The Stupid Chronicles April 27, 2013

Look closely at the picture attached here. This is the face of lunacy. You now know exactly what to look for when you casually saunter down the street. When you see lunacy, run!

This man’s name is James Tracy. No not Dick Tracy. He bears not brain-sharing with the great detective of comics. No James is one of those rare nuts who actually somehow made it through grad school and got a degree, and purports to teach our youth.

If you have a child enrolled in Florida Atlantic, I’d suggest you shut off the funds now, and get your kid immediately.

James is certifiable. James “teaches” (I use the term loosely of course) communications and, get this, conspiracy theory. James is a conspiracy. A conspiracy to appear like a normal human being.

James believes the Boston Marathon bombing was “staged”. For all the world, to him, it looks like a pre-organized drill.

In short, the event closely resembles a mass-casualty drill, which for training purposes are designed to be as lifelike as possible. Since it is mediated, however, and primarily experienced from afar through the careful assemblage of words, images, and the official pronouncements and commentary of celebrity journalists, it has the semblance of being for all practical purposes “real.”
….

With the above in mind, photographic evidence of the event suggests the possibility of play actors getting into position after the detonation of what may in fact have been a smoke bomb or similarly benign explosive.

And goody of all goodies there is a video!

And you can read more of Tracy’s insanity at his own blog.

New Hampshire makes another appearance in the crazy parade with an entry from their state legislature. Stella Trembley, oh STELLLLLLA, what have you done now?

Stella no doubt in communication with Mr. Tracy, has her own theories about the Boston Marathon bombing.

Stella pays attention to that great witless Beck, so she posted this on Beck’s site:

Just as you said would happen. Top Down, Bottom UP. The Boston Marathon was a Black Ops “terrorist” attack. One suspect killed, the other one will be too before they even have a chance to speak. Drones and now “terrorist” attacks by our own Government. Sad day, but a “wake up” to all of us. First there was a “suspect” then there wasnt. Infowars broke the story and they knew they had been “found out”.
http://youtu.be/axQtAFtmtVA

Yes, I’m sure that Stella believes that George Bush ordered the 9/11 tragedy as well.

Note as well that the YouTube link she gave on her comment is from none other than career nut Alex Jones.

We did mention that Ms. Stella is a Republican didn’t we? No? Well you knew that anyway didn’t you?

One thing you can be sure of, the stupids are well, really really stupid. That’s why they are so endearing, when they are not annoying gnats in need of swatting.

Such is the case of Representative Tom Shaw, who resides at the Iowa State House, where he plays tiddlywinks most of the day long until it’s time for his chocolate milk and nap break.

Tommy is still mighty angry at the justices of the Iowa Supreme Court, who several years ago had the temerity to actually follow the constitution and declare Iowa’s refusal to allow gays to marry, well, unconstitutional.

Tommy figured out a neat plan to punish the four remaining justices (three were defeated for re-election after a tissue of lies campaign forged by one VanderPlatts and his homophobic friends).

Tommy has offered up a bill directed just at these four justices, cutting their salaries from $163, 200, to just $25,000.

Tommy thinks it’s constitutional.

Tommy is of course an idiot.

Tommy can usually be spotted at the capital building in Des Moines, being led around by his thinking-brain dog Charles.

Tommy also wears Depends and poops in them regularly, so people learn to take a wide berth when seeing him.

From Iowa, we move a bit north and east to my original neck of the woods–Michigan.

Here we find Gloria Platko, a Democrat up in Buena Vista County. She doesn’t seem particularly fond of township supervisor Dwayne Parker, whom she referred to with the “N” word.

She also adjectived that word with “arrogant”.

Gloria, poor dear, was unaware that she was being taped when she made the remarks.

She regrets them of course. NOW.

She assures us she is no racist, because in that time-honored defense, “she’s eaten Thanksgiving dinner at the homes of blacks before.”

She said she probably should have used the word ignoramus.

Sorry, Gloria, that word is taken. You have that dubious distinction of owning the word.

Give back your salary.

It’s always a good bet that Donald Trump can make a stupid list.

The first question or observation one makes about The Donald, is how could stupid make that much money?

Donald doesn’t like Jon Stewart much.

That would be obvious, since Stewart, like all good thinking people tends to point out Donald’s numerous stupid moments.

Donald has another major flaw other than being stupid. He’s very thin-skinned and fights back, hate to use the phrase, but it fits, “like a girl.”

You know what I mean, all snotty and so forth.

So to “get back” at Stewart for being, well, really brilliant at what he does, Trump said,

I am smarter than Jon Stewart will ever be because he is so stupid and because his real name is not even Jon Stewart. It’s something much more Jewish-y. So, ha! Also: he is overrated.

He tweeted it too.

So there, Jon Stewart: It’s all out now. You’re a JEW!, or Jewish-y at least. Take that!

Trumpet head remains, as always,  an idiot.

Oh Gosh, that was a joke Donald, don’t sue me!

Related articles

• N.H. State Rep. Stella Tremblay – “What am I going to apologize for? Asking questions?” (willyloman.wordpress.com)
• Boston Marathon Bombing Conspiracy: Attack Was U.S. False Flag, Says Florida Professor (latinospost.com)

The Stupid Chronicles for April 20, 2013

Oh don’t mind me, I’m just acting like a Hispanic. Yes dear Louis the Lunatic tops our list today. But it was a close call I tell ya. Louis never fails to deliver the one two punch of stupid all wrapped up in crazy nearly every week. We sometimes wonder if Louis has a bank of writers who dream up his lines, but on reflection that would surely tip the balance and throw civilization into a retrograde orbit.

Louis dear Louis has a gem for us today. Let me put it thusly. Louis viewed Rodin’s the Thinker, and opined, “why is that dude taking a shit in public?”

Louis doesn’t have a pet rock, he’s the pet rock’s pet.

Louis knows his terrorists and he is here to tell you what he has learned. Islamic terrorist organizations are busy helping their Arab folks “act Hispanic” so they can cross the border from Mexico into America. (added joy: there is a video!)

Yes you heard it here.

Although Louis had no opinion of who caused the Boston Marathon bombings at the time he said this, he was pretty darn sure that a fence is the way to go. After all, Israel’s suicide bombings stopped when they built their fence, he offered, unaware that that is not at all true. A good guess is always good enough for Louis.

Compatriot idiot Steve King (R-IA) nodded in agreement and said that the immigration reform bill should be held up, because surely this bombing was caused (he thinks) by some student on a visa.

Louis offered no ideas about how one “acts” Hispanic. Several racist theories comes to mind, but Louis stopped short of asking people to be on the watch for the “typical” Hispanic behaviors. He did whisper that a dead giveaway that you were dealing with a “pretend” Hispanic was to offer him a jalapeño pepper and see if he cries out in anguish and calls for water after taking a bite.

Texas takes our number two spot as well, which isn’t a big surprise–it’s a big state with big idiots in it.

This is Ms. Ester Irene Stokes. She’s a school teacher in Texas. Or was, or confound it, she probably got herself a medal now.

Anyway, she was accused of fondling one of her female students. Now Ms. Stokes is 61 and the child in question was seven. So that is very bad stuff.

So Ms. Stokes tells police and anyone else who will listen that she is not guilty.

You probably assumed that didn’t ya?

Yes, well she has a rather unique defense.

She says that she is such a racist that she can barely stand to touch those little black girls in her class. The mere touch of their hands gives her the heebie jeebies and sends her off to wash off that black skin feel. I mean she actually cringes when the little nappy heads try to hug here, which must happen once every ice age at least.

There have been no responses by the school in question as to whether Ms. Stokes was still employed. What ya wanna make a bet she won’t have any trouble finding another job in some parts of the country at least.

No doubt that face will be forever seared in your brain.

Third on our hit parade for the week is Maine’s governor Paul LaPage.

Now Paulie has come to our attention before as you can note from some of his best work at the right.

But he kinda ran out of material for a little while. After the last couple of days though, I think he’s back in fighting form.

The Bangor News seems to have a particularly low opinion in the Guv, suggesting that he “makes things up” a lot.

Well, Paul is at it again. Paul doesn’t like wind power. He thinks it’s somehow un-American, being all cheap and non-polluting and such. Oil and Gas don’t like air power and that’s enough for big Paul.

So Paul said, “Now, to add insult to injury, The University of Maine, Presque Isle – anybody here been up there to see that damn windmill in the back yard? Guess what, if it’s not blowing wind outside and they have somebody visiting the campus, they have a little electric motor that turns the blades. I’m serious. They have an electric motor so that they can show people wind power works. Unbelievable. And that’s the government that you have here in the state of Maine.”

Of course, no such thing is true. The University says there is no “little motor”.

All this would be funny, and it is, but the answer to Paulie’s nonsense is that he’s touched in the head. Read crazy as a loon. Read, coming up on Louis’s shoulder and threatening to pass.

Paulie intends to run for re-election. He predicts that the teacher’s unions better watch out, cuz he’s coming for them. And his new idol? Well that ever-favorite of Wisconsin, Scott Walker.

“I will guarantee you that you will see the most vicious education campaign ads that you’ve ever seen in your life next year, because I am going to be the next Scott Walker in this country, because I am challenging the status quo.”

No, Paulie is challenging the all-time low IQ in the USA. I am putting my bets he will win.

Fourth is a new face for us, GOP House Representative from Iowa, Dennis Guth.

Guth is one of those self-styled experts on the issue of homosexuality.

Guth first focused on the media and accused them of making that homosexual lifestyle seem good and nice, when we all know it’s really yucky.

See, Guth says, homosexuals are like “second-hand” smoke, they cause harm to those around them who are normal. They cause health risks to his family he says, by their increased invitation to transmittable sexual diseases. He opines that there are “more medical tests required” before you can give blood or birth. He thinks they are connected but forgot to say how.

Other than that, Guth was unable to explain why their diseases would “harm” his family, unless of course one posits that either he or members of his family regularly engage the services of willing homosexuals for ummm, sex.

Guth is an idiot, and his Democratic colleague told him so.

Our fifth and last entry for the week comes from good old Arkansas, a state that often shows us the butt end of humanity.

Nate Bell, is (you guessed it) a REPUBLICAN state rep from good old Ar-KANSAS, who is a protector of the 2nd Amendment, which he neither understands, nor defends with anything other than yippie-ki-yo-ki-yay blather.

Well, inside that fun face is a very human and very empathetic individual. So as soon as he heard about the manhunt going on in Boston and its environs, wondered via Twitter:

I wonder how many Boston liberals spent the night cowering in their homes wishing they had an AR-15 with a high-capacity magazine?

I mean how sympathetic can a guy be?

I mean really?

Nate withdrew the Tweet once it was pointed out to him that he was being a total douche. Of course it was up long enough for a long list of people to tell him that.

Good luck Nate on re-election.

And if you have not run into these videos (YouTube has several by the same guy), then sit back and for a couple of minutes, just chortle your little heart out. Dry up your tears at the above and replace with belly laughs.

Related articles

• LePage Spins Windmill Conspiracy Theory (thetippingpoint.bangordailynews.com)
• Outrage as Rep. Gohmert says radical islamists being trained to act Hispanic (nbclatino.com)

 

Can You Stand the Excitement?

It’s been another long week. It’s been a productive one. All the usual stuff and lots of home improvement stuff going on.

We have the fence around the front nearly done. The guy will be back this weekend to finish off the last side with the gate. He’ll weld on site. And then paint and we will be done.

Ernest, our great handy man is going to tile the “front porch”. He’s looking for some tiling to make some patterns with. Turquoise is our favorite color, or mine at least.

The Contrarian finished two L-shaped flower boxes to rim the walk leading to the front door. And he plans two more, a long box underneath the bedroom window which will be a about 6 feet in length and a triangle one that will sit in the corner of the fencing. It’s a nice beginning to our jazzing up the front. We actually like to sit out there, and Diego will soon be able to keep track of everyone in the neighborhood without wandering down to see “how everybody’s doing.”

In the back, I have a few more planters to do. The flowers are lined up and ready to go. We’ve got our vegetables and plenty of top soil to fill the planters. That’s tomorrow’s job. We’re planning one more long planter for the back south wall yet.

All in all, we’ve been adding a lot to the place. Ernest has another couple french doors that we may just cut down and install as long windows to frame out the patio area. That would leave it enclosed on three sides and open just at the end. That makes at very cozy, while we can open two of the french doors and get additional breezes when needed. A flat screen will be put in the corner, and we should be having ourselves basically another room to enjoy.

I signed up at Santa Rosa yesterday. Such a forlorn little church, but the new one, should it ever be finished, will be wonderful. It’s styled as an old adobe mission church. They were well on the way to finishing when the economic bottom fell out of the economy, and bank loans dried up. It’s been on hold for a few years now. Hopefully our new bishop will see fit to steer some funding toward finishing the building. I don’t know a lot about parish financing, but I think each is required to stand on its own feet financially. The people there are so warm and loving, that I cannot but think that good things will happen.

Just to keep you up on things. The 5/2 “diet” plan, of fasting two days and eating normally is working very well. I barely notice the fasting days, starting and ending at 1 pm on Tuesday-Wednesday, an Thursday-Friday. I’ve lost five pounds over the first month, which is slow, but steady, and like I said, I barely notice I’m “dieting”. I’m looking at this as the normal way for me to eat and live from now on. I know Larry had done fabulously well on his vegetarian diet. I salute his bravery and commitment.

Hey if you see that little twit, Kim Jong Un around anywhere, grab him. What that kid needs is a good spanking. Did anybody ever tell him that you can’t sabre rattle without a sabre? Or is he simply seeking to declare war on American for the foreign aid once defeated?

If you want to know what is so very wrong with Congress, you need look no further than Senator Roy Blunt. He’s the (in the hip pocket of agribusiness) jackass who with the help of Monsanto, added a rider to an unrelated bill, which protects Monsanto from being sued over it’s genetically altered foods. Monsanto of course contributes big to Blunt’s war chest. The rider is specific to Monsanto. Blunt added it “anonymously” as Senators are allowed to do, but word finally got out that he was the culprit. Blunt is known as one of the worst “bought and paid for” politicians around and was a favorite of criminal Tom DeLay during his House years.

You know, I sometimes wonder if Republicans think of anything else but butt sex and bestiality. I mean Louis Gollllly Gohmert said that opening the door to marriage equality would lead to “animal love.” As Jon Stewart put it, “do they really think that people are going around thinking. . . .”God that goat looks good, but dang, it’s illegal!”. Now the Attorney General of Virginia and probably candidate for governor, Ken Cuccinelli,  is just not gonna let the state sodomy law go down the tubes without a fight. He’s petitioning the Federal court to reconsider its conclusion that the law was unconstitutional on its face. I mean dude, do you have nothing better to do? I’m beginning to think that Republicans are some sick mothers.

If any of you have ever heard of Wilcox County High School, well you are doing better than me. You have no doubt heard of those Japanese soldiers who have lived for 60 years on South Pacific islands, never knowing that WWII ended? Well, At Wilcox County High, they never heard of the civil rights movement. That’s in Georgia of you weren’t aware?

Seems that the school holds and HAS ALWAYS held two proms. . . .one integrated, and the other “whites only”. And it’s just not in name only either. In 2012, a biracial student was turned away by police for trying to attend the Whitie prom. The school has no intention of changing things either.

There is no longer any racism in America. Let’s make that very clear.

See ya Saturday–It’s the FINAL FOUR! GO ANYBODY BUT MICHIGAN CUZ I HATE THAT SCHOOL!

Related articles

• Sen. Roy Blunt: Monsanto’s Congressional Judas (amresolution.com)
• Surprised? Monsanto Openly Wrote Own Monsanto Protection Act (12160.info)
• Top Senator Apologizes for Monsanto Protection Act (blacklistednews.com)

Oh Good Gracious, She Just Ruined the Whole Show!

The moment her face appeared, I gasped, “oh the crazy Right will be having a field day tomorrow about this!”

The “this” was Michelle Obama’s surprise appearance at the end of the Oscars to announce the best picture award. You’d have thought she was having a private meeting with the widow of Osama Bin Laden to hear the hue and cry from the reactionaries.

“She’s being petty and small” cavorting with all those Hollywood types, raged Jennifer Rubin. I mean really! Can’t they EVER leave America alone to its fun without intruding?

Forget that the crazy element that comprises the Republican right these days hates Hollywood which begs the question why they were watching in the first place.

Breitbart always the class act, called her appearance “obscene” for reasons only they could understand.

Of course they forget as they always do, that both Bushes, Laura and George W. made appearances at the Oscars themselves.

But oh lawdy, when Michelle does it, it’s ”grasping.” And of course, it ain’t about race, or nuthin’ like that. No, it’s never about that.

∞

Alternet does a great job of coming up with its own Oscar picks this year. For saying and doing really dumb things all the while trying to appear normal–as in corporate executives and others of their ilk. The list of quotes is rather telling–*hint*–they don’t really give a rat’s behind about us regular folks. It’s always about them.

Here are just a few to whet your appetite:

Facebook’s Eduardo Saverin scored big-time, landing Mark Zuckerberg as a roommate at Harvard, using American resources to score billions in income, and then revoking his citizenship to avoid paying any taxes

Chicago Tribune: “Western-style private enterprise..will lead the world out of the mess it led the world into.”

PRO-LIFE GOWN:  Rep. Scott DesJarlais (R-TN) said “All life should be cherished and protected. We are pro-life.” It was later learned that he had encouraged both his lover and his wife to get abortions.

Billionaire Kenneth Griffin: The wealthy “have an insufficient influence” on politics today.

Rick Santorum: “Rape victims should make the best of a bad situation.”

CEO Ilana Weinstein about Wall Street bonus cutbacks: “It’s a disaster.”

Senator James Inhofe: “The arrogance of people to think that we, human beings, would be able to change what He is doing in the climate is to me outrageous.”

Nutrition classes being taught by Coca Cola and Hershey’s

Now go and read the rest of them!

∞

Make note of this man. If you see him, call authorities. He’s slipped out of the home again and is running loose. It’s hard to understand how he does with, not having a brain and all, but he does.

His name?

Steve Lavin. He’s an elected official. Yes, the good people of Montana abandoned their brains at the voting booth and sent him to the State House.

Once there, Steve introduced legislation that would allow corporations to. .  . .wait for it . . . .VOTE!

And I guess, if a “person” can vote, well I guess they can run for office, right?

If you see a brain rolling down the road, stop and pick it up.

It’s either Steve’s or some other Montana voter who thought he’d be a good person to help run the state.

I don’t know which is sadder.

I really don’t.

∞

I just want you to know ahead of time. These people are not racist. They surely tell you they are not. The head of the Montana Tea Party posted this on her Facebook page or on her blog, ”Cowgirl Blog”. Don’t bother trying to find it, she’s apparently shut it down. You ask why? Oh, because she thinks this is humorous:

Yeah, no racism here, move along.

∞

Well now sleep on that and meet me tomorrow.

 

Here is Why Republicans Suck

Never heard of him?

Lucky you.

He’s the chairman of the Judiciary Committee in the House. He’s from Virginia. He’s an asshole.

Big time.

I mean really big time.

He’s the point man for the GOP on immigration reform in the House.

Did I mention he’s an asshole?

He spoke with NPR recently, and gave his views on how he plans to shape the House response to the bill created in the Senate.

Did I mention he’s an asshole?

He’s made it clear. There will be no path to citizenship on his watch. No sirree bob.

But he has a plan. It’s called guest worker. See, he wants all the undocumented workers to be given guest worker status with no hope of citizenship. There is a reason he wants it done this way.

“You’re going to have to have a program that assures those farms and those processing plants that there will be workers,” he says. “Because if you give them legal status, they can work anywhere in the United States — they’re not going to necessarily work at the hardest, toughest, dirtiest jobs.”

Ya see, Bob wants a permanent slave labor pool. And the only way to insure that is to never give them citizenship. No, they are here to do the dirty jobs that Americans can’t be expected to do, being superior in every way, you know.

Bob is a superior in every way too. Superior in being an asshole. He’s the best at that job I’ve seen this week.

His name? Forgettable: Bob Goodlatte.

Good luck with that piece of work Johnny B. of Orange.

Δ

My good old friend Chucky the Farmer, Grassley, is probably learning that those town hall meetings are not as much fun as he expected (as Johnny McCain learned too!).

If you were unaware, Chuck, is an old curmudgeon who is the perfect conservative foil to Tom Harkin, both senators from Iowa. Except of course that Chucky is not quite the bright light that Harkin is.

At his town meeting, some yahoo from wacko land, asked if it was true that the government was about to microchip all children under the ruse that they were just tracking their medical files. Grassley unlike Mitch the Turtle McConnell was asked about a similar urban myth (in McConnell’s case the claim was that Gitmo prisoners were getting the benefits of the GI Bill), Grassley knew the answer. “No truth to that” he muttered and then went on to say:

No. First of all, nothing can be done to your body without your permission. It’d be a violation of the constitutional right to privacy if that were to happen.

Now, I do agree with Grassley on this statement. But I doubt Grassley believes in it, for you see, the basis of Roe v. Wade is based on the implicit right to privacy that all the amendments imply. So held the Roe Court.

This is not the meme of the GOP, which through its ally Antonin Scalia, completely rejects. Scalia and other Republicans have steadfastly said that Roe is unconstitutional precisely because there is no constitutional right to privacy.

I am most sure that Grassley will retract that statement. I think sometimes a man needs a push to get him to retire. It’s time Chuck. You’re losing your edge.

Δ

Republicans continue under the delusion that if they can find a black man to glom onto, they can win an election.

It goes something like this:

• Black people vote for other black people because their black.
• If the GOP can put up a black candidate, they will surely split the vote, presumably African-Americans will just play a game of eenie-meenie, or rock, paper, scissors to decide which to vote for.

Of course they don’t get that such a belief is in itself racist as all get out.

Anyway, the new latest GOP savior is Ben Carson, neurosurgeon in pediatric care. Carson has a compelling story, coming from humble means. He has risen to being director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins.

But his ideas are decidedly ultra conservative. Combining the usual GOP mishmash of biblical literalism and individualism, Carson argues for the usual laundry list of Republican talking points on taxes, and smaller government and so forth.

Foxy Noise and the WSJ are all in a tither hyping Carson as the new Herm Cain/Alan West/Alan Keyes/ blah blah blah black man to prove the GOP en mass is still not a largely white organization with no clue about its own racism.

HINT: Black folks vote for issues just like white people do. Color plays at best a tangential role, the same role it played for me when I voted for the Black guy occupying the WHITE House right now. It was really nice to be part of a historic event made possible by the fact that the candidate in question WAS A COMPETENT AND WORTHY CANDIDATE TO BE HEAD OF STATE.

Got it now?

No, I suspect you don’t. But I tried.

I leave you with this, because I thought it was really cool. From Don in Massachusetts.

Related articles

• Grassley says he hasn’t decided whether to seek re-election (thegazette.com)
• Guest worker issue may kill immigration reform (cnn.com)
• Analyst: Dems Worry Guest Worker Program Could Create Permanent Underclass (voicerussia.com)
• U.S. Work Programs ‘Close To Slavery’ (huffingtonpost.com)
• Meet The Virginian Shaping The House GOP’s Immigration Plan (wnyc.org)
• McCain fails in defending amnesty scheme to angry AZ citizens (seeingredaz.wordpress.com)
• Obama’s decoy plan could deliver a winner on immigration reform (newsobserver.com)
• Why Republicans Won’t Pass Obama’s Immigration Plan (politicalwire.com)
• Pathway To Citizenship Becomes GOP Roadblock On Immigration Reform (crooksandliars.com)

 

The Legacy of Race

It is a stunning bit of serendipity that the President’s second Inaugural falls on this day we celebrate as Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. It gives me pause to reflect upon the legacy of Dr. King, and how far we have traveled, and how far, sadly we still have to go.

Because our President is African-American, it is almost inevitable that the rabid minority who detest him with a fervor that reaches to at or near real hatred, are quick to point out (almost always unasked of course) that they are not racists. But they also go further, attempting in some drug-induced phantasmagoria to capture Dr. King as their own. They quote with self-satisfaction two facts: one, that Dr. King was after all, one of them, a Republican, and second they quote from his “I Have a Dream” speech, that they “judge a person by the content of their character and not by the color of their skin.”

To them, this settles the question. If anyone pursues the issue further, they are “race baiting” or “playing the race card”, trying to blame their circumstances not on their own limitations, but rather on a non-existent barrier that prevents them from reaching their goal.

Race still matters in America. No matter how politically correct we are, or how politically correct we witness others being, the ugly face of racism seethes just below the surface. My own father, a man as racist as any could be, became politically correct, dropping the “N” word from his speech, but he could snarl out the word “black” with the same venomous disgust as the other word. There was no mistaking his true views.

History is the long and tragic story of the fact that privileged groups seldom give up their privileges voluntarily. Individuals may see the moral light and voluntarily give up their unjust posture; but as Reinhold Niebuhr has reminded us, groups are more immoral than individuals. (MLK Letter from Birmingham Jail)

Race matters when those on the extreme Right refuse to legitimize the present office holder of the Presidency. Race matters when posters are painted of the Commander-in-Chief as a African Voodoo artist. Race matters when the emphasis is placed on Mr. Obama’s middle name. Race matters when the only African-Americans deemed acceptable are those who uphold the views of the Right that “everyone” now has an equal chance. Race matters when the majority of black Americans are “victims” of the Plantation Democrats, unable apparently to think for themselves, but need the Right to explain to them that “handouts” aren’t real progress.

When Planned Parenthood is attacked as a genocide upon the black race, rather than what it is, an organization that provides the only health care available to millions of women of color and otherwise, race matters.

Race matters when undocumented workers who pay taxes, and work for low wages doing the jobs that most white folks won’t do, raising their families to be hardworking, and law-abiding citizens, are called “Illegals”. When we seek to strip citizenship from their children because they are “anchor babies”, racism is dripping from our lips.

Race matters when our sisters living within the reservations still can be assaulted by non-Native men and get no justice.

Race matters in this country and we refuse to see it and deny it at our peril. For racial hatred is deadly, it eats at the fabric of society and destroys it from within. It keeps us from embracing each other with full acceptance, but mires us in the mud of distrust and suspicion.

We are not a society that is free of racism, any more than we are free of sexism, any more than we are free of our own versions of what is moral and what is not. We are not tolerant about many things, and there are those who say that to be tolerant is  to be accepting of that which we know to be wrong merely to get along. That is not true. To be tolerant is to recognize that we, each of us, do not have a corner on morality. Our version is not THE version necessarily. Being tolerant is being open to the possibility that there are other ways, ways better than ours. For the religious, it means we are open to the work of the Spirit to enlarge our world and to our understanding of Right.

Martin Luther King Jr., was not a Republican because he believed in the tenets of the Republican party, surely not as it exists today. He is not yours, Tea party adherents. He was a Republican because that was his only choice given the Dixiecrat Democrats, who were thoroughly opposed to civil rights for black people.

Martin Luther King Jr., was not in favor of simply having an even playing field, which you Tea party adherents claim. Such doesn’t exist in the first place. And secondly Dr. King spoke often about the inequality of wealth in this country and its dangers. In fact he wondered whether capitalism was a viable economic model if it resulted in such inequality and poverty at the bottom of the pyramid of society.

Martin Luther King Jr., died while engaged in support of sanitation workers in Memphis. He supported unions and knew that they were the only viable means of securing fair wages and safe working conditions for all workers.

Look within yourselves. We must each look within ourselves. Racism is insidious. Find it. Eradicate it.

   

 

 

‘nuf said?

Amnesia Rampant in the GOP

 

 

Condi may not want the Veep prize, if such it could be considered, but she sure seems to want the political limelight still.

Recently the rather controversial chief foreign affairs adviser to Dubya, had these kinds of things to say about the present administration:

“Where does America stand?”

“When our friends and our foes, alike, do not know the answer to that question,” she told the Republican National Convention, “the world is a chaotic and dangerous place.”

Really?

REAL “e”?

Um, did ya kinda forget your time in the White House Condi? Did you bother to read any polls about how much the world thought of your esteemed former boss, the Cowboy with the brain freeze? Iraq ring a bell? Memo about flying planes into buildings set off any alarms for ya?

What do the following statistics suggest to you?

According to a recent survey by the Poll Research Center, 53 percent of British citizens had a favorable view of the United States in 2008, the last year of Bush’s presidency. Today the figure is 60 percent. In France, the figure rose from 42 percent to 69 percent; the Czech Republic, from 45 to 54 percent; Germany, from 31 to 52 percent; Japan, from 50 to 72 percent; Mexico, from 47 to 56 percent. Only in the Arab countries (Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan) has the rating declined (and do the Republicans really care much about that?).

Another Pew Poll, released just this week, about global attitudes toward President Obama as a leader makes Rice’s concerns seem ridiculous. As summarized by CNN, 87 percent of the Germans, 86 percent of the French, 80 percent of the British, and 74 percent of the Japanese have confidence in Obama–in each case, more confidence than they have in their own leaders. More striking still, 92 percent of the French, 89 percent of the Germans, 73 percent of the British, and 66 percent of the Japanese want Obama re-elected.

I mean really Condi, we all know the GOP has become the party of the convenient lie, but you too? I thought you had a bit more dignity and personal principles than that girl.

µ

I confess, I cannot tolerate listening to the bobble heads that pass for the GOP at the convention. I freely admit that I did not watch Paulie last night. It is annoying to others to scream out “you lie” every 20 seconds and so the better part of valour is to depart the field of battle and fight another day. That day is now, the place is here. Just telling you the truth after all.

So if you want a good analysis of Paulie’s goings-on last night, please go read what Squatlo Rant wrote. You can be sure it’s factual.

µ

I for one believe that the Willard Group is actively and deliberately playing the race card. I think they, with malice aforethought use racial code words in an effort to continue to gin up their base as well as anger more apathetic working class white folks. They are just that determined to win at any cost.

Read this article by Ron Fornier in the National Journal and see if you don’t agree that this is the group they are pandering too.

The welfare ad run by the GOP is false by every standard. And the GOP has stated it isn’t going to be dictated to by fact-checkers, meaning truth is irrelevant. Here is why:

First, internal GOP polling and focus groups offer convincing evidence that the welfare ad is hurting Obama.  Second, the welfare issue, generally speaking, triggers anger in white blue-collar voters that is easily directed toward Democrats. This information comes from senior GOP strategists who have worked both for President Bush and Romney. They spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid retribution.

That’s why they do it. So much for your Christian set of ethics huh?

µ

I swear there are times that one almost wishes one were dead so one could roll over in their grave.  I mean really. The gall of the Willard is once again so big and so all-encompassing as to defy one’s sense of reality.

This is the guy who said that a federal bailout of GM was wrong, that we should just let them file bankruptcy. You remember?

Well, the freedom of information act is a wonderful thing. And Rolling Stone obtained Bain documents that prove that once upon a time, one Willard Romney “saved” Bain from falling apart. And you want to know how?

HE GOT A FEDERAL BAILOUT FOR THE COMPANY. And then he turned around, and screwed the FDIC out of about 10 billion in repayments, and did the usual thing which is pay huge bonuses to the rest of the team there at Bain who had failed so miserably in the first place.

Good grief. Go read it, but secure a barf bag alongside because you surely will need it.

µ

Bear with me as I search for a new theme. You know me, I’m always redecorating here. This is not the one I want. I just don’t know what I do want. . . .Hey it keeps me off the streets!

Related articles

• Condoleezza Rice Has a Lot of Nerve (slate.com)
• Paul Ryan plays fast and loose with facts (capitolhillblue.com)
• Fact Check: Rnc 2012 (kxan.com)
• GOP Calls Racist Incident with Black Camerawoman ‘Inexcusable’ (mymajicdc.com)