RedEye Around Red State AlaBAMA~Update

 H/T Teanderthal Party

Most red states are dirt poor because they are fed a steady diet of distortions via News(sic) Talk  Radio, whose job it is to use the public airways to misinform the uniformed, and, distract them with so called wedge issues, which in turn, makes them vote against their self interest.  

I meet you all the time. You hate Obama. You hate gay people. You hate black people, immigrants, Muslims, labor unions, women who want the right to make choices concerning their bodies, you hate em all. You hate being called racist. You hate being called a bigot. Maybe if you talked about creating jobs more than you talk about why you hate gay people we wouldn't call you bigots. Maybe if you talked about black people without automatically assuming they are on food stamps while demanding their birth certificates we wouldn't call you racist. You hate socialism and social justice. You hate regulations and taxes and spending and the Government. You hate.

RedEye's  Right Wing Watch

I'm glad I have my own blog to debunk the right wing distortions since Dale "Jackson" won't allow me to comment on his blog because he's afraid to engage me in a debate/discussion.Yep, the same Dale who refuses to debate me online is demanding that Huntsville City Councilman Will Culver bow down, I mean, apologize to him, for daring to walk out of the Council meeting after Dale took aim at him and Calhoun Community College , and, for (get this) threatening to sue Dale, which he really didn't threaten to do, and even if he did so what? 

"I'm saddened by the inaccuracy of the information that's being disseminated," said Culver. "All those things that are being alleged did not happen."
During the ensuing debate over whether Jackson should be allowed to continue speaking, a clearly agitated Culver packed his briefcase, walked out of the meeting and did not return.
On Friday, Culver called Jackson's allegations "totally unfounded" and said he is "looking at my legal options."

Psst Dale!  Will Culver has the right (pun intended) to pack up his briefcase and walk out of  meeting and to look at his  legal options.  You can't force him to recant his charge any more than he can force you to recant your charges.  You both have 1st amendment rights, remember?  You might want to read  this.  I'm just saying...BTW, you are welcome to comment on my blog anytime because I believe in freedom of speech.

The same Alabama Red Republican Controlled State Legislature that wants to arm teachers, recently passed new gun laws, and the so called Alabama Accountability Act, want to ban certain books in public schools because (wait for it), State Senator Bill Holtzclaw (yes you read it right) finds Nobel Prize winning author Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye highly objectionable and sees no value or purpose in this book, educational or otherwise.  And you wonder why most red states are dirt poor?

The University of  Alabama sorority row bought, I mean, brought, a late surge in voter registrations for Tuesdays election which helped elect  Lee "Penis Nose" Garrison President of the Tuscaloosa City School Board. And how did the Sorority girls pull off such a feat you ask?  Why they did what any self respecting Southern Belle, I mean, Sorority girl would do...they chartered them some stretch limos and offered free drinks to members who voted.  There are allegations,  not to be confused with facts, that some of the voters weren't even from Alabama.  Why does this remind me of State Senator Scott Beason's infamous Aborigines comment?

The recording followed a different conversation that jurors heard Thursday in which Beason and other Republican senators can be heard talking about “HUD-financed buses” taking black voters to the polls in the November 2010 election if the ballot included a referendum to legalize electronic bingo.

Meanwhile way down yonder in Mobile, Alabama,  the white candidate mayoral beat the incumbent black mayoral candidate with a white surge . Surge must be the word of the day for Al.com.

Mayor Sam Jones lost support among both white and black voters in Tuesday’s election, compared with his first successful mayoral race eight years ago, an AL.com/Press-Register analysis suggests.

White voters left him for challenger Sandy Stimpson, while black voters abandoned him for home.

The difference is that there were fewer black voters, while white turnout was higher and went emphatically for Stimpson.

 Steve Raby, the mayor’s political consultant, said he did not know why white voters turned out in such higher numbers than blacks.

 There's just one little problem with this analysis....

Overall, voter turnout was 46 percent, roughly the same as in 2005.

Which leads me to believe the part about black voters abandoning the black candidate for home, which black voters don't do because the right to vote is sacred to black voters, which is why republicans are trying to suppress the black vote, is not true, but the part about white voters abandoning the black candidate, is true.

On Tuesday, Jones did not come close to winning a district where white voters outnumber blacks. Turnout averaged 48 percent in the precincts that are at least 55 percent white and exceeded 50 percent in five of them. In the precincts that are at least 55 percent black, meanwhile, turnout averaged only 39.2 percent

Rut Rho...Absentee ballots brings scrutiny and confusion on Election Day.

Less than an hour into the Mobile municipal election, people were already complaining of issues at the polls — the most common of those being that when the voter went to the poll, he or she was marked as already voted by absentee ballot. 

The absentee ballots in this election have become a flashpoint over the past few days after it came to light Friday that the U.S. Postal Inspector was looking into possible mail fraud in regard to the way the ballots were being sent in. The inspector, Tony Robinson, told FOX10, "We do have an active investigation in the Mobile area and inspectors there will be seeing that through toward prosecution.”

Herding Alabama DemoCats Rant

So, the Alabama Democratic Majority, which seceded from the Alabama Democratic Party because they refused to bow down to Joe Reed and his bunch,  held a democratic revival were they were supposed to be preaching the democratic gospel of of education, equal opportunity, voting rights, and inclusiveness (sic), however the headline in AL.com said Mark Kennedy's Alabama Democratic Majority seeking Dem's, Republicans to run for Legislature.

Add Republican candidates for public office to the growing umbrella of the Alabama Democratic Majority organization.
Speaking at a reception in his honor tonight, Mark Kennedy, who formed the Alabama Democratic Party in April following his resignation as chair of the state Democratic Party, said his group is seeking not only Democratic candidates to support but also Republicans.
"We're going to support Democrats but we're also going to look at opportunities to support independents and even Republicans to have a more balanced approach to government," Kennedy said.

Add this to the list of  I tried to tell some of y'all this is a farce.  Now why would Democrats seek republicans to run for office?  I don't see republicans say they are seeking democrats to run for office.  You know why? Because democrats and republicans have an entirely different agenda.  I'm sick and tired of  candidates running on the democratic ticket, getting elected with democratic votes, then governing like a republican.  If my choice is between a conservadem and republican I will stay my Ebony Donkey at home on election day.  If I wanted to vote republican, I would be a republican.  Maybe Kennedy and Company didn't get the memo that recent polls suggest calling Someone a republican is an insult?

 The independent political polling company NSON Opinion Strategy [1] recently published the results of a case study in which 250,000 randomly selected American voters were asked a series of questions. The details of how and where the study was conducted have yet to be released but the results are clear: 87% of Americans consider the word “Republican” to be synonymous with greed, racism, and violence.

No Absence of Malice in Bama  Update;

Attorneys for former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman, who is in jail for something that is not a crime,  filed a brief with the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals asking for a new trial, or at the minimum additional discovery about the role of former U.S. Attorney Leura Canary.  Maybe now that President Obama's former White House counsel is listed as the lawyers on is defense team this travesty of injustice will be over for the Siegelman family.

 Seven years after the former governor was found guilty, and after numerous failed appeals, Dana Siegelman said the family is still driven to overturn what she describes as a miscarriage of justice carried out by those who wanted her father exiled from state politics.

Free at  Last!  Free at Last!  Thank God Almighty Chris McNair is Free at Last!

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- A federal judge this afternoon issued an order for the immediate release of 87-year-old former Jefferson County Commissioner Chris McNair, who is serving time in prison for his conviction on public corruption charges related to the county's sewer system. 
 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. The 50th anniversary of that  pivotal moment in Civil Rights history is 17 days away.

RedEye Around Red State AlaBAMA over and out for now.

Alabama is going to be a lot safer thanks to Scott Beason(r) and Co.

Al.com

 

Thanks to Alabama State Senator Scott Beason, (r. Shelby County) and his republican enablers, Alabama's  has some new guns laws, which according the Beason and Co. are designed to clarify Alabama's concealed-and open carry-laws and ensure law-abiding citizens have access to guns.  

Here is your clarification:

The Mobile County sheriff has seen an increase in pistol permits from convicted felons thanks to the new gun laws.

Thanks to the new law you can carry your gun to work but you must leave it in your vehicle.

You can carry you gun to football games IF you have a permit.  YeeHaww!

Law enforcement is still unsure of what the bill says.  Just be be clear, law enforcement= those paid to enforce the law, like the police/sheriff.

Employers can't be sued for gun related damages to their property.

You can openly carry your gun without a permit as long as you don't conceal your gun.   However, the police still have the right to stop and question you if are openly carrying a gun.  Huh?

You don't have to be an Alabama resident or a U.S. citizen in order to obtain a concealed to carry permit or take advantage of the new guns laws.  Oh really?

Yep, Sweet Home Alabama is going to be a lot safer thanks to Alabama's new gun laws ensuring law-abiding citizens have access to guns.

Are we safe yet?

Today marks the 50th Anniversary of the Assassination of Medgar Evers

 

Once Upon a Time in America

Fifty years ago today Medgar Evers was gunned down by a white supremacist. His crime? 

Bit by bit, Evers cultivated community resistance against inequity. He made bumper stickers, led protests and investigated vigilante violence, such as the murder of Emmett Till.
As Evers’ accomplishments grew, so did the determination of white supremacists to stop him. On the night of June 12, a member of the White Citizens’ Council shot Evers in the back as he walked from his car to his home. The murder took place just hours after President Kennedy had given a powerful speech supporting civil rights.
Evers’ death was but one violent act among many committed by segregationists who were set on stopping the movement. Community organizers acknowledged the danger, but continued to build the movement at the local level. In so doing, they ultimately overcame this violent opposition. Their individual courage made universal change possible.

Ironically the Roberts Court is poised to strike down section 5 of the Voting Rights Act Evers and others lost their lives fighting for  any day now.  Even more ironic is the fact the case was bought before the court on  behalf of  Shelby County Alabama  ,which happens to be represented by none other than Alabama State  Senator Scott (Aborigines) Beason.

Shelby County is involved in a United States Supreme Court case in the current session challenging the constitutionality of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. Shelby County’s argument is one, essentially, of equal protection. While emphasizing the progress the South has made, they further the argument that if every district is not covered by Section Five’s preclearance requirement, none can be. Mr. Rein, the attorney for Shelby County, argues that the formula of the 1965 VRA deciding which States to cover is not tailored to today’s situation—that it was a formula made for 1965, and should therefore not be applied today. Essentially, that Shelby County should be left alone to do run their elections however they wish in their own backyard.

Well, we all know how that will turn out .

Well, I’m going to be real honest with you: The Republican Party doesn’t want black people to vote if they’re going to vote 9 to 1 for Democrats.

 MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) -- Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan and others are planning a caravan across Alabama on June 14 to encourage the U.S. Supreme Court to save a major portion of the Voting Rights Act.

Legal Schnauzer: Was AG Eric Holder Mistaken, Misleading, Or Evasive In His Answers To Congress About Siegelman Case?

Legal Schnauzer: Was AG Eric Holder Mistaken, Misleading, Or Evasive In His Answers To Congress About Siegelman Case?

 If Siegelman has an active appeal, it has escaped my attention. And that raises this question: Is Eric Holder mistaken or did he intentionally make a misleading statement to Congress and the American people? I have sent queries to Siegelman's legal team, seeking clarification about any appeals, plus their response to Holder's statements. We will update this post as new information becomes available.

What Mollie said all the damn way!

 Is it me or does Holder appear uncomfortable discussing Seigleman? He was so fidgety in addition to his lack of knowledge of the case. I hope no political deal has been made with the DOJ regarding Seigleman. These folks scare me. Cohen was excellent.

I wish President Obama were just as outraged about the political persecutions, I mean prosecutions here in Sweet Home Alabama.

If the cries of Montgomery politicians under indictment don’t generate sympathy, certainly the lamentation of unemployed workers in the Black Belt does. One effect of the bribe-induced Riley-Canary war on bingo in Alabama is the closure of bingo operations in Greene, Macon and Houston Counties, that employed literally thousands of workers, and brought millions of dollars annually to local government treasuries. We all wish that overwhelmingly black Greene and Macon Counties had bulldozers clearing land for new automotive and electronics plants, or for high-powered biology labs or computer engineering firms, but that’s the progress of the next generation. Right now, those counties are absolutely dependent on the entertainment and gaming business for their economic survival, and Obama’s what-me-worry attitude about Canary has placed that survival in jeopardy.

"NRA to African Americans: You'll need guns to protect yourself from the government"

This is a  a photo I snapped on March 4, 2007 of the late civil rights activist Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth being pushed in his wheelchair across the Edmund Pettus Bridge for the annual reenactment of the voting rights march in Selma, Alabama by the future President of the United States of America Senator Barack Hussein Obama. Also pictured are former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and civil rights activist Al Sharpton.

When I first read this headline;   NRA to African Americans:  You'll need guns to protect yourself from the government, I scoffed, but as time, rhetoric, and events progressed I thought, if any group has reason to protect itself out of fear of the government it's African Americans.  Para quoting the late Fred Shuttlesworth, it looks like black folks have to fight for the right to breath again.

In an attempt to kill Section Five of the Voting Rights Act, attorneys from Shelby County, Alabama told the U.S. Supreme Court it was not 1965 anymore, and they were right (pun intended), it's 2013, and things didn't get better in Sweet Home Alabama with the election of the first African American President....they got worse. The Simple Minded Savior describes present day Alabama to a T.

 I was born and raised in this God forsaken state and it IS still stuck in the 50's and 60's. It's not a stereotype and why anyone would want to visit here is beyond me. Oh yeah, they can come visit and see what main attraction? The CIVIL RIGHTS MUSEUM...Some parts of the interstate still have a confederate flag flying high and proud so what's he talking about? And the fact that one of the State Legislators called Black people "ABORIGINES" on tape and it was part of a trial transcript makes no never mind. Yeah, you're right, Alabama has not one racial problem, it's a beacon of hope, a melting pot of sorts for the nation. This State, Alabama, should be held out as the example of how loving a state should be. *sarcasm* If Jesus came back right now and came to an Alabama suburb, he would be labeled a dead beat liberal hippie and crucified a second time.

  Sitting Supreme Court Justice Anton Scalia thinks voting rights are a gift the government gave black people.  A gift black folks didn't earn and don't deserve. 

Today was the day that the Republican challenge to Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act was argued before the Supreme Court. Arguments were fiery, but this particular quote from Justice Scalia was one worthy of Jim Crow. If ever there was a reason to preserve Section 5, Scalia articulated it. Via TPM:

Roberts and Kennedy led the questioning challenging the Voting Right Act. Justice Sonia Sotomayor led the questioning defending it.
Justice Antonin Scalia attributed the continued congressional reauthorization to a perpetual “racial entitlement” and suggested that it will be renewed into “perpetuity” because members of Congress would never let it lapse for fear for political repercussions.
“I don’t think there is anything to gain by any senator by voting against this Act,” Scalia said. “This is not the kind of question you can leave to Congress. They’re going to lose votes if they vote against the Voting Rights Act. Even the name is wonderful.”

Justice Scalia's words undermine the very core of our democracy.   And if that's not scary I don't know what is.

Edit~Vote YES on the September 18th Constitutional Referendum

I'm voting YES on the Constitutional Amendment on  September 18th to transfer money from the Alabama Trust Fund to make up for a shortfall in the state's General Fund Budget....

Because the following people are voting NO.

House Minority Leader Craig Ford (d)

State Senator Scott Beason (r)

The Attack Machine.com

If the people listed above are against it, I'm FOR it.  After all what have people who share their point of view ever been right (pun intended) about?

Right-wing ignorance and inaction; Proof that history really is circular~ Fist Dap What Would Jack Do

Alabama Burning

In light of Alabama's harsh immigration law, and elected officials saying they will do anything short of shooting illegals and referring to African American citizens as Aborigines, among other things, the Feds are coming to Alabama.  Yee Haw!

My favorite Righty's say America has a race problem but it is not what you think,  it's them their coloreds that are racist because 94%  of African Americans support Obama over Romney.   

Poor things, they believe 94% of African Americans support President Obama over Mitt Romney is because he's black like them.  I wonder what part of African Americans don't vote for candidates based on the color of their skin but the content of their agenda don't they understand?

The unit will be headed by Robert Posey, a longtime federal prosecutor who worked with Mr. Jones on the church-bombing cases. With a core group of five lawyers in Birmingham and Huntsville, it will handle cases from the northern half of the state.
The Obama administration sued the state to block the law clamping down on illegal immigration after Republican Gov. Robert Bentley signed it last year, and Mr. Posey said the unit already is involved in two cases involving allegations of excessive force by law enforcement officers.
The department’s decision to place a civil rights unit in Alabama shows the state will has problems guaranteeing legal equality years after the civil rights era ended, said Shay Farley, legal director of Alabama Appleseed, a public interest legal office based in Montgomery.
“It highlights the fact that the war isn’t over,” she said.

Welcome to Sweet Home Alabama, the cradle of the Confederacy, the birthplace of the Civil Rights Movement, and political prosecutions of liberal Democrats.

I Wish Y'all Compassionate, Conservative, Christians, Would Make Up Y'all's Doggone Minds!

Obama's Pastor:  God Damn America, U.S. to Blame for 9/11 ABC News

Either President Obama is a Christian who sat in Reverend Jeremiah Wrights' Trinity United Church of Christ for 20 years, or he is a Muslim who sat in Reverend Jeremiah Wrights Trinity United Church of Christ for 20 years.    Y'all can't have it both ways.

If then candidate Obama was made to denounce, repudiate and reject, Minister Louis Farrakhan's endorsement , shouldn't the republican Presidential candidates, and other high profile republicans,  be made to renounce,repudiate and reject Rush Limbaugh and others??   I'm just asking....

Psst!  Everybody knows Aborigines, I mean,  Muslim is The New "N" Word.

B-I-N-G-O Q&A

You know, I'm really beginning to resent being banned from Left in Alabama, because Legal Contributor, and resident republican, Old Prosecutor posed a variety of questions related to the acquittal of all the defendents  in the infamous Alabama Bingo Trial  I would love to answer on the pages of Left in Alabama.  But since I'm one of three people in America not allowed to post at LIA,  this forum will have to do.

Although I am not welcome in the LiA kitty, I mean sand box, LiA readers are more than welcome to respond here.  Choices can open a mind, a dialogue.

Q.  "Why did the Feds jump so quick in this matter"?    


A.  Because the Feds were after people, not crimes.

Q.  "When does politics as usual cross into being a crime?" 


A.  When the Feds go after people not crimes.

Q. " Why would a democratic Attorney General approve this"?


A.  Because of Alabama's two republican United States Senators.

Q.  "Can't we drop this tar-baby of a case, so we will put on a minimum case so we can get back Washington?"

A.Remember,  the jury in the first trial was deadlocked. Prosecutors were granted a retrial.


Q.  "Scott Beason-how dumb is this guy?"

A.  Dumb enough to make a racial slur for everybody to hear.

What looks like Bats#it crazy on an ordinary day in AmeriBama

H/T Kingcockfight

It's official, President Barack Hussein Obama has driven the gop crazy.  So much so, even die heart republicans are asking  is it time to abandon the republican party, and  Jeb Bush is trying to disarm the circular firing squad.   I do believe the Suckers are waking up and smelling the Tea. Pun Intended.

Alabama Legislature 2012:  Bill could require anal probe inserted in republican male candidates to get on the ballot.  Snark  Not to be left out of the stuck on stupid,  State Senator Clay Scofield (r. Guntersville) introduced a bill requiring women to have a vaginal ultrasound before having an abortion.  Why don't they call it the make Doctors and Ultrasound Companies richer bill?  I'm just saying...

Give me some ideological purity over winning any day, any time, any place.  What's the good in winning as a democrat but governing like a republican?  I mean, really?

And that's this week in Bats#t Crazy AmeriBama.

Anyone who is concerned about democracy and freedom should be concerned about the legal lynching of former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman

The definition of  lynching in the unlawful hanging of a person by mob action.  Historically the term is most commonly applied to racist violence in the post-Civil War American south.   It is the worst kept secret in that Alabama democrats, with a few republicans thrown in for flavor, are being legally lynched by the republican controlled InJustice  Department, under the guise of cleaning up democratic  corruption and restoring faith in state government. 

The case of former Governor Don Siegelman and others, defines what those of us who live in the post-Civil War  South call a legal lynching.  The unlawful conviction of democrats for political gain.

This is one of those "we tried to tell some of y'all" moments.  George Will, Of All People Stands up for Justice in the Don Siegelman case. 

Who could have imagined that George Will would prove to be more progressive than Barack Obama on fundamental matters of justice?
Will, probably the nation's foremost conservative columnist, writes in his most recent piece that the U.S. Supreme Court should review the convictions of former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman and codefendant Richard Scrushy to ensure that overzealous prosecutors are not criminalizing standard political behavior.

Today's Must Reads
Quid Pro NO
I believe you and I have different definitions of racism, black Jefferson County Legislators 
A Back of the Bus Idea

3 Black Alabama Legislators Defend Racism, After They Opposed Racism

Sigh.  Poor Alabama State Senator Scott Beason (racist, Gardendale).  In a pathetic attempt to defend himself against allegations of racism, three House Negroes  are defending the indefensible.  The only problem is,  two of the three black legislators are on VIDEO speaking at a press conference in OPPOSITION to Scott Beason. Ooops!  h/t CM

 This situation is proof White people fail to see how racism harms white people, as well as black people.  Instead of accepting responsibility for his  words and actions, Beason resorts to the Plantation Mentality and finds 3 black people to defend him against his own words and his own actions. What gets me is they honestly believe they are credible, and we the people are stoopid.

Judge Myron Thompson said Scott Beasons' motives were racially and politically motivated for becoming a whistler blower in the alleged vote-buying scheme to pass pro-gambling legislation in Alabama.  Key word, motives.  What Scott Beason said was racist.  I don't care how many black legislators come forward to defend him.  Watch how to tell people they sound racist.

I don't care what Scott Beason IS, I care about what Scott Beason DID.

Today's Must Read

5 Right Wing Governors Gutting Schools to Fund Prisons, Tax Breaks for the Rich...and a Bible Theme Park.  Yes, Alabama made the list.

Update~Are the Rattlesnakes beginning to turn on each other in Bama?

William Barnes qualified as a candidate for the democratic primary in CD-6.   Barnes represents the democratic wing of the democratic party,which is probably why he didn't have the full support of the ADP when he ran against Dick Shelby for Senate in 2010.  I'm glad he didn't let the experience sour him against running for political office again.  I admire his courage and his tenacity.    I don't live in CD-6, but if I did, Barnes would be my candidate.  Penny Bailey's  thoughts on abortion are troubling.  You  either support a woman's right to choose to have a safe, legal, abortion, or you don't.


Down here they say rattlesnakes don't commit suicide much~Agent Rupert Anderson, character played by Gene Hackman in Mississippi Burning.

Today is candidate filing deadline for Alabama primaries and the Rattlesnakes, I mean republicans are coming out in force...against each other.   Be still my Democratic heart.

Not to be out done by the three way CD-6 showdown between Scott Beason (r. racist), Spencer Bachus (r. inside trader), and Blount CountyProbate Judge David Sandridge,  the gop side show moves to the 5th district with Parker "I was a democrat until I got elected" Griffin challenging Mo"I'll do anything short of shooting them, name calling, clueless" Brooks.  It. Is. On!

Now if  Alabama republicans were smart, and I'm not saying they are, they would say pox on all their houses and not vote for any of them.  It's not like they have an agenda other than hating on President Obama because he's an African American democrat.  They are victims of their own ignorance. 

If  republican voters in CD-6 were smart, and I'm not saying they aren't, they would vote for Penny Bailey to represent them in Congress.   You are what/who you vote for.

If republican voters in CD-5 were smart, and I'm not saying they aren't, they would vote for for C.L. Holley to represent them in Congress.  Someone who will represent ALL of the citizens.

Photo h/t Left in Alabama

Today's Must Read

Black leaders speak out on education and persistent African American Unemployment

Tis the season for the gop to be mean, hateful and vindictive

H/T jobsanger

In the spirit of Christmas, Peace on Earth and all that jazz, I'm trying to figure out when did it became acceptable to be mean and hateful?

When did bigotry become acceptable?

When did discrimination, slow justice, and just darn right  ugly  become acceptable?

When did racial profiling become acceptable?


When did it become acceptable to be a hypocrite?

When did it become acceptable to send our troops to war based on DEAD WRONG INTELLIGENCE?

When did it become acceptable for the rich to get richer and the rest get the shaft?


When did it become acceptable to be right wing rather than to do the right thing?

When did it become acceptable to restrict Americans from exercising their right to vote?

When did it become acceptable to be sexist?

When did it become acceptable to be racist?

When did it become acceptable to vote against your party on important issues or switch party's for political gain?

When did it become acceptable for elected and appointed officials to ignore questions/complaints and the will of the people?

Why is it republicans who  engage in this type of behavior are rewarded?

The gop is playing right (pun intended) into President Obama's hand.  I refuse to believe the majority of the American voters, not to be confused with a majority of the American people, are mean, hateful and vindictive.

There is a mean spirit on the lose.

If I were a rich white man~Edit

If I were a rich, white, man I would be President of the United States of America. But I wouldn't be a rich, white, male, republican President like Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, George H. Bush, or George W. Bush. Rich, white, males who only cared about the rich getting richer while the rest got the shaft.

Nope. I would be a rich, white, male, republican President like Theodore Roosevelt. I would be a rich, white, male, democratic, President like, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, and Lyndon Baines Johnson. You know, rich, white, males who despite their wealth, cared about, and tried to make the world a better place for ALL people.

If I were a rich, white, man I wouldn't try to keep poor women from having access to a safe, legal abortion.

If I were a rich, white, man I wouldn't send our troops to war based on DEAD WRONG INTELLIGENCE.

If I were a rich, white, man I wouldn't discriminate against LBGT Americans.

If I were a rich, white, man, I would own a media empire that informed the American people instead of mis-informing them with all spin all the time, UNfair and UNbalanced. A media that reported just the facts and didn't promote racism, bigotry, and sexism.

If I were a rich, white, man I use my resources to make sure ALL children, regardless of race, gender, religion, or their parents circumstances, had equal access to a quality education.

If I were a rich, white, man I create jobs in America and not ship them overseas to countries who use slave labor.

If I were a rich, white, man I wouldn't rape and ruin the environment for my personal gain.

If I were a rich, white, man I use my position of privilege and power to make this world a better place for everyone.

But I'm not a rich, white, man, and I will never be a rich, white, man. The only thing I can HOPE for is rich, white, men will CHANGE their ways. I'm not holding my breath though.

white privilege is the only thing that could possibly allow someone to become president when he has voted with George W. Bush 90 percent of the time, even as unemployment is skyrocketing, people are losing their homes, inflation is rising, and the U.S. is increasingly isolated from world opinion, just because white voters aren’t sure about that whole “change” thing. Ya know, it’s just too vague and ill-defined, unlike, say, four more years of the same, which is very concrete and certain…


White privilege is, in short, the problem.

What I'm reading today with commentary

A Black Man's View is back!. I have not updated my blog in a minute now. I really have no excuse as to why I have not been sharing my thoughts with you, my faithful readers, other than the fact that I have had writers block. I have had several ideas for posts, I just have not been able to form those ideas into writable sentences.


Was there a co ordinated effort to evict Occupy Wall Street Movements from sea to shining sea? Is an elephant heavy?

The occupation is dead. Long live the occupation.
Amidst the massive media coverage of the military-style eviction Tuesday morning of the original Occupy Wall Street encampment at New York's Zuccotti Park, an interesting factoid surfaced thousands of miles away.

In an interview with the BBC, Oakland mayor Jean Quan, whose police force forcibly evicted that city's embattled Occupy encampment early Monday, casually mentioned that she "was recently on a conference call with 18 cities across the country who had the same situation. . . .”

Sure enough, since the weekend there have been a string of such evictions - not just the highest-profile encampments in New York and Oakland, but also Detroit, Portland OR, St. Louis, Salt Lake City, and several other major US cities.

All I'm going to say is there was never a co ordinated effort to shut down Tea Party Rally's. There is more than a whiff of hypocrisy.

Alabama Governor Robert Bentley says Alabama's immigration law is not racist and it looks like the red, republican, controlled Alabama State Legislature quietly replaced Scott Beason with Scott Beason as chair of the rules committee. Read it and weep.

The lasting effects of slavery and Kin Solidarity

For the most part, we often stay separate from our extended family unless family reunions, funerals and other such events bring the family back together. It's a very individualistic streak that black Americans have taken to heart, as though that's how things are supposed to be.

I hate to pin the blame on slavery, but it's where blame is going. The lack of family cohesion thanks to the omnipresent threat of being separated and sold to persons unknown and shipped to parts unknown promoted a subconscious streak of kin independence out of sheer necessity, because you never knew when those family bonds would be severed for good. Other cultures never had to deal with that particular generational trauma, and it's something that has to be slowly but surely deprogrammed from our subconscious being if we want to practice any form of kin solidarity. It's a big step along the road of consolidating our own economic independence from the rest of America.

Who are the Super Debt Committee members who will decide our fate? 10 white men, 1 white woman and 1 black man. Will The SuperCommittee Offer Barack Obama His Neville Chamberlain Moment?

There are conservatives on both sides of the aisle still eager for a "grand bargain" that will trade away the hard-fought, meager lifeline for millions of Americans in return for some table scraps-- temporary table scraps at that-- from the 1%. The SuperCommittee, could well turn out to be Obama's Neville Chamberlain moment and could cement his place in history as firmly as the Munich Agreements cemented Chamberlain's.

Privilege of the powerful

Those in power, those at the top due to their privilege use discourse such as "poverty is not destiny" and "reclaim America" to keep all eyes on those trapped in poverty, thus away from the exact people with the power, money, and opportunity to create a path toward equity within our society and our schools.

Power of the Privileged

At the last board meeting on Thursday, November 3rd, Dr. Robinson defended her support of the superintendent’s recommendation to sign what was at the time a $1.7 million dollar contract with Teach for America by claiming that she had spent the week reviewing studies on TFA and the effectiveness of the teachers placed in a system by TFA.
She claimed that there were both “good” and “poor” studies concerning the effectiveness of the teachers that TFA hires. In short, she was convinced that TFA’ers were more effective than traditionally certified teachers. In an email from Dr. Wardynski that Dr. Robinson shared with me, he claimed, “We are making this investment because evidence has shown that the achievement gains provided by TFA exceed the gains afforded by a similar investment in alternative strategies” (November 9, 2011).

Translation-Huntsville City School board of education’s reduction in force plan laid off 154 certified teachers to pay TFA'er to learn to teach on other people's kids. What is wrong with that picture?

What's on your reading list today?

Glory Glory Hallelujah!

Alabama State Senator Scott Beason (r. racist Gardendale) has been stripped of his power to exercise racism in the Alabama Legislature!
H/T The Locust Fork News-Journal

One of the main sponsors of Alabama’s strict new immigration law, Republican Senator Scott Beason of Gardendale, was quietly ushered out as chairman of the Senate Rules Committee on Tuesday in advance of the next session of the Alabama Legislature.

Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh said Senate Majority Leader Jabo Waggoner of Vestavia Hills will lead the Rules Committee for 2012, according to the AP.

Marsh claimed the Republican leadership made the change for “the most efficient operation of the Senate,” although there is little doubt the move came in the wake of all the ongoing controversy since Beason wore an FBI wire in the gambling corruption case and referred to customers of a casino in a predominantly black county as “aborigines.”

Now if only the voters in Gardendale would quietly usher Scott Beason out when they go to polls on election day we will be well on our way to having a more perfect state legislature.

Herman Cain says "If you are falsely accused of sexual harassment, it's your own fault. You need to blame yourself!!!"

Campaign buttons for Republican Presidential candidate Herman Cain are seen on sale as he campaigned Friday in Talladega, Ala.

A big old H/T to Shady Grady for the perfect headline for this post. I have been snickering all day watching gop, Presidential front runner Herman Cain twist in the wind due to Politico's expose of the charges of sexual harassment in his past.

Josh Marshall
I’m trying to put together a Herman Cain harassment timeline. This is a work in progress because I’m having a hard time keep track of it all. So bear with me.

1. Politico allegations are false. Story is crap.

2. Yes, there were allegations. But they were false.

3. Yes there were allegations that were false and I don’t know what money was paid.

4. I don’t know whether money was paid. And it would be wrong for me to find out whether money was paid because it’s confidential.

5. There was a in-depth investigation. And I was cleared. But I don’t know anything about it.

6. Here’s the gesture that led to my getting accused of harassment.

7. Okay, I remember some discussion of a settlement number.

Yep. Herman punk'd the republicans and the media big time. I mean, didn't they vet this guy? Or, did they honestly think we wouldn't find out about those scary skeletons in his closet?

Field Negro

I would like to welcome Mr. 9-9-9 to the world of big time politics.

It seems that my man forgot one thing while he was jigging and joking his way into the hearts of white conservatives across A-merry-ca: Your skeletons will always come back to haunt you. We all have them. But we don't all try to get elected as the leader of the free world, or, for that matter, to become a member of the most powerful "democratic" judicial body on earth.

And so here we go again; yet another black conservative is the victim of a "high tech lynching". The last one survived the metaphoric rope around his neck and ultimately found himself in a position where he can influence whether a rope is put around the neck of others.

Have the media and the gop forgotten the vague accusations of Gennifer Flowers, Paula Jones and Anita Hill?

I wonder if the Koch Brothers are going to repossess Cain's big, nice, shiny bus?

I wonder if the Huntsville Federation of Republican women regret inviting him to dinner at the Marriott?

I wonder if Herman Cain is still Alabama State Senator Scott Beason's (r. racist Gardendale) Boy?

I almost feel sorry for the gop and the mainstream media. They thought they had themselves the perfect racist in Herman Cain.

Herman Cain has become, in many ways, the perfect racist. America lives under the interesting premise that a racist can’t be Black. That’s like believing that a man can’t hate his sibling, or that a woman can’t advocate for a man to beat his wife (as Whoopi did to Oprah in “The Color Purple”). The truth is that racism is typically most effective when you put a Black face on it, and Herman Cain has volunteered to become the cute little political puppet which allows white America to say the things that they are afraid to say.

Too bad. So sad.
Not.

Random Acts of Fear and Loathing in America Vol.2

Herman Cain's Wily Racial Politics
RightWatch: The Republican candidate validates what white conservatives believe about blacks.

THIS is what white conservatives believe about blacks. Watch. Listen and Learn.

You got THAT Scott Beason (r. racist, Gardendale)? Evidently NOT.

And in the South, some Cain supporters say that supporting an African-American could turn long-held racial perceptions around. No Deep South states supported Barack Obama in 2008 and elected representatives in the state have become more racially polarized in recent years.Scott Beason, a Republican Alabama state senator, said a Cain win, especially in the Deep South, would be a visible sign of progress."It would change the stereotypes that still exist about how people make their decisions down here," Beason said. "I think it's ironic that he will do better here than in the so-called enlightened states up north.""What folks are doing is listening to what is he saying and he is not afraid to say what he thinks."

It's the Media. They think we are stoopid.

If you black people don't know by now, the media is your worst enemy. The media from the time of the old printing presses have been showcasing your worst traits to the United state and the world, which was justified and even sanctioned by the Pope and the church which relegated you to the status of animals. Kinda forgot about that didn't you? And how was this belief spread? Well, as they say: the media was the message.

TeeVee and the MSM is no friend of black people. It was through the media well up to the late sixties that contributed to the vilification of black people. You should know this. It's part of your history. It's a history white people want you to forget. It's a history white people don't want to discuss. White people don't want to have a dialog about race. If they did, don't you think we would have had one by now, especially here in "post racial" Amerikkka? No, sorry. The majority of white people just want you to go away. They wish to wake up one morning, turn to the news and discover, by some miracle that all the black people in the country have vanished. Then they can lead the harmonious lives that God meant for them to live. 

Shhh! It's a Secret.

The Secret Course on Whiteness (1676?- ) is the imagined course where many White Americans learn to talk and act amazingly alike in ways that cannot be accounted for by the public, mainstream culture.
I call it a course because so many of them will say the same thing, word for word, like they are talking from a script that they learned somewhere.I call it secret because it is not part of the public culture. Somehow it gets passed down through the white vernacular culture.

Hustlers & Grifters& Family Oh My!

Well... now, Perry has folks wondering about his own family tree. I mean it does sort of raised eyebrows a little bit, especially with a family ranch called "Niggerhead" and him not to long ago threatening to secede from the union when President Obama (a black man) was elected.

Anyway, the secessionist governor should have left stirring the pot to the women folks because looks like he keeps making a big mess in the kitchen. Which leads up to why people have a question for Perry regarding his family tree. (pssst...Gun toting, secessionist governor ought to withdraw now because things is fixing to get ugly).

Racist,Racism pays. Big Time.

SACRAMENTO-Medro Johnson, African American employee of Sears Home Improvement Products in Natomas, California was awarded $52 million over racial harassment.
A co-worked of Johnson’s had said he was Johnson’s “masta” at a company picnic

Man Killed Crackhead Teen So She Wouldn’t Sleep With Black Men. For real?

Glenn Beck is stupid.

Poor Glenn Beck. He's been thoroughly confused, and made to feel "afraid" and "bad" by the use of the term "African American." By the sounds of a recent rant on his radio show, he really can't take it anymore.