Meet the Original Libtards!

Tags

American History, Enlightenment, founding fathers, History, reason, religion

Our friendly Tea Party “Patriots” often tell us that they love the constitution. In fact it takes second place only to that timeless book, the Bible–the one God wrote to tell us how to behave. Probing, (as I am always wont to do), I discover that it’s not only the constitution that is revered, but of course the “founding fathers” who, as you know, among other things, brought us the constitution.

That always amuses me ever so much.

Sadly, it seems common to the PayTREEots not to dig too deeply into the mantras they are taught by Fox and people like pseudo-historian David Barton. If they did dig a bit they would find that their adulation is ironic to say the least. Barton of course would have them believe that the FFs were all deeply religious men and that they basically made the Declaration and Constitution tracts which God hopefully would  approve of wholeheartedly. The truth of course lies quite a ways left of Mr. Barton’s imaginative ramblings.

We all know that many of the founders of our fair republic were anything but religious in their leanings. Jefferson is notable for his refusal to believe in the truth of any of the bible’s miracle stories, actually editing them out of his personal bible. (You can see his bible with all the little cut-outs somewhere, probably at Monticello). The other giant, Franklin might be defined as a deist at best.

This should not be surprising since all the FF were the rich elites of their day, and were well read. And what they read and what inspired them (oh you must remember this from high school) were the likes of Locke, Rousseau and Voltaire. All were “men of the enlightenment”. You could easily add Isaac Newton and Spinoza to the mix as well. They were men who started to see that the world could be explained through normal observation and reasonable deductive conclusion. Some, like Newton, were men of science, who were uncovering the physical laws that governed the universe.

In all cases, they were the heretics of their day as well, rejecting the church’s claims that the bible was the only resource needed to explain the world. Some professed a belief in God, but not in the traditional sense of their day.

The explosion of new thought spread across Europe and Britain, and eventually to America where it inspired Jefferson, Franklin, Madison and others to reject the “god-given” circumstances of both colonialism and monarchy. They were “enlightened” to perceive the world differently and their place within it differently. They could finally conceive of themselves as in control of their own destinies.

They formed a government based on enlightenment principles of freedom, democracy, and most of all reason as the basis for rule. They ushered in the concepts of capitalism, markets, the scientific method, religious tolerance (read tolerance to practice what YOU believed, or be free to believe nothing). It was a movement based on equality and commonality and shared responsibility.

In effect, they were the liberals of their day. They were the heretics to the religious right with all their talk of reason and science. They brought forth a new type of government.

The conservatives of their day? They were Tories.

It thus is so very ironic to think of Tea Party adherents touting their love and admiration for our Founding Fathers, today. In the time of our founding, such people would have been sending their sons to stand with King George III.

But of course Tea People never think that deeply.

I can see why.

It is just too embarrassing.

The Era of the Robber Baron–Good or Not So Good?

Tags

American History, Henry Ford, robber barons

I’ve been engaged for some days in a debate with an arch conservative. Eventually, I made mention of the era of the robber barons, that time of the Gilded Age, when industrialists of one sort or another came forth and fought each other for supremacy, and while doing so, became largely responsible for bringing about the American industrial age of greatness. It is a greatness that continues to this day, though it may now be on the wane.

The question becomes, at what cost? It seems to me that conservatives are all too willing to let the ends justify the means, finding as the argument went, that the good these men did makes them heroes and the bad they did, well, it’s the price of genius. I suppose it remains to be seen whether any of them was in fact a genius or rather just brilliant at playing the game of king of the hill. I don’t find their ends justified.

Arguably, each exhibited the personality traits that better fitted them to be serial killers, but for the grace of having a different avenue to display their driven self-centered megalomania. They were men who felt born to lead, and born to succeed. And given their complete lack of emotional attachment, they were prepared to succeed whatever the cost. In building their empires, they brought America into a new era, an era that I believe would have been achieved in any case, but of course it’s impossible to know how changing the dynamics would have changed the outcome for good or ill.

I should note that this is likely to be a two-parter, because I want to delve into the life of one of the players, Henry Ford, who came on the scene, arguably at the tail end of the era, but his story is instructive. And I feel fairly qualified to do so, since I was born and raised in Flint, Michigan, home of GM, and just down the road from Detroit, home of Ford. I worked in Detroit for two decades, and am familiar with the Ford legacy as well as all the old haunts–the Rouge plant and the Highland Park plant. I’ve been to Greenfield Village, the museum developed by Henry, on more than one occasion, and seen the homes of Edsel and Henry II or as he was known in Detroit, “The Duce”. I’ve read histories of the family. I grew up in a union family wherein most everyone in my family and in my neighborhood worked for GM or one of its supporting industries. I know the terrain.

The story of Henry is to me the story of a deeply flawed individual who was not worth the knowing, but who accomplished much. His talent was in his drive to “be somebody” rather than any particular innovation. Born in Dearborn, to a farming family, Henry’s interests lay in machinery and how they worked. He was allowed to go to work in the city at age 16 and soon became involved with others in the development of the new craze, the automobile. Some 250 other car companies were started at or about the time Henry set up the Ford Motor Company. Securing investors he began his quest to develop a cheaper but reliable car.

Henry’s quest was not merely motivated by a desire for fame and fortune, in fact he cared little for money. He enjoyed fame, but he hated the regular elites of Detroit and elsewhere, including bankers and lawyers. Ultimately when the money rolled in, he chose not to build his mansion in Grosse Point, the elite residence for Detroiters, but he build Fairlane in Dearborn, the then still farming community where he was born and raised. Henry, being of rural beginnings did want to bring a cheap and serviceable vehicle to the farm, where distances to town were long and often arduous. He wanted to make lives easier. But of course, a cheap car would also be one that become available to the average person, not just the rich, and THAT would vastly open the market to unbelievable  sales.

Everyone knows of the success of the Model T, the car that revolutionized America in so many ways. But perhaps people don’t realize that development started with the Model A. Successive models were mostly failures for one reason or another, until he got to the letter T. Being driven to succeed goes with the territory of the robber baron.

When the Model T took off and the orders came streaming in, Henry set his mind to thinking how he might make more and at a faster rate. It is unclear to me whether the idea of a conveyor belt and stationary workers was Henry’s idea or one of his gang of developers, but in any case, it started with one part, the magneto which was broken into pieces and then worked into a piece by piece assembly. They looked for another part to add, and then another, until in the end, the modern assembly line was born, allowing the production of a vehicle in literally half the time or less.

The problem became then, that the work was so boring that his attrition rate was awful. Men quit after a few months. That is not cost effective. So Henry hit on an idea–pay them more. This didn’t mean more in their weekly salary. Oh, no. There was a catch. They signed a contract, worked for a year, and received the equivalency of the $5 dollars an hour in one lump sum. Immigrants who made up a large portion of his workforce, were required to attend the Ford school to learn English. Of course it was hoped that that lump sum might burn a hole in the pocket and be dumped off quickly at the nearest Ford dealership!

This is where things get murky, in the sense that one enters into the dark recesses of Henry’s mind. For Henry believed that he was better than most people, and that belief gave him an insight on how a person ought to live. In one of the most bizarre results, this is what happened when an immigrant “class” finished its English training. An event was scheduled. A very large  ( and  I mean very very large) pot was constructed. The immigrant “graduates” were required to dress in their native country clothing. They marched up a series of steps to the top of the pot, and descended down into it. Two men then went up with long sticks and simulated the “stirring of the pot”, after which, the immigrants re-emerged now dressed in American garb of suit and tie and bowler, descending to the floor again. Weird? To say the least.

But it did not stop there. A unit of the FMC was set up as a “social” monitoring division. Men went out to seek out the homes of workers and “investigate” them. Henry had a series of rules about how people were to live. The monitors were to determine that people were lawfully married, that they did not drink, that they kept their homes properly clean. Violators were warned. Second violations were met with dismissal. Henry knew best you see how humans should live.

Henry thought the Model T the perfect vehicle. After GM was formed, and then Chrysler, new cars, a range of models and prices, began to be seen on the streets. Edsel, Henry’s son and titular head of the company (in name only of course), urged that a new model be developed. Henry refused. Why? Because in Henry’s view, nobody needed anything more than the Model T. Henry knew best. This was to be illustrative of the relationship between son and father–the father bullied and dictated and the son made the best of it.

NEXT: The Rouge Plant, and Henry’s really dark side, and a finish with the Contrarian’s fun with names!)

Related articles

• ‘Henry Ford’ film offers look at man behind machine (usatoday.com)
• PBS documentary explores the life and achievements of Henry Ford (heraldonline.com)

 

Stop the Presses!!!

Tags

American History, David Barton, economics, evangelicals, gay rights, GOP, homophobia, Humor, Michele Bachmann, Occupy Wall Street, Rick Perry

Okay, Herm’s 9-9-9 economic “plan” may be a little short on  rational theory, but that doesn’t mean that the GOP candidates are devoid of ideas.

In fact, Ricky (oops, I almost got my foot out of my mouth now) Perry, has probably solved our jobs problem all by himself.

And when you think about it, it just makes perfect sense. He’s been teasing us for weeks with his economic recovery plan, tossing us morsels like the dancing dogs he views us as.

Well, another morsel, but this one is very substantial. He says the way to create one million “good paying American jobs” is simply this. Wait for it. . . .

MAKE WHAT AMERICANS BUY AND BUY WHAT AMERICANS MAKE!!!

Wow, now that is so, well, just sensible. It’s so easy. It’s so obvious. It’s so “the American Way”.

So all we need to do folks is start making porn flicks by the zillions and open up about another 100,000 Mickey D’s. Damn, I coulda had a V-8!

Good grief, I’m so glad we have InTeaLek-suls like Ricky around to save the day.

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Jim Morin is a political cartoonist for the Miami Herald. Here are a couple of his latest:

Or perhaps this one:

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Thanks to Joe.My.God. we have this gem:

Um, Mark, confession is good for the soul. Thanks for sharing. You might want to try video games. I think that keeps both of your hands occupied in less dangerous pursuits.

“Masturbation can be a form of homosexuality because it is a sexual act that does not involve a woman. If a man were to masturbate while engaged in other forms of sexual intimacy with his wife then he would not be doing so in a homosexual way. However, any man who does so without his wife in the room is bordering on homosexuality activity, particularly if he’s watching himself in a mirror and being turned on by his own male body.” – Pastor Mark Driscoll of Seattle’s Mars Hill Church.

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It would make you laugh, if it didn’t make you cry:

Paul Krugman’s editiorial in the NYTimes.

And since economic policy has to deal with the world we live in, not the fantasy world of the G.O.P.’s imagination, the prospect that one of these people may well be our next president is, frankly, terrifying.

And rational people are considering voting for any one of these morons?

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Oh my God. Texas is working hard at leading the nation in having the dumbest kids in America. David Barton, pseudo “historian” and all around Christianist NUT, has written a textbook suitable for grades 6-12.

It has been reviewed by a real expert in the field of history and constitutional law. You can read all about it here. You can read the entire review here.

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Our only girl candidate left (damn you Sarah, I was counting on YOU!), Michele is getting the blow back. I have been waiting for this for YEARS.

 I mean, take Phyllis Schafley for instance. That rotten old crow spent a life time making a living at going around telling other women that they  belonged at home tending to the fire and pointing their toes at the ceiling in the bedroom. She reassured men that they were right that their “wimmin” needed nothing more than an apron and a SUV to drive the kids to football practice and “Miss Princess” contests. Never mind that the wacked out woman was being “motivational speaker” and EX-EC-U-TIVE director of all things Stepford Wives.

I ticked me off that nobody ever called her for it and ordered her back to the kitchen. (no doubt her hubby had long since told her to point her toes at the floor in the bedroom.)

So along comes Missy Michele with all her “husbands are heads of the family” and “My Marcus told me to go to tax school, so I did” crap. Wait for it.

Finally!

It seems that some evangelical pastors are takin’ a cotton to Missy being a candidate for president. It’s unseemly they say. She has been keeping them waiting, and that’s what men do, not women. And worse yet wimmin are really supposed to be in “EX-EC-U-TIVE positions are they? And will Muslim leaders even talk to her?

Sometimes Missy, ya can’t have your cake and eat it too. Just sayin’.

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The Blaze wants you to know:

• The OWS movement continues to stay in the park, but since “some” Democrats have expressed sympathy with the movement, “they” probably have pressured NY to let them stay. Reuters has “suspiciously” backed off it’s claims that George Soros is financing the event, so therefore that must be true as well.
• Mormon haters can hide behind the skirts of Rush Limbaugh who assures all religions bigots that Romney isn’t a real conservative anyway.
• The Blaze was right there with cameras running when the OWS turned violent. The picture they chose to represent this is a cop with a billy club with his hand at the throat of a protester, who has his arms raised as in “I give up.” The other photo is of a protester run over by a cop on a bike. (Is your Editor at the Blaze all of 4 years of age?)
• Oh and the Ayatollah in Iran supports the OWS. Well there ya go. Need we say more?
•  

History is What I Say It Is

Tags

abortion, American History, Atlantic Slave Trade, Clarence Thomas, David Barton, founding fathers, GOP, Michele Bachmann, right-wing Christianists, SCOTUS, Women's issues

It’s been apparent for some time that some of our states have been engaged in revising history to say what they feel more comfortable with. Spurred on by pseudo-historian David Barton, such Republicans as Michele Bachmann and Mike Huckabee have given new versions of our country’s beginnings that soften substantially the evils that we have faced from our past.

Bachmann has an entirely new version, based on Barton’s made up nonsense for instance, on slavery. We are now told that the Founding Fathers were intent on ending slavery and even that one of the impetuses for migration to this continent was to get away from British slavery practices. This shocks Britain no doubt, since they ended slavery decades before the US, and moreover faced American intransigence in their efforts to stop the movement of slaves across the Atlantic.

This would be bad enough, but of course it doesn’t end there. School districts across the south are revising their curricula to reflect a “whiter” and more religious orientation, whether it be history or science. This is perhaps where Barton and his religious firebrands do their worst damage–deeply infecting the next generation of Americans with a mindset that is incorrect. Colleges thus become more and more, correctors of misinformation rather than furthering the knowledge of their students.

The link today relates to the Atlantic Slave Trade. It revisits some older work that is still considered some fifty years later as being basically sound research. The review is carried on the link from History Today, and there is an internal link to the original abstract, published in 1958. It’s good to be reminded of the truth.

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 For some time now, the rabid Right-wing Christianists, the ones who say “do as I say, not necessarily as I do,” have aimed their vitriol at Planned Parenthood. Screeching about fetuses and murder, these crazed nut cases have offered a trade–their votes to the GOP in return for a GOP assault on all things PPH.

Planned Parenthood, as most people know, does so very much more than abortions. It is often the only means of general women’s health in communities that are loaded with poor women. They screen for cancer, offer birth control, and in general provide free health care to low-income women who are in dire need. They counsel teens and help them avoid pregnancy.

Yet, state after state is denying funding to PPH in hopes of retaining the Christianists in the voting booth. And the toll is horrific. In all too many states, PPH is being forced to close their doors, and thus turn their backs on women and their health needs. Zander has a couple of excellent posts on the subject.

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Don’t expect much to ever come of this. The SCOTUS is one of the most insulated branches of government. It is definitely not self-governing in the sense that the Congress is (ethics investigations, censures, expulsions). Individual justices who are miles apart ideologically, go to extraordinary lengths to get along, since the work of the court is so intimate in its nature.

Abe Fortas was one of the few justices who was “forced” to leave the bench for his unethical relationships with those who gifted him. I’m not sure that we live in the same times today. The far right tends to glam onto any dark face that talks like them, as proof of their lack of bigotry, so they are likely to raise a loud defense today against the increasingly scandalous behavior of one Clarence Thomas.

Thomas has for years now been gifted and supported by those who ultimately find themselves before his court. And he votes accordingly. It remains to be seen whether he will even bother to recuse himself from cases in which he has financially benefited. The man remains one of the most successful grifters in the country.

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We consider Michele Bachmann and idiot, but she is not the same kind of idiot as Sarah. Sarah is both stupid in general and has no particular desire to learn anything. She is simply engaged in self-promotion. Not so Michele. Michele is a true believer in all the right-wing Christianist crap from being anti-gay to creationism, PPH to God whispering in her ear and leading her down the right path. This makes her willing to rely on the stupid (if wishes were reality) blabberings of Barton and others of his ilk. She is also a savvy politician, and absolutely loves the game and is willing to learn the basics of economics and domestic policy.

This all makes her dangerous. If you read nothing else today, don’t miss Matt Taibbi’s fine piece at Rolling Stone today. Her minions love her with the same crazed devotion as Sarah’s do, yet she is Politifact finds her statements the most untruthful of any politician. Beware. I beg you to read this. It is long and every paragraph is filled with so much insanity, that you will be chilled to the bone. This woman is fifty times more dangerous that Sarah could even contemplate.

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Related articles

• Michele Bachmann – Ignorance In Motion (k1nsey6.com)
• Matt Taibbi on Michele Bachmann’s holy war (dangerousminds.net)
• Michele Bachmann Does not Equal Sarah Palin (via Poll Insider) (loopyloo305.wordpress.com)
• Taking Apart the Right’s History Lies (ynative77.wordpress.com)
• David Barton belongs in a tent in Tennessee in 1911. But he’s a right wing fav instead just like ‘Pastor’ John Hagee who says the Catholic Church is the anti-Christ. Oh I could go on . . . I do go on. And on. (maureenholland.wordpress.com)
• Indiana Planned Parenthood Cuts Off Medicaid Users (newser.com)
• Quick Hit: The Real Cost of Defunding Planned Parenthood (Jezebel) (pphsinc.wordpress.com)
• Religious Right Pseudo-Historian Barton: The Founding Fathers Wanted Schools to Teach Creationism (littlegreenfootballs.com)
• Lying For Jesus: David Barton (scotteriology.wordpress.com)
• David Barton Is Still Not A Historian But He Is A Liar (hooglyboogly.wordpress.com)

Founding Fathers Opposed Darwin!

Tags

American History, Anthony Weiner, boredom, David Barton, early humans, evolution, founding fathers, Health care, Herman Cain, immigration, lifestyle, Neandertals, paleontology, philosophy, psychology, Rick Santorum, science, self

Shocking? I guess it should be given the fact that Darwin didn’t publish his seminal work until 1859, more than half a century after our government was formed.

That is the claim however of the pseudo-historian David Barton. And he claims that no less of a questionable religionist than Thomas Paine, who died the same year that Darwin was born, argued that creationism must be taught in the schools.

If all of this leaves you a bit skeptical, well, Barton has plenty of other ideas that would make a big business  CEO grin from ear to ear. Jesus was opposed to minimum wage laws, and therefore unions, as well as progressive income taxes.

Even more shocking Mr. Barton explains the real impetus for the revolution was not economic, but a persistent dedication to the eradication of slavery. Somehow, England ultimately beat us to the punch on that, but no matter, it’s the thought that counts.

You can read all this and watch the actual interview wherein Barton espouses his unique “history” by following the link.

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Herman “step ‘n fetch it” Cain is busy these days, yakking up the airways with his bizarre understanding of the world. He too has a slippery grasp on history as he reminded us to “read that small section of the constitution” wherein we were promised life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Except that that little phrase doesn’t come from the constitution, but rather from the Declaration of Independence.

Cain then went on to and pontificated that as President, he would not sign any bills longer than three pages. Given that much of any bill deals with its impact on a plethora of other agencies and legislation and regulations and interfaces are essential for all these things to work together, this presents quite a problem. It suggests that Cain would end up signing zero bills. It also suggests Cain has no sense whatsoever of how the government operates.

Now Cain explains how he would deal with the problem at the border with Mexico–a wall, akin to the Great Wall, and one with a companion moat, and yes, filled with alligators!

Cain appears to subscribe to the Palin school of knowledge–just say what seems sensible to you, even when its demonstrable that you are not a very sensible person.

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“To thine own self be true?” Okay, but how exactly is one to determine who the true self is? It’s a lot harder question than you might have thought. Depending on what standard you use, you can end up at quite different conclusions. A very thoughtful article by Joshua Knobe.

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That leave you bored? Well join the club. Boredom is a human condition, no matter what anyone says. Even animals get bored. Boredom can be normal or abnormal, situational or existential. So if you find yourself bored, then read all about this subject! Nothing could be less boring.

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Memo to Antony Weiner: Dude, don’t miss the next meeting of “How I threw away my life”. Lots of your favorites will be there! Tiger Woods will offer the first testimonial. Also, a good move would be to check into rehab forthwith. That tends to get a sympathy vote. Sex addiction is the hottest trending rehab these days.

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When I was growing up, to call someone an Neandertal was essentially to call them something just barely above the level of ape. Today, our understanding is vastly superior, and we find that most of our old assumptions were wrong. Neandertal DNA shows up in some parts of today’s populations. And there is no evidence that Neandertals were in conflict with more modern man.

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These chin-ups are sure to pay off in the future!

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If you aren’t totally tired of Weiner jokes, then bop on over to Political Irony and see the late night comedians do their thing.

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Ricky “don’t google me” Santorum, just can’t stop being a boob. It’s his nature. He has told Johnny McCain that he don’t know nothin’ bout no torture, said that climate change is a patent absurdity, claimed he would make marriage inequality the center of his campaign, and so forth. Now in the growing Republican revision of history, he tells us that the D-Day invasion occurred precisely to insure the American right to private health care. Yes, he said that:

 

Almost 60,000 average Americans had the courage to go out and charge those beaches on Normandy, to drop out of airplanes who knows where, and take on the battle for freedom. … Those Americans risked everything so they could make that decision on their health care plan.

 

Yes, my friends, the ultimate nutjob said that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Related articles

• Lying For Jesus: David Barton (scotteriology.wordpress.com)
• You know, David Barton has a reputation for inventing quotes, but this is ridiculous (scienceblogs.com)
• Herman Cain’s Immigration Plan: A Great Wall of China and Alligators in a Moat (alternet.org)
• FYI – Most Neandertals were right-handers. (jwitness.wordpress.com)

Unmasking the Face of Hate

Tags

American History, editorial, hate in America, racism, right wing extremists

Hate has shaped America from its inception. Strong statement, but I believe essentially true.

Hate caused the new colony in Massachusetts to deny property rights to Catholics, Jews, Quakers, and anyone else who weren’t the “right” faith denomination. They were also prevented from seeking office, and many were thrown out of the state and not a few hung.This was repeated in most of the other new colonies as well.

Indifference which turned to hate,  led America to push out and then virtually exterminate indigenous people in the growing country.

That same sentiment led to the 3/5 clause in the US Constitution and ultimately to a thriving slave-owning business throughout both the North and South. Many of our first presidents and other founding fathers owned other people.

As each wave of immigrants came into the country from, they were mistreated and segregated for a generation or more.

Now we have turned out animus upon those of Latino and Arab descent. Oh, I know, we’ve looked down upon them for decades at least, as we have Asians. Anything not-white was not quite right, not as good. But for the most part, except for the Japanese internment, we have been happy to eat their cooking, and walk on the lawns they mowed, and buy from their convenience stores without anything overt.

That changed with 9/11. At least insofar as Arabs were concerned. And as the economy began to sink, Latinos, in the guise of “illegals” became a convenient target.

It seems that everywhere we look we see utterly crazy people doing utterly crazy things. Legislatures being inundated with idiotic laws meant to limit the rights of parts of our population. Of course the answer is not that there are more crazies today than before, but that the Internet has allowed crazies to connect and validate each other, and to speak in a forum that reaches to the ends of the earth.

These once secluded loonies now bay at the moon all their hatred of “other.” And the vast majority of us who are rational beings, well, we worry.

Having spent a couple of weeks thumbing through the comments at The Blaze, I’ve learned a few things. More than a few actually. It’s important to understand the code, for it tells you much of what is actually going on.

I’m reading a book featuring Thomas Merton’s letters. Merton was a Trappist monk and kept up a huge correspondence with something in excess of 2,000 people over his life. In a letter to James Baldwin, the writer, he noted:

“. . .there is not one of us, individually,racially, socially, who is fully complete in the sense of having in himself all the excellence of all humanity. . . .I am therefore not completely human until I have found myself in my African and Asian and Indonesian brother because he has the part of humanity which I lack.”

Truer words were never more eloquently spoken. And yet, there are people who are aghast at such sentiments.

Over at The Blaze, one of the things I’ve learned is that white people, themselves specifically, are NOT racist. They adore and revere Martin Luther King, Jr. However, you might not be familiar with Dr. King, for he was for Equality of Opportunity. He was NOT for social justice. He was NOT for redistribution of wealth. He was NOT for actions that attempted to undo past wrongs, and level the playing field. No, Dr. King would be appalled at such things. He wanted only an equal chance.

I learned that Jesse Jackson, Rev. Al Sharpton, and ANY black (they never use the term African-American) person who espouses institutional racism as still evil in this country, ARE in fact the racists of the day. The NAACP is a Marxist organization, or mob controlled. They are also purveyors of racism. Always “playing the race card.”

Because Jackson, Sharpton and the NAACP are racists, they can be heaped with the ugliest epitaphs imaginable. It’s okay to call them even such things as nappy head, because they are the racists, and therefore deserve these terms. You see, when you are not a racist, and you identify the victim of racism as yourself, then why by definition you can’t say anything racist!

Indeed, the loudest cry from these demented haters is that there is no racism in America, anyone who says different is a racist. All that is behind us. Why can’t white people form into organizations like the NAACP? Why can’t they call themselves “white Americans?

Racism is done, ala Michele Bachmann, and her vapid rewrite of history wherein the Founding Fathers ended slavery.

Ain’t it just so neat?

This redefining allows these same folks to decry Latinos and Arabs to their heart’s content. Because it’s got nothing to do with them as them. It’s got to do with them–acting as Them. You know, being Illegals and flying planes into buildings. It’s a free ticket to call all the names you wish, because it ain’t racism.

Can’t you see that?

It allows the final insult. We can call the President vile names and his wife equally vile ones. Why? Just because he’s defined as a racist (ala Mr. Beck) and we ALL know he’s nothing but a dirty Muslim/socialist, communist. It’s not because we still secretly hate B L A C K.  Have you heard that word said, with the acid dripping. No mistaking it. It’s the big N, but pronounced BLECK.

We can claim we aren’t racist because we listen to Juan Williams and we support Alan Keyes and we think we have a good house Negro in that fool from Florida. We loves us some a dos Negroes. They talk like us, the Clarence Thomas’s. They don’t want a “free” ride. They don’t want welfare and free homes, and all that stuff that comes out of my taxes. They DON’T THREATEN OUR PLACE AT THE TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN!

It’s good to know the language.

**I found a picture I almost used today. But then I thought it might be taken the wrong way. I’ll describe it. I’d really like your reaction. It was about 5 little tiny black chicks on a stone wall, and a single yellow chick  just below them, with its little wings spread and saying “N * * *ERS. I thought it was a powerful statement of the reality of our time, but again, was afraid it would be seen as humorous and therefore wrong. Let me know.

I’m So Snarky in My Longjohns

Tags

American History, founding fathers, Health care, Jesse Jackson, Joe Lieberman, Jr., Martin L. King, Michele Bachmann, NAACP, Right-wing wonkettes, Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin, teabaggers

She’s Baaaaaaccckkkk! Indeed, caught in a time warp, the Goodie two-shoes Sherry has been stifled, and Evil Snark, arguably the “real” thing is back!

Know ya been missin’ all the satirical madness that we so like to shovel to ya!

Okay, it was MINUS eighteen freakin’ degrees this morning and I’m grouchy.

I been a preparing for this event for a week, and though we survived it with no frosted fingers or nose, and the water still running, I’m tired of carrying a week’s worth of clothes on my back all day. It’s leftovers today, and I’m not lifting much more than a finger ’bout anything else.

I’ve spent some free time on The Blaze. It is a right-wing rag, supposedly tied to Beck, but I’ve not seen a word uttered by him there. The articles, if you can call them that, are trite, uninformative, selective in their reporting, and otherwise dull. But the comments, oh the comments are just precious. That is, if you are looking to see what the lowest 1% of the IQ in America is thinking. Again if you can call it thinking.

I learned something about the black experience. After Jesse Jackson spoke about the dream of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was still in part unfulfilled, I learned that I had it all wrong about MLK. It turns out he was not against the Vietnam war, not in favor of a redistribution of wealth in America, and a whole lot of other progressive things. No. I learned the extreme RIGHT wonkettes “revere” the man because:

MLK was for EQUAL justice – not social justice!

and this:

Jessie Jackson hijacked the dream, kidnapped the dream, raped and murdered and buried the Dream in an unmarked grave decades ago. It’s people like Glenn Beck and the Tea Party that are resurrecting the dream. Jesse,  pucker up and kiss ass you race baiting freedom hater.

and this:

The National African-American Communist Party (NAACP) – is more of the problem than solution for the 13% black community. They just perpetuate the woo is me mentality and tell the blacks that in fact they ares second class citizens and deserve the white handouts! – They should be thankful there was slavery and their ancestors were brought to America. Anytime they want to go back to their heritage country we will donate the travel expense.

And let’s not leave out the history lesson:

If it was not for the Founding of the United States of the Americas slavery would still be the labor of choice in whatever Empire would have come to power in today’s world.

What I have concluded, is that MLK was a wonderful person, but Jesse Jackson, the NAACP, and all African-Americans who don’t “know their place” are vile awful creatures. That doesn’t make these Right-wingers racists. Naw, they just are tellin’ it like it is.

My favorite comment so far is this one, from the never-ending defense of sista Sarah:

Palin is like the statue of liberty with a torch that will absorb all the evils of the progressive left – and stands taller for it.

Ah, yes, I can see it in my mind. Can’t you? The little granny glasses perched upon the statutes nose? A rifle slung across her back? The book binding with the words: Dominationist Christianity: NOW.  Who wouldn’t love that!

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And then there is Michele Bachmann, claiming that, not to worry. Repeal of the Health Care Act won’t mean anything bad for those with pre-existing conditions. Why no, the “free market place” has handled it in the past, and will in the future, just fine. Yes, we know how they did it in the past. We can imagine how they will in the future, crazy woman. (Crazy eyes trails Obama in Iowa in straw polling by 18 big ones, in case you were concerned.)

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Don’t forget that Michelle Obama is in the news again. The Crazies are pointing out that she is responsible for the slight uptick in pedestrians getting hit by cars. All that crap about eating better and getting more exercise has got people walking, and thus wandering into cars all over America. Lord, can’t that woman concentrate on flower arrangements or something?

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Don’t know if ya heard. But Joey (I’m pissed) Lieberman had a debate with Arianna Huffington on Morning Joe the other day. Topic: WMD’s in Iraq. Lieberman continued to suggest that there was “good reason” to believe they were there. He cited the Duelfer report as support. When Huffington called him out on it and said that it did not support his contention, Lieberman shot back: “I don’t think you’ve read it, sweetheart.”  Okay Joe, another good reason why saying goodbye is such a good feeling for us all.

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Political Irony has a nice list of  political jokes. They are worth linking up, but this one was reported everywhere, and is classic:

“I want you teabaggers out there to understand one thing: while you idolize the Founding Fathers and dress up like them, and smell like them, I think it’s pretty clear that the Founding Fathers would have hated your guts. And what’s more, you would’ve hated them. They were everything you despise. They studied science, read Plato, hung out in Paris, and thought the Bible was mostly bullsh*t.” – Bill Maher

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Rush Limbaugh appears to be winning the race between Beck, Palin and himself, to of utter insignificance in the world. Even the right (you are sitting down I hope?) is critical of the tubbo’s recent mockery of the Chinese President, Hu. Mo has the story and links.

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Okay, enough for today. I feel much better. See ya tomorrow if we don’t get frozen into icicles or ‘sumpin’.