Pardon me, but can a black man protect and defend his family in America?

A provocative post by GrannyStandingforTruth, proudly cross posted with permission and gratitude.~Redeye

"Wisdom is knowing the truth, and telling it."~~Unknown


THURSDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2010
Uncle Tom's Children

I happen to read the article from different perspectives, white and black, regarding Governor Patterson commuting the sentence of John White, which is stirring up a controversy in difference of opinions as is always the case. What is difference between a black man protecting their home and white man protecting his?


Every once in a while, I like to go back and read a book that I’ve already read in the past. The other day, I picked out of my collection an old book called “Uncle Tom’s Children” by Richard Wright. The first sentence he wrote in the book, “My first lesson in how to live as a Negro came when I was quite small.” That first sentence in the book struck me as sort of odd. I was like why would a black man make a statement like that? However, when I thought about it, it made a lot of sense.

Then it dawned on me. He had to learn how to survive in order to live in a world where black men were endangered species trapped in second-class citizenship because of the racist attitudes of most that did not want to see him get ahead in life or recognize him as a man. In order to survive he had to shift between two different persona's and play by those in power set of rules or it could cost him his life.

Wright’s story mirrored that of many black men living in the South and a few other states during that time period. Most of the rules were aimed at stripping black men of their manhood and filled with constant humiliation. A black man had to play one role for those in power and another role which was his true self for his friends and family. Wright sacrificed who he was as an individual—a man and human being in order to feed and provide a roof over their head. Staying alive played a definite major part in his decision. His life and being able to live it to a ripe old age was of the utmost importance to him, but the main deciding factor in why he chose to play the game by their set of rules—he was powerless to do otherwise.

Richard Wright’s story took place during an era when there was no such thing as Civil Rights for minorities. Blacks had no rights! Black men in the past were lynched at the drop of a hat for trivial so-called offenses and many of those so-called offenses were created falsehoods because of their thirst for black men’s blood. In addition, it was their lust for watching strange fruit hanging from a tree for sadistic entertainment purposes. In my own family tree, there were three victims of lynching.

The newspaper article regarding the lynching of one of my ancestors who was a preacher is in a book called “100 Years of Lynching” by Ralph Ginzberg that focuses on lynching of black men in the past. I have a picture of my ancestor and several newspaper clippings regarding the incident and trial. The culprits who committed this act were brought to trial, but the only punishment they received was a verbal reprimand. They did not spend one day in jail. The justice system back then considered that reprimand—justice served.

I thought about the outcome in Oscar Grant's trial when I read the article about John White. How many more years do those in power want black men to play Uncle Tom's Children?

Wisdom Is Standing Up For the Truth~GrannyStandingforTruth

DADT is a Equal Rights Issue

The recent repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell and the discussion comparing it to the passage of the Civil Rights Act made me curious about the role played by people of African descent in our nations battle for freedom from British rule. During my research I was surprised, but pleased to learn of the importance and the influence of the nations Black communities before and after the Revolutionary War.

Prior to the Revolutionary War there were more than 5,000 Blacks living in the 13 original colonies. Most of them were slaves, however the larger cities (Boston, Philadelphia, New York) had thriving communities of free blacks.

Free blacks in the antebellum period--those years from the formation of the Union until the Civil War--were quite outspoken about the injustice of slavery. Their ability to express themselves, however, was determined by whether they lived in the North or the South. Free Southern blacks continued to live under the shadow of slavery, unable to travel or assemble as freely as those in the North. It was also more difficult for them to organize and sustain churches, schools, or fraternal orders such as the Masons.

Freedom was the principal motivation for the African Americans in the Revolutionary War.

The American Revolution was not only presented as a fight for liberty for white colonists. Some African Americans saw the Revolution as a fight for liberty, but their own liberty and freedom from slavery. Others responded to the Dunmore's Proclamation, and fought for their freedom as Black Loyalists. Benjamin Quarles believed that the role of the African American in the American Revolution can be understood by "realizing that loyalty was not to a place or a person, but to a principle".[1] Regardless of where the loyalties of the African American lay, they made a contribution that was often disregarded, to the birth of the United States. During the American Revolutionary War, African Americans served both the Continental Army and the British Army. It is estimated that 5,000 African Americans served as soldiers for the Continental army,[2], while more than 20,000 fought for the British cause.[3]

After the initial battle General George Washington and Congress forbid men of color from participating in the fight for liberty.

Revolutionary leaders began to be fearful of using African Americans in the armed forces. They were afraid that slaves who were armed would up rise against them. Slave owners became concerned that military service would eventually free their slaves.

In May 1775, the Massachusetts Committee of Safety, stopped the enlistment of slaves in the armies of the colony. This action was adopted by the Continental Congress when they took over the Patriot Army. George Washington in July 1775 issued an order to recruiters, ordering them not to enroll "any deserter from the Ministerial army, nor any stroller, negro or vagabond".[11]

This order did not apply to blacks already serving in the army. In September 1775, the southern delegates moved that Washington should discharge all blacks, free or slaves. The northern delegates were aware of how brave the African Americans had been in the Massachusetts battles and opposed the notion. The blacks that were already in the army were then allowed to finish out their enlistments.

In October 1775, Washington announced that all blacks, both free and slave would be "rejected altogether." In November he said that "Neither Negroes, boys unable to bear arms, nor old men unfit to endure the fatigues of the campaign, are to be enlisted."[12] Most African Americans were integrated into existing military units, but some segregated units were formed, such as the Bucks of America.

The British realized they needed every man, regardless of color to fight and recruited black soldiers with the promise of freedom.

Lord Dunmore, the royal governor of Virginia was determined to maintain British rule in the southern colonies. On November 7, 1775, he issued a proclamation that he would free black and white bondsmen who came to fight with the British. By December 1775 the British army had 300 slaves wearing a military uniform. Sewn on the breast of the uniform was the inscription "Liberty to Slaves". These slaves were designated as "Lord Dunmore's Ethiopian Regiment."

This struck fear in the American's and made them change their tune and rescind the ban on African Americans serving in the military if they wanted to chase the British from American shores.

The African American Patriot who gave loyal service to the Continental Army found that the postwar military held no rewards for them. State legislatures like Connecticut and Massachusetts in 1784 and 1785 banned all blacks, free or slave, from military service. Southern states banned all slaves but some states allowed free men to serve in their militias. In 1792, the United States Congress formally excluded the African American from military service, allowing only "free able-bodied white male citizens" to serve.[20]

Many slaves who fought did receive their freedom, but many others did not after their owners reneged on their promise to free them for service in the military.

There are some who say being gay is not the same as being black when it comes to military service, but I say it comes down our LBGT sisters and brothers having the equal right to serve our country. I am glad DADT is a relic of the past. It was as stoopid as not letting African Americans serve openly in the military during the Revolutionary War. We are all Americans, regardless of race, gender, or sexual orientation.

If you want to know more about African Americans and the founding of our country here are some references;

The American Revolution, Lighting Freedom's Flame

"How is it that we hear the loudest yelps for liberty among the drivers of Negroes?" Samuel Johnson, the great English writer and dictionary maker, posed this question in 1775. He was among the first, but certainly not the last, to contrast the noble aims of the American Revolution with the presence of 450,000 enslaved African Americans in the 13 colonies. Slavery was practiced in every colony in 1775, but it was crucial to the economy and social structure from the Chesapeake region south to Georgia. Slave labor produced the great export crops of the South-tobacco, rice, indigo, and naval stores. Bringing slaves from Africa and the West Indies had made settlement of the New World possible and highly profitable. Who could predict what breaking away from the British Empire might mean for black people in America?

African Americans and the military

The United States military is full of examples of the sacrifice made by African Americans. I find it amazing and absurd that the likes of someone like Sarah Palin questions if African-Americans are loyal citizens. Since the arrival of the first slave ship African-Americans were some of the first to give the ultimate sacrifice in the name of freedom and America.

The first such example is that of Crispus Atticus, the first casualty was in the Revolutionary war. During the war against the British, King George III offered enslaved blacks their freedom if they renounce the United States and fight for the crown. The majority fought on the side of Gen. Washington and the United States.

There has been no war fought by or within the United States in which African-Americans did not participate, including the Revolutionary war, the Spanish-American war, the world wars, civil war, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, and the current wars in Afghanistan and Iraq (we are the only group that can make that claim!). Now you tell me, how could anyone question the patriotism of African-Americans?

While you're reading check out DownWithTyranny!

Knowlege is power!

I want my @#$^ HOPE for CHANGE we can believe in back!

Two years into President Obama's historic election I'm wondering how in the world HOPE for CHANGE we can believe in got hijacked by the gop infused, media enabled, Tea Baggers? I mean, really...how and why did we (Democrats/Progressives/Liberals) let this happen? There are more of us than there are of them as proven by President Obama's landslide 2008 victory. What the hell happened???

This is what I believe happened...President Obama didn't control the message, the gop infused, media enabled Tea Party controlled the message. He who controls the information controls the outcome.

Until and unless the democratic party comes up with it's own television network like Faux News and nationally syndicated talk radio shows/hosts like Limbaugh, Hannity and Beck, the republicans are always going to control the message.

President Obama can help us help him by reinstating the Fairness Doctrine.

What has not changed since 1987 is that over-the-air broadcasting remains the most powerful force affecting public opinion, especially on local issues; as public trustees, broadcasters ought to be insuring that they inform the public, not inflame them. That's why we need a Fairness Doctrine. It's not a universal solution. It's not a substitute for reform or for diversity of ownership. It's simply a mechanism to address the most extreme kinds of broadcast abuse.

It ought to be against the law to use the public airways to diseminate hate and misinformation.

"The FCC has a responsibility to set standards, to say the public can not be offended based on their race or their gender in this country and use federally regulated airwaves that they give licenses to that are very competitive and the FCC is very selective based on standards."

Then we have the Media Lobbying Complex, distoring what we decide.

A four-month investigation into the covert corporate influence on cable news found that since 2007 at least seventy-five registered lobbyists, public relations representatives and corporate officials have repeatedly appeared on MSNBC, Fox News, CNN, CNBC and Fox Business Network with no disclosure that they are paid by corporate interests.

The passage of the the Local Community Radio Act is a start.

The Local Community Radio Act will expand the low power FM (LPFM) service created by the FCC in 2000 – a service the FCC created to address the shrinking diversity of voices on the radio dial. Over 800 LPFM stations, all locally owned and non-commercial, are already on the air. The stations are run by non-profit organizations, local governments, churches, schools, and emergency responders.

The bill repeals earlier legislation which had been backed by big broadcasters, including the National Association of Broadcasters. This legislation, the Radio Broadcast Preservation Act of 2000, limited LPFM radio to primarily rural areas. The broadcast lobby groups claimed that the new 100 watt stations could somehow create interference with their own stations, a claim disproven by a Congressionally-mandated study in 2003.

Lost Hope?

When America elected Barack Obama, cynicism seemed in retreat, beaten back by a wave of ordinary people staking their time, money, and spirit on the prospect of significant change. We seemed to have reached a major historical turning point, offering the chance finally to address our country's root crises. Now, cynicism and despair have bounced back on steroids, as if to mock any new hope that we can help create a better world. Last year's soaring expectations seem distant memories, leaving a bitter taste. Obama's campaign made grassroots participation central, and he's invited us to help him do the right thing in office. But his compromises and the failings of Senate leaders to overcome the resistance of their obstructionist colleagues have destroyed much of the grassroots enthusiasm that existed a year ago. Meanwhile, those of us whose passionate engagement helped elect Obama haven't stepped up to help define our national debates (while the Teabaggers have). Most of us have done little in the past year beyond signing online letters or petitions, and watching shell-shocked from the sidelines as the country's politics spiraled steadily downward. Yet I still believe that we can help transform America through what Nelson Mandela called "the multiplication of courage," as I explore in "Soul of a Citizen." But for that resurgence of courage to bloom, we need to get past the cynical resignation that assumes change is impossible.

When the going gets tough, the tough get going. Let's get going in 2011 and take our @#$^ HOPE for CHANGE we can believe in back!

Yes
We
Can

Redeye's Rewind

The Threat of Governing from This Center

There is an angry, fringe-left in this country, but the progressive base of the Democratic Party is not fringe. At least, we're not fringe if you poll the American people on what they want to see in domestic and foreign policy. But, we are feeling a bit dispossessed at the moment because we're seeing policy get crafted to appeal to the most conservative elements of the Democratic Party. Part of this is just a concession to the make-up and rules of the Senate, which make the Senate more conservative than the nation as a whole, and allow any Democrat to exercise veto power over policy. But, most progressives don't concern themselves with such details. All they know is that they're getting treated the same way the right-wing base has been treated by the economic elites for decades.

Are we going to let republicans take control of the Alabama State School Board? You Betcha we are!

So while Republicans are celebrating their wins in New Jersey and Virginia last week, we need to remember that all politics are local. And you can’t get much more local than a race for school board. Results like these show that when push comes to shove, people really aren’t ready to give the conservatives any more chances

64 DEMOCRATS voted to put a Bureaucrat between you, your doctor and your insurance provider on the issue of abortion.

In the House, the Stupak anti-abortion amendment passed 240 to 194 with one member voting present. 64 Democrats votes yes on the Stupak amendment. The Stupak amendment would effectively ban insurance companies from selling insurance plans that cover elective abortion on the individual and small group market. It would be one of the most far reaching national restriction placed on abortion in decades. It could also potential be used by insurance companies to allow them to legally discriminate against low income Americans.

By The Grace of God go I Redux

How would you feel if you, or someone you loved, was diagnosed with cancer then fired from their job because "they were obviously unable to perform their duties"? Never mind they aren't able to perform their duties because they are undergoing chemo therepy. Never mind they won't have health insurance because it goes with the job. Never mind they can't afford the cobra payments to maintain their insurance because they have no job. Never mind they can't get health insurance because they have a pre-existing condidtion. Never mind their former employer has sentenced them to death.

The difference between Teaching and Educating

A group of middle school girls were practicing their kissing skills by applying bright red lipstick to their lips and kissing themselves in the mirror in the girls bathroom. One morning the school Principal appeared in the girls bathroom with the school custodian and said they wanted the girls to see how the custodian kept the mirrors they were kissing so bright and clean. The school custodian took his squeegee and dipped it in the nearest commode and proceeded to remove all the red lip prints. Problem solved.

Happy Reading!

Wednesday Must Reads

If you never read another thing I post, please take time to read the following:

Alabama State Senator Hank Sanders: Senate Sketches#1228 H/T Joseph O. Patton at Capital City Free Press

When we dig a hole for someone else, we may as well dig two for we will surely fall in the first one we dug. I heard these words from my mama and other wise old folks.

A cry out for closure H/T GrannyStandingforTruth

As if we didn't know...Teabaggers paid to troll liberals online. H/T MinistryofTruth

If this be Treason H/T Capt.Fogg

The Republicans like to use the word Tyrant a lot. Perhaps it's the same sort of tendency you find in liars and cheats and thieves of other types who use those words to describe those who threaten to expose them. Perhaps not, but I've noticed of late that there have been a lot of calls for summary and extra-legal executions coming from Right wing writers and hate shouters like good ol' love thy neighbor Mike Huckabee or Foxboy Tucker Carlson who "personally" would like to have had Michael Vick put up against a wall and shot even though dear justice loving Tucker professes to be -- you guessed it -- a Christian. Pardon me, but I'm confused.

Blast from the past..I'm still weeping for the residents of Alabama's 7th district.

"Modest Wealth" is an oxymoron

I am still snickering at the Birmingham News characterization of Alabama's newly elected Congress Critters wealth as "comfortable but not extravagant".

WASHINGTON -- Alabama's three freshmen members of Congress, all trained as lawyers, are bringing to Washington comfortable but not extravagant personal investment portfolios, according to financial disclosure forms filed with Congress.

Gag me with a spoon! This is further evidence that the Lame Stream Media as Sarah Palin calls them, must think we the people are stoopid. They think they can just tell us anything and we'll believe them just because they said it.

We are supposed to be too stoopid to know you're either wealthy or you're not. You can either buy what ever you want without being concerned about the price or you can't. You can either afford to get sick or you can't. You can either afford to send your children to the best schools or you can't. You can afford to go on vaction and buy a vacations home or you can't. Get it?

Now I will agree there is a difference between being rich and being wealthy. Vagabond Scholar has an excellent explanation with links and video.

Here are three rather different approaches to explaining how the game just ain't the same for the rich and wealthy. First up, some animation (from October 2004) by Lee Arnold explaining "The Bush Tax Cuts." (Via Linda Beale of ataxingmatter and Angry Bear.)

Next up, via David Dayen, here's Al Franken's floor speech from last week on tax cuts, unemployment and wealth:

Finally, Chris Rock explains the difference between being "rich" and having "wealth" (NSFW):

What Paul Wartenberg said...
There's only one reason why a vast majority of Americans are not rioting in the streets about the income inequality.

We can't afford the lawyers or bail to keep us out of jail.

Sigh.

Update! Where in the world is Congress Critter elect Terri Sewell?

For real,other than announcing her out of district/out of state hiring of her Chief of Staff, the location of her office in Washington D.C., being elected regional whip, supporting Nancy Pelosi for House minority leader, and participating in the Christmas parade in Selma,AL we haven't heard a peep from Little Miss Sewell.

The Birmingham News *cough cough* tries to make us feel sorry for her because she's taking a *cough* pay cut to go to Congress and describes her modest wealth. I guess it depends on what the definition of modest wealth and a pay cut IS. I sure wish I had this kind of modest wealth. I'll bet her constituents which they had half of this kind of modest wealth.

Rep.-elect Terri Sewell, D-Birmingham, will take a sizable pay cut when she is sworn into office in January. She is a bond lawyer with the Maynard Cooper and Gale law firm in Birmingham, and earned $285,000 there in 2008, her last full year of employment with the firm.
Sewell took a leave of absence in 2009 to run for Congress, where she'll be paid $174,000 a year. In November, after winning the 7th District seat being vacated by Rep. Artur Davis, Sewell returned to the law firm to transition her clients to other lawyers.

Her personal financial disclosure also lists her clients, all of whom paid her at least $5,000 for her work on bond issues and financing deals. They include Alabama State University, Tuskegee University, Lowndes County Board of Education, the city of Gadsden, Dallas County Water Authority, Alabama Department of Post secondary Education and several other public institutions from around the state.

Sewell also owns several 401k accounts and IRAs, and all dividends and interest are reinvested. She owns stock in three companies: Cisco Systems Inc. and General Electric Co., each worth between $1,000 and $15,000, and Coach Inc., worth between $50,000 and $100,000. Disclosure forms provide a range of dollar values, not exact amounts.

Sewell last year sold a Florida beach house that was valued between $250,000 and $500,000. She now lists a mortgage on a home in Seacrest Beach, Fla., for between $500,000 and $1 million.

Her personal financial disclosure form was filed in August 2009.

As a matter of fact we are getting more *ahem* advice from her predecessor than we are from the new head of the Alabama Democratic Party. Seems like she would have something to say about the new gop house rules paving the way for more deficit spending, or about the Alabama gop legislature instituting lobbying reform amid the Bingo scandal. Surely the first African American female elected to Congress from the heart of the Black Belt has something to say about the red, republican Alabama Senate Health Care opt out vote breaking down on along racial lines.

Oh well, maybe she's on a much deserved vacation in Florida or something. :)

Tuesday Professional Left Blog Stroll

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Oh really now?

The sad sorry state of the Huntsville City School System and Alabama public schools in general

If you're thinking of moving to Huntsville, or the State of Alabama, I hope you don't have any k-12 school children. If you are not affluent enough to live in a neighborhood with the best public schools your tax dollars can buy, or afford to send your student to private schools, your children are tough out of luck, thanks to the sad, sorry state of separate and unequal education in Alabama.  Fifty years after Brown v. Board ordered schools to integrate Alabama is still the state of segregation today, segregation tomorrow, and it looks like segregation forever.

I want to assure every child that this State government is not afraid to invest in their future through education, so that they will not be handicapped on every threshold of their lives.

Today I have stood, where once Jefferson Davis stood, and took an oath to my people. It is very appropriate then that from this Cradle of the Confederacy, this very Heart of the Great Anglo-Saxon Southland, that today we sound the drum for freedom as have our generations of forebears before us done, time and time again through history. Let us rise to the call of freedom-loving blood that is in us and send our answer to the tyranny that clanks its chains upon the South. In the name of the greatest people that have ever trod this earth, I draw the line in the dust and toss the gauntlet before the feet of tyranny . . . and I say . . . segregation today . . . segregation tomorrow . . . segregation forever.

In an Opinion piece in the Sunday's Huntsville Times, Huntsville City School Chief Dr. Ann Roy Moore says (paraquoting) don't blame me for the sad, sorry, state of separate and unequal education, blame the people who elected the people who hired and enabled me to maintain the status quo, because we were all sitting around the table together.

For clarity it must also be understood that copies of the monthly financials (Certification of Expenditures) are always included in the regular board meeting agenda packet. A negative ending fund balance (general fund) was reflected in the past five monthly financial reports approved by the Huntsville City Board of Education. Since 1997, prior to each regular board meeting, the superintendent and CFO always meet with the two board members that serve on the Finance-Audit Committee to discuss the report that will be voted on at the upcoming board meeting.

See what I mean? As long as the budgetary goals include paying clueless consultants while laying off teachers, paying support personnel slave wages, building new schools while other schools suffer, not making sure every child in Huntsville has access to a quality public education regardless of their zip code, board members who operate in back rooms and not in public, and hire temporary workers to get around tenure laws I can't, strike that, I won't support your *ahem* budgetary goals.

You see the problem with Huntsville City Schools is they don't realize there is no right (pun intended) way to do the wrong thing. If they weren't hell bent on maintaining a separate and unequal school system they wouldn't be in this mess. It's expensive to operate a dual educational system.

Herbert Wheeler, Huntsville City Schools' chief financial officer, comments, "I can't say with any degree of accuracy that we won't have a reduction in force" (The Huntsville Times, April 7, 2009). Additionally, Craig Pouncey, assistant state superintendent of finance , emphasized (The Huntsville Times July 14, 2010), "When the Legislature understands things that must be done, like transporting kids to school or fixing leaky roofs...schools have to pay for it through local funds. That's what has driven school systems into the ditch." In August, "Wheeler was predicting that the system would be in the red either this month or next" (The Huntsville Times, Aug. 20, 2009). In September, State Superintendent Joe Morton predicted a second year of proration. Superintendent Moore says (The Huntsville Times 9/30/09), "it's likely the system will have to reduce staff."

If you think the democratic majority Alabama state legislature didn't understand the problems facing public school systems , what do you think the newly elected anti public education, red, republican, legislature is going to do? Here's a hint.

Now that the red state, republicans have control of the Alabama government expect a big push for new ideas like Charter Schools with the fake concern about poor, black children being forced to attend them there failing public schools. meababs urges folks to use caution before jumping on the charter school bandwagon and I agree.

So here we are, reducing staff (laying off teachers) while the number of school age children increase all because the Huntsville City School system, and the state of Alabama in general is hell bent on doing the wrong thing. Taxpayers would be willing to support the school system's budget if they saw it benefiting their children and not to maintain the status quo.

The first major RIF in the Huntsville City School system in recent history was implemented this past spring and was done in preparation for starting a movement toward a positive outcome at the end of this fiscal year. If everyone supports the budgetary goals based on projections, staffing and other budgetary strategies, the system's financial status will improve over time.

It will take the concerted effort and the support of all board members along with the superintendent to make this happen.

Good luck with that.

Monday Shock, Shame and Awe

I'm shocked! Shocked I tell you! Soon to be former 7th district Congress Critter Artur Davis (DINO) has a pregnant idea for moderate (conservative) democrats....they should run as independents!!!

Southern voters "see the Democratic Party as a liberal institution that wants to spend their money recklessly, that doesn't honor their social values and that has a very different view of the world," said Alabama Rep. Artur Davis (D).

"It's hard for local Democratic candidates to break clear of that," Davis added. "Some [of those candidates] who are thinking about competing in the South may have to look at running as Independents."

Not true Artur. Southern voters see the Democratic Party as the party of them there minorities, baby killers, teachers and unions, and you're darn Skippy DEMOCRATS don't honor their *cough cough* social values. Sure don't. BTW, why are we hearing more from the out going 7th district Congress Congress Critter than the incoming 7th district Congress Critter? Where in the world is Terri Sewell? Anybody know? Anybody care?

Shameful and Awful! New Orleans gets table scrap in GO Zone lending feast.

As Louisiana wraps its Gulf Opportunity Zone lending program, only 3 percent of the $7.8 billion went to projects in New Orleans, a review of state records show.

Though the program was intended to generate recovery and jobs in the areas most affected by the storm, analysis of Louisiana lending shows that the prime beneficiaries are far from the primary disaster areas.

Hmmm..wonder how this is going to work out? Are we finally going to some Justice for all? Reported victim of Bush-Era DOJ to Head DOJ's Internal Watchdog Group

Last year, Obama promoted to U.S. Attorney a federal prosecutor whose had been discriminated against by Goodling because of his wife's Democratic ties and rehired Leslie Hagan, who had been dismissed by Goodling because she was rumored to be gay.

Ashton is taking over an office that has come under fire because of what critics say is weak punishment of attorneys who are found to have committed prosecutorial misconduct. Holder has defended the office and resisted calls to give the more independent Inspector General's office more power to investigate such allegations.

I wonder why Holder is resisting calls to give the Inspector Generals office more power to investigate such allegations? He can start right here in Sweet Home Alabama. I'm just saying...

Legalize, regulate and tax gambling....now where have we heard that before? Oh I know....we heard it from the man who should be the Governor of Alabama...

MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- State Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks fashioned a campaign platform for governor that calls for taxes on the gambling industry and the creation of a state lottery to provide tax cuts for Alabama families and college scholarships for their children.

Voices crying in the wilderness and candidates campaigning on the same old same old indeed....

Why I "carp and whine", and why I wish I didn't have to~a very personal diary

It's no secret I started this blog after I my front page privileges were revoked at Left in Alabama. It's also no secret I've been "carping and whining" about being treated unfairly. What does surprise me is those who say I don't have the right(no pun) to carp and whine, and that I should just STFU, get over it and move on. Now some of the people who are saying this don't know me and I don't know them, but some of the people who are saying this DO know me and I know them, so I'm surprised they would think I would not stand up for my rights, my reputation and just go quietly into that good night.

For those of you who don't know me, let me give you some background information to offer insight about who I am and what I stand for, and why I carp and whine when I am treated unfairly.

I was born in a segregated Alabama Army base hospital the same year Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a city bus in Montgomery,Alabama, sparking the Montgomery bus boycott. My life was colored (pun intended)with the sometimes violent historical struggle for equal, civil and human rights not just in Alabama but in the United States of America.

I was raised by parents who taught me I had the same rights and privileges as my fellow Americans, but because of the color of my skin there were those who wanted to deny my rights. They said I should always fight for my rights because fighting for my rights meant I was fighting for other African Americans rights as well.

I was raised in a church that taught me Jesus loves the little children, red, and yellow black and white, they are precious in his sight. So yes, I'm one of those uppity African Americans who knows I have equal rights and is willing to fight for them.

My parents were active and involved in the civil rights movement, so when it came time to integrate one of local schools high schools in 1967 I was volunteered, I mean chosen, to be one of 10 African American students, one male and one female, to enroll in the 7th grade. We were trained to practice the principle of non violent social change and civil disobedience espoused by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). Meaning we wouldn't retaliate when when we were called names, pushed, shoved, tripped or had bleach thrown on our clothes. I sometimes wonder if things wouldn't have been different if they had chosen those who would have retaliated, but I digress.

Which brings me back to why I carp and whine about being treated unfairly and how it relates to my privileges and my user name being revoked at Left in Alabama. Being one of 10 African Americans in the whole school, and the only African American female in the 7th grade was lonely. It didn't start out that way. On the first day of school I was befriended by a fellow new student who happened to be white. As she made friends, I made friends and everything was great until one day a mean girl who couldn't get past the color of my skin started calling her a N word lover. In addition to that some of the teachers took it upon themselves to notify the parents of the girls who befriended me and inform them they were associating with me.

So, one day I had friends, the next day they were telling me their parents said they couldn't be my friend any more. When I asked why, the mean girl said "because you're a N word and decent people don't associate with N words". Things went down hill from there, I often tell people I'm the worlds best square dancer because I can square dance by myself. The PE teacher taught square dancing but wouldn't make any of the students be my partner because they would have to hold my hand.

 I didn't whine when students harassed me and those in authority looked the other way. I didn't carp about sitting along in a sea of confederate flags while the band played Dixie at official school functions. I didn't carp and whine then because I believed future me's wouldn't have to whine and carp. That's why it pains me that I'm still carping and whining and why I wish with all my heart I didn't have too.

I don't like carping and whining about being treated unfairly, but if I must I must. It continues to amaze me that those who call themselves progressives/democrats are the ones that gave me something to carp and whine about because I thought we were on the same side.

Countrycat and I and several others have felt like voices crying in the wilderness as we warned that the apparent message of Democrats in the Legislature -- "The other guys are a lot worse than us!" -- was a sure loser and that nominating candidates who looked and campaigned just like the (losing) candidates in previous years was a recipe for disaster. Turns out we were right. It sucks to be right, but I don't think that means we'll be less influential in the future or are struggling for relevance. In some ways blogging in opposition to the majority is going to be a lot easier -- much less concern about friendly fire incidents, if you know what I mean.

That wasn't the apparent message of Democrats that the other guys are a lot worse than us, that's what YOU helped frame the message to be. And we didn't nominate candidate who looked and campaigned just like the loosing candidates in previous years because democrats WON in previous years. You and Countrycat were right (pun intended) all right, you supported and endorsed the losing candidate who pandered to the right at the expense of the traditional democratic base, and suppressed voices like mine who were crying in the wilderness, in favor of the moderate/conservative voices, just like the mean girl who couldn't stand to see progress at school and those in authority who enabled her by looking the other way.

I am respectfully requesting my user name and posting privileges be restored at Left in Alabama so that will be one less issue I will have to carp and whine about in the coming year. It is important that we progressives/liberals/democrats/Americans unite behind our party and our platform because divided we fall. When all the fingers on the hand work together they form a mighty fist. Remember?

End the end we will not remember the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends~Martin Luther King, Jr.

Redeye's Week in Review~The good, the bad, and the ugly

Uh, you know how the gop used our grief over 911 to take us war based on dead wrong iIntelligence, spy on us without a warrant and terrorize us with color coded Terra Lerts? Well guess what...this same gop was blocking, yes blocking, the passage of a bill to provide relief for 911 first responders. Have they no shame?

It only took nine years, but finally in the lame duck session of Congress — before the Democrats go back to minority status in the House next month — enough Republicans got on board to pass a bill providing health care and other relief for the first responders to America’s worst ever terrorist attack on September, 11, 2001.

I wonder what Alabama's two Senators have against the START TREATY. Strike that, I know.

While a large bipartisan group of senators handed President Obama a third victory in the lame-duck session of Congress Wednesday when they voted to ratify a nuclear arms treaty with Russia, Alabama’s two Republican senators voted against it, which comes as no real “surprise, surprise,” as Gomer Pyle would have said.

Perhaps reflecting the somewhat racist anti-Obama sentiment of corporate leaders and conservative Republican constituents in their home state, both of Alabama’s Republican senators, Richard Shelby of Tuscaloosa and Jeff Sessions of Mobile, mouthed off about the deal.

“I don’t believe the American people overall would feel that this administration’s number one priority, although despite what they say, is the security of this country,” Shelby told a Newhouse reporter in Washington, D.C. What informed readers might wonder is this: Does he mean the security of the country? Or the financial security of Shelby and his supporters in the military-industrial complex in Alabama?

“They want to negotiate treaties,” Shelby scoffed. “And a lot of people in the negotiating, I believe, might be a little soft on security and defense.”

Right. Or, perhaps they have a different philosophy. Maybe they see that keeping track of and reducing nuclear weapons makes for a safer world, rather than continuing to spend the trillions it takes to keep the escalating arms race economy “growing.”

It's Christmas, so what color is the Terra Lert? Is it still Orange? Are your ducks tapped? Is your watta bottled?

Christmas Eve is a very exciting travel day because it’s one of the busiest, most insane times to attempt to get on a plane. Plus, the weather is guaranteed to be pretty horrible because it’s winter. Also, there’s horrific stress as millions of people try to get across the country at the last possible minute because Christmas Eve is both the official start of the Yuletide Family Gathering and a regular work day. Terrible all around! Luckily we have the Homeland Security clown theater troupe, “TSA,” to come up with some random bullsh*t to ruin whatever hasn’t been ruined by common crowds and weather.

This week saw a sea to shining sea of white supremacy on display

After all, the Republican Party has been pursuing a "Southern Strategy" to squeeze every last African American out of the GOP since not long after the white citizens councils were first established more than half-a-century ago. And Barbour moved quickly to quell any potential long-term trouble, unlike Mississippi Sen. Trent Lott back in December 2002. Lott blew it off when a then-obscure 30-year-old blogger with the moniker of Atrios kicked off a firestorm over the Senator's public declaration that the country would have been better off if diehard segregationist Strom Thurmond had been elected President in 1948. Within three weeks he had resigned his post as Senate Majority Leader.

LiA is taking a much deserved vacation and they've asked readers/contributors to post some of LiA's the greatest hits the past. Since my user name was rendered disabled this week because I dared "carp" and "whine" about being discriminated against, here is one of my favorite blast from LiA Christmas past.

I learned factually incorrect information about Democrats and/or Democratic candidates will be forcefully refuted and corrected on this blog no matter who provides the information. Take heed, Karl Rove style politics will not be tolerated here.

I would like to take this time to thank readers, lurkers and commenter's, good, bad and ugly for your support this year and to wish you and yours peace and happiness in the coming year, despite the fact the gop infused, media enabled, tea party has taken control of our city, state, local and national government. Lord help us.

Oprah Winfrey said she's not worried about Sarah Palin being the president because she believes in the intelligence of the American people. Uh, Oprah, never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups. They just handed the keys to the house to the same people who burned it down then blocked the fire truck. Remember?

Know Justice
Know Peace
No Justice
No Peace

President Obama is NOT moving to the Center

Despite the latest right wing Talking TeeVee Pundit Head chatter, President Obama has not abandoned his "base" and decided to govern from the center. That's just the C-Y-A spin they are trying to put on the shellacking President Obama (D), Senate Majority leader Harry Reid (D), and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D) laid on them. They never saw it coming. *snicker* I repeat...Liberals don't hate President Obama.

Do Liberals hate the Obama Compromise, where the super rich get a tax cut for two years, unemployment is extended for one year and the 99's get nothing? Hell yes we do! As well we should.

The bill, H.R.4853, is estimated to cost $858 billion, and is entirely financed by increasing the federal deficit. In addition to the income tax extension and the unemployment insurance, the bill includes a one-year reduction in social security taxes, a two-year reduction of the estate tax (35% with the first $5 million fully exempt), a smattering of tax cuts designed to help middle-class families, and about $55 billion in pork for special interests.

Serioulsy, what's so wrong with being "far left"? Think about it,, what has the "far left" ever been wrong about? Were we wrong about the Iraq war? When has the "far left" ever been on the wrong side of social issues? Was the far left wrong about the Civil Rights Act? President Obama is being urged by some to govern from the center. The center of what? My daddy says the only thing down the center of the road is a yellow line. The President can't govern from center

Black Agenda Report editor and columnist Jared A. Bell says it's the Professional Left versus the Left of Us.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs was partially right when earlier this year he dismissed the “professional left.” There is indeed a professional left, those whose entire careers and claims to fame are based on permanent liberal challenges to power and who arrogantly dismiss as immature, and worse dangerous, those who would push leftward beyond those limits. “Don’t go too far,” they tell us, “vote for us or THEY will get elected and then we’re in real trouble!” But that’s because liberals aren’t in real trouble. They don’t really believe that. If they did really believe that corporations were leading the planet to doom or that the fascists they are protecting us from are just outside the gates would they really only respond by a few rallies and a vote for a Democrat? Then maybe they are as “f&*king stupid” as Rahm Emanuel said they are.

Way, way under the mainstream media radar the biggest prison strike since Attica went unnoticed in the MSM in favor of a "missing popular dancer in Las Vegas".

In the spirit of Attica, nearly 40 years later, prisoners at six prisons in Georgia organized a non-violent labor strike to demand better conditions for themselves. Specifically the inmates demanded a living wage for their work, educational opportunities, decent health care, an end to cruel and unusual punishment, decent living conditions, nutritional meals, opportunities for self-improvement (rehabilitation), access to their families and just parole decisions.

Perhaps even more remarkable than the strike, in which inmates shared information via text messaging on phones bought from prison guards, is that the strike went virtually unnoticed by mainstream American media. That so many chose to ignore what has been called the largest strike of its nature in American history, speak volumes to how Americans continue to think of the American Prison System or what scholars and activists have more commonly referred to as the "Prison Industrial Complex." The inmates themselves have another word for their reality: "Slavery."

So, if prison inmate can rise up in protest of their conditions what's wrong with us so called free folks? IMHO, until President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder make good on their promise to restore integrity to the Justice Department,there will be no peace on this earth.

The Department’s public integrity section is under new leadership—the most highly qualified it has seen in recent decades. It has seized the right moment for an internal reassessment of the approach to prosecuting public corruption. That should entail recognizing that dedication to fair process must take a center seat even if some scoundrels get off the hook as a result. This reassessment must include some introspection about mistakes and abuses of the past as well, because the most serious misjudgments in the public integrity arena relate to active cases in which the Justice Department is defending utterly indefensible positions. In the end, the Justice Department will also have to learn to operate in the harsh sunlight of public attention, disclosing its mistakes and striving to correct them. This is the essential path back to public trust after years spent straying in the wilderness.

As long as elected officials pander to what Ministry of Truth describes as the perfect gop voter there will be no peace on this earth, they are not in the center, they are far right, and us far lefty's are nothing like them.

You can basically break Republican voters into 4 subgroups, and they are Cruel, Hateful, Wildly Misinformed, and Constantly Scared S#@tless. The perfect storm of Republican ideology on the MooseMeter of "WTF are they talking about" is all 4 at once.

The four steps of creating the perfect GOP voter:

1. Find some way to wildly misinform people
2. Play up to their hate (Try calling your opponents Hitler)
3. Play to their cruelty in persecuting the object of their hatred
4. Do your best to scare the living s&*t out of your captive, misinformed viewers about the IMMINENT DANGER of terrorist attacks, socialists, communists, race based cruelty, anti immigrant furor or the Next Big Government Takeover that is going to destroy America.

Our President is not walking the center line down the center of the road just because the gop put a horse head in his bed. They got their tax cut for the rich, at the expense of the country, but that's OK, because it exposes the gop for what it really stands for, Greed Over People. President Obama takes the far left position on DADT, the Dream Act, Equal pay for equal work and access to health care reform. His job approval rating among us far left liberals is just fine.

A friend of mine said they wanted President Obama to act more like George W. Bush and just bull doze his agenda through. I said I wanted President Obama to act more like John Shaft (Richard Roundtree or Samuel L. Jackson). But in the end I believe he acts more like Paul Newman in Cool Hand Luke, what we've gote here is a failure to communicate directly to the American people with out the mainstream media distorting what we decide with all spin all the time, unfair and unbalanced, pandering to the typical gop voter.

President is NOT moving to the Center. There is NO Center.

"Give me your tired your poor"

Unless they are them there illegal Mexicans. Thanks to the threat of a republiklan filibuster the Dream Act failed.

The DREAM Act stalled and very likely died Thursday in the Senate, after Majority Leader Harry Reid was unable to persuade enough Republicans to give the measure the 60 votes it needed to avoid a GOP filibuster.

The measure, which passed the House Wednesday by a 216-198 vote, would create the citizenship path through college or military service. Reid, a Nevada Democrat who won a tough re-election in November, promised his constituents that he'd bring the measure to the Senate floor.

Has anyone but me noticed the republiklans always put Alabama Senator Jefferson Beauregard Sessions front and center as the face of bigotry? Now we know all white Alabamians aren't like Sessions, but when that's all you see representing the state it gives all of us a bad rep.

Psst Jeffy! More terror plots have been hatched by angry white men than them there Mexicans.

I thought republicans were pro military and pro business?

Who else besides the military supports the DREAM Act? Just in the business community alone, we see such weak-kneed, namby-pamby, liberal do-gooding luminaries as the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, the US Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Microsoft, Pfizer, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan Chase, American Express, and Con Edison petitioning the Congress to do the smart thing.

Why? Because Big Business knows that immigrants who took the higher education route to citizenship would mean billions in additional tax revenue and greater national competitiveness in the global economy. They know that the US is now seeing a slight out-migration of educated talent headed for greener economic pastures in India, China and elsewhere. As New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg put it, if we can’t keep the best and the brightest in the United States, and attract more of them to the United States, all the next big business innovations will happen outside the United States.

A dream deferred?

Most students don't expect the Republican-dominated House in 2011 to take up immigration reform. They expect it will be at least two more years, which is a shame. In the meantime, we'll have nurses, biomedical engineers and business majors who can't work in their professions. Instead, they'll have to work under the table as waitresses or busboys. Before the bill was brought up in Congress, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office reported passage of the DREAM Act would reduce the deficit by $2.2 billion over the next decade. The CBO said this would be due to the students working as professionals in their fields and paying more taxes.

Talk about bite off your nose to spite yourself. According to latest census figures, Hispanics are the fastest growing group in the South. What do you want to bet they won't be pulling the republican lever? *Snicker*

The latest figures from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey document this increasingly Hispanic flavor. Released last week, they show the metro area now has at least 52,178 Hispanic residents -- nearly double the 27,250 counted in the 2000 Census.

President Obama said he is persistent in fighting for the things he believes in, and he believes in the Dream Act.

Regarding an overhaul of immigration laws, particularly the Dream Act, Obama says, "I am persistent. If I believe in something strongly, I stay on it." He vowed to stay on top of rewriting immigration laws.

Updated at 4:40 p.m. ET : Obama says one of his biggest disappointments in the year-end session of Congress is that the Senate failed to pass the Dream Act, which would have provided a path to citizenship for illegal immigrations who were brought to the U.S. by their parents. "They didn't break the law. They were kids...I am determined and this administration is determined to get immigration reform done."

Let's help him make sure the republicans don't turn the Dream Act into a Nightmare on Elm Street. We already know the drill, put Jeff Sessions out front to skeer low information white folks.

"Ask me no questions, I will tell you no lies"

Don't ask, don't tell is dead and gone! Whoever came up with that cockamamie idea in the first place? Oh wait, I forgot, it was the great triangulator himself, former President Bill Clinton. :) Let this be a lesson to triangulaters, there is no right (pun intended) way to do the wrong thing. It was wrong to discriminate against LBGT Americans. Thank you, President Obama, for making a wrong, right (no pun). Your actions almost make me forget your capitulation, I mean compromise with the GOP where us non-whites are going to pay for tax cuts for the rich, your criticism and ignoring of us Professional Lefty's, and that you didn't fight for single-payer like you compromised of the tax cut for the rich, and the ACLU has a big problem with your targeted killing program. :) Lots of other good stuff at Black Agenda Report.

The Chamber of Commerce and the red republicans are going to hate this! President Obama is on a roll!

With no EFCA to give unions a level playing field, today Obama's Labor Dept. took a step that's sure to infuriate big employers like WalMart who hate unions and empowering their workers, and who prefer to treat workers as a disposable commodity.
All employers will have to post notices in their workplaces spelling out workers rights to organize a union.

If you want to know how a taxpayer with specific characteristics would do under the compromise plan and under the other proposals that lawmakers have considered, click on Citizens for Tax Justice for state by state figures on the compromise plan.

The South Shall Rise Again? Lord help us.

It's official: The 2010 Census numbers have been released, and the South's projected growth in population and political clout -- which Facing South has been writing about for over two years -- is now reality.

Here are some of the highlights from the Census data released today:

* 13 Southern states* accounted for nearly half -- 49 percent -- of the nation's growth since the 2000 Census. The big leader was Texas, which itself accounted for 15.7 percent of the 27.2 million people added to the nation's count over the last decade.
* Thanks to this ongoing shift of the U.S. population southward, these 13 Southern states now account for 34 percent of the U.S. population.

Can you say President Haley Barbor (R. Mississippi Burning)?

Yes, he made a racial gaffe, but it was only a gaffe because he said it publicly. We all know that what he thinks he says privately, like so many folks in the majority population, (present company excluded of course) is much worse.
Folks in the National media are already writing off this latest little verbal faux pas and they are saying that it should not have any effect on his 2012 run. (I don't know who I want to come out of the republi-clown primary more; Haley or Sarah.) Good luck with your run Haley, you will be just fine.

They are who we thought they were. This is probably why the MSM is attempting to whitewash (pun intended) this issue and send it on back up to the attic.

Haley Barbour is a RACIST. Plain and simple. No holds barred.

Oh, you can put him in a suit, but, I’ve been Black in America longer than 3 days.

He’s had no ‘ come to Jesus’ moment about growing up during American Apartheid and the evil that it was for the Black citizens of the South. Not one frigging moment of self-awareness.

None.Instead, we have these repeated attempts by him to whitewash – LITERALLY – the hell that was the South during that time, and Mississippi in particular.

What's that you say? The pro-Artur Davis Rattlesnakes are beginning to turn on each other? Oh, Nose! Was his vote against DADT the straw that broke the Donkey's back? Does this mean I can have my front page privileges back or at least my user name? I tried to tell y'all. Don't blame me, I supported Ron Sparks.

Davis is worse than a wolf in sheep's clothing. (0.00 / 0)
He is evil and just demonstrated it within the last two years or more. He could have helped other Democrats win but chose not to in 2008. He must be held accountable for what he has done. He has been a shining star here while I kept my mouth closed and tried to support him. The truth is like most politicians he was looking after his own self interests. His last vote demonstrates who he really is.

I have always felt that the issue was not what Artur could do to help anyone, but rather, what could be done to prevent him from harming others. He has no allegiance to Alabama. Nor did he have allegiance politically to any other Democrat. I dreaded him from the beginning, got on board since he promised to be another Obama, but he is just plain evil. I could not speak up before, however; I believe I can speak up now. He is as vicious as a fighting pit bull.

BTW AM this is a brazen lie

Checking his vote... (0.00 / 0)
That's actually what he did with his HCR vote. Pelosi and Obama were putting it to press early on WAY before the vote that they'd already given Davis a pass-- which is why I laugh at folks saying that his HCR vote was one against his party.

Davis voted on HCR precisely how Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama told him to.

And so is this

Davis didn't vote the way you wanted him to or the way that I wanted him to, but he voted like a black Alabama Democrat. Shocker. F@!k that guy for voting like a black Alabama Democrat.

And so is this

Show me the long list of black Alabama Democrats who have accomplished anything positive for the gay community. Ever.

Terri Sewell ran on it. We know how much you guys who are in love with the party establishment love her.

Matter of fact, I know that a lot of the folks here who jumped on the opportunity to dog Davis over this support Joe Reed and Larry Langford. And again I say that those two have a shameful record on gay rights, which is precisely why I called it out to begin with.

What I want to "carp on" is why you get to post factually incorrect information on the LiA with impunity? You post stuff then hid behind the cat's tail so it can't be challenged. That's real *ahem* progressive. I don't know if you're brave enough to read or respond to this, but you need to offer proof of your assertions that black Alabama Democrats haven't accomplished anything positive for the gay community ever, or that folks who dog Davis over this (DADT) supported Joe Reed (?) and Larry Langford's anti-gay bigotry.

Speaking of lies, kayman, this is a brazen lie too.

The actions of Reed Co. against Patricia Todd is proof that this exists because he admitted he didn't want a "white lesbian" representing District 54 and complicity of the rest on this.

DaleJackson, you don't even know when you are being discriminated against so what qualifies you to make this assertion?

A district that is majority black, should be liberal (this is the thesis in the post where Artur Davis is shamed). The fact is however blacks do not support homosexual rights.

Psst, bluebearcat! I'd be careful about speaking truth to the powerful and the privileged about Artur Davis at LiA, you might wake up one day and your user name be disabled. :)

Black Alabama Democrats never voted on DADT. I know plenty of them voted to include sexual orientation in the last hate crimes bill to come up in Alabama, which is a hell of a lot more than Artur Davis has ever done. Davis doesn't get to pretend like he's better than folks like Hank Sanders who have been working for progress since before he was born then turn around and blame the black community when he shows his true homophobe colors for all to see.

Why anyone would defend this guy at this point is beyond me. He voted against climate change legislation, for bank-friendly bankruptcy reform, for TARP, for health care - then against it while claiming he would vote for the Senate version - then against it again, against hate crimes protection for LGBTs, and now against DADT repeal. Even by Alabama standards, that's a remarkably shitty record. He has now said that he wants nothing more to do with Alabama (line up the lobbying contract!).

Redeye

Debunking the lies and the lying liars who tell them

"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 (D)

I'm not going to say much about Boss Hoggs, I mean former RNC chair and Mississippi Guverner Haley Barbor's (R) latest Trent Lott moment (what's up with the Mississippi delegation?), meaning, he said publicly what they say behind closed doors, and exposed what black folks like Alabama Senator Hank Sanders(D) and others have known for years, which is how the powerful and the privileged really feel about minorities (red,black,brown). I will point out the fake, hypocritical outrage expressed by the powerful and the privileged. Thank goodness technology is making it difficult to maintain a firewall. I've said it before and I will say it again...it takes power to exercise racism...a person can have all the racist beliefs they want....but when they have the power of the government to act on those thoughts.....you know the rest.

What I want to know is what makes the right leaning Left in Alabama cats and critters the authority on black folks in the Alabama's 7th congressional district? According to one of them, (para quoting) Artur Davis's constituents are homophobic,bigots who don't believe our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters should be allowed to fight and die for their country like straight folks. And they say I posted factually incorrect information on the front page and my comments were out of line??!!!

First of all... While it may or may not be an excuse, it's very possible that Davis was representing his district in his vote-- something he's been criticised for not doing in the past. Take a good look at Birmingham as Democratic as it might be and you tell me that it's a friendly place for our gay and lesbian friends. I can think of a few good arguments that might prove otherwise. That's not just any old Alabama mayor railing against the abominations. That's not Fred Phelps. That's a black Democrat-- a man that by at least two counts should understand that whole Civil Rights thing.

The fact of the matter is that Davis is an Alabama politician, and there are very few (if any other than Patricia Todd) who would be willing to openly campaign on gay rights in this state. In fact, I'd find it amusing to see if any of those who might criticize him for his vote would be willing to do so. Conveniently enough, none of them have had to actually vote on it. I'd be more than happy to challenge them to run on a statewide amendment to legalize gay marriage in Alabama and see how far they get.

And make no mistake, had Davis voted "yes" he would have likely been criticized by these very same people for voting against his constituents. Everything can be twisted and oversimplified-- particularly when coming from those who are or who have worked for a political opponent..

One commenter goes so far as to proclaim the real problem is the district still is overtly homophobic on political terms. Note the commenter doesn't offer one shred of PROOF the district is overtly homophobic. But the real kick in the head is this comment from the resident right wing radio boy

Blacks are not nearly as pro-homosexual rights... (4.00 / 1)
... as you white liberals seem to believe. (see: Prop 8)

I would guess the 7th District supports Davis on this position by a far majority.

Uh, who made radio boy the authority on black folks and what they believe? How dare he try and blame black folks for prop 8. Facts belie the scapegoating of black folks for prop 8, read them and weep. Black folks know injustice when they see, hear or experience it.

The excuse du jour for hating Dr. Joe Reed is he is an overt, homophobic, racist because of the Patricia Todd affair. Patricia Todd is an openly gay Alabama State Legislator from Birmingham. The big lie is Joe Reed challenged her election because she was gay, but once again the facts belie this charge. According to ADP chair Joe Turnham, a challenged was filed by Gaynell Hendrix's mother in law, not by Joe Reed, because of what happened during the vote and state election law. The racist/homophobic spin started here, the mainstream media picked up the spin, and the rest is a media enabled, revisionist, weapon of mass distraction.


Read the Verified Election Contest for yourself. Jefferson County election officials are accused of preventing a fair, free and full exercise of the electon process, claiming Patrica Todd received “illegal” votes and that vote totals were changed without notification to Ms. Hendricks. No where does it say the election is being challenged on the basis of race or sexual orientation.

It's a big, brazen lie,the majority of black democratic voters are homophobic.

It's a big brazen lie, Joe Reed is a homophobic,bigot.

It's a big brazen lie white folks are softer on gay issues and appear less religious.

It's a brazen lie a nondefense of Artur Davis wasn't a defense of Artur Davis.

It's a big brazen lie Left in Alabama is a progressive blog for a new direction in Alabama politics connecting progressive voices.

In the end we will not remember the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends. Martin Luther King,Jr.

Artur Davis voted against DADT, blame his constitutents and Joe Reed

I am continually shocked by those who continue to defend the indefensible actions of Alabama CD 7 and outgoing Congress Critter Artur Davis (DINO) but blaming the people who elected him to office and Joe Reed, who has dedicated his life to fighting for the rights of black/disenfranchised Alabama citizens is steeped in institutional racism and white privilege.

First of all... While it may or may not be an excuse, it's very possible that Davis was representing his district in his vote-- something he's been criticised for not doing in the past. Take a good look at Birmingham as Democratic as it might be and you tell me that it's a friendly place for our gay and lesbian friends. I can think of a few good arguments that might prove otherwise.

First of all...it's a horrible excuse because if Davis was concerned about representing the interest of his district he wouldn't have voted against the health care reform and hate crime bills. Birmingham is as friendly of place for our gay and lesbian friends as any other Sweet Home Alabama city/town/county. In case you've forgotten Birmingham used be called BOMBINGHAM because it wasn't a friendly place for black folks including Frank Phelps a black democrat.

We've proven that Democrats aren't the logical thinkers they love to claim they are. They're based in emotion, with no room for logical, complex thought as to strategy or asking for valid reasons as to why a thing might happen a certain way. We don't dissect a vote and consider that some things might be a little more complicated than one simple yes or no vote. We look at the "he voted against tax cuts" line rather than the "those tax cuts were also going to add a huge burden on the deficit" line.

Spoken like a true republican. Democrats aren't capable of logical thinkers, especially if they don't go along with the right wing spin. Democrats have to be told how to think and what to feel because they're democrats. Contrary to popular opinion, democrats, strike that, real democrats know the difference between right (pun intended) and WRONG. Real democrats base their thoughts on emotion. They care about their fellow human beings regardless of race, gender, religion or party. Real democrats aren't "in the middle", real democrats take sides. Strike that, they take the "right" side. Real democrats don't try and walk an imaginary line down the middle.

Here we have one of the few people who could bring so much good to Alabama politics, but his greatest sin is to piss off the party establishment. Yeah, sure he votes against the party line sometimes-- which by the way isn't so big a deal for others in the party-- but for the most part, he's a good guy and votes with the caucus. From where I'm standing, the only current Alabama Democrat who has any room to criticize Davis for his vote is Patricia Todd, as she's really been the only one with enough guts to really come out in favor of gay rights.

Uh, how the heck can you bring so much good to Alabama politics is you pi$$ of the party establishment? From where I stand any democrats, gay or not has the the right to criticize Artur Davis. Patricia Todd is not the only Alabama democrat with the guts to really come out in favor of gay rights. Patricia Todd had the guts to be openly gay and I commend her for her being who she. I wish other elected officials and candidates had her courage.

Speaking of Ms. Todd... Let's not forget what happens when you piss off Joe Reed.

Joe Reed didn't challenge Patrica Todds election on the basis of her sexual orientation. As a matter of fact Joe Reed didn't challenge Patrica Todds election at all. Stay tuned for an in dept/detailed debunking of this LIE. And let's not forget what happens when you pi$$ off the LiA establishment eeither.:)

I disagree with his vote. The problem is that there are so many others that I do agree with. If Dems are willing to overlook that, then you deserve what you get. Perhaps November wasn't a big enough message.

Dems aren't willing to overlook elected officials who pander to right at the expense of their base. The problem is Dems have overlooked and defended the indefensible for the sake of "winning" elections. If WE democrats continue to not hold elected officials accountable and stop going along to get along we will continue to get what we deserve. NOTHING.

Enough of blaming the victims for the actions of those who elected to represent us. They work for us. Remember? Artur Davis and his defenders are perfect illustrations for the difference between liberals and progressives/moderates Liberals don't give Artur Davis a pass just because of the color his skin. Liberals look at the content of his character, on this case the lack there of.