FieldLeaks....

Sorry, nothing to leak. Although I know plenty. Still, my profession and actual line of work does not allow me to reveal things that I have heard or know about my clients or people I come in contact with while working my 9-5. There are things that I will take to my grave that could have made me a wealthy man while I was alive. (What are they paying for great movie scripts these days?)

Anyway, A-merry-ca is being gripped by Wikimania, all because some state department employee (or employees) decided to do like Diana Ross and sing to Julian Assange .(To some, the worst Australian since....well, that other bad Australian, Uncle Rupert.) Now his O ness and his peeps are threatening lawsuits and criminal action because of the nature of some of the leaks. I guess it's not cool to embarrass diplomats. Apparently they talk about each other in very unflattering ways, and it's going to make it that much harder to solve the world's problems when they meet face to face.

Honestly, I have yet to make up my mind about this whole Wiki Leaks thing. I want an open government, and I want hard nosed aggressive journalist doing their job, but I also understand the issue of national security; as well as the need to keep certain things from the public. I am just not sure where we are with these latest leaks.

Of course, right on cue with their nuttiness; here comes the wingnuts:

"Long Island Congressman Peter King took his condemnation even further and urged that WikiLeaks be declared a “foreign terrorist organization,” putting it in the same arena as al-Qaida. The Republican also wants WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange prosecuted under the Espionage Act. “They are engaged in terrorist activity. What they’re doing is clearly aiding and abetting terrorist groups,” King, the incoming chair of the House Homeland Security Committee, told MyFox New York."

They always make it so easy for me to choose sides these wingnuts. (Did O'Reilly really call for Assange's execution? Yes, I think he did.)

Oh wait, and let's not forget to politicize this latest scandal. We can never let the chance to take a shot at his O ness go to waste:

"Sarah Palin blasted out a dispatch to her Facebook supporters Monday, taking aim at the Obama administration's handling of the latest WikiLeaks document drop and criticizing the White House's "incompetent handling of this whole fiasco." The former Alaska governor also seemingly encouraged the hunting of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange with "the same urgency we pursue al Qaeda and Taliban leaders."

In her Facebook post, Palin questions the timing of Obama's recent steps to try to patch intelligence holes that have allowed repeated leaks of classified information:
The White House has now issued orders to federal departments and agencies asking them to take immediate steps to ensure that no more leaks like this happen again. It's of course important that we do all we can to prevent similar massive document leaks in the future. But why did the White House not publish these orders after the first leak back in July? What explains this strange lack of urgency on their part?

Palin also takes a shot at the failure to capture or stop Assange, an ineffectiveness that she appears to characterize as a lack of effort or caring by the Obama administration:"

Yes, we must get our priorities right. We have yet to capture OBL, but we must capture the founder of WikiLeaks.

Some folks aren't in the holiday spirit.

The holidays are winding down and I am getting ready to head back to the plantation. I am looking forward to my TSA experience tomorrow. (You folks have been a joy)

I am trying to relax and enjoy the down time but I can't. -Mrs. Field has this thing all figured out. She spends her days reading that damn LilKim or Kindle or whatever the hell they call those things and looking for shopping deals for the holidays. Me, not so much.

I am still busy watching and reading the news, and every cable news show, while I lament over the fate of A-merry-ca.

Some Somalian kid decides to live out his Osama bin Laden fantasy up in the great Northwest, and A-merry-cans, who are sick and tired of his kind; decide to torch his Mosque. Nice. A word to my Muslim friends up in Portland: you might want to consider a change of scenery.

And then there is the story coming out of Michigan. Three little boys missing and their daddy tried to hang himself. But wait, it gets better-or worse:

"Authorities said John Skelton claimed that he gave the boys to a female friend before he attempted suicide, but officers haven't been able to confirm whether the woman exists.
The boys were last seen Thursday and reported missing the next day by their mother, Tanya Skelton, Weeks said. A family friend said the boys were with their father as part of court-ordered visitation and their parents were going through a divorce. " [Article]

Sadly, I am guessing that this woman only exists in the sick mind of this father. As someone who is somewhat familiar with family law and how the family court system works, I find this story to have a familiar ring to it. The little man in my head is telling me that there is going to be a very upset officer of the court who wrote that visitation and custody order for the Skeltons.

Finally, I swear some of you Negroes take this religion thing to the extreme. Did this Negro really blame god for dropping a crucial pass on Sunday?

"New York–It wasn’t his own hands or the Pittsburgh secondary Sunday that foiled Buffalo Bills wide receiver Steve Johnson from hauling in what should have been the game-winning TD catch in the end zone.
It was God.
“I PRAISE YOU 24/7!!!!!!” the 24-year-old tweeted from his iPad at around 5:15 Sunday after the Steelers’ 19-16 overtime victory. “AND THIS HOW YOU DO ME!!!!! YOU EXPECT ME TO LEARN FROM THIS??? HOW???!!! ILL NEVER FORGET THIS!! EVER!!! THX THO…”
Johnson had a perfect pass in his hands that would have given his team an overtime victory over the heavily favored Steelers.

Instead of walking off the field the hero, however, he dropped it."

Yes, you dropped it. But don't blame god, he put you in the position to make the catch.

Still, you play for the Bills, so you might want to blame him for that.

I'm out.

Not so "Fresh Air".

Damn it! My birds just caught a beat down in Chi town. Lovie had his boys ready to play.
We are still tied for first so Iwon't trip.

So anyway, some folks are calling out NPR's Terry Gross and drawing Juan Williams comparisons after her recent Jay Z interview. I will give you a cut and paste job as an example:

"Let’s begin with the premise that no people, culture, religious, racial or ethnic group is by definition immoral. Not acknowledging this, at the core, is the problem with Juan Williams’ gross generalization about Muslims that recently got him fired from National Public Radio (NPR). But if NPR’s “Fresh Air” interview last week with the rapper Jay-Z about his new book Decoded is any indication, it’s a message still lost on Terry Gross.

To be sure, Juan Williams revealed his bias by openly expressing his personal opinion. Terry Gross didn’t do that. Instead the bias is more subtle and insidious and lurks in the line of questioning.

While not as shocking as the obvious blanket condemnation Juan Williams advanced, the Terry Gross/ Jay-Z interview is even more problematic because it illuminates a tendency pervasive in today’s news media. This is a moment in which Blacks can be embraced and promoted at the same time that their humanity is dismantled—all in a 30-second sound bite.

Throughout her interview with Jay-Z, Gross kept returning the discussion to those places that reinforce the idea of Black culture as immoral and Black people as corrupt and/or corruptible. Such anti-Black arguments that once lived primarily in conservative public policy debates have now worked their way into national culture (especially in film, television, news media and politics) to the degree that these views are now widely accepted as the norm.

In short, racial disparities in education, unemployment, criminal justice, wealth-building, and more are rooted in Black cultural failing alone. As this logic prevails, it’s impossible to gain traction on any targeted policy solutions regarding the problems disproportionately facing Blacks.

President Obama realizes this. Hence his colorblind politics, a policy approach that anti-racist activist Tim Wise documents in detail in his new book, Colorblind. However, one wonders to what extent even liberal journalists like Terry Gross realize they are collaborators.

To grasp the full extent to which Gross emboldens conservative ideas about race, one should listen to the entire 45-minute interview. For now, let this brief exchange illustrate the point,

GROSS: Your father left when you were very young. And you say that most of your friends’ fathers had left. You say, “Our fathers were gone, usually because they just bounced. But we took their old records and used them to build something fresh.” That’s really interesting that one of your things that your father leaves behind that you can use is his records.

JAY-Z: Yeah, I guess there’s a bright side to everything right?

GROSS: Yeah, well, that’s one way of looking at it.

Any great interviewer—and Gross is at the top of her game—knows the role he or she plays in the outcome. Part of the science is in framing the questions.

The advancing of conservative rhetoric about Blacks persists, whether Gross is bluntly asking Jay about crimes he committed 15 years ago (crack sales and assault), or inquiring about his mother’s parental decisions: “You ended up selling crack and helping your mother, as a single mother, support the family. Did she know that’s how you were making the money?”

What’s the takeaway message? That Jay’s mom was a single parent that made poor choices, let her teenage son sell drugs and is unprincipled because she knows the money he’s using to support the family comes from drug sales. It’s a narrative we’ve heard from the Republican Revolution of 1994 to the recent well-financed media blitz that resulted in the mid-term shellacking of the Democrats.

And Terry Gross never goes off message. In a nearly hour long interview with a self-made record executive mogul and entrepreneur worth at least half a billion, on the occasion of the publication of a book he deems a coming of age story for his generation, the most pressing questions on the table range from insight into drug dealing to why rappers grab their crotches? "[More]

In a way, I understand what my friend Bakari is saying. But isn't Jay Z the wrong subject to use to make this point? Jay Z is a rapper who made his bones glorifying his street cred from his "hard knock" beginnings. Terry Gross couldn't totally ignore who the rapper is. Still, I found myself agreeing with the author' general point about liberals and about A-merry-can journalist in general.

Terry Gross doesn't get a pass, because I know where she is coming from, and believe me, it isn't a good place.

Fighting back.

His Oness better start trying to learn a non- contact sport, we can't have our commander in chief catching stitches from aggressive b-ballers. If he isn't careful he will kill himself before folks like this can make good on their threats. ( BTW, I am starting to see a trend here.)

I see Sarah is fighting back. She is a feisty one that Sarah:

"Even on Thanksgiving Day, Sarah Palin found time to lash out at her political foes -- in this case the media for blowing out of proportion her gaffe on the Korean crisis.

In a Facebook posting, the combative Palin addressed a Thanksgiving message to "57 states" -- mocking a mistake President Obama made in his 2008 campaign as a way of arguing that the news uses a double standard. "If you can't remember hearing about them [Obama slip-ups), that's because for the most part the media didn't consider them newsworthy," she wrote, according to ABC News. "I have no complaint about that. Everybody makes the occasional verbal gaffe -- even news anchors."


She is a fighter that Sarah. You gotta love her.

I can't blame her for being cocky, though. A-merry-ca has had her magic Negro moment, and they don't need the black guy anymore. It looks like he has cleaned up enough of the previous mess and we can move on now. Thank you O, we hardly knew you.

I am not smiling with Sarah.

I am out of my element, so posting has been hard for me. I traveled over the holiday weekend, and, as I expected, the experience was quite pleasant. The TSA folks couldn't have been nicer.

Anyway, I haven't been watching too much news, but it looks like this Korean conflict is heating up. Still, as this crisis continues to escalate, I am sure that many of you are thankful that Sarah Palin is not next in line to hold the most powerful position in the world. I hate to beat a dead...OK, that's a lie, I actually enjoy beating up on Sarah, but can you imagine her calling Kim Jong il and telling him not to worry because A-merry-ca has his back? Don't laugh. I really believe that she does think he is a friend. But that's what I believe. Even if you agree with Mitchell Bard who wrote a great article for the Huffington Post, (excerpt below) you have to acknowledge how dangerous Sarah Palin truly is.

I know that folks on the right and all of her fans are going to call it a simple slip of the tongue, but this latest verbal faux pas goes to much deeper issues with Sarah.

"The real story, though, isn't that Palin said "North" instead of "South." Let's be honest: Vice President Joe Biden could have just as easily blown a line like that.

No, the real story is that Palin was discussing a complex, precarious, highly dangerous issue as if she were an expert, even though she clearly isn't.

Does anyone outside of Palin's relatively small group of smitten followers honestly believe that she is competent to act as an expert on Korean policy? That she knows the intricacies and risks of engaging with the North Koreans? That she understands the possible leadership struggle going on there? Do you think she has the first clue about the history of Korea over the last century? Do you think she's ever heard of Syngman Rhee, the Bodo League massacre, the Battle of Inchon, or National Security Council Report 68, or that she knows about the decades of Japanese rule in Korea? Do you think she's ever read about the role the propaganda efforts of the post-Stalin Soviet government played in the eventual armistice that ended the fighting?" [Article]


Of course we don't, and there in lies the problem: She is a intellectual lightweight who has been elevated to a status by her followers that she cannot live up to. And,of course, she knows this, she has to be aware of her limitations. But it's too late for her to come clean now. She is like a grifter who is too deep into the con to reveal her true self.


Let' s hope that the con doesn't last until November, 2012.

"Threadjack" me.

*

I wanted to blog about this Scottsboro Boys musical playing on Broadway, (*see pic) and John McWhorter's recent comments about it, but I really don't have time------ I am in the middle of my holiday travels.

Anyway, go ahead and jack this thread. You can comment on that McWhorter article if you like, and you can tell me what you are thankful for this turkey season.

I know what I am thankful for: Folks like you who come to the fields to read what a very opinionated brotha has to say. I learn from each and every one of you, and I always appreciate the company.

Have a happy holiday and don't eat too much. Remember, spring is just around the corner. :)

Tuesday in A-merry-ca!

Poor Velma Hart. I know she was tired of defending Obama, so now, at least, maybe the poor lady can finally get some well deserved rest. It Seems that she has been laid off from her veteran services gig. Bummer.

Watch out Obama, if you run against my girl Sarah in 2012 you better check those voting machines. It seems that the Palins are making a dry run. Seriously, Dancing With The Stars? Watch, A-merry-cans will be all glued to the finals when the North Koreans decide to strike us.

This stuff in the Korean Peninsula is getting serious. I sure hope that the funny looking little man with the f*&^%d up haircut and ugly suits doesn't have any nukes. But I digress. Back to the 2012 election: "O" I think Sarah is rounding up her grass roots supporters. You might want to consider doing the same.

Hey, I thought that you folks in the Naaath were supposed to be the enlightened ones? (h/t to Ebony for this article)

"A party for black Harvard and Yale alums at a Boston club this weekend was shut down just after 11pm. Why? The club owner was concerned that a long line of black people outside would make the club look bad.

A group of recent graduates had sold tickets in advance for a party at a new Boston club, Cure, to follow Saturday's Harvard-Yale game. By 10:30pm, though, club management freaked out and claimed it had seen "local gang bangers" around, despite the strict guest-list policy implemented by organizers. At first they demanded that guests show student ID — not exactly practical given the fact that it was a party aimed at alums — and then eventually shut down the entire club.

"We were perceived as a threat because of our skin color," wrote one organizer, Michael Beal, in the email below. "I am further dismayed that after having spent the last few hours with the club owner, I do not believe him to be a racist; which only adds to my consternation around what this event says about race relations in our country."

It echoed a firestorm three years ago, on the other side of the Charles River. In May 2007, called by other students, Harvard University Police asked students at a gathering of black Harvard student organizations on a campus green to show ID. That sparked an independent review and a police restructuring. [Source]

Haaavaaad!? Noooo! You mean my man R won't even leave the edu-macated Negroes alone?
Damn! Maybe Skippy Gates was on to something.

Finally, I think the republic will survive the evil TSA men and women:

"ATLANTA – Despite tough talk on the Internet, there was little if any indication of a passenger revolt at many major U.S. airports, with very few people declining the X-ray scan that can peer through their clothes. Those who refuse the machines are subject to a pat-down search that includes the crotch and chest.

Many travelers said that the scans and the pat-down were not much of an inconvenience, and that the stepped-up measures made them feel safer and were, in any case, unavoidable.

"Whatever keeps the country safe, I just don't have a problem with," Leah Martin, 50, of Houston, said as she waited Monday to go through security at the Atlanta airport.

At New York's LaGuardia Airport early Tuesday, Jeannine St. Amand got a pat-down in front of her husband and two children. The 45-year-old from Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, figured she got one because the underwire of her bra tripped the metal detector.

"It's hard to remember all the restrictions. Next time, I'll wear a different bra," she said.

She opted to have the pat-down in public rather than private and said it was professional and done by a female agent." [Article]

Yes, but Ms. St. Amand, you are Canadian, you don't understand privacy.

SOFTY!

In typical A-merry-can fashion the hysteria over the TSA searches have hit record levels. Fake stories on wingnut sites, and urban (or rural) legends are everywhere. (BTW, that shirtless boy story is not quite the way the wingnuts portrayed it.) You would think the government s going to insert secret radio chips in every person who goes through one of these new screeners. There is even concerns about low levels of radiation emitting from these new devices. Yeah, right. This from a nation of people who damn near live with cell phones on their ears. Give me a break!

I am going to be getting a close up experience with one of these new devices as I start my holiday travel, and I am more concerned about the idiots staging a protest and holding up the checkpoint lines than the damn TSA employees and their machines. Anyway, I hope you all know where this is heading. Be careful of right wing hysteria, it never ends well.

Finally, speaking of right wing hysteria: Sometimes it's best to let you just read for yourselves and draw your own conclusions. Check out the latest from some clown from a group who calls themselves The American Family Association:

"The Medal of Honor will be awarded this afternoon to Army Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta for his heroism in Afghanistan, and deservedly so. He took a bullet in his protective vest as he pulled one soldier to safety, and then rescued the sergeant who was walking point and had been taken captive by two Taliban, whom Sgt. Giunta shot to free his comrade-in-arms.

This is just the eighth Medal of Honor awarded during our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and Sgt. Giunta is the only one who lived long enough to receive his medal in person.

But I have noticed a disturbing trend in the awarding of these medals, which few others seem to have recognized.

We have feminized the Medal of Honor.

According to Bill McGurn of the Wall Street Journal, every Medal of Honor awarded during these two conflicts has been awarded for saving life. Not one has been awarded for inflicting casualties on the enemy. Not one.

Gen. George Patton once famously said, "The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other guy die for his."

When we think of heroism in battle, we used the think of our boys storming the beaches of Normandy under withering fire, climbing the cliffs of Pointe do Hoc while enemy soldiers fired straight down on them, and tossing grenades into pill boxes to take out gun emplacements.

That kind of heroism has apparently become passe when it comes to awarding the Medal of Honor. We now award it only for preventing casualties, not for inflicting them.

So the question is this: when are we going to start awarding the Medal of Honor once again for soldiers who kill people and break things so our families can sleep safely at night?

I would suggest our culture has become so feminized that we have become squeamish at the thought of the valor that is expressed in killing enemy soldiers through acts of bravery. We know instinctively that we should honor courage, but shy away from honoring courage if it results in the taking of life rather than in just the saving of life. So we find it safe to honor those who throw themselves on a grenade to save their buddies.

Jesus, in words often cited in ceremonies such as the one which will take place this afternoon, said, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lays down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). So it is entirely right that we honor this kind of bravery and self-sacrifice, which is surely an imitation of the Lord of lords and King of kings.

However, Jesus’ act of self-sacrifice would ultimately have been meaningless - yes, meaningless - if he had not inflicted a mortal wound on the enemy while giving up his own life.

The significance of the cross is not just that Jesus laid down his life for us, but that he defeated the enemy of our souls in the process. It was on the cross that he crushed the head of the serpent. It was on the cross that “he disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in it” (Colossians 2:15).

The cross represented a cosmic showdown between the forces of light and the forces of darkness, and our commanding general claimed the ultimate prize by defeating our unseen enemy and liberating an entire planet from his bondage.

We rightly honor those who give up their lives to save their comrades. It’s about time we started also honoring those who kill bad guys." ['Article]

Okaaay. "Honoring those who kills bad guys." Let me give you the CliffsNotes version of what my man just wrote:

We do not want to glorify men who are brave when they save the lives of others, only those who kill others in battle. In other words, the Medal of Honor has been "feminized."

I guess that's what happens when you have a wimpy president like Obama. Where is Reagan when you need him?

Trying to figure out our young people and Obama with one post.

Remind me not to go partying in "The Atl" anytime soon. What's wrong with you young bucks? I know it's hard to respect another human's life when you do not value your own, but this cycle of depraved violence has got to stop. In fact, all of the ignorant and inexplicable s&^t that we do from time to time has got to stop. Crack in a toddler's shoe? WTF?

Still, I won't lay all of the blame at the feet of these young bucks. They live in a very f^%$#d up society where black is white and white is black, and where there is all kinds of gray in between. It's easy to rationalize away morality when you see politicians on the take and everything around you is driven by shallow consumerism and a live for the moment ethos. We glorify the very rich regardless of how they accumulated their wealth and we wonder why these kids have no morals. Joseph Kennedy was an alleged bootlegger and his son went on to become the president. Many wealthy A-merry-can families built their fortune on the backs of enslaved human beings. ,and we think nothing of it. The depravity we are seeing from some of those in our society should not be so surprising. I know that I am not. I talk and interact with enough of these kids to see just how messed up their heads are and why the think the way they do. Many of the tings I outlined mirror what they spit back at me when I try to lecture them about getting their lives on the straight and narrow. Live for the moment, that's all they do. In their minds the future is now. There is no wife, kids, and a picket fence anywhere in their dreams. Just joining their home boys upstate or hoping that their mother's don't cry too much at their funerals.

Anyway, sorry for the brief reality check. Now back to politics:

Lately I have been more pro O than usual. I am not a huge fan, but I am not a hater like some people. I think the guy has done a decent job, and, more importantly, he did pretty much what he said he was going to do. I expected what I am getting now, so I am not like some of those Obamaholics who are feeling this great disappointment because their boy didn't walk on water and feed every A-merry-can with one happy meal.

He is what he is. And, he is better than the last guy. I actually read an article recently that kind of crystallized my position. The author was speaking for me:

"Nowadays, the political stage has become America’s communal fun house, and nobody looks stranger than Barack Obama.

The president’s critics on the right deride him as a radical socialist seething with anti-American rage. To them, he’s a frightening success who has transformed the federal government, ruined the economy, and undermined national security. To the left, Obama is a tragic failure who squandered his chance for dramatic change: no single-payer health-care plan, no heated battle against Wall Street, and endless war in Afghanistan. If the president is struggling these days, the critics say, it’s perhaps because he’s out of touch with Americans, and even at odds with his own principles.

Yet Obama is doing exactly what he said he would do. Perhaps the critics should read—or reread—the president’s own books. Dreams From My Father (1995) and The Audacity of Hope (2006) are the most substantial works written by anyone elected president since Woodrow Wilson (who wrote several books before he won election in 1912). In laying out his philosophy, Obama contrasts the GOP’s excessive individualism with the ideal of “ordered liberty” and the rich traditions of civic engagement typical of America in the 18th and 19th centuries. He also criticizes orthodox...

...Almost everything you need to know about Obama is there on the printed page. In contrast to the charges coming now from right and left, Obama is neither a rigid ideologue nor a spineless wimp. The Obama who wrote Dreams and Audacity stands in a long tradition of American reform, wary of absolutes....

...Throughout his career, Obama has refused to demonize his opponents. Instead, he has sought them out and listened to them. He has tried to understand how they think and why they see the world as they do. His mother encouraged this sense of empathy, and it’s a lesson Obama learned well. Since January 2009, Obama has watched his efforts at reconciliation, experimentation, and -consensus--building bounce off the hard surfaces of political self-interest and entrenched partisanship, but there is no reason to think he will abandon that strategy now. He knows that disagreement is a vital part of the American fabric, and that our differences are neither shallow nor trivial......

....Although Obama’s reform agenda echoes aspects of those advanced by many Democrats over the last century, he has admitted—and this is the decisive point in understanding his outlook—that his opponents hold principles rooted as deeply in American history as his own. “I am obligated to try to see the world through George Bush’s eyes, no matter how much I may disagree with him,” he wrote in Audacity. “That’s what empathy does—it calls us all to task, the conservative and the liberal … We are all shaken out of our complacency.” Obama rejects dogma, embraces uncertainty, and dismisses the fables that often pass for history among partisans on both sides who need heroes and villains, and who resist more-nuanced understandings of the past and the present." [Article]

My sentiments, exactly.

"Throw some D's on that B%#@t"

It's nice to finally know why the FAKE NEWS NETWORK is so popular here in A-merry-ca. I wonder how this mentally ill thing breaks down by region? It shouldn't be too hard to find out. All we would have to do is find out which region watches the most FAKE NEWS, and, bingo, that would be your region with the highest concentration of mentally ill people right there.

Speaking of ill people, the cat who killed and dismembered those folks in Ohio is one sick dude. (He stuck their body parts in a tree? WTF?)

"MOUNT VERNON, Ohio – Two women and an 11-year-old boy were stabbed to death and dismembered before their remains were put in garbage bags and lowered into a hollow tree, a coroner said Saturday, the latest gruesome details of the murders that have stunned this tiny town.

Preliminary autopsy reports show that Tina Herrmann, her son, Kody Maynard, and her friend Stephanie Sprang were stabbed multiple times with a knife in the back and chest Nov. 10, Knox County Coroner Jennifer Ogle said.

"They were then placed inside large plastic garbage bags and later lowered into the hollow of a large tree," Ogle said in a statement. It's unclear exactly when they died or when their remains were put in the tree. There were no signs of sexual assault.

The remains of the family dog — a miniature pinscher named Tanner — were found in the tree with the bodies, said Joe Pejsa, a family friend.

The victims disappeared Nov. 10 along with Herrmann's daughter, 13-year-old Sarah Maynard, who was found bound and gagged several days later in the basement of an unemployed tree-cutter, Matthew Hoffman. Hoffman is accused of kidnapping the girl and keeping her in the basement of his home in Mount Vernon, about 10 miles west of Howard in central Ohio..."

Damn! Dude [allegedly] killed the family and the dog. I wonder why he didn't kill the daughter? Maybe he had a crush on her. My man, the next time you want to impress a young lady, may I suggest that you just send her some flowers?

Finally, you folks here in A-merry-ca just will not leave O alone. So now you are ripping the guy because he is rolling in a tricked out caddy over in Europe. I know I know, leave it to the black president to ride in a big gas guzzling caddy. But come on, he is the president. And a Cadillac is as A-merry-can as it gets.

"LISBON (AFP) – The Portuguese hosts of Friday's NATO summit hoped to use the event to promote clean-energy and electric cars, but all eyes were on US President Barack Obama's diesel-guzzling "Beast" instead.

As is usual when he travels, Obama's eight-tonne armoured behemoth of a limousine was flown out to Lisbon before the US leader's arrival, and it ferried him from the airport tarmac to his first meetings of the weekend.

Doubtless he didn't intend the Beast's roar to drown out his hosts' green message, but a US presidential motorcade and its attendant escort of Secret Service SUVs do attract attention, even at the most elite gatherings.

[Related: Obama and the bulletproof suit]

Earlier, Prime Minister Jose Socrates and his fellow Portuguese, the president of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso, had arrived at the summit in quiet, zero-emission electric cars.

"I'd like to underline the priority both our countries assign to renewable energy and electric vehicles," Socrates said, after meeting Obama, amid amused sniping from the Portuguese press at the mixed messages." [Article]

I know damn good and well that you all didn't expect the president to roll into Lisbon in a plug in Fiat? "Quiet, zero-emission electric cars" are fine, but I am guessing that they aren't very good for protecting very important people. O's caddy comes with all the trimmings needed to protect the most important person in the world. Everything needed for communication is right at his finger tips, and the "Beast" can withstand an attack from a rocket launcher. So yes, go ahead and trick O's ride. Let the haters hate. Hey, at least it didn't break down in the middle of Rome like Bush's ride. Now that would have been really embarrassing.

Friday Rant.

It's Friday evening and I have so much to say and so little time.

Let's see, where do I begin? I think I will start with our future president, Sarah Palin. Girlfriend is calling the first lady a racist in her new book:

"Washington (HuffPo)– In passages leaked from her forthcoming book America by Heart, Sarah Palin — the erstwhile quitter governor of Alaska, who now, by all indications, fancies herself as President of the United States — has taken another cheap shot at First Lady Michelle Obama.

In a passage on perceptions of racial inequality in the United States, Palin slams President Barack Obama, who, she asserts, “seems to believe” that “America — at least America as it currently exists — is a fundamentally unjust and unequal country.”

Certainly his wife expressed this view when she said during the 2008 campaign that she had never felt proud of her country until her husband started winning elections. In retrospect, I guess this shouldn’t surprise us, since both of them spent almost two decades in the pews of the Reverend Jeremiah Wright’s church listening to his rants against America and white people."

OKaaayy....let's move on. I won't even comment on this one. Now if Michelle wants to kick off her heels, pull out her earrings, and have a real girl fight with Palin; she will get my undivided attention. Anything short of seeing Sarah catch a beat down is not really worthy of my time. Sarah, it must be really hard to be a hater. Especially when Michelle keeps getting love like this.

I am actually going to leave the Big R alone tonight, although I could go there. He is still in full effect. From Kansas to right here in my hometown, the Big R is flexing his muscles and daring me to catch him. But I am not going to chase tonight. It's Friday, I am trying to relax. I will come out and play some other time.

It looks like the folks over at Radio Rwanda are taking their O jones to a whole different level. Now they are criticising O's children's book. Yep, his children's book. It seems they have some issues with him showing some love to Sitting Bull.

"It is not common for Fox News to take issue with something President Obama does. In fact, it seems to take issue with everything he does. Now the network is attacking him for a new children's book he wrote.

On Wednesday, "Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters" hits bookstores. It is a book that highlights 13 Americans "whose traits he sees in his own children" according to a USA Today story about the book.

When listing those people, the article mentions almost in passing "His most controversial choice may be Sitting Bull, who defeated Custer at Little Bighorn."

Obama writes of Sitting Bull:

(He) was a medicine man who healed broken hearts and broken promises. It is fine that we are different. (He) spoke out and led his people against many policies of the United States government. He is most famous for his stunning victory in 1876 over Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer in the Battle of the Little Bighorn.

Fox News certainly wasn't to let that pass, running an article on its web site titled "Obama Praises Indian Chief Who Killed U.S. General." It was later corrected to "Obama Praises Indian Chief Who Defeated U.S. General" for "historical accuracy," which is Fox's way of saying it made a mistake without really saying it made a mistake.

The brief article itself doesn't say anything else critical, but the headline said it all.

"If President Obama patted a child on the head, Fox News would probably accuse him of assault," Indiana University historian Ed Linenthal said. [Source]

Actually, Mr. Linenthal, they would accuse him of rape.

Finally, I see that Uncle Sam is sending Wesley Snipes to the slammer for three years. Sorry Wesley, you have to render unto Uncle Sam....but three years? "White Men Can't Jump, but they can sure put the hammer on a brotha.

Guess who won't be coming to dinner.

I see the republi-clowns have their swag back. They basically told O to take his little kumbaya summit and shove it. We will meet with you on our time nigg...I mean Mr. President. We shellacked you, remember? Rather than sit down with O, their leaders met with those federalist society folks. How is that bi-partisan thing working out for ya? I say it's time to double down O, you can only play nice for so long. This is getting old. It seems like every few months the field has to tell you the same thing, but you won't learn. You still believe that these folks will play ball with your beige behind. News flash! It. Is. Never. Going. To. Happen.

"Thursday’s much-anticipated meeting until after Thanksgiving to accommodate their schedule, not his. The first post-election meeting between Obama and congressional leaders, billed by Obama as the fundamental first step in the post-election reconciliation process, will now take place Nov. 30 .."

Don't hold your breath for that November 30th meeting. Repubs are full of themselves right about now, they are not in a mood to sit down and talk. The leader of their own version of Der Angriff, all but called O a Socialist. And, these folks are so emboldened, one of their senators is holding up the START Treaty with the Russians to score cheap political points. Senator Kyl, Mr. Ahmadinejad thanks you. Dope!

But enough about the O haters; tonight I want to thank the folks over at WPHT here in my hometown for dumping Glenn Beckkk and the fat fat drug addict from their programing lineup. Philly has enough trash, we don't need these two adding to the problem. Now let's hope that other stations in A-merry-ca start wising up as well.

And finally, was it just me or was that display by Charlie Rangel today seem beyond pathetic?
And the way he dragged John Lewis out there to defend his actions. *shaking head*
Sorry Charlie, I agree with the ethics committee and their recommendation on this one. You deserved what you got.

Still, it was hard watching that republi-clown senator from Alabama (of all places) grand- standing (pun intended with that "grand" word) while poor Charlie begged for mercy. I agree with everything Steve Kornacki wrote in Salon.com:

"As noted above, by the time Bonner spoke, Rangel had already been found guilty and it was already clear what his punishment would -- and wouldn't -- be. So it has to be asked: Why was Bonner so intent on rubbing it in? Certainly, simple partisan politics -- highlighting the ethical lapses of a prominent member of the other party -- had something to do with it. But it's also worth considering how the spectacle of their congressman lashing out at Rangel -- who in some ways is the face of black urban politics in America -- is likely to play with Bonner's constituents back home.

This is where things get a little troubling, because Bonner's 1st District was ground zero for the South's race-based transformation from Democratic stronghold to Republican bastion. I wrote about this evolution -- which was largely set in motion by the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 -- earlier this week. The South had been a uniformly Democratic region since Reconstruction, but the GOP's decision to nominate Barry Goldwater, who had joined segregationist Southern Democrats in their futile effort to block the Civil Rights law, prompted mass defections to the GOP in the fall of '64. Even as Goldwater racked up just 38 percent of the national popular vote, he carried five Southern states -- some by absurd margins (87 percent in Mississippi).." [Article]

See what you did, Charlie? You allowed Mr. Bonner to put you in your place, once again. He said he was born in Selma, and he was glad you and those other Northern Negroes came down and marched with Dr. King. Don't believe it. He has been waiting for this day for a very long time.

"Sadly, Madam Chairman,"...it is my unwavering view that the actions, decisions and behavior of our colleague from New York can no longer reflect either honor or integrity."

Oh just STFU!

Bleeping Willow.

Will you Negroes stop it with the Brandy "was robbed" talk. Look, there is already one of you Negroes in the Dancing With The Stars finals. A-merry-ca has met her Negro quota. So relax, it could have been worse. Besides this is Sarah Palin's daughter we are talking about. The possible future first daughter of these divided states. What else did you expect?

And speaking of Palin's daughters, it looks like one of her other daughters, Willow, went a little nuts on Facebook recently.

"Willow Palin, the 16-year-old daughter of former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, wrote multiple Facebook posts containing homophobic slurs such as "faggot" on Sunday night, according to TMZ.

The web site reports that Palin's teenage daughter wrote the comments on Sunday night, when her mother's television show "Sarah Palin's Alaska" premiered on TLC. According to TMZ, a classmate of one of Palin's children published a Facebook update claiming that the show "is failing so hard right now."

Willow Palin reportedly unloaded on the student, calling him "so gay" and "such a faggot." She later demanded that the student "quit talkin shit about my family." According to screenshots obtained by TMZ, the 16-year-old called another commenter on the Facebook thread a "low life loser" and lashed out at multiple others, writing, "Sorry that all you guys are jealous of my families success and you guys aren't goin to go anywhere with your lives." [Article]

Classy folks those Palins. "Oh field, leave her alone, the child is only 16, this is what kids do."
Yes, but ask yourself this question: had this been one of the president's daughters what do you think the reaction would be? Just think about that one for awhile.

Finally, you have got to love these wingnuts. They give a whole new meaning to the word hypocrite. I give you representative Andy Harris of Maryland as my exhibit A. Seems my man ran on repealing "Obamacare", but now is demanding to get his government health coverage without having to wait 28 days. God forbid he goes without health coverage for 28 days!

"He stood up and asked the two ladies who were answering questions why it had to take so long, what he would do without 28 days of health care," a congressional staffer present at a freshman orientation session told Politico of Harris's reaction to news that his health care benefits wouldn't go into effect until nearly a month after his swearing in."

Now do you understand why I am going to enjoy the next two years? There is just so much material for a blogger these days.

The Invasion Of The Body Scanners.

What's all the fuss about body scanners here in A-merry-ca? You A-merry-cans are such prudes. So the TSA guy saw your business. So what? Do you really think he is going to go home and play palm meet johnson with images of your rump- shaker dancing in his head? Stop it!
And, to think, this all started with some guy out in Cali not being comfortable with his manhood:

"Tyner was irate about having to either undergo a full-body scan or endure security officials' new pat-down methods, which the Associated Press said now include running hands up the inside of passengers' legs. The New York Times said the more aggressive pat-downs – "in which women's breasts and all passengers' genital areas are patted firmly" – began Nov. 1.

Tyner refused to go through the scanning machine, and so was offered a pat-down as an alternative, which he also declined. He then exchanged words with airport security staff, while recording the showdown.

"I don't understand how a sexual assault can be made a condition of my flying," Tyner said at one point.

"This is not considered a sexual assault," responded an unidentified airport security official.

"It would be if you weren't the government," Tyner snapped back.

You can hear the exchange on an Associated Press video report here. [See link above]

The airline he was due to fly on eventually refunded his ticket and he never boarded his plane. Tyner later told Fox News that he was concerned about the scanner's invasion of his privacy.

"I didn't want anybody looking at my naked body," he told Fox. Tyner said he recorded the exchange to protect himself"

"Cry me a river"! There is no pleasing the A-merry-can public. They want tighter security and all types of civil liberty protections at the same time. These same people will be the first in line bitching and moaning about how the government couldn't protect them if something goes wrong. "It's all those democrats fault. They are soft on terrorist." And now they have a problem with a hard pat- down because a government employee is doing it. I guess they would feel a little better if security was outsourced to a private company at the airport. Then it wouldn't be those- easy to pick on- government employees doing the frisking.

I am declaring right here and now that I have no problem with body scanners or extra pat downs. Please feel free to feel on me. Hell, I might enjoy that s*&%. ("Sir, you will have to put your laptop in the bin". You can't keep it between your legs.".....let me stop )

Finally, I am going to stay with a certain theme and leave you with the following story:

"The evacuation of a Chester County hotel earlier this month was caused when staffers entered a room, found an Indiana man's naked, lifeless body next to various sexual devices and a gas mask, and smelled the stinging odor of unknown liquids, police and sources said.

The liquids turned out to be cleaning solutions that the man had been huffing as part of a solo sexual act, a source said yesterday.

State Police responded to the Fairfield Inn and Suites, on Baltimore Pike near McFarlan Road, in Kennett Square, on Nov. 4, after hotel employees found the 48-year-old man, whom police did not identify, dead in his room.

A chemical odor and unknown, potentially hazardous liquid substances found in the room prompted a partial evacuation of the hotel.

As a result, the Chester County hazardous-materials team was called to the scene, which was deemed safe, police said.

The substances were various inhalants, including VHS tape cleaner and other cleaning solutions.

Police believe the substances were being inhaled by the man to create a euphoric sensation.

A source said that the sexual devices and the gas mask indicated that the man's behavior may have been "ritualistic."

Although the investigation into the death is ongoing, police do not suspect foul play." [Story]

Well I will be damned! "Ritualistic" masturbation? You A-merry-cans are freakier than I thought.

I wonder if this guy would have objected to a full body scan?

Sorry Ms. Kaufman, unlike "Mr. Smith" you won't be going to Washington.

Let me hurry up and get this post out of the way so that I can watch "5" and Vick mix it up down in D.C. (BTW, congrats to "5" and his new contract. I guess sometimes it pays to shuffle.)

So anyway, I can't help but wonder how many dumbocrats share the view of the two honorary house Negroes and traitors on my side-bar. Let me see, his O ness is two years in and there is actually talk that he shouldn't run in 2012? And, to make matters worse, the Washington Post actually allowed these two clowns to do an entire editorial on the subject. What a disgrace!

I have some advise for anyone who wants to run a credible news organization in A-merry-ca: Do not put anyone who appears on FOX NEWS on your network, and do not allow anyone who appears on FOX NEWS to write one letter in your newspaper. Everyone in A-merry-ca gets the joke but them. Honestly,the s&^# is getting past pathetic. The political and ideological buffoonery in this country has reached epic proportions.

And, speaking of buffoonery; I was going to give this brotha a chance ------even though I suspected that he was going to be just another empty headed wingnut, but, -true to form- he already did some dumb stuff that has me writing him off.

Allen West actually wanted to take a wingnut shock jock to Washington with him as his chief of staff, ( a woman who has called for the hanging of illegal immigrants) but thanks to public outcry, he had to withdraw her name from consideration. As is typical of the woe is me wingnut, Girlfriend channeled her inner Clarence Thomas and called it an "electronic lynching."

"Right wing talk radio host Joyce Kaufman told her listeners Thursday that she telephoned Congressman elect Allen West Wednesday night and informed him that she would not accept a job as his chief of staff.

“I owe you an explanation, and I owe Congressman West a statement,” Kaufman told listeners before making the announcement during her noon to 3 p.m. show on WFTL-850 AM in Fort Lauderdale.

The withdrawal follows an outcry over comments Kaufman has made in the past, calling for the hanging of illegal immigrants, and saying if the election did not go West and Republicans’ way, her followers should get out their “gun cartridges.” Among her statements at a July 4 tea party rally for West: “If ballots don’t work, bullets will.”

Saying she was proud of West’s accomplishment in getting elected in Florida’s 22nd Congressional District, Kaufman said she was withdrawing because of what she called “vile” attacks on her by unnamed enemies, which she said were designed to hurt West.

“I will not be complicit in this effort to diminish his stature [through] attacks against me,” Kaufman told her listeners. “I will not allow myself to be defined by others. I return to my program on WFTL And as I have always believed, I’m in God’s hands.”

Kaufman, who is half-Puerto Rican and half Jewish, even played the race card in her denunciation of those who have criticized her comments.

“I will not be used in an electronic lynching by proxy,” she said during the show. “The insanity of using a Hispanic woman to lynch a black American Army hero elected to congress — what they’re trying to do is bring down Congressman-elect Allen West. They’re not fooling me, and they’re certainly not fooling you." [Full story]

If you are in "God's hands" I hope she drops you on your head. Wait, I think she might have already done that.

Cigarette man! Cigarette man!

"There's something about the icecream truck that makes kids lose it. And they can hear that shit from ten blocks away. They don't hear their mothers calling but they hear that motherfucking icecream truck. " ~Eddie Murphy~

Yes, kids in the hood love the ice-cream man. It's not like they have shit else to look forward to from day to day. Anyway, apparently one corporation figured this out. But, instead of the ice cream man, it's the cigarette man they allegedly went pushing on the kids from the hood.

"BOSTON (AP) — Leslie Adamson said the white truck that stopped at the Boston housing project she grew up in brought adults and children running, much like a visit from the ice cream man.

But instead of sweets, the truck brought free cigarette samples.

The cigarette giveaways are a central issue in a lawsuit brought against Lorillard Tobacco Co. by a man who claims his mother was introduced to smoking as a child through the free samples and became so addicted that she was unable to quit and eventually died of lung cancer. Lorillard denies that anyone from the company gave out cigarettes to children.

Willie Evans, the son of Marie Evans, alleges in his lawsuit that Lorillard gave away Newport cigarettes in urban neighborhoods in an effort to hook black children and teenagers on cigarettes. Marie Evans died in 2002 at the age of 54 after smoking for four decades.

Adamson, Marie Evans’ younger sister, was the first witness to testify as the trial opened in Suffolk Superior Court on Friday. She said she first began getting free cigarettes in packs of 4 when she was about 7 or 8 years old in the Orchard Park housing project.

“It looked like a Frosty truck,” Adamson said. “I just remember people clamoring and cigarettes being handed out.”' [Full story]

WTF? The "Frosty truck" pushing Newport? "Oh come on now field, you know you black folks love your Newport cigarettes. So this company is trying to start them out a little young, what's the difference? We all know that they are going to end up smoking the damn things." Yes, black folks do love their menthols. Maybe some smart company can develop ice cream with nicotine in it. That way they can kill two birds with one stone. Or, one ice cream truck.

Finally, as if the poor post office isn't having enough problems. Now you have white folks taking out their frustrations on postal carriers of color; all because they happen to be the messengers. "Don't shoot the messenger", or, call the messenger the "N" word. I wonder who the certified letter to this frustrated woman was from? I am guessing it was the committee to re-elect Barack Obama.

Some very expensive "undies."

I am going to start this post by attacking black. You Negroes just won't learn, will you? When you are a public servant you are supposed to do just that; serve. You shouldn't be using your position to line your own pockets. I am sick and tired of these political house Negroes trying to live large off of the trust and benevolence of others.

"ANNAPOLIS, Md. — A married pair of top officials in a Maryland county is accused of tampering with evidence after FBI agents said they recorded the husband telling his wife to flush a $100,000 check from a real estate developer down the toilet and to stuff almost $80,000 in cash in her underwear.

Prince George’s County Executive Jack Johnson, whose second term expires next month, and his wife, Leslie, who was recently elected to the County Council, were charged with witness and evidence tampering and destruction, alteration and falsification of records in a federal investigation.

The charges grew out of a 5-year-old investigation into allegations of real estate developers in the county offering rewards to county officials in exchange for personal and business favors.

In an affidavit filed in federal court, FBI agents wrote that they recorded a mobile phone conversation between the Johnsons after agents went knocking on their door.

After Johnson told his wife, “Don’t answer it,” he instructed her over the phone to go upstairs to their bedroom and destroy the check, the affidavit said.

“Tear it up! That is the only thing you have to do,” Johnson told his wife, according to the affidavit.

Leslie Johnson then could be heard asking her husband, “Do you want me to put it down the toilet?”

The county executive responded, “Yes, flush that,” according to the affidavit, which noted that monitoring agents heard a flushing sound in the background.

Johnson then told his wife to put cash in her underwear, according to the affidavit. After FBI agents entered the home, they searched Leslie Johnson and recovered $79,600 from her underwear." [Article]

Mrs. Johnson, I hope you were wearing Victoria's Secret

Finally, you have got to love my man Rush Limp-boy. He isn't even hiding behind racial niceties anymore. My man is just throwing down the racial gauntlet. Screw the code words, and dog whistles, just go on and put it all out there. The white republican males frustration with the n*&#%rs on the democratic plantation is finally boiling over.

"Here's how Limbaugh broke down what he called the "Steny Hoyer and Clyburn, Hoyer wanting Clyburn to go back to the back of the bus, leadership battle."

"So there you have it. All hell breaking loose in the Democrat Party because now black and brown people [are saying], 'Tonight we on the inside, we wanna get in there,'" Limbaugh said. "The white racist leadership of the Democrat Party is trying to ace out Clyburn....

Clyburn has had power, but they want to take it away from him here. Tavis Smiley is not down with this. Clyburn starts to demand respect and all hell seems to break loose in the Democrat Party. Hey, I have a suggestion. You know, I like to mediate these things. I like to bring people together. I like to unify people. I don't like seeing this kind of strife. Clyburn's worried about not having the car. Clyburn's worried about not having the perk of a big office, driver, and so forth. The way this can all be worked out, Clyburn's new position: Driving Miss Nancy. He gets to keep the car. He gets to go everywhere she goes, parties and everything else. He's not in the back of the bus. He's in the driver's seat, and she's in the back of the car being chauffeured. Solved problem. " [Article]

Nice. Never miss the opportunity to make a political struggle a racial one. And here I thought that the republi-clowns were trying to get beyond race and the dumbocrats were the race baiters. Oh well, the beat goes on.

Friday Rant: Lazy Ex President, Ignorant Talking Heads, and "Colored Girls".

Happy Friday to all of you field hands! I hope massa gave you a break from all that plantation work you have been putting in all week.

Anywhooo, I have some thoughts:

First, I see that some things never change. My man "W" is as lazy now as he was when he was president. Seems he lifted a ton of stuff for his new book. BTW, is it just me, or were you all as offended by him saying that the Kanye West rant was the lowest and most disgusting moment of his presidency? Ahhm, excuse me; what about the war in Iraq and all the poor souls (Americans and Iraqis) who lost their lives because of it? Don't even get me started again on this guy. I am trying hard to forget him.

Then there are those wonderful news Anchors over at Radio Rwanda. Go ahead and make fun of someone who has a heart attack on the air. Nice. Stay classy wingnuts. It's getting harder to differentiate between the Radio Rwanda news folks and these guys. Actually, I think The Onion is more credible. (Their stuff on Biden was classic.)

Also, I see that Glen Beckkk is f&^%$#g with another group of people. ---Slowly but surely, other groups of people are starting to find out how us black folks feel when this clown channels his inner klansman. Let's see how he survives this latest dust up.

Finally, there has been a lot of discussion about the latest Tyler Perry flick, "For Colored Girls". I never saw the play, and I am not a big TP fan, but I know that the day is coming when I will have to watch this bad boy. (Don't ask.) I can't give my honest opinion as yet, because I haven't seen it. But I do want to hear yours. (Especially the sisters out there.) Folks have weighed in with various opinions, so obviously the theme of the movie struck a nerve with us black folks.

It's all good as far as I am concerned. Sometimes us black folks just need to talk.

I'm out.

Leave "Granny alone!

*

"The true hypocrite is the one who ceases to perceive his deception, the one who lies with sincerity" ~Andre Gide~

In a way, I am glad for the President's Debt Commission and their seemingly draconian measures to reduce the A-merry-can debt. Let's see if A-merry-cans can practice what they preach. They kicked the bums out because they were spending too much of the people's money. Let's start cutting back on that spending and see where it takes us. More tax cuts for the rich and less money for the government coffers. Yeah, that's the ticket.

Anyway, now that the republi-clowns have taken over congress and damn near every state house in A-merry-ca, I have a pretty good idea of what will come next. And, apparently, so does Dr. C. Alonzo Peters:


"It will pull the plug on grandma"

That was one of the hyperbolic accusations hurled by conservatives against the President's health care plan during the height of debate. Republicans claimed the health care bill would jeopardize the health of seniors. It would submit seniors to "death panels" that would decide if our grandparents would continue to receive medical care.

It's stunningly ironic then that the true threat to our senior citizens comes not from the President's healthcare bill, but from Republican lawmakers hell bent on dismantling the social safety net programs as we know them.

Just yesterday the President's Debt Commission recommended raising the Social Security retirement age while at the same time cutting taxes.

This is nothing new. Every since FDR's New Deal created the first wave of social safety nets, conservatives have railed against social spending. But a direct frontal assault to popular programs like Social Security and Medicare would amount to political suicide, permanently alienating voters from the Republican party.

No, a more cynical plan would be needed to stop government spending on social programs. Enter "starve the beast" - a concept popularized in the Reagan administration. This "starve the beast" game plan was quite simple: Implement large tax cuts that deny the government tax revenue, creating massive deficits. Then claim that to deal with these deficits we must cut spending, most notably spending for social programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

Yes this back door attempt to convince Americans of the need to downsize the social safety net has been going on for nearly 30 years. During the 2000's the plan was placed on steroids. In the midst of record high budget surpluses, President Bush enacted large tax cuts that mainly benefited the wealthy and cost the government over $2.4 trillion dollars in revenue. Bush proudly proclaimed tax cuts would create a fiscal straight jacket for Congress.

Predictably surpluses turned into deficits and the cries for spending cuts came to a roar. Republicans are now using the current budget deficits of their own making as an excuse to push for radical cuts in spending. At the same time they're advocating for extension of tax cuts for the top 2 percent, a move that will only exacerbate the deficit - and of course lend credence to the argument for more spending cuts. The insanity continues.

Since sweeping to power in state legislatures throughout the country Republicans are already vowing drastic cuts in public spending. Indiana, for example, is proposing cuts in unemployment benefits. In Maine, the spokesperson of the Republican governor-elect suggested a probable scale back of the state's social safety net. In Texas Republican law makers are considering cuts to Medicaid and even dropping out of the program altogether.

On the national front, Paul Ryan, the Republican point man on budget issues and next leader of the Congressional Budget Committee has revealed the Roadmap for America's Future - the GOP budget blueprint for the coming years.....

...As the debate over whether or not to extend Bush tax cuts for the very wealthy heats up in the next few months, we must realize these proposed tax cuts are just another conservative ploy to starve the government of much needed revenue, thereby strengthening the argument for spending cuts to the social safety net.

Conservative arguments for smaller government sound appealing until you realize that real people suffer when Social Security, Medicare, and other programs that affect the most vulnerable are cut. The real "plug may be pulled on grandma" when Medicare is no longer available to take care of our senior citizens.

In the simplest of terms, a vote for tax cuts for the rich is a vote against Granny. We must make our voices heard." [Article]

Ahh hell no! Hands off my Granny!

*Pic lifted from TheLoop21.com

Is this Daily News columnist racist or just trying to help the President?

After O and company took their "shellacking" this midterm, I started thinking about articles like this ,(h/t to Felecia) and why, in spite of all of that, there was still such a national angst for all things O. I mean I understand the partisanship, and the fact that there is always going to be pretty much an even split when it comes to political affiliations among the voting public. But, given what Obama has done so far in his presidency, this beat down didn't make sense.

Anyway, I saw an opinion piece in my hometown paper which might have left some hints. The author apparently is trying to help his O ness and he proceeds to give him tips on how to win over A-merry-ca. I am not going to go in the order the author gave them for a reason. I want to save the best for last.

"IT WAS BASEBALL pioneer Satchel Paige who warned: "Don't look back. Something may be gaining on you."

In the wake of the midterm elections, that's one bit of advice that President Obama would do well to follow. If his presidency is to survive, he must look forward and must begin to make changes now.

But exactly what should Obama do, and how and why? Five simple suggestions:

1. Dump what's left of the Chicago Gang. Rahm Emanuel's departure was a good first step.

But too many others in the Chicago clique are still around. All pols like to be surrounded by trusted confidantes. In the rough-and-tumble world of politics, loyalty is an understandably treasured commodity.

But the president is different. He's the only public official directly elected by all the American people. Those around him must be attentive to the wide variety of views of a large, diverse society. The president's advisers must present a broad range options in open, vigorous debate.... "

No problem with that one. I kind of agree.

3. "Get rid of the TelePrompTer....... "

OK, I will give you that one as well. But all presidents use the TelePrompTer.

4. "Bring the Grand Tour to a close. After the India trip, the president should stay home and tend to the problems at hand. That means bringing down the curtain on touring, and maybe even vacationing. It also means ending those frequent TV appearances. The president has been overexposed. It took us nearly eight years to develop Clinton fatigue. But Obama fatigue began to set in after only 18 months....."

OK, whatever, reasonable people could argue both sides of this one.

5. "And speaking of Clinton, Obama should have a nice, long sit-down with the former president and elder statesman of the Democrats. Sixteen years ago, Clinton was in the same spot Obama finds himself in today.

Clinton faced a GOP House and Senate after the '94 Republican sweep that was one of the largest turnovers in history till now.

But with surprising speed, Clinton shook up his staff and moved toward the center. He listened to new people and embraced new ways. And he became a relatively popular two-term president. So call in Clinton. And sit down and listen."

More Clinton nostalgia, I get it.

2. "Lose the strut and the condescension. The president has a way of pushing himself up on the balls of his feet as he walks. I call it "the strut," and I suspect I'm not alone in finding it oft-putting. Along with this strut comes an air of condescension.

Mr. President, those who don't agree with you aren't your enemies. And they aren't misguided or distracted or paralyzed by fear or blinded by anger. (And they aren't necessarily clinging to guns and religion, either.)

When you dismiss or trivialize "we the people," you mock the very foundation of our democracy." [Article]

This one was actually number two, but I saved it for last for a reason.

LOSE THE STRUT!!!??? WTF? Alright folks, you can put on your Air R's for this one. Honestly, do these clowns writing in major newspapers even realize how utterly stupid, unenlightened, and ignorant they sound?

Look, I have mad love for the Daily News,--- they link the field for crying out loud, but some of their opinion writers must have been asleep since 1949 and just woke up. "STRUT"?
Wow, stereotypes really die hard. One of the few things I liked about Bush was his walk. It exuded confidence. (Even if he was one of the dumbest people on the planet.) Watch him when you get a chance, he had quite the bounce in his step, just like Obama.

For the record, Obama's walk (if I might get in touch with my feminine side a little) has a certain (sex) appeal to it. I know because the females tell me so. They say the same thing about Denzel Washington and Idris Elba, who both have distinctive walking styles. (They both also have something else in common with the president; but I will leave the obvious alone.) There is nothing unusual about a man who walks with confidence. Unless, of course, he happens to be the first black president.

If you are of a certain persuasion and you secretly resent this Negro having power over your life, that walk says f*&^ you! I am in charge and you are not! You resent it because the Negro president should be more appreciative of his position and who put him there.

"The president has a way of pushing himself up on the balls of his feet as he walks. I call it "the strut," and I suspect I'm not alone in finding it oft-putting. Along with this strut comes an air of condescension."

No Daniel, you are not alone. I am sure that many of your fellow A-merry-cans feel the same way.

Was Mike the barber a racist, or just a guy trying not to embarrass himself or give the Negro a bad hair cut?

Poor Mike Aldrich. The guy lives in an outpost called Bellows Falls, Vermont, and he rarely sees black folks except on television. And now, as luck would have it, some dude comes into town and wants him to cut his hair. (First of all, no self respecting black man goes to a strange town and asks a white barber to clip his chrome. This post really should be about the dumb ass Doctor, but I digress.)

So anywhooo, to get out of what he thought was an embarrassing situation, Mike told a little white lie (no pun intended) and it came back and bit him in his clippers.

"BELLOWS FALLS, Vt. -- A Vermont barber who turned away a black customer says he was trying to avoid embarrassment for both of them because he's no good at cutting black people's hair.

Mike Aldrich, who is white and runs Mike's Barber Shop in Bellows Falls, told the would-be customer when he stopped in last month that the barber wasn't in.

The man, Dr. Darryl Fisher, of Taos, N.M., walked by the shop later and saw Aldrich cutting the hair of a white customer and realized then that Aldrich was the barber.

Fisher, whose cause was taken up Saturday in a sidewalk demonstration outside the shop, says he thinks the incident was racially motivated. Aldrich says no, it was because he has trouble with black people's hair. " [Story]

"The way he looked at me -- and this is just my opinion -- and the way he just said, 'No,' when I asked if the barber was there and wouldn't tell me when the barber was coming in, and then 15 minutes later he's cutting somebody else's hair. Through my experience with racism, I thought it was racially motivated," Fisher said Monday in a telephone interview...."

Sorry Doc, I agree with Mike the barber on this one. My racism meter is not budging. There is just no static on the racism antenna. I swear if Rev. Inc. gets involved with this one I will personally go to New York and knock the perm out of Al's hair.

Mike was not guilty of racism, he was guilty of being a liar and a wimp. He should have looked the good Doctor in the eye and said: "I am sorry sir, I would do a really bad job on your hair, because I have never cut a black person's hair before. Hey, I live in Bellows Falls, Vermont...."Let me stop. (Watch I am going to get some angry person from Bellows Falls writing me and telling me how ignorant I am.) Hey, I am sure Bellows Falls is a nice place with wonderful people.

Doctor, you might want to consider getting your dome done up like the fields. This might save you from these types of embarrassing and sad episodes in the future.

Anyway, here is more from poor Mike:

"Aldrich says that he gets only about one black customer a year at his shop in Bellows Falls, which lies on the Vermont-New Hampshire border and is 97 percent white. He tells them up front that he struggles with cutting their hair.

"I'm sorry," he said he tells them. "You can sit in the chair if you want, but I've tried cutting it, and I have problems. Whether I don't have the right equipment, I don't know." [Source]

Mike, invite the Doctor over for some cider and apple pie and have your own little racial summit. Bring a black barber down to your area to teach you how to cut black hair while the cameras roll, and hug the Doctor and tell him that the next time he comes to Bellows Falls the hair-cut will be on the house. Oh, and don't forget to tell him that you will have gotten some of the "right equipment" by then.