I wish President Obama were a real Dick, really I do.

Senior Morning Joke Joker Mark Halprin was *ahem* suspended for saying President Obama acted like a "Dick" because he dared call out the TeaPublicans for destroying the world yesterday. This is the same Mark Halprin who said he didn't know if President Obama was a citizen or not. Oh well, at least he didn't call President Obama an Aborigine. Call me crazy but it sounds like another racist dog whistle to me.

Anyhoo, I wish President Obama were a Dick, then maybe we wouldn't be in this mess. I don't mean a Bush Dick, a Cheney Dick, or a Bohner Dick (pun intended). I mean a Lyndon Baines Johnson Dick, a Franklin D. Roosevelt Dick, an Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Dick or an Anthony Wiener Dick (no pun). You know, the kind of Dick that kicked butt and took names for the little guys and gals.

Please be a Dick Mr. President.
Please Dick the republicans.
Dick them hard.
They hate us for our freedoms.

Hey Scott Beason, are you still the chair of the rules committee?

Let me see if I have this right (pun intended). Sue Bell Cobb, Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court (and the only Democrat member of that Court) announced today that she is resigning, effective August of this year so she can dedicate the bulk of her life to being a better wife, mother, daughter, grandmother,sister, church member and friend. But, Alabama State Senator Scott Beason is hanging on to his position as chair of the rules committee so he can be a better bigot? What's wrong with this picture?

As my Daddy says there is something rotten in the cotton around here. Per The Locust Fork News Journal

The task will now fall to Alabama’s new Republican Governor, Robert Bentley, to name her replacement.

Sources say Mobile attorney Charles Graddick has been preparing to run against her for the chief justice slot, although there is no official indication that Bentley will appoint him to the post. His name may remind readers of another, divisive time in Alabama politics, when a Democratic Party primary fight for governor between Graddick and Bill Baxley resulted in voters electing the first Republican governor since Reconstruction, a Cullman Primitive Baptist preacher, chicken farmer and Amway salesman, Guy Hunt.

Hunt was convicted of illegally diverting inaugural money for his personal use and removed from office. He was later pardoned.

A blast from the past,

it is an odd move for someone who was widely considered a leading candidate for a run at Governor in 2014.

More on this later

and cynical speculation at Left in Alabama .

Cobb waged an enormously expensive campaign funded with lots of PAC money. McGregor knew he needed a voice on the court. McGregor dumped lots of money into PACs during Cobb's campaign. Much of McGregor's money went to, and much of Cobb's contributions came from, John Crawford PACs. McGregor personally contributed some money to Cobb, and quite a bit to the Children First Foundation when Cobb was a director. The FBI tapped McGregor's phone, leading to the ongoing bribery prosecution. I'll be pleasantly amazed if I'm wrong, but I'm afraid Cobb's resignation is somehow tied to the McGregor trial or the phone tap.

Another one bites the dust.

Sue Bell Cobb was , was one of three dissenting justices who voted against "sovereign immunity.

Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Sue Bell Cobb reminded us this month that "sovereign immunity" is a concept that trickled down from the ancient English notion that "the King could do no wrong."
In Alabama, the state is king. And the king can do all the wrong it wants. There's just nothing we can do about it.

Remember the Sue Bell Cobb for Governor buzz? Emphasis mine

There's been a lot of buzz this past week about the possible gubernatorial run of Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice, Sue Bell Cobb. Rumor is that the "power brokers" in Montgomery, terrified of an Artur Davis candidacy, are casting about for an alternative.

Lt. Governor, Jim Folsom, threw them for a loop when he decided to run for re-election, and we've been treated to the sight of various potential candidates being wooed, then discarded. At least by the "conventional wisdom" whatever that's worth.

The lastest gossip pertains to Justice Cobb. Will she leave the court to run for governor? Even though she's not up for re-election in 2010, as a sitting justice, she can't run for another office without resigning.

Will we be treated to not one, not two, but three up-and-coming Alabama Democrats slugging it out for the nomination? A party insider I talked with this weekend hopes not, noting a Cobb candidacy would pit two rising stars in the party against each other and "would be like using two bullets for your game of Russian roulette." This source was speaking of Davis and Cobb, almost (but not quite) writing off even the possibility of a Ron Sparks victory.

Conventional voices wanted Sue Bell Cobb to stay put she was because she was too valuable and needed on the court. I submit party insiders were afraid she would beat Artur Davis like a drum and I dare say she would have beat Robert Bentley too.

Thanks a lot party insiders.

Snark

What I'm reading today

What if Michelle Bachman were an African American democratic woman? Think about it. Would she have the same creditability? What if an African American democratic woman was going around talking about Corporate Jet republicans when asked about her hypocrisy? I'm just saying......

Live whiskey blogging President Obama's Press Conference. Warning it's raw but real. Here is an excerpt;

Ahh, the a.m. press conference, just time enough to brew up some strong coffee and Irish that sh*t up with some Bullheit whiskey. It'd be awesome if he came out and said, "I just got back from shoving tea bags up Mitch McConnell's a$$, and, lemme tell ya, he was begging me to raise taxes and then he was begging me to keep shoving. I'll be presiding over his marriage to John Boehner this afternoon." That won't happen, but, ooh, let's see what does... (All quotes pretty much guaranteed to be inaccurate in word, but right in spirit.)

U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, not to be confused with Alabama State Senator Hank Sanders, calls republicans insane and immoral.

The power of the non diverse Press. Read this article by By Stephanie McCrummen, Published,June 25 in the
Washington Post about Section 8 housing vouchers, then read this analysis by Ben posted on Flashpoint. Psst! Be sure and read the comments.

Oh say can you see a new national anthem?

The ongoing war against illegal immigrants by Republican governors in Indiana, Georgia, Alabama, Utah and Arizona is one clear and present indicator of where the Republican strategy is headed, namely toward the creation of an America where bigotry and intolerance will become the new national anthem.

Were are the J-O-B-S?
14 million unemployed. 12 million underemployed. Unions under attack.

Record corporate profits. Banker crimes unpunished. Tea Party on the march.

Corporate Welfare running rampant, over $2 trillion! Medicare and the American Dream itself at risk.

It's time for change. It's time to fight back. It's time for the Job Party.

We won?

Was November 8, 2008 a dream?

Did Hope for Change we can believe in win?

Or, did all fear, all bigotry and all hate all the time win?

Things have gotten worse not better since the 2008 election.

Reproductive freedom is under attack.

The right to vote is under attack.

Teachers and public education are under attack.

Labor is under attack.

Liberal Democrats are under attack.

Unemployment is rampant.

Mortgage foreclosures are at an all time high.

More Americans rely on Food Stamps.

Our troops are still dying and being maimed for life in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The American people are being spied on.

Gitmo is still open for business.

Osama bin Forgotten

How did the winners morph into the losers?

I want my Hope for Change we can believe in back.

No more Mister Nice Guy.

It's time to Bring it On.

There is Quid Pro Quo for republicans, then there is Quid Pro Quo for Democrats

On the outside looking in. That's how I feel everything I log on to Left in Alabama. I really miss not being allowed to post there. For years it part of my morning Political Junkie routine...Washington Journal to hear what the people were talking about.....Morning Joke, I mean Joe, to see what the righty's were talking about....Left in Alabama to find out what was really going on in the world and doing my part in trying to make a difference. Was I outspoken and opinionated? You betcha. Could I give as good as I got? Absolutely. Did I talk about race and racism a lot. Yes. Did I resort to name calling, personal attacks and insults when the substance of my arguments failed? No. Did I go along to get along? Nope.

As a matter of fact, I'm still trying to figure out exactly who or what got me banished from Left in Alabama but I feel the same way now as I did when my beloved mother explained why my siblings and I couldn't drink from the white water fountain.

Anyhoo, enough of the pity party. Paging LiA's resident righty, I mean Legal contributor! Old Prosecutor, you said-if you tell a legislator that "I will contribute X amount of money to your campaign in return for you voting yes on a specific bill" - that can be construed as bribery.

I have a problem with your expert legal opinion which can be expressed in two words... Citizens United

Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, 558 U.S. 08-205 (2010), was a landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court holding that corporate funding of independent political broadcasts in candidate elections cannot be limited—because of the First Amendment. The 5–4 decision, in favor of Citizens United, resulted from a dispute over whether the non-profit corporation Citizens United could air a film critical of Hillary Clinton, and whether the group could advertise the film in broadcast ads featuring Clinton's image, in apparent violation of the 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, commonly known as the McCain–Feingold Act.[2]
The decision reached the Supreme Court on appeal from a January 2008 decision by the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. The lower court decision upheld provisions of the McCain–Feingold Act which prevented the film Hillary: The Movie from being shown on television within 30 days of 2008 Democratic primaries.[1][3]
The Court struck down a provision of the McCain–Feingold Act that prohibited all corporations, both for-profit and not-for-profit, and unions from broadcasting “electioneering communications.”[2] An "electioneering communication" was defined in McCain–Feingold as a broadcast, cable, or satellite communication that mentioned a candidate within 60 days of a general election or thirty days of a primary. The decision overruled Austin v. Michigan Chamber of Commerce (1990) and partially overruled McConnell v. Federal Election Commission (2003).[4] McCain–Feingold had previously been weakened, without overruling McConnell, in Federal Election Commission v. Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc. (2007). The Court did uphold requirements for disclaimer and disclosure by sponsors of advertisements. The case did not involve the federal ban on direct contributions from corporations or unions to candidate campaigns or political parties.[5]

So, if corporations can make unlimited campaign contributions in the name of free speech, why can't people tell candidates they will vote for them if they share their interest? Certainly you don't believe corporations are donating million to candidates who don't share their interest?

What mooncat said

Let me relate to you an actual situation that happened last year. A member of Congress made a fundraising call to someone I know, obviously hoping for a contribution. The potential donor was very upfront that the health care reform bill was their top priority and said, "If you support this bill, call me again and I'll definitely support your campaign." Now, it's a federal campaign, so the amount is obviously limited to $2400 (or $4800 for primary & general) but it's pretty clearly a specific vote at issue.

I know the potential donor and the intent was not to bribe but to put pressure on a representative before an important vote and draw a bright line on a particular issue -- don't call me for money unless you vote for HCR.

By your standard, politicians are guilty of bribing voters when they say I will vote to repeal ObamaCare if you vote for me, and voters are guilty of bribing candidates/elected officials when they say I will vote for you if you vote to repeal ObamaCare.

Are campaign contributions only considered a bribe when it involves Democrats like former Alabama Don Siegelman

The question this case raises (as did the Siegelman case) is - when does a campaign contribution become a bribe?

However before we get to that, remember that Beason testifed (sic) he was offered a $1,000,000.00 per year "consulting" contract in return for his vote which, if true, would clearly be a bribe.

To the main question - most State (and the Federal) bribery statutes define bribery as offering a pecuniary benefit or a "thing of value" to a public official(sic) with the intent that the official's (sic) vote or action will be "corruptly" influemced (sic).

The line between campaign contribution and a bribe is a fine one. Generally to be a bribe, the government must prove a "quid pro quo" -that is the contribution must be given in exchange for a specific vote. Federal Courts have held that money "given freely without the promise of a specific action in return is not a bribe even if they are intended to "build a reservoir of goodwill that might ultimately affect one or more of a multitude of unspecified acts, now or in the future".

What was the crime in the Siegelman case?

I guess it depends on what the definition of Quid Pro Quo IS. There must be one definition for republicans and another one for democrats.

I look forward to your reply.

Sunday Shorts

Why do working class people vote against their economic interest? In light of the the sweep in state elections by the Republican Party in 2010, and in the wake of labor events from Wisconsin to Birmingham, Glynn Wilson sat down with noted retired Auburn University historian Dr. Wayne Flynt, who is someone who people seem to listen to, at least those who pay attention.

Why do poor people and the working middle class vote for Republicans who are obviously anti-worker and anti-labor and who are clearly bought and paid for by big corporations and their lobbyists?

Since World War II, and especially since the cultural wars of the 1960s, social “wedge” issues related to race and religion now play a more important role in voting habits than pragmatic economic concerns.

“It’s partly because preachers tell them that the Democratic Party is a godless party,” Flynt said. “It’s party because the Democratic Party is made up of a large number of African-Americans, and working class whites just won’t vote that way.”

Democrats can't win for the media. It's a good thing we have an alternative in Current TV because the mainstream media we have is dominated by white male republicans who enable the TeaPublicans to obstruct the HOPE for Change we the people voted for in 08.

No, liberals, it's not your imagination. "Meet the Press" and the other Sunday political talk shows really have leaned more to the right in recent years. At Media Matters for America, we looked at every one of the 7,000 guests who appeared on the three major Sunday shows from 1997 through 2005—Bill Clinton's second term, George W. Bush's first term, and the last year. We found that the left has of late found itself outnumbered, in some ways substantially, on the television shows that define the Washington conventional wisdom. Liberals are already a disturbingly rare species among what Calvin Trillin refers to as the "Sabbath Gasbags." And in some debates—the war in Iraq, for example—they are in danger of becoming extinct

Case in point, this Sunday's Talking TeeVee Pundit Head line up

You won't hear this on TeeVEE Rep. Chris Murphy call of investigation of Clarence Thomas.

Anthony Weiner has resigned, but thankfully we've still got someone out there pushing for something to be done about Clarence Thomas and his unethical behavior while serving on the Supreme Court, Rep. Chris Murphy (D-CT).

Who knew if you tell a legislator that "I will contribute X amount of money to your campaign in return for you voting yes on a specific bill" - that can be construed as bribery? I mean, really?

Old Slavery, new slavery, it's still the same old stuff.

Georgia, which passed an Arizona-style immigration bill in April that is due to take effect next month, has seen thousands of undocumented immigrants flee the state. A state survey released last week found 11,080 vacant positions on state farms that needed to be filled to avoid losing crops.

At the same time as the survey’s release, Deal, a first-term Republican, announced a program to link the state’s 100,000 probationers with farmers looking to fill positions, the vast majority of which pay less than $15 per hour.

The AP reported the first group of probationers began working last week at an Americus farm owned by Dick Minor, the president of the Georgia Fruit and Vegetable
Growers Association.

RedEye tiptoeing away from the computer to go pray.

Well it looks like Scott Beason has job security

Remember when I said Scott Beason shouldn't resign his Senate post he should be fired by his constituents? Well it doesn't look like that will be happening because at least one of his constituents doesn't see where he's done anything that would otherwise jeopardize his ability to serve his constituents.

Oh really? Scott Beason must not have any African American (aborigines), or Hispanic (empty the clip) constituents.

As an Alabama State Senator Scott Beason represents ALL Alabamians, even Aborigines and Hispanics. As chairman of the powerful the Senate Committee on Rules, which is the gatekeeper of legislation in the Senate and decides which bills come to the Senate floor for debate, he has proven he doesn't have the capability of representing Alabamians.

What ADC chair Mark Kennedy said all the damn way!

“This is the second time this year Beason has made such racially inflammatory remarks, first suggesting we ‘empty the clip’ on immigrants and now calling black voters ‘illiterate’ and ‘aborigines’,” Kennedy said. “Beason has demonstrated time and again that he lacks the tact necessary to hold a chairmanship as critical as rules committee chairman.”

I find it hard to believe the people who elected him don't feel the same way. But then again, maybe not. This is Sweet Home Alabama.

There is a mean spirit on the lose.

Lord help us.

Redeye's Saturday Must Reads and Open Thread

Of course the people who need to read Crying Racism won't, but those who want to be enlightened will.

Crying racism is the idea among white Americans that blacks see racism in every little thing, that they are looking for cases of racism. The phrase is supposed to remind you of the story of the boy who cried wolf. Blacks are seen as “whining”, as being “oversensitive”, as “having a chip on their shoulders”, as “blowing things out of proportion”, as “playing the race card”.

Did you know a historic black town in Alabama is in peril?

The cafes, the school and the roller rink are long gone from Alabama’s oldest black city. Empty homes and businesses line the narrow streets.

Hobson City no longer has a police or fire department, and weeds have overgrown the oldest part of the cemetery and a park in this small town that once thrived as a rarity: a place where black people were in charge in the midst of the Jim Crow South.

Alabama State Senator Scott Beason may not have done anything illegal or anything that would specifically disqualify him from office, but his actions certainly disqualify him from being in charge of the rules committee.

This weak (pun intended) in LynchGate (pun intended)

Senator Barry Mask testified. The most significant thing was a tape recording of a phone conversation between Mask and McGregor in which McGregor said he would support Mask if Mask supported the Sweet Home Alabama Bill (SB 380). The significance of this is the tie between the support and a specific vote.

If this is significant every elected official in the country should be on trial. I mean, really. For those who don't know, BingoGate is really about the republicans trying to put all the democrats in jail.

Mask testified that lobbyist Bob Geddie, who has McGregor as one of his clients and also is a defendant in this case, showed up at a fundraiser he had that night with two checks for $2,500.

Mask said his response to seeing the checks was "Oh crap," and he called the FBI. Agents advised him to set up a separate account, where he deposited the checks. He said he has not spent that money.

Defense lawyers indicated this morning that they intend to put Mask through an aggressive cross-examination questioning his motives for going to the FBI.
Defense lawyers want to question Mask about comments he made referring to Greene County, where Greenetrack is located, as a third-world country.

They also want to question him on a referral fee he gets from a lobbyist who also represents McGregor's competitors, the Poarch Creek Indians, and Mask's support of a tax that defense lawyers said would benefit his employer at an economic development authority.

Oh crap is right (pun intended).

New Additions to my blog list and week in review

Everyone knows it's the job of the mainstream media to distort what we decide with all spin all the time, UNfair and UNbalanced. Thank goodness for pioneers like Thomas Paine, and Cheetos-eating, pajama-wearing, Bloggers living in their moms’ basements all around America. If former Vice President Al Gore had not invented the Internet we wouldn't know what we don't know we don't know.


The gop kicked their Voter Suppression scheme (yes I said scheme) up a notch this week. I wonder what part of this don't they understand? And when is the Obama DoJ going to help them understand?

The other thing to remember is that voting is a Constitutionally protected right. With a right, it is not up to the citizen to "prove" that he's entitled to the right, it us up to the government to "prove" that he's NOT entitled to the right.

In other words, if I say I'm John Doe, and I'm properly registered to vote, its not up to me to prove I am who I say I am. If I'm to be challenged in my right, it is up to the government to provide reasonable, credible suspicion that I am NOT who I say I am before denying me a right.

This Is the Way the Weiner Ends: Not With a Bang But a Whimper:

The grinding media machine has eaten another victim and spit out his splintered bones and shredded viscera. Anthony Weiner resigned yesterday, in a press conference only notable for how stupid and asshole-filled it was, and now the machine knows that, with the assistance of its willing accomplices in Washington, it can pick and choose who to wreck next, like a mad sniper who today feels like firing at joggers in blue shorts.

So what the hell is a Social Conservative anyway?

What does it mean? Nothing much - and everything. It's nothing more than the replacement for Compassionate Conservative, a label George W. "Who cares what the hell you think." Bush ran into the ground. It's a marketing tool, a handy dandy code phrase for Values Voters in dog-whistle political speak. It says "Here's somebody you can trust to feel just like you do about God, Guns and Gays."

Welcome to my blog list!
A BlackMan's View

Reggie's Rantings

Agabond

The Blogosphere is the media we wish we had instead of the media we have.

Alabama State Senator Scott Beason should be stripped of his power to exercise racism

Again, I don't believe Scott Beason should resign from the Alabama State Senate in light of his *ahem* racially insensitive remarks which were recorded for all the world to hear (thank goodness for wiretaps), but he should most definitely be stripped of his power to exercise racism.

Key Democrats are pushing for Senate Republicans to ask state Sen. Scott Beason to resign and to strip him of his chairmanship of a powerful committee after racially insensitive comments he made were revealed last week in a federal corruption case.

Beason, R-Gardendale, is a key government witness in the case.

Beason is the chairman of the Senate Committee on Rules, which is the gatekeeper of legislation in the Senate and decides which bills come to the Senate floor for debate.

Can you imagine someone who doesn't see anything wrong with calling black taxpayers illiterate, "aborigines" in charge of what legislation and bills come to the floor? Shudder

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — As a Republican state senator who secretly recorded conversations for the FBI testified Thursday that he couldn't’t explain why he called black customers of a casino “aborigines,” Alabama’s Democrat leader called for his resignation and the Republican Party chairman defended his reputation.

“I don’t use that term normally. I don’t know where it even came from that day,” Sen. Scott Beason of Gardendale testified Thursday in federal court, where he is a key prosecution in a statehouse corruption case.

He doesn't use that term normally because he probably uses another term that starts with the letter N.

This is the second time this year Beason has made *ahem* racially insensitive remarks (told us how they really feel).

Mark Kennedy, chairman of the Alabama Democratic Party, called on Marsh to strip Beason of his committee chairmanship.

“This is the second time this year Beason has made such racially inflammatory remarks, first suggesting we ‘empty the clip’ on immigrants and now calling black voters ‘illiterate’ and ‘aborigines’,” Kennedy said. “Beason has demonstrated time and again that he lacks the tact necessary to hold a chairmanship as critical as rules committee chairman.”

As I said previously, the voters in Gardendale gave Scott Beason the power to exercise racism, and they should be the ones to snatch it away. The Republican majority in the state legislature gave Beason the power to exercise racism in halls of the legislature. The question is will they continue to condone and excuse his behavior, or, will they do the right (pun intended) thing and strip him of the power to exercise racism?

There is a mean spirit on the loose.

“I heard if the Republicans win the election, their first act of business was going to be sending this monkey back to his cage …” These words were posted on a web site (ala.com) in response to a robo ad I sent. There is a mean spirit on the loose.

I am a history buff of sorts. I have pondered how the meanest of spirits are sometimes unleashed when people become fearful. The meanness is most often directed at those on the bottom of the totem pole, but the least responsible for the situation that gives rise to the fear. When the Great Recession hit three years ago, a lot of people became scared. People are scared of losing everything for which they have worked. They are scared for themselves, their children, and their children’s children. They are scared for the present and scared for the future. Fear is on the loose, putting meanness on the loose as well.

I referred to this mean spirit in one of my robo calls. In response to this spirit, I said, “Hell no, I am not going back to cotton fields and Jim Crow days!” That apparently incensed the above mentioned person. It is not enough for him to take me back to Jim Crow days but he wants to take me back to a monkey cage, a place neither me nor my ancestors inhabited. This response is symptomatic of the mean spirit now on the loose.

Amen and Amen.

Scott Beason should NOT resign

I'm watching with amusement all the calls from *cough* democrats and *cough* others for Alabama State Senator Scott Beason to resign because he was caught on tape *cough* telling us how they really feel about black folks in Alabama.

Republican legislators were caught on tape making crude racial remarks, including one reference to "aborigines," as the Alabama bingo trial headed into its fourth day of testimony.

Meanwhile, profound constitutional issues involving former Governor Bob Riley and high-profile defendant Milton McGregor, continue to hover over the trial.

The racially insensitive comments were picked up on a wire worn by State Sen. Scott Beason (R-Gardendale), the government's star witness. In one instance, Beason himself refers to certain black Alabamians as "aborigines."

I have to ask, are they calling for Beasons resignation because of what he said or because he said out loud what they say behind closed doors?

Now I understand why my wise mother used to say "Let them fly the confederate flag, it only shows us how they really feel and how much work we have to do"

For that reason Scott Beason should NOT resign. I've said countless times, a person can harbor all the racist thought/opinions in the world, but it takes power to exercise racism. Scott Beason has the power because we the people (collective) gave him the power. He should not be allowed to resign. He should be fired. The question is, will we the people (collective) fire him or rehire him?

Time will tell the truth.

Racism is a thing not a person. It's about what you do not about what you say. God doesn't love whites more than blacks and vice versa. All of God's people are created equally. The things that divide us are rooted in sin (Greed, Pride). We need to be wall breakers instead of wall builders and break down the walls that divide us.

In order to overcome racial prejudice we need understand and respect each others differences and experiences. When love and understanding move into our hears it has the power to remove all forms of hatred. It's time for us to become part of the solution and not be the problem. In order to end racism we must confront it head on.

Peace be with you

What I'm reading today

The only way republicans can win in 2012 is to SUPPRESS the democratic vote. What good is having the right to vote if you can't vote? The Obama administration, that includes you Eric Holder better recognize as the young people say.

Poor Scott Beason. He is *cough cough* unsure why he called blacks "aborigines .  Yeah right.   Snark

Alabama State Senator Holtzclaw (r. hypocrite) can dish it out but he can't take it.

Oh what a tangled web we weave....

Neil Boortz-A racist or a Moron?
Let me think about that for a minute...........I vote for both. Which is why I don't listen to him or anyone like him.

So, what's on your reading list?

Sweet Home Alabama introduces The New Jim Crow

Remember Alabama State Senator Hank Sanders mad as hell robo call to democratic voters?

Hello this is Hank Sanders, Alabama state Senator, and I’m still mad as hell. I say hell no! I ain’t going back to the cotton fields of Jim Crow days. I’m going forward with Ron Sparks, Jim Folsom and others who would do right by all of us. I hope you are mad as hell and will not go back, and you have the power to choose. I will stand until hell freezes over for Ron Sparks for Governor and Jim Folsom for Lt. Governor on November the 2nd.

Paid for by Alabama New South.

I am posting the following in it's entirety as a reminder.

Teachers Deputized to Enforce the New Jim Crow
On the surface, Alabama's new law cracking down on unauthorized immigrants resembles Arizona's infamous S.B. 1070 law. But Teaching Tolerance Director Maureen Costello says the real inspiration came from something a lot closer to home: Jim Crow.

Alabama’s Immigration Law: The New Jim Crow

Submitted by Maureen Costello on June 13, 2011 for Teaching Tolerance.org a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center

Alabama’s new law—with provisions against hiring, harboring or transporting undocumented immigrants—is bad enough for adults. But it is potentially disastrous for kids.

By requiring schools to determine the immigration status of every student at enrollment, the law makes it hard to tell the difference between educators and immigration officials. It already has immigrant parents asking, “Should we keep our children out of school in September?”

On the surface, Alabama’s H.B. 56 appears to be fashioned after Arizona’s infamous S.B. 1070 law. But the real model wasn’t so far away. Take a good look. This law was inspired by something a lot closer to home: Jim Crow.
H.B. 56, which goes into effect on Sept. 1, justifies the requirement as a way to keep track of just how much money the state is spending to educate the children of undocumented immigrants. Never mind that immigrants—both legal and illegal—support schools by paying Alabama’s regressive sales tax (10 percent here in Montgomery, including on food) and local property taxes.
Some will argue that children brought here illegally should not get a public education. But the Supreme Court ruled otherwise almost 30 years ago, in Plyler v. Doe. In 1982, the court ruled that Texas schools could not deny enrollment to the children of undocumented immigrants. The decision found that children—even those here illegally—had 14th Amendment protections, should not be punished for the actions of their parents, and were safe from discrimination in the absence of substantial state interests to the contrary.

Wanting to “take account” of the costs of ESL fails the substantial interest test. The majority in Plyler also said that refusing to educate these students “raises the specter of a permanent caste of undocumented resident aliens,” a permanent “underclass” of illiterates who would burden society far more than the cost of educating them.
Maybe history has inured Alabama to such an underclass. The law requires school officials to keep track of students “born outside the jurisdiction of the United States.” But it goes even further. Schools must also determine which U.S. citizens among their students have parents who are “aliens not authorized to be in the United States.”

Alabama didn’t go the Texas route and outright deny the right to an education. But H.B. 56 is a thinly veiled way to discourage immigrant parents from enrolling their children in school. It reminds one of the poll taxes and literacy tests that made voting, although theoretically legal, an impossible act for so many African Americans a half-century ago.

It’s unclear exactly how schools will identify the unauthorized parents, and that’s part of its poisonous charm. Birth certificates don’t include the legal status of parents. Will all parents now be required to prove their legal status, or only those who look like immigrants? Must educators infer which soccer mom is a likely prospect? Will children be asked where their parents were born? In the absence of evidence to the contrary, schools are instructed to presume that the student should be tracked under the new law.
All of these scenarios are ugly; they will make immigrant parents unwilling to enroll their kids. But as a nation, we can’t afford to leave them behind. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 20 percent of the students in grades K-12 in 2009 were the children of immigrants. Policies that don’t meet their educational needs or encourage their parents to keep them from school will leave us all behind as a nation. The cost will be far more than what Alabama pays ESL teachers.

The new law is likely to drive some undocumented immigrants away from Alabama, as its authors intended. But it will also set in stone the underclass that the Supreme Court predicted. Like Jim Crow, the law strips away rights, from having legally enforceable contracts to accepting a ride to the bus stop. Like the segregated schools of Jim Crow, this law puts obstacles in the path of immigrant parents who want their kids to become educated.
Educators have not shown great enthusiasm for the law, and they shouldn’t. To his credit, Joe Morton, Alabama’s state superintendent of education, has decided that the law doesn’t take effect until after schools enroll students for the 2011-2012 school year. So it won’t be enforced until August 2012. Morton’s most likely counting on the law being declared unconstitutional by then.
No teacher or principal relishes the prospect of turning students or parents over to Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE). None would want to help divide families. Yet Alabama teachers will soon be doing just that. Although the law includes nominal privacy protection, it specifically exempts requirements related to ICE. “Every state actor” must report known illegal immigrants.

Obviously, any children pulled from school will suffer. The rest of us suffer, too. As a state and as a nation, we need as many well-educated people as possible in the years ahead. And for educators, already struggling as society’s latest whipping boy, the law is a blow to professional integrity. Teachers’ very ability to succeed depends on being trusted allies of students and families. That’s going to be tough to do after Alabama makes them deputies of ICE.

Costello is the director of Teaching Tolerance.

"A Ball of confusion, that's what the world is today"

And the band played on.

The 3 Wings of the Republican Party: The Crazies, the Corporatists ... and Democrats
Democrats must endorse progressive principles again and hammer home the distinction between the party that cares about everyday Americans, not just the wealthy.

If Congress didn't impeach Bush and Dick for sending our troops to war based on DEAD WRONG Intelligence then they shouldn't be talking about impeaching President Obama for Libya. Just cut the funding for Libya, Afghanistan and Iraq and bring our troops and our tax dollars HOME.

Maybe they did kill the dream. Decades after King's assassination Memphis reignites labor struggle.

The plight of Memphis sanitation workers is still an emotional issue four decades after the strike, which was sparked by the death of two workers due to a faulty trash compactor. The strike developed into a rallying point for the African-American community in their struggle against the city's white establishment.

Racial overtones surfaced again in the privatization fight, which appeared suddenly last month. One councilman dismissed the 1968 struggle as belonging to another era. Another said privatization represented the next step of "change" for which King -- and President Obama -- fought, a suggestion that horrified civil-rights veterans.

The city faces a $60 million budget shortfall and council members are selling the privatization proposal with claims it could save about $18 million a year. Local media support the bid uncritically.

At the council meeting, a Firefighters official called for the city to restore a property tax worth $20 million a year, which was eliminated three years ago. He accused white council members of looking out for their gated communities and not the city as a whole.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry (r. secessionist) is polishing off his Bats#it crazy credentials so he can join the rest of the Bats#it crazies.

White privilege and arrogance on full display. Watch Andrew Breitbart get confronted after he crashes Netroots Nation. H/T to the Beer Party for the video.

Keep an eye on this debate. The South Huntsville righty's are trying to convince themselves HUD (Housing and Urban Development) are a bunch of Thugs who are trying to *snicker* intimidate them because they exercised their first amendment and criticized the government. This is rich coming from a gang that bans speech they don't like. Oh well, you know what they say...it takes one to know one.

People moving out
People moving in
Why? Because of the color of their skin
Run, run, run, but you sure can't hide!

Monday Morning Talking Points

Yippee Ki-Yay! Keith Olberman returns to television tonight and his first guest is Michael Moore and Daily Kos chief Markos Moulitsas. So glad to see the truth-tellers back on TeeVee. Psst, Keith, Anthony Weiner is looking for a new gig. Not sure where to find Keith? Click here.

Speaking of Anthony Weiner, if I were his constituent I would write his name on the ballot and give the republicans, the mainstream media, and the cowardly Dems my middle finger. Now they tell us Fake Identities Were Used on Twitter in Effort to Get Information on Weiner

At least three months before the revelation that former Representative Anthony D. Weiner was sending lewd messages and photos to women online, a small group of self-described conservatives was monitoring his exchanges with women on Twitter. Now there is evidence that one or more people created two false identities on Twitter in order to collect information to use against him.

There is nothing more dangerous than ignorance in action.

Frederick Douglass was an early civil rights figure and former slave. In the late 1800s, he wrote an autobiography where he speaks at length about his experience, his sufferings, and, what strikes me most as a teacher, his education. Slave-owners did not want their slaves to read, he said, because if they were able to read, then they would be able to articulate their plight.
In George Orwell’s 1984, Newspeak is a language being developed by the government that ultimately aims to make it impossible to think rebellious thought. How can one articulate rebellion if there is no word for it? If I were to use the word “sidereal” in a sentence, and you didn’t know what it meant and couldn’t find out what it meant, then comprehension does not occur and my attempt to convey meaning failed.

Case in point, the republicans put a black face on their racism but we are supposed to be to stoopid to notice.

The nation’s GOP elite gathered in New Orleans this weekend for the Republican Leadership Conference. In attendance were presidential candidates Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich, and potential candidate Texas Gov. Rick Perry.
Prior to a speech by RNC Chair Reince Preibus, an Obama impersonator took the stage and told a series of racist jokes. A summary from Arron Blake:
• On Black History Month: “Michelle celebrates the full month. I celebrate half.”
• “My mother loved a black man,” but “she was not a Kardashian.”
• A picture was shown of Obama and the first lady when he took office. The impersonator then showed a picture of what the Obamas will look like when the president leaves office, and it was the characters of Fred Sanford and his sister-in-law, Ethel, from the show “Sanford and Son.”

The right to bear arms A must-read from Black Diaspora on the danger of ignorance in action.

Yes, there's "anger," but the anger is being misdirected, thanks, as you've stated, to the media provocateurs who have concentrated this anger and have painted bulls eyes on the backs of blacks, Latinos, and Muslims.

A race riot is more likely than civil unrest toward the government. The news media, led by Fox News, and an assortment of Republican and conservative blowhards, will instigate this racial disquiet.

I'm convinced that the Republican Party will do almost anything to effectuate absolute control of government, despite the level, and transform this nation into the philosophical, and ideological image it has always imagined--even if it kills us!

Rebel Flower breaks down the stoopid

The people that always get's hurt are the workers, making $30k, $40k per year, the support staff, the grunts. It's never the actual commissioner's, the deputy's, the commission president, etc...These clowns get elected time and time again because people vote against their own self interest, or by some Pavlovian name recognition thing. You say their name, and people just salivates and people shut their brain off and fill in the oval. No thinking required... Politicians play on this sense of religion, patriotism, fear and we get mass stupidity on a grand scale. It's always "cut spending", "no more taxes" that's the cure for all problems. Late term abortions, like for ages 50-60 and up or secession from the US are the cure for our problems in the South. This place will never progress past 1960's era and I think most people like it that way...

The reason "most people like it that way" is because the public airways are used to promote ignorance like this:

Be quiet citizens. Or the government will punish you with investigations…

Uh, NO. citizens are NOT being investigated for speaking out, the city of Huntsville is being investigated for housing discrimination which happened to be bought to their attention by politicians using this issue for their personal, political gain.

Stuck on stoopid.

The Feds are Fed Up with the city of Huntsville

A Tale of two Hoods, separate and unequal.

Whats that you say? The city of Huntsville is facing a full scale fair housing investigation and it wasn't chosen at random? I'm shocked! Shocked I tell you!
Not.

Huntsville has stumbled into the cross hairs of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Mayor Tommy Battle said HUD's Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity Program Center in Atlanta recently notified the city that it will conduct an exhaustive civil rights compliance review of local affordable housing programs.
The probe will look for any evidence of discrimination in the city community development office's use of HUD dollars from 2008 to 2010.

The spin is in!

Battle said he strongly believes that office, led by Michelle Jordan, follows civil rights guidelines in administering HOME, Community Development Block Grant and Neighborhood Stabilization Program money.
The city gets about $1.8 million a year from HUD for affordable housing activities.

For those who don't know Michelle Jordan just happens to be an African American, so they are already playing blame it on the black woman game because in addition to claims of racial discrimination the Feds are focusing on the actions of the previous director of Community Development.

Michelle Jordan, the city's community development director, said two auditors from HUD's Atlanta regional office were in Huntsville from Feb. 7 until late May looking into Mirabeau's finances.
Jordan's predecessor, Jerry Galloway, began lending large chunks of the city's HOME dollars to Reynolds in March 2002 to stabilize what had become a crime-ridden apartment complex.
While the money was primarily used for construction work, part of it went to pay Reynolds' developer fees and to hire lawyers and marketing experts.
Reynolds used the largest of the low-interest loans, $932,831 in November 2004, to refinance old debt at Mirabeau, according to a timeline provided by the city.

Now the righty's, bless their hearts, just can't understand why Huntsville is being reviewed because of negative public comments about fair housing in The Times and local blogs.

Psst! Here's a clue.

Battle said HUD officials have been watching closely since the housing authority’s 2009 purchase of Stone Manor Luxury Apartments ignited a public outcry.

On April 6, 2009, about 1,000 south Huntsville residents jammed into the Chaffee Elementary School lunchroom to protest the relocation of public housing residents from downtown to Stone Manor.

From the stage, Mo Brooks, now in Congress, advocated ending public housing and giving tax credits to low-income families instead.In the weeks that followed, two civic groups sprang up to monitor housing authority activities. Republican state lawmakers floated bills to strip the authority’s eminent domain power and require it to notify adjacent homeowners before buying property.

Oh, and this might have helped put Huntsville in the *ahem* cross hairs.

the Senate haWhile no one should minimize the many positive things accomplished during the just-concluded state legislative session, it is nevertheless bitterly disappointing to many in this area to learn that, despite having overwhelming Republican majorities in both houses, the legislature could not manage to pass the public housing reform bills.

There were two bills under consideration, both introduced by Rep. Mike Ball. The first would have required public notification before a public housing authority could purchase property. That bill was later amended so that it only applied to Huntsville. The second bill would have stripped the state’s public housing authorities of the power of eminent domain.

Rep. Ball did yeoman’s work shepherding these bills through the committee votes and getting them passed in mid-April by the full House. The bills then went to the Senate, where they were approved at the committee level during the first week in May. At that point, d a full month to bring the bills up for a vote, but it never happened.

But then again, it was probably blog post like this

Dear SHCA Members,

The included link will take you to a story on flashpoint blog. With the exception of Dr. Moores involvement, SHCA leadership has worked with the author in confirming the details reported. The initial incident reports provided to the media by the Huntsville Police Department were so highly sanitized, that they gave no details which cought the attention of the media. We have been told that this sanitation is due to laws which protect minors. Unfortunately, these laws encouraged the continued endangerment of the child who was assulted (sic) in the second attack.

SHCA will continue looking into this matter. We would like to know whether the perpetrator was transferred to another south Huntsville school. If you have any first hand knowledge of this situation which has not been reported, please reply to this message. The identity of members who wish to help will be kept confidential

.

But then again, it might have been comments like this

"Poor kids deserve exposure to a more normalized atomosphere(sic) if they are ever going to have a chance to integrate."

I agree! My kids (and, of course, myself and my wife) deserve to be relocated to The Ledges immediately! How are we supposed to integrate socially if we are forced to live in the area that we can actually afford? It's discriminatory and outrageous that we should be turned away and forced to live in a "bad" area.

Oh, wait. I don't live in a bad area. I live in an area consistent with my economic means, but instead of whining about it I keep going to work and paying my bills. I don't sit at home smoking crack and complaining about how I'm being kept down by The Man. I don't break into my neighbor's house when he's at work. I make sure my kids are in school and not running around with gang-bangers. I mow my yard and keep the house up so as not to bring down the value of my property or the properties around me. I don't pick-up truck with no wheels sitting on cinder blocks in my front yard.

In other words, I behave and live in a manner consistent with the neighborhood I wish to live in.

What revbob said!

I just love the reaction of white conservatives in the comments. "We aren't racists. It's all you damn Americans who are racists!"

If you want to learn exerything that's important about white conservative power in Alabama, just read those comments.

The feds read about it in blogs (let's all take a bow). They didn't read about it in the papers.

The South Huntsville White People's Times completely dropped the ball on the story on Huntsville's continued segregation and their Massive Resistance to integration.

Segregation: it's as conservative as Ku Klux Pie.

The Power of the Press

We live in an age when the mainstream media cares more about a democratic President/Congressman trying to conceal private behavior from the public than they do a republican President/Congressman sending our troops and our tax dollars to foreign lands based on DEAD WRONG intelligence.

The power of the press was on full display this week when they finally forced Congressman Anthony Weiner to resign because he tried to conceal his tweets from his wife and the rest of the world. It's not like he said he had proof of tons and tons of WMD in Iraq and Saddam was going to use them on us. But the mainstream media would not rest until he atoned for his lies.

Never mind the fact Weiner's constituents didn't want him to resign. Never mind the fact his constituents are being taxed without representation in Congress until a special election is held. Never mind Weiner was a effective Congressman. When the media decides you have to go you have to go.

Rachael Maddow issues a dire warning to the cowardly democrats who don't stand for anything but are willing to help the republicans tear down those who do.

Anthony Weiner, who was not accused of corruption, who does not appear to have done anything illegal, who does not even appear to have had sex with any of the women with any of the people with whom he had scandalous talk and picture-taking, for him a line was drawn," Maddow concluded, her voice bristling with anger. She then turned her focus on the media, saying that the story was actually "the media covering the media ending a man's career."

Maddow ended by addressing Democrats. She issued a dire warning.

"Congratulations, Democrats," she said. "In an era of unhinged, ideological, big money conservative media that is wholly and admittedly divorced from the precepts of journalism, in hounding Anthony Weiner into resigning ... you have just fed and unleashed this beast onto yourselves, probably for a generation."

What if the media had gone pursued the WMD lies before Bush and Dick sent our troops to Iraq?

What if the media had investigated Bush and Dick the way the did Clinton and Weiner?

What if the media told us what we needed to know instead of what they want us to know?

The power of the press is awesome and awful.

I am sick and tired of cowardly democrats!!!!!

Well it looks like the dem circular firing squad has pulled the trigger on Representative Weiner.

Rep. Anthony Weiner plans to resign from Congress in the wake of a "sexting" scandal with several women and lies he repeatedly told about it, a Democratic source with knowledge of Weiner's plans said Thursday.
Weiner, 46, was considered a possible front-runner to succeed New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg in 2013 until the revelation of his online communications, including lewd photos of himself he sent to women he befriended on Facebook and Twitter.

Pressure had built over the last week for Weiner to resign his seat in Congress, including from several of his colleagues high in the Democratic leadership.

You mean this democratic leadership?

I am beginning to think that Weiner's resignation is the result, in part, of the new prominence of women in leadership positions in the Democratic Party.

Many have noted that Republicans are not forced to resign for their sex scandals. More so, many of the same Democrats calling for Weiner to resign now didn't call for Clinton to resign. So what's the difference between the Republicans and the Democrats? What's changed in the Democratic Party since the Clinton era?

As best as I can tell, the difference is that few women are in leadership positions in the Republican Party today and few women were in leadership positions in the Democratic Party during the Clinton administration.

My contempt for the so called democratic leadership is bottomless. This confirms that we are weak, worthless, spineless, weenies (pun intended) who stab OURSELVES in the back over and over and over.

The TeaPublicans, enabled by the media and cowardly dems, now get to hold a special election. Congratulations Andrew Breitbart, Mission Accomplished. I agree with those who say Weiner should run for re-election in the special election. Weiners real *ahem* sin is his effective and outspoken voice against the cruel policies of the TeaPublicans. That is what his constituents, you know the people who ELECTED him, admire about him.. It's up to them to decide who represents them in Congress. Or at least it used to be before 911 changed everything. Snark

It's a sad day in America when the party of David Vitter, Larry Craig, and Newt Gingrich, enabled by the media and the democrats, can force someone to resign.

Why is it ALWAYS the attack dogs who get shot?

I have no explanation for the Democratic Party's behavior anymore. I have to wade into conspiracy territory to come up with something that makes sense.

Random Acts of Fear and Loathing in America

"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
Can you hear him now?

Remember when Alabama State Senator Hank Sanders said in a robo call to democratic voters he was voting for Ron Sparks for Alabama's Governor because he didn't want to return to the days of slavery and Jim Crow ?

Remember how the righty's, as they are wont to do, took his words literally instead of metaphorically and accused him of being a racist, race baiting, fear monger,Dinosaur with no sense of shame or decency, blah blah blab blab?

Here is another blast from the past

Barack Obama deserves credit for turning the country in a more positive direction following the disastrous George W. Bush presidency. Obama has taken steps forward in several key areas--economic recovery, health-care reform, and financial regulation.

But the Obama record, so far, has not been nearly as strong as it could have been. And based on three major news stories from the past two weeks, we are starting to think there is a fundamental reason for that: The Obama administration is terrified of white people.

This fear, in our view, has nothing to do with the fact that Obama is our first black president. Rather, we suspect it has to do with the fact that Obama is a centrist Democrat. And it seems "centrist Democrat" is simply a fancy term for a liberal who is afraid of white people.

The past is prologue

The last time thousands of progressive activists and left-leaning bloggers came together for their annual Netroots Nation conference, Democrats controlled Washington. Much of the focus was on pushing the party -- and President Obama -- further to the left, to stand up for things like the public option, an end to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the value of government spending to fix the economy.

A year later, with the Republicans firmly in control of the House and the 2012 presidential cycle underway, the focus is expected to be much the same. Except there's an expediency: The only way Democrats are going to win back what they lost and keep what they have, organizers and participants in this year's conference say, is to get closer to their progressive roots.

It's only going to get worse

Republicans intend to scare white people so much they'll check their brains at the door to the voting booth -- just forget everything else and vote your race.

Case in point, check out the governments star witness in Lynch Gate

Scott Beason, State Senator – Alabama

It’s one thing to propose Arizona-style legislation. But to actually call for violence against undocumented immigrants is despicable. State Senator Scott Beason has done both. On February 5, 2011, Beason gave a speech on immigration. According to an article in The Cullman Times, Beason said, that “the reality is that if you allow illegal immigration to continue in your area you will destroy yourself eventually.” As The Cullman Times reported, “Beason ended his speech by advising Republicans to ‘empty the clip, and do what has to be done.’”

The gop cuts assistance to low income women, aid for pregnant women and children, food aide for Seniors, while spending $17 billion for defense.

Some times it's not paranoia...they are genuinely after you:

C.I.A. official says that officials in the Bush White House sought damaging personal information on a prominent American critic of the Iraq war in order to discredit him.

What if Liberal Talk Radio were urging listeners to shoot people?

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was released from the hospital yesterday, 5 months after a disturbed guy with a gun shot her in the head at a Congress on Your Corner event. The man, equipped with an oversized, 33 bullet clip, killed six people and wounded twelve others at the same event.

On Tuesday, just one day before Rep. Giffords got out of the hospital, conservative talk show host Neal Boortz urged his listeners to get a gun and use it.

And we got too damn many urban thugs, yo, ruining the quality of life for everybody. And I'll tell you what it's gonna take. You people, you are - you need to have a gun. You need to have training. You need to know how to use that gun. You need to get a permit to carry that gun. And you do in fact need to carry that gun and we need to see some dead thugs littering the landscape in Atlanta. We need to see the next guy that tries to carjack you shot dead right where he stands. We need more dead thugs in this city.

Divide and Conquer

Back in the mid-Nineties, devious right-wing activists at the Bradley Foundation, in Milwaukee, hit upon a “wedge” issue designed to wreck the alliance at the core of the Democratic Party’s urban base. Blacks and public employee unions – particularly teachers – were the foundations of Democratic power in the cities. Aware that African Americans revered education but were often in conflict with largely white teachers unions over issues of racism and community control, the Bradley gang, under president Michael Joyce, created out of whole cloth a “movement” for publicly-funded vouchers for private schools. No such Black community “demand” had ever existed, but well-aimed infusions of millions of dollars among opportunistic politicians like Cory Booker, a first term city councilman who aspired to become mayor of Newark, New Jersey, grafted Black faces onto a Hard Right corporate scheme to divide key progressive constituencies: Blacks and unions.

For every time there is a season

There is not a political solution to our miserable legislature and our disgusting governor. There is not a political solution to our embarrassing and horrific new anti-immigrant legislation. It is now the time for lawyers and activists. Politics can be fun, great sport for sure and entertaining conversation with like minded strategists. But we are now in the struggle of a lifetime and I ask you, will you look back and know you did your best? Will you be able to say that you stood up for what was right when all around you there were those who allowed hatred and ignorance to reign in our elected officials and constituents? Are you outraged enough to do something? I suggest that if you are still playing politics and not becoming and activist then you are missing out on a rewarding and meaningful chance to experience being part of a cause that will give you "peace that passeth understanding". Doing the right thing has that affect upon ourselves and others.

Start candlelight vigils. Attend marches and protests. Go out of your way to become friends with the Spanish speaking people you encounter in your every day life. Educate yourself. Post on face book. Join and be involved with the ACLU. I know some clergy members who are planning to be arrested in this struggle. Are you? Are you willing to help those without power? We are not all called to the same activities, but I believe we are all called to stand up and do the right thing.

Note to melmel, I agree it is important that we all have a place to tell our stories of activism, however LIA is a great place for the chosen to share. My outrage and my activism is what got my Ebony Donkey banned and booted from the front pages. And yes, I'm still whining about it.

Republican Presidential debate recap and "what if" Wednesday

Armed with an arsenal of sock bombs I watched the TeaPublican Presidential debate so you wouldn't have too. The new Republican motto is Let Bigotry Reign Supreme Talk abut a group of people that can really make me feel ashamed of being an American. What rock did these people crawl out from under?

The *ahem* debate can be summed up in 4 one liners.

Repeal Obamacare

Cut taxes on the rich

Cut government spending

Keep a special eye on them there scary Muslims and sneaky Mexicans.

Not a mumbling word about jobs, education, or the middle class.

Not a mumbling word about access to health care or bringing our troops home from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Not a mumbling word about the mortgage meltdown or the environment.

Not a mumbling word about reproductive freedom, civil rights and human rights.

Not a mumbling word about restoring honesty, integrity and justice to the Department of Justice.

Nope. All fear and bigotry all the time. UNfair and UNbalanced. That's the republican way.

RedEyes translation;

Only the rich and Congress should have access to quality affordable health care. The rest of y'all are tough out of luck.

The rich get richer while the rest get the shaft.

Cut government spending on the American people but increase government spending for all war all the time.

Send them there Mexicans back to Mexico (except the one who work for us).

Terrorize the American people with anti Muslim fear mongering.

What if Reverend Al Sharpton said "Why buy a gun?" then points at picture of George W. Bush?

Coming mere days after the release of photos of a recovering Gabrielle Giffords, its a stark reminder that the conservatives who control so many media platforms in this country are hell bent on demonizing Obama, Democrats (just ask Janice Hahn) and liberals before the next election. And no, there is no line they won't cross, even the one that suggests you need to buy a gun to "prepare for tough times" while displaying pictures of our nation's president.

What if President Obama hadn't wasted opportunities?

Obama has proven to be a conservative president, not a progressive, a liberal or a democrat. For the life of me, I don't understand why Republicans dislike him. He has continued every policy that Bush enacted, he's just more articulate, but nothing has changed. What does it take for him to understand?