Progress? Maybe not.

I have to post early tonight because I want to see who my birds pick up in this year's NFL draft.

Tonight I have two stories that have me scratching my head. One is a sign that we are still not achieving progess in A-merry-ca when it comes to social issues, and the other, in my humble opinion, says that we are.

I will start with my man Conrad Zdzierak, who took this "Soul Man" thing to a whole other level. Seems old Conrad is smart enough to realize that if you are going to do wrong in A-merry-ca, there is no better way to do it than disguised as a black man.

"A white guy, disguised as a a black guy, managed to rip off four banks and a CVS in Ohio before he was caught. No, we're not kidding.Maybe Conrad Zdzierak was inspired by "Soul Man (1986)," or even Robert Downey Jr.'s performance in "Tropic Thunder" (2008), but the 30-year-old, former Florida resident didn't rely on tanning pills or surgical procedures, respectively, to darken his skin. Instead he played out his John Dillinger Chaz Williams dreams while wearing a Hollywood style mask (called The Player) that was good enough to fool bank tellers and police into thinking their suspect was an African-American. You don't get the feeling anyone bothered to ask, "Are you sure the culprit was black?," though. It wasn't meddling kids that foiled Zdzierak's plans, but the fact that he never bothered ditching his getaway car. While charged with six counts of aggravated robbery, bail set at $3 million, there is no word on whether or not Zdzeriak, who was born in Poland, will be craving black and white cookies while in jail."

Three Million? Damn that bail is kind of high. I guess old Conrad pissed off some white folks as well. [Story]

Now the next story has me hopeful. Here in Philly there is a race for the 182nd House District. And one of the candidates, the incumbent, Babette Josephs, has accused her opponent of pretending to be Gay in order to get votes. Yep, you heard right; pretending to be Gay. Seems her opponent has hinted to the powerful Gay constituents in that district that he is bi-sexual, but Josephs says that it's a scam. There is nothing Gay about her opponent.

"I outed him as a straight person," Josephs said during a fund-raiser at the Black Sheep Pub & Restaurant, as some in the audience gasped or laughed, "and now he goes around telling people, quote, 'I swing both ways.' That's quite a respectful way to talk about sexuality. This guy's a gem."...Kravitz, 29, said that he is sexually attracted to both men and women and called Josephs' comments offensive."

Don't you just love progress?

BTW, speaking of outing people. I see where Lindsey Graham (who supported a constitutional ban on Gay marriages) has been outed by his own teabaggers. That ain't right. Politics is really getting down and dirty these days. Oh well, here is hoping that if it's true old Lindsey will come clean. He will never get elected to a statewide office in South Carolina again, but he could always move to Philly.