Here we go again.

I am up in the Poconos playing 18 and getting some R&R. I swear when I leave Southeast Pistolvania I feel like I am in a very Southern state. But it's all good. This is post-racial A-merry-ca, so field has love for everybody.

So Chelsea got married today, and who cares? I know I don't.

What I do care about is the fact that yet another black poli-trickster is giving the clowns over at Radio Rwanda fodder for their next news cycle. Honestly, would it kill some of these black pols to just say no to the green- backs every now and then? I don't care if what they are doing is legal. I don't like the smell of ethical lapses. They should be way above such things.

Maxine Walters, like Harlem Charlie, did some good things in the past. And, because of that, I would sure hate to see these latest ethical issues taint their entire legacy. I guess if you are in Washington long enough it's inevitable that some of the stink from a very foul political system will get on you.

But I'm out. Back to civilization tomorrow.

Guns don't have children.

*

Negroes who are not responsible enough to have children should not be allowed to own handguns.

"A 4-year-old boy fatally shot a 3-year-old girl at a home on Indianapolis' west side Thursday, leading police to arrest the girl's mother on child neglect and drug charges in what officers termed a very tragic incident.

Fiona Lee.... 26, faces one count of felony child neglect, along with charges of possession of cocaine and possession of marijuana, after police were called to the home in the 200 block of North Sheffield Avenue just before 1 p.m.

Investigators found that the child, Aunesti Lee Allen, had been shot in the head.

Don't let that pic that goes along with this post fool you, this isn't one of my typical bash NRA posts; because, honestly, this one is all on Fiona Lee.

"Indianapolis police Lt. Jeff Duhamell said that Lee was upstairs and that four children were downstairs -- three of them hers, along with her boyfriend's 4-year-old son.

"She heard a shot, and she ran downstairs, and … the 4-year-old … had picked up the gun and pointed it at the 3-year-old, pulling the trigger," Duhamell said.

The gun had been left unattended on a kitchen counter, investigators said.

"(The gun) was easily accessible to the children," Duhamell said. "The mother had walked by it several times, however did not secure it."

Neighbors told police that Lee came out of the house yelling for help, saying that the girl had been shot.

"She was screaming. She was out of her mind crying," said neighbor Robert Tremblay. "She was losing it."' [Article]

Sorry, she was "out of her mind" when she failed to secure that gun in a safe place with young children in the house.

*Pic courtesy of Newsone.com

Let's talk education, wingnuts, and Snooki.

Sorry, I didn't catch "The View" today, so you will have to tell me how his O ness did. I heard he called us black folks "mongrels", (I am still trying to figure that one out.) I know the description is accurate for most of us, but...and he didn't know who Snooki was? How could he be an A-merry-can president and not know Snooki? *rolling eyes*

Still, I did hear some of his speech to The Urban League. (Drum roll please!) And, I actually agreed with him and not the teacher's unions and civil rights gate keepers. Sorry, I have heard that song before, and it's no longer a hit.

"WASHINGTON — Challenging civil rights organizations and teachers' unions that have criticized his education policies, President Barack Obama said Thursday that minority students have the most to gain from overhauling the nation's schools.

"We have an obligation to lift up every child in every school in this country, especially those who are starting out furthest behind," Obama told the centennial convention of the National Urban League.

The Urban League has been a vocal critic of Obama's education policies, most notably the $4.35 billion "Race to the Top" program that awards grants to states based on their plans for innovative education reforms. A report released earlier this week by eight civil rights groups, including the Urban League, says federal data shows that just 3 percent of the nation's black students and less than 1 percent of Latino students are affected by the first round of the administration's "Race to the Top" competition.

Obama pushed back Thursday, arguing that minority students are the ones who have been hurt the most by the status quo."

I agree. Let's give this program some time, the status quo is not working.
Now this might cause a rift in the dumbocratic party, but it's only politics; our children's future is more important.

Speaking of our future, there won't be one if folks like Glenn Beck and the wackos he continues to incite have their way.

"So yes, Beck has done all he can to scare the hell out of people about the Tides Foundation and "turn the light of day" onto an organization that actually facilitates non-profit giving.

And guess what? Everybody in America would have found out about the Tides Foundation last week if Byron Williams had had his way. He's the right-wing, government-hating, gun-toting nut who strapped on his body armor, stocked a pickup truck with guns and ammo, and set off up the California coast to San Francisco in order to start killing employees at the previously obscure Tides Foundation in hopes of sparking a political revolution.

Thankfully, the planned domestic terrorist attack never came to pass because California Highway Patrol officers pulled Williams over for drunk driving on his way to his killing spree. Williams quickly opened fire, wounding two officers during a lengthy shootout. Luckily, Williams wasn't able to act out the ultimate goal of his dark anger -- fueled by the TV news he watched -- about how "Congress was railroading through all these left-wing agenda items," as his mother put it. Williams wasn't able to open fire inside the offices of the Tides Foundation, an organization "nobody knew" about until Glenn Beck started targeting it.

And thankfully, Williams wasn't able to take his place alongside a growing list of domestic, anti-government terrorists, such as the recent Pentagon shooter, the Holocaust Museum gunman, the kamikaze pilot who flew his plane into an IRS building in Austin, Texas, and the Pittsburgh cop-killer who set up an ambush because he was convinced Obama was going to take away his guns." [Article]

The sad thing about all of this is that the fear is manufactured, and it's really just making a few people rich. "We The People" my ass.

Musing on a Wednesday.

Everyone in A-merry-ca is tripping over their president going on "The View." "He is the president." "It is beneath him." "He shouldn't demean the office by going on such a show." Stop it. Bubba was getting (hide the children) BJ's in the people's house, and my man JFK was getting his freak on with a certain blond. So enough already. This is 2010. And I understand that times are rough, but if his O ness wants to sit down with a bunch of ladies on national television it's all good as far as I am concerned. Hey A-merry-ca, I think the guy can walk and chew gum at the same time.

And, honestly A-merry-ca, you need to quit. You have a bunch of reality show freaks ringing the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange. Is there a larger symbol of A-merry-can capitalism and might than Wall Street?

What else? Oh yeah, further proof that we are in a post-racial A-merry-ca. It seems that "Essence Magazine" now has a white editor h/t to Moufbreatha for the link. I will have to ask Mrs. Field what she thinks of that one.

"This is actually an interesting debate! Of course it's easy to simply ejaculate, "Hiring should be colorblind!" But should it be, in all cases? No, probably not! Do we not criticize various important magazines for having a dearth of, for example, black writers and editors, because that dearth leads to gaping holes in their coverage and a general cultural ignorance on staff? We do! In other words, we (meaning "liberals who talk about the media") generally feel that it is important to have diverse staffs at magazines, not only out of a basic sense of fairness in hiring, but also so that the magazines do not suck.

So, then, we allow that race is a legitimate factor to consider in hiring, generally. And more specifically, we must allow that race (or ethnicity, or national origin, or gender) may be more relevant in certain jobs. Might a magazine legitimately want its Mexico City correspondent to be Mexican? Indeed it might! Likewise, might a black women's magazine want its fashion editor, responsible for dictating coverage of black women's fashion, to be a black woman? Indeed it might, legitimately!"

Hmmm, all I know is that when I go into my favorite Chinese restaurant I don't see no black folks working there. I am just sayin.

R.I.P. Lorenzen Wright.

"Shirley Sherrod is a racist "liar"?

*

You can run racism, but you can't hide. The field is very fast, and thanks to his Air R track shoes, he will run you down and catch you.

And now this wonderful op-ed in The American Spectator from Jeffrey Lord, a former hotshot in the reagan White House:

"It isn't true.

Shirley Sherrod's story in her now famous speech about the lynching of a relative is not true. The veracity and credibility of the onetime Agriculture Department bureaucrat at the center of the explosive controversy between the NAACP and conservative media activist Andrew Breitbart is now directly under challenge. By nine Justices of the United States Supreme Court. All of them dead.

But first, it's important to say this.

After Shirley Sherrod's firing I wrote a column congratulating Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack for removing her -- based on a viewing of the now infamous edited Breitbart clip. I was wrong. I should have waited to see the entire video or read the transcript before writing a word. So my apologies to Ms. Sherrod.

The problem?

I have now done exactly what I should have done originally. So there's no mistake about "selective editing" of videos or speech transcripts, here is a link to the website of the NAACP, where they have made a point of posting the full video of Shirley Sherrod's speech. I have seen the entire speech as supplied by the NAACP. The now-famous speech runs just over 40 minutes. If you don't have the time, here is a link to the printed transcript of her speech supplied by a site called American Rhetoric Online Speech Bank. The transcript is taken in full from the video version of her speech, which American rhetoric also supplies. I have read the transcript as well.

Let's get to this.

In her speech, Ms. Sherrod says this:

I should tell you a little about Baker County. In case you don't know where it is, it's located less than 20 miles southwest of Albany. Now, there were two sheriffs from Baker County that -- whose names you probably never heard but I know in the case of one, the thing he did many, many years ago still affect us today. And that sheriff was Claude Screws. Claude Screws lynched a black man. And this was at the beginning of the 40s. And the strange thing back then was an all-white federal jury convicted him not of murder but of depriving Bobby Hall -- and I should say that Bobby Hall was a relative -- depriving him of his civil rights.

Plain as day, Ms. Sherrod says that Bobby Hall, a Sherrod relative, was lynched. As she puts it, describing the actions of the 1940s-era Sheriff Claude Screws: "Claude Screws lynched a black man."

This is not true. It did not happen. How do we know this?

The case, Screws vs. the U.S. Government, as she accurately says in the next two paragraphs, made it all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Which, with the agreement of all nine Justices of the day -- which is to say May 7, 1945 -- stated the facts of the killing of Bobby Hall this way:

The arrest was made late at night at Hall's home on a warrant charging Hall with theft of a tire. Hall, a young negro about thirty years of age, was handcuffed and taken by car to the courthouse. As Hall alighted from the car at the courthouse square, the three petitioners began beating him with their fists and with a solid-bar blackjack about eight inches long and weighing two pounds. They claimed Hall had reached for a gun and had used insulting language as he alighted from the car. But after Hall, still handcuffed, had been knocked to the ground, they continued to beat him from fifteen to thirty minutes until he was unconscious. Hall was then dragged feet first through the courthouse yard into the jail and thrown upon the floor, dying. An ambulance was called, and Hall was removed to a hospital, where he died within the hour and without regaining consciousness. There was evidence that Screws held a grudge against Hall, and had threatened to "get" him.

The very first paragraph of the Supreme Court decision states:

1. Upon review of a judgment affirming the conviction, for violation of § 20 of the Criminal Code and conspiracy thereunto, of local law enforcement officers who arrested a negro citizen for a state offense and wrongfully beat him to death, the judgment is reversed with directions for a new trial.....

The next time Ms. Sherrod visits Washington, she can take a trip up to Capitol Hill.

First, she can visit the Supreme Court of the United States, and ponder the connection between progressivism and racism. Take a look inside the ornate chamber where on May 7, 1945, Justice Hugo Black, a lifetime member of the Ku Klux Klan honored with a lifetime seat on the Supreme Court, an honor made possible because he used his racism to support the New Deal, voted to overturn the conviction of Sheriff Claude Screws for beating Bobby Hall to death.

Then a short stroll adown the street and she can visit another of Capitol Hill's enduring monuments: The Richard B. Russell United States Senate Office Building. As she strolls down its old marble corridors, surrounded by the offices of powerful United States Senators and their staffs, she perhaps can take the time to reflect once again on the night her father was murdered. And that the very building in which she walks is named in honor of the progressive/racist Democrat who was without doubt responsible for helping lots of Georgia farmers on a scale even Sherrod might not be able to imagine. But to do that he had to help create and nurture the atmosphere that made her father's death -- and that of Bobby Hall -- possible.

Perhaps, just perhaps, she'll even wonder if she understands just how much her own career and the things she said in that famous speech are sounding to some ears ever-so-slightly just like those of Justice Black and Senator Russell. Down the scale a bit -- a bureaucrat is not the same as a Senator or a Justice -- but still finding herself on the same scale nonetheless. A little concern for the poor folks here, a few government farm dollars and jobs over there and -- oh yes- a little dropping of the race card here and there so those jobs and dollars keep flowing.

Maybe she can even tell us why she stood up in front of the NAACP and said something that was completely, totally, untrue..." [Article] h/t to Lynne for this story.

Scary stuff! And now a prominent conservative is calling Ms. Sherrod a liar. That nigger was not lynched, he was beaten to death. I can say a lot of things here, but I won't. The writing speaks for itself.

Finally, I have been talking about his O ness and the people he surrounds himself with for months. Just a brotha looking out for another brotha. But he won't listen to me. Now, a white woman (someone much more prominent and famous than the kid) is telling him the same thing. Maybe he will listen to her. h/t to Val for this story.

*Pic stolen from Comedy Central's web site.

If we give you Negro farmers a billion dollars you will want certain privileges.

Last night I did a post from an African American perspective about white privilege here in A-merry-ca. Tonight, I want to give you another point of view. Jim Webb is the dumbocratic senator from Virgina, and he has some interesting things to say about affirmative action and the perception of white privilege here in A-merry-ca.

This was Jim writing in the Wall Street Journal:

"Forty years ago, as the United States experienced the civil rights movement, the supposed monolith of White Anglo-Saxon Protestant dominance served as the whipping post for almost every debate about power and status in America. After a full generation of such debate, WASP elites have fallen by the wayside and a plethora of government-enforced diversity policies have marginalized many white workers. The time has come to cease the false arguments and allow every American the benefit of a fair chance at the future.

I have dedicated my political career to bringing fairness to America's economic system and to our work force, regardless of what people look like or where they may worship. Unfortunately, present-day diversity programs work against that notion, having expanded so far beyond their original purpose that they now favor anyone who does not happen to be white."

The "supposed monolith"? Hmmm. OK, let me read on:

"In an odd historical twist that all Americans see but few can understand, many programs allow recently arrived immigrants to move ahead of similarly situated whites whose families have been in the country for generations. These programs have damaged racial harmony. And the more they have grown, the less they have actually helped African-Americans, the intended beneficiaries of affirmative action as it was originally conceived.

How so?"

Jim, do you really care about African Americans? (Who we all agree that many of these programs should be benefiting, and not newly arriving immigrants.) Or is it the "similarly situated" white families you are worried about?

"The injustices endured by black Americans at the hands of their own government have no parallel in our history, not only during the period of slavery but also in the Jim Crow era that followed. But the extrapolation of this logic to all "people of color"—especially since 1965, when new immigration laws dramatically altered the demographic makeup of the U.S.—moved affirmative action away from remediation and toward discrimination, this time against whites. It has also lessened the focus on assisting African-Americans, who despite a veneer of successful people at the very top still experience high rates of poverty, drug abuse, incarceration and family breakup.

Those who came to this country in recent decades from Asia, Latin America and Africa did not suffer discrimination from our government, and in fact have frequently been the beneficiaries of special government programs. The same cannot be said of many hard-working white Americans, including those whose roots in America go back more than 200 years.

Contrary to assumptions in the law, white America is hardly a monolith. And the journey of white American cultures is so diverse (yes) that one strains to find the logic that could lump them together for the purpose of public policy. " [Article]

Well, actually Jim, there is one thing that makes "white America a monolith"; the color of their skin. But I see where you are going with this: A-mery-cans should reap the benefit of their own government's programs, first.

Since you have discovered that white folks need affirmative action, I wonder how many of your white brethren who despise affirmative action are now ready to change their position? And Jim, what about the role of gender in affirmative action? Have you ever considered how many women benefited from it? Look Jim, I am glad that you decided to wade into the racial minefield which is strewn across A-merry-ca, but you can just jump in without your mine detectors.

Oh, and Jim, before I forget, I have a question for you: Did you vote for the black farmers to be compensated for all the pain and suffering they went through? It's a sad day, Jim. The senate voted to strip the legal settlement for black farmers from the war bill. A billion plus dollars to poor black farmers and their families. I guess this Shirley Sherrod thing pissed off conservatives more than we thought.

"The time has come to cease the false arguments and allow every American the benefit of a fair chance at the future."

Yep.

"Black adversity"

*

Since we are all still in the oops, A-merry-ca might have a racism problem mode. I thought I would do a cut and paste job from another one of those bloggers of color that you have probably never heard of. It's a brilliant post, and it was written back in April. The brotha might as well have written it yesterday, because it's still that relevant.

"White privilege is the subject where whites are given certain advantages simply because they are white. In a white-dominated society, privileges are not only plentiful, but are also normal. Of course, it's not surprising that many whites are either unaware of their privileges, or go so far as to deny that they even have privileges by playing the victim role.

However, yesterday, I wondered about the opposite of white privilege and what that's called. Today, I've given it a name. I call it black adversity. They are the challenges and disadvantages that blacks have to struggle with. I wanted to focus on the realities of black life in a white-dominated society. So, I made a list of black adversities.

I want to go on record that the list of adversities are not excuses, nor should it be held as reasons for not trying to understand. They do not describe black life in its entirety, and a few, if not some, are not restricted to just blacks. However, the list shows the harsh realities that blacks face no matter the socioeconomic, political, or religious/spiritual sense or status. Some of these vary depending on the individual, but overall, here's a list of adversities blacks have to struggle with and overcome. Also within the list are things whites must be aware of and overcome which is associated with fear.

1. If I'm in a group of others who look like me, that is a cause for some kind of suspicion.

2. In order to not cause suspicion, I must be in the company of (mostly) whites.

3. If I move, I can be sure I will likely end up in poor neighborhood whether I want to or not.

4. If I move into a white neighborhood, it will be enough to arouse suspicion with my neighbors.

5. When I go shopping, I can be sure I will arouse suspicion and be followed around.

6. I will be sure that when I turn on the TV, I will most likely see others who look like me as ball players, criminals, clowns or overall failures of society.

7. When I turn to the local news on tv or in a newspaper, I can be sure most of the crime reported will have faces of suspects who look like me.

8. I know that my history is celebrated during the shortest month of the year and will likely not be celebrated any other time.

9. I know that most of the history taught is of history of mainly white people.

10. I can be sure that most of the stories I have to read for class are stories written by whites featuring white characters.

11. I can be sure that in order to pass in school I have to learn history and literature of whites by whites.

12. In order for whites to listen to me, I must agree with what they think about me and my people.

13. I can be sure that whites will not listen to me when it comes to race and racism.

14. I can be sure that in order to "make it" in the music industry I must sing or rap about sex, drugs, violence and killing my own people.

15. I can be sure that in order to "make it" in the music industry I must be an R&B, Jazz, rap or hip-hop artist.

16. When I use cash, checks, or credit cards, my skin is enough for suspicion.

17. When children of my race are missing, I know the media will likely not pay too much, if any, attention to them.

18. I know during my lifetime, I will be taught that my race is inferior in some way, shape or form.

19. I can be pretty sure that teachers will likely and severely punish children of my race for small infractions.

20. I can be pretty sure that children of my race will be put down or judged because of their race.

21. I know that the dropout rate for male children of my race is the highest among other races.

22. The way I look contributes to the way I should talk in order to be considered black.

23. I know that making good grades and good manners are signs that I'm "acting white."

24. I can be pretty sure that I'm automatically a representative for my group in the entertainment, political, religious or social area.

25. I know that any bad manners I have is associated with my color.

26. As a male I can be sure that living beyond 30 is a blessing.

27. I know that growing up, I will see poverty, drugs, violence and/or murder at least once.

28. If I grew up middle-class or upper-class, I may be looked upon with negativity by some of my own peers. If I grew up lower-class, I may still be looked upon with negativity by some of my own peers.

29. As a female I can be sure that the standard for beauty in this society is white or light skin.

30. I have a good chance of growing up in a single parent home.

31. I have at least one family member or relative who is either in prison or has been in prison.

32. As a child there's a chance that I will likely be considered "bad" by adults who know me faster than being acknowledged of any positives.

33. If I murder a white person, I can be pretty sure that I will get the death penalty.

34. If I murder a black person, I can be pretty sure that my sentence will be lighter compared to white victims.

35. I can be sure that I will be pulled over by police because of my race.

36. I can be sure that I will either be harassed, abused or even killed by police because of my race.

37. In court, I will likely not get a fair trial.

38. I know that as a male, there's a 1 in 3 chance that I will end up in prison, and losing my right to vote.

39. As a male I must marry within my race or be considered a sellout.

40. As a male I know my number one cause of death is homicide most likely by another male who looks like me.

41. I know a new television series will have main characters that will not look like me.

42. I know that negative stereotypes about my people will continue despite a high number of those who do not fit those stereotypes. In other words I will be judged by the actions of a few.

43. I know that my experiences with racism mean little or nothing.

44. I know that I will be a scapegoat for almost anything and everything wrong with this society.

45. I know that there will be movies featuring white people saving my people.

46. I know that my history prior to slavery is hardly discussed or brought up in classrooms. We were taught that we came from slaves and nothing else.

47. I can be sure I will likely not get the job or career I want based upon my race.

48. I know that all of my people are judged for the actions of one or a few of my people.

49. I have to live with the fact that my true culture, language, history are stripped away, and the proof I have to live with is in my name.

50. I am often told that something is wrong with me and not with the society I live in. "

[More here]

"Black adversity" huh?

So let's talk. Is the post relevant? Or is the brother just another student from the racism chasing school that teaches "victimology"?

*Pic from "Will Capers' Blaque Ink".

Just another post from a "sniveling,whinning, back stabbing keyboard warrior."

And now this from a poster over at the Jack & Jill blog called "whiterosebuddy". [I think that's their name]

"Jill,
Once again you and the rest of the black bloggers can go sit on a middle finger.

Who the hell are these black bloggers to criticize the NAACP what the hell have ANY of those loud mouth bloviators on the internet done to advance the cause of civil rights in this nation? What national policies have they written or fought to have implemented. What have they done in the halls of the legal justice system to right INJUSTICE UNDER THE LAW or ENFORCE DUE PROCESS.

All those whinning bloggers can kiss where the sun doesn't shine. They all need to call up Mr. Jealous and praise him for his tremendous act of courage to call out the TEA PARTY for harboring racists and fomenting racial hate.

NOT NARY one of those signifyin bloggers had the clout to do so on NATIONAL TV!! Nary one, including your echo chamber behind.

The NAACP should have ALL those bloggers respect by virtue of the fact that they have the opportunity to VOTE, go to SCHOOL and LIVE in housing as well as find employment without being discriminated against.

But you see all of them and you have an ENTITLEMENT ATTITUDE...you fail to recognize and be grateful for the lives you live with tremendously less racial strife and out and out HATE in your FACE. Where you kid is allowed to die in front of your eyes, cause the hospital refuses to care for a BLACK child where you spouse is injured and or maimed cause they were driving while black.

All you pseudo warriors can go straight to hell...because you are doing NOTHING to advance or progress race divisiveness in this nation...you are simply a bunch of sniveling, whinning, back stabbing keyboard warriors.

What you need to be doing is getting the netroots together to act collectively to achieve something of significance rather than thinking you can be the loud mouths of the internet opposing your own people and the very organization that makes it possible for you to even work, be educated and live in the very housing you do.

Y'all are nothing but a bunch of INGRATES.

How come you are not having a panel on race with your netroots folks...how come you and those black bloggers are not getting together with the FDL's and HUffPO folks that you always hugging up to? Why aren't you all supporting Jealous calling out the TeaParty...why aren't y'all organizing a protest or call for sponsors to boycott FOX...do SOMETHIN!

Please...you need to do something productive or else you need to STFU along with the rest of the DO-NOTHIN black bloggers. "

Ouch! Well, on a lot of levels, this troubled poster is right. (Although not necessarily about Ms. Tubman, and I have never found myself "hugging up" to anyone or thing but the lovely Mrs. Field.) Certainly about us black bloggers. Netroots Nation is in full effect out in Las Vegas, and I am quite sure that most of the color there is from the beautiful casino decors and not necessarily the folks in attendance.

When it comes to fund raising and organizing in a cohesive manner, bloggers of color (present company included) have come up a little short. We do need to organize around certain issues that we can agree on, and we should leave the comfort of our homes and lap top keys and hit the streets from time time. (Although I am quite sure that my troubled friend wasn't leaving his/her comments from his/her computer while on his/her way to picket FOX NEWS.)

I love the Afrosphere (I was a co-founder) because it was a first step in organizing bloggers of color into a group. They have tried to organize as a collective and have had some success along the way. So folks are walking the walk, even if they aren't taking large enough steps for some people, they are at least trying. Which is more than I can say for some folks. (You know who you are. And don't try to figure out that link, it's an inside joke.)

I am not at the netroots confab, because, quite honestly, they never address issues that I truly care about. If other bloggers of color want to go and involve themselves with netroots nation, it's all good; just as long as they make the left leaning blogging community aware of issues that are important to us folks.

If they are there and not making others aware of those issues, I guess folks like my true warrior friend will continue to call out us "bloviators".

"Hot Fun In The Summertime": Not!

It's been a tough week here in A-merry-ca. Many of you Negroes found a new reason to bail on your boy, O. He allowed the FOX right wing propaganda machine to bully him and control the debate, and he looked weak. And, doggone it, us black folks want our man to look like he belongs when he is siting in the most powerful seat on earth. We don't want a weakling who looks like he is afraid of that ghastly conservative, shadow.

But enough about that. Tonight I want to talk about a serious subject: summer vacation. Yes, summer vacation; and why these crumb snatchers out here no longer need it.

I never knew that I would live to see the day, but I actually agree with David Von Drehle writing in Time Magazine, when he says that schools should pretty much do away with the long summer breaks. Now, granted, we both might have come to the same place for two different reasons. I know why I came here. It was his hypothesis and his citing of the Johns Hopkins study:

"..childhood and summertime. We associate the school year with oppression and the summer months with liberty. School is regimen; summer is creativity. School is work and summer is play. But when American students are competing with children around the globe who may be spending four weeks longer in school each year, larking through summer is a luxury we can't afford. What's more, for many children — especially children of low-income families — summer is a season of boredom, inactivity and isolation.

Deprived of healthy stimulation, millions of low-income kids lose a significant amount of what they learn during the school year. Call it "summer learning loss," as the academics do, or "the summer slide," but by any name summer is among the most pernicious — if least acknowledged — causes of achievement gaps in America's schools. Children with access to high-quality experiences can exercise their minds and bodies at sleep-away camp, on family vacations, in museums and libraries and enrichment classes. Meanwhile, children without resources languish on street corners or in front of glowing screens. By the time the bell rings on a new school year, the poorer kids have fallen weeks, if not months, behind. And even well-off American students may be falling behind their peers around the world.
(See pictures of summer programs designed to keep kids' minds sharp.)

And what starts as a hiccup in a 6-year-old's education can be a crisis by the time that child reaches high school. A major study by researchers at Johns Hopkins University concluded that while students made similar progress during the school year, regardless of economic status, the better-off kids held steady or continued to advance during the summer — while disadvantaged students fell back. By the end of grammar school, low-income students had fallen nearly three grade levels behind. By ninth grade, roughly two-thirds of the learning gap separating income groups could be blamed on summer learning loss."

He had me when he started talking about the achievement gap widening for low income children because of summer breaks.

Look, I know that the folks in the travel and amusement park businesses will not like my position on this subject. Not to mention all the teachers who consider the long summer break one of the few perks of their profession. ( I know that they are underpaid, and when they teach an extra month they should earn more money) But sorry, we are in a crisis mode when it comes to education in this country, and if it means that the little crumb snatchers will have to be in a structured environment learning for a few extra weeks, I am all for it. Read the article, there are quite a few programs working right now with this concept in mind.

America is no longer the agrarian society it used to be. We don't have to give kids time off to go out and work in the fields. We should be teaching and preparing them; training their minds. Because a summer is not a terrible thing to waste. A mind, on the other hand, is.

A "post racial" family?

While you folks here in A-merry-ca continue to struggle with matters of race, across the pond they are seeing racial miracles. Honestly, did you folks see this story? (h/t to Justin for the link.)

"THE stunned black dad of a newborn, WHITE, baby girl declared yesterday — "I'm sure she's my kid ... I just don't know why she's BLONDE." British Nmachi Ihegboro has amazed genetics experts who say the little girl is NOT an albino. "

Ahhhm....

"But as the baby's older brother and sister - both black - crowded round the "little miracle" at their home in South London, Ben declared: "Of course she's mine."

Blue-eyed blonde Nmachi, whose name means "Beauty of God" in the Nigerian couple's homeland, has baffled genetics experts because neither Ben nor wife Angela have ANY mixed-race family history.

Pale genes skipping generations before cropping up again could have explained the baby's appearance.

Ben also stressed: "My wife is true to me. Even if she hadn't been, the baby still wouldn't look like that.

"We both just sat there after the birth staring at her for ages - not saying anything."

Ahhhhm....

"Doctors at Queen Mary's Hospital in Sidcup - where Angela, from nearby Woolwich, gave birth - have told the parents Nmachi is definitely no albino.

Ben, who came to Britain with his wife five years ago and works for South Eastern Trains, said: "She doesn't look like an albino child anyway - not like the ones I've seen back in Nigeria or in books. She just looks like a healthy white baby."

He went on: "My mum is a black Nigerian although she has a bit fairer skin than mine.

"But we don't know of any white ancestry. We wondered if it was a genetic twist.

"But even then, what is with the long curly blonde hair?"

Professor Bryan Sykes, head of Human Genetics at Oxford University and Britain's leading expert, yesterday called the birth "extraordinary".

He said: "In mixed race humans, the lighter variant of skin tone may come out in a child - and this can sometimes be startlingly different to the skin of the parents.

"This might be the case where there is a lot of genetic mixing, as in Afro-Caribbean populations. But in Nigeria there is little mixing."

Ahhhm....I hate to be a killjoy, but has my man considered getting a DNA test? I am just saying. I know that miracles do happen, but "Joe Grind" is one busy dude.

Still, now you folks know why I am agnostic, if there really was a god this would have been a white family with a little black bundle of joy. But either there isn't one, or, if there is; he/she doesn't have a sense of humor.

Andrew In Wonderland.

His O ness won a couple of big legislative victories today, but thanks to his fear of the white...I mean the right it was drowned out by news about Shirley Sherrod, my new heroine, and a true field Negro. Girlfriend refused to appear on Radio Rwanda, and she slammed Ailes and company in an interview she did with Media Matters.

"Not before they reported it," she said of Fox's negligence. "They have called me today and initially I had said yes (to an interview), but I thought about it and I did not think they intended to be fair in their reporting. They are going to say what they want to say regardless of what I say."

She said Fox showed no professionalism in continuing to bother her for an interview, but failing to correct their coverage.

"I think they should but they won't. They intended exactly what they did. They were looking for the result they got yesterday," she said of Fox. "I am just a pawn. I was just here. They are after a bigger thing, they would love to take us back to where we were many years ago. Back to where black people were looking down, not looking white folks in the face, not being able to compete for a job out there and not be a whole person."

Still, Fox continued to push for an interview with her, Sherrod said. "

See that O man? That's how you handle the Radio Rwanda folks. I have said this before, but it is worth repeating: The people who tune in to Radio Rwanda are never ever ever going to vote for you. Never! So please, stop trying to be their friend; it will not work.

But what a difference a day makes. Now, all of a sudden, everyone is Shirley's friend. And everyone is doing their mea culpa, dance. Everyone, of course, except the man who started it all in the first place; Andrew Breitbart. That scumbag low life who, if he isn't a pedophile, sure looks like one. (BTW, Andrew thinks the farmer's wife was a plant. There is a mental hospital short of a patient out there.) Hell even Russel Simmons is getting into the act. Come on Russell, throw some of those Def Jam dollars behind Ms. Sherrod so that she can take a shot at a lawsuit against some folks. Or, organize those folks in Zoo York to get a protest permit and march outside of the Radio Rwanda studios. That would be far more effective than just penning an oped on Huffington Post.

Anyway, once again, we have a teachable racial moment in A-merry-ca. Black pundits are all over the cable networks, and they are telling the rest of A-merry-ca how black folks really feel. They hope that A-merry-ca will care. They wont. It seems everybody got the memo except black folks: There is no more racism in A-merry-ca.

Meanwhile, over at Radio Rwanda, it's business as usual: O'Reilly made a weak apology tonight on his program, but in the very next sentence he declared that Sherrod should be fired for violating the Hatch Act, and maybe, just maybe, she does see the world through a racial prism. Yes Bill, when your daddy was killed by a white man who wasn't even charged, your view of race tends to get a little skewed. I am just sayin.

I can't wait for this latest little racial dust up to end. I am dying to talk about my friend Hip Hop Mike and his latest little problem over at the RNC. Now there is a Negro who could use some support from the rest of you. Shirley will be fine, she has already been offered a job. Mike, on the other hand, just might be on his way out.

The Reverse Race Card.

*

Ms. Sherrod, I go to an excellent cleaner here in Philly. They will do a great job of getting those tire marks off the back of your beautiful dress. Still, I bet that bus must have been pretty heavy.

Don't worry, your back will recover. Just ask some of the other Negroes who found themselves under the O bus what they used to make themselves feel better.

Seriously, have you all ever seen a brother so afraid of appearing racial than his O ness? No wonder the wingnuts over at Roger's (You remember Roger, right? He gave A-merry-ca Willie Horton) propaganda station are having so much fun playing the race card with him. Every time he tries to distance himself from you Negroes and be the president for all A-merry-ca, they pull him back in.

"Conservative media, particularly Fox News, have finally picked up on the item and are trumpeting it as another example of President Obama's Machiavellian hand silently pulling strings behind the scenes to protect those groups who might have helped steer votes in his direction during the 2008 race for the White House. If this sounds familiar, that's because you've heard it before -- back when it was known as "The ACORN Scandal." If you can't immediately see what the members of the New Black Panther Party and the people who were generally helped out by ACORN have in common, you need to have your eyes checked.

For the record, the New Black Panther Party is a fringe group that's actually been denounced by the original Black Panthers. Its leader, the artist formerly known as Paris Lewis who now goes by the amusingly generic hyper-African moniker "Dr. Malik Zulu Shabazz," is the kind of clownish caricature Fox News loves to trot out at regular intervals. This is because he's guaranteed to say something mindlessly inflammatory that will scare the hell out of the network's demographic of lily-white, middle-American doofs, confirming all their worst fears about the encroaching "Negro threat." As former Washington Post columnist Dave Weigel beautifully put it, Shabazz is to Bill O'Reilly what the KKK or GG Allin was to Donahue: Somebody who makes for great TV and whom your core audience can feel comfortable disliking intensely.

If you haven't been watching Fox News lately -- and I can't in good conscience suggest that you do -- the Panthers "story" has been obsessively, breathlessly beaten into the ground by one network personality in particular: Megyn Kelly. She's taken it upon herself, bless her little heart, to be the avatar for every freaked-the-fuck-out white Christian soul convinced that he or she is losing this great country to minorities or illegal immigrants or whatever, and that it all started with the election of the Great Kenyan Socialist Usurper. She's like Elizabeth Hasselbeck with an actual associates degree and a shit-ton more professional ambition. Kelly is Fox's rising star du jour, even going so far as to get an official canonization from none other than Sarah Palin via her overworked Twitter feed -- and the reason for this is that she knows exactly when to crinkle her face into that lemon-sucking look of smug skepticism, and just what buttons to press and what open-ended questions to ask of her viewers."

Last night I said I would start sending my money to the NAACP again. Well, I might have to rethink my position. If these Negroes aren't smart enough to vet an entire video before they make an important statement, how can I trust them to advance the cause of civil rights?
Come on people, this is a serious propaganda war you are fighting with the folks over at Radio Rwanda, you can't just let them dictate the terms each battle. You have to fight fire with fire.
And, speaking of fire, the story of how this poor woman got fired is unbelievable. Because the administration was afraid that her story was going to be on Captain Jack's show? (You might have to think about that one for a minute, but it will come to you) Shame!

"Sherrod said she first heard of the possible controversy when someone e-mailed her Thursday to taunt her about her comments. She immediately forwarded the e-mail to the USDA so the agency would be aware. She was told that someone would look into it.

She said it wasn't until Monday that she heard back, and by then, she was being asked for her resignation.

Sherrod said she got four calls Monday from Cheryl Cook, the USDA rural development undersecretary. In the first, she said, she was told she was being put on administrative leave. In the second, she said, she was told she needed to resign.

Asked if she felt she had an opportunity to explain, Sherrod said, "No, I didn't. The administration, they were not interested in hearing the truth. No one wanted to hear the truth."

Ms. Sherrod, to steal a quote from a movie I saw once: They "can't handle the truth."

*Pic from Baliksambayanan

Now if we only had a video.

I see Andrew Breitbart is up to his old tricks. He claims that someone sent him a video of a clear cut example of reverse racism by the NAACP folks, and he was just sitting on it until the time was right to unleash it on A-merry-ca. Well, for Andrew, that time is now.

"The NAACP is about to learn one of the most basic of all lessons in life — those who live in glass houses should avoid provoking a stone-throwing war. After the civil-rights organization threatened to issue a condemnation of Tea Party activism by equating it with racism (a position from which they ultimately retreated), Andrew Breitbart announced that he would publish at least one video of the NAACP itself cheering racism. Breitbart delivers on that promise today at Big Government, showing USDA official Shirley Sherrod explain to an appreciative NAACP audience in July 2009 how she deliberately withheld information from a white farmer in Georgia trying to save his land and his business:"

Oh Ohhh. Let this be a lesson to you Negroes: There are spies everywhere, and if you are on television-even cable access- you don't know who will be watching. In this case it was a racism chasing wingnut who sent the video of Ms. Sherrod to Andrew. Which, as it turns out, might have cost her a job. Now, of course, as is always the case with folks like Andrew; there is a slight problem: It seems that old Andrew didn't release all of the video, and girlfriend doesn't look as bad if her entire speech is taken in its proper context. Andrew, of course, has promised to release more. Let's hope that the NAACP beats him to it. Again, I am no big fan of that group, but when I see comments like the ones on this site, I have to say that I am going to start sending them my hard earned money again.

To think that Andrew, by releasing a video of a government hack, can prove that the NAACP is racist and eliminate years of racism speaks more to where A-merry-ca is on matters of race than a million videos ever could. BTW, Andrew still has that offer of $100,000.00 for anyone who can prove that Congressmen Lewis and others were subject to racist taunts etc. when they made that long painful walk through the teabagger's version of the Soul Train Line. Well, as it turns out, Andrew is a liar and a fraud. He was proven wrong, and he still didn't write the check. Typical.

I was actually going to blog about the Minutemen groups-I prefer to call them Neo Nazis-at the border, but I don't want to go tit for tat with Andrew and the reverse racism crowd, so I am going to leave that one alone. Besides, they would only call me a hypocrite for saying that the NBP party folks were just a bunch people on the fringe and not saying the same thing about the Minutemen. Isn't that right, wingnuts?

You're Fired!

"Field, now that Mark Williams has been banned from the Tea Party, what do you have to say about yourself?

You might want to look up David Webb, a sharp brother who is a national spokesman for the Tea party. Your accusations, along with UTS are, as usual, WRONG!

You two owe the tea party a sincere apology. I'm waiting." ~An Anonymous poster at 4:35 p.m. today~

Well, I am glad you are waiting, but please don't hold your breath. That apology will not be coming.

Yes, I saw Mr. Webb jigging...I mean talking on Face The Nation, and the brother was quite interesting. "Fringe elements can be found in any movement", he said. Which is true. Yet I bet he would not give any movement who the NBP identify themselves with the same benefit of the doubt. Wouldn't they be considered a " fringe element" of any group? Ben Jealous was right to talk about -and to call out- the Council Of Conservative Citizens, but, unfortunately for him, unlike the conservatives, he doesn't have the number one cable network on television to air out his concerns.

"On "Face the Nation" today, NAACP President Benjamin Jealous said the convention in Missouri was addressing the issue of the Council of Conservative Citizens of St. Louis, "a group that says that black people are not equipped to participate in democracy."

Jealous said the Council was telling people "'Join the Tea Party, we're active in it, we have great influence' - that raised eyebrows."'

Yes they were. And my eyebrows -not to mention my middle finger- was raised.

"Jealous also pointed to instances of others claiming Tea Party affiliation or support making racist statements, and rally attendees carrying racist signs, such as Dale Robertson (a Tea Party organizer who appeared at a 2009 rally with an anti-Obama sign heralding the "N" word, though mis-spelled) .

Webb told anchor Bob Schieffer that Robertson "has been discredited and has been denounced and is not a Tea Party member."

Mr. Webb, at what point do your feet get tired? I know all that jigging is hard work. If you keep kicking out the folks who do stuff like this you are going to look around and find yourself all alone. Besides, you are a liar. To suggest that Mr. Williams was not a tea party leader is a flat out falsehood and you know it.

Still, to your credit, you did very publicly "suspend" Mr. Mark Williams. So I guess that's a start. Although I still have to wonder: is the Tea Party Federation the same as other tea party groups? And was he booted from other groups as well? Inquiring Negro minds want to know.

"Effective Immediately, Tea Party Express Is No Longer a Member
of the National Tea Party Federation

Date: Sat, 17 Jul 2010 at 3:43pm

Last night, the members of the National Tea Party Federation participating in an "All Hands" conference call unanimously decided the following:

The membership of the National Tea Party Federation has this evening suspended and will immediately expel Tea Party Express from any further association with the Federation should they fail to publicly rebuke Mark Williams and remove him from their ranks by 3 pm eastern time Saturday July 17.

The rebuke must take the following form:

1. Mark Williams must be officially removed from the ranks of the Tea Party Express.
2. Notice of Mark Williams' removal must be placed prominently on the official Tea Party Express website.
3. Tea Party Express must issue a press release articulating points 1 and 2 above.
* * *
Last night, a member of the National Tea Party Federation communicated our decision directly to a member of the leadership team of Tea Party Express. That leader's response was clear: they have no intention of taking the action we required for their group to continue as a member of the National Tea Party Federation.

Therefore, effective immediately the National Tea Party Federation is expelling Tea Party Express from the ranks of our membership. "

Contact:
Christina Botteri."

One down thousands to go.

"Tonz O Gunz"

I was walking to the gym in Center City, Philadelphia a couple of days ago, and I saw something that actually made me feel good: It was two young brothers boxing in the street. As it turns out, they weren't serious with each other, and they were only working on their pugilistic skills.
"But field, why did that make you feel good to see young brothers fighting?"
Because they weren't out and about in the neighborhood trying to pop some other dudes top with an assault rifle. They were learning to use their fists instead of their fingers to settle a score, that's why.

Here in Philly we have a serious gun problem. Damn near all the young bucks are packing or could be packing easier than they can get a bicycle. Getting a hammer is not a problem here in Philly. It's what these young ones do. And the more lethal the weapon the more street cred it gives them. We even try to get folks to turn in their guns with PlayStations here in Philly, but thanks to folks like this:

"For example, among those arrested and charged was Akiem Smith, 19, of the 1300 block of South Fourth Street. Smith, who was too young to buy a firearm legally, is accused of trying to use a "straw" purchaser to buy a gun, officials said.

When the attempt failed, Smith reportedly had his mother, whose name was not disclosed, buy a .45-caliber handgun for him, officials said. Officers recovered the gun, which had an obliterated serial number."

(You read that right; his mama tried to get her baby "a .45- caliber handgun." Ahh I tell you, there is nothing like a mother's love.) It won't work.

But the beat goes on. A couple of days ago a bunch of thugs fired on the po po from a van, and they were not shooting at the boys in blue with your standard garden variety guns. No sir, these criminals were loaded for bare with some very sophisticated assault weapons.

"The shooting Thursday night of a police officer in Kensington reverberated with some frightening similarities to the 2008 shooting of Sgt. Stephen Liczbinski.
Three men in a vehicle. A powerful weapon - more than one, in this case. A cop shot.

Luckily, in this instance, Officer Kevin Livewell, 30, is doing well and is expected to recover from the wound to his right leg. *[ l-i-ve-w-e-l-l-?]*

Police yesterday displayed the types of deadly, "state-of-the-art" weapons - four assault-type rifles and four handguns - found in a white van and in the streets in the area of Water Street near Indiana Avenue, where Livewell was shot about 8:30 p.m.

They also asked for the public's help in finding the two men who fled the van. One was wearing a dark blue shirt and dark shorts, and the other a white tank top, said Deputy Commissioner Richard Ross. Both were described as Hispanic. Livewell's partner tackled a third man, the van's driver, who was being questioned yesterday by detectives. His identity has not yet been released.

Found in the van were two Bushmaster AR-15 .223-caliber rifles; a Taurus PT 24 .40-caliber pistol; a TEC-9 semiautomatic pistol; and a Glock 9mm pistol."

Now I am no gun expert, but I am smart enough to know that a "Bushmaster" is no joke. And these clowns didn't have one but two of those bad boys. That's the kind of fire power that these thugs run around with on the streets of "Killadelphia". And we are supposed to be intimidated or afraid of two clowns in faux military gear with night sticks? Come on now. Let's keep it real.

If folks on the right in this country were more concerned about sensible gun laws than they were a manufactured and imagined threat from an insignificant group of publicity hounds, they would get back a percentage ( a very small one) of the respect that I have lost for them.

But it won't happen. The NRA has too much money and folks have to get elected. Oh well, I hope they will at least spring for flowers for the next police officer's funeral.

Show me your friends....

First, I have to talk about this before I forget: Hey Cubbies, WTF is up with jumping up and down and fist thumping like you just won the f%$%*#g World Series? I saw you beat my Phillies today, and the way you clowns acted was embarrassing. Hey, news flash: we are just a little past the half way point of the season, stop acting like it's September and you are in the middle of a pennant race. (Which you will never be) No wonder you losers haven't won a ring since Lincoln was President.

OK then, now that I have that off my chest. (Sorry Dan, I know you are a cubs fan, but I had to go there)

Anyway, tonight I want to blog about Mr. Mark Williams, (See there Mark, I called you Mr., that ought to make you feel good.) h/t to the excellent blog, The Reid Report ,for their wonderful piece on my man. So here is the thing; folks have e-mailed me and wanted to know if I thought Mark Williams was simply making good use of satire. "You do the same thing, field". Yes, but I am not the leader of a movement who has just been called out for their racism issues by the NAACP. Maybe Mark's timing was a little f&^%$d up. I guess his little colored jokes would have been funny if his timing was better. Ask any good comedian Mark, your timing is everything.

Still, you have got to love it. My man Mark touched on all of the stereotypes. I bet he didn't have any problems coming up with all those negative things to say about those "colored" folks.

"How will we Colored People ever get a wide screen TV in every room if non-coloreds get to keep what they earn? Totally racist! The tea party expects coloreds to be productive members of society?"

Yes, I guess everybody knows a nigger with a big screen TV. Ouch! That one hurts, Mark.

No surprise that Mark is a regular over at Radio Rwanda. (Not to mention CNN) And he is a major player in the teabagger movement. Unlike the New Black Panther Party clowns who Radio Rwanda would want sane people to believe actually represent black folks here in A-merry-ca. They do not. Talk about irony.

Finally, let's talk about my girl Magyn Kelly, shall we? Did you see the video of Magyn and Kirsten Powers going at it over the NBP non-story. Nothing like a potential reverse racism story to get that faux lawyer all fired up. Still, it was nice to see Newsweek call them on their bullshit. Let's just hope that the rest of A-merry-ca sees them for who they really are as well.

"The Sixth Sense"

Almost 100 CHIHUAHUAS?!! WTF is going on with you people? Seems that some lady was hoarding dogs in South Philly. The neighbors could actually "smell the stench of dog urine and feces" from the street.

Hey, Citizens Bank Park is in South Philly. I bet I will never buy another hot dog at a Phillie's game. I am just sayin.

So anyhoo, speaking of dogs, tonight I was reading an excellent article about my girl Sarah, and I think it's dead on. Sarah, of course, said that the NAACP was wrong about the tea party folks; they are not racist, she declared. But like the author of this article, I have some questions:

Why the dog whistles? We all know that members of the tea party movement aren't going around yelling the "N" word at rallies (well, not all of them) and they aren't making public declarations that they hate black people. But only a fool would deny the code words to tie his O ness to all things black. Especially really scary black things like inner city organizing, and sixties style radicals standing around in sixties style radical uniforms. And let's not forget his church. That fire and brimstone preacher who touted liberation theology and hated white folks. -Was it white folks he hated or certain aspects of A-merry-ca? I forget.- It seems like such a long time ago that the msm couldn't get enough of Jeremiah Wright.

I am sorry, something isn't quite right about the tea party folks. Ask any black person in A-merry-ca (not a conservative Negro. I said black person) and they will tell you the same thing. Everything about those people say the following: We want our A-merry-ca back. Electing that Negro with the Muslim name was a bridge too far. And It's time to organize and fight back. I might be wrong but I am usually right about these things. Just call me Haley Joel Osment: "I see racist people".

The wingnuts say that we are all field slaves now.

*

"Just because I'm losing Doesn't mean I'm lost" ~ Coldplay~

As the latest approval ratings comes in for his O ness, he would do well to think of those lyrics from that very fine song. It has been a tough few months. The war is still raging in Afghanistan. Radio Rwanda and their right wing friends are tossing around the Socialist label. Tea Party folks are putting up billboards comparing him to Hitler. And the wingnuts are controlling the message to a vacuous and shallow nation; who, for the most part, only pay attention to politics once every four years. Yes Ms. Bachmann, we are indeed a nation of slaves. (Do you believe she said that?) But the only tyranny we live under is the tyranny of ignorance. And the wingnuts have gone from being crazy to just plain absurd. (Matt Sludge actually called one of the first lady's dresses, "Oil Spill Chic".)

"'We are determined to live free or not at all. And we are resolved that posterity shall never reproach us with having brought slaves into the world,'" Bachmann read from founding father John Jay , ending her reading with the statement, "We will talk a little bit about what has transpired in the last 18 months and would we count what has transpired into turning our country into a nation of slaves. [Source]

Oh Lawd! Somebody help us here in A-merry-ca, please.

Finally, it's nice to see that black conservatives are at least consistent in standing by their peeps:

“I have not experienced the charges of racism that the NAACP is touting,” Vernon Parker, an African-American tea party congressional candidate in Arizona, told POLITICO.
Parker, former mayor of Paradise Valley, said that he has never felt out of place at a tea party rally because of the color of his skin.

“When I go to tea party events, people don’t look at me any differently,” he said. “They didn’t judge me on the color of my skin, quite frankly, they judged me on my principles."

"The NAACP should be concerned about bringing jobs to people in depressed areas,” he added, “not the tea party.”

Tim Scott, a GOP congressional nominee in South Carolina, echoed Parker’s sentiments in a statement.

“I believe that the NAACP is making a grave mistake in stereotyping a diverse group of Americans who care deeply about their country and who contribute their time, energy and resources to make a difference,” Scott said." [Source]

Mr. Scott, I couldn't agree more. Your time and energy is important. I can't think of anyone in A-merry-ca who doesn't want a clean house.

*Pic lifted from City Pages.

Those "racism chasing" wingnuts.

When someone mentioned the story I am about to post about in the comments section of this blog, I thought it was a joke. There was no way, I thought, that this story could be true.

Well, as it turns out, it is true.

"I was loathe to comment since I know that no rational discussion will follow. How could it? It was clear from the beginning that this was not a case of voter intimidation against anyone who might vote for John McCain. As many observers noted on that day, no matter how badly those two New Black Panters[sic] were behaving (and the police were called and responded), it’s a HEAVILY DEMOCRATIC PRECINCT. As blogger Ben Smith noted way back then, “You don’t typically intimidate your own voters.”But solid reporting from Media Matters and Adam Serwer of The American Prospect ought to put this nonsense to rest (it won’t, but it should). The charges against the New Black Panthers were downgraded by the Bush Department of Justice:The decision not to file a criminal case occurred before Obama was even in office.This means that the case was downgraded to a civil case 11 days before Obama was inaugurated, 26 days before Eric Holder became attorney general, and about nine months before Thomas Perez was confirmed as head of the Civil Rights Division." [Source]

Say what? The case was downgraded 11 days before his O ness took office?

Wait, you mean the wingnuts over at Radio Rwanda manufactured a story with a hint of some racial spice thrown in for good measure?

"The fact that the Bush administration also felt that this wasn’t the “open and shut” case that Fox News would have you believe may take some wind out of their sails, but not as much as Olbermann implies here. Also, Fox News (and our own Steve Krakauer) has been making a good point about the lack of coverage that the rest of the media has been giving this story. Olbermann gets his own good point in though, by remarking that some of Fox News’ coverage has had a bit of an uncomfortable racial tinge to it."

That's not the field talking, that's a conservative website. So where do we go from here, wingnuts? Where will we get our next faux story to fire up the base? Wait, what's that you say? You have another one already?

"So far Michelle Obama and the NAACP have offered three shreds of evidence that the Tea Parties as a whole are a racist movement.1) Supposed "slurs" yelled at black congressmen in Washington, which the media jumped all over. Raw video suggests otherwise. I suppose yelling or disagreeing with black men counts as racism. FAIL.2) Tea Party backed Rand Paul's opposition to the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Forget that Paul voiced the utmost contempt for discrimination of any kind. I guess believing the government has no right to force businesses to serve anyone and everyone counts as racism. FAIL.3) Racist signs and posters seen at Tea Party rallies. I suppose one racist sign out of 100 makes the entire movement racist. FAIL.So Michelle Obama, you have given us three ridiculous arguments and still cannot prove in any way, shape, or form that the Tea Parties are racist.What really irks me?Michelle Obama stands before a racially exclusive organization whose sole focus is the advancement of one race above all others and has the gall to accuse another group of people as being racist. This is hypocrisy of the highest order. I challenge you Michelle.

You tell Herman Cain the Tea Parties are racist. You tell Kevin Jackson the Tea Parties are racist. You tell it to Alan Keyes, Charles Lollar, Thomas Sowell, Deneen Borelli, Michelle Malkin, Allen West, Charles Butler, Lloyd Marcus, Angela McGlowan, Timothy Johnson, and Clifton Bazar..."

[Well, I would tell them for her, but they are too busy cleaning the big house. That's a lot of work.]

".. A few questionable signs. A phantom "slur". A candidate's opposition to government intrusion. Apparently these are valid accusations to conclude an entire movement of hundreds of thousands of people is based on bigotry. "

Ahhh, excuse me wingnut, but it seems that you are living in a parallel universe. Where exactly is Michelle Obama accuse the tabaggers of racism in this clip? Keep digging, I will wait.....

But this is what happens when one manufactured story goes to the dogs; they just invent another one. But field, Michelle Obama gave a keynote speech at the NAACP and the NAACP is adopting a resolution condemning the tea party folks as racist. Isn't that close enough?

I guess. Hey, she is black and it's a black organization. What else do you need?

But back to this New Black Panther story: Remember our wingnut lawyer friend, J. Christian Adams?

" On Tuesday, Mr. Adams argued that the New Black Panther Party case was solid. He also portrayed the civil rights division as a place where many officials are hostile to the idea of using civil rights laws to go after black perpetrators with white victims.

Tracy Schmaler, a Justice Department spokeswoman, said the department enforces voter intimidation laws “based on the merits, not the race, gender or ethnicity of any party involved.”

Sorry Mr. Schmaler, that's not good enough for the wingnut lawyer with a letter for a name.

"Mr. Adams, a Republican who had previously worked for South Carolina’s secretary of state, was hired in 2005. But he insisted on Tuesday that his political beliefs had had no bearing on his work. The investigation has divided the commission. In a statement on Tuesday, one of its two Democratic members, Michael Yaki, called it “incredibly shallow, expensive, and partisan” and a “one-sided farce.” [Source]

Mr. Yaki, you have just described the wingnut agenda to a tee.

This "resolution" should not be televised.

There are a plethora of things that I could be blogging about tonight. I could start with half of Rev. Inc. calling out the Cav's owner.

“He speaks as an owner of LeBron and not the owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers,” Jackson said in a release from his Chicago-based civil-rights group. “His feelings of betrayal personify a slave master mentality. He sees LeBron as a runaway slave. This is an owner employee relationship—between business partners—and LeBron honored his contract.”

Well....I don't know Jessie; while I do agree that it's very possible that Gilbert has massa issues, I am thinking that he is just a pissed off owner who got mad because he saw his prized possession leaving and he stands to lose millions of dollars. Wait....

“I strongly disagree with Rev. Jesse Jackson’s recent comments and we are not going to engage in any related discussion on it,” Gilbert said. “Going forward, we’re very excited about the Cavaliers and the positive future of our region.”

Dan, please, just quit while you are ahead. [Article]

Then, of course, there is the NAACP calling for the fashioning of a resolution which declares that the teabaggers are racist. Duhhhh! Why don't they just declare that there is gambling in Las Vegas while they are at it?

"A spokesman for the nationwide Tea Party Express did not return a request for comment.

Yes, he is still preparing a statement that he hopes that folks will not find racially offensive.

And speaking of race...nah, I think I will leave this one alone. No racism chasing for me tonight. I am tired of chasing that SOB. Besides, I don't have my racism track shoes on; they are a special fit.

I do want to talk about a recent college graduate from the great state of New York. At a time when unemployment is pushing ten percent, and A-merry-cans find themselves in a recession, Scott Nicholson, a recent Colgate graduate, has decided that a $40,000.00 a year job-to start- is not good enough for him.

"Over the last five months, only one job materialized. After several interviews, the Hanover Insurance Group in nearby Worcester offered to hire him as an associate claims adjuster, at $40,000 a year. But even before the formal offer, Mr. Nicholson had decided not to take the job. Rather than waste early years in dead-end work, he reasoned, he would hold out for a corporate position that would draw on his college training and put him, as he sees it, on the bottom rungs of a career ladder. “The conversation I’m going to have with my parents now that I’ve turned down this job is more of a concern to me than turning down the job,” he said."

Welcome to A-merry-ca. I just hope that Scott doesn't live at home with his parents. Because, if he does, it speaks more poorly of them than it does him. And, believe me, that takes some doing.

Finally, I see that Rush Limbaugh is leaving the east coast and is selling his digs in New York. Hmmm, I thought it smelled a lot nicer outside.