If you were wondering why the "O" man got killed in Pistolvania in our recent primaries here, you might want to consider the latest controversy surrounding one of our dumbocratic state senators from Philly. Seems state senator, Vincent Fumo, gave us a little insight into how our state legislators really think ,on the floor of the capital today.
The good senator revealed to us that if his fellow state senators were to cast a secret ballot it would be unanimous that they would vote to bring back slavery. (I guess the state motto, "Virtue, Liberty, & Independence" isn't exactly true now is it) He was talking to a pastor from Philly, Gilbert Coleman, Jr., who was in Harrisburg lobbying on behalf of a rethuglican sponsored bill to outlaw gay marriage.
Now if you think I am going to side with he good reverend on this one you would be wrong. This Negro is in Harrisburg lobbying to take away rights from gays while his city is going to hell in a hand basket. He should have been in his community where his church sits trying to pray and minister to families. Instead, his black ass was in Harrisburg supporting a dumb ass rethuglican bill to take away the rights of some of our fellow citizens. Like gays being married is going to cause me to get shot going to the store. Or cause my damn taxes to go up, or the services I receive from my government to get worse.
So when the state senator called out the reverend I was glad he did it. Yes he (Fumo) was being antagonistic and ignorant, but hey, he told the truth. Who knows his fellow colleagues better than a powerful senior senator who sits in the same body? When he says that if they had a secret vote to bring back slavery they would vote unanimously for it, please believe that he didn't just pull that statement out of the air. Hey he is a big NRA and hunting guy. I am sure he has spent a time or two with his colleagues from the central and western parts of "Pennsyltucky" (someone gave me that word I forget now who it was) , and I am going to trust him on this one.
So thank you senator Fumo, thank you for once again ignoring the white memo, and telling us black folks what goes on behind closed doors.
I saw the reverend on T.V. tonight saying how offended and surprised he was, and how the senator tried to throw him off message. And what message would that be? That I am an ignorant bigoted pastor who instead of preaching a message of tolerance, I preach one of ignorance and bigotry? That message?
Anyway, it might be time for the field to start thinking about moving to another state. (Preferably a blue one). Because I am not feeling the slavery thing. Lord knows I do enough free work as it is.
73 comments:
Fumo was defending a worthy cause. The pastor was for a bill against civil rights. Shame on him, not Fumo.
Even though I'm politically independent (with Libertarian leanings), I've always preferred to live around, talk with, and be social with the far-left types.
Plain and simply put, kindness and tolerance mean more to me than being able to rehash Rush Limbaugh's "spin-of-the-day."
In college, Liberal Whites (believe it, or not), kept me from starving to death.
Each state, city, and community has it's own unique personality, and the "blue" places, hands down, trump what I've known most of my life (Until I discovered Raleigh-Duhram, N.C. (Duke and UNC are notoriously liberal colleges)).
Additionally, ATL has become somewhat of a professional and personal heaven for me.
George M
If you move to San Francisco I will buy you lunch, even though we already have too many lawyers. In the meantime, consider this:
http://www.religiondispatches.org/Gui/Content.aspx?Page=BL&Id=212
Jeremian Wright for president!
There's always going to be some idiot or sell-out just ready to do damage.
Sometimes the truth is jacked up, and I believe the senator expressed a secret sentiment.
That pastor makes me cringe. That's why I don't want to describe myself as "Christian" anymore.
If I keep reading your blog and discussing it with everyone, I'll never write this damn dissertation.
Field,
Heard you on NPR today (did you really think the IRS was going to go easy on a brotha??). Now you, being the smart, lawyer-man that you are, you never really believed that "Virtue, Liberty, & Independence" had anything to do with your Black ass from the jump now did you?
Keep Florida in mind while you're thinking (though I'm about to get the hell up out of here!). The legislature just issued an apology for slavery:
http://www.miamiherald.com/458/story/471728.htmland
Hey, the weather's Jamaica-like (but the hurricane season takes a little bit of planning)!!! And just last year, Gov. Crist enacted automatic reinstatement of voting rights for convicted felons who've paid their debt to society (encouragement to vote Republican in the Fall wouldn't you say? You could use your lawyerly skills to help them navigate the paperwork!). They just keep on putting obstacles in the path of a Democratic victory in both the primary and the general here, i.e. moving the primary up and ensuring a "no-count" of the popular vote by adding Amendment 1 and that pesky verifiable paper ballot thing!
And while gays still cannot marry or legally adopt children (though they foster the majority of children without parents), they are as accepting and accepted as most everybody else.
Can't say you might not get shot going to the store (a woman did last year while standing in line to pay for her groceries), but thanks to the passage of Amendement 1 (because lazy ass Democrats stayed the hell home talkin' about their vote for the presidential nominee would not count, so why bother), your taxes will have been cut! But, if you and Mrs. Filed have any crumb-snatchers, forget good schools - the tax cut seriously affected the already fucked up school system!
Just a few relocation suggestions if you're interested! :-)
Oh, and when are you putting the "O" man's picture on the "House Negro of the Day" sidebar? After all, like BISHOP E.W. Jackson, Sr. - he's sucking up to white folks to build his own career as well.
~
Our good minister, the Reverend Jeremiah Wright mentioned recently the anti-Negroe racism found in the Vedas (as in Rig Veda, the sacred Hindu text); the Babylonian Talmud (the Ham story; the Negroe is to be in bondage forever); the Torah (the Torah is an abstract of other Hebrew texts); and the Holy Bible.
The pastor from Philly, Gilbert Coleman, Jr., seems to want to ignore the fact that the same Holy Bible that states that homosexuality is a sin, also states that the Negroe is to be the servant of Japheth, and Shem forever; generational slavery. I think they once had that in this country, didn't they?
It would be inconsistent for the Bible to be wrong on slavery and right on homosexuality; or would it?
And as it all turns out, the Ham curse: black skin, kinky hair, thick lips and broad flat noses are a curse from Noah and not a curse from GOD; so maybe that middle-passage thing was just a big, big, mistake. They got the wrong guys; or they got the right guys for the wrong reason?
Hmmm, there is something about that black skin, kinky hair, thick lips and broad flat noses like you got there field; the Brahmins of the Vedas had issues with people who looked like you, too.
`
i'll have to check out those ancient texts nsangoma's talking about up there. i think fumo spoke the truth; as you say, who knows those upstate crackers best than a senior state senator who talks to them all the time. as for the 'negro preacher sellout', we've heard from these hypocrites before, nuff said.
Field, as a rule of thumb every state is jacked up. If you move, live in the bigger cities.
In Cali, that would be the two places hated by conservatives -- San Francisco and Los Angeles.
If a secret ballot in the Pennsylvania state senate to bring back slavery would pass unanimously, according to Senator Fumo, and he is a member of the state senate, doesn't that mean he has just told you how he would vote?
"If a secret ballot in the Pennsylvania state senate to bring back slavery would pass unanimously, according to Senator Fumo, and he is a member of the state senate, doesn't that mean he has just told you how he would vote?"
Hmmm, dana, I will have to think about that.....thought about it, and you are right :) Yeah I know the "Vince of Darkness", and he is no big fan of us brothas. Still, the rev. was wrong on the issue of gay marriage and he was right.
come on deb.the "O" man, HNOTD? Noooooo, not the "O" man. I am sorry his run is too historic.
And thanks for the tips on Florida, but I will pass. One of the reasons I left Jamaica is because it was too hot all the damn time. I like the fall and the winter even. The seasons changing always does it for me. It's why I will have to pass on Cali too. (Sorry tejano :)
FN: If you are passing on Florida and Cali I guess there is no way to convince you to move to the great state of Texas! We need a good field Negro to shake things up here.
I guess I just don't think Barack got "killed" in Pennsylvania.
The internals originally had the Borg Queen winning by 23-to-30 points but when the actual votes were tallied up, Obama's loss was reduced to 10 points.
Final PA vote:
Obama: 45%
Borg Queen: 55%
Obama delegate haul: 73
Borg Queen delegate haul: 83
Naturally, I would've liked to see the numbers flipped in Barack's favor but he over performed what the internals had him doing.
I applaud Senator Fumo for putting the good reverend in his place, but does anyone think he would have had the courage to do it if he were running for another term and not facing federal indictment?
Interesting Field-Negro.
For me its not just necessary to tell you that you are wrong. It is necessary to show you WHERE you are flawed in your analysis so that you won't display such ignorance in public again.
1) You just compared SLAVERY with MARRIAGE. (Even though some of us married men might be inclined to agree with you after having been whipped upside the head by the Mrs)
With this as your primary flaw that you have build your argument upon....all else goes down hill from here.
An enslaved person in America had his INDIVIDUAL rights suppressed. He could be killed, assaulted, raped or have any other of the CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS suppressed and just as Supreme Court Justice Taney said "The Black man has no rights that a White man need respect".
You PERVERT this logic by attempting to make an assumption that the marriage debate is of equal substance with respect to the US Constitution. There is no "Right To Marriage" in the US Constitution. Marriage is both a SOCIAL/CULTURAL construct as well a STATE recognized contract between two individuals.
2) I have noticed that in my debates with Black Quasi-Socialist Progressive-Fundamentalist Racism Chasers like yourself you are always striving for SOCIETAL CHANGE against the prevailing limits that the current society registers BUT YOU ARE ALSO dumbfounded regarding how you can establish a new paradigm in order to stop some massive problems that are frustrating you WITHIN. (IE: the high homicide rate in Philly).
This stems from your NON-JUDGMENTAL base that you operate from. YOU are the "Champions of JUSTICE"! You have denied NOTHING TO NO ONE but instead have maximized everyone's LIBERTY and RIGHTS!! Indeed you are God's choice of a worthy human being!
But wait! How have you done this? You depend upon the presence of an external SYSTEM for you to work again for your progressive change. Remove that SYSTEM and put you in a place where YOU MUST BE THE "SYSTEM" and YOU must craft a PEACE, a JUST SOCIETY, a FUNCTIONAL society where Men and Women are ordered in a way that produces as much productivity and stability as possible.........YOU ARE SCREWED!!
At the time where you must drop your Police Protest signs.......AND BECOME THE POLICE because, as the majority it is now incumbent for you to have a law enforcement agency in order to keep the peace, enforce the laws and "Protect and Serve" THIS is where your ABSTRACT THEORY based set of beliefs comes crashing down.
3) I promote FUNCTIONALITY over MORALITY. I am not going to lie to you. As a straight man I can not relate to how one man can "give himself" to another. I have no hatred for the homosexual but I also can take a look at the type of FUNCTIONAL SOCIETY that I would like to craft and thus more often than not it is a society that is constructed off of ONE MAN married to ONE WOMAN in a committed and long term relationship for the purposes of replicating a well balanced household with their choice to produce children as the focus. It is quite interesting that you post the Philly murder count and other ills but you are so clueless regarding what societal superstructure is necessary to begin to address this problem with is no doubt CULTURAL and a result of indoctrination than anything else.
In summary Field-Negro (and I am sure Christopher thinks that I am a literary scholar at this point as well for writing this) - Every society has the obligation to define its societal and cultural rules. What YOU want to fight out in the court system as RIGHTS are actually critical societal NORMS that we must deal with. Let me preemptively take SLAVERY off of the table for, as I said massive individual RIGHTS were indeed violated. Tell me what INDIVIDUAL RIGHT a prohibition for a person to marry a person of his same gender are violated.............then let's go to Texas and run the same story back about Polygamy.
~
field, is that you, there?:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/05/01/
hawaii.palace.takeover/index.html
`
Interesting.
Vincent Fumo didn't see a citizen testifying in front of his committee. He saw a BLACK MAN who was in the lineage of SLAVES.
Vincent Fumo's analogies have so many holes in them that someone can drive a truck through them.
First he goes the "Slavery Route" then he goes to the tried and true "Nazi Germany" inference.
I give it to liberals - they are always seeking to EXPAND RIGHTS (in their view). I wish that they would one day take pictures of the "baby" that they have produced when that which they have unraveled comes flying apart.
If it "offensive" to have societal standards that you manage toward? In the mind of Fumo he manages toward the EXCEPTION. If indeed there is OPPRESSION - this is a worthy thing. What of the other side where Mr. Fumo and others, having torn down these cultural norms and now everyone does as they pleases?
No doubt he and others will be pointing to the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT having failed them.
The slavery reference was IGNORANT centrally because slaves in America were centrally laborers. With so much of these jobs having been replaced by automation it is highly unlikely that slavery would be reimposed. (Deportation of certain people after having their rights removed - very likely. Slavery though? NO)
I am just happy that Field Negro will never distance himself too far from SLAVERY....despite the fact that our ancestors hoped one day that their offspring one day WOULD. They wanted to take off their shackles so they'd be free. Field Negro feels that he is paying homage to them.....BY PUTTING HIS SHACKLES BACK ON.
I bet you'll come up with a new shackle fashion line. Platinum shackles. Diamond studded!! A shackle that SPINS around your wrist with lights!!!
Just think about it Field-Negro!! You'll GET PAID!!!
@Constructive Please lay off the CORN, i.e. bull corn
Fumo has been in the august government of the Commonwealth for many years and correctly stated the mindset of the elected representatives. One of years past, Steven Friend, was a real gem.
SCLM: What causes Philly murders?
SF: Abortion
SCLM: What causes Global Warming?
SF: Abortion
SCLM: What degrades schools?
SF: Abortion
SCLM: What causes racism?
SF: Abortion
He wasn't the craziest. Pennsyltucky is pretty darn rural outside of Philly and Pburgh and reflects that in voting and philosophy. After living among the salt-of-the-earth farmers that would reinstate slavery tomorrow, I am more than glad that the cities counterbalance pre-industrial theories of life.
Mold
Hey field,
You think Pennsylvania is bad? Come on down here to the wonderfully progressive state of South Carolina. The Confederate Flag flies freely on our state capital. Oh and you'll have to attend the Civil War re-enactment "The Battle for Charleston" (www.battleofchas.com) where you can also check out the living history exhibit that curiously leaves out slavery. Which is odd considering many slaves were dropped off in this area. But anyway, you'll just love our educational system, that is of course if your rich and can afford to live in the right district. Do you gamble field? You can throw your hard money away on lottery tickets but don't get caught playing poker in your own home, you are going to jail.
Yeah, we got it going on down here in SC, come check us out. You'll love it.
cons...feedback, I am sure the term satire escapes you, so I won't even waste my time trying to refute your silly arguments.
"I have noticed that in my debates with Black Quasi-Socialist Progressive-Fundamentalist Racism Chasers like yourself you are always striving for SOCIETAL CHANGE.."
You are wrong on two points: First sir, I am not a quasi socialist Please take the word quasi from your description of me :) Second, I don't chase racism, it chases me.
"I bet you'll come up with a new shackle fashion line. Platinum shackles. Diamond studded!! A shackle that SPINS around your wrist with lights!!!
Just think about it Field-Negro!! You'll GET PAID!!!"
That's okay, I don't wear jewelry. And I don't need to "get paid", I do just fine thank you very much. Why don't you start the fashion line and give the money to your favorite charity, the Reagan Library.
jon, thanks for the offer. Frisco is a great city, so if I am ever in the area I will take you up on that lunch.
jazzy, I love Houston, Austin, and Dallas a little bit. But you are right, I will pass on Tx too. Too hot and humid for the kid.
As a straight man I can not relate to how one man can "give himself" to another.
(Un)Constructive,
That's because you're fat, and ugly, and have a tiny penis, and you smell like old powder down below.
You don't have the goods to do the deed and your bank account is empty so you couldn't even buy it, if you wanted to try it.
This whole issue would be resolved if we recognize that where the wheels fell off is when "The Church" was authorized to confer legal rights of marriage...
If marriage legal rights were only confered by the state, then religions could deny or accept gay marriage to their hearts content. In fact, they already do... Reformed Jews:yes, Quakers and Unitarians:yes, Catholic, Muslim and most mainstream protestants:No.
Religious institutions have their own peculiar rules about marriage and that is fine...
But, NO RELIGION should be dictating legal/civil rights of marriage.
That way, we would all have the same rights to form families and have the same legal protections for our spouses, children, inheritence, medical decisions, property, etc.
@ Stacey "If I keep reading your blog and discussing it with everyone, I'll never write this damn dissertation." You too!?! Let's make a pact, for every post to the Field blog, we will write one page of our dissertations!
@ Christopher, funny as hell as usual.
@ const feed, umm, you should like, get a real blog of your own, so you can stop jackin' the Field's space all the time!
@ Field, hey, VA's turning blue...if you are a lover, we'd love to have ya!
Naj. Obama '08.
I'm afraid a pro-slavery ammendment would in fact get a surprising amount of support. It would make things so much simpler for the racist white pricks who sometimes have to deal with their conscience.
My wife and I thought about moving to a blue state, but could find one we wanted to live in.
Keep doing the "free work." You're lucky to be in a position to do it. . . at least that's what I've always told my wife.
Whether or not Fumo is expressing a heartfelt sentiment that he wouldn't have expressed if he were facing re-election or not (as one commenter suggested)...I have to say one thing: It must have pissed off your state senators something fierce, Field, to be called out publicly by a man facing 139 charges of corruption.
;-)
Pittsburgh voted for Obama -- thank G-d. Otherwise I'd have to start whackin' some heads. (Here in the city proper, we're progressive).
The term is Pennsyltucky Politics, and it comes from the Patriot News (harrisburg's paper). anyone gets annoyed at you, you tell 'em it's in print!
And as for the whole "homosexuality is bad" in the Torah -- that was because it was Idolatrous (that is to say, a lot of pagans did it. So don't do it, because then their paganism will rub off on you).
Now, Today if we talk about Idolatry, I have to point at the young kids kissing posters on their wall. That is Idolatry, plain and simple.
[quote]That's because you're fat, and ugly, and have a tiny penis, and you smell like old powder down below.
You don't have the goods to do the deed and your bank account is empty so you couldn't even buy it, if you wanted to try it.[/quote]
Indeed Christopher.
I would magically become a "good guy" by making ONE SIMPLE CHANGE......agreeing with everything that YOU agree with.
What a great country we have where we can disagree and you don't have a right to kill me in order to suppress my views.
(its a good thing that I am not malicious like you are)
[quote]
@ Field, hey, VA's turning blue...if you are a lover, we'd love to have ya![/quote]
Ms_hgrits:
Philly is ALREADY "blue" - Black folks living there are PROSPERING and PROGRESSING as a result of this Democratic domination alone indeed.
New York City's City Council has 47 Democrats and 2 evil Republicans, 1 "Working Family Party" and 1 Independent. If they JUST GOT RID OF THOSE 2 REPUBLICANS.......the 16th District will surely no longer be one of the most impoverished districts in the nation.
Washington DC had the largest Democratic voting percentage of any large city in 2004 (90%). The kids are getting such high quality education there as a result that they are going to ask that their politicians take their educational policies some where else to share them.
Ms Hgrits - if you are indeed seeking to leverage your POLITICAL ACTIVISM for the BENEFIT OF YOUR OWN COMMUNITY.......when do you stop and pause and take INVENTORY? (it appears that the SHOP LIFTING of your dreams that has taken place over the years has resulted in a great amount of SHRINKAGE. It is possible, you know to be HAPPY about your sales results only because you are CLUELESS about the shrinkage you know.) One has to be put in touch with their actual GOALS in order to qualify their contentment.
I'm sorry, Contructive Feedback, but I missed the part where Christopher suggested you must hold all of his opinions, much less when he suggested you should be killed by his hand.
-----------------------
@Nsangoma:
Nice to see you're back to form misrepresenting theology. I probably shouldn't even respond, but since no one else had (at least not as I write this now), I guess I'll take the risk of ending up with you posturing and getting in a pissing match with me again like we did about whether Jesus ever existed.
I cannot speak to the non-Judeo Christian documents, but there are a few flaws in your saracastic lambasting of the Ham story.
1. It assumes that all Christians have a literal belief that the flood truly took all life on the planet and all people now around descended from Noah's family.
But, even with a literal view of the flood...
2. It assumes that Black folks derive from Ham. The original texts simply speak of his skin being "smitten" but it was later interpretations that applied black/brown skin to that description.
3. It assumes that the curse remained in effect millenia after Noah, even though it is likely that other, non-cursed descendents of Noah likely mixed with Ham's descendents and thus "diluted" the curse.
4. It assumes that God sanctioned this curse. I don't see where the Bible says God gave any weight to Noah's curse.
But then, in your attempt to ridicule religions, why bother with any kind of balanced view, right?
[quote]Second, I don't chase racism, it chases me. [/quote]
Indeed you are correct.
When I used to walk down the hill on 72nd (?) and Landsdowne in order to got school when the 31 SEPTA bus was running late and get called names and chased by the White boys going to Catholic school - indeed this is "racism chasing YOU".
However when I go to this same community 20 years later and see that ALL OF THE WHITE FOLKS ARE GONE but the Black parents had to open a charter school because the public school is failing to educate their children (despite the city being BLUER THAN EVER ms hgrits)...it sounds to me that 'RACISM CHASING YOU' is not your main problem.
The dynamics of ADVOCACY and STRUGGLE should change when YOU TAKE CONTROL. The fake moral outrage loses its sting when YOUR PEOPLE (not racial but ideological soulmates) are now in power.
This is those who are SERIOUS about effective change make note of the flaws in their strategy and CHANGES THE STRATEGY.)
I keep noting your references to Republicans, Reagan, etc as it relates to me. I have a question for you Field Negro - Do I have to be a REPUBLICAN to make note of how the PARTY that my people are most beholden to by POPULAR mandate is failing to provide the benefits that we were told? It seems to me that YOU are confused between fighting for the best interests of BLACK PEOPLE and fighting for the best interests of the DEMOCRATS.
I have all the evidence in the world to back my claim. Your second flaw is to assume "IF not Democrats than REPUBLICAN". You see I operate on the notion of "IS IT WORKING then if not CHANGE TO SOMETHING THAT IS WORKING....this does NOT mean Republican. It indeed means BETTER ORGANIZING INTERNALLY so that you can express what you want by having it come FROM WITHIN rather than being rained down from Washington DC"
Glad that you understand me now.
A "sellout" is a person who puts other interests in front of HIS OWN BEST INTERESTS. The POPULARITY of doing this is not a qualification of being in a "sold out" state. With it being common you simply have a LOT OF SELLOUTS who are not going to criticize each other because this is the accepted thing to do. A SELLOUT is so named based on HIS ACTIONS rather than the size of the crowd that he stands with.
Thus a person telling me that "their state is turning BLUER" but is unable to detail the BENEFITS that her community is receiving from this is so infected as described.
Indeed both parties love to hear people talk in terms of "WE". They know that their job is done then. You had better be conscious of who "WE" is. You might be working to advance someone elses goals rather than YOUR OWN.
[quote]I'm sorry, Contructive Feedback, but I missed the part where Christopher suggested you must hold all of his opinions, much less when he suggested you should be killed by his hand.[/quote]
Wow Decon Blue......I DID NOT SAY that Christopher SAID this. I hope this relieves your confusion.
Why else would Christopher say these vile things about me?
Do you realize that yesterday when he said something about me being "stiff" that if my goal was to malign a gay male I could have RAN WITH THIS? Did you see me do this?
Why, Decon Blue, did you skim over the wanton attack that Christopher made upon me above but instead chose to query ME about what I said? I take it that you DID "miss that" didn't you?
Constructive Feedback,
Glad to see you ain't bein' no fucking conservative today. BY ALL MEANS, find me a Republican Party that ain't racist to the BONE. I'd hit that thing, occasionally, when I felt the need.
Till then, watch this!
Hey, I am liking this coalition we be building, Liberals and Professionals and Blacks and any Dem that lives in Republican territory. I am hoping this won't be an Obama-only event, but that we can keep this group of folks ready for change in action, even after he gets elected the next president of the United States. What do you all think?
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/04/28/8564/
anonymous...that commondreams.org story is mind-blowing! I remember when Wright resigned from the State Dept. in protest in 2003 along with another colleague if I'm not mmistaken (I lived in the area then).
Though I found it a noble stand, I remember discussing with my husband that, like all of those high-ranking officers who also spoke out against the war, their opposition came only AFTER retirement. They certainly could have done more good, maybe even saved a few lives by shining a light, had they done the right thing and spoken up long before.
But of course, that would have been going against their own personal, professional and financial interests. While I appreciate whistle-blowers, I tend to admire and celebrate those who see wrong-doing, take a stand WHEN IT'S OCCURING, even if it's not in their own personal, professional, financial interests to do so. But that's just naive me.
Field, this is what Jesse Jackson said three years ago at his annual Negro Super Bowl, aka the "State of the Black Union".
What does gays getting married have to do with:
jobs with a livable wage;
saving the environment;
improving public education;
facilitating accountability by elected officials;
ending the Iraq War?
Then he went on to diss Eddie Long for going to the President and misreprenting the interests of Black America by saying the issues of gay marriage and abortion are the only issues Blacks are concerned about. When he asked the question "who would be threatened by gay marriage" asked in context against more pressing issues of Americans, not a hand in the arena went up.
If gays want to marry, who am I to say they can't? This is where Christians are torn, but as far as I've interpreted the Bible on this issue, God is still a God of Free Will. That means a person on earth is free to make their own choices as to how they will live their lives, and I have enough trouble trying to live my own without taking on the responsibility of telling gays and lesbians how to live their lives.
In the end, I want to be a person who showed compassion and concern for human beings, regardless of their race, gender, religion, sexual identity.
And, I might add in cynical fashion, that when I was down and out, being fired from jobs because my female, Black, Christian bosses were not above their Christianity in considering me a threat, it was one of the "undesirables" (in their thinking), and I mean gays, lesbians and other religions, who were willing to look at me and perceive my potential as a good employee and hired me on jobs I got afterwards.
That's a riot - fired by the "Christians" while they did the bidding of the crooks in the organization, while the gays and lesbians were willing to give me another chance.
And that's saying plenty, being a Christian Progressive Liberal and all.
So, I call BS on Black elected officials who know damned well our communities are literally dying and they are wasting time and taxpayers money on such nonsense as trying to legislate how gay people should live, when, at the same time, they want the Government out of the Church. You cannot have it both ways; either the government starts legislating how we serve God, or it sticks to the original concept of the Founding Fathers, and that was to keep religion and government separated, in order to avoid government-sanctioned religion. It is the very foundation upon which the United States was created; because a bunch of renegade British got tired of a King telling them how to worship God and some of them were atheists.
FN,
Hmm, yes, that was an interesting development from the mouth of the Vince of Darkness: yet another demonstration of the truth, "A gaffe is when a politician tells the truth." It's been a tough few years for the Vince of Darkness, what with his health problems, his property tax problems, his estrangement from Dick Sprague and family members, the end of his (elective) political career, not to mention his cage match with Pat Meehan. This makes me wonder whether his reaction to this big whiff of mortality might be to divest himself of a few little ugly secrets here and there. Gee, this could get interesting!
By the way, I never saw your blog before today: I was drawn here by Daniel Rubin's column in today's Inky. Congratulations: you make me proud to be a fellow member of the bar in the wondrous city, teeming with life and contradictions.
Please -- I beg you -- do not leave Death's Headquarters: we need you right here, in the home of the corrupt and contented. If you need respite from Alabama-In-The-Middle, I would be happy to handle your application for political asylum in The Garden State pro bono, if I ever establish a bona fide office therein.
Dave from West Jersey
Deb,
Military officers are not allowed to speak out against Civilian Leadership while still in uniform. It's a long held tradition, which is kept that way to keep the military subservient to the rest of US (who are presumably, and with bush it's a stretch, represented by our civilian gov't).
Here's one who did speak up in death:
http://majikthise.typepad.com/majikthise_/2007/03/military_ethici.html
Because the military officers can only speak up by resigning, politicians in Washington listen to scuttlebutt from retired officers (which I wholely approve, as it is a dignified way to somewhat get around a sensible restriction).
Francis Holland was talking about a Black-majority state.
http://francislholland.blogspot.com/2008/04/brainstorming-black-delaware-project.html
Delaware is really nice, I'd be down with that.
Peace
yliza
Field, you really do have some of the most effed up commenters on any blog I read. Wow, the patience you must practise is truly beyond me.
I did laugh out loud when I read about Corrupto Fumo's statements, whatever his motivation that was some funny and I don't doubt he as some basis in reality to feel that way.
Come on, Rendell didn't get called out at all for saying that this state has folks so racist that they'll never vote for a black. He just flat out called his own state a buncha crackas and nobody really said "boo".
As to any of you getting your manties in a bunch over whether or not the gays can marry .... hahahaha, it is called Separation of Church and State and if I don't want the government in your church then why do you want your church in the government, hmmmmmm?
Fools.
[quote]BY ALL MEANS, find me a Republican Party that ain't racist to the BONE. I'd hit that thing, occasionally, when I felt the need.[/quote]
Annon - I have no problem in accepting the case that some of the policies of the Republican party are not in the best interests of the Black community.
Guess what though.......the Black community ALREADY punishes this party by not voting for them!!
The bigger question that goes unanswered though is "Are the policies of the DEMOCRATIC party all in the best interests of the Black community"?
To answer this question requires that you 'KNOW THY SELF' and what you are aspiring to prior to vocalizing a response.
If your goal is a SELF-SUFFICIENT community with a prioritization on ORGANIC solutions to your local problems then indeed you would look at certain policies in a different way. Some people are appeased with the fact that Black people are IN RECEIPT OF certain benefits and thus don't have this to worry about as a monthly invoice. For me this is unacceptable.
Such a situation doesn't speak to the question about if your own people upon seeing a need has duly EDUCATED themselves to be able to provide these services to their own people......and EMPLOY their own people in the process of satisfying a need. With this as a mindset you might also be motivated to IMPROVE existing processes because then more people can be serviced and thus you are working toward excellence.
But what of the people who are "distributing fish" to you so that you might eat? Can you be sure that they think of you as an EQUAL HUMAN BEING? A supremacist doesn't have to hate you in order to think that he is superior to you. Indeed a dog trainer loves dogs and no bout has several at home. This speaks nothing of his foregone conclusion that his dogs that he feeds, cares for and indoctrinates to do his bidding are EQUAL to him.
Thus RACISM knows no ideological bound in my view.
It seems to me that AT LEAST you should be able to show the fruits from your efforts if indeed you journey down a path of political activism. Otherwise YOU ARE WORKING FOR SOMEONE ELSE'S BENEFIT and are too afraid to look too hard because you might not like what you see.
anonymous..."Military officers are not allowed to speak out against Civilian Leadership while still in uniform."
You are correct that is what the MILITARY SAYS (I was both enlisted and an officer myself) we must not do, which is my point.
That law is drummed into the heads of military personnel so much that they believe they really cannot speak out - but they can if they can PROVE an order is unlawful (often at the risk of jeopardizing their own personal, professional and financial interests, but they can). I disagree that it "is kept that way to keep the military subservient to the rest of US," though subservience, IMHO, is the aim.
Not many military personnel want to take those risks, but there are some who have and are, as in the case of First Lt. Ehren Watada, a young man for whom I have mad admiration! He tried to resign based on the unlawfullnes of this war in Iraq once the truth started coming out about Shrub & Company's bait-and switch of the Congress and the American people.
The Army not only would not let him (needed the body I guess), he was court-martialed, facing up to two years in prison for missing movement by design, a dishonorable discharge, and other possible charges. Upon appeal, his case was moved from military court to federal court and is still active.
http://hotzone.yahoo.com/b/hotzone/blogs19056
"politicians in Washington listen to scuttlebutt from retired officers (which I wholely approve, as it is a dignified way to somewhat get around a sensible restriction)."
(Scuttlebut? Navy are you?) You're correct, politicians in Washington DO listen to retired officers - less to the honest ones and more to opportunists it seems, hence the Pentagon domestic propaganda program involving retired generals recently exposed by the New York Times. There's nothing "dignified about what they've done helping to perpetuate and prolong this unjust war. We can agree to disagree on whether the restriction to which you refer is "sensible." I think not, but again, that's just me.
Constructive Feedback,
I am an open advocate of Free Loan Societies for the African American community. Get Up on your own Two Feet and get to Work!
I've never been in the military, but my parents worked on a landlocked naval base.
I agree, some of what has been done by former military officers treads way close to the border of treason. To repeat to the public things that you actively disagree with? Who the hell did these folks think they were?
I'm told Gen'l Clarke makes sure to keep in touch with his friends in the military -- and that man's a genius (unlike Obama and Hillary).
Then again, last time we had a genius, well, you know what happened (Clinton and Nixon were both a little nuts if you ask me, which you maybe didn't.)
I will not make direct references to any particular poster. I don't want to be accused of "Internet stalking".
jobs with a livable wage;
Hummmm. A job with a livable wage......seems like this can be easily had.....if the said employee had some skill OF VALUE to sell to the CONSUMERS OF LABOR.
I always ask myself "If I were to package my skill set up and offer them for sale at a certain price....would that package be bought up immediately because I was a BARGAIN or.......would I sit idle with the wage rate that I want remaining a POTENTIAL WAGE RATE because no own want to PURCHASE ME and express this value? It seems to me that the "living wage" is more in the hands of the SELLER than in the CONSUMER OF LABOR.
saving the environment;
Why must we wait for a comprehensive SOLUTION to the environmental problems to come from on high? If everyone did an inventory of their "environmental foot print" and then made a list of how they could lessen their impact this would be far more effective than a government policy DICTATING to us what we should do. (How is it that some of the same people who are AVERSE to government intrusion in their personal behavior on societal things.....are some of the same ones seeking to LET THE GOVERNMENT INTO THEIR BED ROOM to control the light bulbs, the content and labeling of the food that you eat while sitting in your bed, hand out free "pills and devices" so that you are not infected via your behavior in your bedroom, and the content of the cigarette that you smoke after you finish in your bedroom?
improving public education;
Hey AndyFromBrooklyn - remember we talked yesterday about the THIRD PARTY references that some people make as if the subjects are zoo animals, with no part to play in their own salvation? Why is it that this "fix public education" rant never seems to be fundamentally focused on the children and what actually goes on in the classroom once the teacher closes the door and it is just her and the allotment of children who need to have the knowledge in her mind transferred into theirs via various communication channels at hand? Instead there is a tendency to "expand the police tape" far, far beyond the actual class room and focus on nearly everything BUT this question.
facilitating accountability by elected officials;
It would seem to me that the best way to do this is to look very, very close to home at the statistics that are being rendered by the people you have the most intense control over because there are less people in the particular political domain who's vote you are competing with. If these LOCAL PEOPLE haven't changed your relatively small district into Disney Land via the POLICIES that you POPULARLY support.....far be it from me to tell how these same POLICIES that have failed to turn your local bus into "Magic Mountain", as they are expanded NATIONALLY to ensnare us all are going to work any better at that level of the government.
ending the Iraq War?
You remember this as well right Andy?
For many people "ending the Iraq War" is expressed via a USA PULL OUT than it is in expecting anything in particular from the FIGHTING MEN on the other side. If they continue to FIGHT upon the superior American's departure can we say that the "Iraq War" has ended?
Clarity is of the essence. If one if for US TROOP WITHDRAW and "let those savages kill themselves".....WHY NOT SAY IT when this is what you mean? Removal of the US troops IS NOT going to stop the "warring".
************************
Missing From The List:
1) Stopping the "War" in the cities of America where thousands of people are killed by thugs.
2) Having people to align their own thoughts and behavior in line with what the CLAIM to want the nation and the world to CHANGE to.
3) Telling people that they can be as "SOCIALIST" as they want to. If the Internet has allowed people to independently setup virtual communities without the intervention of GOD-VERMIT......why is GOD-VERMIT needed to DISTRIBUTE RESOURCES to those who are in need per your own ideology? (That is UNLESS your ideology doesn't generate the wealth resources necessary for you to distribute and thus CONFISCATION by God-vermit is the essential part of your policies.)
But - Maybe it's just me. I don't know.
Please note: The above message WAS NOT directed at any particular poster. I do not want to be accused of being a threat to anyone. I saw some text in this window that I am typing on and I CUT it and PASTED it. This is the extent to which I have interests in the person who put those electronic digits on this blog via their choice of which order to press on the buttons of their keyboard.)
Constructive Feedback, how long is your stalk looking? (no, sorry, that's just a bad joke.)
Getting out of Iraq and getting Iran into Iraq will be key to ending the war. we can keep on sending money, but so long as Iran thinks it's in the Axis of Evil, there won't be no peace. It's not paranoia (look at Russia, she's paranoid), it's simple common sense. Didn't we go put up a shah in Iran?
Don't think they've forgotten that.
Constructive Feedback,
If you in favor of the gas tax holiday, You Is a Socialist.
If you in favor of bailing out Bear Stearns, You Is a Socialist.
If you're in favor of cash infusions that will not solve a solvency crisis, You Is a Socialist.
Mr. Bush done run the American Economy into the ground.
When you find me a Republican who will bring back the M3, I'll vote for him. Good LUCK!
Field, you really do have some of the most effed up commenters on any blog I read. Wow, the patience you must practise is truly beyond me.
I love you, Lola. Major GMTA, girl!
Methinks Field needs to apply anti-troll spray liberally to control this infestation.
It's getting serious 'round here!
Meanwhile, stepping over the troll droppings and getting back to news that matters.
USA Has Nelson Mandela on Terrorist Watch List
As if we needed more proof of just how fucked up the United States has become after 8 years of Bush/Cheney, comes news that Nobel Peace prize winner and international symbol of freedom, Nelson Mandela, is flagged on U.S. terrorist watch list and needs special permission to visit the USA.
In 1990, Mandela was freed after 27 years in prison for crimes committed during the struggle against the apartheid regime of institutionalized racism that subjugated Black South Africans to second-class status.
In 1994, he was elected South Africa’s first black president.
Even Bush apologist, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called the situation "embarrassing," and some members of Congress have vowed to fix this inequity.
Con Feed: Dude.. someone said get your own blog... but wait... you have 5 or 6 already.. problem is.. no one gives you any play.. so you come over here and hijack this one. I got no problem when you respond to something someone says or what Field Posts... but when you start answering people who have addressed Field like this is YOUR blog.. well then you just start pissin folks off.... and you are too dominating! Fucking stop it!
I had a good chuckle watching the video of the state senator! The words rolled of his tongue so easily and without hesistation.
The pastor pretty much regurgitated the standard rhetoric on gay marriage. I think JODY got to the heart of the issue--Marriage has been co-opted by religions and it really should be a completely secular/civil matter.
I mean you have to obtain a license from a court to get hitched and then you have to go to civil court to dissolve the union.
The bottom line--any religion can decide not to recognize same sex unions, but this should have no bearing on the legal question of whether same sex adult couples can unite. Equal protection for everybody.
Same goes for abortion or euthanasia.
Marriage--court issue
Abortion--medical issue
Euthanasia--medical issue
What happened to all that stuff in the Bible, Torah, and Quran about feeding the poor, helping the sick...We have to focus people FOCUS.
[quote]so long as Iran thinks it's in the Axis of Evil, there won't be no peace.[/quote]
So Anon 2:59 -
Can I translate what YOU said?
Evil Massa George W. Bush called Iran - TOBY!
You are arguing that they are PISSED for being called out of their name. Until evil Massa Bush calls them KUNTA KENTE THEY can never identify their true self.
Anon 2:59 - IS Iran defined by what the "biggest global imperialist tyrannical military force that is imposing paleo-eurocentric order upon the world CALLS THEM? (I watched 'Democracy Now' and Jeremiah Wright yesterday. I read CommonDreams today. I think I got their verbiage down now. :lol:)
[quote]If you in favor of the gas tax holiday, You Is a Socialist.[/quote]
Anon 3:01
Wow you sure did pull that one out of your rear end.
Socialism noun: a political theory advocating state ownership of industry and capital
I figured that you would be FOR the elimination of a REGRESSIVE tax?
If you in favor of bailing out Bear Stearns, You Is a Socialist.
Bailing out Bear Sterns? Anon - did you realize that ONLY CONGRESS can spend "the people's money"? Since there was no act of congress executed when this deal was consummated.....IS IT POSSIBLE that what you say is not accurate? The Fed was created to insure STABILITY in the US financial markets. They assisted evil JP Morgan Chase in acquiring the assets of this firm.
To be clear - I agree with you on this point. Bear had $6 in liquidity for every $1 in hard assets that it had. Clearly they over extended themselves and SHOULD HAVE been allowed to shut down as a warning to their brotheren about the costs of being too greedy and not having a certain balance between debt and equity.
If you're in favor of cash infusions that will not solve a solvency crisis, You Is a Socialist.
Clearly you don't know what socialism is. It is interesting that the key entities that required "cash infusions" over the past 30 years are UNION ORGANIZED entities - Chrysler, the legacy airlines after 9/11 (SouthWest did not accept any money). You forget about all of these but want to focus on Bear Sterns. Didn't the CONGRESS vote on Chrysler and the 9/11 payout to the airlines? They didn't have to vote on Bear because IT WAS NOT TAX MONEY used.
I am sure that YOU would have said to all of those UNION employees at Chrysler and the airlines "TOUGH LUCK COMRADE you'll just have to suck it up. Pull yourselves up by your bootstraps".
Mr. Bush done run the American Economy into the ground.
[quote]Methinks Field needs to apply anti-troll spray liberally to control this infestation.
It's getting serious 'round here![/quote]
Wow Christopher - I know you desire the good ole days. When you could just post among fellow travelers and not have much review of what you write. Those were the glory days, weren't they?
Interesting that you saw fit to attack me this morning when I never did so to you before. In expressing MY OPINION as it relates to MY SEXUALITY - this was one word too many for you wasn't it?
You don't count that I know how to separate my personal opinion from the best interests of the ENTITY do you? In college I voted to allow a "gay Black male" into my chapter. He was an over all asset so it didn't matter what he did in his personal time. He wasn't flashing it or trying to "covert me" (note: everything else will be ignored and this point is what will be focused on). He later died of AIDS. (True story)
I was asked to interview a gay male for my evil corporation that I work for. I know the difference between my personal opinions and the "corporate resources". Thus I advocated for him, the most qualified candidate to be hired. He got a better offer from another firm and didn't accept the job.
So the question comes down to - WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME....other than for me to PERSONALLY accept and belief that your choice (or even your genetic disposition) is equivalent to my proclivity to be with women.
Why are you even looking to ME for validation? I have done nothing to prevent you from doing what you want to as an INDIVIDUAL. In fact I will support your right to do so without any regulation.
This is not what you are after though - is it?
negro is a
Portuguese word, the original ppl that enslaved us, the English dropped the O. the original language was Aramaic, Latin languages came much later in history. I hate when ppl misquote the Bible for their own uses. The sin was of White Skin! Any scientist can tell you Black skin and features, thick lips, kinky hair are DOMINANT GENES.White skin and blue eyes are lacking, they are RECESSIVE GENES.
A person must lack something in order for their hair to be straight. No where an any text does it abdicate slavery.
Arabic numbers are still in use today. Arabic from the original language Aramaic which broke of into Arabic and HEBREW.Latin languages came much later in history , the Romans tried to replace the original numbers with their own.
SHEM meaning of black skin, black ppl cannot be AntiSemitic or Shemtic. Get your facts straight.
It's funny when racist say we are not the original man, the white man had all the knowledge, but if you speak the truth that white ppl came from the Neanderthal Mountains in Germany. the black man is the original man, the lepers (Caananites, Jebusites, etc) are the pale main in the Bible it's considered racism. If we as a ppl could learn the truth from childhood I think racism would be at a minimum.
[quote]As if we needed more proof of just how fucked up the United States has become after 8 years of Bush/Cheney, comes news that Nobel Peace prize winner and international symbol of freedom, Nelson Mandela, is flagged on U.S. terrorist watch list and needs special permission to visit the USA.[/quote]
[quote]
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (CNN) -- Former South African president Nelson Mandela has slammed the U.S. stance on Iraq, saying that "one power with a president who has no foresight, who cannot think properly, is now wanting to plunge the world into a holocaust." [/quote]
Wow - again - what does Mandela have to say about ISLAMIC EXTREMISTS who are COMMITTING "Holocaustic" type actions TO-DAMNED-DAY?
And Mandela is ACCURATE with his rhetoric as well:
[quote]Mandela said U.S. President George W. Bush covets the oil in Iraq "because Iraq produces 64 percent of the oil in the world. What Bush wants is to get hold of that oil." In fact Iraq contributes to only 5 percent of world oil exports. [/quote]
AGAIN: IF EVIL BUSH IS "STEALING THE OIL".....what does that make YOU when you fill up your car with STOLEN GOODS?
**********
Nelson Mandela: The United States of America is a Threat to World Peace
And the Islamic Extremists?????
[quote]Con Feed: Dude.. someone said get your own blog... but wait... you have 5 or 6 already.. problem is.. no one gives you any play.. so you come over here and hijack this one.[/quote]
Jody - point well taken.
HOWEVER there are some operatives on this board who love to SLANDER. They are used to a world where they are among fellow moths, circling the same light and having their warped views complimented.
The biggest complement to me is to PROVE ME WRONG! School is open. Shut me up.
Someone commented on the fact that I was barred from the left wing blog "AfricanAmerica.org". It was not because I cussed, defamed or attacked anyone. It was because it was ME against about 20 people.....this is what happens when MAJORITY RULES. Isn't democracy grand?
My frequent and verbose posting should also means that you all have more samples by which you can copy my words and SHUT ME UP by showing that I am wrong.
Clearly it is not the accuracy of what I am saying nor the "confrontational style" of me reading another posters submission and commenting on it. IT IS DONE ALL OF THE TIME BY OTHERS without any comment.
CLEARLY it is WHAT I AM SAYING that is odoriferous to your palate which you have so carefully conditioned for like minded thought.
IF ONLY you all had ample success to point to in any of the cities that you dominate. This would shut me up and have me to do the same INTROSPECTION that I ask you all to do regarding - FOR WHAT and FOR WHOM are you working and advocating for?
Dear Mr Bennett:
I found you site due to a blurb in today's Philadelphia Inquirer. It seems like a decent site, but with this many commenters, you really need to dump this blogger.com stuff and get a WordPress based site; that'll make things easier on your readers. There are even functions to carry over old blogger.com archives to WordPress, so you don't have to worry about losing anything.
Constructive feedback PLEASE GET YOUR OWN BLOG. NO ONE GIVES A RAT'S ASS ABOUT YOUR OPINION - IT'S GETTING TIRING TO SCROLL PASS ALL THIS DRIVEL!!!! ARRGH
Anonymous... con feed has 6 blogs! But, he is all alone in his thoughts on them... pathetic... so he has come to hi-jack this one.
Ladies and Gentlemen on this Blog:
You read it here first.
That cut and paste number where Constructive Feedback is not alluding to any particular poster, and being perceived as stalking is none other than me, the Christian Progressive Liberal.
I hope that when I go to get that internet restraining order, some of you will give witness statements to the fact that Constructive Feedback, when he is not hijacking everyone's comments, he is IN FACT, STALKING ME.
Field, this is your blog. What are my rights against being stalked in the blogsphere?
Constructive Feedback...maybe everyone wouldn't think you were a troll if you didn't feel obliged to respond to so many comments in what is often an obnoxious manner. Most commenters focus on one or a very few comments but you are, as one person already mentioned, acting like you are the author of this blog sometimes. You're everywhere, like a rampant cancer.
Having opinions that are contrary isn't bad...and there are people who disagree here...but damn, tone it down a bit and focus instead of trying to address every point and piss everyone off for the sake of pissing them off.
I realize that what I'm saying will likely fall on deaf ears, in which case I guess I'll just add myself to the growing list of people who simply ignore you...but maybe you'll prove me wrong.
"USA Has Nelson Mandela on Terrorist Watch List"
Wow! Thanks for that Chris. That is kind of scary. I guess you can't trust those eighty plus year old Africans :)
SIX BLOGS? Wow cons...feedback, you must have a lot of time on your hands. I am surprised the RNC hasn't hired you yet. Or did they? ;)
"Field, this is your blog. What are my rights against being stalked in the blogsphere?"
Hmmmm, let's see now, maybe a blogging restraining order. (BRO) Bro, that has a nice ring to it.
But don't feel bad christ.prog. I think I know the feeling :(
Sheeez :(
dana, thanks for the tip. But please, just call me field.
It doesn't surprise me in the least that the senator believes such a thing.
Think about it; those cities and towns in PA have NOTHING going for them. Those people there would love to have a slave, just so that way they could have someone to take their pain and frustration out on.
[quote]I hope that when I go to get that internet restraining order, some of you will give witness statements to the fact that Constructive Feedback, when he is not hijacking everyone's comments, he is IN FACT, STALKING ME.
Field, this is your blog. What are my rights against being stalked in the blogsphere?[/quote]
What better time than to dust off the Ten Commandments of the CHRISTIAN faith and apply them to the REAL WORLD rather than simply posting them on a court house wall?
"Do not bear false witness against your neighbor"
Everyone ELSE on this blog except you know who:
Do you remember the movie "The Shawshank Redemption"? Tim Robbins played the professional who got imprisoned and was out of his element in jail? He began doing the taxes for all of the prison guards and the administration. He gained their trust.
The WARDEN of the prison passed himself off as a RELIGIOUS MAN. He had all of the fundamentalist rituals and dogma of the Earthly PRACTICE of Christianity expertly scripted for display to others to show that indeed he was a 'man of GOD'!
The character that Robbins played was well educated and very observant about how things worked in the prison but more importantly how PEOPLE WORK. The placed a BIBLE in his jail cell. He knew that when the warden came around he would be supremely impressed by the sight of this BIBLE as indication that indeed a fellow traveler, a man of GOD, was present in the cell. In fact when the warden visited Robbin's cell on occasion he would hand the warden his bible for inspection.
At the end of the movie the most supreme IRONY is exposed. The very steel tool that Robbins had used to scrape through the concrete and dirt as part of his escape.......WAS HIDDEN IN THE CUT OUT PAGES OF THAT SAME BIBLE!!
Robbins felt comfortable enough after years of observing the said warden that the WARDEN was like the Pharisees of the past and thus he FEARED NOT that the warden would actually OPEN THE BIBLE AND READ ANY PASSAGES OUT OF IT AS HE STOOD BEFORE HIM! He and the Pharisees instead are all into SHOW rather than the SUBSTANCE of their religious faith.
No need to make the direct linkage to my focus of attention on this blog......those of you who "GET IT" can read between the lines.
Indeed there are "Pharisees On The World Wide Web of 2008". The media for them to express their ways is irrelevant. They have a tremendous ability to adapt. Their traditions are older than all other religions in the world, no doubt.
CHRISTIAN progressive liberal:
Speaking of "observing" people......I noticed that you didn't attempt to REFUTE anything on my list.
You simply went to REBUKING me.
I'll pray for you.
Deacon Blue:
I have heard it all before: "It's not 'What you say, Constructive Feedback' but HOW YOU ARE SAYING IT".
As IF I 'talked nice' but kept my central thesis intact which is so at odds with the prevailing sentiment on this board.....OH and by the way....DIDN'T let my opinions be KNOWN as frequently.....that I would be accepted as a 'good guy' on this blog and many of the other hard left blogs that demonstrate the same patterns.
Interesting Deacon Blue. I heard on a local Black talk radio show yesterday in which a woman called in stating that if Martin Luther King Jr acted as Barack Obama did (and she is a supporter of him) - attempting to MAKE NICE rather than FIGHT....we would still be riding in the back of public transportation today.
Deacon Blue - my mission is to challenge the MINDSET and the MESSAGES that have my people beholden to that which has FAILED to work for our best interests. For me it is not a matter of "changing the system without". It is clear from my OBSERVATION that the greater change is "WITHIN"!!!
Even the Black Nationalists realize that the greatest opponents to revolution among Black people are the ones who THINK they have THE MOST TO LOSE in the current system that they are unhappy about. Here is the problem - in the common Black dialogue these resistant people are often thought of as "Black Conservatives" and thus the standard repulsion is applied to them. IN TRUTH those most bound to this system is the Black Quasi-Socialist Progressive-Fundamentalist Racism Chaser who cleaves to his IDEOLOGY and his party despite NOT being able to look around his own community and articulate the ACTUAL BENEFIT that he has received from OUTSOURCING his interests in such a manner. If you could at least do this - you could shut me up. From my own personal embarrassment of being so WRONG you wouldn't hear me post so frequently. IF you could, that is.
Worse than going along for a ride that is taking you to a place where you are not driving toward......is the perpetual failure to "plant your own small garden in your own back yard" so that you, for one MASTER your skills at ORGANIC GARDENING as a sign that if indeed you are pushed off of the bus or the bus itself breaks down.....that you can apply these skills that you have learned on your own so that YOU MIGHT NOT STARVE when you are left to fend for yourself.
Who is the real "sellout" of the Black Best interests today? Not those who are POPULARLY thought of as being so - it is those who are POPULAR, leading the crowd with them down a slippery slope!
Constructive Feedback...a little attitude goes a long way...I'm not saying muzzle yourself but why do you have to be in ALL the business and why do you ALWAYS have to be filled with such bluster?
But hey, if all you're looking for is to get in people's faces and pick fights, well, I know how to deal with Web bullies. Just ignore ya going forward.
FIELD, I think too often we beat this ISSUE too much and miss the real point or the REAL ESSENCE of Slavery in America (of a fantasy that White America wanting it back).
It has nothing to do with a "silent vote" or even a public one. I honestly believe the contemporary White Person would not even know how to go about slavery as they did pre-Emancipation. Slavery was more than just be vicious and controlling, it had more to do with "fear", even within their own circles and associations. I say this seeing just how Labor and the American Economy has effected all Peoples in the country in all but the Top 5%.
Regardless of attitude, the rules are different now, once you add a Global Market and Technology. The Genie is out of the bottle and Race is much more tied to Class than ever before. Now if you suggested Slavery by Labor Manipulation (regardless of Race) I may have to agree.
I recommend checking out Douglas A. Blackmon's book, "Slavery by Another Name". This book may fit closer to you premise than any fantasy VOTE in Congress.
(http://www.pbs.org/kcet/tavissmiley/
archive/200805/20080501_blackmon.html)
Thanks shazza, you make some interesting points, and I will be sure to check out that book.
People upholding thier beliefs is not preaching intolerance. People amaze me how they pick this one issue out of many the bible speaks of and say , look, Chrisitans being intolerant. Do you feel as vehemently when the parties of which the pastors speak on of are adulterous, muderers, people who commit incest beastiality ect. People being true to who they are isn't intolerant at all.
Oh and just so you all know, I am agnostic borderline atheist. I've never seen heaven , hell or god. I have nothing to gain by voicing my oppostion to the label of intolerant when people are merely practicing what they believe. As long as they aren't presching the decapitation of the neighborhood homos I don't see it as intolerant speech, just one more view.
you really think that would happen i mean thing about tell me one black man that you would be able to force him to put up with the things that his grand parents delt with ... they wanna bring it back then fine but i promise you there will be a war in penn ...
Its amazing how field negro can say that the pastor doesn't support his community. Being from Philly I've have personally seen and heard of thing that- that man and his church have done. Before trying to criticize what he should be doing, try looking for what he's done!
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