Redeye's Week in Review~edited

Hey Mister Speaker, can we reinstate slavery yet? Because Alabama's immigration law is working. Mission Accomplished.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama's agriculture commissioner, John McMillan, is suggesting farmers look at work-release inmates if they are experiencing labor shortages due to Alabama's new immigration law.

Some farmers have complained that Hispanic workers who traditionally harvested their crops have left and they can't find replacement workers.

A spokesman for the Department of Corrections says there are 2,300 inmates in the work-release program and they are available for all types of jobs, including farming. But spokesman Brian Corbett says the department can't attribute any increase in work-release jobs to the immigration law so far.

Our Guvermint foiled an alleged terrist plot to this week. What color is the Terra Lert?

I'm not saying that I don't believe our government's story. I neither believe it nor disbelieve it. I know too well that the intelligence game is played above my level. It could be true. It might not be. I'm more interested in why no one asks the obvious questions. I mean, what's the motivation?

The No to Jobs republican house passed the Let Women Die Bill this week. Why any self respecting women would vote for republican man or woman is beyond me.

How did you like that crackpot anti-Choice bill Boehner and Cantor-- who claim they're too busy to even allow a vote on the president's proposed jobs legislation-- passed yesterday? They're calling it the Protect Life Act and it passed the misogynistic-dominated House 251-172. If Mitt Romney or any of the other right-wingers running for the GOP presidential nomination were in power to sign this dreck, here's some of the damage it would do:
• Allow hospitals receiving federal funds to deny emergency abortions to women whose lives are in danger due to a pregnancy gone horribly wrong.

Herman Cain leads gop candidates according to the polling pollsters and the pollsters who poll them. Translation, Cain is a Weapon of Mass Distraction from the other gop clowns. Yep, instead of talking about Niggerhead Ranch, Rommney's religion, and the fact the republicans filibustered the Jobs Bill they would RATHER talk about 666, I mean 999, and Rick Perry's wife Anita whining about how hard it is out there for a pimp, I mean gop Presidential candidate.

Reverend Jeremiah Wright returned to the noose, I mean news this week, thanks to a minister supporter of Rick Perry calling Mitt Rommney's religion a cult.
"Wright indicted an entire country," he said. "What Wright did, Wright used the old style of preaching rooted in the ways of the prophet narratives of the Old Testament. Because the nation has done wrong, God will present judgment unless you repent. This is what God will do. He indicted an entire country for the things America has done."
Wright, a black man, called out the majority, Martin said.

Can Sweet Home Alabama can turn a Paige and take our state legislature back from the red, TeaPublicans? God I HOPE so.

How important is Parnell’s campaign to the Alabama Democratic Party? Right now, the Alabama House has a 64-40 GOP majority. A Parnell win makes that 64-41. That brings Democrats within a couple of seats of being able to block a cloture vote - in other words, to being able to mount an effective filibuster against further Republican efforts to attack both the Democratic Party, and the workers, teachers, police and fire personnel, and other vulnerable constituents we represent.

It's too late to apologize. A declaration.

Putting a Black Face on Racist Racism

Black folks can be racist. Ask republican Presidential candidate Herman Cain. In a a blog entry at Your Black World, Dr. Boyce Watkins says republican presidential hopeful Herman Cain's recent statements about African Americans disproves my premise that racist cannot be black. Watkins says racism is more effective when the perpetrator is black .

Herman Cain has become, in many ways, the perfect racist. America lives under the interesting premise that a racist can't be black. That's like believing that a man can't hate his sibling, or that a woman can't advocate for a man to beat his wife (as Whoopi did to Oprah in "The Color Purple"). The truth is that racism is typically most effective when you put a black face on it, and Herman Cain has volunteered to become the cute little political puppet which allows white America to say the things that they are afraid to say.

I call it putting a black face on racist, racism.
It is their ability to put Cain out front to absorb the criticism for racist remarks that makes millions of Right Wing Americans so happy about his racial politics. Cain validates and brings security to a set of ideas that are generally unacceptable to those who understand America's ugly racial history. In this regard, Cain is a breath of fresh air because he is the only Republican who doesn't change the subject when the issue of race is brought to the table.

Herman Cain is not only the perfect racist, he is a sellout.
As an older black man, Herman Cain certainly understood the challenges of Jim Crow. But Cain was also able to evade Jim Crow by willfully standing to the side in the fight for Civil Rights (yes, he has admitted that he avoided the Civil Rights struggle). So, Cain cannot, in any way, connect his contributions to the black community, nor his readily marketed ethnic legitimacy to that of his fellow Morehouse graduate, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. While he might have validity among those who gladly accept the rewards that come from the sacrifices of others, Cain cannot profess to have been willing to make necessary socio-political sacrifices himself. He stands on the backs of the brave, yet joins forces with the descendants of their historical oppressors.

And he is the perfect Weapon of Mass Distraction for republican Presidential Candidate Rick Perry.
Even within the Republican ranks, Cain’s candidacy merely deflects attention away from the flaws of more serious contenders, like Rick Perry’s love for the Confederate flag and all the other things that make Republicans just so darn interesting. But when the dust settles and the smoke clears, Republican leadership will ask Cain to walk off the track in the same way the pace setter is removed after the first two laps of a big Olympic race.

Herman Cain is the media made flavor of the week.
So, not only is Herman Cain a political gimmick, he is also a coward. Those are just a couple of the many reasons that Cain can never be President of the United States of America. He's no Colin Powell, and he's no Barack Obama. The most he can ever be is entertaining.

The End.

TeaPublicans want us to die quickly. That's messed up.

After the blatant display of meanness on display at the TeaPublican Presidential debate last night I'm convinced republicans hate us for our freedom and want us to die quickly.

My first clue came when the audience cheered pro life, (gag) Texas Gooberner Rick Perry's execution record.

Republican voters at Wednesday night’s Republican presidential debate expressed their approval of the death penalty by giving Gov. Rick Perry’s record on executions some of the loudest applause of the night.

“Your state has executed 234 death row inmates, more than any other governor in modern times,” NBC’s Brian Williams told Perry as the conservative audience broke into cheers and applause. “Have you struggled to sleep at night with the idea that any one of those might have been innocent?”

“No, sir, I’ve never struggled with that at all,” Perry flatly stated. “In the state of Texas, if you come into our state and you kill one of our children, you kill a police officer, you’re involved with another crime and you kill one of our citizens, you will face the ultimate justice in the state of Texas, and that is you will be executed.”

Sound familiar?

A human being who is a murderer! Anyone who kills cops should die quickly!!!!

At last nights TeaPublican Presidential debate in Tampa, FL, they revealed themselves for who they really are.

The most surreal instance of the debate, a CNN/Tea Party Express collaboration, came when moderator Wolf Blitzer asked a hypothetical question about whether a young man who had failed to buy health insurance should be provided state-financed medical care in the event of a serious accident.
"Are you saying that society should just let him die?" Blitzer asked congressman Ron Paul, the tough-talking libertarian who seemed fleetingly taken aback when at least two audience members boisterously shouted "yeah!" when he hesitated.
It was the second Republican debate in less than a week to feature such a show-stopper from the audience. Last week in California, Rick Perry got the most boisterous cheers of the night when he noted proudly that 234 people had been executed in Texas in the 11 years he's been governor.
"Given all the applause for death in the last two GOP debates, the Grim Reaper would be a very strong candidate," read a Tweet by ThinkProgress, the liberal political watchdog.
This is the audacious public face of the Tea Party, a movement reviled by a majority of Americans, according to a number of recent public opinion polls.

Let them die? Sound familiar?

A human being who is a murderer! Anyone who kills cops should die quickly!!!!

Former democratic Representative Alan Grayson was right (pun intended). Remember the uproar his word caused? Remember how he was ousted by a TeaPublican?

ORLANDO, Fla. — Florida's freshman Democratic U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson was ousted by a veteran GOP politician after the Democrat earned notoriety for harsh rhetoric that included accusing Republicans of wanting sick people to "die quickly."

So, it's harsh rhetoric when a liberal democrat says it huh?

Lord, I HOPE and PRAY more of us show up to vote on election day than more of them.

What I'm reading on the 10th anniversary of 9/11 and a call to action

Ten Years After; Fear itself.

We have changed though. We now have more names to call our enemies, and far more prowess in killing people. The techniques of warfare are changing, and we seem to be willing to give up some of our cherished freedoms for security. And to tell you the truth, that is the change I fear the most.

The Price of Security-When Citizens Become Suspects

Public buildings used to project a community’s vision of itself. In the past this might be civic pride — the New York Public Library — or ambition — the Louisiana Capitol in Baton Rouge, Huey Long’s declaration of modernity.

Public buildings still talk to us, but the message now is not pride but fear and suspicion. The hulking masses, set back from the street, with hard to find entryways protected by heavy bollards and other ill-disguised barriers, send a clear signal — stay away. You can’t be trusted. You might, in fact, be the enemy.

How I lost the country I used to know and the person I used to be

On September 11, 2001, I was lucky. I didn't lose anybody close to me -- except my country and the person I had been before.

Post 9/11 Permanent State of War Should Have Ended Long Ago

There never was a "war on terrorism." It wasn't "terrorism" that crashed airliners into buildings on that brilliant Tuesday morning. The attacks were carried out by a 19-member assault team from al-Qaeda, a terrorist organization then being sheltered by the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. There most definitely was a war against al-Qaeda, and we won

.

What passes for journalism and opinion in America and the Sunday Morning Bobblehead Report

We all have our own personal stories on 9/11: where we were, what we saw, who we lost. The thing is, I don't know if I necessarily feel like sharing them, just because it's been ten years. It feels exploitative, and wrong. Which is, of course, exactly why we'll be inundated with 9/11 coverage today. Channel after channel, they are going to rehash the tragedy, with all the hysteria and hyperbole they can muster. But will they media take an honest eye to what happened? Will they admit that changed subsequent criticism of George W Bush? 'Course not. We'll have to relive collapsing buildings and sad survival stories and pictures of children who grew up in the last ten years without a parent. Personally, I'd rather watch the Mayles brothers' documentary of the Concert for New York that grew out of the tragedy.

Republicans soon may have one more reason to applaud.

When Rick Perry was asked by Brian Williams in a recent republican presidential debate if he looses any sleep over the executions in his state, this is how he replied: “I’ve never struggled with that at all.” He said it with a smirk on his face, and when he said it his republican audience roared with applause.

Rick Perry has been the overseer of more executions in modern history (234)than any other governor in the United States. And you better believe that he is proud of every one of them.

Michael Moore: I was the most hated man in America

In his 2003 Oscar acceptance speech, Michael Moore denounced President Bush and the invasion of Iraq. Overnight he became the most hated man in America. In an exclusive extract from his new book, Here Comes Trouble, he tells of the bomb threats, bodyguards and how he fought back

A call to action on 9/11
We are one day away from September 11th. And the psychos who flew the planes into those buildings were inhumane and had no empathy for their fellow human beings. They represented the worst of what humanity has to offer.

Come September 22, 2011, we will find out if they have more company.

*Sign the petition to save Troy Davis, here.

Catching Up on the News

In case regular readers haven't noticed I didn't post a diary last week. Don't blame me. Blame Direct TV. I'm here to tell you moving with Direct TV is so NOT easy. Customers are at the mercy of under staffed Installers, who contract with Direct TV. Without Direct TV there is no cable television and no Internet, so you are basically at cut off from the outside world.

Being cut off cable television wasn't so bad, but being without the Internet was torture. I'm still playing catch up to see what's been happening in the world. I see the Talking TeeVee Pundit Heads are still talking up Rick Perry and distorting what we decide,while ignoring the right wing terrorist threat.

Gooberner Rick might want to get off the campaign trail and head on home to Texas Burning.

A very strong, cool norther blew into Texas yesterday finally bringing relief from scorching all time record triple digit temps. But it did not bring desperately needed rain and the entire state is a tinder box waiting to ignite. Well it ignited in a big way in Central Texas yesterday in and around Austin, destroying HUNDREDS of homes (at least 400 in the county of Bastrop alone), with fires still completely out of control in many areas. Evacuations are extensive.

You know we are in trouble when Democrats start referring to Social Security and Medicare as Entitlements.

"Entitlement" has a negative sound in colloquial English: somebody who is "entitled" selfishly claims something he doesn't really deserve. Why not call them "earned benefits," which is what they are because we all contribute payroll taxes to fund them? That would never occur to the Democrats. Republicans don't make that mistake; they are relentlessly on message: it is never the "estate tax," it is the "death tax."

Talking about biting off your nose to spite your face, 8 out of the 10 states with the worst economies are red, republican, confederate, slave states. Sweet Home Alabama is #5. Three out of three red, republican states almost made the cut. Maybe if democrats stopped pandering to the right and tell them like it is, voters would stop voting against their self interest.

Republicans will do whatever it takes, by any means necessary, to win. When faced with the same situation, Democrats will agonize, wring their hands, rack themselves with guilt, and seek "fairness" and "compromise." Maybe, just maybe, that's why Republicans seem to win most of the battles, while Democrats lose them.

Which brings me President Obama's upcoming address to congress, which thanks to Ru$h Limbaugh will competes with the NFL season opener. I HOPE I have Direct TV by Thursday night so I can TIVO the game. If not, I'll watch POTUS until he starts talking about compromise and bipartisanship. Here is a prep for the speech.

I will be listening to Obama’s speech. I love his use of mixed metaphors, his attempt at dazzling you with brilliance while baffling you all the while with baloney…which BTW is about the most Americans can afford nowadays. I can not wait for him to use FDR’s acronym “they hate me and I welcome that hatred” and then he will be launching his “tour” to sell his jobs program. More “change we can believe in” …we have no where to go but up….now that the August jobs report is a big fat ZERO. I can picture this… “next month I will create 1000 new jobs and every month there after”…”oops I mean 100,000 new jobs”…I think, maybe let’s hope.
“God bless America…EAT YOUR PEAS NOW!” “Oh…BTW Don’t forget to enter the drawing for dinner with the President along with a donation to my campaign”

I wonder if Florida Guverner Rick Scott is going to apologize to the welfare recipients he made undergo drug testing after he reimburses them? Naah! That would be too much like right (pun intended).

Since the state began testing welfare applicants for drugs in July, about 2 percent have tested positive, preliminary data shows.

Ninety-six percent proved to be drug free -- leaving the state on the hook to reimburse the cost of their tests.

To be continued.