All EYE am going to say is if Americans had to accept the 2000 election results, Trump will have to accept the 2016 results

Neither Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders "deserve the black vote." They have to earn the black vote. #BlackHistoryMonth2016

 Michelle Alexander, who EYE admire and respect, wrote a scathing article outlining why Hillary Clinton doesn't deserve the black vote.  She made some valid points in regards to former President Bill Clinton's Three Strikes Crime Bill, which led to the mass incarceration of black/brown/poor folks.  To be fair, Hillary was First Lady, and not the President of the United States.  She did not vote for or against the crime bill, but Bernie Sanders and The Congressional Black Caucus did.  It's not fair she be held responsible for the actions of others, including Bernie and the CBC.

 WASHINGTON -- With the switch of at least three votes, the Congressional Black Caucus made clear yesterday that it would come to President Clinton's rescue on the crime bill. 

After a meeting at the White House with Mr. Clinton, three Black Caucus members who had voted against bringing the $33 billion measure up for final House vote last week announced that they had succumbed to his appeals to save not only the crime bill but perhaps his presidency.

"He was selling his presidency, the party and the fact that we will not get a better bill than this," said Rep. Charles B. Rangel, a New York Democrat who found Mr. Clinton persuasive. "Every step forward in a positive way renews the confidence the people have in the president."

Now that the Angry White Primaries are over it's time for the Angry Black Primary, and believe me Black folks are mad as hell.  We are sick and tired of being sick and tired.  It's going to take more than soundbites, photo ops,  coat tails, and endorsements, to earn our vote this time.  We are not going to be a firewall , nor will our votes be taken for granted, for either democratic candidate.  That said, either candidate is better than the alternative, but neither will be the democratic nominee without the black vote.

The fight over the African-American vote is central to any Democratic candidate getting elected,” said Todd Shaw, a political scientist at the University of South Carolina.
Though polls show Clinton has the overwhelming majority of the state’s black voters, Winthrop University political scientist Scott Huffmon said after New Hampshire, she needs a big win to sustain the notion that she has a wider appeal than Sanders.

Which brings me to the Congressional Black Caucus Foundations', not to be confused with the Congressional Black Caucus, endorsement of Hillary Clinton.  Words matter.  The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation is not the Congressional Black Caucus.

The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF) is an American educational foundation. It conducts research on issues affecting African Americans, publishes a yearly report on key legislation, and sponsors issue forums, leadership seminars and scholarships. Although linked with theCongressional Black Caucus (CBC), the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation is a separate nonprofit group that runs programs in education, healthcare and economic development.
Established in 1976 by members of the CBC, the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF) began as a non-partisan research institute. Today, the Foundation is organized as a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy, research and educational institute with an office located near Dupont Circle inWashington, D.C., as well as a Board of Directors and two Advisory Councils. R. Donahue Peebles is the Chairperson of CBCF and A. Shuanise Washington is its president and chief executive officer.
Fundraising events and corporate partners support CBCF programs. The CBCF funds many of its activities by hosting an Annual Legislative Conference each September.[1] The Foundation often works with the Congressional Black Caucus Spouses, a group of wives and husbands of the African American members of the United States Congress.

The headline should read;   The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation endorses Hillary Clinton. See it's media enabled, GOP style stuff (for lack of a better word) like this, that turns me off.  That, and the fact the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation doesn't speak for the masses as is implies.

A New York Times article that investigated the caucus’s connections to corporate interests reported that from 2004 to 2008, the Congressional Black Caucus’s political and charitable wings took in at least $55 million in corporate and union contributions.[2]
The caucus says its nonprofit groups are intended to help disadvantaged African Americans by providing scholarships and internships to students, researching policy and holding seminars on topics like healthy living.[2]
In 2008, the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation spent more on the caterer for its signature legislative dinner and conference — nearly $700,000 for an event one organizer called “Hollywood on the Potomac” — than it gave out in scholarships, federal tax records showed.[2]
The Dallas Morning News reported in August 2010 that congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson had awarded thousands of dollars in college scholarships to four relatives and a top aide's two children using foundation funds. The recipients were ineligible under anti-nepotism rules of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, which provided the money, and all of the awards violated a foundation requirement that scholarship winners live or study in a caucus member's district.[3]
The foundation's former chairman, Rep. Donald Payne, D-N.J., said that neither the foundation nor the Congressional Black Caucus "will allow unethical behavior in the awarding of scholarships or any programs that are designed to benefit the community." [4]

Another reason the distinction is important is because member of the CBC PAC and some (not to be confused with all) black leaders who support Hillary Clinton slam Bernie Sanders on race issues. Implying Bernie Sanders didn't start supporting black folks until he wanted to be the President.  Well that's not factually correct.  Bernie Sanders filibustered the Sugar Coated Satan Sandwich, aka The Debt Ceiling  Compromise, and the Congressional Black Caucus, not to be confused with the Black Caucus Foundation, joined him.  

"You can call what I am doing today whatever you want, you it [sic] call it a filibuster, you can call it a very long speech," said Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats. "I'm not here to set any great records or to make a spectacle. I am simply here today to take as long as I can to explain to the American people the fact that we have got to do a lot better than this agreement provides."

"We are simply here to say that we want a fair deal," said Rep. Donald M. Payne (D-N.J.). "You know, there was the New Deal under Roosevelt, and then there was a Fair Deal under Truman. Every new deal is not necessarily fair, and we see this new deal as not necessarily fair."
Payne was joined by other members of the Congressional Black Caucus - considered President Obama's most loyal backers - who announced that the "vast majority" of caucus members would oppose the plan as it is currently drafted.

So no, EYE am not impressed, or moved, by the Congressional Black Caucus PAC's endorsement of Hillary Clinton.  As a matter of fact it's a turn off.   EYE am still undecided which candidate will get my vote in the democratic primary, but EYE will support the democratic nominee, because the alternative is terrifying.

Currently Bernie Sanders is leading Hillary Clinton in Sweet Home Alabama, to be honest,  that worries me. How can a self described democratic socialist be leading in red, republican, Alabama?  EYE think it's more about hating Hillary than supporting Bernie.  If Bernie is the winner and carries Alabama, it will prove me wrong. If Hillary is the winner, and Alabama remains solidly conservative, it will prove me right.  Pun intended.

#BlackHistoryMonth2016


RedEye

Blast from the past re-post: Bernie Sanders for President

Regular readers know EYE am undecided between Hillary and Bernie, largely due to the behavior of some (not to be confused with all) Sanders supporters.  EYE must admit, after reading and editing this blast from the past re-post EYE am leaning towards Bernie Sanders.~ RedEye

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders during his filibuster speech, on 10 December 2010, against the proposed extension of Bush-era tax cuts and other measures agreed by President Obama with congressional Republicans. Photograph: Guardian screeengrab from C-Span coverage

After watching Senator Bernie Sanders courageous filibuster of the Obama compromise , I am convinced he should be our next President because he is truly a man of the people. He is not a republican, nor is he a democrat. He is my kind of people, a proud, card carrying Independent.

After listening to Sanders,  anyone who votes for the Obama compromise (yes, I'm calling it the Obama compromise, because that's what the republicans are going to call it when things go south) will show their true colors, because as Sanders said over and over today "the little guy and gals are getting screwed while the rich get richer".

Of course the Lame Stream Media is marginalizing and minimizing Sanders, calling what he did today a "rant", quoting a Gallup poll claiming a vast majority of the American people are in favor of extending the Bush tax cuts, and that's who the White House is listening to, because this will help Obama be re-elected by wooing independents (who ever they are) blah, blah, blab, blab.

The other media enabled weapon of mass distraction is former President Clinton being summoned to the White House to help an embattled President Obama sell a controversial tax deal to members of his own party.  It's like 1992 all over again, Obama is moving to the center like Clinton, blah blah blab blab.

One thing I will say about Bill Clinton, he didn't capitulate, and he certainly didn't throw his base under the bus. When the repubs said they were going to shut down the government,  he said go ahead. And we see how that worked out.

Bill Clinton also created 22 million new jobs, and made the rich pay their fair share of taxes. Bill Clinton also didn't have to fight against his own damn party.

In 2008 the pundit heads predicted the end of the republican party, but here they are two years later, bigger and badder than ever. I wonder how that happened? Yes, that was a snark.

If you have some free time this weekend, watch/ read or listen to Bernie Sanders in action, then tell me what you think about the Obama Compromise. The devil is in the details, and Sanders lays out the details loud and clear.

There is no #ShameOnAlabama None. Zilch. Nada.

Alabama Sucks Because it Dishonors It's Own African American Heritage

What part of Alabama has no shame don't they understand? 

Governor Bentley says Congresswoman Terri Sewell is impulsive and ill informed on onehand, and that's she's done a good job on, EYE mean for, her district on the other hand. EYE wonder if he realizes how condescending he sounds?  He also claims the decision to close DVM office in predominately black counties is not race based it's about saving money.  Yeah right, so was Slavery.

"We will go to people's houses to have their picture made if they don't have a photo ID in the state of Alabama," said Bentley. "We're not ever going to do anything to keep people in the state of Alabama from voting. And for them to jump to a conclusion like that, that is politics at its worst."

See what EYE mean? If it were all about saving money the Governor would expand Medicaid, but I digress.  So how does Congresswoman Sewell and the Congressional Black Caucus respond...with a big old hashtag?

U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Birmingham, and other members of the Congressional Black Caucus are using the hashtag #ShameonAL on Twitter on Wednesday to describe the state's decision to close driver's license satellite offices in the state that disproportionately affect African Americans, the poor and the elderly.

How does the NAACP respond....with a thinly veiled threat, sorta, kinda...?

A top civil rights legal group, citing a likely violation of voting rights, suggested possible legal action against Alabama for its decision to close 31 of its driver's license offices. The NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund has requested to meet with Alabama state officials in person to express the group's concerns that the DMV closures will make it harder for residents -- particularly African Americans in the state's "Black Belt" -- to obtain the government-issued photo IDs required to vote under Alabama law.

They pull out a knife you pull out a gun.   Now is not the time for hashtag and threats.  Now is the time for action.  The Alabama Legislature can't be shamed into repealing the Voter ID Bill.  The United States Congress can't be shamed into restoring the Voting Rights Act.  We the People are going to have to make them hear us.

Update~Disenfranchising African American Voters Since 2000

EYE don't know why anyone is shocked Alabama Republicans Dare Defend Their Right to disenfranchise African American voters.  They've been doing it since 2000.  Remember?

Some of the most powerful footage in Fahrenheit 9/11 comes from the Joint Session of Congress that convened on January 6, 2001. It was during this session that then Vice-President Al Gore presided over the verification of the Electoral College vote in the face of fierce Congressional protests. U.S. Rep. Peter Deutsch was the first to attempt to halt the proceedings and was followed shortly thereafter by U.S. Reps. Alcee Hastings and Corrine Brown.

As African Americans said then, and now, it's the courts stupid! Justice is a long way off when all the votes aren't counted.
Some of the most powerful footage in Fahrenheit 9/11 comes from the Joint Session of Congress that convened on January 6, 2001. It was during this session that then Vice-President Al Gore presided over the verification of the Electoral College vote in the face of fierce Congressional protests. U.S. Rep. Peter Deutsch was the first to attempt to halt the proceedings and was followed shortly thereafter by U.S. Reps. Alcee Hastings and Corrine Brown.

Because no Senator would sign their inquiries into the Florida recount, the electoral vote was verified and the way was cleared for George W. Bush to be sworn in as the nation's 43rd president. Had U.S. Representatives Deutsch, Hastings and Brown been successful with their protests on January 6th, 2001, further investigations would have been conducted into the voting irregularities in Florida.

Read it and Weep.

Approximately 250,000 registered voters in Alabama don’t have a driver’s license or acceptable form of voter ID. In the last election, a 93-year-old World War II veteran was turned away from the polls because of the new law. Only 41 percent of Alabamans voted in the 2014 election, the lowest turnout in the state in 28 years.

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.~Edmund Burke

EYE tried to some of Y'all Congress Critter Terri Sewell was Artur Davis is Designer Pumps

Left in Alabama: Terrie Sewell It's a historic election because it's about you,not about me.

But did y'all listen?  Nope.  As a matter fact, some of y'all accused me of inventing a straw man, making sh*t up, and peddling hypocrisy (I'm not going to call any names but you know who you are), and banned me fromyour Blogs and List Serves for life, but EYE digress.

What EYE predicted has come to pass, 7th Congressional District Congress Critter Terri Sewell (DINO Hoover), has the dubious distinction of being ranked the worst black member of Congress.  

Black Agenda Report is once again publishing the annual CBC Monitor Report Card. The former all-time worst Black Congressman, David Scott of Georgia, has passed the torch to a new generation of corporate-bought politicians, represented by Alabama’s Terri Sewell – although Scott remains a close second.

 Are you happy now?

As a Democrat running in a D+18 district, Terri Sewell is without question the Alabama Democrat most likely to be elected to Congress tomorrow. If that happens Sewell will become Alabama's first African-American Congresswoman and the first woman elected to Congress from this state in a regular election. But, as the Birmingham News recently said when they endorsed her, that isn't the best reason to vote for her. The best reason to vote for Terri Sewell on Tuesday is the same as it was last spring ...she's simply the best candidate. From the early days of her campaign Sewell has maintained, "I'm the best candidate on the issues." On the eve of the general election, she still is!

What did the residents of the 7th district to do deserve this? 

My worst fear has come to past. Republicans, enabled by the media (again) and the neo liberals (again), bought and paid for the only African American seat in congress (again). I'm sure they are patting themselves on the back and high fiving their "victory" this morning, but this is wrong on so many levels. For one thing it proves it's not about the people, it's about the money, the power and the influence. It's proof the residents of the 7th district didn't get to decide who represents them in congress (again).

Again, this is what  happens when the white wing of the Alabama Democratic Party decides who should represent the black wing of the Alabama Democratic Party.  Say what you want to about 
the Alabama Democratic Conference, not to be confused with the Alabama Democratic Party, and Dr. Joe Reed, but they didn't endorse Terri Sewell or her predecessor.  The 7th district and had a perfectly capable and effective Congress Critter until the white wing replaced him with Artur Davis.  The residents of the 7th district had the chance to replace Davis with an effective, progressive/liberal representative, but again the white wing said no. 

If the Alabama democratic party were courageous, and I'm not saying they are, they would run a real democrat against Ms. Nine West Pumps in November. The residents of the 7th district deserve better. They are the most loyal voting block the state and national democratic party has, it's time to stop taking their loyalty for granted, and stop choosing who should represent them.

EYE hate being right.

Not.

Eye tried tell some of y'all Terri Sewell was Artur Davis in Designer Pumps, can you hear me now #Leftinbama? #Vindicated

H/T Left in Alabama

Yes, this is another Eye tried to tell some of y'all Alabama's lone democratic (and I use that term loosely) Congresswoman was Artur Davis in designer pumps post.

Remember when Congress Critter Davis was the lone member of the Congressional Black Caucus to vote against the Affordable Health Care Act ?

Alabama Congressman Artur Davis, who is attempting to become that state’s first Black governor, was the lone Congressional Black Caucus member who voted against health care reform championed by President Barack Obama, sparking local and national criticism.
“He let us down,” state Rep. Mary Moore, a Birmingham Democrat, told BlackAmericaWeb.com. “You tell someone, ‘Vote for me, and I will look out for you,’ then they vote for his or her own agenda.”
She and about a dozen people gathered in front of Davis’ downtown Birmingham office around midnight Saturday.
“We prayed for a miracle. We prayed that God would change his heart because so many people in this country and in his district are hurting,” Moore said.
Davis says he couldn’t vote for the health care reform package because it’s too big.

If Sewell  thinks she's going to be governor some day, toadying up to the white folks (H/T RD), she might want to ask her predecessor how well that turned out for him.  But I digress.

BREAKING: ALABAMA'S 7TH US CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSWOMAN, TERRI SEWELL, BREAKS WITH OTHER CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS MEMBERS, SAYS SHE WILL ATTEND ISRAELI PM BIBI NETANYAHU'S SPEECH. This action by Rep. Terri A. Sewell is an insult to President Barack Obama. (H/T ES)

“I don’t hold Netanyahu responsible,” Butterfield said. “I hold Speaker Boehner responsible, but I would hope that Mr. Netanyahu would not want to get involved. I personally think it is disrespectful.”
That was a word many members used: “It is very disrespectful to this president, and what concerns me more is that I think it’s a pattern that is starting to develop from this speaker that we’re getting more and more disrespectful of the office of the presidency,” said Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-La.). “I think it’s silly and petty.”

So, Why has Terri Sewell chosen to join the other side? Her recent votes surely indicate that her positions are far different than what her own constituents would expect.

 Friday, February 13, 2015, Congresswoman Terri Sewell (D-Selma) issued a written statement after the Voting Rights Amendment Act of 2015 was reintroduced in the U.S. House of Representatives. While supportive of the legislation’s intent, Congresswoman Sewell wants to see the legislation strengthened.

Sound familiar?

Last week, as President Barack Obama urged Congress to plow ahead even without support from Republicans, Davis said he was open to supporting a bill if certain major changes were made.
On Tuesday, he ruled that out.
"What's on the table now is a massive overhaul of the health care systems in this country," Davis said. "We can fix the problems without having to do a massive systems overhaul."

I pity the residents of the 7th district .

My worst fear has come to past. Republicans, enabled by the media (again) and the neo liberals (again) bought and paid for the only African American seat in congress (again). I'm sure they are patting themselves on the back and high fiving their "victory" this morning, but this is wrong on so many levels. For one thing it proves it's not about the people, it's about the money, the power and the influence. It's proof the residents of the 7th district didn't get to decide who represents them in congress (again).

I guess I can't blame Sewell for being afraid of losing her job..or worse...

Tea Party radio host Andrea Shea King argued recently that Democratic lawmakers — and specifically members of the Congressional Black Caucus — should be put to death by hanging if they boycotted Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Tuesday speech to Congress
“Obama doesn’t have to run for reelection again, a lot of these guys do,” King said in a clip of her radio show that was published by Right Wing Watch on Monday. “Listen, I would like to think that these guys could pay with their lives, hanging from a noose in front of the U.S. Capitol Building.”

Don't blame me, I supported Sheila Smoot.

Tweet of the Week & RedEye's Week in Review

A FREE PRESS would have Investigated WHO got the Website Contract, and who they are linked to. And how it got Sabotaged. Instead "OMGOBAMA"
— Ina (@InaMaziarcz) November 8, 2013

Fellow blogger Rodger Shuler, aka Legal Schnauzer, is still behind bars in the Shelby County, Alabama jail for being the kind of journalist we wish we had instead of the kind of journalist we have.  But then again, seeing how being the kind of journalist we wish had lands them in jail, we can understand why we have the kind of journalist we have.  According to Rodgers wife Carol lots of organizations are stepping up to help so hopefully we will see and hear from Rodger Shuler again, but then again this is AmeriBama.

What's that you say?  President Obama hates the Congressional Black Caucus just as much as he hates the Tea Party?  I'm shocked !  Shocked I tell you.   Not.

The mainstream media and the Talking TeeVee Pundit Heads are calling President Obama a liar and making him apologize because he said he had proof of tons and tons of WMD in Iraq and Saddam was about to use them on us.

If you are a black person in America  and you happen to find yourself in danger, do not go to a random white person for help. Especially if you have to go to their home. You are better off taking your chances with the elements.  It is open season on black people in America.

RedEye over and out for now.

If it's Sunday, it's time to Meet the Pest

Poor White Cash:  GOP and Food Stamps

The Republican Party is engaged in class warfare against poor and middle-class white Americans. It is a little-discussed fact but an ironic one worth noting, since those are the very same people who elect them.

According to the Blog-o-sphere, President Obama ripped the republiklans a new one at the Congressional Black Caucus Dinner last night, which might explain why the feed was bad on the only network (MSNBC) carrying the remarks live. I guess since PBO wasn't reminding the CBC He's not Black President Obama wasn't newsworthy.  But hey, everybody knows it's not the media's job to educate the public.  It's the media's job to uniform the misinformed.  They are doing a Heck of a Job.

Speaking at the annual Congressional Black Caucus dinner, President Obama excoriated congressional Republicans Saturday night for risking a government shutdown, and vowed to stop their efforts to defund his health-care plan.
“It is time for these folks to stop governing by crisis,” Mr. Obama said at the Washington Convention Center. “Some want to shut down the government rather than provide people with health care!”
Referring to Republicans’ strategy to defund Obamacare, the president said he wanted to speak “as clearly as I can.”
“It’s not going to happen,” he said.

 The New Left is Coming!!!  The New Left is Coming!! Yippee Kayay!

Maybe Bill de Blasio got lucky. Maybe he only won because he cut a sweet ad featuring his biracial son. Or because his rivals were either spectacularly boring, spectacularly pathological, or running for Michael Bloomberg’s fourth term. But I don’t think so. The deeper you look, the stronger the evidence that de Blasio’s victory is an omen of what may become the defining story of America’s next political era: the challenge, to both parties, from the left. It’s a challenge Hillary Clinton should start worrying about now.

Why do republican hate America?

I've never understood the logic of putting in government positions people who really hate the very idea of government. There's something profoundly hypocritical about guys like Ted Cruz, whose raison d'etre is to hate government, and yet they cash their government paycheck just like the teachers and firemen and federal workers they excoriate even as they check their bank balances on their government-issued hand-helds. But if there's one thing they hate more than the idea of government, it's Democratic presidents in general, and Barack Obama in particular. And they hate Americans. They really, really, really hate every American that isn't funnelling large sums of soft-money into their campaign coffers.

Trust  us, there's nothing to see here.  Apples and oranges.  Now, please move on.

Now, there may be some among you who would seek to find some link between these stories, to see an underlying commonality in a story about members of a white North Carolina school board who see no literary value in the great American Classic Novel of African American alienation and residents and police officers of a North Carolina city who react to the pleas of a wounded African American man with fear and deadly violence.

InJustice American style

A Texas Court overturned former U.S. Congressman Tom Delay (r.Texas) conviction for money laundering,  a  Federal Judge in New Orleans overturned the conviction of four police officers tied to the shooting of unarmed citizens in the aftermath of Katrina,  George Zimmerman is acquitted for shooting an unarmed teen, and former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman is still in prison for a crime that doesn't exist under the law.

And they want us to sing God Bless America?

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

Free Your Mind Friday

 Kings Dream at 50:  A Report Card Agbond

Last week marked 50 years since Martin Luther King, Jr gave his “I Have a Dream” speech at the March on Washington. Here is my report card on how America has done on the particular issues he raised in that speech all those years ago:
Scale: A for excellent, B for good, C for so-so, D for bad, F for failing.

This is for those-of- you who banned/booted/censored me in an attempt to suppress my voice. H/T jobsanger

Speaking of silencing dissent, the Congressional Black Caucus has gone from being told to stop whining and start marching to STFU and Support President Obama or else.  Hate to say it, but despite the fact a majority of African Americans oppose military action in Syria,  I predict the CBC will give President Obama the authority to drop bombs on Syria because we are the most loyal democratic voting block, and because  we can be counted on to carry the water for our country as we always do, even for a country who uses and abuses us. We don't want to make the first African American President look bad. 

Bombs away.

Sigh

Brooke Baldwin and Don Lemon...this is CNN

Don Lemon isn't the first CNN Talking TeeVee Pundit Head to promote the Fox News false, black-on-black crime, narrative,  to deflect from the real issues surrounding the injustices in the Trayvon Martin case.

The black-on-black crime argument says that blacks in America have no right to complain about white-on-black crime till they do something about black-on-black crime. It is a racist deflection.
Bill O’Reilly, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Chris Wallace and others on the right used the argument in the days after the George Zimmerman verdict. Whitewashed people bring it up whenever crime and race are at issue.

Remember this?

"Would you, would fellow African-American Congress members care as much if Trayvon were white?"  When I heard Brooke Baldwin ask Representative Corrine Brown (D. FL) this question I had to check my TeeVee to see If I had accidentally tuned into Fox News. Shudder



What's wrong with this argument?

It allows the white press to determine reality, which makes it seem like Zimmerman is an exception while no one is doing anything about black-on-black crime. As it turns out, on average there is a Zimmerman-style shooting (armed security person or vigilante killing an unarmed black person) once every 28 hours. Trayvon Martin is just what made the papers. His case is hardly the worst nor the only one to get protests. Likewise, there is plenty being done about black-on-black crime, like by the Nation of Islam, but the white press is not particularly interested in reporting that either. Even worse, the white press turns a blind eye to the bad policing that leads to a high black crime rate. Yet, somehow, it always seems to find time to show black male suspects on the 11 o’clock news.

It's the Media.

 Until Don Lemon, Bill O'Reilly and other are willing to address the root causes of violence, they need to shut the hell up. Don Lemon, why didn't you rant on and on about poverty, unemployment, gun control, inferior schools and mass incarceration?

Why?  Because that would be too much like right (no pun intended).

Full "White" House Votes to Legally Lynch Eric Holder

WASHINGTON, DC
Thursday, June 28, 2012

Following last week's vote in the House Oversight Committee, the House voted to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in Contempt of Congress for his role in the investigation into the "Fast and Furious" program.


The Department of Justice and the House leadership were in talks to prevent the vote until early Wednesday morning, when the AP reported they failed to reach an agreement.


The House Oversight Committee, under the leadership of Chairman Darrel Issa (R-CA), is seeking documents relating to the "Fast and Furious" program in which guns sold in South-Western states were tracked in hopes of tracing them to leaders of drug rings across the border in Mexico. Guns in the program were later used in several crimes, including the murder of a Border Patrol Agent.


The Justice Department argues that it has already provided all the relevant documents, except those that cover ongoing investigations. The White House announced that it was seeking executive privilege in withholding some of the documents just before the House Committee met last week.


Members of the Congressional Black, Hispanic, Asian Pacific American and Progressive Caucuses, as well as other members, walked off of the House floor during the vote to hold Holder in contempt of Congress.

"Stand your ground law is almost an invitation to kill somebody"

That's scary" says  Congressional Black Caucus Chair Emanuel Cleaver (D. MO), after telling his wife they need to tell their kids to avoid going to Florida.

Isn't it ironic that Dennis K. Baxley (r.Ocala), the sponsor of the Florida Stand Your Ground Law, is the principal owner and Vice President of Heirs- Baxley Funeral Services?

That's almost like Alabama State Senator Greg Reed (r. Jasper ) ,chair of the health committee, and sponsor of the mandated ultrasound bill, being being the owner of the company that sells ultrasound equipment.

Or, it's like two failed Oil Men in the White House writing the energy policy, and sending our troops to war in Iraq to look for Weapons of Mass Destruction that were NOT there.

Oh wait....

Must Read(s)
The NRA and Florida Legislators gave George Zimmerman a License to Murder Trayvon Martin

The New Vigilantes: Trayvon Martin and the "shoot first" Lobby

FL legislative black caucus members seek to amend 'Stand Your Ground'.

22 days and George Zimmerman is still free.  There is something wrong with this picture.

A RedEye Rant about Whining Complaining

The people in that picture... Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face.

And so it begins...the marginalization and minimization of African Americans and the issues affecting us.

Political Animal's Steve Benen (5/12/09) notes a recent Rush Limbaugh broadcast (5/11/09) that makes the racist subtext of the right's critique of Barack Obama virtually explicit:

The [economic] deterioration reflects lower tax revenues and higher costs for bank failures, unemployment benefits and food stamps. But in the Oval Office of the White House none of this is a problem. This is the objective. The objective is unemployment. The objective is more food stamp benefits. The objective is more unemployment benefits. The objective is an expanding welfare state. And the objective is to take the nation's wealth and return to it to the nation's, quote, "rightful owners." Think reparations. Think forced reparations here if you want to understand what actually is going on.

So Limbaugh thinks Obama is intentionally creating unemployment in order to boost food stamps, unemployment and welfare as a form of "forced reparations"; he's wrecking the economy, in other words, in order to benefit black people. If Limbaugh is the voice of opposition to Obama, no wonder that opposition is so concentrated in the states of the old Confederacy.

Obama falls for the Okey Doke

President Barack Obama is quietly moving forward with a plan for black America. He’s just not talking about it.

It’s probably a good idea.

Obama has been criticized recently – particularly by commentator Tavis Smiley – for not speaking out directly on behalf of African-Americans and failing to specifically address the needs of the black community through a symbolic “black agenda.”

That’s nonsense.

Obama is the nation’s first black president, and, while he was elected with overwhelming support from African-Americans, he’s not a president just for black folks. Critics like Smiley won’t be able to strong arm Obama into publicly announcing some sort of black agenda. The president is resistant to bullying tactics, no matter who is doing the bullying.

Smiley appeared on "The Tom Joyner Morning Show" early last week and chastised black leaders, saying Obama had not been pressed hard enough in a White House meeting - one with Rev. Al Sharpton of the National Action Network, National Urban League's Marc Morial and the NAACP'S Ben Jealous - to act in the interest of African-Americans.

And therein lies the problem, critics like Tavis Smiley were accused of trying to "strong arm" the President of everybody into publicly addressing issues affecting African Americans like that was a bad thing. Velma Hart tried to tell President Obama we were tired of defending him, but did he listen...NO.

The GOP Noise Machine was in gear the minute he got elected. The Prez needs to recall the fable of the Frog and the Scorpion. These people have an agenda. The terms are NOT negotiable.

The Kochs spent billions financing the Tea Party and other Right Wing astroturf groups. Obama should take note:

The Tea Party elected candidates. The Tea Party is pushing the GOP into a corner. Why? They are masquerading as a Populist movement. They got the People to believe in their agenda and their cute little hats.

Does the current Washington wisdom seriously think there are no leftists in America?

I believe Obama could have had an OCEAN of people for free, simply by doing an FDR and letting the GOP scream. Because, as you say, they were going to be screaming anyway.

I'd rather he'd given them something to scream ABOUT

Instead of giving the TeaPublicans something to scream about, President Obama tells black folks to stop whining and complaining and start fighting. With all due respect, black folks never stopped fighting Mr. President, Sir, and we never will.

Yes, there are political reasons that Obama can't directly address black joblessness, and no, I'd never suggest that he do anything to validate some trite and delusional right-wing narrative that he's in office only to aid blacks. Even if agreeing to that austerity-inspired debt-ceiling deal -- which will do little to generate growth or really chip away at our debts -- was a political necessity, it was another example of the president giving off the impression that he's not fighting hard enough for those in greatest need of assistance.

To tell people who are in the greatest need to stop whining is insulting and demeaning. It's the oppressors way of telling the oppressed they are not going to listen to or address their concerns because they don't deem you an equal.

And yes, I'm whining about it and will continue to whine about it as long as you continue to give me something to whine about. I was raised to fight for my rights, to stand up to injustice to protest double standards and to encourage others to take the same just stand.

Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined President Obama tell African Americans to stop whining and complaining. To be honest, I'm surprised and hurt by his actions because I believed him when he said CHANGE had come to America. Things are changing allright....for everybody but African Americans.

Preach!

In regards to actually getting policies passed, the President's political repertoire is pretty transparent at this point: He gives the Republicans, the rich and the corporations a large amount of the tangible victories they want when it matters, and tosses nothing but an empty, often victim-blaming, "tough-love" populist message towards his supporters when it doesn't matter.

President Obama is the President of black folks too.

One man stood up and strongly defended the president and criticized members of the Congressional Black Caucus who questioned the President’s strategy. Moderator Martin strongly resisted the notion that being critical of the president was off limits for black public officials. “Blacks voted 95 percent for this president, and we should expect a return on the investment,” Martin said.

When the audience member pushed his point further, Martin reminded all of the episode in late 2009 when the 10 black caucus members on the House Financial Services Committee went up against the Obama administration regarding $40 billion they wanted in the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The 10 caucus members withheld their votes as they faced off against the Obama administration and pushed for access to capital for minority-owned banks and for consumer protections. Martin asked the audience member if he’d rather have the $40 billion or no one criticizing President Obama.

Are Black voters Obama's political mistress?

If Barack Obama were a white man, that would mean that there would be collective outrage over speeches like the one he delivered at the Congressional Black Caucus Convention, where Black people were told to “stop complaining” about the highest unemployment in nearly 30 years. It would mean that we’d expect the same things from President Obama that we would have expected from Bill Clinton or anyone else during their time in the White House. I would dare to say that if Black unemployment had risen to 17% under Clinton, he would be hammered by the Black community for refusing to consider targeted economic policy.

This is not to say that President Obama is not deserving of the Black vote. But it does say that Black America must cease to make itself into the political mistress of the Obama Administration. For a man whose loyalties lie elsewhere, the mistress is often the woman from whom he expects preferential treatment, but only offers second-class status. The love is often one of secrecy because he may be ashamed of the relationship and fear the reputational consequences of those who may judge him harshly.

This is exactly why I didn't want an African American President, I knew if black folks dared complain we would be accused of wanting preferential treatment and be told to stop whining because America is post racial. *Snark*

So, if the White House expects Black America to treat Obama differently from the way they would treat a white politician, it is only logical that we expect the same. One of the tenets of racial inequality is the idea that Black people should be complacent with being treated worse than others treat us: For example, whites are allowed to moan to President Obama all day about 8.1 percent unemployment, but Black people are told to “stop complaining” about nearly 17% unemployment. Do we realize how sick it is that we allow others to say and do things that we cannot do ourselves? So, when President Obama gives a speech before a group of white folks and says “stop complaining,” then I’ll be satisfied. But until then, we might want to reconsider accepting our role as President Obama’s political mistress.~Dr. Boyce Watkins

My sentiments exactly.

About that "stop whining and complaining" thingy

I was away from the TeeVee over the weekend, so imagine my shock and awe when I tuned in this morming to hear the Talking Pundit Heads mock outrage over President Obama scolding black VOTERS to get off their lazy donkey's and stop whining and complaining. Promethus 6 notes, that's not ALL he said, and of course the Chattering Class didn't put the remarks in context, but whoever advised President Obama to give that speech needs to join the 16% of African Americans who are currently on the unemployment rolls.

Dr. King once said: “Before we reach the majestic shores of the Promised Land, there is a frustrating and bewildering wilderness ahead. We must still face prodigious hilltops of opposition and gigantic mountains of resistance. But with patient and firm determination we will press on.”
(Applause.)
So I don’t know about you, CBC, but the future rewards those who press on.
(Applause.)
With patient and firm determination, I am going to press on for jobs.
(Applause.)
I’m going to press on for equality.
(Applause.)
I’m going to press on for the sake of our children.
(Applause.)
I’m going to press on for the sake of all those families who are struggling right now. I don’t have time to feel sorry for myself. I don’t have time to complain. I am going to press on.
(Applause.)
I expect all of you to march with me and press on.
(Applause.)
Take off your bedroom slippers, put on your marching shoes. Shake it off.
(Applause.)
Stop complaining, stop grumbling, stop crying. We are going to press on. We’ve got work to do, CBC.

Huh? I mean, what exactly are black folks supposed to stop whining and complaining about? Massive unemployment? Lack of access to quality affordable health care? Underachieving and underfunded public schools? More black children living in poverty? Injustice and legalized lynchings?

How come when black folks pull do off their bedroom slippers and fight back against the right wing they are accused of whining and complaining, like that's a bad thing?

How come when the Tea Party organizes to take their country back from the socialist socialism, they are called a Grassroots organization, but when black folks try and organize they are called effing retarded and Professional Lefty's. I mean, Why can't the CBC be like the Tea Party?

How come when black folks tell the President to stop compromising with the righty's and fight we are told he's doing what he has to do, give him time, the republicans are obstructing, blah, blah, blab, blab? I mean, how much time does he need to do the right (no pun) thing? The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over hoping for a different result.

Mr. President, Sir, with all due respect, and not speaking for all black folks, but I will stop whining and complaining when I don't have anything to whine and complain about. K?

I found myself wondering about a couple of things this weekend, like, just who cheers when they're being told "Stop whining"? Who thinks telling their constituency to "Stop whining" is a good idea, and how do they come to think that?~Promethus 6

Mo Brooks voted with the Congressional Black Caucus?

That's right (pun intended), number One TeaBaggers Mo Brooks joined with the Congressional Black Caucus and voted HELL TO THE NO on the sugar coated Satan Sandwich, aka the debt deal.

Congressional Black Caucus chairman Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO) isn’t a fan of the proposed deal to raise the debt ceiling.

Cleaver told Roll Call Sunday that the deal was a “sugar-coated Satan sandwich.”

“You have been quoted, coming out of your caucus as calling this agreement a ‘sugar-coated Satan sandwich,” MSNBC’s Chris Jansing noted Sunday. “Was that indeed your quote? Is that how you feel about this deal?”

“Very accurate quote,” Cleaver admitted. “What you see is antithetical to everything the religions of the world teach: take care of the poor, take care of the aged. Look at the phone calls I’ve gotten. They are seven-to-one in favor of a balanced deal, and also preserving Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security. And I’m concerned about this because we don’t know the details. And until we see the details, we are going to be extremely non-committed.”

The Congressional Black Caucus released a letter Sunday urging President Barack Obama instead of making a deal with Republicans to raise the debt ceiling.

Meanwhile little Miss Designer Pump wearing Representative Terri Sewell (CD 7) voted against the Congressional Black Caucus and FOR the sugar coated Satan Sandwich. Here is here statement courtesy of her ardent fan mooncat over at right leaning, Left in Alabama.

"Today, I voted in favor of the Budget Control Act of 2011. While it is not a perfect bill, this bipartisan measure prevents this nation from going into default and protects Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security – essential programs relied upon by our nation’s seniors and middle class families. The bill that passed today removes the cloud of economic uncertainty from our global markets and ensures that this nation will meet its fiscal obligations. I voted in favor of this bill not because I am a Democrat, but because I believe in the Full Faith and Credit of the United States.
Legislation is the art of compromise and there are plenty of provisions in this bill that are unsettling. The drastic cuts coupled with no revenues I believe threatens our economic recovery. However, the bill does provide a significant down payment on our nation’s debt and creates a process for reducing the deficit.
As we continue working toward strengthening the economy, the burden cannot simply fall on our seniors, students, middle class families and the most vulnerable. The solution must include shared sacrifice from us all.
Ultimately, allowing America to default on its obligations was simply not an option."

Mo might not have intended to vote with the Congressional Black Caucus but I have to give it to him for looking out for his constituents .

One of his reasons is what would happen to the defense budget if the bipartisan committee created by the deal fails to reach another agreement on spending cuts by the end of the year.
“You're looking at a 20 percent cut in FY '13 in our (national) security, and I cannot agree to do that”, Brooks said after a meeting of House Republicans.

Unlike little Miss Sewell who represents Alabama's black belt.

Today, Alabama's Black Belt includes some of the poorest counties in the United States. Along with high rates of poverty, the area is typified by declining populations, a primarily agricultural landscape with low-density settlement, high unemployment, poor access to education and medical care, substandard housing and high rates of crime.

What's up is down. What's down is up.