Throwback Thursday: No mooncat, Southern men aren't the problem with the GOP

#tbt  The more things change.....the more they don't.

The Republican Party has a terrible, perhaps fatal, case of indigestion.  It swallowed the Tea Party and now can neither digest it nor rid itself of the rancid meal.  Unfortunately, their indigestion is making all of America sick. 
Robert Reich makes the case that we're in this mess because Angry, White, Southern Men Took Over the GOP and Made Our Government Into a War Zone:

If "democrats" are waging a war on whites, "democrats" sure aren't winning....

Community activist Sheila Tyson of Birmingham says that those hit hardest by the county sewer rate hike are near a breaking point."These people are going to end up rioting about this," she says. "If they let this stuff happen they are going to get the biggest riot the South has ever seen. Over this sewer business. I can see it coming."

 And the race baiting continues....

#WarOnWhites my Donkey.

 The invisible foot is the foot that white people have on the necks of blacks, Native Americans and others. It is called invisible because whites say they do not see it.

9/11 Changed Everything All Right

It's that time of the year again.

Another media driven  "anniversary" of the day Bush and Dick used our grief over 9/11 to start a war. 

Another year of remembering that George W. Bush was the pResident on 9/11.

From this day forward I will remember 9/11 as the day former democratic Governor Don Siegelman returns to prison for a crime that isn't a crime and the day that justice died.

I wish I could say I'm surprised Governor Siegelman is returning to prison for a crime that isn't a crime, but my rich, southern, heritage prevents it.  The south has a history of using the justice system that is supposed to protect us to harm us.

That's just who they are, and it's just what they do.

And there is not a darn thing we can do about it because 9/11 changed everything. Sigh

"Though I've often disagreed with republicans, I actually never learned to hate them they way the far right who controls their party hate our President and other Democrats"~ President William Jefferson Clinton (D. Arkansas)

And they want us to sing God Bless America? No!  No!  No!   RedEye tiptoeing away from the computer to go pray for our government.

Trayvon Martin Saturday Photo Blog with Commentary

H/T Field Negro

If I had a son he'd look with Trayvon.  Obama Cares.  Therein lies the difference between US and THEM.

"Shoot to Kill" may soon be replacing "In God we Trust" " as US Motto thanks to the Compassionate, Christian, Conservatives.   Who would Jesus assassinate, ma'am?

Professor Henry Louis Gates was arrested for getting uppity with police in his own damn house.  Maybe if the mainstream media let us have an honest and open discussion about racial profiling instead of turning it into a beer summit, Trayvon Martin would be alive today.

Picture of bluh people who want the government to take care of them, equally.  Picture of black people demanding justice for Trayvon Martin and not food stamps.

White House comments in Trayvon Martin case

Actually, it should read,  the white male who speaks for the White House comments in the case of Trayvon Martin by passing the buck back to the Sanford Police Department.  I wonder what part of the Sanford Police Department is part of the problem doesn't he understand?

What do you want to bet if the Black militia group who wants to arrest George Zimmerman gets involved there will be plenty of comment from the white male who speaks for the White House?

As with the cases of  the Jena Six, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, Professor Henry Louis Gates, Sean Bell, Shirley Sherrod, and Troy Davis, the first African American President can't take a position, because it might offend 39% of  white voters.

Is it too much to ask the President of the United States of America to stand for something other than killing Osama Bin Laden?  What about the killing of Trayvon Martin ?  His family does not trust the local police department, with good reason.

See this is why I didn't want an African American President, because he's the African American President of everybody but African Americans.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

"Ripped from today's headlines"~Update

Oops! Ex Gooberner Haley didn't follow the law when he released rapist and murders.  In Mississippi, identities of pardon applicants must be made public.

Remember the Scott sisters of Mississippi ,who were released from a prison after serving 16 years for a petty crime, on the condition one sister donate a kidney to the other?  Well, the Scott sisters didn't get a full pardon.  "I guess if I had been a murderer, he would have pardoned me."~Gladys Scott

Today's Must Read-Discrimination in Presidential Pardons

The title of today's post is ripped from the Law and Order television series. Join me as we go inside today's headlines.

M-i-s-s-i-s-s-i-p-p-i  Burning?   Ex Mississippi Governor Haley "Boss Hogs" Barbour  pardoned nearly 200 prisoners, 4 or whom are convicted killers, on his way out office.  Barbour didn't publicize the pardons, (I wonder why?) but defends them on the grounds they had good behavior while pouring drinks and serving food at the Governors Mansion.

Huh?  Convicted killers worked at the Governors mansion?  Why?  Because it's F-R-E-E labor or slavery by another name.  Barbour freed his slaves.  The only problem is, some of these slaves are also convicted killers and Barbour may have violated the states constitution. 

I thought republicans were for law and order?  Snark  It's too bad Troy Anthony Davis didn't live in Mississippi...all he wanted was a new trial.  But I digress.

This illustrates what's wrong with the Convict-Lease System  republicans use to take the country back to the days of slavery and Jim Crow.  Convicts get job training and jobs while they are incarcerated but  can't hold once they are released, because they are convicted felons with a record.  Meanwhile, there are no such job training programs  for unemployed, law abiding citizens.  Inmates  jobs and training, law abiding citizens, nothing.   What's wrong with this picture?

It should come as no surprise the majority of Mississippi' voters passed a voter ID bill in November to disenfranchise minority voters so folks like Barbour can keep getting elected.

White man fighting Obama candidacy ask black Jefferson County Judge to step aside due to racial bias.  Sweet Home Alabama...where the skies are blue and the people are bible thumping, suckers who hate President Obama in the name of the Lord.  Enough said.

A GOP Civil War is breaking out in the State of  Alabama, it's TeaPublican vs TeaPublican in Alabama's 6th Congressional district.  Y'all can bet your Donkey's it's going to get U-G-L-Y.. got popcorn?

Meanwhile, on the democratic side, C.L. Holley goes where skeered white democrats fear to go.  Tired of waiting for Alabama democratic party insiders to field a candidate to run against republican Congress Critter Mo "I'll do anything short of shooting them" Brooks, C. L. Holley stepped up to the plate to offer CD-5 DEMOCRATS (not to be confused with progressives) an alternative  in November. I admire and applaud his courage.  For those who say he can't win I say Poppycock!  If we vote for him he will win.  Yes we can fire Mo Brooks!

Today's Must Read-The Expatriate: Santorum's Red Roots

Welcome to my Blog Roll

NewsHounds

AngryBlackBitch

No mooncat, Southern men aren't the problem with the gop

It's  the many, kind, generous, reasonable, responsible white men, and I might add, white women, who  enable and appease  the  self-centered, angry SOBS because they are afraid to confront them.

It's the culture of racism that is allowed to fester and grow that is the problem.

Martin Luther King, Jr said:
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
But he also said:
When we view the negative experiences of life, the Negro has a double share. There are twice as many unemployed. The rate of infant mortality among Negroes is double that of whites…

On a personal note, I want to take this opportunity to wish you and everyone at Left in Alabama a Happy Holiday Season.  May peace fill your heart, love warm your homes and joy light up your life.  It is my sincere wish  I be allowed to participate in the informed, involved, Progressive dialogue at Left in Alabama again.

RedEye

RedEye's Week in Review

Former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman was back in Federal Court this week.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — A federal judge says he will rule later on a request by attorneys for former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman and former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy that he order government prosecutors to turn over a number of documents related to their prosecution.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Charles Coody held a more than three-hour hearing Wednesday on the requests by Siegelman and Scrushy to release documents relating to the recusal from the case of former U.S. Attorney Leura Canary and allegations of misconduct by jurors who found Siegelman and Scrushy guilty of bribery. The attorneys also want documents related to charges of misconduct by prosecutors.

Siegelman and Scrushy were convicted in 2006 of federal bribery charges. They have asked for a new trial and say the documents are needed to argue that motion.

Sigh Legal Schnauzer compares Governor Siegelman's actions to republican Mike Hubbard, while in an in-depth interview with Siegelman Glynn Wilson compares what happened to him with Texas Governor Rick Perry. I compare what is happening to Governor Siegelman to what happened to Troy Davis. An innocent man, wrongfully convicted, hoping for justice from the justice system. I pray the outcomes aren't the same. BTW, I thought Candidate Obama said he was going to end Scooter Libby Justice?

Herman Cain says if a third woman accuses you of sexual harassment raise some more money. It doesn't look like Mrs. Cain is going to stand by her man on Fox News. I wonder why? And who really cares what Artur Davis has to say about this or anything else?

republicans hate Obama more than they love America. FACT. What gets me, is they think that is a winning strategy for them.

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."

Monday Morning Talking Points

Congress Critter Mo Brooks (r.) is having a Town Hall Meeting in conjunction with the South Huntsville Civic (sic) Association tonight at the Grissom High School Auditorium, 7901 Bailey Cove Rd. Be there or be square. Since Mo is holding the meeting in south Huntsville he probably won't answer questions from the "low I.Q. north Huntsville residents or from the "project" dwellers", so I would suggest making some wearable signs that ask "Where are the jobs", or, "Why did you vote for the let women die act?", or, "Hey Mo! Can we bring back slavery now that you've done everything short of shooting illegals"? or, "When our elected officials don't listen to the will of the people isn't that treason"?

Instructions for making a wearable sign, get an 8x10 piece of paper, write or print your message, punch a hole at the top of each end, insert a string/ribbon in the holes and tie it around your neck like a necklace. It's perfectly legal.

The Talking TeeVee Pundit Heads really need to do a better job of vetting the republican pResidential candidates before they hype them up as the front runner. Did they not know Herman Cain got his 666 I mean 999 economic plan sounds like it came straight out of Sim City?

WASHINGTON -- In Herman Cain's America, the tax code would be very, very simple: The corporate income tax rate would be 9 percent, the personal income tax rate would be 9 percent and the national sales tax rate would be 9 percent.

But there's already a 999 plan out there, in a land called SimCity.

Long before Cain was running for president and getting attention for his 999 plan, the residents of SimCity 4 -- which was released in 2003 -- were living under a system where the default tax rate was 9 percent for commercial taxes, 9 percent for industrial taxes and 9 percent for residential taxes. (That is, of course, if you didn't use the cheat codes to get unlimited money and avoid taxes altogether.)

Do they not know about Cain's ties to the Koch brother?

Cain's campaign manager and a number of aides have worked for Americans for Prosperity, or AFP, the advocacy group founded with support from billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch, which lobbies for lower taxes and less government regulation and spending. Cain credits a businessman who served on an AFP advisory board with helping devise his "9-9-9" plan to rewrite the nation's tax code. And his years of speaking at AFP events have given the businessman and radio host a network of loyal grassroots fans.

I said it in 2000 and I say it again in 2011, the 2012 Presidential election is about the courts, I won't say stupid, because we the people aren't stupid, but the media thinks we are stupid. That's why they are talking about fences, and cults and other weapons of mass distortions.

The Democrats have been falling over each other in recent weeks, desperate to come up with reasons why the American people should send President Obama back to the White house next year. Incredibly, they have ignored the most blatantly obvious one. It's time we have a serious discussion regarding the ramifications of a Republican victory in 2012 - and what it would mean for the future of this Republic if even one more right wing extremist is appointed to sit on that court.

I'll tell you what it would mean, it would mean more Americans could be killed despite there being reasonable doubt about their guilt.

"We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both."Louis Brandeis

Enough said.

What a difference a Judge, A State, A Country and a Protest makes

While Baldwin County Alabama Judges send nonviolent first-time offenders to church, St. Louis Juvenile Court Judge Jimmie Edwards, sentences juvenile offenders to school. Now that's what I call a real Operation Restore our Community (ROC) program.

Judge Jimmie Edwards had a brainstorm.
The chief juvenile court judge for the St. Louis City Circuit Court thought: Why not place all the students who have been kicked out of St. Louis public schools under one roof and educate them?
Within a few hours, St. Louis Public Schools agreed to give him a building. Within a few months, he had marshaled enough volunteers to open Innovative Concept Academy.
That was in April 2009. The school’s roster expanded to include those suspended from city schools and dropouts, working to get their GEDs. Innovative now has 350 students, most of them in school uniforms, all of whom play chess daily. And attendance, at 94 percent, is one of the highest in the city. That’s at least partially driven by the fact Edwards, 55, operates the juvenile court’s truancy program out of the school.

It's too bad Troy Davis didn't have the same Judges Amanda Knox had. Maybe he would be in joyful arms of his family too, instead of his grave.

Ms. Knox left Italy on Tuesday morning on a British Airways flight for London, the Ansa news agency reported.

Throughout the original trial and the appeal, prosecutors tried to paint Ms. Knox as a calculating femme fatale, a “she-devil” capable of murderous acts despite her sweet courtroom appearance and demeanor.

But their case was based mostly on circumstantial evidence. The validity of the main forensic evidence, microscopic amounts of DNA on the murder weapon and on a bra clasp, was thrown into doubt this summer by a report from independent experts that was highly critical of the police’s handling and analysis of the materials.

Speaking of differences, what a difference a grassroots protest makes.

Ever hear of a police officer treating a teabagger disrespectfully at one of their hateful rallies? Even when they showed up at them with guns? Any teabaggers ever get pepper-sprayed in the face?

No. No. And NO.

Celebrating the Life and Legacy of Troy Anthony Davis

Thousands of his supporters and loved ones will gather at Jonesville Baptist Church in Savannah, Georgia, to honor the spirit and legacy of a man who has galvanized a global movement for justice.

We would like you to join us, too.

To accommodate the worldwide demand to mark this moment together, as a global community, Troy's family has generously allowed his funeral to be broadcast live on www.NAACP.org.

Beginning at 11 a.m. today 10/01/2011, you will be able to share the experience with the Davis family and Troy's supporters and loved ones around the world.

Troy Davis: A Celebration of Life
Saturday, October 1st, 2011 at 11 a.m.
Watch the service live at www.NAACP.org

Even in the face of death Troy understood how his story could change this country forever. In the days and weeks ahead, we will work to ensure that Troy's mission is carried out, and the brutal practice of the death penalty is abolished in this country once and for all.

Troy's story has touched each of our lives. Please join us tomorrow as we stand alongside his family in this time of reflection and remembrance.

Sincerely yours,

Benjamin Todd Jealous
President and CEO
NAACP

P.S. Many have asked about contributions to the Davis family. Letters of condolence may be sent to "I am Troy Davis," P.O. Box 2105, Savannah, GA 31407

In lieu of flowers, donations may be mailed to: "I Am Troy Fund," Capitol City Bank, 339 MLK, Jr., Blvd. Savannah, Georgia 31401

P.P.S. If you have not yet already, please sign the petition in Troy's memory, calling for an end to the death penalty in the United States: http://action.naacp.org/EndTheDP

Real liberal quotes, by real liberals, for real liberals

"Well, there's a certain mean spiritless that's out there, not only in Alabama but it's in America. And that makes this election extremely important."~Alabama State Senator Hank Sanders

Scott Beason is the south end of a northbound mule
He meant it as a slur on African-Americans. He wasn't just "being wrong." He is an Alabama pol in the Sessions/Shelby mold, only with less intelligence. ~LynnK

It bothers me that those statements are allowed to stand as if there is no dispute that Black people are ignorant and illiterate and that our vote can be purchased with free food and a trip to the casino. ~CaliSister

The day we get a million signatures on a petition not just to save an innocent man's life, but to roll back the prison state ---- that will be the day we know we have a movement that can free the next wave of Troy Davises, the day we are close to welcoming them back to help heal and rebuild their own lives, our broken families and our devastated communities. ~Bruce Dixon

“African Americans are very proud that there is an African American man who is the most powerful man in the world, and they hold on to that with everything they possibly can,But it’s starting to slip because of the pain of the African American community.” ~Representative Maxine Waters

Every time the black community attempts to verbalize their experiences and air grievances, they're told they're just "whining." Or being "hyper-sensitize." Or "ungrateful." What some of these folks want is for blacks to finally shut the f#*k up about themselves and their troubles, so whites will no longer have to feel uncomfortable about interacting with blacks or feel guilty about NOT interacting with blacks, and so they won't have to hear or see stories of how their parents, grandparents and great-great grandparents treated blacks, or have to deal with the whole "sins of the father" issue. And yes, these are white liberals thinking these things, but they'll never let on to it, even outside of polite company.~Mack Lyons

I'll never understand that the party that pretends to care so much for the fetus, cares so little for it once its born. ~ms_teacher

Voters can't be shamed or intimidated into supporting this president or any other. They can only be persuaded.~Gene Lyons

I end tonight where it all began for me: I still believe in a place called Hope.~President Bill Clinton

"I dare to imagine a country where every child I hold in my hands, are all God's children, regardless of the color of their skin, regardless of whether they're boy or girl, regardless of religion, regardless of rich or poor, that every child I hold in my hands, will have the same chance to reach her full potential or his full potential. That is the goodness of our country. That is the essence of the American dream." ~Senator Paul Wellstone

About that "stop whining and complaining" thingy

I was away from the TeeVee over the weekend, so imagine my shock and awe when I tuned in this morming to hear the Talking Pundit Heads mock outrage over President Obama scolding black VOTERS to get off their lazy donkey's and stop whining and complaining. Promethus 6 notes, that's not ALL he said, and of course the Chattering Class didn't put the remarks in context, but whoever advised President Obama to give that speech needs to join the 16% of African Americans who are currently on the unemployment rolls.

Dr. King once said: “Before we reach the majestic shores of the Promised Land, there is a frustrating and bewildering wilderness ahead. We must still face prodigious hilltops of opposition and gigantic mountains of resistance. But with patient and firm determination we will press on.”
(Applause.)
So I don’t know about you, CBC, but the future rewards those who press on.
(Applause.)
With patient and firm determination, I am going to press on for jobs.
(Applause.)
I’m going to press on for equality.
(Applause.)
I’m going to press on for the sake of our children.
(Applause.)
I’m going to press on for the sake of all those families who are struggling right now. I don’t have time to feel sorry for myself. I don’t have time to complain. I am going to press on.
(Applause.)
I expect all of you to march with me and press on.
(Applause.)
Take off your bedroom slippers, put on your marching shoes. Shake it off.
(Applause.)
Stop complaining, stop grumbling, stop crying. We are going to press on. We’ve got work to do, CBC.

Huh? I mean, what exactly are black folks supposed to stop whining and complaining about? Massive unemployment? Lack of access to quality affordable health care? Underachieving and underfunded public schools? More black children living in poverty? Injustice and legalized lynchings?

How come when black folks pull do off their bedroom slippers and fight back against the right wing they are accused of whining and complaining, like that's a bad thing?

How come when the Tea Party organizes to take their country back from the socialist socialism, they are called a Grassroots organization, but when black folks try and organize they are called effing retarded and Professional Lefty's. I mean, Why can't the CBC be like the Tea Party?

How come when black folks tell the President to stop compromising with the righty's and fight we are told he's doing what he has to do, give him time, the republicans are obstructing, blah, blah, blab, blab? I mean, how much time does he need to do the right (no pun) thing? The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over hoping for a different result.

Mr. President, Sir, with all due respect, and not speaking for all black folks, but I will stop whining and complaining when I don't have anything to whine and complain about. K?

I found myself wondering about a couple of things this weekend, like, just who cheers when they're being told "Stop whining"? Who thinks telling their constituency to "Stop whining" is a good idea, and how do they come to think that?~Promethus 6

"Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they are doing."

"Well, there's a certain mean spiritness that's out there, not only in Alabama but it's in America. And that makes this election extremely important."~Alabama State Senator Hank Sanders response to CNN's Anderson Cooper when asked what evidence he had that the Republican opponents would take Alabama back to Jim Crow days.

The prophetic words of Senator Sanders and the scripture of Luke haunt and console me in the after math of the state sponsored killings of Troy Davis in Georgia, Derrick Mason in Alabama, and Lawrence Brewer in Texas.

For the record, I oppose the death penalty under any circumstance. As a Christian I cannot decry the crucifixion of Christ, and support the death penalty. If Jesus were on earth today he wouldn't be nailed to a cross. He would be put to death by lethal injection, hanging, firing squad or the electric chair.

In the words of Coretta Scott King, the widow of murdered Civil Rights Leader, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr."For too long we have treated violence with violence, and that's why it never ends."

At the time Anderson Cooper was asking Hank Sanders for evidence of things unseen, but over time Sanders prophecy is revealed.

They cheer at the thought of an uninsured person dying. They cheer at the thought of state-sponsored murder. In all, the 2012 Tea Party Republican debates have revealed that they are a death cult.

Some observers were shocked and surprised by the behavior of the Tea Party Republicans and their supporters during the primary debates. Others have complained that CNN's surrender of air-time to the Tea Party is a compromise of journalistic ethics. I would suggest to the latter that CNN performed a public service by providing a window into the Tea Party Republican soul. And to the former, there should be no surprise here: in the age of Obama, contemporary conservatism has surrendered to a virulent, dystopian and pathologically hyper-individualist state of nature, "all against many," type of populist right-wing ideology.

It's not being reported on TeeVee, but the audience at last night's gop Presidential debate booed a gay soldier. How mean is that?

I had no idea that the Constitution of the United States of America doesn't prohibit the execution of an innocent man/woman.

Beyond the emotional punch in the gut of Troy Davis' execution - and the echoing cheers of a GOP debate audience for Rick Perry killing so many people - it is worth remembering the role of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia in the Davis affair.

Because it was during an appeal to the Supreme Court in 2009 on behalf of Davis that Scalia - and BuzzFlash is not making this up - actually wrote a dissenting opinion that there was nothing in the Constitution that prevented a state from executing an innocent man (or woman).

Quoting GrannyStandingforTruth

Never in a million years did I think I would live to see a black man become President of the Divided States of America. Nor did I think I would live to see Jim Crow and lynching revived under the leadership of a black President either, but well there are some folks in America that are longing for those nostalgic days.

I want to take the time to extend my sincere condolences to Troy Davis's family and friends. I will continue to pray for you and for the future of our country.

"Now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders.~Acts 3:17

"1 death row inmate down and many to go!"

"Troy Davis was a MURDERING THUG and he got what he deserved!!"

These are comments the resident right wing Troll FED UP had the audacity to post in response to the execution of Troy Davis.

Real classy huh?

But it got me thinking...this is the mindset the Georgia Board of Clemency, The Georgia Supreme Court and eventually the United States Supreme Court heard instead of the activist around the world who cried in vain to stop the state sanctioned murder of an innocent man.

This is why elections matter. It's not about abortion, gay marriage, affirmative action, or illegal immigration or some other wedge issue.

It's about electing people with the power to exercise racism.

It's about electing Governors who make appointments to the Parole Boards.

It's about electing Presidents who make life time appointments to the Supreme Court. Can you a Rick Perry/Sarah Palin/Michelle Bachman/Rick Santorum/Ron Paul/Newt Gingrich/Herman Cain/Mitt Romney/Jon Huntsman Supreme Court? Shudder

If we are going to engage in collective murder, we need to be sure beyond any doubt. What gets me is gopers, and the people who pander to them, don't see the hypocrisy of their beliefs and subsequent actions.

How can they be compassionate, Christian conservatives and pro death penalty?


The last words of Troy Anthony Davis were "May God bless your souls” . Are those the words of a MURDERING THUG? I think NOT.

Georgia Rep. John Lewis perhaps put it best. “Do not weep for Troy Anthony Davis, he will be with God, weep for Georgia and for our Nation. Capital punishment is barbaric.”


When did we we become a nation of Barbarians?

"The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia"

Lyrical story

A young woman tells the story of her unnamed older brother who returns home after a two-week trip from a place called "Candletop." The brother meets his best friend, Andy Wolloe, at Webb's Bar ("Andy Wolloe said hello, and he said, 'Hi, what's doing, Wo?'"), and Andy informs the brother that his young wife (who is later described as "cheatin'") has been seeing another man in town, Seth Amos. Andy then reveals that he, too, has been sleeping with his friend's wife. The brother is understandably upset, which scares Andy, who leaves and walks home. The brother assumes his wife has left town, gets his gun, and heads out to the back woods to sneak up on Andy and confront him. When the brother arrives at Andy's house, he finds tracks outside ("tracks that were too small for Andy to make") and discovers that someone has already killed Andy. The brother, in a moment of panic ("he started to shake"), fires his gun in the air to summon a passing sheriff. When the sheriff approaches the scene, the brother is immediately accused of murder. A "backwoods Southern lawyer" doesn't keep the sheriff and a judge from convicting the brother in a kangaroo court ("the judge said 'guilty' in a make-believe trial / slapped the sheriff on the back with a smile"), and hang him that same night, effectively lynching him. This was apparently the same night of a statewide electrical blackout, although the phrase "the night the lights went out in Georgia" could refer to the fact that the "light" of justice went out that night as an innocent man was killed by the law.

The "light" of justice went out for real last night as Troy Davis was killed by the law. What is the difference between killing your own people and the death penalty? Isn't that the excuse, I mean justification, our country used for regime change in Iraq and Libya?

The decision of the United States Supreme Court to deny a stay of execution for Troy Davis will join The Dred Scott Decision, Bush v. Gore and Citizens United in infamy as one of the stupidest decisions ever. How could the voices of millions of people be ignored?. I guess they showed us who was Boss.

Huge numbers of people all over the world are begging them to reconsider but it seems to be falling on callously deaf ears. This is a travesty.

The execution of Troy Davis illustrates all the flaws in the death penalty, and why it should be abolished. H/T Booman

The debate about Troy Davis should have been about whether he had been wrongly imprisoned for two decades, not over whether he could prove his innocence beyond a reasonable doubt.

How did we arrive at a system where so much discretion is stripped away from the decision makers?

This case highlights every flaw with the death penalty. Even from the point of view of advocates of the death penalty, it took 20 years to get 'justice.' Whether we abolish the death penalty or not, this case proves that it is in need of an overhaul. Georgia might have killed an innocent man last night simply because the system didn't allow people to save him, despite the obvious doubts about his guilt.

It's time for America to stop condoning cruel and unusual punishment.

According to Amnesty International, 137 countries have abolished the death penalty. Argentina, Chile, and Uzbekistan outlawed the death penalty in 2008. During 2007, 24 countries, 88% in China, Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the United States alone, executed 1,252 people compared to 1,591 in 2006. Nearly 3,350 people were sentenced to death in 51 countries. More than 20,000 prisoners are on death row across the world.

Ask yourself the following, "What kind of society do I want to live in?". What kind of society do I want future generations to live in? What if Troy Davis were my son/brother/father/uncle/cousin/friend?

Do you want to live in a society where people, prideful, imperfect, deceivable people reserve unto themselves the right to kill other people?

Because I guarantee you that so long as we think that people en masse under the guise of The State have the right to kill they are going to find ways to exercise that power.

We must not let the lights of Justice be extinguished.

Defiant until the end, Troy Davis was executed Wednesday night for the murder of an off-duty police officer. He convinced hundreds of thousands of people around the world, but not a single court, that he was innocent.

As he lay strapped to a gurney in the death chamber, the 42-year-old told relatives of Mark MacPhail that he was not responsible for his 1989 slaying.

"I am innocent. The incident that happened that night is not my fault. I did not have a gun," he insisted.

"All I can ask ... is that you look deeper into this case so that you really can finally see the truth," he said.

Davis was declared dead at 11:08 p.m. The lethal injection began about 15 minutes earlier, after the Supreme Court rejected an 11th-hour request for a stay.

Let us march on until victory is won. The movement continues.
This movement couldn’t stop Davis’ execution — but it’s a movement that won’t die with Troy Davis. There’s no better way to honor Troy’s memory than to keep fighting for justice.

You know my friends, there comes a time when people get tired of being trampled by the iron feet of oppression ... If we are wrong, the Supreme Court of this nation is wrong. If we are wrong, the Constitution of the United States is wrong. And if we are wrong, God Almighty is wrong. If we are wrong, Jesus of Nazareth was merely a utopian dreamer that never came down to Earth. If we are wrong, justice is a lie, love has no meaning. And we are determined here in Montgomery to work and fight until "justice runs down like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream." Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

What a difference a Judge makes

As activist plead with Butts County Superior Court Judge Penny Freesemann to halt the execution of Troy Davis, A Federal Judge in New Orleans has ruled that a white man is mentally unfit to stand trial on charges he fired a shotgun at three black men who were trying to leave New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. I kid you not.

On Tuesday, U.S. Magistrate Louis Moore Jr. ordered Roland Bourgeois Jr. to be taken into federal custody and hospitalized for up to four months before the Mississippi man is re-evaluated.
Bourgeois was freed on bond after he was indicted last year on charges stemming from the 2005 shooting, in which at least one of the men was wounded. Prosecutors called it a racially motivated attack.
A doctor who evaluated Bourgeois last month determined he has psychiatric and medical problems that impair his competency and the he shouldn't stand trial until he has a liver transplant.

Meanwhile,U.S. District Judge John Bates tossed Shelby County, Alabama's challenge to election monitoring. Thank goodness.

U.S. District Judge John Bates ruled against Shelby County, Ala., which sued Attorney General Eric Holder to stop the monitoring required since the Voting Rights Act's initial passage in 1965. The county argued the monitoring is outdated and that it should no longer need federal approval before changing even minor election procedures such as moving a polling place or redrawing school district lines.
Section 5 of the law relies heavily on patterns of past discrimination to determine which state, county and local governments must obtain "preclearance" for election changes. Bates noted that this section has been alternatively called the centerpiece of the country's most effective civil rights law and an impermissible federal encroachment on state sovereignty.
Bates had appeared somewhat sympathetic to the county's arguments at a hearing in February and he questioned whether evidence of racial discrimination from four or five decades ago justified the continued election monitoring.
But he wrote in his 151-page opinion that after reviewing 15,000 pages of records in support of lawmakers' 25-year extension of the law in 2006 that Congress was justified in finding that discrimination in the covered jurisdictions still existed.

Which doesn't explain why Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange by passed the DOJ and went straight to the courts for redistricting approval. Or does it?

Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange is taking the state’s redistricting plan straight to federal court.

Following remarks at Jacksonville State University Monday, Strange told a reporter the court case – an unusual move – is something he did to save time.

“It’s the quickest route, the most logical route for us,” Strange said.

Maybe he knows the Judge.
I'm just saying....

Vengeance is mine sayeth the State

I type with a heavy heart this morning because I've never felt so helpless. Unless there is divine intervention, Troy Davis will die tonight despite the fact he may be innocent.

Troy Davis' petition to the U.S. Supreme Court was denied for the second and last time on March 28. Today, the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles may have sealed his fate by denying him clemency in his capital punishment case. Davis is scheduled to die Wednesday at 7 p.m. by lethal injection.
His most recent bid for clemency could be the final chance for Davis to avoid execution. Defense attorney Jason Ewart has said that the pardons board was likely Davis' last option, according to the Associated Press. But, Amnesty International, the NAACP and the National Action Network are drawing attention to one last effort to keep him alive. The groups say the man who prosecuted Davis could ask a judge to block the execution.

It doesn't look like that's going to happen because the DA who prosecuted Davis says the doubt, recantations are manufactured, and the present DA says it's out of his hands.

Sister Jackie Griffith with Savannah for Clemency for Troy Davis, announced Tuesday evening her group would deliver 240,000 signatures on a petition to Chatham County District Attorney Larry Chisolm at 9 a.m. calling on him to ask Superior Court Judge Penny Haas Freesemann to vacate the death warrant for Davis.

A press release issued at 7 p.m. Tuesday by Chisolm’s office said the Superior Court, not the district attorney, has the only jurisdiction in the execution and that “this matter is beyond our control.”

What can we do? From jackandjill politics.com via Facebook

Call Judge Penny Freesemann at 912 652 7252 to save Troy Davis. She has the power to pull the death warrant. The DA can ask her to rescind the warrant or she could rescind it directly.
[...]
CALL THE FOLLOWING NUMBERS FOR TROY DAVIS’ STAY OF EXECUTION:
*DISTRICT ATTORNEY OF CHATHAM CTY.;(912)652-7308
*GEORGIA PAROLE BOARD; (404)656-5651
*GA STATE SENATOR & SOUTHERN CTR. FOR HUMAN RIGHTS (Ask them & all execution staff to take off tomorrow or not participate in Troy’s unjust execution);(770)692-4750/ Fax (770)692-4754
*GOVERNOR; (404)651-1151

The Field Negro and I both note the absence of any mention of Troy Davis in the so-called mainstream media today. Out of sight, out of mind?

Still, this too will pass, and they know it. As I write this post the name Troy Davis is not even trending on Yahoo. Sarah Palin, Brooke Burke, Jeff Conaway, Cam Newton, the Boston Red Sox; all of them are getting more play in the American psyche than some black man in Georgia charged and convicted of killing a police officer many years ago. Hey, if the state of Georgia didn’t kill him, some other black man would. Or, maybe high blood pressure, diabetes, or any one of those other diseases that Negroes tend to get. He lived to the ripe old age of 41, which is more than we can say for other men who look like him in A-mery-ca. So what’s the big deal?

So what's the big deal indeed? It's just another day in the United States of America. Where vengeance is mine, not liberty and justice for ALL.

Please God, hear the words of Langston Hughes and Let America Be America Again

Let America be America again.
Let it be the dream it used to be.
Let it be the pioneer on the plain
Seeking a home where he himself is free.

(America never was America to me.)

Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed--
Let it be that great strong land of love
Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme
That any man be crushed by one above.

(It never was America to me.)

O, let my land be a land where Liberty
Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath,
But opportunity is real, and life is free,
Equality is in the air we breathe.

(There's never been equality for me,
Nor freedom in this "homeland of the free.")

Say, who are you that mumbles in the dark?
And who are you that draws your veil across the stars?

I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart,
I am the Negro bearing slavery's scars.
I am the red man driven from the land,
I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek--
And finding only the same old stupid plan
Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak.

I am the young man, full of strength and hope,
Tangled in that ancient endless chain
Of profit, power, gain, of grab the land!
Of grab the gold! Of grab the ways of satisfying need!
Of work the men! Of take the pay!
Of owning everything for one's own greed!

I am the farmer, bondsman to the soil.
I am the worker sold to the machine.
I am the Negro, servant to you all.
I am the people, humble, hungry, mean--
Hungry yet today despite the dream.
Beaten yet today--O, Pioneers!
I am the man who never got ahead,
The poorest worker bartered through the years.

Yet I'm the one who dreamt our basic dream
In the Old World while still a serf of kings,
Who dreamt a dream so strong, so brave, so true,
That even yet its mighty daring sings
In every brick and stone, in every furrow turned
That's made America the land it has become.
O, I'm the man who sailed those early seas
In search of what I meant to be my home--
For I'm the one who left dark Ireland's shore,
And Poland's plain, and England's grassy lea,
And torn from Black Africa's strand I came
To build a "homeland of the free."

The free?

Who said the free? Not me?
Surely not me? The millions on relief today?
The millions shot down when we strike?
The millions who have nothing for our pay?
For all the dreams we've dreamed
And all the songs we've sung
And all the hopes we've held
And all the flags we've hung,
The millions who have nothing for our pay--
Except the dream that's almost dead today.

O, let America be America again--
The land that never has been yet--
And yet must be--the land where every man is free.
The land that's mine--the poor man's, Indian's, Negro's, ME--
Who made America,
Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain,
Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain,
Must bring back our mighty dream again.

Sure, call me any ugly name you choose--
The steel of freedom does not stain.
From those who live like leeches on the people's lives,
We must take back our land again,
America!

The Field Negro says it best-Those of you (black and white) who advocated and fought on this man’s behalf should be proud of yourselves. I know that it’s hard to see a person who might be innocent of the crime for which he was charged put to death, but your conscience should allow you to sleep tonight, which is more than I can say for Terry Bernard, Robert Keller,Albert R. Murray,James E. Donald, L. Gale Buckner, Steve Hayes, and the rest of you in A-merry-ca.


RedEye tip toeing away from the computer to go pray.

Three Strikes You're Out! Die Boy Die!

Troy Davis has three major strikes against him. First, he is an African-American man. Second, he was charged with killing a white police officer. And third, he is in Georgia

.
The Georgia Clemency Board denied clemency for Troy Davis. The legal lynching will continue.

Early Tuesday morning, the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles elected to deny clemency to Troy Davis, letting his original punishment stand. His date of execution by lethal injection will take place September 21st as scheduled. The fate of Davis, 42 rested in the hands of the five board members. They are the only entity in Georgia with the power to convert Davis’ death sentence, outside of a last-minute appeal by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Well, I guess they showed us.

The Internet community has also been buzzing in support, with Twitter promoting the hashtag #toomuchdoubt bringing attention to the idea that Georgia may potentially execute an innocent man. Also, close to 1 million signatures have been collected in a petition supporting Davis attempt at clemency. Protesters have also been holding demonstrations outside the board meeting in Atlanta with posters saying “Justice for Tray Davis” and “I Am Troy Davis.” Demonstrations were also held in 300 towns across the globe, which perhaps shows a changing attitude towards executions.

The Georgia Clemency Board shines a harsh light on the American legal system for the world to see.

Davis’ case has garnered international attention, since his impending day of execution this week. While Davis was sentenced to death 20 years ago for the murder of Savannah Police Officer Mark Allen MacPhail. During the course of his time incarcerated, his case has caught the attention of various dignitaries, such as former President Jimmy Carter, Pope Benedict XVI, former Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Norman Fletcher and former FBI Director William Sessions, who all believe that Davis should receive clemency.

The board members, with their dates of appointment, are:

-- Gale Buckner (January 2005), a former GBI agent

-- Bob Keller (January 2007), a former Clayton County district attorney

-- James Donald (January 2009), former commissioner of the Department of Corrections

-- Albert Murray (May 2010), former commissioner of the Department of Juvenile Justice

-- Terry Barnard (May 2010), former state Representative

If I were a member of the Board, I would want to make damned sure that whomever is sentenced to death actually did the crime.I would not want to execute someone only to find out later that the condemned person was innocent. An execution does not allow for “do-overs” to get it right.

Troy Davis's fate is now in the hands of the United States Supreme Court and, President Barack Hussein Obama.

While Davis is set to go before the state board of pardons and paroles for a final review on September 19th, President Obama should consider granting clemency.
There are several arguments to support Obama's intervention in this case, not the least of which is salvaging the U.S.'s reputation with regard to the integrity of its justice system. We learn in school that the fair administration of justice is a fundamental value in our democracy. We speak of our justice system as if it sets us apart from other leading nations and reflects, at its the core, the presumption of innocence until guilt is proven and the guarantee of a fair trial, if someone has been accused of breaking the law.

And before the righty's start whining, two words, Terri Schiavo.

The legislative, executive, and judicial branches, of both the United States federal government and the State of Florida, were involved in the case of Terri Schiavo. In November 1998 Michael Schiavo, husband of Terri Schiavo, first sought permission to remove his wife's feeding tube. Schiavo had suffered brain damage in February 1990, and in February 2000 had been ruled by a Florida circuit court to be in a persistent vegetative state. Her feeding tube was removed first on April 26, 2001, but was reinserted two days later on an appeal by her parents, Bob and Mary Schindler.

I HOPE and PRAY someone will stop the judicial lynching of Troy Davis.

Despite evidence that he's innocent, Troy Davis faces execution on September 21. With a culture that cheers Rick Perry's execution record, what chance does he have?

What chance does anyone have? What will we tell our children?

And if the clemency bid fails, and Troy Davis is executed next week, I will tell her (and I will pray that it is so) that her message and all the other messages and all the well wishes of all the tens-of-thousands of people who have supported him these many long years were in his heart as authorities gave him those drugs -- that as his life ended, Troy Davis at the very least knew he was being held by tens-of-thousands of loving hands.

Amen and Amen.