acting and speaking in their own political interest while criticizing progressives for the same thing.

* Conservative commentators recognize few if any boundaries in their willingness to demonize progressives, with virtually no corollary of any kind among progressives.

Quoting Democratic Alabama State Senator Hank Sanders

We see things and think they are unfair. We think they are easy to correct. We try to correct the injustice but one thing leads to another and another. Sometimes other injustices occur in the process. If it’s not one thing, it’s another.

It's the media, I won't say stupid, because we aren't stupid, the media must think we are stupid.

The Civil War within the Alabama Democratic Party

According to the progressive wing of the Alabama Democratic Party Dr. Joe Reed is the last person to lead the ADP for the following reasons;

1. It would be a disaster.

2. Joe Reed went to court to have his name put back on a building at Alabama State University, where he served on the board of Trustees.

3. Reed as De facto party chair has been a disaster. This is a case where past performance does guarantee future results...

4. Reed is not only a disaster, he's a disgrace and an embarrassment to representation of who we are and what we represent. He DOES NOT represent what we stand for on any level.

5. It's time for a fresh face, like Justice Mark Kennedy.

6. Joe Reed is part of the old guard who just can't let go. He has some power in Montgomery but he certainly can't represent the broad base. He is too racist and dictatorial. Note; there is no evidence of Reed being too racist.

7. Joe Reed spent time doing George Wallace's dirty work, telling black leaders this is not the time to move, wait before he ultimately saw the light and got himself in front of the movement that he had tried to thwart. Note Justice Mark Kennedy is married to Peggy Wallace, daughter of George Wallace.

8. Joe Reed is the epitome of out-of-touch. He epitomizes the racial bias that some older Southern blacks harbor towards Southern white, especially white progressives (Patricia Todd). He has expressed his bias against anyone who doesn't stand to further his bias agenda. Reed will generate a false sense of "not one of us" towards a black politico that actually attempts to push for a pluralistic platform. Let's not forget his homophobia, see Patricia Todd situation for proof. See the Patrica Todd situation here.

9. We need a clean break from the past. We need someone who can bridge the gap between the Davis folks and the Sparks/Reed folks.

The Democratic Wing of the Alabama Democratic Party believe Joe Reed is just what the Doctor (as in Howard Dean) ordered at this critical juncture for the following reasons;

1. Dr.  Reed as chair would chase all the pseudo dims out of the party. It' no way they are going to be lead by a black man like Joe Reed. Artur Davis yes, Reed no.

2. Dr. Reed would not pander to the right at the expense of the traditional democratic base i.e. women, minorities, LBGT, labor, public school teachers and support personnel.

3. Dr. Reed has a history of fighting for fairness and black representation.

4. Dr. Reed is not afraid of the right-wing bullies.

5. Dr. Reed is not republican lite and will not pander to the right at the expense of the traditional base and traditional democratic values.

6. Dr. Reed is also the perfect person to raise money -- and diversify sources of support for the party. There are untapped resources within the ADP. Dr. Reed has the ability to recruit and welcome disenfranchised/marginalized Democrats into the party.

7. Dr. Reed is more than capable of managing the party effectively --making sure papers are filed on time, candidates are vetted, election results certified, etc. AND make sure the ADP doesn't let the AL GOP get away with anything whatsoever outside the rules. In other words, be ready to pound the table, call BS and file suit if anybody tries any election-related funny business.

Note the difference in the two lists, the anti-Reed sides reasons are all personal and emotional, whereas the pro-Reed side states separate the political from the personal and states just the facts.

I don't know if there is a bridge between the progressive wing and the democratic wing of the democratic party. The ideological gaps are just too wide and run too deep. So maybe the Alabama Democratic Party is a thing of the past and we need to make a new plan. Maybe we should let the progressive wing have the ADP and the democratic wing of the democratic party should all switch to the republican party.

A modest proposal: Every voter in Alabama should register as a Republican.

Anyone who fails to do so effectively forfeits his vote, just as Republicans forfeited their votes when Democrats, if you could call them that, were in the same position Republicans enjoy today.

Alabama is and never was a "one-party" state; it was a no-party state in which the party primary allowed all factions to do battle.

In years past Alabama produced a fair number of progressives: Hugo Black, Jim Folsom, Lister Hill, Carl Elliott, to name a few.

It might be possible to do this once more if everyone registered as Republican. At the least this would exerting a moderating influence on any serious candidate.

Registering as a Republican would not prevent any voter from voting Democratic in presidential election -- just as "Democrats" of old voted for Eisenhower, Goldwater, Nixon, Reagan, etc.

I'm perfectly serious about this: If I were still living in Alabama, I would be a card-carrying registered Republican.

If you can't beat em, join em?

Standing for Truth, Justice and the American Way

I would like to extend a warm welcome to readers from GrannyStandingforTruth and The Legal Schnauzer. I am humbled and honored to be a member of your blog roll. Let us march on until victory is won.

It's time to be Bold.

the reality is that Democrats lost not because they went too far but because they haven't gone far enough. A big part of why Democrats lost Tuesday is that they haven't accomplished enough to energize and motivate all of the new voters that came out in massive numbers for them in 2008 -- groups like African Americans, Latinos and young people. While many of these groups still strongly support Democrats when polled, it's clear that they did not vote or volunteer for Democratic campaigns in the same numbers or with the same enthusiasm seen in 2008.

Here we go. They are already hoping to get rid of them daggum gerrymandered minority (black folks) voting districts.

But I am in favor of redistricting in Alabama. I hope that the redistricting will abolish long held minority majority voting blocks. Most of you are wondering "What the HECK?!?!?!" Here is why:

Propping up minority majority voting blocks or districts are enabling the continued subjugation of one party or another, based soley on RACE, not political preference. While this practice may benefit the scale of minority representation by ensuring a black candidates electability, it also serves to de-value the voting blocks power of prescence. It is no big secret, those "safe Dem districts" do not recieve party wide attention or power, as they are not seen as a potential threat of losing them. In simple terms, "Why give concessions or put emphasis to district 7 funding if it is going to be a safe Dem vote no matter what?"

The continuation of minority majority voting blocks also acts to dumb down the political integrity of the voters contained within. If all they (we) know is to vote how we are told to vote, then the individual candidates qualifications and relation to voter means nothing. In simple terms, voters in minority majority blocks were told, "Vote for Sparks, not Davis". I do not believe voters in the minority majority districts even questioned "why?", but went along with it just because it is the way it has been done forever. And most certainly, the better candidate for Governor might not have seen his chance at becoming elected.

Minority Majority blocks are not only taken for granted, but they are used and abused as a tool for marginalization. If the powers to be say, "we support gambling", then it is certain that the minority majority blocks will support gambling, "just because".

On top of that, I do not think that successful and qualified black candidates will have any problem at all gaining nomination nowadays. The old arguement for minority majority districts was that they were needed to ensure black represenation of interest. For a long time, it was necessarily practiced and gave a positive result. However, with the softening of racial factors in society and the advancement of professional class of African Americans, the practice of developing minority majority voting blocks is no longer needed and only provides to hinder the integrity of the African American vote.

This is an honest opinion, and one I hold to be very true.

Well it may be an honest opinion, but the rhetoric is very untrue. Let's go back to
WHY there are minority voting districts in the first place. It certainly was not tell them black dummy's how to vote.

Prior to the Civil War, African Americans were almost totally disenfranchised throughout the states. Latino voters faced similar barriers to voting in Texas and other parts of the Southwest., as did Native American and Asian American voters in the West. Even after enactment of the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution, in 1870, which gave all men, regardless of race, color, or previous condition of servitude the right to vote, many states continued to use various methods to prevent people of color from voting, including literacy tests, poll taxes, the disenfranchisement of former inmates, intimidation, threats, and even violence. Also, until 1965, federal laws did not challenge the authority of states and localities to establish and administer their own voting requirements.

The VRA
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was designed to address these issues. It prohibits discrimination based on race, and requires certain jurisdictions to provide bilingual assistance to language minority voters. Section 2 of the Act, which bars the use of voting practices or procedures that discriminate against minority voters, has been used successfully to attack discrimination in voting including restrictive voter registration requirements, districting plans that dilute minority voting strength, discriminatory annexations, and the location of polling places at sites inaccessible to minority voters.

Section 5 of the Act requires federal "preclearance" before covered jurisdictions (i.e., specified jurisdictions with a history of practices that restrict minority voting rights) may make changes in existing voting practices or procedures. The Act also provides the Department of Justice with the authority to appoint federal observers and examiners to monitor elections to ensure that they are conducted fairly. Initial enforcement efforts targeted, among other things, literacy tests, poll taxes, and discriminatory registration practices.

In 1975, the Voting Rights Act was amended to address the voting rights of language minority groups. Sections 4 and 203 of the Act apply in jurisdictions with significant numbers of voters with limited or no English proficiency and require such jurisdictions to provide voting materials and assistance in relevant languages in addition to English.

You said; On top of that, I do not think that successful and qualified black candidates will have any problem at all gaining nomination nowadays.

Translation; I do not think that a successful and qualifed black candidate will have any problem at all gaining nomination nowadays as long as he's acceptable to the white majority. White privilege and power on display.

It must be remembered that the white group of laborers, while they received a low wage, were compensated in part by a sort of public and psychological wage. They were given public deference and titles of courtesy because they were white. They were admitted freely with all classes of white people to public functions, public parks, and the best schools. The police were drawn from their ranks, and the courts, dependent on their votes, treated them with such leniency as to encourage lawlessness. Their vote selected public officials, and while this had small effect upon the economic situation, it had great effect upon their personal treatment and the deference shown them. White schoolhouses were the best in the community, and conspicuously placed, and they cost anywhere from twice to ten times as much per capita as the colored schools. The newspapers specialized on news that flattered the poor whites and almost utterly ignored the Negro except in crime and ridicule.

You know that gridlock thingy worked well for the gop, so let's pray for gridlock.

Let us pray (figuratively or literally) for gridlock, because all else is disaster. The best outcome that could result from Tuesday’s Democratic debacle is that the Republicans overreach and, in their white nationalist triumphalism, make it impossible for President Obama and congressional Democrats to reach an accommodation with rampaging reaction and racism.

The phony racial narrative of 2008 has been undone with the abrupt termination of the Age of Obama. After two short years, the illusion of a post-racial society has gone the way of all mirages – poof! – and we are forced to behold the United States as it actually exists.

Redeye tiptoeing away from the computer to go pray....

Posers and Party Purity

Can I rant about Bobby Bright (Poser AL) and Gene Taylor (Poser MS)? I penned a similar rant two years ago where I made some uncomfortable and accused of applying a social litmus test to dems among other crap. Different year, same stuff.

Representatives (and I use this term lightly)Bobby Bright and Gene Taylor are the epitome of republicans posing as democrats so they can take advantage of the black democratic vote to get elected then govern like republicans. Both represent districts that are 30% African American. They know they can't win on the republican ticket so they are allowed to pollute the democratic ticket. Yes I said they are allowed. Not only are they allowed but they are encouraged to pollute the democratic ticket by the democratic party leadership.

You would never hear a republican elected official saying something like this;

Conservative Democratic Rep. Gene Taylor (Miss.) said over the weekend that voted against his own party when he went to the ballot box to vote for president in 2008.

Or being rewarded for doing stuff like this;

Bright has shown his fealty to Boehner on every single contentious issue that has come before Congress in the past two years. In fact, when SCHIP came up for it's final vote only two Democrats crossed the aisle to vote against health care for needy children and Bright, of course, was one of the two. He has been sure to noisily vote against a woman's right to Choice (and, like Christine O'Donnell, he's even been against contraception), against equality for the LGBT community, against health care reform, against Wall Street reform, against energy legislation... You name it-- if Barack Obama was for it, Bobby Bright was against it. And that's been the theme of his reelection campaign, a reelection campaign that the latest polling shows he might be winning.

What DougKahn said;

It's not all about this district. It's about a couple of dozen spineless House Democrats who seem to not fear the Democratic voters in their own districts, so they pander to conservatives.

That's right (no pun), democrats fear conservatives more than they do the people who voted for them. Ain't that a dip? The question is why does democratic leadership (and I'm using that term lightly) allow, encourage and enable this phenomenon? Why do the pander to the wrong at the expense of what is right? Is the system so rigged progressives and liberals can't be elected?

I repeat, why are the Democrats the only party willing to compromise their principles and work "with those they don't agree with"? Huh?

I give republicans credit for party loyalty.Right or wrong they have courage to fight for what they believe in and are lock step. Why should Democrats listen to conservatives? Why do we let them push their agenda at our expense? Why do we continue to vote for candidates who pander to the hard right and take our votes for granted? Why?

"Voting for the lesser of two evils is still evil."~blogger jonwil

Enough of this foolishness!
That's what a lot of people don't seem to get. You allow a candidate to run and vote as a conservative election after election and he's not going to change. It's only when he sees he's losing his base that he starts getting worried and thinking more about his base.

Election cycle after election cycle, I've drank the Koolaid and voted Democratic, even when you couldn't tell the difference between the two party's candidates without a program. I've criticized people who "throw their votes away" by voting for Nader.

I no longer think that a vote for Nader is a vote thrown away. I see it as a message to future candidates, I'M now part of the undecideds. If you want my vote, you're going to have to earn it just as much as you do the conservatives vote. I'm not going to keep voting for you just because you have a "D" after your name.

I feel sorry for the Bright and Taylor's constituents. Thanks to their party's leadership they are represented by the lessor of two evils. Lord help them.

The right to vote is sacred to me. To many bleed too much, died too young and marched too far for me to compromise my convictions. I am not a "social conservative", I am a proud liberal Democrat. Candidates who do not share my values and my principles will NOT get my vote. I'm tired of being bullied by the right wing social conservatives.

Redeye Rant Over.

Democrats vs Progressives

The Democratic Party has been infiltrated by progressives, there in lies the dilemma. I am posting the following diary because the writer articulates with clarity the difference between Democrats and Progressives and why the two will never be one in the same. A party divided will not stand.

The democratic party is not pure or perfect because it's been infiltrated by those who don't share democratic party principles or values.

Why I am not a Progressive and other liberal musings

A letter came to our household the other day from President Obama. He wanted money and our support on November 2 for Democratic candidates, so he could continue to promote the changes our nation so desperately needs, in areas like health care, banking reform, and job creation. I wasn’t expecting him to mention anything about a liberal agenda, but there wasn’t anything about a progressive agenda either or any sort of underlying philosophy motivating the Democratic Party. Instead, it was all about the Obama administration and his goals, which assumedly provide the philosophy and platform for the Democratic Party. 

My dear departed mother continues to get mail from the Republican Party, so I look at it now and then. Of course they want money too, whether you are dead or not, but they need this money to support conservatism and conservative causes. Lowering our taxes is high on this list, along with getting big government out of our lives. The Republicans do talk a lot about the liberal agenda, which is focused on gay marriages and murdering innocent, aborted children. 

At least I know what the liberal agenda is, even if it is only the Republicans who talk about it. They’ve been doing this for 30 years, but really made a science out of it in the 1990s during the Newt Gingrich and Frank Luntz hay day. That’s when Republicans decided to make “liberal” into a dirty word, along with “tax and spend liberals” and the “liberal agenda.” 

They’ve certainly succeeded; even the liberals don’t think of themselves as liberals. Liberals these days are “progressives”. That sounds kinder and gentler, and maybe that’s why it has never caught on with the public. Who wants a kinder and gentler political philosophy guiding the nation at a time like this? The public wants to be protected from the evil terrorists, and in recent years they also want someone to protect their job, or at least make it relatively easy to find an equivalent job if they happen to lose the job they have. 

This is one reason I can’t see myself , or describe myself as a progressive. The other reason that has rankled for a long time is why should I allow people like Newt Gingrich and Frank Luntz define who I am, or define a whole political movement? Someone should have stood up to these word-manipulating bullies a long time ago, but since they didn’t, they should certainly be standing up for liberalism now. The public has seen in gruesome detail the consequences of Republican borrow and spend economic philosophy and their laissez-faire approach to regulation.

Call me a tax and spend liberal any day. At least it is honest. If the money can’t be raised in taxes for whatever favorite projects liberals may wish to implement, the projects don’t get done. I know this sounds a lot like the Pay as You Go policy of the Democrats during the Clinton years, but back then there was a federal budget surplus, and at least the Republicans didn’t call us “spend and tax liberals”.

The thing I like about liberalism is that it is honest, not simply in its fiscal approach, but its ability to promote the interests of the people against the power of corporations and government itself. It was the liberal wing of the Democratic Party that pushed for post-Watergate reforms to prevent government spying on its own people. There used to be a liberal senator – William Proxmire of Wisconsin – who presented a regular award to that government agency or department most worthy of disgrace for wasting taxpayer money. The Environmental Protection Agency was designed specifically to stand up to corporate polluters. When liberalism was at its strongest, under Kennedy and Johnson, it was unashamed to state honestly what its philosophy was and whose interests it served. 

Basic honesty is sadly lacking in Washington. The Republican Party is hopelessly entrapped in a web of hypocrisy and delusion of its own making. The Democrats are led by a president who has failed to govern honestly, because he supports initiatives and causes that are the opposite of those he promised to implement in his campaign. The whole political system is as dishonest as it appears, which makes people wonder what is really going on behind the scenes. Most people conclude that corporate money has bought off the Congress, one administration after another, and increasingly the judiciary.

It is a rare politician who will admit to this, though, since it is corporate money which buys all the television ads that are such an essential part of running a political campaign for national office. John Boehner, Republican leader in the House, was caught this week during a vote on tobacco industry subsidies handing out checks to Republican Congressmen – checks which were issued by tobacco industry lobbyists. No matter how many Republican voters realize that corporate money drives the political process, John Boehner is not about to change his ways. Instead, the Republican leadership is goading the Tea Party activists to protest any attempt to shackle business with more regulation.
In a perverse way, this is as close as we are going to get to honesty from Republican politicians; admit that corporate money owns the Republican members of Congress, and then dress it up for the party faithful as something noble because it allows the benefits of the free market to flow unimpeded. The only thing missing is a Republican politician willing to admit that unimpeded free markets blew up our economy, but it is probably just a matter of time before someone agrees with this and says, So What?
So What seems to be the last refuge of any of our politicians. So What if you don’t have a job, if your unemployment benefits have expired, if the oil is running out except when it is gushing by accident from the floor of the Gulf of Mexico, if the ice caps are melting and this past summer was the hottest on record, if your civil liberties are disappearing, if you have no health insurance and the reform package isn’t going to help you until 2014, if the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have no end in sight, if the budget deficit is at an annual running rate of $2 trillion, if the Fed is starving the economy of interest income, if the zombie banks aren’t lending despite all the largesse showered upon them, and if we refuse to talk honestly about any of these problems. We’re doing the best we can here in Washington, and don’t forget we spend 20 hours every day begging for campaign donations from corporations. We don’t have time for your problems.
These are the people asking us to go to the polls in November and vote for them once again. The White House is imagining all it needs to do is crank up the Obama-mania and even the progressives will run to the polls, or just as likely, the White House doesn’t really care whether the progressives vote at all. Judging from the comments of press secretary Robert Gibbs, the political wing of the administration is fixated on the ingratitude of the liberal wing of the party. 

As for this liberal, the only reason I have to trudge to the polls is to prevent the crazy wing of the Republican Party from getting into office. These are the people proudly wearing the Sarah Palin seal of approval. They run on platforms to outlaw masturbation and overturn the 14th amendment so “terrorist babies”, meaning children of immigrants, will no longer automatically be granted citizenship. If asked to come up with policies of substance, they talk about abolishing Social Security and the income tax, and eliminating all federal departments except for Defense and Homeland Security.
I won’t be voting for the Democratic candidates; I will be voting against the Republican Party candidates, all of whom represent the logical result of Ronald Reagan’s efforts to denigrate public service so thoroughly that only a moron would possibly want to run for public office. 

I will vote for a candidate – and it will likely never be a Republican but needn’t be a Democrat – when that candidate speaks honestly about the list of problems facing our nation, and when they present intelligent solutions to these problems. Given the depth of these problems, the solutions will likely be radical, and involve an overthrow of the existing political system, and the banishment or at least significant curtailment of corporate influence from the political sphere.

I’m like Diogenes searching for one honest citizen. That such people are rare in the political arena is a matter for despair. If I let the despair get a permanent grip on my soul, I wouldn’t vote at all, but allowing absolute morons anywhere near the levers of power is so dangerous that it overwhelms my despondency that the people I am forced to vote for may not be morons but are still creatures of a corrupt system.

Psst President Obama! Waterloo.

It's time to kick some A$$ and take control of the right wing media narrative. Right now internal polls are showing the gop/infused Tea Party is going to beat the crap out of democrats in the mid term elections because they have managed to fire up a segment of the American people who would rather not have access to health care, tax cuts for the rich, and all war all the time than have a democratic, African American President. It's the old bite off your nose to spite your face syndrome.

Line the Talking TeeVee Pundit Heads and the White House Press Corp up, make them bend over, go down the line kicking them in their a$$e$ for using the public airways to distort what we decide by lying and misinforming we the peeps. Then go back up the line and kick their a$$e$ for the lack of diversity in the MSM. In case you haven't noticed, the MSM and the White House Press Corps is ALL white and that's not right (pun intended). It's the media Mr. Obama. They want you to fail. He/she who controls the information controls the outcome. You need to take control of the information Sir.

Seriously Mr. President, it's time to send in the A Team, because the B Team has been a miserable failure.

Obama has regularly snubbed progressives, from health care to jobs, from Copenhagen to Afghanistan, from civil liberties to the Employee Free Choice Act.

It hasn’t been a winning strategy.

If Obama had been more progressive, unemployment would’t be so high, foreclosures wouldn’t be at record levels, he wouldn’t be bogged down in Afghanistan, he and other Democrats would be in a much better position politically.

But really, being even more timid ain't gonna cut it. You are beginning to look like a Deer caught in the headlights. No more Mister Nice Negro, the right takes your kindness for weakness. Quit worrying about keeping your job and do your job. Don't be skeered.

Barack Obama deserves credit for turning the country in a more positive direction following the disastrous George W. Bush presidency. Obama has taken steps forward in several key areas--economic recovery, health-care reform, and financial regulation.

But the Obama record, so far, has not been nearly as strong as it could have been. And based on three major news stories from the past two weeks, we are starting to think there is a fundamental reason for that: The Obama administration is terrified of white people.

Stop worrying about what ads the gop infused, media enabled Tea Party will run against you. As a matter of fact they should be worried about what ads you are going to run against them. We had your back in 2008, we'll have your back in 2010 if you give us a reason to get out and vote.

We didn't vote for more of the same old stuff in 2008, we voted for CHANGE and HOPE we can believe in. Remember? I want to stop hoping for change but to see some change. F%$k the white/moderates/independents. They are not going to vote for you unless you morph into a republican. If we had wanted a republican in office we would have voted for John McSame as Bush and Sarah Pit bull Quaylin.

Booman has some campaign advice for you;

We need a showdown with the Republicans in Congress, and we need it to be over the economy. We also need some sweeteners to put everyone in a good mood. So, appoint Elizabeth Warren. And then make the Republicans obstruct on the economy, and throw an almighty fit about it.

The Republicans will do the rest themselves as they pander to their crazy base in their effort to pull them all out of woodwork (and the loony bins) and get them to the polls. When our side sees the spectacle, they'll be plenty motivated. Show some fight, pass out some goodies, and let's get it on.

And while you're at it, kick the DINO's to the curb quick, fast and in a hurry before they drag us down into the abyss;

It is time to purge the corporatist from the Democratic power structure. The real work of the Democratic Party is done by grassroots activists. These activists are the Democratic Party. They should run it at every level.

The Big Tent meme is just a load of Bull if everyone in the tent is fighting against each other.

But instead of clear, straightforward statements from Obama taking on reactionaries, he has to tread carefully, because the Big Tent includes Rahm Emanuel and whatever's left of his sleazy Wall Street cronies, and it includes reflexive and cowardly conservatives like Blanche Lincoln and Ben Nelson, and it includes all those Blue Dogs whose default position is to just wait and see what John Boehner does and follow suit. So instead of the powerful and compelling messaging of Richard Trumka and Congressional Progressive Caucus Chairman Raul Grijalva, we get a Democratic Party at war with itself, wrangling over issues as basic as Choice, tax cuts for millionaires, protecting Social Security and equality.

So Mister President, the ball is in your court. Are you going to give the right wing media their wish and be a miserable failure like your predecessor, or, are you going to kick A$$ and take names like you did during the 2008 campaign? What ever you're going to do, you better hurry, because times a wasting.

And before the "there shall be no criticism of Obama" gang cranks up let me say this; It's not about Obama the person, it's about policy and government. I like Obama as a person, but he is not our King, he is our President. We elected him to work for us, not the other way around. If we don't like his policies it is our duty and our right to tell him. What CanyonWren said all the damn way!

It's OUR JOB as citizens to vociferously demand what we elected our President to do. To sit back and just trust an elected official, any elected official, is not what a representative democracy is designed to do. The President is propelled by Congress, which is propelled by us. If we are not aggressive in what we want and need from our elected officials we are pawns in our own lives, and in our futures.

So, I, as a Democrat and US citizen, ask--no, demand--that our Democratic elected officials get off their asses and start telling Americans what is really happening. And, I demand that the President live up to his promises. Because that's why worked countless hours to get them into office, and why I voted for them.

So, Mr. President, your Mission between now and November should you decide to accept is to make the case to the American public that the GOP and every single Tea Party candidate out there is to be blamed for everything that ails our country.

The gop/Billionaire infused Tea Party is determined to make passing Health Care Reform your Waterloo, just like they made failing to pass Health Care Reform former President Clinton's Waterloo. That's why it's time to call in the Professional Left. Send in Howard Dean, Dennis Kuchinich, Alan Grayson, former Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, former Vice President Al Gore and others who are not afraid to stand up to the white wing bullies and Tallking TeeVee Pundit Heads. Not to be mean or anything but Christina Romer reminds me of Edith Bunker, Robert Gibbs reminds me of Gomer Pyle, and David Axelrod reminds me of Lurch. They are nice people, just not effective communicators on TeeVee. As a matter of fact with the exception of Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton there are very few effective communicators in your administration. Therein lies the problem. Maybe I watched too much West Wing, but that's the kind of democratic administration I voted for in November of 2008.

If the gop infused Tea Party regains control of the government it won't be your Waterloo it will be We the People's Waterloo.

"Are We Ever Going to Honestly Talk About Race?'

H/T Progressive Electorate who says;

Look we just need to call a spade a spade here. We aren't making any progress by dancing around the issues

I agree. I would like to direct readers to the Progressive Electorate and urge you to face your fears and participate in the discussion and stop proving Attorney General Eric Holder right (no pun).

America is "a nation of cowards" when discussing race.

Don't be skeered. :)

Update: Terri Sewell is Artur Davis in designer pumps, all style, no substance.

It's official. Terri Sewell is Artur Davis in designer pumps. Mooncat issued a scathing no claws barred, Bush league *cough cough* attack, defense, I mean response at slightly Left in Alabama. Since I was banned from slightly LiA, partly because of something I posted about Terri Sewell, I slathered on the Vaseline and responded at the Progressive Electorate. Mooncat made note of a typo in my previous post, it should be CD 7 (Congressional District) not SD 7 (Senate District), other than that, I stand by every word. Once again the neo liberals trying to tell real liberals what they need to do and who they need to support.

Y'all need to start talking about your own candidate's issues instead of working so hard to tear down Sewell.

Terri Sewell is an intelligent,accomplished, articulate young lady, and on paper she looks great. BUT when you look at what she's actually done in the community prior to running for public office there is nothing there. Her community involvement prior to running for public office is the same as Artur Davis' prior community involvement. Shameful. Some people have gotten it into their heads candidates don't need what we call "street credibility" prior to running for public office. My motto is, no street creeds no vote from me.

Sheila Smoot has street creeds, which may be why she has so called "negative baggage". Anytime you are active in the community you will have favorable and unfavorable opinions. I would much rather have someone who has a record of public service than someone who has NONE. Anytime you stand up for something/someone, you acquire powerful friends and powerful enemies. You either stand for something or you'll fall for anything. Sheila Smoot hasn't been charged with any crime, but she's being tried and convicted by the media in the court of public opinion.

We experimented with Artur Davis and his constituents suffered.

Enough!

While you are over at sightly Left in Alabama, please read GOP Games or How I Learned to Stop Waiting for Interviews and Learned to love the dole by a CD 7 resident and voter archanelsk. Then ask yourself why CD 7 voters should risk electing Artur Davis, I mean Terri Sewell.

How do I know? Well for one thing, the same cast of Davis cheerleaders are cheering for Sewell, from the polling pollsters to the slightly Left in Alabama Kitty Kats.

Terri Sewell's positive campaign is paying off in Alabama's 7th Congressional District. An Anzalone-Liszt survey conducted June 13-16 shows Sewell leads Shelia Smoot 53% to 33% two weeks after the two women finished 37% to 29%, respectively, in the June 1 primary. That's a 16 point movement toward Sewell with very little corresponding pick-up for Smoot. Even though third place finisher Earl Hilliard, Jr. has not endorsed either woman, it appears his supporters, and Martha Bozeman's, are breaking toward Sewell.

Sound familiar?

Over the weekend there was a lot of talk about results of an AEA poll that was discussed at the ADC convention. Supposedly that poll showed that Davis's support among black voters was "only at 40%." As far as I heard, that was the only number mentioned in the poll -- no idea where Sparks' support was or how many undecideds that poll found. Chances are it showed a spread similar to this one, with Sparks well behind Davis, but more undecideds. Releasing across the board numbers gives a much better picture of the state of the race right now -- still a lot of undecideds, but Davis has a solid lead, especially among African-American voters.

Read more from Chuck Dean at al.com and the Progressive Electorate -- they have the entire press release, which says "All of these numbers have moved decisively in Davis' direction since early April."

As for Sewells "positive campaign paying off for Alabama" as gradyw notes That's funny.

That's funny. She's throwing rocks and running back to hide in the house. So maybe it appears that she's running a positive campaign from
that slick advertising. But not really the case on the street.
Those calls - They were pushing the stuff about the sewer and Jeff Co's issues into the calls.

Look at the at the Smoot - Is she really union piece? that were pushed by the Selma Times as well as Left in Alabama's Smoot's Union Problem

would not exactly call that part of a positive campaign. So maybe it's not from the campaign, but their supporters are clearly pushing this meme.

Why should Sewell run a "negative campaign when she has the media and so called progressive blogs do her dirty work for her for free?

Terri Sewell supports progressive issues and she isn't hampered by the kind of negative (Jefferson County Commission) baggage Shelia Smoot carries. The memo also noted, "If Terri Sewell can put together the resources to continue her advantage in paid communications, she will be in an excellent position to win." Time is short and resources are key. If you like the style and substance of Terri Sewell's campaign, help her keep it going with a contribution.

Terrie Sewell needs money? Maybe they mean Terri Sewell needs more money to pay for the polling pollsters.

2009 was a great fundraising year for Terri Sewell. She has led the field all year long and, although Earl Hilliard Jr. out raised her slightly in the 4th quarter, Sewell maintains a significant lead in cash on hand. She reported contributions of right at $100K in the last 3 months of 2009, expenses of $79K (a new and much improved website, among other things) and a whopping $339K cash on hand.

Terri Sewell didn't start supporting progressive issues until AFTER her Ivy League buddy and soon to be ex SD 7 Congressman Artur Davis went down in flames for not supporting progressive issues, and she isn't "hampered by the kind of negative baggage Sheila Smoot carries" because they won't allow her to be hampered by the kind of negative baggage Sheila Smoot carries. Who are they? The MSM and slightly Left in Alabama.

Terri Sewell was at the Magic City Classic - in fact, she was the only CD7 candidate in the parade! Lots of people saw her in the parade and at her tailgate tent near Gate 3 giving out free bbq and campaign materials.
Either your source is mistaken or deliberately lying to you to make Terri look bad - whichever case, the facts clearly should have been checked before being posted!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

by: IdeallySo @ Wed Nov 04, 2009 at 10:11:21 AM CST

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

by: you @ soon
To post this comment click here:

Otherwise click cancel.

You must enter a subject for your comment
Whoa there IdeallySo! (0.00 / 0)
This is what I wrote (emphasis mine);

Naturally, politicians see the Coal Bowl as the opportunity to pander, I mean woo African American voters. I didn't actually see any of the politicos, but I saw lots of campaign signs for Sheila Smoot, Terri Sewell, Ron Sparks and Artur Davis. According to media reports Davis was in attendance at the game, and according to my sources Terri Sewell was spotted in the Birmingham airport on her way to Princeton for a fundraiser Thursday.

I specifically said I didn't see any of the politicos at the game on Saturday. I was not at the tent at gate 13. If I had seen Sewell or any other politicos I would have said so. I double checked with my sources and stand by them and what they told me. What reason would they have to try and make Terri Sewell look bad? As a matter of fact, one of my sources is a big time contributor, supporter and intends to vote for Sewell. Just curious how this could be an attempt to make her look bad. Please explain.

The voters/residents/taxpayers deserve a true progressive representative with substance in Congress not style. What archangelsk said;

Unemployment in this district, real unemployment is probably hovering around 20+%. I understand the gist of these things is to get people (who are obviously not me) who have money to donate to her. How out of touch can you get? But seriously, the gal can't be bothered to actually live in the district, couldn't be arsed to put a union bug on a campaign piece (at a union event), and she is throwing shoe parties? My family is struggling, I'm going on 9 months unemployed, my wife, who is in her tenure year, is looking at the real possibility that she too might be unemployed. And Terri Sewell, humble daughter of Selma, the daughter of educators, civil right pioneers, is throwing a shoe party for her donors. Anyone elses snark detectors go off? That's bushleague...that's way out of line...

I agree arkangelsk, that's bushleague...be there done that.

Enough.

Questions

This is turning into one of those weeks when real life is interfering with my blogosphere life, but I wanted to give readers/voters something to think about. H/T to Write Chic Press for giving me this idea.

Will the republican voters in Congressional District 5 elect an angry black man who likes guns?

Will the republican voters in Congressional District 5 elect the candidate endorsed by the Rand Paul, I mean Tea Party ?

Will the republican voters in Congressional District 5 elect the liberal democrat, turned conservative flip/flopping traitor to represent them in Washington D.C.?

Will the democratic voters in Congressional District 5 elect a lobbyist and self described conservative democrat to represent them in Washington D.C.?

Will the democratic voters in Congressional District 5 elect a centrist like Bud Cramer as their congressional representative?

Or will democratic voters have the courage to elect an authentic progressive as their Congressional representative from the 5th district?

Time will tell the truth.

Say, Have You Seen My Democratic Party?

A recent column by David Sirota Laying Bare The Myth of the Left sparked an interesting discussion on a list serve I subscribe to about the democratic party and progressives/liberals and the democratic agenda. Sirota concludes the so called powerful left does not exist in America;

I'm always amused by popular references to the allegedly all-powerful American "Left." The term suggests that progressives today possess the same kind of robust, ideologically driven political apparatus as the Right - a machine putting principles before party affiliation.
This notion is hilarious because it is so absurd.
Yes, there are certainly well-funded groups in Washington that call themselves "progressive," that get media billing as "The Left," and that purport to advocate liberal causes regardless of party. But unlike the Right's network, which has sometimes ideologically opposed Republicans on court nominations and legislation, many "progressive" institutions are not principled at all - sadly, lots of them are just propagandists for Democrats, regardless of what Democrats do.

Listservmember SW says;

progressives are going to have to come together & construct a backbone soon. I wish it would be to highly protest the Kagan nomination...but ...

I agree and disagree with SW. I believe there are progressives out there with backbone,, suppressed by the elitist. For example, why isn't David Sirota ever booked as a Talking TeeVee Pundit Head? Why was I banned from Left in Alabama? Why are only so called conservative/moderate Democrats voices being heard?

I believe the democratic party has been infiltrated by conservatives and so called moderates so they can divert attention away from social issues and maintain the status quo.

My definition of Blue Dog/ConservativeDemocrats are candidates and elected officials whom identify themselves as "Democrats" to garner the African American vote, and "Conservative" to garner the White votes. In reality they are social conservatives, also known as Republicans.

In my opinion moderates, undecideds,swing voters, blue collar voters, working class voters, Nascar dads, security moms, Walmart moms, in the middle voters, values voters,evangelical voters, christian right and libertarians are code words developed and used by the media to manipulate public opinion. In reality these groups are social conservatives, also known as Republicans.

The republican party is fond of saying they are the party of Lincoln and therefore are not racist(were the party of Lincoln being the operative word) when it suits them, but every since the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act democrats are more like the party of Lincoln and republicans are more like the party of Thomas Jefferson. Today's republicans are yesterdays Dixiecrat's.

on June 19, the substitute (compromise) bill passed the Senate by a vote of 73-27, and quickly passed through the House-Senate conference committee, which adopted the Senate version of the bill. The conference bill was passed by both houses of Congress, and was signed into law by President Johnson on July 2, 1964. Legend has it that as he put down his pen Johnson told an aide, referring to the Democratic Party, "We have lost the South for a generation."[8]

In addition to conservative infiltrators the democratic party has so called "moderates, centrist, center" who try and walk a thin line down the middle of the party. We don't know if they are pro choice or anti choice. We don't know if they are pro civil rights or anti civil rights. We don't know what the heck they stand for. They are in the middle whatever the heck that means. My daddy says the only thing down the middle of the road is a yellow line. Moderates are afraid to take a position one way or another because they don't know what side of the road they are on.

Here is what Booman says about the so called center or centrist, and I agree.

The center hasn't ceded power to the extremes. You have one party that is trying to govern in a recognizably American way, and another party that is debating whether it was a mistake to desegregate lunch counters. Given that choice, what does it even mean to be in the center? If you can't make a choice with these options, maybe the center is the place for imbeciles.

Seriously, where is my democratic party? The party of Lyndon Johnson, John Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, Hubert Humphrey and other proud, unashamed liberals?

The party that stood up for women's rights, civil rights and human rights?

The party that didn't throw the traditional base under the bus just to be elected?

The party that was the home of progressives and liberals?

The party my list serve friend and fellow progressive gd describes below:

Many of us believed we were electing a traditionally Liberal Democrat as our President. We apparently have been deceived. Many of the same Bush policies Progressive Democrats abhorred are still in place. Many of the so-called "changes" that were promised haven't happened and lack of action seems to have reinforced some of the Bush policies.... such as continuing to allow warrant less wiretapping of American Citizens under one the more noxious Executive powers within the "Patriot Act," doing nothing to end the wars and even escalating the number of American troops in the war in Afghanistan, doing nothing to change the DADT policy, etc. Now the current Administration wants to tamper with Americans' "Miranda Rights" which have worked for low these many years to protect us from having a "Police State." Perhaps it is time for a Progressive Party to emerge.
If the DLC and the current Administration continues down their "right-of-center" path, and "We the People" do nothing to change that direction, then DEMOCRACY as we have known it, will cease to exist. The Corporations, who have now been granted "person hood" by the Judicial Branch of our government, will become "The People" who will be buying and paying for election of their candidates. A Corporation already owns the machines which tallies our votes, and nothing has been done by the Current Administration to eliminate the easily manipulated electronic voting machines or about the other much needed election reforms either.

Financial Reform now looms largely on America's horizon. Will these "reforms" be weakened in favor of Wall Street & the Banks, the same way Health Care Reform was weakened in favor of the For-Profit Health Care Insurance Corporations? Is that rattling sound I hear the sound of Progressive Democrats striking their swords against their shields, or is it the sound of a "We the People" Democracy gasping its last rattling breath?

I hope and pray that rattling sound is the sound of progressive democrats taking their party back and not the sound of "We the People" Democracy gasping it's last rattling breath.

Enough.

I want my liberal democratic party back.