Governor Bentley: We need to protect people of our state from them there refugees

#PatelAlabama: Governor apologizes to the government of India for Alabama police treating one of their citizens like "a skinny black man"

Just in case you missed it, our Governor was interviewed on CNN this morning pontificating about his stand on the state line to keep Alabamans safe from them there Muslims, EYE mean, Syrian refugees.  He really didn't have a good reason to offer, so he named dropped that he was with Condolezza Rice yesterday, who allegedly told him Syria should set up a refugee camp over there to contain them.

This is the same Condolezza Rice who was the National Security Advisor that gave pResident George W. Bush a daily briefing one month prior to the 9/11 attacks that said Osama determined to attack inside the U.S. and didn't know what that meant.  The same Condolezza Rice who was the Secretary of State before, during and after Hurricane Katrina.

Governor Bentley also name dropped the director of Homeland Security, and the FBI, both of which are federal agencies, as in the federal government, as in the federal government he plans to obstruct and defy in order to keep Alabamans safe from them there refugees.  The same federal government that is the largest employer in Sweet Home Alabama.

Governors, 1950s: No black kids in our schools, some might be violent Governors, 2010s: No Syrian kids in our states, some might be violent

— Max Fisher (@Max_Fisher) November 16, 2015

More Alabamians have died from guns, natural disasters, and because they don't have access to quality affordable health care than from Muslims, EYE mean, refugees.  But don't let a little thing like facts get in the way of bigotry in the name of The Lord.  Our Governor kept saying he was at war with his heart and his head, and his head was winning.  As someone who claims to be a Christian doesn't he realize baby Jesus and His parents were refugees?

OH BOOM! pic.twitter.com/g5r0cCnWd0

— philip harris (@pharris830) November 16, 2015

EYE wish the citizens of Alabama had somewhere to run.

Governor Robert Bentley has made it clear: Alabama is open for business, but is closed for compassion. https://t.co/5TihHgU8vP

— AL.com (@aldotcom) November 16, 2015

To make the irony more explicit, Bentley will be joined at the conference with the Japanese by Martin Luther King III. An Alabama Governor is meeting with the Japanese – a population that America once forcibly detained for fear of the color of their skin – and is accompanied by the son of a man who Alabama once detained for fear of the color of his skin. The only thing that could make it more ironic would be if they convened in Huntsville, a city that prospered as the result of Alabama welcoming German scientists in the wake of World War II.

Who knew Shaq O'Neal was #14 on the list of 100 Most Influential African-American Republicans?

For the record, a black person being a republican is like a Turkey being for Thanksgiving IMHO.  Never the less, there are some who just can't help themselves as evidenced by the list of the 100 most influential African-American Republicans, according to Newsmax.

"Probably the biggest comment they have on the (website is) 'You mean there are 100 of them,"

Most on the list were the usual suspects Herman Cain, Artur Davis, Tim Scott, Condolezza Rice, Alan Keys, Colin Powell, and of course Ben Carson.  But there were some surprises too,  Who knew L.L. Cool J, James Earl Jones, and Shaq O'Neal were Sellouts, I mean among the 100 Most Influential Black Republicans?  My first clue should have been when Shaq endorsed Chris Christie for Governor.



Have They No Shame?

 Again, the  reason I oppose the republican party has nothing to do with me being a democrat, and I don't oppose republicans just to support democrats.  I oppose republicans because the people who perpetrated the 16th Street Baptist Church bombings and other terrorist acts joined the GOP.

Do You Know the Four Little Girls Names?

I'm looking at you 100 Influential African American Republicans.

"Civil Rights Justice on the Cheap"

 

NY Times Sunday Review by Diane McWhorter

This anniversary year could have been an opportunity for Birmingham to practice some rigorous truth and painful reconciliation. It has ended up being a balkanized, largely ceremonial affair. The city’s Empowerment Week, an underpublicized festival of imported panelists and celebrities concluding today, exemplified the crux of the mission’s flaw: why is it so difficult to extend the notion of empowerment to include the powerless? We are more comfortable devoting civic resources to media events and monuments, like the life-size sculpture of the girls unveiled in Birmingham this week, than addressing the persistent casualties of the history being commemorated.

 Modern-day Americans seem loath to do the right thing unless it’s also the smart thing — even “compassionate release” has to be touted for its cost-saving virtues. Birmingham’s black-majority city government knew it had to sell the yearlong commemoration of 1963 as a big economic boon and named a co-chairwoman highly palatable to the business establishment, the native daughter Condoleezza Rice.

 Federal judge orders Chris McNair be released from prison.

McNair is the father of Denise McNair, one of the four little girls killed in the KKK's bombing of Sixteenth Street Baptist Church on Sept. 15, 1963.

Why do they still hate us so much?

Texas congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson said progress is being made but vigilance is needed.
"There is nothing we can take for granted," she said. "There is not a person in this room that says they don't want equality, but when you start breaking down what equality is, things change, people differ."

All that blood, sweat, tears, and sacrifice wiped away with a 5-4 vote.

"For those of you who are tired of hearing about racism, imagine how much more tired we are constantly experiencing it." - Barbara Smith

Today in "It's OK if You Are a Black Republican Woman"

Dr. Susan Rice (D)

   

Do republicans really think all black folks look alike?  The reason I'm asking is because evidently, some in the GOP have Dr. Susan Rice and Dr. Condolezza Rice, both women of color, confused with each other.

 Dr. Susan Rice is being described by grumpy old (white) men as incompetent and unfit to be nominated to replace Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State because she relayed information given to her by those who are supposed to know in wake of the attack on the U.S. Embassy in Libya in a television interview.  Gasp!

Mind you, these are some of the same grumpy old (white) men who nominated and confirmed Dr. Condolezza Rice, who was the National Security Adviser on 9/11, to replace General Colin Powell as Secretary of State after they relayed information given to them by those who are supposed to know to take us to war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Was Dr. Condolezza Rice ever called incompetent and unfit to be Secretary of State?  Nope.  The republican party can deny the racism and sexism against Dr. Susan Rice, but the narrative and the facts just don't fit.

Admittedly, not every accusation of racism against the Republican Party has turned out to be actual racism. But the birther thing is. The Southern Strategy is. The Voter ID crusade is. And in numerous cases, Republicans hate the president because he represents the browning of America and the slow suffocation of white supremacy. They’re willing to permit a few tokens like Marco Rubio, Allen West and Condoleezza Rice because they serve a purpose: to blunt often valid criticism of racism in the party’s rhetoric and electoral strategy. But leaders like Susan Rice and Barack Obama are the real deal, with lopsidedly massive support among all minority groups. Republicans will never fully understand how badly the Southern Strategy has poisoned the party. And no matter how many “scare quotes” are employed or how many times they desperately reach back and try to paint the modern Democratic Party with a Dixiecrat brush, they’ve created this racism problem themselves and I doubt they can dig their way out of it.

There is more than a whiff of hypocrisy.

McCain's attacks ring hollow because Condi was National Sec advisory, ie. not merely reading a script, but helping to *write* it. She failed the country on 9/11 and helped spread the lies about Iraq and mushroom clouds. The Bush admin. pro-actively lied to us, lied about WMDs, about Bin Laden and Saddam being connected, lied about everything to get a war they've wanted long before 9/11 which led to the deaths of thousands of people, incl. 4500 American troops...yet we're supposed to believe that four deaths in a country going through transition, a country where the people rose up against the militias they blamed for those 4 deaths, a Libyan president apologizing to the US for those deaths, a country where they could've used more security, but the GOP voted AGAINST $$$ for security, is an impeachable offense? Get a mirror, rightwing assholes.
The GOP underestimates the public's ability to witness blatant hypocrisy. You'd think they'd realize that fact when they got their asses handed to them on election day. Quit pushing conspiracies that expose your party's bullshit and real agenda.

Opposition to Dr. Susan Rice based on performance is fair game, it's about the policies, not the sex of the person, the race of the person, or the party of the person. The sooner the GOP and the media realize this the better off our country will be.

"We are not going to let our campaign be dictated by fact checkers"

Oops!

This is the kind of media I wish we had all the time.  Watch Mitt get fact checked in real time.

I hope Candy Crowley doesn't lose her J-O-B because she did her J-O-B.  

BTW, Mitt and Company want to score political points over the President's handing of Libya, they must have forgotten that prior to 9/11 George W. Bush got a Presidential Daily Briefing from his National Security Adviser that said that  Osama bin Laden determined to attack inside the U.S., and on 9/11 he was in Florida reading My Pet Goat to school children while the country was under attack.

I'm just saying.....

RedEye's Snark Attack

Artur Davis punk'd Left in Alabama big time remix.  You knew it was coming...I can't help but snicker like Mutely watching the Cats and other Critters over at Left in Alabama ,who kicked me out of the Liter Box because I tried to tell them Artur Davis was a Corporate Bull Frog and  Poo Pot Punk,  doing backflips in an attempt to renounce, reject and repudiate their ahem  Chief Dis appointee,  so I thought I would compose this Artur Davis, Then and Now at Left in Alabama big Snark.

Isn't it ironic the GOP aims to say "see we like black people" by having two African American sellouts from Alabama on the stage at during their We hate Obama more than we love ourselves and our country hate fest, I mean convention in Tampa?  Meanwhile, it looks like Mitt's got a Mutiny going on among the House Slaves, I mean Negro Republicans.

Speaking of the GOP convention, I see the governors of Alabama, Mississippi, Florida and maybe Louisiana, are skipping the event because of Hurricane Issac.  All I'm going to say is if Issac blows through any of these states this week,  I better not see none them with their hand out asking for federal aid from President Barack Hussein Obama.

On the all politics is local front, this is what happens when the Huntsville City School Board and the competent white Superintendent, who replaced the inept black superintendent, panders to the right and the Huntsville Times berates those taxpayers who dare criticize/complain about their policies.  Is the children learning?  I think not, so, now that we know, what can/are we going to do about it? Start by reading this.

While I'm on the subject of education, I can't let the fact the State that can't shoot Straight, much to the delight of the anti-Alabama Education Association, Mayor William Bell, and Frank Matthews gang, decided they could do a better job of educating poor/black/brown students with a takeover of  the Birmingham City School System.  Mission Accomplished. Charter schools here we come.

Alabama State Senator Arthur Orr,(r. Decatur) sponsored a bill last week to remove discriminatory language regarding poll taxes and segregated schools from Alabama's 1901 constitution. Sounds goods on its face, right?

NOT.

Today's Must Read
Voter ID Laws:  The American Coup de tat

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

RedEye's Random Rants

Agabond must be reading this blog because they hit the nail on it's head with this post, which explains the difference between white racism and so called black racism. Black racism is not a mirror image of white racism. It is not equal and opposite. Instead it is different in scale and kind:

FED UP, this quote is for Y-O-U and yours.

Blacks do commit hate crimes and so on, but to think black racism is equal and opposite to white racism is to miss the nature of both white racism and black racism. White racism is institutional and cultural and a hundred times more powerful. Black racism is personal and, to a large degree, is a weakened form of white racism.

Some readers think I am just flipping the script, that I am a black Stormfront or something. A black Stormfront would talk about “whitey” and “white devils” and imagine blacks violently wiping out whites and so on. The strange thing is, nearly everyone who talks about that kind of stuff on this blog is white. So much so that when a black commenter talks like that I suspect him (it is always a him)

I hear you Mack Lyons.

A number of blogs have suffered from individuals who stumble in said discussions and dictate their own opinions, drawn from experiences that may be alien or inapplicable to the situations alluded to in the discussions. They expect everyone else to stop and listen, thereby becoming the center of attention by presenting themselves as a sage bearer of advice. Such advice usually comes from a perspective that's had zero experience with the discussion subjects or anything remotely similar.

But I refuse to moderate or ban people from this blog because I don't agree with their point of view, or, how they present their point of view. This blog was started because someone accused me of doing the very thing you described above. Everyone has the right to express their opinion in their own way. Readers have the right to react in their own way. Most of the time FED UP is on speech ignore, which is my right. The Trolls are everywhere but I can't suppress free speech. I just can't.

Welcome to my blogroll TheSkepticOne! You are my kind of Blogger!

But this is America, where equality and justice are still determined by the color of your skin. Studies continue to show that when the victim is white, 9 times out of 10, the Black defendant is given the death penalty...regardless of where the trial takes place in this country.

And believe it or not, a sitting United States Supreme Court Justice says it's okay to put an innocent man to death in America because the Constitution doesn't address the matter.

Birmingham Home Girl is a day late and a dollar short.

In the hopes of cleaning up history’s view of her and I guess selling more books.

Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that the Bush administration was dismissive toward her concerns over security in a post-war Iraq, according to excerpts from her autobiography that Rice tweeted about Sunday.

How the republicans plan to steal the 2012 Presidential election with Artur Davis providing the get away car and Herman Cain driving it away. Cheating is not winning.

"Once again, a major political party in the United States is running on a platform of making it more difficult for people to vote, specifically for the poor, the elderly, minority voters, and college students. Once again, the kind of "voter fraud" that these laws supposedly stop, a "national crisis" has never been documented. These laws exist for one reason: to tilt the electorate in favor of the Republican party. Period."

The rule of law or the rule of the jungle? I report. You decide.

Months of acts of aggression culminating in an extrajudicial execution sends a message to other countries, and even non-state actors, who find the US or any of its NATO allies to be a foe is that one must kill or be killed. This is the rule of the jungle, not of international law.

What a difference a Judge makes in Sweet Home Alabama. One Judge uses the 1901 Alabama Constitution to declare contract provision in Alabama immigration law unconstitutional in pending lawsuits. And another Judge uses the 1901 Alabama Constitution to keep a current law intact unconstitutionally discriminates against black and poor schoolchildren in Alabama.

"Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me 'Round"

"Free at Last, Free at Last."

9/11 Changed Everything *Sigh*

Here we go again. Ten years after the media enabled Bush and Company to use our grief over 911 to take us to war in Iraq and Afghanistan, the media is still using the "anniversary" of 911 as a weapon of mass distraction from the real issues facing the American people. It's Deja Voodoo all over again.

I can't pass by the TeeVee without a Talking TeeVee Pundit Head either reminiscing about "that fateful day" or parading then NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani , NY Governor George Patki, or some other republican who was in charge in front of the TeeVee praising them for their courage and leadership on 911 while hollering how they will never forget the victims of 911 blah, blah, blab, blab.

I will never forget that George W. Bush was the pResident on 911.

I will never forget that prior to 911 Bush was on a month long vacation.

I will never forget that while on his month long vacation NSA Condolezza Rice presented a PDB(President Daily Brief)that said Osama bin Laden determined to attack inside the United States.

Question; If 9-11 Had Happened When a Democrat Was President, Would the Republicans Have Impeached Him or Her?

Think back to the weeks immediately following 9/11. Couldn't you just hear the likes of Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter had this happened on Bill Clinton's or Barack Obama's watch? In the midst of the grieving, wouldn't you just have loved to listen to all the public threats of Congressional hearings about "what did the White House know" that would have been demanded by the Jim DeMint's and Michele Bachmann's of the world?

And I can just see the Muslim witch hunt that would have ensued under Congressman Peter King's direction (much like the one he's involved in now). Can't you just imagine the Fox News and talk radio roundtable discussions about how the President "failed to keep us safe" and how he was "weak on terror!"

Are survivors,friends and family of the victims going to have to relive 911 over and over again for eternity? How can we heal if we are forced by the media to relive that day over and over again for ratings?

Annette John-Hall, in her Philadelphia Inquirer column, writes that media coverage leading up to the 10th anniversary of 9/11 is beginning to take a toll on some family members of victims.

Hard to believe it's been a decade since terrorists hijacked jetliners on Sept. 11 and used them to kill thousands of innocent people, changing the world forever.

Feels like 10 years flew by. But at the same time, it feels like we've slogged our way through 20.

Media coverage begins as early as a month in advance and slowly churns to the actual day, observed by endless tributes, memorials, and ceremonies.

Blogger Rite Jack says the media should call it what it really is
911 - What Evangelical Fundamentalist Religion gets us

As we jack up the vengeance factor every year, should we question the "what lives are worth" rate? THEY got 3000 of us, we got about 300,000 of them which cost us another 3000. That's 50 to 1. Which I suppose is about right because we are all so friggin' exceptional.
Doing the math. Cost of both wars at $1.5 trillion, divided by 300,000 dead Muslims, I come up with $500 million each. I am overwhelmed with ZEROS, but time and again that's what I get. Can that be right? Math person help!
The problem with the old line, "Oh you never ask questions, when God's on your side," is it works for everyone.

Speaking of doing the math, has anyone but me noticed how the TeaPublicans and the Talking TeeVee Pundit Heads can recite the exact cost of the stimulus and other domestic spending, but nary a word about the human and monetary cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and 911's continuing toll on the U.S? What's up with that?

Total direct U.S. government spending on the Afghanistan and Iraq wars so far: $2,000,000,000,000

Amount that represents per U.S. household: $17,000

Percent by which bills yet to be received are expected to increase this amount: more than 50

Amount the U.S. is expected to spend this year on the war in Iraq: $48 billion

On the war in Afghanistan: $122 billion

Number of children who could be provided with health care for two years with the money being spent on those two wars in 2011 alone: 43 million

Here are some gop campaign slogans I composed during my tenure at Left in Alabama which are even more appropriate today.

GOP Campaign Slogans. All Hat and No Cattle.

Compassionate Christian Conservative, translation, we do our dirt in the name of the Lord.

No Child Left Behind, translation, No Child's Behind Left after we send them to war, gut public education and cut college student loans. Not to mention the impact high fuel prices are having because it raises the cost of food and the cost of heating and cooling homes.

Faith Based Intuitive, translation, lots of tax money for the Right Reverend Doctor Greedy Guts, unless of course your name is Reverend Wright.

Mission Accomplished, translation, high gas prices, record mortgage foreclosures, massive deficits, and debt as far as the eye can see.

Freedom isn't Free, translation, waive your flag while waiving your rights because 911 changed everything.

Support our troops, translation, support Bush and shut up.

Let the victims of 911 rest in peace.

Let the survivors go on with their lives.

Stop using our grief over 911 as a weapon of mass distraction.

911 changed everything.

But not for the better.

Enough of the revisionist history!

The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives and the dreams shall never die.~Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D. MA)