Martin Luther King Jr. Links I Like~link inserted

As noted previously I am not celebrating the birthday of Martin Luther King, however I do want to take this opportunity to get away from the gushing, media driven, narratives and bring the issues he died for into the public view.

State of Kings Dream is an economic nightmare in Black and Brown America

When judging the state of King's dream for economic justice, the verdict is clear: Black America faces a nightmare.

African-Americans bore the brunt of the Great Recession's job losses and economic slow-down. And it only promises to get worse: The slash-and-burn agenda proposed by the new Congressional House leadership, as well as many state legislatures, will have a uniquely devastating impact in low-income and black and Latino communities.

Yep, the mainstream media narrative is today is a national day of service to distract Americans from racial injustice, I mean justice.

Are we a country of madmen yet?

There are a lot of tea party folks in congress at this particular time in our history, so don't be surprised if children studying A-merry-can history fifty years from now won't know that people of color were slaves and that Native Americans were slaughtered.

The NAACP can kiss my Donkey on the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday because I have a black son. Another governor gone rogue..again.

Kiss my Butt” How many times have you been in a meeting with someone and just wanted to say that to someone who was working your last nerve? Truth be told at least once a week I want to tell someone to kiss my ass and walk out. But alas I try to keep it classy so generally when those moments come up, I make that pinched face smile and deal with the situation at hand like an adult. After all I am almost 40 years old and one would like to think by a certain stage in life you learn a little tact.

Apparently though my state’s new governor, Paul LePage missed that piece in his developmental growth and when asked why he was not honoring a 30 year tradition set by his predecessors of attending the annual NAACP MLK day events here in Maine. He decided to go off on a one minute tantrum that was caught on tape where he referred to the NAACP as a “special interest group”, told us he had a Black son and eventually said that folks meaning the NAACP could kiss his butt.

Anderson Cooper and the rest of the privileged class accused Alabama State Senator of using race baiting rhetoric but this is exactly what he was talking about when he said the gop wanted to take us back to before the Civil War and the Civil Rights movement;

Well the Tea Party has been crying out about "Taking our country back!" recently. They seem to want a return to the (not so) "Good Ole Days" when "those people" knew their place. And, they have been successful in their attempt to turn back the clock in the Wake County School District in North Carolina. Yes, they have won their battle to re-segregate a school district that had one of the most successful economic integration programs in the country.

Cowardly Rock Throwers and the Rock Throwers who throw them

The old cliche is that the biggest lie Satan ever told involved convincing mankind that he didn't exist.

The content of our character

"We as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values... when machines and computers, profit motives and property rights, are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism and militarism are incapable of being conquered." Martin Luther King, Jr. April 4, 1967

I am not "celebrating" the 25th anniversary of the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday because it's a chilling reminder why Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. didn't live to see this day. This time every year, pundits and white Americans engage in an exercise I’ll call "See I ain't prejudice", because they attend a Martin Luther King Jr. "unity" event or quote selected quotes from his speeches to make us forget Martin Luther King, Jr. was murdered in Memphis TN just because he tried to to make the world a better place for everybody. Some of the same people who hated what Martin Luther King, Jr. died for in 1968 are giving the public facade they were always in line with his principles, but just for one day.

Four decades after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr, the violence is still here, aimed at liberals and Democrats.

They’ve been gunned down in Tucson, shot to death at the Pentagon, and blown away at the Holocaust Museum, as well as in Wichita, Knoxville, Pittsburgh, Brockton, and Okaloosa County, Florida.

Total body count for these incidents: 19 dead, 26 wounded

The day after the King Holiday, House republicans will make good on their promise to vote to repeal health care reform, hoping their followers don't know the difference between voting to repeal health care reform and actually repealing health care reform. The gop is actually doing something I wish the democratic party would do, which is take a stand on principle, sending a signal to their base they are willing to fight even if they loose.

Republicans effectively have three choices when it comes to health care. First, they could simply give up on repealing the entirety of the law, and will instead focus on incremental, fiscally-responsible changes. Second, Republicans could simply argue that they find the Affordable Care Act so offensive, they just don't care about the effects repeal would have on the deficit.

Third, GOP officials could just start making stuff up, and hope that reporters and voters can't tell the difference. As Krugman explains in his piece, this is the preferred avenue for the new House majority.

Let us renew our commitment to the radical revolution of values for which Dr.
King gave his life as we turn to the realities of current life. ~Bill Quigley for Buzzflash at Truthout

Cam Newton will be in the NFL rather than College~addendum

Slaves? H/T Field Negro

As the southerners who love Auburn football celebrate their championship, they may want to take a second to absorb a couple of sobering realities. First, the school got $21 million just for winning that one game. Auburn’s coach, Gene Chizik is due for a multi-million dollar bonus and millions will flow into the pockets of administrators, coaches, commentators, and corporate sponsors, almost none of whom are black.

At the same time, the star players for Auburn, including Heisman Trophy winner Cam Newton, will simply get to throw up the “A” to their boys, and some will live off this short moment of glory for a lifetime. Like preventing slaves from learning how to read, the NCAA has created laws making it illegal for Cam, his family or the families of any of the other players to get any of those millions that coaches are gladly putting into their pockets. All the while, Auburn will be searching for the next batch of big, black bucks who can win them more championships. Like chickens being grown by KFC, black males are a commodity that Auburn University can’t live without.

Note; Please attack the message and not the messenger. It's not about Boyce Watkins, it's about what Boyce Watkins said.

I would like to share the following email I received from a reader in response to my post about the Auburn Tigers big win, Cecil and Cam Newton, and the so called pay to play controversy. It's spot on, and it ties into Dr. Boyce Watkins theory that NCAA Athletics is Racial Segregation at it's finest.

Hey Redeye,
Thanks for your mention of the Auburn Tigers' big win. As a Auburn
grad, I know I don't have to tell you how proud I was of our "Family"
bringing home that crystal football, the SEC championship, our third
Heisman and our second Lombardi award, thanks to Big Nick Farley..

Like you, I was so happy to learn that Cecil Newton was able to be in
Arizona to celebrate his son's outstanding leadership and athletic
achievements. The whole mess about the "shopping" made me sick.
College athletes make big money for their University, for vendors, for
the BSC, the SEC and the NCAA, but outside of scholarships, these
athletes and their families are never compensated for earning all that
money for "the powers that be." There's something fundamentally wrong
with that IMHO. As far as the school "shopping" is concerned, it goes
on all the time, so why not acknowledge that the rule can never be
completely enforced and come up with a more realistic solution, such as
setting limits on the amounts of compensation an athlete and his family
can earn during a given season? Cam will be in the NFL draft rather
than completing his Senior year at Auburn, and I can't blame him for
making that decision. I would have done the same thing if I had been
in his shoes. He has been and will continue to be one of the greatest
representatives Auburn University has ever had......not to mention he's
so darn cute, he makes President Obama look homely! If his NFL career
ever goes sour, he's a shoo-in for a career in entertainment.

As far as the National Championship is concerned, I did the same thing
"Bo" did at the conclusion of the game...cried with sheer joy and
pride. Attached are some personal photos. As you will see, even my cat
was "showing his colors" for the Big game. He simply couldn't be
outdone by his friend, our neighbor's little dog, who wore a Auburn
scarf for every game during our undefeated season, and Ming actually
enjoyed wearing his little jersey...probably because it was so darn
cold on game day. .War Cam Eagle!

The writer makes an excellent point, why not acknowledge that the rule can never be completely enforced and come up with a more realistic solution, such as
setting limits on the amounts of compensation an athlete and his family
can earn during a given season? I guess that would be too much like right (pun intended).
Per Dr. Boyce Watkins;

If you are one of the thousands of black families sending your son or daughter to the NCAA to build their multi-billion dollar coffers, they would tell you that paying the athletes or their families is simply impossible. They would convince you that in spite of the fact that the athletes and their families are the most important part of their revenue-generating process, universities simply cannot afford to share their money. Even if you are homeless and your child can’t buy groceries, you must stand to the side as others earn millions from your child’s athletic labor

I'm just saying...

Keep those emails coming...knowledge is power...shared knowledge is powerful.

Redeye's Alabama Week in Review

All we did was win win win! The week begin with the Auburn University Tigers led by QB Cam Newton winning the 2010 National Championship game. The Alabama media paid all kinds of attention to Cam Newton Gate but we heard nary a peep about BCS National Championship Ticket Gate

Those "face value" tickets for legislators to the BCS National Championship game are becoming a hotter property by the day. As of this morning, Auburn fans - even those willing to spend $9K a pop - can no longer buy BCS National Championship Tickets for any price. Stubhub has suspended sales of the game because sellers weren't actually fulfilling their orders.

Now we're beginning to learn more about the situation. Auburn has admitted that as many as 15 "legislators and state officials" have been given the chance to purchase tickets at "face value." (It's not really face value in my book when the public never gets a chance to buy at that price.)

For some reason, Auburn isn't going to release the names of the guilty until next week.

Gooberner Riley and gop chair State Rep. Mike Hubbard(r.) said they were going to the game with tickets they purchased, but they would be traveling on a state plane because they have to depart for Montgomery soon after the game ends Monday night. The State has a plane? Who knew?

The snow storm spoiled Riley's party *snicker*, but Cam Newtons father Cecil Newton did watch his son play in the biggest game of his life.

The Alabama Dem Party comes together and endorses U.S. Attorney candidate? Uh, what Alabama Dem party came together, and when exactly did the Alabama Dem party come together? It should read outgoing miserable failure State Chair Joe Turnham and the parties presidential advisory committee (wtf is that?) comes together (pun intended) and endorses U.S. Attorney candidate. :)

No wonder the Alabama Democrats are in a pitiful shape.

The Alabama Democratic Party's Presidential Advisory Committee has endorsed Beck, even though he comes from a law firm with ties to Republican strategist Karl Rove and Business Council of Alabama (BCA) President Bill Canary. A source tells Legal Schnauzer that Beck's firm, Capell and Howard, often serves as a home base for Rove when he visits Alabama.

The South, I mean Dems will rise again!!! YeeHaww! The Over the Mountain Dems have fired the first volley in the fight for the Alabama Democratic Party.

Judge Mark Kennedy, the only announced candidate for Chairman of the Alabama Democratic Party, will take part in a panel discussion in Birmingham next Tuesday, sponsored by the Over the Mountain Democrats.

The Blue Dogs--Dixiecrats--Determined to continue wrecking the Democratic Party Brand

The Democrats, Dixiecrats really, before Carter were a mostly a motley gaggle of conservatives and racists. Just before Carter, for example, was Lester Maddox, a segregationist restaurateur most famous for saying he would rather close his restaurant than serve Black people and later brandished a handgun to chase potential Black customers away. He also ran for president on the neo-Nazi American Independent Party, a forerunner of today's Tea Party.

So who is going to win the Civil War within the Democratic Party? The Democratic Wing of the Democratic Party or the Progressive Wing of the Democratic Party? 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. Candidates and elected officials feel free to take our money and our votes for granted and pander to those who might vote for them (or not) at the expense of those who have to vote for them because they have no where to go.

Speaking of the Progressive Wing of the Democratic Party, can you believe a progressive blog is actually asking what is acceptable dissent on a Progressive Blog and, taking a poll asking if Dale Jackson should be allowed to stay on LiA? Acceptable to who? Allowed by who? I wonder if they realize how elitist and condescending they sound?

I have to agree with Dale Jackson on this one, there is more than a whiff of hypocrisy on both sides. Dale Jackson was singing a different tune when I was complaining about the hypocrisy and unfairness. So was resident righty and *ahem* legal expert Old Prosecutor. Question for countrycat, if I'm not banned why is my user name and password invalid? Yep, Change is Afoot at Left in Alabama all right (pun intended). Remember when Left in Alabama was the media we wish we had instead of the media we have?

Left in Alabama has been infiltrated. You know the drill. Find an effective progressive group. Get offended by something that is said. Pick a fight. Have the group pick sides. And who wins in the end? Not us progressives that's for sure.

"Well, there's a certain mean spiritness that's out there, not only in Alabama but it's in America. And that makes this election extremely important." ~Alabama State Senator Hank Sanders

Dissent is the highest form of patriotism~Howard Zinn

Redeye's National Week in Review

"Great events may stem from words of no importance"~African Proverb

The week begin with the right wing republicans and their media enablers scrambling to distance themselves from their words in the aftermath of the tragedy in Tucson,Arizona.

Can you be rabidly anti-government and not be political?

Apparently the answer is yes, according to the mainstream media, and even some of the progressive press.

It is a bit shocking to read news analysis variations on the Tucson shooter that are phrased along the lines of "Jared L. Loughner was not considered political, although he did express anti-government feelings."

Excuse me, but we don't know if the press has slept through what has been going on in the right-wing world of media and politics - particularly during the Obama administration - but the No. 1 political target of the radical right is the government! One doesn't need to be an active booster of the Republican Party to be a part of this dangerous political mindset.

But, but liberals do it too, they whined.

Liberals are so uncivilized. And intolerant. And they hate America, too. How dare they exercise their own free speech rights to condemn the free speech rights of Real Americans? Jeez, talk about your overreaction to some "lone nut" (like so many lone nuts before him) using his god-given second amendment rights to remedy the problem of liberal tyranny.

Terrorism in black, brown, red and white.

When a “crazy” White guy with a gun, wound up on polarized talking points and manifestos, indiscriminately kills innocent Americans in broad daylight, it takes several days in the aftermath before the larger public will even accept a hint of pre-meditation. Typically, the collective American psyche will initially trivialize the event by calling the perpetrator “deranged” or “mentally unstable.” The social response script is fashioned to fake us into a false sense of security. It’s isolated, they say. Just one crazed nut with a gun.

That dude who flew his plane into an IRS building? Isolated. Or the cat who waited for, scoped, then killed three Pittsburgh police officers? Crazy. What about the man who shot at the Panama City school board then shot himself? Off the edge.

Brown skin man with bombs strapped to his torso? Oh, that’s a terrorist.

It wasn't the speech I would have given but President Obama reached out to those who hate him with a great Kumbya speech. And how did they respond?

They are claiming that it was nothing more than a political rally for you and that your peeps were responsible for the pep rally type atmosphere in that arena last night. It was your peeps who printed all those "together we thrive" t-shirts in blue. ("Why not red? I thought you wanted unity, Obama?") You were responsible for some folks in the crowd booing the republi-clown governor. (She potentially caused the death of at least two people in her state. Her ass deserved to be booed.) You were responsible for all those dumbocratic stage managers running things. You were responsible for Eric Holder and Janet Napolitano being there. (BTW, where was the crying tan man?). It was you who allowed that Indi.....I mean Native American to give his "peculiar" prayer. It's all on you, Obama.

Did President Obama and us voters help set the stage for what happened in Arizona?

There is irony in Obama's speech because, in our view, he helped set the stage for the tragedy in Tucson. The president undoubtedly did not intend for blood to be shed at a political event. But his limp response to Republican lawlessness during the George W. Bush administration--plus voters' endorsement of a right-wing agenda in the 2010 midterm elections--helped create the toxic environment that led to the Giffords shooting.

The underlying causes of Jared Loughner's shooting spree go beyond ugly right-wing rhetoric. They also include ugly right-wing actions during the previous administration. Obama essentially has excused those actions, and many voters have more or less approved them by putting one house of Congress back in GOP hands. In our view, that means the president and large chunks of the voting public share in the blame for Saturday's bloodshed.

Is Blood Libel the beginning of the end of the mainstream media's obsession Sarah Palin?

Has Palin finally tarnished her luster with her thoughtless remarks about the Giffords shooting, or will she turn this into yet another opportunity to play the victim?

I vote for another opportunity to play the victim.

In the wake of President Obama's call for civility and unity are the republicans and their media enablers going to change? Are they going to be kinder, gentler republicans?

He who is bitten by a snake fears a lizard~African Proverb Ask gop token, I mean Chairman Michael Steele who is being rewarded for returning the Speakers Gavel to the gop by fighting for his job. *Snicker*

Steele, the brash former lieutenant governor of Maryland whose tenure has been marked by financial woes and verbal missteps, argues that he should be elected because of the GOP's record of coast-to-coast victories last fall, including winning control of the House, while he was chairman.

He doesn't mention that Republican operatives formed a network of outside groups that adopted traditional national party functions out of a concern about the RNC's ability under Steele to raise money and deploy resources to key races.

So let me get this straight, Michael Steele has served his purpose now it's time for him to GO? Now where have I heard that before?

Stay tuned for Redeye's Alabama Week in Review.