Unintended consequences?

It's a wild news and weather night here on the East coast. Here in "Iggles" nation we are just patiently awaiting 5's return. It should be fun to watch come Sunday.

Anywhooo, I want to start with uncompromising positions and how they can have sad and unintended consequences: My man Kassim Osgood is a wide receiver for the Jacksonville Jaguars, and he decided to run a route right into the bedroom of a 19 year old cheerleader. Problem was, of course, that girlfriend had a jealous ex boyfriend. And we all know how exes can get at times.

"Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Kassim Osgood had to leap out a second-floor window late Monday to escape a gun-wielding man who had attacked him and a 19-year-old Roar cheerleader he was visiting in a home on Fort Caroline Road.

By the time it was over, police said the armed intruder had traded gunfire with the woman after sticking a gun to her head, saying, “What did that football player say to his girlfriend, 'It’s a good day to die,' ” misquoting ex-Florida Gator Chris Rainey’s recent text message to a former girlfriend.

Osgood, a former Pro Bowl special teams player in his first season with the Jaguars, had some minor bruises from his escape and being pistol-whipped, the Sheriff’s Office report said. He declined to comment Wednesday. "

Kassim, you better be glad girlfriend lived on the second floor and that she was packing. WTF? A shootout with her ex after he put a gun to her head? Gotta love those females in the Ville. [Story]

A similar story with a young man being caught in I guess what was to him a compromising position didn't end so well. He committed suicide after his roommate posted streaming videos on the web of him having sexual relations with another man.

"Fellow students Dharun Ravi, who was Clementi’s room-mate, and Molly Wei, have been charged with invasion of privacy and could face up to five years in prison if convicted.

They are accused of placing a camera in the room and streaming the images straight on to the internet.

In a message posted on microblogging website Twitter on Sep 19 Ravi allegedly said: “Roommate asked for the room till midnight. I went into molly’s room and turned on my webcam. I saw him making out with a dude. Yay.”

Steven Goldstein, chairman of the gay rights group Garden State Equality, said his group considers Clementi’s death a hate crime.

He said: “We are heartbroken over the tragic loss of a young man who, by all accounts, was brilliant, talented and kind.

“And we are sickened that anyone in our society, such as the students allegedly responsible for making the surreptitious video, might consider destroying others’ lives as a sport.” [Story]

Hmmm, lots of layers to this story. But my man's roomie was one sick dude. Obviously he (the victim) was hiding his sexuality and his roomie knew that, which is why he thought his prank was cool. Dharun and Molly must not live in the real world. I wonder how they thought their little stunt was going to turn out? It doesn't' matter now. The problem for them is that a jury will probably ultimately decide whether their actions were foreseeable or not, and that could mean a long stint in the "pokey" for both of them. I know one thing; there is a certain pastor down in peach country who is praying that....never mind.

Here is another reason we shouldn't be just sperm donors. There are truly some sick folks out there. I swear you all make me want to rethink my stance on the death penalty sometimes.

Finally, it looks like the republican candidate for governor up in Zoo Yawk is doing his best to audition for the Sopranos play that's sure to come to Broadway:

"Republican New York governor candidate Carl Paladino has launched an astonishing attack on a reporter after he questioned him about claims against his rival Andrew Cuomo.
Mr Paladino reacted angrily to a question from New York Post state editor Fred Dicker and the two had to be held apart after a furious exchange.
Mr Dicker had asked whether he had evidence for accusations levelled at Mr Cuomo..

But the Republican then launched his attack on the reporter, shouting 'I'll take you out, buddy!' He referred to the newspaper's coverage of the daughter he fathered 10 years ago outside of wedlock before making the threat. 'I want to know why you sent your goons after my daughter, Fred. 'You send another goon to my daughter's house and I'll take you out, buddy!' [Story]

Watch, just like Chris Crisco in Jersey, he will be praised by the wingnut establishment for his "in your face" style, and he will have their full support come November. He better, or he might take them out as well.

Who should we believe?

*

I see that the folks over at Radio Rwanda are all in a tizzy over his O ness putting them on blast in his RS Magazine interview.

"How on earth is Fox News hurting the middle class?" O'Reilly wondered aloud during a segment with Alan Colmes and Monica Crowley Tuesday night.

O'Reilly also said Obama criticized Fox because "50 percent of the commentators" on the network disagreed with the president, as opposed to other media outlets who "still love him."

And this from tweedledum:

"Once again, we are seeing if you disagree with the president's left-wing agenda, you do so at your own risk," he said, before blasting Obama for his economic and foreign policy.

"Mr. President, this network did not put into place policies that are going to result in higher taxes, higher health care premiums and fewer jobs," Hannity said.

Honestly, this is A-merry-ca, and the folks over at Radio Rwanda have every right to put all the bull s&^ they want on the air. If the brain dead red state masses want to treat every thing they spew as gospel, then so be it.

The problem is, of course, that they pretend to be a legitimate news organization. Their "fair and balanced" aphorism is an even bigger joke than the bimbos and former republican candidates and operatives who they have masquerading as journalist. (BTW, they have even helped their employees run for political office) This is the frustration with FOX. Not that they are a wingnut propaganda arm , but that they pretend not to be. I am sure that this is what frustrates his O ness as well. In his orderly academic world this makes no sense. Could the people who elected me be this dumb? Ahhhh.....Yes! Rupert Murdoch and his minions understands the emotional A-merry-can. They would rather watch a blond bimbo read slanted news than an old bald man read the truth. It's why they will always win the ratings war.

Finally, in typical -hypocritical- republican fashion, millionaire Meg Whitman is throwing her *nanny of seven years under the bus. Or, should we say, under the border fence. Seems Meg knew girlfriend was illegal all along, but...well, we can't have the voters of California knowing that we say one thing and do another now can we.

"..Allred said that the Social Security Administration notified Whitman in 2003 that the number Diaz provided when hired in 2000 was not valid and that Whitman did nothing until June 2009, when she fired Diaz after she asked for help with her immigration status. Diaz is filing a claim with the state Labor Commission, seeking back wages and mileage.

Here's what Whitman said in a statement:

'After nine years of faithful service, Nicky came to us in June 2009 and confessed that she was an illegal worker. Nicky had falsified the hiring documents and personal information she provided to the employment agency that brought her to us in 2000. Nicky told me that she was admitting her deception now because she was aware that her lie might come out during the campaign. Nicky said she was concerned about hurting my family and me.

As required by law, once we learned she was an illegal worker, I immediately terminated Nicky's employment. It was one of the hardest things I've ever done. I considered Nicky a friend and a part of our extended family.'"

Now, I ask you, who do you believe?

"Why are you a Christian?"

Folks are buzzing about a poll out showing that atheist and agnostics actually know more about religion than church going folks. Frankly, I am not surprised. If, for instance, the folks who worship at the foot of Creflo and Bishop Eddie are examples of religious people, it actually all makes sense.

"Why did atheists do so well? The study concluded that those who reject faith often do so after growing up in a religious household, and studying and deliberating keeping the faith. Also, atheists and agnostics tend to be better educated in general. Why did Christians do so poorly? It may be because once someone accepts a faith, they stop examining it."

You religious folks would do well to learn Second Timothy, 2:15. I am just sayin.

"Why are you a Christian?" That's what some clown asked his O ness today at a campaign stop in New Mexico. O should have told the woman that it's none of her damn business, but we all know that as the President of these divided states he couldn't do that. Not when it's a question about religion. Not in A-merry-ca. If it's one thing we love it's our religion. And we want our leader to be god fearing just like us. (I am sorry if all this passion about religion makes me a little nervous. But I just saw a grainy video of the Taliban stoning a woman to death for being caught out on a date with a man.)

"It was because the precepts of Jesus Christ spoke to me in terms of the kind of life that I would want to lead -- being my brother's and sister's keeper, treating others as they would treat me," he said. ..And I think also understanding that, you know, that Jesus Christ dying for my sins spoke to the humility we all have to have as human beings -- that we're sinful and we're flawed and we make mistakes, and that we ... achieve salvation through the grace of God." ..My mother was one of the most spiritual people I knew but she didn't raise me in the church. So I came to my Christian faith later in life.."

Yes, just in time to run for President. Oh well, at least we know that you are not a Muslim.

Solving the education problem.

*

It's nice to see that public education is getting so much attention in A-merry-ca these days. We can thank my man from Facebook and his one hundred million dollar gift for that. Lord knows that it needs to. I think folks are starting to realize that it's everybody's problem. Even those of us who don't have children. Maybe we can start tackling the causes of the problem and not the symptoms for once. (Thanks Dan) BTW, let me just leave this link for you haters out there who think that black children are somehow genetically inferior to those kids from the majority population. Thank you.

Anyway, I think I have a simple solution to the education problem in poor inner city and rural neighborhoods here in the land of the [some are] free. Now please believe that I did not come to this lightly. It took years of working in urban A-merry-ca with some of these children as a volunteer, a court administrator, and as a professional in private practice.

So here goes: Tie performance and attendance in school to tax breaks and more public assistance benefits-if they are receiving it- to the families of these children. That's it. It's that simple. If, for instance, the little rugrat is making all A's and is attending at least 95% of his or her classes for most of the school year. His mother or father (whoever is working at least 25 hours per week in the home) would not pay state (Keeping in mind, of course, that there is no national curriculum in A-merry-ca, and the feds are not responsible for education. Still, the feds could be involved as well, if the federal government gave money to the states which were armarked for this program.) income taxes on their salary for that year. They would send proof of the rugrats performance with their state tax returns. If the family receives food stamps or cash assistance they would get an additional food stamp voucher or cash benefits when they bring proof of their little rugrats performance to the local welfare office.

Let's face it, folks, all the great teaching in the world will not change how some of these children perform if they do not get motivated at home and learn to value education. These children are starting behind the eight ball because of the environment that they are coming from. Many of them have zero college graduates in their families or their neighborhoods. So the educational value system that some of us talk so freely about and take for granted is a foreign concept to them. Chris Crisco can keep beating up on the teacher's unions in Jersey to show off to his GOP friends, it won't do any good. It might get him political Brownie points, but ten years from now schools in places like Camden and Jersey City will still be f*&^%d up.

Maybe, just maybe, with some kind of financial incentive, the person in the home charged with making decisions that affects their child's life will do the right thing.

Arne, that was free.

BTW, what is wrong with the *picture above?

FREE LORENZO!!

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I wasn't going to say anything about Bishop Eddie, but then I caught his act on CNN this evening, and I must say; my man is a trip. I can't really blame him for fighting the allegations, and I understand that he has "lawyered" up so he is being instructed not to talk about the case. But my man compared himself to David going up against Goliath, and the church gave him a rousing amen. -All ten thousand of them who were in the house- Now that is some scary stuff.

And speaking of scary stuff: what is up with my man's hair? All those members in his church and he can't find one single barber or stylist to hook up his do? I thought Atlanta had a lot of folks in the black beauty business. Sorry, I couldn't sit through one of the Bishop's sermons because of that f^%$#d up hair. Call me petty, but that Negro made all that money off those folks and he can't spring for a twenty dollar haircut? Someone should be sued alright, but it's not Bishop Eddie, it's his barber.

How would you like to live on Ardmore Avenue in the suburb of Drexel Hill, right outside of my beautiful hometown?

"Twenty cats. Frozen solid.

Upper Darby police and health officials discovered a makeshift kitty morgue Wednesday when they searched a vacant rowhouse on Ardmore Avenue in the township's Drexel Hill section.

Neighbors say the home is owned by the mother of Denise Merget, 58, a cat hoarder who has been locked up at the Delaware County prison since Sept. 10, when she allegedly pulled her .38-caliber revolver on an animal-cruelty officer who tried to remove 55 cats from her uninhabitable house on Leighton Terrace.

Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood said the dead cats - mostly kittens - were wrapped in plastic and stored in a freezer. They likely belong to Merget, who is awaiting her preliminary hearing on charges of aggravated assault, reckless endangerment and weapons offenses.

The cat corpses have been taken to the Delaware County SPCA for further investigation.

'I don't know what the cat autopsies are going to show,' Chitwood said. 'My expectation was that these cats just died, but I think being so mentally ill, she's trying to preserve them even in death by putting them in a freezer. Cryonics. That's exactly what's going on.'

Chitwood said Merget could face animal-cruelty charges, depending on the results of the investigation. She apparently was watching the Ardmore Avenue house for her mother, who lives in a nursing home.

Residents of the block, just off Lansdowne Avenue, are still recovering from last week's raid of an alleged brothel across the street. Police arrested a prostitute and the madam of the house, who they say were advertising "massages" and performing sexual acts for a "generous tip."

'On one side, you got prostitution, on the other side, you got cats in the freezer,' Chitwood said. 'It's tragic. Obviously, this lady has some mental-health issues and needs to get them addressed.'

Neighbors say the well-kept block isn't the type of place where you'd expect to find hookers and frozen pets.

'At least it's not drugs," one resident said. 'Just crazy people."' [Story]

Wrong Mr. [Mrs] resident, hookers aren't crazy. *People who freeze cats, on the other hand, well they might have some issues.

Finally, to stay with the animal theme, (excluding the good Bishop of course) why isn't there an outcry from PETA to free Lorenzo the parrot?

"Sky News is reporting that a parrot named Lorenzo has been arrested for being a lookout for Colombian drug dealers. Apparently the bird would say, “run, run the cat is going to get you” when anybody in a police uniform would walk by." [Story]

I bet if poor Lorenzo was a cat they would have taken up his case. Still, you have to admit, Lorenzo has some skills. I wonder if he can cut hair?

What if the "anointed one" is touching someone else?

As Sunday morning fast approaches, I am sure that there are 25,000.00 faithful souls in suburban Atlanta who cannot be looking forward to going to church tomorrow morning. I can't say that I blame them; "these are truly the times that try men's souls."

People have been asking me to write about Bishop Eddie, but as I have said in the past, it's just too damn easy. Some things really do speak for themselves.

Still, one of my favorite bloggers wrote on the subject, and I did a little cut and paste job from her post.

"What does James H. Bell, Tyrone Forbes, Edwin House, Bruce Curtis Leon Dupree, Clarence Garrison and Willie L. Jefferson all have in common? They are pastors that have been arrested for sexual abuses against their parishioners. And in some of the cases, several have been convicted.

It is a fact that sexual abuse goes under-reported in communities of color. Now let's take that fact and apply it when it comes to outing a pastor, deacon, bishop, or other clergymen and women who serve as high power figures in black communities. Not only is it complicated, but in some instances it can be dangerous.

The recent Eddie Long church scandal has magnified an oft-overlooked flaw in the black community. We exempt our "leaders", and more readily, our religious leaders from moral or ethical scrutiny. And when this happens, we participate in our own oppression.

With the past 10 years of sexual abuse cover-ups, lawsuits and scandals becoming a mainstay in the Catholic church and among white clergymen, there is a notion among some black church members that their black pastors are absolved from this sin. It is as if their pastors' erections are somehow different, more divine, thus are stuck in the right orifices.

And in some instances, the victim at the church becomes the predator or the enemy in the eyes of church members---resulting in a collective exile, or one that is self-imposed due to the rejection from people they thought loved them as children of Christ.

It is no wonder why George H. Bush sought out leaders of predominately black mega-churches during election time. Not only do they hold the purse-strings of parishoners, but they control the consciousness of a powerful voting bloc. And just like the teabaggers, these folks vote for someone who is totally against their interest, all in the name of not passing out condoms at schools..." [More here]

Oh Lawd eco. soul, stop stepping on our toes.

What bothers me probably as much- if not more- than the salacious nature of this story is the monetary aspect of it. Who is watching the very long dollars that flows through the hands of these preachers and their minions, and where is the accountability to their flock?

The folks over at New Birth Missionary Baptist would do well to remember the following scripture:

"Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them."

OK, maybe that's a bad choice for a scripture. The fruit part was uncalled for. But you know what I am trying to say.

A-F-F-A-I-R-

This is quite a country we live in. Today a comic was testifying before Congress while in character for his comedic role. (The scary thing is he actually made more sense than the people in Washington.) Yet there is national outrage because a young lady didn't cover up enough of her body on Sesame Street. Apparently the kiddies who like to watch Bert & Ernie might catch too much cleavage and start spelling things that start with the letter B. You have got to love the A-merry-can parent.

Out in Nevada white folks are still angry and acting out in public. Imagine that, fist fights at an A-merry-can political rally. I thought that type of stuff only happened in Third World countries where the party in power literally controls who eats or not. These folks are acting like it's going to make a difference who represents their state in Washington. It won't. It will be business as usual. Wait. Maybe not. If my girl Sarah light goes to Washington there might be some changes. Come on Delaware, please help a blogger out, send this woman to Washington. I will be forever grateful.

Finally, I don't want to be messy but...OK, I am going to be messy. Because, well, I don't like hypocrites. John Boner has been allegedly having an affair with a lobbyist and the Kos folks are all over him. Republicans won't like the stories that are sure to follow about this and they will call it the "politics of personal destruction." Fair point. But ask yourselves this: If this was his O ness do you think they would change their tune? If Joe Biden or Nancy Pelosi was getting their freak on with someone other than their significant other, do you think it would be looping on FOX NEWS, 24/7? Of course it would. So I don't want to hear republicans crying about the "politics of personal destruction" if another hypocrite is exposed. People in glass houses....

"Insiders on Capitol Hill are buzzing about an upcoming New York Times exposé that will detail an alleged Boehner affair. Sources say the Times is looking for the right time to drop the story in October to sway the election, similar to how the Times reported during the 2008 presidential campaign on an alleged John McCain affair that supposedly had taken place many years before and that was flatly denied by the woman in question.......

Speaker Boehner, have you been cheating with Lisbeth Lyons, the lobbyist for the American Printing Association?" Stark asks. Boehner did not respond.

Stark later contacted Lyons, the Vice President of Government Affairs at Printing Industries of America, to get a comment on the allegations. She didn't provide any.

The New York Post has since caught up with Lyons, who said the rumors were "unfounded."

"As you can imagine, I was stunned by such a question," Lyons told the Post. "I found it to be highly insulting, particularly as a female political professional, as well as unfounded. Beyond that, I have no further comment on the matter."

Well if Ms. Lyons is insulted at the accusation that settles it: there is no affair. I wonder if she watches Sesame Street? Better yet, I wonder if she would like to be a guest? She could spell a certain word for the kids.

The Pledge.

Congrats to you folks in Newark for having your first murder free month since 1966. Hmmm, maybe "the times they are a changing." Here in Philly we would settle for a murder free weekend.

Damn! They are trying to put bloggers to death in Iran. That is not cool. Fortunately in the land of the the [some are] free it's nice to know that I can get on my computer and write what's on my mind every night. I think I will enjoy it while I can. I sense a wingnut wave getting ready to sweep over Washington. There is no telling what those clowns will do when they wrestle power from the dumbocrats.

They have already made their "Pledge to America" in anticipation of their takeover.
I guess this is a variation of their "Contract on America" which they put out when Newt was literally running wild down there.

"The "Pledge to America," circulated to GOP lawmakers Wednesday, emphasizes job creation and spending control, as well as changing the way Congress does business. It steered clear of controversial issues such as Social Security and Medicare, big drivers of deficit spending.

It pairs some familiar Republican ideas – such as deep spending cuts, medical liability reform and stricter border enforcement – with an anti-government call to action that draws on tea party themes and echoes voters' disgruntlement with the economy and Obama's leadership.

"Regarding the policies of the current government, the governed do not consent," reads a preamble to the agenda. "An arrogant and out-of-touch government of self-appointed elites makes decisions, issues mandates, and enacts laws without accepting or requesting the input of the many."

I swear these people are delusional. An "arrogant and out-of-touch government"? That sounds a lot like the one we just had for the past eight years. "Deep spending cuts" from where? I bet that isn't in the pledge. What will they cut? And how much of it will they cut out?

But A-merry-ca needs a pledge. (Pledge has such a nice pietistic sound to it.) She needs to be reassured. We are lurching too much to the left. We are becoming a lot like one of those European countries we despise so much. A pledge coming from those types of faces that we know and trust will make us feel a whole lot better. (Hint hint.)

“It is a document that outlines not just the direction and our intent but how we will stand together and move this country forward together.”

His O ness will be glad to hear that. He was, after all, the change candidate.

Rev. Eddie, Michael, Braylon & Bob

I am not going to write a post about Rev. Eddie tonight. Sorry people, my preacher bashing days are over. Thank you for your prayers. I feel a change coming on.

I honestly feel for the good Reverend's congregation. I sure hope that they can weather this storm and get back to studying up on the word and paying their tithes.

Here in Philly we have a full blown QB controversy, (I knew we shouldn't have gotten rid of "5") and it looks like Michael Vick will be the new Eagles starter. Sorry Kevin, I guess you will just have to take your 12 million and hold the clipboard for awhile. Tough job, but somebody has to do it. Anyway, it's nice to see that there are second acts in A-merry-ca for some people.

Staying with ballers for a minute: So let me get this straight: You can call a high end limo 24/7. Thanks to the Jets you don't pay a dime (not even allowed to tip). Your driver is a paid security professional who is licensed to carry a firearm to protect you. Your limo comes with little perks such as a satellite radio, satellite navigation, and dvd ports. He gets all of this and Braylon Edwards goes out with his boys, gets loaded, and decides to drive home?

Braylon, you know what's really sad? The fact that you haven't learned your lesson. Turns out you were out getting loaded with Donte Stallworth the night he hit and killed that pedestrian back in Miami. But don't worry you will get a second chance. Just be glad that you didn't hit a dog while -allegedly- driving with your buzz on

Finally, Mr. Watergate (boy talk about living off one shining moment) has a new book out about his O ness. Yawn. You will hear about this one for awhile. Obama and his aides disagreed over what to do in Afghanistan. Shocking!

The wingnuts will say that O played politics with the war, and his defenders will say that he did no such thing. And, through it all, Bob Wodward will keep calling his accountant while the cash register goes chi ching.

The black guy did it.... again.

At what point are you white folks going to learn that you just can't cry the black guy did it anymore? I mean come on! This is really getting old. I bet folks in law enforcement see red flags now when white folks say the black guy did it. This is not good. If I were a white guy (or gal) I would be pissed. What happens when the black guy really jacks me and takes my Subaru station wagon? Will the po po think that I am crying wolf?

"Joseph C. Vignola Jr., son of a former Philadelphia city councilman and controller, pleaded guilty Monday to beating an 18-year-old woman he met on a website and slashing her throat in a City Avenue hotel room...He had been charged with aggravated assault, unlawful restraint, and possession of an instrument of crime in the May 28, 2008, attack, in which he had left the woman for dead. ...In detailing the case against him, Assistant District Attorney Robert Foster said evidence, including DNA and confessions to police, linked him to the attack.
Vignola met the woman on Craigslist's "erotic services" section in May 2008, Foster said. The two got together at the North American Motor Inn on City Avenue about 9 p.m. that May 28.

The two had consensual sex, then began to argue. Vignola punched the woman in the throat and pinned her to the floor, sitting on her abdomen and placing his knees on her arms until she was unconscious. With a knife, he made a six-inch slash on the right side of her neck.

Vignola then took back the money he had given the woman and left her for dead in the hotel room.

Before confessing to police, Vignola blamed the attack on a "light-skinned black man" who burst into the room as he and the woman were having sex. "

Damn! Even light skinned brothers can't catch a break.

Joseph, good luck come sentencing day, the judge in your case is black. [Article]

Finally, I want to talk about that brother down in Florida on the school bus. (Thanks for the link Reena.) I have been getting a few e-mails about this case with folks wanting to know my opinion, so I will give it:

I have absolutely no problem with what that brotha did. I am sure he regrets threatening the little rug- rats on the bus, but honestly, I am guessing a lot of you would have done the same thing. I don't have kids and I can empathize with the guy, so I am sure that those of you who do have kids feel for this man as well.

His child has special needs and the little rug rats were teasing and harassing her on the bus. At some point dude said enough and just snapped. He realized what he did was wrong and he apologized. No harm no foul as far as I am concerned. Yeah but field, what if that was your child on the bus he threatened to kill? I would have first asked my child if he or she was one of the kids teasing that little girl. If she was not, I would have had a civil man to man discussion with James Willie Jones and I am sure it would have been all good. If he or she was one of the kids teasing that little girl, I would have apologized and still had that man to man discussion with Willie. Again, I am sure it would have been all good. Two brothers who care about their children just working things out.

Monroe, I am with you on this one. We need more men like James Willie Jones out there.

Let them eat hot dogs.

I saw his O ness in that town hall meeting today. (Man, talk about mobile vulgus ) He was doing his best to convince the sceptical and troubled group that his economic plan is working, but you could see that it was an up hill battle. One woman was lamenting the loss of the A-merry-can dream, and if his O ness felt her pain I didn't see it. Not that he should have; O has nothing to do with her having to eat "hot dogs and beans." What do you want lady? Steak and eggs? That's what's wrong with A-merry-ca; we have issues with eating "hot dogs and beans" when there are babies in the world who will die tomorrow from f&*^%$g starvation. Besides, from the looks of things you could lay off the "hot dogs and beans" for awhile. Sorry, no patience for haters tonight. Obama, you couldn't say it, so I will say it for you: Yes lady, "hot dogs and beans" could be your new reality for awhile, and trust me, you could do a lot worse.

Anyway, you could see that O wanted to pull on his inner Bill Clinton, but he couldn't do it. He just couldn't project that I am feeling your pain vibe. So he came across as a smug Ivy League educated black (beige) man, which is exactly what he is. I have no problem with it, but A-merry-ca didn't sign up for this. You might be pulling them out of the recession, O man, but they don't like how you are doing it. You are too dam smug; too much of a know it all; you are not one of them. Believe it or not most A-merry-cans like their leaders to seem....well, [un]educated.

"So the challenge, I think, for the Tea Party movement is to identify, specifically, what would you do?"

O, that's the problem, they don't know what they would do. In fact, they wouldn't have a problem with what you are doing if you weren't the one doing it. Hint hint.

"The problem that I've seen in the debate that's been taking place and in some of these Tea Party events is, I think they're misidentifying sort of who the culprits are here," said Obama. "

Sorry O man, they are not "misidentifying" anything; you are the culprit. Not because of your policies, but because of...well, who you are. (Hint hint) Did you see a rise of the teabag folks under Carter? How about under Johnson when the country was being "fundamentally changed" with all types of social programs to fight poverty? Did you see it under Nixon? Under FDR? How about under Clinton when he was getting his freak in in the people's house? Why no nationwide outcry and movement then? (Field, they did try to impeach him. Yes, how did that work out? And not they- as in the the people- a bunch of partisan wingnut congressmen tried to impeach him.) How about Beckkk's favorite whipping boy, Woodrow Wilson? Hmmm, no tea party uprising under Wilson? The biggest Socialist of them all? Color me shocked.

Well what is it that could be driving these passionate teabag folks?

I have an idea, but let me think about it and get back to you. Because, you never know, I could be wrong. It just might be that they are all like the poor lady in the town hall meeting who doesn't want to eat hot dogs.

The Witch of Wilmington.

I have a practice of not making fun of people's religion so I won't start now. (Wicca is a religion, right? ) But I really have to wonder about a group of people who make such a big deal about his O ness being a Muslim electing a witch in their primary to become the party standard- bearer come November.

"Oh come on, field, she said that as a passing comment that she just dabbled in witchcraft in high school. That doesn't mean she is a witch". Boy leave it to an atheist to try and bring a good witch down.

Yes, I suppose folks are right; it seems that Sarah light is declaring that this was just something she did while trying to find herself in high school.

"How many of you didn't hang out with questionable folks in high school?" she asked fellow Republicans at a GOP picnic in southern Delaware on Sunday."There's been no witchcraft since."

No witchcraft at all!? Well how the hell (no pun intended) did you win the GOP primary in the "first state" of Delaware? There must have been a little black magic involved.

Still, I don't know why Sarah light is running away from her religion. I can understand his O ness running away from the Muslim label. The only thing we fear more than witches in A-merry-ca are Muslims. Look, I know that witches have an image problem, but Sarah light shouldn't be running from her Wiccan roots. Maybe we need some witches down in D.C. to shake things up. Work a little black magic and balance that budget. Hell we just had a skull and bones guy running the country, could a witch in the senate be any worse?

"One of my first dates with a witch was on a satanic altar, and I didn't know it. I mean, there's little blood there and stuff like that," she said. "We went to a movie and then had a little midnight picnic on a satanic altar."

Ahhh... Sarah light, you might want to leave the "alter" in Delaware. I think it would make your fellow senators a little nervous. They don't believe in making sacrifices.

Power should benefit the people, not you.

“It ain’t about Nancy. It’s about black people..” No Maxine, it's about you.

Now I don't know if Maxine Waters violated ethics rules or not. I am concerned that she did, but until I hear more I will reserve judgement. What I don't like is that her aids crashed a political event with campaign signs and brought more attention to her pending dilemma.

"Three staffers working for embattled Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) were asked by security officers to leave an event in downtown Washington on Thursday after they tried to display large campaign signs just as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was about to speak.

The aides were holding lawn signs that defended Waters from the ethics charges she is facing in the House. "

Some things, in my opinion, should be handled away from the spotlight. Maxine, if and when you are vindicated, may I suggest that you choose that time to bring attention to yourself?

“Let’s fight for Maxine Waters,” read a headline on the signs above a large picture of the congresswoman. Smaller headings read: “No improper action. No benefit. No failure to disclose. No one influenced. No case!”

No, let's fight for the people she represents. Not her. If she did wrong she doesn't deserve fighting for. If she didn't, well....this is A-merry-ca. [Article]

Ghetto Dictatorships?

I met and hung out with Kevin Powell a few years ago. We have a mutual friend and he spends a lot of time in Philly visiting this brother. When I heard that he was running again for a seat in New York's 10th congressional district I followed his campaign. I figured that if anyone could unseat the entrenched pol in that Brooklyn congressional district, he could. Boy was I wrong. I should have known that you Negroes treat your elected leaders like your furniture: you don't like to change them. (Charlie Rangel anyone?)

One of the problems, of course, with business as usual among the old school black pols, is that s&^% never gets done. Maybe we need a black version of the teabag movement to shake them up. Clearly what they are doing isn't working. Sitting around D.C. and (pardon my French) jerking each other off is not my idea of serving the people.

Anyway, Powell had a few choice words for the black political establishment after getting his young behind handed to him by the business as usual candidate:

"..Additionally, I must say this to my opponent, Congressman Ed Towns, his team, and his supporters: You may have won this time but it is so clear to so many that the days of your reign here in Brooklyn are very close to over. You’ve never had to work so hard to hold on to your seat, you’ve never had your nearly three decades of lazy leadership exposed so much and to so many, and you can no longer be invisible, silent, or otherwise missing in action to the people of Brooklyn’s 10th Congressional district, nor to the American people.

Mr. Towns, we expect you to earn the salary and great benefits our taxpayer dollars cover, and we expect you to think very seriously about your legacy as a Congressman in these final years of your Congressional life. When you and I crossed paths Tuesday night, election night, at that polling site near Starrett City, it was the first and only time we’ve ever had a one-on-one conversation, and I have lived in this community, in your district, for 20 years. You avoided debating me in 2008 (as you have avoided debating all opponents since you were first elected in 1982), and you avoided debating me again this year. And that is fine. It is clear you do not really believe in the very democracy that many sacrificed their lives for to achieve, including those in places like North Carolina where you were born and where some of the great battles of the Civil Rights Movement occurred.."

Kevin, I know you were on "Real World MTV", but this is the real world.
Brothers against brothers, and folks clinging to power by any means necessary.

"..Moreover, Congressman Towns, it is a two-way street: you have to begin to respect and acknowledge the leadership that is not just your son, or your daughter, or your daughter-in-law, or someone you’ve handpicked to be in your Brooklyn circle. As I have stated before, what is most troubling for me and many others in Brooklyn is that within Black Brooklyn (as is the case throughout Black America) we have something I call “ghetto dictatorships.” In other words, you may have had good intentions when you first got into office, Mr. Towns, for I do believe you are, at your core, a good and decent man. But somewhere along the way you lost your way and your Congressional seat has become more about power and influence for yourself than about everyday people..."

Hmmm, "ghetto dictatorships", Kevin you have coined an interesting phrase. And I know exactly what you mean. We could remove the name Towns and insert take your pick in its place.

"So I end this statement by saying that I challenge you, Congressman Towns, and all Black elected officials in Brooklyn and across America, to cease participating in these ghetto dictatorships, to really look yourselves in the mirror and answer the question I asked you, Mr. Towns, which you could not answer on Tuesday night: What is your legacy going to be, what have you really done for the people of your district, not just for a handful of people lucky enough to have gotten a job or favor from you? That is the true mark of leadership, to touch as many lives as possible, to help as many people as possible to become self-empowered, with or without legislation, and in as many creative ways as possible. Anything less means we’ve done a grave disservice to whatever God we claim to believe in, a grave disservice to the history and the people that came before us, and a grave disservice to that sacred space we call public service." [Article]

OK Kevin, go get em next time. Just try to keep your house clean this time. Just remember, you ain't Sarah light.

Today was a good day. (For some people.)

It was a good day for me here in A-merry-ca:Rush Limp-boy got "punked." I know my man is busy these days, but there is more to research than just Wiki. I hope all the Limp-boy faithful out there remembers this the next time they go quoting the drug addict with the golden mike.

It was also a good day for Sarah light. Girlfriend raised almost a million dollars since her big win last night. Nice. Watch your money folks; let's just say that Sara light doesn't have the greatest record when it comes to managing money.

It might have been a good day for moi and Sarah light, but I bet the last few days haven't been good for Andrew Collins. The poor brotha watched one too many Extreme Games and thought he could ride his bike on the sidewalk in the city of Dallas. Well, the po po in Big D wasn't having it, and, as po pos will do from time to time; they Rodney Kinged his ass. But, not to worry people, the police chief is black. He has the situation under control.....

It can't be a good day for the family of Irving Santana, either. Irving was shot 13 times by a man who saw him breaking into his car here in Philly. Damn! I mean I know that the wages of sin is death but this is ridiculous. Anyhooo, seems the shooter had a history of violence, and Philly's finest revoked his gun permit back in 2005. Well, thanks to the powerful gun lobby here in A-merry-ca, my man was able to apply online and get a permit from gator country.

"Hill allegedly caught Santana breaking into his car.

Police say Hill had his gun permit revoked in 2005 and lost an appeal to get it reinstated in 2008.

They say in 2009, Hill applied online and received a gun permit from Florida, despite having no ties to the state.

"His gun permit was revoked, he appealed it, and he was still able to acquire that gun permit," Deputy Police Commissioner William Blackburn said.

Hill is charged with murder and other related offenses."

Sorry Irving, I guess it's too late for you to learn that you don't mess with a black man's car.

Finally, it can't be a good day if you are one of the 43.6 million A-merry-cans living in poverty.

Poverty here in A-merry-ca is at its highest levels since 1994. That is not good. But don't worry folks, this won't last for long. When the republicans are back in power they will cut taxes for the rich so that they will start hiring poor people again. Wait...whoops, sorry, I take that back.

Sins of his father.

Today Glenn Beckkk was warning of the violence that is sure to come any day now from the left. I thought that was ironic, since today is the 47th anniversary of violence coming to Addie Mae Collins, Carole Robertson, Cynthia Wesley, and Denise McNair. It's too bad someone wasn't in Birmingham on the days leading up to that church bombing to warn them of the violence that would come from the right.

I see Dinesh D'Souza has a new book soon to drop about his O ness. In his book he declares that his O ness has some kind of secret Mau Mau anti colonialist jones, and he wants to get back at "the man" for all they did to those poor Kenyans like his daddy and grandpa. Stop laughing. This is serious business. Newt is loving the guy and says that his is the "most profound insight" into his O ness to ever come along. He (D'Souza) was on Beckkk's show today (where, by the way, he dropped the "N" word) and he was given top billing in Forbes Magazine. It doesn't get more respected than that in republican and conservative circles.

Still, the the premise of the books is so flawed and full of drivel that it's amazing that it is getting so much traction.

"Perhaps, then, Obama shares Martin Luther King's dream of a color-blind society. The President has benefited from that dream; he campaigned as a nonracial candidate, and many Americans voted for him because he represents the color-blind ideal. Even so, King's dream is not Obama's: The President never champions the idea of color-blindness or race-neutrality. This inaction is not merely tactical; the race issue simply isn't what drives Obama.

What then is Obama's dream? We don't have to speculate because the President tells us himself in his autobiography, Dreams from My Father. According to Obama, his dream is his father's dream. Notice that his title is not Dreams of My Father but rather Dreams from My Father. Obama isn't writing about his father's dreams; he is writing about the dreams he received from his father.

So who was Barack Obama Sr.? He was a Luo tribesman who grew up in Kenya and studied at Harvard. He was a polygamist who had, over the course of his lifetime, four wives and eight children. One of his sons, Mark Obama, has accused him of abuse and wife-beating. He was also a regular drunk driver who got into numerous accidents, killing a man in one and causing his own legs to be amputated due to injury in another. In 1982 he got drunk at a bar in Nairobi and drove into a tree, killing himself.

An odd choice, certainly, as an inspirational hero. But to his son, the elder Obama represented a great and noble cause, the cause of anticolonialism. Obama Sr. grew up during Africa's struggle to be free of European rule, and he was one of the early generation of Africans chosen to study in America and then to shape his country's future. "

???????. OK, let me try and follow this to its logical conclusion: Obama was inspired by his father, who is from Kenya, and who, for all practical purposes, wasn't a good human being. He lived under British Colonialism so he hates the British and thus A-merry-ca. Barry Obama wants to get back at A-merry-ca for what she (along with her allies) did to his ancestors, so he becomes the president and takes her down a path to Socialism and ultimate destruction, thus living out the dream he inherited from his father.

Have you stopped laughing yet? OK, here is something else to laugh about: Last night the same folks who embrace Dinesh D'Souza elected a woman who believes that we should abstain from masturbation as it is a "selfish act". Ahhh yeah! And, if I might add, it's one of the few things that I enjoy doing by myself.... But I digress.

And, if that isn't bad enough, the newly elected Sarah- light owes over $10,000.00 in back taxes to Uncle Sam. -No wonder the poor woman wants to get government off our backs. -
Then she lied about not having a federal tax lien on her house, and she stiffed campaign workers out of their money while living in a rented home paid for with...you guessed it; campaign funds. Oh, and there is more: that Masters degree from Princeton; not so fast. She lied about that as well.

So now I am truly confused. These folks embrace Christine O' Donnell, a tax cheat and a liar. And yet they demonize the president because of where his father was born? Interesting.

The scary thing is that she might win in November. Maybe Beckkk was right about the violence to come.

"What you mean, separate? From America? This good white man?"

I have a couple of things to talk about tonight, so let's get down.

I want to start with why I could never associate with a certain political party, and ask (once again) some of my black conservative brethren out there why they choose to. When I first heard about the following story from fellow blogger, Robert Anderson,- and some others- I had to check it out for myself to make sure that it was true. And, wouldn't you know it; turns out it was true. Not that I am shocked. I mean folks in a certain party tend to have a certain mind set when it comes to.....well... black folks.

But let's forget, for a minute, our stuck in time friends. Some things will never change. My angst tonight is directed at the Negroes who willingly play dumb slaves in these twisted republican games. Not just the clowns dressing up and posing with their republican massas for their amusement, but the quasi intellectual half wits who run blogs and prance around on cable television, pimping themselves and losing whatever little dignity they have left by parroting the republican mantra in an ignominious manner.

The good thing about something like this is that every time I see a such a story it reminds me of why I keep blogging: To call out the folks with this mindset who embarrass our race on a daily basis.

"The National Federation of Republican Women (NFRW) held its annual fall Board of Directors meeting in Charleston, S.C. last weekend – a decision the organization is likely regretting after several controversial pictures from one of the meeting’s sponsored events began surfacing on the internet.

One of the pictures shows S.C. Senate President Glenn McConnell - who FITS readers will recall enjoys dressing up as a Confederate General – posing in his Rebel garb with a pair of African-Americans dressed in, um, “antebellum” attire.

The event in question – dubbed “The Southern Experience” – was held last Friday evening at the Country Club of Charleston. Hosted by the South Carolina Federation of Republican Women, it was included on the national conference’s official itinerary."

Yes, "antebellum attire" indeed. Just like the republicans like them. Color me embarrassed, again!

And speaking of embarrassing his race: They don't come any worse than Ernest Withers.Talk about a sell out. This Negro was running around with MLK and other civil rights icons as a photographer, and was a spy for the cross dressing freak and his G- Men all along.
I swear some of you Negroes can't be trusted. (Some things never change)
Shout out to the Commercial Appeal in Memphis for exposing this traitor to his race and correcting history. (h/t to maria for this story)

"The Memphis paper reports how Withers' spying assisted J. Edgar Hoover, the controversial FBI director who long covertly monitored King and others considered radicals. Withers, the paper notes, gave the bureau a "front-row seat to the civil rights and anti-war movements in Memphis." In the 1960s, he provided information on everyone from the Invaders — a militant black power group — to church leaders, politicians and business owners. Experts believe the FBI paid Withers for spying."

Of course they paid him. Sellouts love money. Just ask one of your black conservative friends.

I must be slipping.

I know that when I have on my Air R's I can chase racism with the best of them. But.....

"Black Eyed Peas' frontman Will.i.am is as well-known for his outrageous costumes as he is for his chart-topping hits.

However, the rapper's get-up during Sunday night's MTV Video Music Awards wasn't met with a warm welcome this time around.

The singer, who performed during the VMA pre-show alongside singer Nicki Minaj, outraged many fans when he appeared to be wearing blackface.

In addition to donning black face paint, Will.i.am also wore an all-black leather ensemble, complete with a matching shiny hair piece.

Following his performance, the Twitterverse ran amok, slamming the 35-year-old rapper and comparing his look to 19th century minstrel shows in which white actors performed in theatrical black make-up, which propagated racist stereotypes toward African Americans." [Article]

Maybe I am getting slower as I age, and my racism chasing speed isn't what it used to be, but I am looking at my man's outfit, and it just seems like a futuristic costume for a performance. In fact, it kind of coordinates with what the female rapper is wearing.

"Just because I [wear] all black including head mask as expression and emphasize my outfit, it shouldn't be looked at as racial...There are far more important things 2 bark about. (Jobs, health, education) not a black man wearing all black everything. Are you guys serious? My outfit set 'black people back 100 years' choose your twits wisely. No education sets people back, no jobs, bad health." [Article]

Yes Will, they are serious. Negroes in A-merry-ca are so sensitive these days.

*Bad timing. (Again)

"He could be anywhere on the Earth today, and he chose Alaska!"

That was our girl Sarah talking about Glenn Beckkk, who hooked up with her on September 11th to hold one of those rallies that just makes you want to keep running to the bathroom. Yes Sarah, and you two clowns could have chosen any other day to hold your rally but you chose September 11th. Wow, using a solemn day in our country's history to sell tickets and hold a crass political event for profit is beyond the pale, even for these two clowns. But we should have known that this was possible, as one of them has d0ne this before. Stay classy folks.

Finally, to a far more serious subject: (No, not the guy from Kentucky who decided to take out five people because he didn't like how his wife cooked his eggs. "One less bell to answer, one less, egg to fry..." let me stop.) There is a serious cholera epidemic in Nigeria, (over 800 died so far and 13,000 sickened) and it's spreading to neighboring countries as I write this. I know that most of you reading this do not know about this story and you probably don't care, but you should. It's really scary stuff with global implications.

And, speaking of scary, the black unemployment rate has increased at a rate of over 700% higher than it has for our fellow white citizens. Boy I sure hope that this latest education initiative from his O ness works. We need it now more than ever.

*Should have been bad.

We should all remember.

Sorry about missing last nights post people, I am on the road and passing through the" A" on my way to take care of some business along with a little pleasure.

It's September 11th and every year at this time of year I remember what I was doing on that sad day and the people I was with. Three thousand people lost their lives because of a bunch of cowards who wanted to hurry up and get to "paradise" so that they could to sleep with a few virgins. It didn't make sense then and it still doesn't make any sense to the kid. I swear the things people do in the name of religion.

Anyway, I see his O ness is appealing for tolerance from the A-merry-can people.- Good luck with that.- There is a political party out there that wants to take all the power away from your brown behind.

Hey, at least you have kept us safe *knock on wood* .

I have a little burning to do as well.

Who knew that being a media whore in A-merry-ca could get you so much attention? Take my man pastor Jones down in Florida, for example. Thankfully, his Koran burning is off for the moment. Still, he is lapping up his 15 minutes and using his new found power and fame to negotiate with the Muslims from that center at Ground Zero. If you don't build your Mosque I won't burn your Koran. Ain't that a b&^%#?!

But can you blame the guy for being like the lyrics from that Jean Carne song all of a sudden? The President! The Vice President! Generals! Heads of state! All begging him not to burn. That would give every red blooded A-merry-can the big head.

Well I want my 15 minutes, damn it, so I have decided to do a little religious burning of my own.

But first, a scripture from the good book:

"I will raise up for them a plant of renown, and they shall be no more consumed with hunger in the land, neither bear the shame of the heathen any more." (Ezekiel 34:29)

It' s like this: on September 11, 1987, Peter Tosh was shot and killed by a Rastafarian named Dennis "Leppo" Lobban. Lobban broke into his home, demanded money, and when Tosh didn't give in to his wishes; he was shot execution style in the head.

To show my disgust for this cowardly act, I will burn what Rastafarians hold sacred on September 11th and I dare any Rastafarian anywhere in the world to stop me. Your "tree of life" and herb that heals nations will be lit up like a Christmas tree on September 11th, so get used to it. The good pastor in Florida backed down, but I won't, there is too much at stake. There are too many heathens in the land.

"Restoring Truthiness" and some other thoughts.

Oh oh, I think the natives are getting restless. Well, maybe not the natives; the immigrants are getting restless. In this case it looks like the Central Americans.

"LOS ANGELES – Police Chief Charlie Beck pleaded for calm and vowed his department would conduct an exhaustive investigation into a bicycle officer’s fatal shooting of a drunken day laborer with a knife.

But his words did little to dissuade demonstrators, who spilled into the streets for a second straight night Tuesday — some to pray and light candles and others to pelt a police station near downtown Los Angeles with eggs, rocks and bottles.

Police reported 22 arrests on Tuesday night, mainly for failure to disperse and unlawful assembly, Officer Karen Rayner said.

Officers fired at least two rounds of nonlethal foam projectiles at demonstrators, Rayner said.

At least one officer and a Univision reporter were slightly injured by thrown or slingshot-propelled objects, police told City News Service, and a man who fell off his bicycle suffered a head wound.

Some protesters pushed rolling metal trash bins at officers and tossed household items from apartment buildings.

“People were throwing televisions, air conditioning units, miscellaneous furniture and other objects from the windows,” Lt. Cory Palka said.

Guatemalan immigrant Manuel Jamines, 37, was shot twice by a police officer Sunday afternoon near MacArthur Park, a poor neighborhood packed with recent immigrants from Central America.."

Calm down people, or we will have a holy rosary burning at a very large Baptist church.

Speaking of burning; sometimes I wish that there was a place called hell so that folks like Carlotta Pierce of Brooklyn, New York could end up there.

"A severely malnourished 4-year-old girl was found dead – tied to a crib – in a filthy Brooklyn apartment Thursday morning, cops said.

Marchella Pierce weighed only 15 lbs. when police found her dead in her mother’s apartment on Madison St. in Bedford-Stuyvesant about 7:30 a.m., police said.

Marchella’s body exhibited bruises that were consistent with trauma, police sources said.

The girl’s mother, Carlotta Pierce, 30, who calls herself “a proud parent” on her MySpace page, told investigators she checked on her daughter about 4 a.m. and she was fine, the sources said." [Story]

Some people are just too sick for words. And how much do you want to bet that if convicted she gets less time than this poor guy?

And, speaking of poor guy, looks like they are still Rodney Kinging brothers here in my hometown. The po po said that they will have a comment tonight. Let's see what they have to say for themselves.

Finally, let's hope that Stephen Colbert holds a "Restoring Truthiness" rally as some folks are trying to hype. Yes, I know he is a comedian, but so is Beckkk.

"For our God is a consuming fire. "

Stand your ground Terry Jones, you have every right to burn the Koran in your ignorant bigoted church. This is A-merry-ca, you have earned that right by living in, and being a citizen of this great country. "International Burn a Quran Day" has a nice sensational ring to it, and if you wanted to get attention for your church you have certainly succeeded. The State Department, the White House, various interfaith groups, and even a general in the theater of battle weighed in and asked you not to have your little A-merry-ca fights back moment on the anniversary of September 11th.

But I guess there is no stopping you now, the holy horse has already left the barn.

"We believe that Islam is of the devil, that it's causing billions of people to go to hell, it is a deceptive religion, it is a violent religion and that is proven many, many times.."

I have to give it to you pastor, you are quite clear with your purpose. You speak with a tone of pellucidity and directness that is to be commended.

But here is my problem with this little (I shouldn't say little, because it's damn near creating an international incident) burning that the pastor is planning. The folks on the right who were screaming at the top of their lungs that the Mosque shouldn't be built at ground zero are strangely quiet over this incident. What? No harsh words for Pastor Jones from the right? Wait, it gets worse: I think they actually plan to have a right wing army protect the good pastor. Yes, the wingnuts are well....nutty. If you don't believe me read these comments from over at Wizbang after a post condemning pastor Jones.

The pastor, in my opinion, is an ignorant nut job, but he has a right to his sick 9/11 anniversary ceremony. The folks who want to build an Islamic community center close to ground zero might have been better off building it somewhere else. But just like the clown in Florida, they have a right to build there.

The wingnuts would do well to remember that they can't embrace the Constitution when its convenient, yet turn away from it when it is not.

The Godless President.

A good friend of mine from back in the day sent me an e-mail about a religious organization she belonged to, and she wanted to know if I had ever heard of them. I hadn't, but knowing the type of person she is I figured that they couldn't be all bad. I checked out the link, and even though I am sure that I am not on the same page with them, I am not going to knock them for what they do or their beliefs. This is, after all, A-merry-ca.

Which leads me to my girl Ann Coulter and the latest right wing witch hunt of his O ness.
Seems Ann now believes that his O ness is an atheist, and she had no problem saying so for all the world to hear. Just like Beckkk with the O is a racist charge, Ann is now adding godlessness to the mix.

I guess she is hoping to spike up the narrative a notch. Take it to the next level. It's not enough to make him a hated Muslim anymore, to really turn A-merry-cans against him he has to be someone who doesn't belive in a supreme being at all. That will fire up the base. That is just un-A-merry-can. All the time forgetting, of course, that if he was an atheist he would probably be closer to how the Founding Fathers view this whole religion thing than they are.

I think there is a verse in the good book of Matthew that says "Ye shall know them by their fruits." I have to be honest with you Ann; his O ness, just to my untrained eye, seems a lot more godly that you do. You may never like his policies, and I might not like some of them, but he doesn't strike me as a man who lives his life in a way that we should all shy away from. In fact, it's quite the contrary; he seems to have a happy well adjusted family, and he is all things good and decent. Which is more that I can say for you and your "God" loving friends.

"The nonsense about President Obama being a Muslim has got to stop," Coulter wrote on the conservative website TownHall.com. "I rise to defend him from this absurd accusation by pointing out that he is obviously an atheist."

Tongue planted in those very long cheeks, maybe? I doubt it. There is a message in there somewhere, and I think we all know what it is and who it was meant for.

A Philly story.

I can't comment on the following story for professional reasons. But I would love to hear your take on it. It says a a lot about certain human interactions such as fear and prejudice. It is also an interesting look at how complex it can be living in urban A-merry-ca in 2010; as well as the role of law enforcement in our everyday lives.

"After her son was killed in 2008, Sherderian Sutton got a Philadelphia license to carry a concealed weapon and a small Ruger pistol to protect herself and her surviving children.

"On Monday, when police knocked on her door, Sutton hoped that they were bringing the news she's waited two years to hear.

'I thought they were coming to my door to tell me they had my son's murderer," she said. "But they were coming to take me and my gun, and now I'm defenseless.'

Sutton, 38, of North Philadelphia, said that her troubles began last week, when workers from Wilco Cable came to her back door to ask for permission to work in her yard.

She's never had cable, but told them that they could work through her back yard to connect her neighbors' cable. Sutton said that she also asked the workers to never use the back door again.

On Monday, Sutton said, she was awakened by incessant pounding on her back door about 8 a.m. She looked out of the window and saw two men and a woman at her back door, peering in her window.

Scared, Sutton said she grabbed her gun and held it at her side as she answered the door.

She said that she never left her house and never raised the gun. Although they had no identification tags, Sutton said that the three identified themselves as Wilco workers and again asked permission to work on her property. She granted it, but asked why they continued to knock on her back door, despite her previous requests to use the front door.

Sutton said that the workers went about their business but three hours later, about 11:25 a.m., police came to her door. She said she let them in and they went through her house - with guns drawn - even pointing them at her 14- and 16-year-old children.

She said that she was taken into custody, held for 12 hours - from 2 p.m. to 2 a.m. - and that her gun and her license to carry it were taken away from her.

According to court records, Sutton, who has no record, was charged with simple assault and possessing instruments of a crime, both misdemeanors.

Lt. Frank Vanore, police spokesman, said that according to the police report, the cable workers alleged that Sutton was pointing a gun at them when she opened the back door.

What neither side seems to dispute is that Sutton never left her house. Even though a citizen is not required to have a license to carry a firearm in his or her own house, Sutton did, and had both the license and her gun taken away as a result of the incident.

Vanore said that no matter if Sutton was in her home or not, pointing a gun at somebody 'unless you are protecting yourself' is considered simple assault.

Sutton insists she never pointed the gun and wonders why, if the workers were scared, they continued to work on her property after she answered the door. Wilco representatives did not return a request for comment.

Now, Sutton feels that the police, who are supposed to keep her safe, have taken her safety away.

Even if she's found not guilty or the charges are dropped, Sutton will still have to petition the court to get her weapon back.

'They didn't find my son's murderer but they got me,' she said. 'Now I don't have a gun to protect myself.'" [Story]

What do you think? Is Sutton wrong? Were the Cable Workers out of line? And should the po po have handled this in a different way? Inquiring minds want to know.