America hates us for our Freedom

Photo: Auburn Gay and Lesbian Alliance

America hates us.For years, the Black students at Auburn University have protested Kappa Alpha Order’s “Old South Parade,” a tradition that happens on college campuses where members of one of the oldest American fraternities celebrate the Confederacy. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee did it when he was a member. South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster did it when he was a member in college. So did Rep. Joe Kennedy III (D-Mass.), Roy Blount (R- Ala.), Former FBI director J. Edgar Hoover and former Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson, among many others.

#BlackLivesMatter on the football field, off the field all bets are off #SweetHomeAlabama Edition

EYE report what You decide

“In this moment in history, we can’t be silent.” pic.twitter.com/YF4ndJSpa0

— Alabama Football (@AlabamaFTBL) June 25, 2020

So, it took Minneapolis, MN police officer Derek Chauvin literally taking a knee on George Floyd's neck, killing him live and in living color for  8 minutes and 46 seconds for some (not to be confused with all) #Colonizers to wake up and smell the coffee and realize why Colin Kaepernick and other NFL players took a knee during the National Anthem. Yes, EYE know that was a run-on sentence but EYE digress.  The realization racist/racism has the potential to hit them where it really hurts...in their wallets and pocketbooks.

EYE suspect someone in the school of business at the University of Alabama developed a marketing plan to try and plug the holes and stop the Rising Tide ship from sinking. Let's not pretend black male athletes don't make up a high percentage of collegiate student-athletes.  

A new report from the Center for American Progress concludes that colleges and universities are making a great deal of money on football and men’s basketball – sports where African American men make up a large percentage of all athletes – while the African American athletes are not adequately reaping the benefits of this money-making machine.
The report states that “Black male college athletes are getting a bad deal. Their work on the court and the field generates vast profits for the NCAA, member colleges, and TV networks, yet student-athletes receive no share of the profits they generate. Moreover, the majority of black student-athletes participate in sports with the highest risks of physical injury.”

Despite the popular opinion of some African Americans care about their student-athletes.  Sure they would like for them to play in the #NFL and become rich and famous but at what cost?  What self-respecting black parents want to send their student to play in a state still flying the Confederate Flag, hanging nooses, EYE mean garage door pulls, burning crosses, and protecting Confederate monuments?  It's not like they don't have options.

“The [recruiting] process started before the season,” former Howard coach Gary Harrell told The Undefeated. “Caylin’s father [Cecil Newton Sr.] wanted something different for him. He could have gone anywhere in the country, and they could have paid his tuition anywhere. But they wanted an HBCU [historically black college or university], and they figured if it’s going to be an HBCU, why not the school that is considered to be the highest of all HBCUs.”

Everybody knows the University of Alabama is Trump Country so EYE have to question the motivation behind the PSA. 

EYE just do. 

EYE am "shocked and appalled" someone left a noose at the first race in Alabama after NASCAR announced it had banned Confederate flags at races and on NASCAR property

Shocked EYE tell you!

“I am shocked and appalled to hear of yesterday’s vile act against Bubba Wallace in Talladega — there is no place for this disgusting display of hatred in our state,” Ivey said in a statement. “Racism and threats of this nature will not be condoned nor tolerated, and I commit to assisting in any way possible to ensure that the person responsible for this is caught and punished. While the important conversation of racial reconciliation is ongoing all over our country, it is clear there is much work to do. Bubba Wallace is one of us; he is a native of Mobile and on behalf of all Alabamians, I apologize to Bubba Wallace as well as to his family and friends for the hurt this has caused and regret the mark this leaves on our state. I ask the NASCAR family to rally around Bubba and his team as they compete today and I know that there are more people who are wishing him well today than ever before.”

Says the Governor who signed the Confederate Monument Protection Act but EYE digress.

EYE am so NOT shocked 

The Confederate flags that once flew openly around the infield and stands are still for sale across the street. NASCAR hasn't disclosed how it will handle fans flying flags.

Nor am EYE so NOT surprised 

This is why we can’t have nice things in Alabama. Because the redneck jokes write themselves when a bunch of hillbillies get all riled up over not being able to fly their traitor flag at their car racing/beer drinking event.

Fake shock and awe aside you can't have it both ways.  You are either for preserving Confederate monuments and symbols or you are not and this is who/what represents "the disgusting displays of hate" in #SweetHomeAlabama.  It all starts in the home.  Parents are the first teachers. 

“I will teach my grandkids to hate you all” pic.twitter.com/f2IO0awyjg

— chris evans (@notcapnamerica) June 22, 2020

There is more than a whiff of hypocrisy.

"Shame. Notice the police protecting them. No riot gear. No tear gas. No rubber bullets. He has his back to them scanning the crowd because he identifies with them."

#WeTriedToTellYa 

"The danger of Donald Trump is much more extent to my community," Reid said. "It's much more extent to both my immigrant relatives, to African-Americans, to Latinos, it's not about whether or not we can regain our public standing on the world stage and be seen as America, as America was, to people who look like me, it's about imminent danger."
"Donald Trump is dangerous to our families, he's dangerous to our lives," Reid warned. "The, you know, my son, my -- our youngest son goes to Syracuse University, where right now, you know, the manifesto of the Texas shooter is being sent around to immigrant students, to black students, to Asian-American students."

RedEye's #MondayMotivation BlogStoll

State of our town flag seems an apt metaphor for our democracy:  constricted and tangled.
Save our country!#resist pic.twitter.com/LtWVVqTf5Y

— Amy Siskind (@Amy_Siskind) July 10, 2017

Education Blogger geekpavaler is back on the case and so is Larry Lee.  #HCS isn't the only school board fiddling while Rome burns, which explains why #SweetHomeAlabama is number 1 in college football and last in everything else.  

Surprise!  Surprise!  Surprise! Says, no one.   The Trump Administration is"Making America Great Again" by trampling on black and poor people. 

As the young people say, let's flip the script, what if Chelsa Clinton had met with a Russian Lawyer to get dirt on Donald Trump?  EYE am just saying.

So, where are the pro-TrumpCare rallies?

#resist

Edited~ Did you know it is "We still hate N-Words" Month in #SweetHomeAlabama?

Hell Naw we ain't fergittin...

Well it's that time of the year again. You know, when the White citizens of #SweetHomeAlabama  takes great pride in showing the Black Citizens how they really feel, and bolsters its Confederate Memorial Day (which popped up this Monday) with a month-long celebration of all that is slave-holding and treasonous.  Yes, they want us to forget Slavery, yet there is always something thrown in our face to remind us of days gone by.

A number of states have been feeling slightly more ashamed of the traitors and slave-holders that decorate their town-squares, but it’s far from a universal attitude.
… many states are moving in the opposite direction. Like Alabama, Mississippi is celebrating its Confederate heritage this month, yet discussion of the slavery the state once depended on is almost entirely absent from official state proclamations of the holiday — which includes only a vague allusion to “mistakes.” The state also rejected a push in February to remove the Confederate cross from its state flag.

 Thank goodness for Mississippi.  Snark.

“I am pleased that the Architect of the Capitol will no longer display symbols of hatred and bigotry in the esteemed halls of the United States House of Representatives,’’ Thompson said in a statement. “As I said last summer, this is the People’s House and we should ensure that we, as an institution, refuse to condone symbols that seek to divide us.’’

Remember when EYE told you it takes power to exercise racism? Well here's your Power right here. 

Alabama is currently celebrating Confederate Heritage Month with a state-wide holiday and a series of public events aimed at remembering and honoring those who fought on the side of southern, slave-owning states during the Civil War. At one such event this week, organized by the Ladies’ Memorial Association, Alabama’s Secretary of State John Merrill lamented recent calls to remove Confederate symbols from government buildings.

“The next question that has to be asked is so what’s the next thing you are going to do,” he asked, “are you going to take a bulldozer to the monument and forget what people fought for to preserve a way of life that makes us special and unique?”

RedEye tiptoeing away from the computer whistling Dixie..... 

Update: "Well Behaved Women Rarely Make History" and "Well Done Protest is Always Inappropriate" #BlackHistoryMonth2016

Update:  Clinton apologizes for 1996 remarks on 'super-predators' after encounter with activist.

In case you haven't heard, the woman who is attempting the break the already cracked glass ceiling to  become the first female President of the United States of America was confronted by a young, black, female activist at a private, $500.00 per person fundraiser in Charleston, SC last night.  Yes, the interruption was rude and disruptive, but so was Hillary's response.

For those who have been living under a rock, Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton are in a fight to the finish for the black vote.  Both of them, as my Daddy used to say, are N-wording up.

With the Democratic candidates’ first test in the South approaching, a battle of high-profile surrogates is intensifying as Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Sanders vie for the support of African-American voters, who are expected to make up more than half of the primary electorate in the Palmetto State.

As Super Tuesday draws near EYE am still undecided which democratic candidate EYE will vote for.  Just when EYE think my mind is made up, one of the candidates, or their supporters, do or say something that brings me right back to being undecided.

 

EYE don't know who is advising Hillary, but EYE HOPE it's not the same people who advised President Obama and others to pander to those who might vote for them at the expense of those who did, and will vote for them.  It was  not a good look to be campaigning with the Mothers of victims of gun and police violence one day and marginalize their daughters the next day.  

Listen up Bernie and Hillary, the young people are sick and tired of photo ops and lip service.

Pulley said Thursday she was not interested in being a part of what she called "a photo opportunity and a 90-second sound bite for the president."
"I was under the impression that a meeting was being organized to facilitate a genuine exchange on the matters facing millions of Black and Brown people in the United States," Pulley wrote in an op-ed piece. "I could not, with any integrity, participate in such a sham that would only serve to legitimize the false narrative that the government is working to end police brutality and the institutional racism that fuels it. For the increasing number of families fighting for justice and dignity for their kin slain by police, I refuse to give its perpetrators and enablers political cover by making an appearance among them."

The young people aren't the only ones who are sick and tired of being sick and tired. If either of you really want to understand the fear, yes EYE said fear, of being black in America, and the significance of the Black Lives Matter Movement, yes, EYE said Movement, as in the Civil Rights Movement both of you like to use as props, watch last nights' episode of black-ish, then go out and earn the Black vote.

We want our HOPE for Change we can Believe in Back.

#BlackHistoryMonth2016

In honor of Black History Month and since South Carolina is Ground Zero for the battle for the hearts and minds of Black voters, here an excerpt from a previous post reminding us about the history of South Carolina.

So now it's on to the racist, I mean conservative, Christian, red, republican, Confederate, slave state of South Carolina. Which may explain why Willard starting slinging red meat in his victory speech,accusing President Obama of not knowing what it means to be an American, who wants to turn America into a European-style entitlement society. Code for birth certificate, welfare, food stamps. 

Here are some facts about the conservative state of South Carolina, which according to the Talking TeeVee Pundit Heads, is known for it's bare knuckles politics.

South Carolina is the home of The Orangeburg Massacre at South Carolina State University where three black students were shot and killed by police during a peaceful protest. 

South Carolina is the home of former republican U.S. Senator Strom Thurmon, racist by day, hypocrite by night. 

South Carolina is the home of current republican U.S Senator Jim "Waterloo" Demint. 

South Carolina is the home of U.S. Congressman Joe "You Lie" Wilson. Speaking of Congressman Joe "You Lie" Wilson, he will address a group of defense and military leaders at a $1,000.00 per person luncheon in Huntsville, AL today. Dale "voter suppression with the state seal of approvall" Jackson will introduce Congressman Mo "I will do anything short of shooting them" Brooks who I'm assuming will introduce Wilson. What's up with out of state/city Congress Critters raising money in North Alabama? 

South Carolina is the state vowing to sue the United States Department of Justice, to enact a state voter ID law, which they have already said punishes black voters.
South Carolina is the state where republican Governor Nikki Haley rejects the NAACP push to remove the Confederate Flag from atop the Statehouse. 

I can't wait to see which candidate will emerge victorious in the Battle for South Carolina.

RedEye

Note:  The quotes in the title are by  Laurel Thatcher Ulrich and Matthew Williams

Hatred and Bigotry in the name of The Lord #Black HistoryMonth2016

See the "Closed on Sunday" sign?  Check out the Picture of Jesus in the window

Meanwhile down in Sweet Home Alabama...

Dana Jones, a found member of the FTC, said it made perfect sense for the flag to be there at the first capital of the Confederacy. Her reasoning? She wants it to spark interest in the role the state of Alabama played in the Civil War. According to Jones, as descendants of the Confederacy, their Confederate lives matter just as the lives of blacks.
When asked if she didn’t think the flag was a “slap in the face” against the predominantly black university, Jones responded: “I’m not prejudiced (or) racist, I am a Christian.”

BlackHistoryMonth2016

On this day in 1965 Martin Luther King Jr. met with President Lyndon Johnson to discuss Voting Rights for African Americans which the Supreme Court struck down in 2013 because Obama.

RedEye 

RedEye's Rundown #LiberalMediaMyDonkey

Think there's a quite dangerous tendency in media to rationalize and minimize the extent to which bigotry animates GOP primary electorate

— Greg Pinelo (@gregpinelo) November 2, 2015

Yes, We're Still a Nation of Cowards

Dear Black Children Everyone Can Beat You

B-But Black Culture....

If the media were liberal we wouldn't be in this mess.

Parents are the first teachers.

Something to think about

RT @milesjreed: pic.twitter.com/U41O4vRnqd

— FriendofTrees (@JamiaStarheart) July 21, 2015

Desperate times call for desperate and despicable measures #ConfederateFlag

Genius Dinesh D'Souza posts photoshopped picture of Hillary Clinton with a confederate flag pic.twitter.com/CVbzKH2E83

— Olivia Nuzzi (@Olivianuzzi) July 7, 2015

"Was blind but now I see"

Please read this powerful, provocative, and persuasive Facebook post by a young person who has seen the light. You will see the reason people are talking about, and sharing this post. 

How do you not condemn the waving of the Confederate Flag in front of the White House?

The more I researched about the history of the flag, the worse I felt. What I had been told about its history was wrong. Thousands of southerners still fly the flag with no racist intent. They still defend the good things they’ve been told about the flag. They, like I once was, are WRONG. The flag is a symbol of a way of life that was wrong. Not that it needs to be stated, but slavery is one of the most evil and cruel things this world has ever seen. The Confederate flag represents this evil. Where is the pride in that?"

 "I believe the Children are our future, teach them well and let them lead the way." The Greatest Love of All

Memorial Day 2015, just like Memorial Day 2014. Same Stuff, Different Year

 The Memorial Day History Forgot.

Medgar Evers survived WWII, only to be murdered fighting for democracy and human rights when he returned to the U.S.  Evers fought for voting rights and investigated/exposed the murders of African Americans such as Emmett Till, Clinton Melton, and many more. To honor his memory and sustain his legacy, teach about Megar Evers and the many other war veterans who were killed when they returned, most often for trying to vote.

The simple white marble headstones lined up in rows across Arlington National Cemetery are arranged without regard to rank, gender, branch of military or race. The cemetery however began in a time of slavery, through segregation and discrimination. Many of the men and women buried in Arlington National Cemetery broke through barriers and boundaries to become the first of their race to reach certain military accomplishments. - See more at: http://www.freetoursbyfoot.com/black-history-of-arlington-national-cemetery/#sthash.H4jeJ5Nm.dpuf

Fast forward to #MemorialDay2015:  Cleveland Police arrest African American protesters for protesting.

The protesters had largely been orderly as they marched around downtown and into several nearby neighborhoods after the acquittal of Police Officer Michael Brelo was announced this morning.
As police drove the protesters away from the East Fourth area, people cheered the officers from the Euclid Avenue sidewalks, many recording the action.

So this is the land of the free and the home of the brave....

 When you celebrate Memorial Day, raise a fist for John Sims. Thank him for speaking his mind and expressing his beliefs. The Confederate flag is a symbol of white supremacy and the years of suffering of black people, and that lingering hope of some that we will return to toiling in the cotton fields, and swinging from the poplar trees if we get too uppity. This is the N-word on a pole. If America had its own version of the Nazi swastika, this would be it.

Happy Memorial  Day.  It's like Deja Vu all over again.

I write this post in honor and in memory of my paternal grand father who fought overseas in World War 2  then returned to the Jim Crow south to teach at what was known then as the Veterans Continuation School (pre GI Bill), a federal program designed for veterans returning home from the war to continue their education. He and my paternal grandmother taught classes at night and received a stipend. One of the classes they taught was how to pass the Literacy test. My grandparents were exempt from paying the $2.00 poll tax and allowed to vote because they were teachers at the school. So you see, even though my paternal grandfather was a WW2 veteran he didn't have the full rights and privileges he'd risked life and limb fighting for overseas.

 RedEye

When a comment becomes a blog post #Selma50 #WhiteGuilt

In the 1800s, the Black Belt area of Dallas County, Alabama -- home of Selma -- was one of the most prosperous areas in the country, enjoyed by the white elite. Today it has the highest poverty rate in the state. (Photo: Chris Kromm/Facing South)

In a lame attempt at tone deaf, racial, concern trolling, Upset Resident, aka FED Up, aka DARYAL Pinchon, had this to say in response to my #Selma50 Round Up. 

Selma: "One small step for a black man, one giant leap for inducing white guilt"
By every possible metric measuring social capital in a community, the 80 percent black city of Selma is a monumental failure.


Here’s a brief overview of 80 percent black Selma in 2015 (courtesy of Hunter Wallace):

In 2015, Selma is 80 percent black and now has a black mayor, a black chief of police, a black district attorney, a black school superintendent, a majority black city council, and a majority black police force.

In 2015, Selma City Schools are 97 percent black. Last year, the Alabama Department of Education’s Board of Education voted unanimously to take over Selma City Schools in the aftermath of a scathing state investigation.

In 2015, fifty years after the Voting Rights Act was passed, Selma has lost a third of its population, around 10,000 White people.

In 2015, 42 percent of the population of Selma lives in poverty, which is twice the state average in Alabama.

In 2015, Selma is represented in the US Congress by a black woman, Rep. Terri Sewell, in the Alabama House of Representatives by a black man, State Rep. Darrio Melton, and in the Alabama Senate by a black man, nine-term incumbent State Sen. Hank Sanders.

In 2015, Selma is the fourth most dangerous city in Alabama with the third highest number of murders per capita and the fourth highest number of property crimes.

In 2015, Selma is struggling with code enforcement on numerous blighted, abandoned homes.

In 2015, Selma is one of the worst cities in which to do business in Alabama.

In 2015, Selma is an epicenter of new HIV infections in rural Alabama. The HIV infection rate in Dallas County is 106.8 percent above the national average.

So, the new and improved Selma in 2015 is plagued by extreme poverty, STDs, high crime, terrible schools, a terrible business climate, high unemployment, low property value, low civic engagement and racial strife by the likes of Faya Rose Toure. Yet the Voting Rights Act was unquestionably a huge success in Selma where blacks now occupy every public office which their numbers allow them to dominate.

It's their city now, with Selma's current conditions a reflection of its majority black population. [Selma's message on civil rights 50 years later:As President Obama prepares to visit Selma five decades after 'Bloody Sunday,' how the civil rights struggle has – and hasn't – changed an epicenter of the movement., Christian Science-Monitor, 3-6-15]:

True, Selma now has black leaders in positions of power, including the mayor, police chief, district attorney, six out of eight city council members, and four out of five school board members. True, Selma’s black population is quick to speak out against injustices – and has overcome innumerable ones.

But the journey toward equality is still a long march. Black children here are more likely to grow up in poverty, less likely to graduate, less likely to attend college, and less likely to become homeowners. Sections of Selma remain sharply segregated, partly because of white flight and partly by choice. Jobs are scarce, and even harder to obtain for those who lack adequate education and skills.

But none of this matters, because Selma is only recognized every March when every last ounce of white guilt can be squeezed out of the crumbling majority black city.

March 10, 2015 at 5:00 AM

 This is my response with links inserted for emphasis and clarity. 

Selma is a crumbling black majority city located in a majority white/republican state, with a white/republican Governor, two white/republican Senators, and 6 white/republican and one black/democrat (who will vote with white/republican) members of Congress, a majority white/republican state legislature,  a white/republican State Attorney General, a majority White/republican State Board of Education, and an all white/republican State Supreme Court.

A white/republican Governor who refuses to expand medicaid despite the FACT " The HIV infection rate in Dallas County is 106.8 percent above the national average."
A white/republican Governor who is closing State Mental Health Hospitals and Women's Wellness and Health Clinics despite the fact "42 percent of the population of Selma lives in poverty, which is twice the state average in Alabama." Then whine about the STD rate.

A majority white/republican state legislature that cuts the budgets of law enforcement while passing Open Carry gun laws,  then whine about the crime rate.

A majority white/republican state legislature whose first order of business when they took control of the state legislature was to file Shelby County v. Holder paving the way for the majority white/republican Supreme Court to gut section 5 of the voting rights act, allowing white/republican legislature to pass Voter ID bills and Gerrymander they way into lifetime jobs.

A white/republican Governor/Senator, Congress and State Legislature who have made sure Selma is one of the worst cities in which to do business in Alabama.

Selma Behind the Scenes

In 1965, Selma was about half-white; today only 18 percent of residents are. Many affluent whites live near the Selma Country Club, located just west of downtown and the Edmund Pettus Bridge. The Los Angeles Times reports that the club today doesn't have a single black member.

Across the street from the country club is Live Oak Cemetery, divided into "Old" and "New" sections. In 2012, protests erupted when whites moved a statue of Confederate and Klan member Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest to the site; at one point the bust was stolen off of Forrest's statue.

Rolling under the Edmund Pettus Bridge is the Alabama River. A recent report found Alabama to have the third-most toxic waterways in the country, including the lower sections of the Alabama. The biggest employer in Dallas County is International Paper Co.'s Riverdale Mill, which ranks 21st in the state for toxic releases -- more than 1.3 million pounds annually (although some have applauded the company's pollution-reduction efforts). The short-changing of the environment for economic development usually affects poor and black communities the most: Just north of Selma, majority-black Perry County -- where local civil rights activist Jimmie Lee Jackson was murdered in 1965, helping spark the Selma protests -- became the dumpsite for toxic coal ash spilled in 2009 in Tennessee. The dump is the target of civil rights complaint.

The Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) was busy under cover of night distributing leaflets around Selma. Atlanta Progressive News obtained an image of one of the flyers.
Also a billboard, visible from the historic Edmund Pettus Bridge, features a Confederate flag and invites visitors to tour “Selma’s War Between the State’s Historic Sites.”

"But none of this matters, because Selma is only recognized every March when every last ounce of white guilt can be squeezed out of the crumbling majority black city." 

 As well it should be, and not just in March, but year long.

America held hostage by Sore Losers Day 14

Would someone please tell the TeaPublicans and the white, male dominated Talking TeeVee Pundit Heads that President Obama won twice?  It's not just political districts.  Our news is gerrymandered too.

It isn’t just politicians that are feeding their bases, it is the media outlets, as well. The village common — you know, that place where we all meet to discuss our problems, relying on the same set of facts — has shrunk to the size of a postage stamp, surrounded by the huge gated communities of like minds who never venture into the great beyond.

 Case in point

 There is no such law, I am aware who would need to indict Showers but a little MSM media attention would go a long way…

Tweet of the Day

So it upsets you when a poor person buys some Mountain Dew with their #EBT card, but not when a rich person buys your congressman?
— Grand Old Parody (@GrandOldParody1) October 13, 2013

Today's Must Read

Fox Recruited Mob Call For Reversal Of Policy Demanded By Previous Fox-Recruited Mob

H/T Rachael Maddow Fan Page

Psst Senator John McCain! Republicans are humiliating themselves.

America on Cruz Control Day 7

The GOP infused, media enabled, Tea Party has been planning the government shutdown since last year.  They knew they could count on the Suckers from the Gerrymandered districts to waive their right to have access to quality, affordable, healthcare, while waiving their Confederate Flags.  Republicans take Soreloserdom to a different level.  I wish the democrats had closed down the government until all the votes in Florida were counted in 2001.

Today's Must Read

The "Welfare Queen", The "Homeless by Choice" Reagan's Toxic Legacy

You remember the Welfare Queen, don't you? The welfare queen stereotype (circa 1976) is a picture that some whites still have in their heads about black women.
The Welfare Queen lived very comfortably (after all, she had 35 different IDs and 35 monthly checks from welfare, plus child support), and raised her many children without a husband or partner.  All of the children had different fathers.  The pervasive stereotype was that black women are unwilling to work, unwilling to control our insatiable sexual appetites, and unwilling to better ourselves (because the world, or the federal government to be precise, owes us a living). 

“You and other journalists have a real shortcoming in that you are trying so hard to be fair that you are unfair,” Reid said. “Democrats have had almost nothing to do with the problems here. It’s all Republicans.”

You think?

Question: Are we a nation of cowards?

Who gets to determine if something is racism, or, if someone is a racist, or not...the person(s) who has been the victims.....or the person(s) who has not?  I ask this question for insight into a post I'm trying to write.

Click and read the hyperlinks and think about  it.  I would love to hear your answers if you are brave enough to share them.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Eric Holder, the country’s first African-American attorney general, called the United States “a nation of cowards” Wednesday for failing to candidly talk about matters of race.
In a speech to Justice Department employees commemorating Black History Month, Holder said average Americans remain uncomfortable with race-related issues and need to do more to confront them head on.
“Though this nation has proudly thought of itself as an ethnic melting pot, in things racial we have always been and we, I believe continue to be in too many ways, essentially a nation of cowards,” Holder said.

RedEye

Friday Funnies

Sometime you have to laugh to keep from crying.  Get your giggle on.~RedEye

Fist Dap to countrycat at Left in Alabama  for this Laugh out Loud of the week.

WTH?  I know we tend to dismiss some members of the Alabama legislative super-majority as "weasels" (with apologies to the actual weasels among us), but what the heck are these guys wearing on their heads?  Speaker Mike Hubbard is preening about his involvement in the so-called "pro-life rally" today in Montgomery - so much so that we wouldn't be surprised to see him sporting a peacock tail.
But what's UP with the hats & capes?  It's like some kind of reverse skunk outfit.  And that can't possibly be Dan Aykroyd in the middle, but maybe a cousin....

 

Republican whine of the day.....we lost the 2012 presidential election because of "that one".  "We’re what needs to be fixed in the Republican party? Seriously?"  Oh. OK.

 

All I'm going to say is the The Talking TeeVee Pundit Heads must think we are insane.  Fist Dap Gorilla Pig via The Platzner Post

GOP dominates Politics in Alabama! YeeHaw!

First Confederate Flag, now flying over Alabama State Capitol

 
This photo of Montgomery is courtesy of TripAdvisor

I can't figure out of the Alabama GOP is bragging or complaining about their "domination" of Alabama politics  in a recent article on al.com entitled;  GOP dominates politics in Alabama and plans to keep it that way.  Kind of sounds like they are bragging but....

 "I believe the days are coming that you are going to have to be a Republican, unless you are in a minority district," to get elected, said state Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh, R-Anniston.

In any event, the article confirmed my assertion the only way to get elected  in Sweet Home Alabama is run for office as a democrat in order to take advantage of the traditional democratic base, then govern as as a republican.  And you wonder why they are called politicians......

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — State Rep. Lynn Greer, of Rogersville, has been elected to office off and on since 1974.
He's in his fourth term in the Alabama House and spent nearly a decade on the Public Service Commission.

The Alabama Legislature begins its annual regular session on Feb. 5. Frank Couch/fcouch@al.com  

He's now a Republican, but until the late 1980s he had a "D'' by his name like almost all of Alabama's elected leaders. Greer said his politics didn't change: He's always been conservative. "You basically had liberal Democrats, middle-of-the-road Democrats and conservative Democrats, which probably should have been Republicans," Greer said of his early political career.
He was not alone.
"If you were going to get elected, you had to run as a Democrat," said Speaker of the House Mike Hubbard, R-Auburn, a former chairman of the state GOP credited with orchestrating the Republicans' 2010 takeover of the state Legislature.

So, now that they have gerrymandered their way into dominance, and, since it's no way a democrat, strike that, a real democrat, can ever win, what does that mean for the Great State of Alabama?   Here is a preview......

Alabama will continue to be #1 in Football and dead last on everything else.

Why?  Because  in our rich southern heritage, culture trumps self interest. 

“They are very biblical down here.”

Today's Must Read
Media Politics:  Outrage, Lies and Occasional Facts

240,000 white republicans have spoken in New Hampshire, now it's on to South Carolina. Yee Haw!

And the winners are, Willard "Flip/Flop Mitt" Romney, Ron "racist newsletters" Paul, and John "country first McSame" Huntsman, in that order.  Willard may have won, but  60% of voters voted for for the other guys. Which tells me republicans aren't sold on their front runner.  I wonder why?  Snark

So now it's on to the racist, I mean conservative, Christian, red, republican, confederate, slave state of South Carolina.  Which may explain why Willard starting slinging red meat in his victory speech, accusing President Obama of not knowing what it means to be an American,  who wants to turn America into a European-style entitlement society.  Code for birth certificate, welfare, food stamps.  

Here are some facts about the conservative state of South Carolina, which according to the Talking TeeVee Pundit Heads,  is known for it's bare knuckles politics.

South Carolina is the home of  The Orangeburg Massacre at South Carolina State University where three black students were shot and killed by police during a peaceful protest.

South Carolina is the home of former republican U.S. Senator Strom Thurmon, racist by day, hypocrite by night.

South Carolina is the home of  current republican U.S Senator Jim "Waterloo" Demint.

South Carolina is the home of U.S. Congressman Joe "You Lie" Wilson.  Speaking of Congressman Joe "You Lie" Wilson, he will address a group of defense and military leaders at a  $1,000.00 per person luncheon in Huntsville, AL today. Dale "voter suppression with the state seal of approvall" Jackson will introduce Congressman Mo "I will do anything short of shooting them" Brooks who I'm assuming will introduce Wilson.  What's up with out of state/city Congress Critters raising money in North Alabama?

South Carolina is the state vowing to sue the United States Department of Justice, to enact a sate voter ID law, which they have already said punishes black voters.

South Carolina is the state where republican Governor Nikki Haley rejects the NAACP push to remove the Confederate Flag from atop the Statehouse.

I can't wait to see which candidate will emerge victorious in the Battle for South Carolina.

Orangeburg, S.C.  A student loaded onto a gurney after the shooting on Feb. 8, 1968. Photo by Bill Barley.
Today's Must Reads
The Rude Pundit, A Brief List of Conservative Men Who Need to Be Punched in the Balls.

Shock Treatment

A Massachusetts Mormon vs The Safe Black Guy for President

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