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

Pandering to Coyote Ugly for Political Gain

And no, not the pretty girls from the famous bar of the same name in cities from coast to cost,but the Coyotes Now In DC And Every County Around It from Rockville to Reston to Rock Creek Park, a new predator has rolled into town. Some people are fascinated... and others terrified. Be terrified. Be very terrified.

The Christian Progressive Liberal asks if it's a coincidence that this creature showed up in DC ‘Burbs, just as the ReThugs Took Over the House of Representatives? Let me think about that for a minute.

I think NOT. For the simple reason Coyote's( politicians of both parties), enabled by the media, pander to the Coyote Ugly the expense of minorities, women, LABOR, teachers,our LBGT sisters and brothers, the unemployed, the uninsured and immigrants.

But there are worse coyotes, and they sit in Congress, collecting a paycheck; getting government-paid healthcare, making sure their wealthy benefactors continue to get tax cuts they don’t need, while I’m being told I have to tighten my belt in order to ride out the recession that REALLY.IS.OVER (/snark), while eyeballing Social Security as if it’s a juicy t-bone steak ready for grilling.

Why do the Coyote's pander to the Coyote Ugly? BECAUSE THEY CAN BE COUNTED ON TO GO TO THE POLLS VOTE AGAINST THEIR SELF INTEREST.

Those of you who decided that having a Black Man as POTUS was too much for your flea brains to handle, and so, handed the keys back to the party that drove us into the ditch – SCREW YOU. Yeah, yeah – some of you are now experiencing “buyer’s remorse” BIG TIME. Wisconsin. Ohio. Indiana. New Jersey. Hell, we tried to tell you – but you listened to the liars at Fake Noise and now, you’re feeling the hurt, just like thirty million of us are feeling it – and some of you; all you heard was “The Black Man” while the pundits pushed a Tea Bag candidate at you who looked all shiny, and took your attention off the fact that you were casting votes for those who continue to SCREW YOU OVER, and depend on your being too dumb and low-informed to pay attention.

This diary is dedicated to The Christian Progressive Liberal for CONTINUOUSLY exposing America’s Ugly Secret – The Long-Term Unemployed.

You know, until our governments, both Federal and local, start treating the unemployed with dignity and respect, I find I have to keep calling them out.

I’ve shared my personal story of being unemployed. At the time I began writing about my experience, I thought, surely, with my knowledge, skills and abilities, I would be gainfully employed within a matter of months. I don’t think anyone expects to be out of work very long, so I’m surprised that two years later, I’m still UNEMPLOYED.

As long as we allow the coyotes to pander to Coyote Ugly we are going to have chronic unemployment, all war all the time and debt as far as the eye can see. I know young people who did the right thing, finished high school, completed college, now they have massive student loans and can't find a J-O-B where they can earn enough to pay back the loans. What's wrong with this picture?

The ugly secret of the unemployed is one that is well-known to the unemployed.

It is not because we’re lazy.

It is NOT because we want a free ride.

It is NOT because we feel we’re entitled. Hell, when we lose our jobs, real entitlement would be paying us unemployment at the rate of our former salaries so we can maintain our living standards until we get another job.

But we gratefully accept the 25-40% of our former income we can collect from the State. Some money is better than NO MONEY.

The ugly secret of the unemployed is the fact that we continue to be victimized for being UNEMPLOYED. When you are laid off your job; when your job is sent out of the country, courtesy of trade agreements like NAFTA and CAFTA: when you get fired because you will not compromise your ethics for the sake of an unscrupulous boss - you wind up collecting unemployment benefits, usually 25-40% of what you USED to earn.

I voted for HOPE and CHANGE I could believe in, I didn't vote with HOPE for CHANGE I might believe in.

I am going to close with this quote from Cindy Sheehan, the mother of a fallen soldier who the Coyote Ugly refer to as some “anti-war” nut who used to protest President Bush a lot. ;

When I began protesting, Bush was president and my protest and the energy that grew around it was used by you Democrats to regain political power in the federal government. Four years later and a change of Executive, this nation is still mired in Arab countries waging a war against Arabs of all, or no, faith. Now brought to us by the Blue Team.

The coyote is a brilliant analogy for the heartless mofos who are preying on the vulnerable. ~Ametia

Coyote Ugly is a brilliant analogy for the dumb, bigots the Coyote's pander to. You know, the ones that can be counted on to hate President Obama/democrats/liberals/women/minorities/LBGT's/labor more than love themselves or their country.

Psst President Obama! Stop pandering to Coyote Ugly. They do not like you. They will never like you. So F- em and do the J-O-B we elected you to do.

Trying to Sleep in the Bed You Made

The state made its own educational bed
Originally published Saturday, March 5, 2011, in the Demopolis Times by community editor Jeremy D. Smith

Whitney Houston believed the children were our future. She urged that we teach them well and let them lead the way.

A sappy, overly-dramatic song whose message was as true then as it is now. Unfortunately, teaching the children well and encouraging them to lead the way has become increasingly difficult over the last three years as Alabama public schools have seen a total of more than 30 percent proration since Fiscal Year 2009.

Governor Robert Bentley declared three percent proration for FY-2011 earlier this week.

To Demopolis City Schools, that means $360,000 will have to be sliced out of the budget. Likely in some areas not related to cutting classroom hours or teaching units.

Exactly how that is going to pan out, no one yet knows.

But it is becoming increasingly difficult for schools to keep up with continuously stringent educational standards.

It seems every year there is some new requirement placed on teachers and schools.

In and of themselves, the improving standards are fine. After all, don’t we all want the best for our young people?

But as standards grow and technology develops, costs become more prohibitive.

And while there is always somebody calling for something better, there is scarcely anyone around to figure out how to bankroll these advances.

In Alabama, specifically, it is time to stop blaming elected officials for deficiencies. Granted, state spending has never been particularly frugal or practical. But much of the current economic climate as it pertains to education is solely the fault of Alabama voters.

Think about it. Don Siegelman proposed a lottery that would have gone to help fund education. Citing moral outrage, we as a state voted the idea down. That’s fine. Moral and ethical decisions are what they are. But no one offered an alternative to funding education.

Then Bob Riley came along and proposed a tax plan that would have seen an adjustment to a number of areas, most notably education funding.

We, as a state, voted that one down too. That’s fine. It is our right to exercise our voting privileges in whatever way we see fit.

But again, no one offered an alternative for education funding.

Now, here we are in March 2011, about to endure three percent proration to our education budget. Worse yet? FY-2012 looms with no stimulus money there to provide any sort of cushion or bailout.

Blame the economy. Blame Montgomery. Blame Washington. Blame bad luck. Blame anyone you want. But the unpleasant fact of the matter is that it is time for Alabamians to start blaming themselves. Every opportunity we have ever had to bolster education funding we have voted a decisive “No.” As such, we’ve continuously voted an adamant “No” to teachers, principals, counselors, support workers, bigger classrooms, better materials, and improved technology. And with every passing year, our chance to improve our situations in the future becomes a little less likely. After all, how can they lead if there is no one to teach them?

How indeed? Huntsville School Board may face 151 teacher cuts

The school system faces an $8 million shortfall this school year and up to $22 million the next. To shore up the cuts, school leaders may cut 11 counselors and 17 assistant principals in addition to the teachers.

Let the cuts begin. Huntsville Principals dealing with shock uncertainty of losing jobs as the unemployment rates climb higher and higher.

Madison County's jobless rate in January was 8.1 percent, up by one percent over December's rate.

This is the highest unemployment rate for the county since early last year. The rate was 8.2 percent last February, according to figures from the Alabama Department of Industrial Relations.

Madison County typically has the lowest or next to the lowest unemployment rate in the state, but in January the county was tied for third place among counties with the lowest rates: Shelby County at 7.1 percent, Coffee County at 7.6 percent and Pike County, also at 8.1.

Children are our future? Not in sweet home Alabama. It's more like our children have no future.