The Racist Roots of Gun Laws in America

Who knew the NRA (National Rifle Association), the KKK and Ronald Reagan worked to control guns?

Who knew the  Founding Fathers required and regulated gun ownership?

Who knew no group has more fiercely advocated the right to bear arms in public than the Black Panthers?

Who knew the fear of  blacks with guns was behind the Dred Scott Decision?
 

What if more young white children were loss to gun violence than soldiers in Iraq?

What if the gun fatality rates for whites exceeded that for blacks?

What if black folks joined the NRA?

Today's Must Reads
Is Gun Control Racist?
The Secret History of Guns
U.S. gun laws --guilty by reason of insanity
Black Man with a Gun

Bigotry in the name of the Lord & Why Boycotts Matter

Fist Dap jobsanger
I

It never ceases to amaze me when the right wing, Evangelical, compassionate, conservative, Christians, use religion to justify bigotry.  Those who say marriage equality is not a civil rights issue need only look at the chart of above defining "traditional marriage" for a reality check.

I could have spent the rest of my life eating Chick-fil-A, but once the owner made his views regarding marriage equality public, that was it for the waffle fries, lemon pies, lemonade and chicken strips for  me and mine.  If the owner of Chick-fil-A wants to donate money to right- wing- super PACS, he will do it without my hard earned money.

Psst! countrycat, mooncat, daddycat, and Jim Dean, ask the Southern Christian Leadership Conference,  Do Boycotts Really Matter?

Ask the Dixie Chicks do boycotts really matter.

The black youth project explains why boycotting Chick-Fil-A still matters.  It's not about the profit margin, it's about the principle.


Today's Must Reads
Why a Chick-fil-A boycott matters
Mitt Romneys' Southern Strategy

Policy Changes Designed With The Incumbent In Mind

What do you do when you are an elected member of the school board  faced with losing your job to not one, but three challengers?   Do you run on your record and conduct a clean campaign, or, do  adopt a policy that threatens the career of the spouse of your strongest opponent ?

Thanks to Russell at  Geek Pavaler  who downloaded and read,  the new Huntsville City Schools Policy Manual , we know it's the later.

Russell describes this attempt to subvert the democratic process and control who runs for school board, but I believe it's more insidious than that.  I believe it's an attempt by the status quo to control who represents the interest of  black/brown/poor people on the school board.

Civil Action filed in 1988 by former State Representative George Grayson, etc.  forced the move from an appointed school board to an elected school board, and the creation of  minority districts, ensuring at least one African American served as a member of  the  City School Board, City Council,  The County Commission, and in the State Legislature.

Prior to McCaulley's election in 2008, the lone African-American seat on the school board was held by the late Dr. James I. Dawson.  When Dawson's health declined, his wife Gloria was appointed to fill his term until it expired. 

The facts are clear, the superintendent recommended a policy, adopted by the board, of which Ms. McCaulley is a member, that directly benefits her.  I submit this was done to ensure she will continue to represent the interest of black/brown/poor people on the school board. 

I say let the voters who live in District 1 decide who represents them in a fair and free election, where the candidate with the most votes wins.  If this new policy is legal and ethical, which I doubt, it should be rescinded immediately.  

Today's Must Reads
Nepotism, Favoritism, and Intimidation to Control Schools 

The Man Takes Yet Another Look at Casey Wardynski and the State of Public Schools

Does the Public Have the Right to Know about Broad Academy?

Elephants, Guns, Voter Suppression and Donkeys, Oh My!

Fist Dap The Pragmatic Progressive

If this political cartoon doesn't illustrate the grand obstructionist party, media infused, Tea Party's,  plan for President Obama's Waterloo, I don't know what will.  It also illustrates how stoopid  they must think the majority of the American people are.   If I hear another Talking TeeVee Pundit Head say "If the economy doesn't improve by the election President Obama is in trouble, blah, blah, blab, blab"  I am going to scream!.  If the majority of the American people fall for the republican Okey Doke we the people will get what we deserve. No access to health care.  No jobs.  No access to a quality public education.  No civil rights. No human rights.  What we will get is a tax cut for rich and all war all the time.

Fist Dap Americans Against the Tea Party

Call me cynical, but could the reason the media won't let us have a conversation about gun laws is because they like massacres for ratings?  If I hear another TeeVee Talking Pundit Head talk about the victims/suspect complete with graphics and a sound track, I am going to scream!

Some of the same people who say more gun laws won't stop real gun violence are some of the same people who claim voter ID laws will stop  the 3% cases of voter fraud.  FYI, in person voter fraud never happens.  Everybody knows the Voter ID law is an attempt by republicans to keep people who vote against them in elections from voting.  When are they going to learn that cheating is not winning? A cynical person could believe the mainstream media  is enabling the gop to steal another election.

Mega Fist Dap to the Madison County Democratic Executive Committee for moving Party HQ from the south side of town where the republicans live, to the north side of town where the democrats live.

What say you?

RedEye's Week in Review

Fist Dap- What Would Jack Do. 

After wrenching President Obama's quotes out of context, Willard takes his misadventures on the road, proves himself to be an embarrassment ,but that OK,  he is going to restore Anglo Saxon relations with Britain,  and he's better than that guy.  Oh well, at least he's raising lots of money.

Fist Dap Legal Schnauzer

What a difference a Federal Judge makes.  U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson had the conscience, courage and conviction to release an opinion that shows the Siegleman defendants were wrongly convicted, (as if we didn't already know) as one of the defendants is released from from federal custody after six years, and another is probably headed to prison on August 3, 2012.

Wanted Alabama Democrats  with the courage and conviction to be the squeaky wheel, the future of the Alabama Democratic Party and Alabama's minorities are at stake. 

Governor Siegelman, you don't owe us an apology, we owe you one, for allowing this miscarriage of justice to take place.  Your only "crime" was being governor of ALL the people, not SOME of the people.

Fist Dap Politico

There is more than a whiff of hypocrisy.  All I am going to all the Righty's and some black church group, who have their knickers in knots because gay rights groups are blasting  Chick Filet because  the chain donated to an anti gay marriage group, is three words...The Dixie Chicks. 

Fist Dap The Daily Banter

Field Negro notes we are living in a violent world, but nobody notices unless it happens in a place where we least expect it. 

The Red, Republican, Confederate, Slave States have way too much power

Slave States vs Free States 2012

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.

Remember Alabama State Senator Hanks Sanders warning to democratic voters prior to the 2010 election?

Remember how he was called a racist/race baiter among other things?

Remember how white democrats preferred republicans by almost 2-1 in the midterm elections?

Some even went as far as to blame  democrats for their demise.

I said then , and I say now, if white democrats had focused on WHAT Senator Sanders said, instead of WHO said it, we wouldn't be in this mess.

Thanks to the TeaPublican Congress and the red, republican, Confederate, Slave states,  voter ID laws could disenfranchise thousands of voters in 2012.   These are the states who went to war to keep black folks enslaved.  These are the states who enacted Jim Crow laws.  These are the states rights states.

African Americans recognize the code words, and the consequences of history repeating itself despite the denials, myths,  and misinformation  disseminated by the gop infused, media enabled, Tea Party, and some (not to be confused with all) white democrats sticking their heads in the sand.

Today's Must Read for White People Only

Tom Degan: Message to My Fellow White People

NOTE TO MINORITY READERS:This posting is FOR WHITES ONLY. Nothing personal but there's a conversation to be had here and it doesn't concern you. If you're African American or Hispanic or Asian or Arab - SCRAM! Gail Collins wrote a particularly witty piece in today's New York Times about a town in North Dakota where the unemployment rate is at one percent. Go read that. You'll all be welcome back with open arms when I write my next piece. Now SCAT, ya hear? 

"Well there is a certain mean spirtness  that's out there, not only in Alabama, but in America, and that's what makes this election so important"~ State Senator Hank Sanders in response to CNN's Anderson Cooper asking him what evidence he had republicans would take Alabama back to Jim Crow Days.

Father in Auburn University N-word case: Charges dropped against son

"They look  heavenwards and say War Eagle!"

Let's recap;

22 year old Auburn student Kenyan Carter was arrested for disorderly conduct because he took offense with Auburn football players Reese Dismuke and Patrick Miller calling his sister the B-word, and both of them the N-word,  at a local McDonald's restaurant.  They also told Kenyan they would crush him like they just crushed a CD that was placed on the table. 

 Kenyan's father Henry Carter turned to Facebook to get his story out.  The story was picked up by CBS in Atlanta via the ReddingNewsReview.com .  

Henry Carter reports charges that never should have been filed in the first place, will be dropped.  Cased closed.  Move along.  Nothing to see here.

Not.

Calling a black person the N-word is a fighting word.

What if Kenyan Carter felt that his life was in danger after being approached by two 300 lbs football players who said they would crush him like the CD they just crushed on the table?

What if Kenyan Carter had a permit to carry a gun and was "packing" as the young people say?

What if Kenyan Carter stood his ground?

For the record, I am not advocating punishment of any kind for Reese Dismuke and Patrick Miller for their behavior,  it's  a reflection of them personally, not Auburn University or the football team.  They have the first amendment right to call African American women B's and African Americans  N's.  They will have to face their African American coaches, team mates, teachers,friends. Their families must be so proud of them. 

Why was Kenyan Carter arrested for disorderly conduct in the first place?

If Kenyon's father hadn't got his story out, would his son have been tried and convicted for disorderly conduct?  

Do white athletes receive special treatment because of their status, and individuals involved in conflict with them receive more severe treatment?

When police are called to an altercation between black and white students are the black students automatically assumed to be the guilty party?

These are questions that need to be answered by Auburn University and the Auburn Police Department.

Mega Fist Dap to Henry M. Carter of Atlanta, GA  for being the kind of father who isn't afraid to stand up for the rights of his children.

War Damn Eagle!

Father: Auburn football player walks after calling children N-word, son arrested

Graphic via Auburn Football

In the interest of full disclosure, I am a win or lose Auburn University fan and supporter.  Several family members have degrees from Auburn,  some are former members of the Auburn Tigers football team.
The following post from the ReddingNewsReview.com is troubling because  it illustrates the plight of African American maless who find themselves catching a case because they dare demand respect for black girls/women, who some feel don't deserve respect.  


It also has shades of the Penn State Football scandal, where it appears  players can do no wrong because they are star members of the football team considering I had to learn of this incident through social media. 
I report.  You decide.
  ~RedEye


From the ReddingNewsReview.com

The Atlanta father of two Auburn University students is using social media to get justice for his children who he said they were racially harassed and one was sent to jail by two members of the Auburn football team.

Henry M. Carter, of Atlanta, says his daughter Shanice Carter, 20, and his son Kenya Carter, 22, were called N-word and his daughter was called a "bitch" by two members of the Auburn University football team, while at a McDonalds in Auburn on early Saturday morning.

The elder Carter wrote on Facebook: "Reese Dismukes and another person named Patrick [Miller]approach them in an aggressive manner. Calling my Daughter a 'Bitch' and 'Nigger.' My son took offense to their aggression and they said they would crush him like they just crushed a CD that was placed on a table."

He said that the two football players were let go and his son, Kenya, was sent to jail for disorderly conduct.Dismukes is considered one of the best football players in the conference.

He says his son has been released on $300 bond.

"I called the police station when the incident occurred and voice my disapproval of the discriminatory action of the officer and my intention to file a complaint. I have instructed my daughter to press charges against the football players for making terroristic threats. This is a simple case of racism and I will not let it go by. My son has never been arrested

and they will not blemish his good name. DAMN WAR EAGLES!"

"Voter Fraud is rarer than Shark Attacks" So what's the problem?

How ridiculous are the republicans getting over Voter ID laws?

This ridiculous

Just two weeks ago a Rasmussen poll showed that 64 percent of Americans believe voter fraud exists. Thatpoll was a major hit with the folks at the pro–voter ID True the Vote conference held over the weekend in Houston. No less than three speakers mentioned it to the crowd of roughly 200 attendees. According to conference host and True the Vote president Catherine Engelbrecht, thirty-two states were represented here for their third national summit, but it was clear most in the room were from Texas. Many appeared to be part of one Tea Party group or another (True the Vote is the 501c3 arm of the King Street Patriots, a Texas Tea Party group), and none seemed to be aware that they were far from losing the war on voting.
And this:

The card pictured above was good enough for voters in Texas to use to elect George W. Bush governor of Texas, Kay Bailey Hutchinson to the U.S. Senate and other elected officials for decades. During the last legislative session, republicans passed a new Voter ID law requiring a photo ID in addition to this card before voters can vote, claiming there is massive voter fraud in the state.  However when asked for proof of the magical voter fraud the best they could provide was 51 cases since 2002.

Everybody knows this is about state-sanctioned Voter Suppression.  Republicans couldn't believe an African American was elected President of the United States of America in 2008 and they are determined to correct that mistake and make sure it doesn't happen again.  They know black voter turnout was the key in 2008, and black voter turnout is the key in 2012.

How ridiculous is it to believe gun laws won't stop real gun violence, but Voter ID cards will stop imagined Voter Fraud?

Today's Must Reads
Guns, Gun Rights and Black People

Gun Laws and the Myth of the Slippery Slope

The NRA--A Cancer on the Soul of America

People Kill People, and guns make it easier for them

Today's Must See YouTube 
Bowling for Columbine-A brief history of the USA

It's Time for Dale Jackson to Put Up or Shut Up

I pledge to use my time and my money to help anyone who wants and ID and doesn't have one to get one.~Dale Jackson July 13,2012 

I will not quit.  I will continue to fight to get people the ID they need to vote because this is the most important issue of our time.~Dale Jackson July 13, 2012

Graphic by  mooncat @LeftinAlabama

In an obvious attempt to gain publicity for himself, and mock voters who will be negatively impacted by the new Voter ID laws being passed by red, republican, controlled legislators and governors in key swing states, including Sweet Home Alabama, WVNN radio talk show host Dale Jackson challenged liberals to stop whining about the Voter ID laws and do something about it. by offering to single-handedly (sic) solve this problem by not only picking up "the poor", taking them to the appropriate agency, paying for their ID and buying them a sandwich..

There was only one problem, Dale needed help identifying the poor and destitute who couldn't obtain an ID, so he enlisted the help of the Alabama Democratic Party, The Alabama Federation of Democratic Women, Limestone County Democrats, and the Madison County Democrats via Facebook.

Refusing to give up Dale even suckered LiA blogger and commentor Dragontide into posting his appeal for help on the font page of Left in Alabama promising to ask Congress Critter Mo Brooks (r), and Alabama Senators Richard Shelby(r) and Jeff Sessions(r) about a nationwide federal program to issue ID's, which Dale reneged on.

Well Dale, you don't have to beg for help identifying the poor, destitute people you claim you are trying to help because the Brennan Center for Justice has done the work for you in a report that list the number of Alabamians who need to be picked up, taken to the appropriate agency so you can to buy them a voter ID card.  

Psst Dale!  Get out your checkbook and write a check for the total cost of the ID card, transportation, and a sandwich  for the number of people in the Tennessee Valley listening area, identified for you in the report, and send it the Brennan Center for Justice so they can help you win the fight to get people the ID they need to vote because this is the most important fight of our time.


32.7%, or 1,137,724, voting age Alabama citizens live more than 10 miles from the nearest state ID-issuing office which is open more than 2 days a week

6.1% of voting age Alabama citizens (213,386) have no vehicle access. 

26.8% of those voting age Alabama citizens with no vehicle access (57,285) also live 10 miles or more from the nearest state ID-issuing office that's open more than 2 days a week

Alabama has the lowest per capita investment in public transportation of any state in the study -- zero dollars.

Today's Must Reads

Voter Fraud rarer than Shark Attacks. 'True the Vote' Still Out to Screw the Vote 

Countering the Conspiracy to Disenfranchise Black Voters

Texas GOP has a new Voter Suppression Plan

NAACP President says Voter ID Laws must be fought

Who the Heck are the Polling Pollsters Polling?

Fist Dap jobsanger:  American Dream

So I woke up this morning to TeeVee Talking Pundit Head after TeeVee Talking Pundit Head touting  polls claiming  Slick Willard and President Obama are neck in neck in key battleground states, despite the mudslinging etc. by both sides.  According to them, "It's a tight race".  Oh really?

Who the heck are they polling in these key battleground states?  The 1%? Those who have 401k's and offshore accounts? Those who have access to quality, affordable,health care? Those who have several homes, boats, dancing horses, and cars?  Those who can afford to send their children to elite private schools and Universities?  Those who have jobs?  Those who have Trust Funds?

They certainly can't be polling the  99%.  Those who are unemployed?  Those who are homeless as a result of being jobless?  Those who don't have access to quality, affordable, health care?  Those who can't afford to send their child to college, and are forced to send them to underfunded public schools?

They certainly aren't polling public school teachers, public service workers,  union workers and tradesmen/women.

They certainly aren't polling women.

They certainly aren't polling LBGT's.

They certainly aren't polling African Americans.

They certainly aren't polling Hispanics.

So who the heck are they polling?

All I'm going to say is, if the polling pollsters are are correct, and Obama and Romney are "neck in neck", it's proof there are more Americans who hate Obama more than they love Romney.

Well there's a certain mean spiritness out there, not only in Alabama, but in America, and that's what makes this election important.~Alabama State Senator Hank Sanders (D.Selma)

Today's Must Reads
Hank Sanders was right (no pun)

Are Bachman and Sununu attacks part of a new McCarthyism?

In Memory of Andy Samuel Griffith June 1, 1926-July 3, 2012

The Andy Griffith Show was one of the staples of my childhood.  It was a family affair.  We would gather around the Philco Television set and be transported to Mayberry RFD, immersed in the lives of Andy, Barney, Aunt Bee and Opie.  My father still watches reruns, only he calls it the Barney Fife show.

One of my favorite episodes was when Andy tricked Opie and his friends into reading their history books, but it's also how I learned about the Midnight Ride of Paul Revere,  the American Revolution, as well as other historical facts and social values.

 I sure do miss the good old days when the public airways were used to educated and inform the public..

RIP Sheriff Taylor

Today's Must Reads

Charles Blow Breaks it down like a fraction about Obama HATE

Romney You're Doing It Wrong

Freedom Rider:  Demonizing the Poor 

In the 21st century The American Media has nothing to offer except platitudes about the plight of single mothers who made bad decisions about men~Margaret Kimberly

I've been hanging out in Right Wing Land so you won't have to

Fist Dap Truthout

Recently I broke a longstanding, self imposed, rule of  not commenting on right wing radio host Dale Jackson's  The Attack Machine blog, and I'm glad I did, because I've learned a lot about who they are, and how they think.

One of the things I've learned is there more than a whiff of hypocrisy in Right Wing Land.  For example, their underwear is all in a knot over The City of Huntsville Joins the Fight For Secrecy,  at the same time they defend republican Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney fight for secrecy

Another thing I learned is they don't like to be questioned, or to back up their assertions with facts.  For example, they say the high unemployment is because the democratic controlled Senate refused to pass 30 jobs bills passed by the republican controlled house.  When you ask what 30 bills they either say "look it up" or resort to name calling, personal attacks and insults.  Then when you call them out, they call it whining.

I learned they are school yard Bullies, who try and intimidate those who dare question them, or have an opposing point of view.

I learned they believe so called independent voters are stupid.


The last thing I've learned is they more interested in doing what's right, pun intended, than being right.  It's all about winning elections. It's not about governing.

What if there were a great debate concerning the future of American Society and only one side showed up?

"Democracy demands an educated and informed electorate"~Thomas Jefferson

Unless and until the progressive left develops an effective media voice, there can be no restoration of American Democracy, no return to political sanity, and no establishment of economic justice.~ Ernest Partridge

Today's Must Reads
The  Azalea Trail Maids, The NAACP and The Media

It's the Media Stupid!

Politico Reporter  Admits The Press Is Covering For Republican Obstructionism

"John McCain looked at Mitt's tax returns and decided Sarah Palin would be a better VP"

Said former White House Chief of State and Chicago Mayor Rham Emanual on ABC's  This Week, who then told Mitt to man up and stop whining.

There is lots of speculation about just  what's in Mitt's Tax Returns.

Fine Whine?

Mitt Romeny According to Newt Gingrich

Mitt Romney Is A Liar, But Still Better than Obama.

Today's Must Reads

Mitt Romney vs Barack Obama-The Clash of the Titans

Today  in your Godless Liberal Media

Like a Dog with a Bone...I refuse to let go of this issue

A RedEye Rant about Whining and Complaining

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

Fist Dap I Tell U What via Jobsanger

Everybody, except radio boy and company,  knew the Condi as VP was a media enabled weapon of mass distraction from Wall Street Willie,(aka Willard "Mitt" Romney's) refusal to release 12 years of tax returns and the discrepancy between what his said, and what he filed with the SEC in relation to his tenure as CEO of Bain Capital. What Alabama Governor, Robert Bentley (r. foot in mouth) said all the damn way!  If you have things to hide maybe you are doing  you're doing things wrong.

9 questions I wish the mainstream media would ask the TeaPublicans

1.  Why do you lie and distort the truth so much?

2.  Why do you continue to perpetrate the myth that lower taxes on the wealthy will create jobs? 

3.  Why do you continue to label President Obama's policies and failed and socialist?

4.  Why in your zeal to cut the deficit do you want to cut spending on the poor?

5.  Why are you so ridiculously intolerant and narrow minded?

6. When will you abandon your idolatry of Ronald Reagan?

7.  Why do you continuously hold meaningless votes and hearings?

8.  Why do you hate America's poor, homeless and workers so much?

9.  WHERE THE HELL ARE ALL THOSE JOBS YOU PROMISED?

This is how the republicans plan to siphon off 10% of the black/Hispanic vote in Florida so Wall Street Willie can "win" swing state Florida.....Governor Scott and his flunky, Lt. Governor Jennifer Caroll are going to use a Federal Data Base to disenfranchise them.  

Must See TeeVee Sunday NBC's Dateline with Lester Holt  re: Booker's Place a Mississippi reckoning.

You won't see it on TeeVee, but  prisoners in Georgia enter into the 5th week of a hunger strike, demanding medical care, due process and human rights.

Peace and Blessings, until next Sunday.

RedEye's Week In Review Friday the 13th Edition

This is what they mean when they scream, "I want my country back!", they're not far removed from this..What Would Jack Do

Which is why they are getting ready to play The Black Card, and nominate a well-liked (by who?), respected (by who?),  black woman for Republican Vice President because she will be a good vote getter(sic).  Snark

Meanwhile, another, well-liked, respected, republican, black, female Lt. Governor and Mitt Romney surrogate, is facing a Lesbian Sex Scandal.  Not surprisingly, gop women are defending her by bashing her accuser.  SMH


Lying, Liars, and the Liars who tell them, Mitt Romney Edition. You get what you vote for.

Mitt Romney took time off from his vacation to gloat about the high African American Unemployment numbers,  placing the blame on President Obama.  It's not President Obama's fault the republicans are obstructionist.   I guess Mitt is the only one who can get a pass for getting free stuff. Snicker

This is the kind of  Instructional Leader I wish we had instead of the Instructional Leader we have.  Madison County not on the same page as Huntsville on Digital Books.  And they wonder why those who can flee Huntsville to the detriment of those who can't.  


Friday the 13th Must Read
For Congressional  Dirtbags who Voted to Kick 18-26 Year Olds Off Their Parents Insurance Plan

The NAACP didn't Boo Mitt Romney,

The NAACP Booed WHAT Mitt Romney SAID.  As well they should have.  The mainstream media, led by the usual Lords of Loud are having multiple orgasms, reporting Romney was Booed when he spoke at the NAACP Convention, leading people who weren't there to believe he was Booed just because he was Mitt Romney, and an excuse to paint blacks as racist.  To quote The Field Negro, funny they didn't say that about  Joe Wilson.

It's true there were Boo's, but there was also applause, and a standing ovation for Mitt after his remarks.  The Boo's were as a result of his Lack of Respect for the President of the United States of America and his blatant display of condescending arrogance.

There are some who want to give Mitt credit for appearing at the NAACP Convention, but I'm not one of those.  I believe it was a calculated, political move, designed to raise money, and throw red meat at his base.  After all this is the same man who is friends with Donald "The Blacks" Trump, and is a member of a religion which excluded blacks, who said he saw his father marching with Martin Luther King, Jr.

Mitt couldn't wait to run to Fox News and claim many blacks support him....I guess it depends on what his definition of many blacks IS.

Today's Must Read
Romney Supports Voter ID Laws That Could Disenfranchise 25% of African Americans

Why we must fight like hell to protect the right to vote today.

 

H/T Ivan Ivanovich Renko via Jack and Jill Politics

Getting a check cashed is not a right.
Driving a car is not a right.
Getting into the club is not a right.
Buying a mojito is not a right.

When there appears to be the very least chance of interference with their 2nd amendment rights, wingnuts go pluperfect crazy.  Why the hell shouldn't we raise hell to protect our more fundamental rights--THE fundamental rights--of citizens of this republic?

This is why we must fight to protect our vote today.

This is why we must fight to protect our vote tomorrow.

This is why we must protect the right to vote forever!

Today's Must Read

The right to vote today.  The right to vote tomorrow.  The right to vote forever.

Update-RedEye's Independence Day Open Thread~2012

 

A funny thing happens when I attempt to reply to post comments on The Attack Machine.....I can't.  Guess I've been banned from there too.  Bummer.  It's a good thing I have my own blog so I can reply to Brian's concerns about  the implementation of the Affordable Health Care Act.  Psst Brian!  You are welcome to continue the discussion here at RedEye's front page! All points of view are welcome here.  Dissent is the highest form of Patriotism!


Brian :"It’s not that we have problem with people having health care, but it is the quality of health care that they receive."

RedEye:  Yeah, right.

B:  "Problem is that through this system, the people that are getting what you call access to health care aren’t paying for it, the government is and through the government, the taxpayers are paying for it. And those that aren’t paying will receive a level of care that they paid for."

R:  Problem is the people that are getting what I call access to health care CAN'T pay for it.  We the people (the government) CAN pay for it, and we should, because that's the American Way.  Health Care shouldn't be available only to those who can pay for it.  

B:  " If Medicare/Medicaid were equal to private insurance, there would be no need for supplemental plans."

R:  Bull Poop.  If we had Medicare/Medicaid for all there would be no need for supplemental plans. :)

B:  " Granted, your employer might cover you or they might not. They might look at the costs and decide that paying the fine is cheaper then providing health insurance."

R:  Keys word MIGHT NOT.  If they decide paying the fine is cheaper than providing health insurance that's on them.  We (the government) will use the fine money to  provide health insurance for their employees.

B:  I am not against affordable health care, but regulations and bureaucracies are not going to provide it."

R:  Says who?  The same people who want regulations and bureaucracies to provide and administer a government issued Voter ID card? :)

B:  "Telling insurance companies that they must spend 80% of premiums on health care might just encourage them to start paying more to doctors if they want a raise."

R:  Huh?  I don't hear Doctors complaining about needing a raise.

B:  "'One more thing that just occurred to me. The Affordable Health Care Act says that insurance companies cannot deny someone coverage for preexisting conditions, but doesn’t keep insurance companies from jacking up their rates if somebody does have a preexisting condition(s)."

R:  On this we can agree, insurance probably will jack up their premiums, which makes it a win, win for them and for the people who don't have access to health insurance. 

B:  "BTW, who do you think is going to pay for the subsidies and those added to Medicare/Medicaid?"

R:  The same people who pay for all war all the time.
     The same people who pay for NASA.
    We the people are going to pay for the subsidies added to Medicare/Medicaid.

     God Bless America!

July 4th Must Reads

What, to Black Americans, is the 4th of July

What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer; a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sound of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciation of tyrants brass fronted impudence; your shout of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade and solemnity, are to him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety and hypocrisy — a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of the United States, at this very hour.

Remember Thomas Jefferson's Betrayal

So, the ideal of equality Jefferson proclaimed, he also betrayed. He got it right when he wrote about "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" as the core of our human aspirations. But he lived it wrong, denying to others the rights he claimed for himself. And that's how Jefferson came to embody the oldest and longest war of all - the war between the self and the truth, between what we know and how we live.

Obama's not the first black President, he is the first President who is black. 

Here’s the reality that must be clearly understood. President Obama is not the first Black President; he’s the first President who is Black.  A Black President would have come into office with a “Black Agenda.”  If he were the first Black President he would be using his bully pulpit to champion legislation targeting unemployment in urban areas, poverty, income disparity, and other issues. This in no way should be interpreted to challenge his “Blackness.”  It’s about the agenda not the man.

What's that you say?  Obama has a white voter problem.  I'm shocked!  Shocked I tell you!  Not. 

The 4th of July  Indoctrination, Oppression, and Hypocrisy

Message to jobsanger, getting a warning that malware is attached to your blog and that you may have been hacked  when I attempt to click on your blog.

Playing the Black Card

When black folks raise a legitimate issue regarding racial inequalities/injustice, Righty's and the media say we are  playing the Race Card, in an attempt to marginalize and minimize the issue.   It's their way of saying STFU and STFD and wait on us to decide what is racist, or not.  RedEye Roll

So what do you call it when Righty's and the media play the Black Card?  What's the Black Card you ask?  Everyone knows the easiest and only  way for a black face to be a Talking TeeVee Pundit Head, or a rising star, is to be a black, conservative, republican.

Case in point, Artur Davis  (r. turncoat) was the only black face taking part of the Round Table discussion on  ABC's This Week.   As if he speaks for the majority of black folks.  As if he has any credibility.  But that's the point, he doesn't have any credibility, that's why he's on TeeVee.

The same can be said for former republican chair Michael Steele, and former Presidential candidate Herman Cain.

Righty's and the media aren't the only ones who play the Black Card, so called Progressive outlets do it to.

Left in Alabama played the Black Card big time during the recent Alabama Gubernatorial race, to the extent those who didn't go along to get along with them, like myself, were banned from the Blog.

I have to wonder if they are playing a new Black Card in a recent post praising Congresswoman Terri Sewell for being in the forefront of a Congressional Black Congress walkout over Attorney General Eric Holder being charged with Contempt of Congress.  As if that's a big deal.

In the interest of full disclosure, I supported Sewell's opponent Sheila Smoot in the Democratic Primary ( the last straw leading to my banishment) because I felt (and still do) the citizens of Congressional District 7 need and deserve a  an experienced, proven, representative after 8 years of Artur Davis (r. sellout).

Terri Sewell represents Alabama's 7th district, which includes Alabama's Black Belt region, home to some of the poorest counties in America.  Looking at Sewell's Website, I see her, dressed in designer suits, carrying a designer purse, in the forefront of photo ops, announcing grants/funding for USDA, and jobs for everywhere except the Black Belt Region.

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against Terri Sewell personally, and I don't begrudge her ability to purchase designer shoes/clothes/purses. She is a smart, accomplished, young lady from a good family who I'm sure are very proud of her.  But it's not about her, it's about the people in the 7th district.

I don't live, or work in the 7th district, but I have friends and family who are residents of the Black Belt region, and I can tell you they were hurting when Sewell was elected and they are still hurting now.  Especially since the TeaPublicans took over the Alabama Government.

I HOPE Left in Alabama isn't playing a new Black Card in an attempt to redeem themselves for playing the old Black Card, for the sake of the residents in the Black Belt region.

It's not about color of the skin, it's about the content of the agenda.