This Sammon tells Whoppers.

"The goal of modern propaganda is no longer to transform opinion but to arouse an active and mythical belief” ~Jacques Ellul~

I keep trying to tell anyone who will listen just how dangerous the folks over at Radio Rwanda have become, and today I got more proof to back up my position.

It seems that one of their news [and I use that word laughingly] reporters was caught in a little white lie. (No pun intended) Or, as Sammon himself calls it; "a Pre-Truth." (Stop laughing.)

"In an audio recording obtained by media watchdog group Media Matters, Fox News Washington managing editor Bill Sammon admits that he repeatedly lied on-air about Barack Obama during the home stretch of the 2008 presidential campaign. Sammon’s remarkable admission came in the summer of 2009 aboard a 12-day cruise sponsored by conservative Hillsdale College. Tickets for the cruise ranged in price from $11,800 to $37,600 per couple. The Fox News executive gave an Obama-bashing speech in which he boasted: “Last year, candidate Barack Obama stood on a sidewalk in Toledo, Ohio, and first let it slip to Joe the Plumber that he wanted to quote, ‘spread the wealth around.’ At that time, I have to admit, that I went on TV on Fox News and publicly engaged in what I guess was some rather mischievous speculation about whether Barack Obama really advocated socialism, a premise that privately I found rather far-fetched.

In the run-up to the November 2008 election, Sammon indeed repeatedly took to Fox airwaves to denounce Obama as a “socialist” and tie him to “Marxists.” According to Media Matters, he also pushed his Fox colleagues to “play the socialism card.” Using the tried-and-true Fox strong-arm tactic of sending internal memos to staffers, Sammon made much of what he described as “Obama’s references to socialism, liberalism, Marxism and Marxists.” Only problem is, Obama never once referred to socialism or Marxism during his campaign. Sammon knew exactly what he was doing; trying to smear a presidential candidate with the damaging yet false brush of socialism. Such tactics, he admitted, were “red meat when you’re talking to conservatives.” But they’re also anathema to the “fair and balanced” journalism Fox ludicrously purports to practice. " [Source]

Sammon was incredibly successful, because that is one of the wingnut talking points: "OBAMA IS A SOCIALIST". Of course, how hard can it be to preach to [and convince] a choir, where more than half of its members do not believe that their elected president was born here?

Let me repeat that: MORE THAN HALF OF THE REPUBLICANS IN THIS COUNTRY DO NOT BELIEVE THAT THE PRESIDENT WAS BORN HERE!!!

And people wonder why I blog.

Above the law?

I wonder what makes these wingnut lawmakers in cheese country think that they are above the law? Here we have a judge who issues an injunction, and these republi-clown lawmakers think that they can just blow it off because they are...well....republicans.

"Madison – For the second time in less than two weeks, a Dane County judge Tuesday issued an order blocking the implementation of Gov. Scott Walker’s plan to curb collective bargaining for public workers. Dane County Judge Maryann Sumi said that her original restraining order issued earlier this month was clear in saying no steps should be take to advance the law.

The GOP governor’s administration did so after the bill was published Friday by a state agency not named in Sumi’s earlier temporary restraining order. “Further implementation of the act is enjoined,” Sumi said. “Apparently that language was either misunderstood or ignored, but what I said was the further implementation of Act 10 was enjoined. That is what I now want to make crystal clear.” She warned that those who violate her order could face court sanctions." [Source]

Sanctions? What sanctions? They don't care about "no stinkin" sanctions; they are republicans.

Finally, since we are talking about the courts and our legal system, and whether certain people are above the law. Let me finish with a story that I hope that we will never hear about again:

"I wish I knew how many hundreds of thousands of federal tax dollars have been spent investigating the New Black Panther Philadelphia voter intimidation case. We can add a few more, now that the Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility has completed its review of the department's handling of the matter.

On election day in 2008, a pair of African-American guys wearing berets stationed themselves in front of a North Philadelphia polling place, calling themselves "security." One of them had a nightstick.

Though the beret boys didn't interfere with ingress or egress from the polling place and not a single voter can be identified who was intimidated by their idiotic behavior, conservatives have been flogging the issue ever since. They condemn the Obama Justice Department's decision not to press a voter intimidation case against four defendants, though the department did secure an injunction against the guy with the club.

After reviewing thousands of pages of documents and interviewing 44 people, the Office of Professional Responsibility has concluded there were no political or racial considerations in the Justice Department's handling of the case.

The OPR conducted its inquiry in response to a request from Texas Congressman Lamar Smith. You can read their letter to him here. You can get my take on the case in a January Newsworks post here. I'd like to think this will put an end to the controversy, but I know better." [Source]

Dave, I know better as well. This controversy will never end. Why? Because A-merry-ca needs a bogeyman.

Some parents should be left behind.

"If you could kick the person in the pants responsible for most of your trouble, you wouldn't sit for a month.” ~Theodore Roosevelt~

Tabitha Allen needs a good kick in the pants.

"Tabitha Allen blames herself for her 10-year-old son's violent behavior. Growing up and living in a drug-infested, hooker-inhabited neighborhood, the 33-year-old mother of five is angry about life. "My anger reflects off my children," Allen explained one morning in the North Philadelphia rowhouse she inherited from her grandmother.

Her son - a thin, almost gaunt, boy with long eyelashes - punched a teacher last June at Kenderton Elementary School, a K-8 in Tioga. He knocked the glasses off her face and blackened her eye with a blow that packed unexpected power. As a 10-year-old, he had reached the minimum age to be arrested, and ended up with a simple assault charge in Family Court, where he was put on probation. He was removed from Kenderton and transferred to a classroom for disruptive elementary school students in Logan. Only last week, Allen said that her son was disciplined for having a BB gun at his new school. She said it was a misunderstanding and that the gun belonged to another student. [Source]

Tabitha Allen doesn't need a kick in the butt because she was born into unfortunate circumstances. She needs a kick in the butt for bringing five children into her world. A world where hope is hard to come by.

Tabitha Allen didn't give herself much of a shot, and she brought five kids along for the ride. Read the link to the Philly.com series about school violence that I provided. It will give you a wonderful insight into why Philly has 77 murders [and counting] so far this year.

"Tabitha Allen admits she wasn't on top of her children's lives the way she should have been, especially after her grandmother got sick and an aunt died. "I took my mind off my kids," Allen said. Allen, a high school dropout and unemployed, had all five of her children before she was 25. Two of her teenagers she describes as "Bonnie and Clyde." "They don't know how to walk away from stuff. They don't know how to let stuff go," she said. Her youngest, the 10-year-old who assaulted the teacher, takes after them, she said. So it was no surprise to her when she learned he had hit his teacher.

Earlier, the teacher had intervened when the boy hit a classmate. That led to a fist fight in the hall between the boy and the teacher, she said. Her son had been suspended repeatedly for fighting, she said. This time, he faced legal charges and landed on probation. Kenderton kicked him out and sent him to a disciplinary classroom at a K-6 school in Logan, about a mile and a half from his house. The classroom is run by Abraxas.

This year, there are 10 such sites based at elementary schools and serving 240 children in grades three to eight, said Wright, of the discipline office. Each self-contained classroom is staffed by a teacher and a behavior specialist. Students are evaluated after 30 days to determine if they can return to a regular school. In addition to academics, the students receive counseling and character-building courses. Allen said the school is too strict. When her son enters the school, he is patted down for weapons, she said. His classroom is in the basement, she said, and he is not allowed out for recess. "He ain't no convict. This isn't jail," she complained. Allen also said she was at a loss about how to help her son, who has ADHD and sees a psychiatrist.

She did her best to discipline her children, she said, and learned how to "beat them at their own game." When her son missed her imposed 10 p.m. curfew, she made him sit outside until 2 a.m. - in the cold. When her 13-year-old was locked up for trying to steal sneakers, she let him sit in jail for a while. She did the same to her 16-year-old daughter after she got into a fight and was detained. And when her 15-year-old son said he was going to kill himself, she hung a rope and told him how best to do it. "I said, 'It depends on how you jump,' " she said. "You got to jump right."

Allen struggles with her own anger. She said it comes from "life. Period. Me growing up in a neighborhood like this, seeing all the drugs." She pointed to her front door. "I got a whole hooker row right here on the corner," she said."

Tabitha Allen gives her ten year old son a 10 p.m. curfew! And people wonder why criminal lawyers do so well. *shaking head*

"..the course of history poses challenges that threaten our common humanity and common security"

I am watching O deliver his I had to bomb Libya speech to the A-merry-can people as I type this, and I must say that I could finish the sentences for him as he goes along. We had to do it. We did not act alone. Gaddafi was going to slaughter his own people. There is a strong and growing coalition. As the commander in chief I am here to tell you that America's role will be limited. We will not put troops on the ground in Libya....... you get the idea.

But I also know what they will be saying on FOX: He is weak. He should have done this weeks ago. He did not consult congress. Who are the rebels? What if they are members of al- Qaida? America should not be nation building. What is the end game? And over at MSNBC you will here the following: Why are we fighting another war? The American people have war fatigue. He should have consulted congress. We can't go around policing the world. O is still talking.

I think we are finally hearing an "Obama Doctrine" manifest itself. We will not stand by and watch innocent people slaughtered. We acted because it was the right thing to do. But we will not go as far as to take out Gadaffi and try to institute regime change. We will not repeat in Libya what we did in Iraq. "As Commander in chief I have no greater responsibility than keeping this country safe...." There will be times, though, when our national security interest is not directly threatened, but we have to act in a way to make sure that the principals of justice and human dignity are upheld by all... I paraphrased some of that, but again, you get the point.

He is finishing now. Whenever an American president says, "My fellow Americans", you know he is about to either start or finish a speech. "But let us also remember that for generations, we have done the hard work of protecting our own people, as well as millions around the globe. We have done so because we know that our own future is safer and brighter if more of mankind can live with the bright light of freedom and dignity. Tonight, let us give thanks for the Americans who are serving through these trying times, and the coalition that is carrying our effort forward; and let us look to the future with confidence and hope not only for our own country, but for all those yearning for freedom around the world. Thank you, God Bless you, and may God Bless the United States of America."

OK, that took 28 minutes. Now we will hear one full week of criticism on one side and and praise on the other. Politics in A-merry-ca is so predictable.

Hey, at least he didn't say "MISSION ACCOMPLISHED". Or, did he?

The republican's latest Negro experiment.

"Loyalty to petrified opinions never yet broke a chain or freed a human soul in this world--and never will." ~Mark Twain~

I wish my man Herman Cain well, I really do. I heard that he was in Iowa last week giving em his I am black but I am just like you speeches. I wonder how he is playing down there? It looks like they [the republicans] are going social again and forgetting the economy now that O and his peeps have the Dow over *12,000 and the unemployment numbers heading South and not North. Anyway, Herman might have some work to do before he can convince the rest of you Negroes that he means well.

"Listen, all token black conservative presidential candidates who Republicans keep trying to push on us colored folk; I really don’t have a problem with your decision to throw your hat in the ring. Why not, right? Everyone is entitled, and if you feel like you’re qualified then do your thing and show us just that – your qualifications. Do not, however, use the same tired and insulting tactics year after year in an effort to court a political base that has little interest in you by embarrassing the rest of your community.

First, This Year’s Black Conservative Herman Cain tried to get attention for his pending presidential campaign by telling anyone who would listen: “Don’t condemn me because the first black one was bad.” Yes, of course, the go-to sleaze tactic to use when you are eager to prove to some white people that you dislike President Obama as much as them is to say something attention grabbing like that.

Now, right on schedule, he has busted out the second in what I’m sure will be a series of cliché tactics to appeal to his conservative base: Christianity. Cain appeared on the Christian Broadcast Network and told the interviewer that he believed God brought him through cancer so that he could maybe become president, Politico reports. Stop it, dude. And I say that as a Christian. We know that professed religion is pretty much a requirement for all conservative candidates, but to take advantage of that moment in your life and twist it for political gain is really sleazy." [Source]

Now now Mr. Smith, don't be so hard on Herman. Maybe he means well. Why don't we give him a chance before we call him a house dwelling hypocrite?

Carry on Herman.

Porn star!

I see the man with the porn star "stache" said that O isn't qualified to be President. Isn't that special? This from a man who worked for George W. Bush.

But we all knew that John Bolton was an idiot. In case you all forgot, let me help you remember:

This is a man who jeopardised the "six party talks" with North Korea, and almost set the world on a course of nuclear destruction. He is a fierce partisan and he politicized A-merry-ca's intelligence apparatus with the UN. He was responsible for dismantling the International Criminal Court. He pushed for the defunding of programs that curbed nuclear proliferation in the world. He lied about Cuba having biological weapons, and he was one of the people responsible for the fake yellow cake story about British intelligence determining that Iraq had tried to purchase yellow cake uranium from Niger. We all know how that worked out. Oh, and did I mention that he lied to the United States Senate?

"There is no such thing as the United Nations. There is only the international community, which can only be led by the only remaining superpower, which is the United States."

Move over John Holmes. Leave it to W to appoint someone to be the United States Ambassador to an organization that he doesn't believe in.

Anyway, I hear he is gearing up for a presidential run. He will fit right in with the cast of characters lining up for the GOP ticket. Just one one more porn star in in a very dirty political movie.

Message to O.

"After two years of being called a tyrant and a dictator, President Obama returns to Washington from a five-day overseas trip to find he has become a weakling.

Would-be opponents such as Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty, and Sarah Palin had been trying out this somewhat contradictory line of attack for more than a month as Obama gave mixed signals about events in Egypt and Libya. But the "weak leader" charge gained traction last weekend as Obama chose to launch the attack on Moammar Gadhafi's forces while on an excellent adventure with his family in South America.

At about the moment the Tomahawk missiles began to rain down on Libya, Obama was joking with Brazilians about Carnival, the World Cup, and the Olympics. Rather than an Oval Office address announcing the new war, Americans got word from the president in a scratchy audio recording. As warheads pounded Libyan forces, Obama was kicking a soccer ball, seeing the sights, and watching cowboys in sequins.

It was perilously close to George W. Bush's "The Pet Goat" moment, when he continued reading a children's storybook after being told the second World Trade Center tower had been hit. Bush later said he was trying to maintain calm. Likewise, White House officials tell me the decision to proceed with the South America trip was made in part to convey that the Libya bombardment was not a major military action.

Weak or stubborn?
Obama administration officials calculated that he would take a hit. But they appear to have been surprised by the force of the weakling complaint, coming not just from usual suspects such as Karl Rove, but from liberals such as my Washington Post colleague Richard Cohen, who saw Obama "quite literally distancing himself from the consequences of his own policy."
My own sense, based on years of Obamology and confirmed by discussions with current and former Obama advisers, is that Obama's decision to proceed with spring break in Rio comes less from weakness than from stubbornness. Since his earliest days on the campaign trail in Iowa, he has made clear his aversion to the flavor-of-the-day news cycle, instead measuring his progress toward a few broad-brush goals. If something - such as the uprisings in the Middle East - doesn't fit unambiguously within his big goals, his instinct is to brush it off.

"I know everybody here is on a 24-hour news cycle," he told reporters once. "I'm not. OK?"

Laser focus
This worked to his benefit during the campaign, when he kept his focus on electoral mechanics rather than the vagaries of his opponents' attacks. But his broad brushes have not always served him well in the presidency, as when his laser focus on health care left voters with the sense that he didn't care about unemployment. He lost the House, and with it the rest of his agenda.

The attack on Libya presented the toughest test yet of Obama's defiance of the news cycle. In a USA Today op-ed before his departure, Obama wrote that while the Middle East is important, he was going to Latin America because "our top priority has to be creating and sustaining new jobs and new opportunities."

The administration officials I spoke with argued that this was a sign of strong leadership. "To abandon course at every moment of pundit criticism is not strength," said one of the president's top advisers. They pointed to polls showing most Americans continue to regard Obama as a strong leader, and they argued that, beyond Washington, headlines from Obama's trip justified his strategy. ("Obama's trip to Brazil key to N.J. businesses," reported North Jersey's Record.)

But the White House is also discovering the perils of broad-brush leadership. The latest Washington Post/ABC News poll found that when Americans were asked who is taking "a stronger leadership role," Republicans had a seven-point advantage over Obama; three months ago, Obama had a narrow lead.

The White House justifiably complains that the criticism of Obama's Libya policy has been inconsistent: First he was too slow to take action, and now he's rushing to attack without congressional approval - even though Congress is on its own 10-day spring break.

But it doesn't matter if the criticism is fair. Obama left a vacuum, and his opponents filled it. For a president suddenly called "weak," such is the tyranny of the news cycle." [Source]

O, I have to agree with Dana Milbank: You are acting as if A-merry-ca still loves you. She does not. You were the flavor of a November month when A-merry-cans were being...well, A-merry-cans. This is, after all, the country that made "Snooki" famous. If you want to win in this country, you have to get out in front of the story. Do not let the story get in front of you. Do not give your political opponents an opening so that they can create their own story.

We all know that if you were a republican president the wingnuts would be calling you a hero. We all know that the pretzel- logic they are using to say that you were wrong to join the UN and other countries (such as the African Union) to attack Libya is laughably ludicrous. But this is politics in A-merry-ca. This is what you came from, so you have to deal with it. I just wonder why no one in your inner circle told you this before

BTW, in the future, you might want to work on your soccer skills before you go kicking a soccer ball with a bunch of Brazilian kids. They are kind of good at that game.

There is that word again, and Andrew gets dumped.

"In 2007, I used a word I should have never used,'' Murray wrote. " "Minutes after saying it, I apologized to my co-workers and subordinates. Eventually, I received a very strong reprimand from my supervisor. To this day, I have the deepest regret for the incident and the pain I may have caused others. I ask the African-American community and all communities who suffer with the ugliness of bigotry to accept my sincerest apology. I pray for healing and forgiveness from those I have offended as we move toward a new chapter and forever close the old.''

Oh Lawd! That was yet another white person in A-merry-ca having to apologize because they were caught saying the word Nigger..... publicly.

Here is the story of Broward County school board member, Ann Murray, and her little slip of the tongue which happened to be overheard by some of you Negroes a few years back. Relax Ms. Murray. I know that black folks are calling for your resignation, but I say keep on doing what you are doing. You just happened to slip up.... publicly; that's all.

Finally, I see that The Huffington Post has caved in to the pressure from you black folks and dumped Andrew Pop-Tart from their front page. Hmmm, wasn't it just a few days ago that they said this?:

"From the beginning, The Huffington Post has welcomed voices from all sides of the political spectrum, including conservatives such as Newt Gingrich, Frank Luntz, Tom Coburn, Laura Ingraham, Bob Barr, George Pataki, David Frum, Byron York, Mary Matalin, and Ken Blackwell. The idea being that dialogue -- from a wide range of perspectives -- is preferable to silence. The fact that Andrew Breitbart’s first post on our site drew over 1,635 comments, conducted in a civil manner, seems to validate the premise and the decision to publish his blog post. " [Source]

I swear that you just don't know who to trust these days.

Thank you Mrs. Lacks!

Life can be so unfair at times. I was thinking that while listening to Rebecca Skloot talk about her book, "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks", this evening. (Shout out to Michael Smerconish for featuring this author on his radio show. BTW Mike, I am still waiting for my check. You can't just steal a brother's logo and not break him off with something.)

So here is the story: Mrs. Lacks visits Johns Hopkins Medical Center (The "colored" section. It was, after all, 1951.) after experiencing pain in the area of her cervix. She was later diagnosed with cervical cancer. During her treatment doctors removed samples of her tumor for research purposes. (Without her knowledge or permission.) The cells from the tumor would eventually become the "He La immortal cell line" which is a very important and often used cell line in biomedical research.

Mrs. Lacks' cells were special, because, unlike no other cells before, they could be kept alive and even grow. Here is a quote from Wiki:

"..Demand for the HeLa cells quickly grew. Since they were put into mass production, Henrietta's cells have been mailed to scientists around the globe for "research into cancer, AIDS, the effects of radiation and toxic substances, gene mapping, and countless other scientific pursuits".[11] HeLa cells have been used to test human sensitivity to tape, glue, cosmetics, and many other products.[1] Scientists have grown some 20 tons of her cells.[1][15]

Doctors still have not discovered the reason for HeLa cells' unique vigor, but suspect that it is due to altered telomerase function. There are almost 11,000 patents involving HeLa cells.[1]

In the early 1970s, the family started getting calls from researchers who wanted blood samples from them to learn the family's genetics (eye colours, hair colours, and genetic connections). The family wondered why and this is when they learned about the removal of Henrietta's cells. No one else in the family had the traits that made her cells unique .."

That's all great, and, by all accounts, billions of dollars have been made by bio research companies thanks to this woman's unique cells. Now she is getting all kinds of posthumous recognition, and a movie by Oprah is in the works. The irony is, of course, that her family remains poor. And they cannot even afford to get health coverage today for their own ailments.

This quote from Ruth Faden in the Baltimore Sun is on the money:

"The contrast is stunning between the well-endowed world of biomedical research and the situation of the Lacks family, and it contributes to our unease about the inequities in our society generally, but especially when it comes to health care."

Folks, I hope that the next time you hear a wingnut ranting about "Obamacare" you will think of Mrs. Lacks.

DWB. (Marc's "Skippy" Gates moment)

I can't comment on the next story I am about to post for you (professional reasons), but I would like you to read it and tell me what you think. It involves Marc Lamont Hill, (the FAUX NEWS pundit and college professor) and a little DWB encounter he had, recently. I will give you his account and then a police officer's angry letter regarding the incident.

"ON JUNE 12, 2010, while dropping a friend off at his house in Logan, I was pulled over by two uniformed Philadelphia police officers.

Although the stop made no sense to me - I had literally done nothing but let a friend out of the car and proceeded to the next stop sign - I used survival tactics that many black people are trained to use when pulled over by a police officer.

As the patrolmen approached me with their hands gripping their guns, their anxiety was contagious. Still, I remembered to keep both hands on the steering wheel, answer all questions and make no sudden movements.

Most important, I silently prayed that I would make it home that night alive. After all, for blacks, our behavior does not merely determine whether we get a ticket or a verbal warning. It determines whether we live or die.

Despite my adherence to the unofficial rules of traffic stops, Officer Richard DeCoatsworth - the Latino cop hailed as a hero after he was shot in the face in 2007 while on duty and who sat next to first lady Michelle Obama during a presidential address - refused to let up. Without warning, he reached into the car and began feeling my left and right pockets, as I recounted in a federal civil-rights lawsuit filed last October.

He asked if I had a weapons permit, and I explained that I wasn't carrying a weapon. He then placed his hand back on his gun and ordered me to "shut up and answer the question."

Things only got worse from there.

By the end of the stop, I had been forced out of my car and subjected to a search of my body without probable cause and a search of every part of my BMW except for the trunk. I was subjected to unnecessary physical force, threats of being put in jail and a series of condescending questions like, "How can you afford this car?" and "Why are you on this side of Broad Street?"

In fact, it wasn't until the policeman discovered that I was a college professor and media pundit that he changed his tune, allowing me to go home without a citation and ordering me, without any sense of irony, to "have a good night."

The reason that I was stopped, you ask? "Illegal discharge of a passenger."

Right.

Within a week of my ordeal with the police, I filed a complaint with Internal Affairs and filed the lawsuit in federal court, which the city quickly settled. Although I fully expected a range of responses to the suit - this is Philly, after all - I was genuinely surprised by what I heard.

Cynical talking heads said that this was nothing but a publicity stunt, a plea for public attention. This was a curious claim to me, since I have turned down every local and national interview request on the topic not only to avoid this kind of accusation but also to ensure that this matter was handled seriously in a court of law, not in the court of public opinion. I only want to hold the police accountable for their actions.

Local radio personalities point to my support for Mumia Abu-Jamal as evidence that I hate police. Do I think Abu-Jamal received an unfair trial? Yes. Do I dislike the police? No. Hell, after everything he did to me that night, I don't even dislike DeCoatsworth.

A better question might be why he seemed to hate me so much.

So why did I sue the police?

This is bigger than me and Officer DeCoatsworth. I did it for the thousands of black men in Philadelphia and other cities around the country who are victims of repressive (and illegal) law-enforcement policies like Mayor Nutter's "Stop and Frisk" program, which trades our constitutional rights for the illusion of public (read: white) safety.

I did it for the voiceless black citizens whose truthful claims of police misconduct - by officers of all races - go unnoticed and unaddressed because they don't have fancy degrees or media access. Instead, they have to accept the banality of evil, the normalcy of a world in which black bodies automatically constitute reasonable suspicion and warrant the use of lethal force.

I did it to help spark a different conversation about the relationships between police and the communities they patrol. While it is important to think about issues like "driving while black," we must also address the more fundamental issue of "patrolling while racist."

While it is easy to label Islamist radicals as "terrorists," we must also be willing to use the "T-word" when describing the feeling that poor black and brown people get whenever those blue lights flash behind them, even if they didn't commit a crime.

I did it for the dozens of police officers, some of them very high ranking, who have sent me e-mails and stopped me on the street to thank me for challenging conduct that makes their attempts at honest law enforcement more difficult.

Since the incident, I've thought about DeCoatsworth. I've wondered if he regretted that night, wishing he could take back his actions now that he has been afforded the luxury of time and reflection. I've wondered whether his tragic shooting has put him in a permanent state of trauma, causing him to find danger where there is none. I've wondered if he was a good cop at heart, who became cynical and overly aggressive after spending a few short years trying to navigate a broken system. I've even hesitantly wondered if we could sit down and discuss our differences, allowing us to move in a new direction of growth and healing.

I got the answer to my last question a few weeks ago, as I bumped into Officer DeCoatsworth at a gas station at 22nd and Walnut streets. I was sitting in my car as he walked by in plain clothes, looking much smaller and less confident without his uniform and handgun. He stopped dead in front of my car and glared at me. I made eye contact and nodded, in an effort to break the tension and offer a nonverbal olive branch. He turned his head and walked a few feet away from me. He then stopped, turned back toward me and spit in my direction. He shot me a look of cold rage that sent me back to that chilly night last summer.

So much for growth and healing."

Please read this response from a police officer. Because, unlike Marc's [sometime] employer, I believe in being "fair and balanced".

Today it's the Asians in the library, tomorrow it's black churches.

We have all seen the video by now of that UCLA student going all right wing on Asians for talking on their cell phones in the college library. Poor Missy, here she thought she was being funny and cute by making fun of another race, and it has led to death threats and damn near an international incident. You A-merry-cans are so sensitive on matters of race....

The poor chile has even left school because of it. I guess she couldn't live with the pressure, and she fears for her safety. She couldn't have picked a worse school for her Anti Asian rant. Ripping Asians at UCLA is like ripping black folks while you are a student at Howard. OK, that's a bit much, but you get the picture: There are a lot of Asian students at UCLA. Hey, at least UCLA didn't give her the boot. And, quite frankly, they shouldn't have. I believe in free speech in this instance, no matter how ignorant girlfriend sounded. Let's chalk this one up to another one of those "teachable moments" on race relations in A-merry-ca.

Let's just hope she chooses a more homogeneous school this time. I am sure that Bob Jones University would love to have her.

So now I leave Alexandria Wallace, and segue to my man, Michael Jacques. [In pic.] Alexandria, Michael Jacques is what you could become if you are not careful.

"SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - A federal prosecutor told a jury Monday that a man and two friends were racists so upset when Barack Obama was elected president in 2008 that they burned down a predominantly African-American church just hours after the voting ended.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Smyth gave his opening argument on the first day of the trial of Michael Jacques, 26, in U.S. District Court.

"We are here today because of racism," Smyth told the 16 jurors, including four alternates. "We are here today because of the depth of their intolerance..."

Jacques and two co-defendants, Benjamin Haskell and Thomas Gleason, were charged with using gasoline to set the Macedonia Church of God in Christ in Springfield on fire in the early morning hours of Nov. 5, 2008. The building was under construction at the time. A few firefighters were injured, but recovered.

Authorities say all three men, who are white, confessed to setting the fire. Haskell, 24, of Springfield, pleaded guilty to civil rights charges and was sentenced in November to nine years in prison. Gleason, 23, who lives on the same street as the church, pleaded guilty last year, awaits sentencing and will be testifying against Jacques.

Smyth said Jacques and his friends frequently used racial epithets to describe blacks. The prosecutor said Jacques and Haskell trained a dog to "get" black people, and Jacques was upset that his sister was having a baby with her African-American boyfriend and didn't want a black child in his house.

Levinson told jurors that they will hear bad things about Jacques, but that doesn't mean he set the fire....

"You're going to hear a lot of things about him that you're not going to like," she said. "You've got to keep in mind that Michael Jacques is charged with the crime of arson, basically. He's not charged with being an all-around bad person." [Story]

Of course not. I bet he didn't go to college. There is nothing worse than an uneducated racist.

How to hunt illegals.

Today I was reading my local paper, and I had a WTF? moment after reading this:

"Here in Washington, the immigration debate is in a stalemate. But in Kansas, there has been a breakthrough.

This striking achievement came about last week during a meeting of the Kansas House Appropriations Committee on efforts to shoot feral swine from helicopters. Republican State Rep. Virgil Peck suddenly had an idea.

"Looks like to me if shooting these immigrating feral hogs works," he commented, according to a recording posted by the Lawrence Journal-World, "maybe we have found a [solution] to our illegal-immigration problem."

Brilliant! Shooting immigrants from helicopter gunships! Why didn't they think of that in Congress?

There are a few logistical problems with Peck's idea, including the fact that Kansas isn't a border state. But maybe Oklahoma and Texas will grant overflight rights for immigrant-hunting sorties.

Peck, the Republican caucus chairman for the state House, later suggested his brainstorm was a joke, although he also defended himself: 'I was just speaking like a southeast Kansas person.' [Yeah, right!]

Kansans may be surprised to learn that the immigrant-shooting idea was offered in their names. But they wouldn't be the only Americans getting unwelcome news from their state legislators now that many tea party types have come to power..." [Article]

Folks, in the future, -and for the sake of the Republic- please be careful who you vote for when selecting our lawmakers. For starters, you might want to right off anyone with the name, Virgil.

Finally, it looks like it's not only those evil Muslims who believe in stoning people to death. Apparently "good" suburban kids do as well.

Mr. Gaddafi, assez c'est assez!

Somewhere in Libya there is a dude with some f*&^%* up shades and a botched plastic surgery job humming the words to that Gap Band song from back in the day. Yes, "You Dropped A Bomb on Me", would be apropos for my man Muammar right about now.

Europe and the folks in the Arab League are saying enough. Gaddafi's people have risen up against him, and damn near everyone in the Arab world has agreed that he has to go.

There is now a 600 -plus- square mile no fly zone over Libya, and the French are showing that they can do more than just cook.

Of course, over on the right, the wingnuts are in an apoplectic state, because their hatred of O is so great and they cannot find enough missteps on his part to make political hay over this crisis. Over on Radio Rwanda it's comical to see how hard they are trying to come up with different ways that O has botched the Libyan crisis. Of course, to us sane folks watching all of this play out; there is none.

O has played this just right. American troops are not on the ground in Libya (not that we know of) and the A-merry-cans are off the coast of Libya offering logistical support as the French fly sorties over Libya. Gaddafi has reneged on his cease fire promise, declared a UN Security Council resolution invalid, and now it's Gap Band time.

To his credit, unlike another president who can be identified with just a letter, O did not go in unilaterally, he went to the UN and made sure that coalition forces acted together. Unlike the wingnuts who have been calling for the bombing of Libya by US forces from day one, (shocking)he has acted with restraint and has done a masterful dance on a diplomatic tightrope. So far. This, of course, comes with political risks for O. The left is not pleased, and who knows where this conflict will be a few months down the line? What if Gadaffi hangs on and drags this thing out? What if there is a civil war raging in Libya a year from now? What then?

But could the US have stood by and watch the slaughter of a half a million people take place in Benghazi , while the French, British, and others act? I don't think so.

The truth is, no one really knows the political end- game in Libya. And, if they say that they do, they are lying. Who will take over once Gaddafi is gone? There are a lot of tribes in Libya; who will keep the peace? As is often the case in the Middle East, these answers will not come easy.

So, as I write this, there are American troops on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan. And, like all of you reading this, I am hoping that wars don't come in threes.

Beef!

Oh Lawd! What is wrong with you Negroes? Now Dr. Huxtable and Mr. Def Jam himself are beefing with each other. I thought that beefs were limited to certain young bucks in our race.

"Just when you thought Russell Simmons had the last word stemming from his 2009 verbal attack towards Bill Cosby, think again.

The Def Jam Records cofounder leveraged his Global Grind platform to inform the masses of his most recent encounter with the renowned comedian, philanthropist and activist during last week's Jackie Robinson Awards gala.

During the event, which honored hip-hop mogul Sean 'Diddy' Combs with the Renaissance Man of the Decade award, Simmons attempted to make amends with the Emmy Award-winning comedy icon by apologizing for his criticism. His effort was met with a scathing response.

"I wanted to find him to apologize, to tell him I was sorry about my statements and to tell him that I loved him," Simmons explained. "Suddenly, I turned and he was behind the curtain and I said, 'I love you,' and he responded on some real hip-hop, 'Get the f*ck out my face!' "

The Philadelphia native has made it quite clear not to confuse him with Cliff Huxtable.." [Source]

Come on now Cos. Why did you have to go all North Philly on my man? He was trying to make nice. Don't you preach against this type of behavior? We should be setting examples, not calling out hip hop moguls back stage.

Finally, I know that you Negroes love your cable. But.... this is going a bit too far.

She does not like green ties.....

I am watching "March Madness" and it's Maaaad. Two of my teams I had going deep in the tourney already got knocked out. I am glad I don't gamble for a living. --Mrs. Field would have to live in her car.--

Anywhoo, it's St. Patrick's Day, and I have an interesting anecdote to pass on to you.

Today, as I always do on St. Patrick's Day, I wore a green tie to work. It wasn't exactly in sync with my sartorial senses but I went with it. (I will explain why later.)

So I am out at lunch and I recognize a female friend of mine who was out with one of her friends. I didn't know the other young lady so she introduced us. After we exchanged pleasantries girlfriend asked me me if I was Irish. I explained that I was not (duh!), but my wonderful assistant who the city was kind enough to assign to me almost ten years ago is Irish. And so, out of respect for her culture, I usually wear a green tie on this particular day. Girlfriend gave me a whatever look and I immediately started looking around for the "Drop Squad."

"Why, a black man can't wear green on St. Patrick's Day?" I asked half jokingly. "Not if he isn't Irish", she said. Girlfriend was as serious as any "Drop Squad" wannabe could be. Our mutual friend jumped in and tried to save the day with a comment or two, but it was too late, the APB was already out for me. We said our good byes, and after one last stare-down from Ms. "Drop Squad" I was ghost.

Now, here is the thing; in some ways I understand where girlfriend is coming from, and, if it wasn't for my relationship with my assistant, I probably wouldn't be recognizing St. Patrick's Day by wearing green. But life isn't always about a culture or a race at large, sometimes it's about individuals, and individual relationships. Girlfriend thought I was selling out by wearing green, and even after I explained why, she still wasn't buying it. Too bad for her. She clearly didn't understand my relationship with my assistant, and, to be honest, I didn't expect her to. No harm no foul. She will live with her perceptions and life goes on.

Still, I wonder if she celebrates Christmas, or the 4th of July. Or, for that matter, Valentine's Day? I am betting that she does. But yet she took the time to sweat a brotha in a green tie. *shaking head*

Help me out fam. was girlfriend being a bit too sensitive or should I drop the green next year?

The man "doth protest too much".

OK Grant and Jalen, enough already. Grant, did you really have to write a response (in the New York Times of all places) to Jalen's comments? Come on brother, methinks you are a bit too sensitive.

"..it was a sad and somewhat pathetic turn of events, therefore, to see friends narrating this interesting documentary about their moment in time and calling me a bitch and worse, calling all black players at Duke “Uncle Toms” and, to some degree, disparaging my parents for their education, work ethic and commitment to each other and to me. I should have guessed there was something regrettable in the documentary when I received a Twitter apology from Jalen before its premiere. I am aware Jalen has gone to some length to explain his remarks about my family in numerous interviews, so I believe he has some admiration for them.

In his garbled but sweeping comment that Duke recruits only “black players that were ‘Uncle Toms,’ ” Jalen seems to change the usual meaning of those very vitriolic words into his own meaning, i.e., blacks from two-parent, middle-class families. He leaves us all guessing exactly what he believes today.

I am beyond fortunate to have two parents who are still working well into their 60s. They received great educations and use them every day. My parents taught me a personal ethic I try to live by and pass on to my children.

I come from a strong legacy of black Americans. My namesake, Henry Hill, my father’s father, was a day laborer in Baltimore. He could not read or write until he was taught to do so by my grandmother. His first present to my dad was a set of encyclopedias, which I now have. He wanted his only child, my father, to have a good education, so he made numerous sacrifices to see that he got an education, including attending Yale.

This is part of our great tradition as black Americans. We aspire for the best or better for our children and work hard to make that happen for them. Jalen’s mother is part of our great black tradition and made the same sacrifices for him.

My teammates at Duke — all of them, black and white — were a band of brothers who came together to play at the highest level for the best coach in basketball. I know most of the black players who preceded and followed me at Duke. They all contribute to our tradition of excellence on the court.

It is insulting and ignorant to suggest that men like Johnny Dawkins (coach at Stanford), Tommy Amaker (coach at Harvard), Billy King (general manager of the Nets), Tony Lang (coach of the Mitsubishi Diamond Dolphins in Japan), Thomas Hill (small-business owner in Texas), Jeff Capel (former coach at Oklahoma and Virginia Commonwealth), Kenny Blakeney (assistant coach at Harvard), Jay Williams (ESPN analyst), Shane Battier (Memphis Grizzlies) and Chris Duhon (Orlando Magic) ever sold out their race." [Article]

Grant, I am going to have to disagree with one person on your list: Billy King. I will leave it at that. But those of you from Philly will know what I am talking about... Still, we get it, you had to defend your family's honor. You also had to defend yourself against accusations of jigging your way through Duke. I defended you last night, (BTW, in that article I referred to Hubert Davis as a Dukie. To all of you Tar heel fans out there, I offer my sincerest apology.) but I cannot defend your response. The whole New York Times thing kind of feels like overkill. I sure hope Coach K didn't give you a call and asked you to pen something. After all, it's not good for recruiting to have even well "polished" young men thinking twice about your school because other folks in their community view it in a negative light.

Finally, I see that a republiclown up in New York has a great idea about how to get you Negroes working again:

"BUFFALO – Jack Davis a congressional candidate caused controversy by saying that Latinos should be deported and African Americans should be bused to farms to pick crops.

Buffalo News reports:

Several sources who were in the Feb. 20 endorsement interview with Davis confirmed his comments, which echo those he made to the Tonawanda News in 2008, when he said: “We have a huge unemployment problem with black youth in our cities. Put them on buses, take them out there [to the farms] and pay them a decent wage; they will work.”' [Source]

Of course they will Mr. Davis. It's not like we aren't going to pay them this time.

Megyn Kelly hates Adrian Peterson and all other ungrateful Negroes.

I am still waiting for the wingnuts and the FOX NEWS folks to blame the tsunami in Japan on Obama. Don't laugh, I am sure it's coming.

Speaking of FOX, Megyn (maybe if I hike my skirt up a little more and show my legs folks won't pay attention to how dumb I sound) Kelly is at it again with her own -reverse- racism chasing. (I swear that woman got burned by a one of you Negroes earlier in her life.) The latest news event pushing her color arousal buttons (h/t to Francis Holland for that phrase) is the police exam case in Dayton, Ohio.

I will give it to you from a wingnut perspective:

"DAYTON — The Dayton Police Department is lowering its testing standards for recruits.

It’s a move required by the U.S. Department of Justice after it says not enough African-Americans passed the exam.

Dayton is in desperate need of officers to replace dozens of retirees. The hiring process was postponed for months because the D.O.J. rejected the original scores provided by the Dayton Civil Service Board, which administers the test.

Under the previous requirements, candidates had to get a 66% on part one of the exam and a 72% on part two.

The D.O.J. approved new scoring policy only requires potential police officers to get a 58% and a 63%. That’s the equivalent of an ‘F’ and a ‘D’.

“It becomes a safety issue for the people of our community,” said Dayton Fraternal Order of Police President, Randy Beane. “It becomes a safety issue to have an incompetent officer next to you in a life and death situation.”

“The NAACP does not support individuals failing a test and then having the opportunity to be gainfully employed,” agreed Dayton NAACP President Derrick Foward.

The D.O.J. and Civil Service Board declined Dayton’s News Source’s repeat requests for interviews. The lower standards mean 258 more people passed the test. The city won’t say how many were minorities.

“If you lower the score for any group of people, you’re not getting the best qualified people for the job,” Foward said.

“We need to work with the youth and make them interested in becoming law enforcement officers and firefighters,” said Beane. “Break down the barriers whether they are real or perceived, so we can move forward in this community.”

The D.O.J. has forced other police departments across the country to lower testing standards, citing once again that not enough black candidates were passing..." [Wingnut source]

Ahhm, excuse me, but since when is 66% or 72% a great score? Look, I hate to break it you folks in the majority who are losing your minds because some blacks folks who aren't exactly Mensa candidates might get on a police force. But the last time I checked, police officers aren't exactly the type of folks in classrooms trying to figure out what is the geometrical meaning of the central extension of the algebra of diffeomorphisms of the circle, or the "Riemann Hypothesis". Sorry, they just aren't. Call me crazy, but I want my police officer to be able to work their sources, be street smart enough to handle themselves in tough situations, and know the law as it applies to their jobs. That's pretty much it.

So move along Megyn, there is nothing to see here. Time to start working your New Black Panther sources again.

Finally, last night it was Jalen Rose, tonight it's my man Adrian Peterson. America is mad at another one of you high paid high profile Negroes for not being happy with your station in life here in the land of the (some are) free. Adrian, you done went and compared yourself to a slave, and, as is to be expected, like Jalen, you are facing a backlash.

Here is an example from the Shutdown Corner sports blog on Yahoo:

"tell that knuckle dragger to go get a job like us........that stupid coon can afford all the fried chicken he wants while all the other apes have top rob for there fried chicken". Nice.

Adrian, let me leave you with one of my favorite sayings. And think about it the next time you want to speak your mind. (Which, by the way, you have every right to do.)

"There is nothing a white man with a penny hates more than a N*&&%r with a nickel."

Duke's "Uncle Tom" problem.

It's "March Madness" time so this next post is timely.

Let me start by saying that I cannot stand Duke basketball. I hate Coach K and that weasel look he gives the refs when he doesn't get a call. I hate the way they slap their hands on the court before they go into defensive position. I hate those obnoxious fans known as the "Cameron Crazies", I can't stand the way they get their pick of McDonald's All Americans every year, and I hate seeing those four letters on their chests which reminds me of a certain racist I destroyed in a debate once. Having said that; I have to disagree with my man, Jalen Rose.

In case you have been on a different planet, or you don't happen to be a sports fan, Rose ripped the African American kids who go to Duke and called them "Uncle Toms", while he was promoting his excellent documentary about the "Fab Five" on ESPN.

“For me, Duke was personal. I hated Duke. And I hated everything I felt Duke stood for. Schools like Duke didn’t recruit players like me. I felt like they only recruited black players that were Uncle Toms.”

He later tried to clarify his position. Kind of.

“Well, certain schools recruit a typical kind of player whether the world admits it or not. And Duke is one of those schools,” he said. “They recruit black players from polished families, accomplished families. And that’s fine. That’s okay. But when you’re an inner-city kid playing in a public school league, you know that certain schools aren’t going to recruit you. That’s one. And I’m okay with it. That’s how I felt as an 18-year-old kid.” [Source]

I love the fact that Jalen is speaking his mind, and the fact that he is addressing the R word in a public forum here in A-merry-ca. (Nothing drives A-merry-cans crazy like the dreaded R word. Watch how some folks go a litte nutty over his comments. ) I just hope he gets to keep his job. Having said that, he really needs to read my Field Negro 101 post. The fact that a kid happens to be from an "accomplished" or "polished" family does not make him an Uncle Tom or a House Negro. Being a House Negro or a Tom has nothing to do with your level of education or your wealth. It's a state of mind. Some of the poorest and most uneducated Negroes have a serious Tom and House mentality. I happen to like Grant Hill. The same goes for guys like Elton Brand, (who has a wonderful wife and does great work with charities here in Philly.) Chris Duhon, Hubert Davis, and Tommy Amaker. They are all "Dukies", but they are cool with me. Nothing about those guys say Tom or House. The truth is, I grew up with more cats like Grant Hill than Jalen Rose, and I am always in a field state of mind. The same is true for quite a few people that I know, and their station in life has nothing to do with it.

Still, in a way, -like some other people- I understand the context in which Rose was making his statement, but we have to be careful not to reinforce ignorant stereotypes when we speak. ---especially when we are public figures like Jalen Rose. Some will take what Rose said this way: To be really black and have your black card, you have to come from a broken home, make poor grades, and grow up in an impoverished environment. That is wrong.

It sure would have been cool if Duke had recruited Rose and he turned them down to go to Michigan. Because that would have meant that he passed all the academic requirements to get into Duke but simply chose not to go. This sounds like sour grapes because he didn't make the grades in the first place.

In the days to come Rose will be vilified by some in certain quarters, (Read some of the comments after the links I gave you.) and that is unfortunate. He simply spoke his mind and said how he felt. I disagree with him, but I am glad he was honest.

I just hope that in the days to come we will be able to say the same of his critics.

Finally, sticking to the sports theme; congrats to the Philly Youth polo team (featured on my side-bar) and their coach, Lezlie Hiner, for wining the USPA Championship down in Virginia this past weekend. That is serious field Negro behavior. Oh, and it gets better: one of the players on the team will be heading to Cornell in the fall.

Leave him alone Jalen. It's Cornell, not Duke.

A sudden destruction.

"may ruin overtake them by surprise--may the net they hid entangle them, may they fall into the pit, to their ruin." I think that's from the book of Psalms. Chapter 35 or thereabouts. (One of my religious friends might want to confirm that for me.) In the song "Rat Race", Bob Marley sang about meeting up with a sudden destruction when you thought you were safe. I bet Bob got some of his lyrics from the book of Psalms in the Bible. The Rastafarian loves to quote from the book of Psalms. But I digress.

So anyway, the people of Japan are probably feeling like that scripture from the good book was meant for them right about now. It is now believed that over 10,000.00 people are dead and we still have a very serious nuclear threat on our hands. (Yes, our, as in all of us.) I think "Mother Nature" made her point: Don't *&^% with me! OK, but what are we supposed to do? It's not like we have anywhere else to go. Honestly, if you ask me; I think "Mother Nature" is a terrorist. She killed over 300,000 in Haiti a little over a year ago, and now this. The thing is, though, I am not too sure of her political leanings, or her agenda. If she does have one, I hope that I am on her side. This sudden destruction stuff is not cool.

Finally, speaking of terrorist, I see that we are still rounding up terrorist here in A-merry-ca who would do harm to our government and government officials. I am so glad for those Muslim hearings with Peter King. I think they might have actually done some good.

"Several members of a separatist Alaska militia have been arrested in an alleged plot to kidnap and kill judges and state troopers. Now the political associations of the group’s leader are coming to light ...Cox, 26, is a self-described “sovereign citizen” – whose adherents believe they are not subject to laws they do not wish to obey, and that judges, juries and police have no authority over them. Militia groups like Cox’s are said to draw inspiration from the Turner Diaries, which also influenced Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh. The prior warrant charged that Cox failed to notify police that he had a concealed weapon when they responded to his home.

More about Cox’s group, via Reuters:

Cox and his associates had developed an extensive plan to launch their attacks, the troopers said in a statement.

They had already conducted extensive surveillance on Fairbanks-area troopers, locating the homes of two troopers, and acquired a large cache of weapons, some of them illegal, according to the statement.

According to prosecutors, the weapons amassed by the group included machine guns, multiple assault rifles, multiple pineapple grenades, at least one grenade launcher, dozens of high-powered rifles and pistols and thousands of rounds of ammunition.

The five are charged with conspiring to commit murder, kidnapping and arson, weapons misconduct, hindering prosecution and tampering with evidence, the troopers said. They were arrested late on Thursday without incident, the troopers said .." [Full story]

Oh wait, my bad, these weren't Muslims, they were wingnut separatist. No sudden destruction to fear from these guys, (Would a bullet from a sniper be considered sudden?) they are on our side.

Carry on.

The rebirth of Samuel Parris.

I want to believe that the Japanese are being on the up and up about those damaged reactors. I really do. Because if they are not, we might have some issues.

Anyway, Peter King conducted his modern day witch-hunt...I mean hearings, this past week, and here is a shock; like others, I don't feel any safer. (Gee, I wonder why?) Still, I am glad to see that the hearings didn't go as planned for Mr. King.

"Peter King didn't just outrage American Muslims on Thursday - he broke a grieving mom's heart.

Talat Hamdani, whose NYPD cadet son Salman was killed on 9/11, watched King's controversial hearing into the radicalization of U.S. Muslims with mounting fury.

'This is an indictment of the American Muslims,' she said. 'When 9/11 happened, I lost my son. ... And now, my country has been taken away from me.'

A Pakistani immigrant who grew up in Bayside, Queens, Mohammed Salman Hamdani perished while rescuing Sept. 11 victims, and his remains weren't found for six months.

During that time, the young cadet's reputation was smeared by speculation he was in cahoots with the terrorists simply because he was a Muslim. He was declared a hero posthumously.

'My son was investigated even after he gave the ultimate sacrifice,' Hamdani said, her eyes welling up with tears. "Until his remains were found.'

Hamdani scoffed at King's stated reason for a congressional hearing - that U.S. Muslims are doing too little to fight terrorism.

'Peter King - he lost the battle,' said Hamdani, who now lives in Suffolk County. 'He lost his battle.'

Hamdani spoke out after Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) - the first Muslim member of Congress - denounced King's hearing and broke down crying as he invoked the memory of Salman Hamdani.

'His life should not be defined as a member of an ethnic group or a member of a religion, but as an American who gave everything for his fellow citizens," he said, wiping his eyes.

Ellison's unexpectedly emotional testimony silenced the hearing room, but King appeared to be unmoved by his wrenching words.

King, who has been accused of mounting a witch hunt against Muslims, was on the offensive from the start.

'To back down would be a craven surrender to political correctness,' King declared. 'Despite what passes for conventional wisdom in certain circles, there is nothing radical or un-American in holding these hearings."' [Source]

No Peter, to "back down" would show that you have a shred of decency and that you care more about this country than your own selfish political ambitions. But you are a wingnut, so I know that would be asking for too much.

Ms. Hamdani, your son did give the "ultimate sacrifice", and I am sure that he loved his country more than Mr. King does.

Sometimes "mother nature" isn't so motherly.

My heart goes out to the folks in Japan. I know that they are used to natural disasters but that earthquake that hit and the tsunami that followed looks like some seriously scary stuff. The images on television looks more like a Roland Emmerich movie than an actual event. Shout out to my sister and her fam in Seattle. I am glad you all are alright. But keep an eye on those tsunami warnings, sis.

I am having Katrina flashbacks watching those poor souls on top of buildings. No power. Water all around them. And all they have is each other. Natural disasters can be b*&^%. Then, to make matters worse, some of their nuclear reactors have been shut down in wake of the disaster, and one of the the reactors still isn't cooling down like it should. OH LAWD! Could one of you smart people reassure me that there is nothing to worry about, please?

Anyway, I am not going to get political with this post, because this is all about the poor people of Japan. So....wait a minute, did the wingnuts just get political with this tragedy? Yes, I think they did. OK, since you started it; please read this link from 2009 about the possibility of more quakes and tsunamis thanks to....wait for it....wait for it... global warming.

Finally, I have to do a "WTF?" for city officials in Spokane, Washington:

"SPOKANE, Wash. – Three cleanup workers who were hailed as heroes after finding a live bomb along the route of a Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade said they later lost their temporary jobs after supervisors questioned their handling of the situation.

The men were employed by Labor Ready and doing temporary work for the Spokane Public Facilities District when they found a backpack containing the bomb about an hour before the scheduled start of the Jan. 17 parade.

They alerted police, who were able to defuse the device.

"For the first two days, basically all we did was get chewed out," worker Mark Steiner told Spokane television station KHQ. "We did this wrong. We did that wrong. I don't know what you consider calling 911 wrong after two minutes after we found it."

Steiner, Brandon Klaus and Sherman Welpton had been hired to perform cleanup work during the parade and noticed the backpack on an outdoor bench.

Stacey Burke, a spokeswoman for Labor Ready, said the men were performing contract work for the facilities district and remain eligible to get more work through the temporary employment service when they ask.

"They can still find employment through us," Burke said, adding they had done some work since the bomb was found.

This was the first time that Labor Ready workers had to deal with a live bomb in Spokane, Burke said.

Kevin Twohig, head of the public facilities district, told The Spokesman-Review that the three men "we're messing around with the bomb."

"I think they put themselves at more risk than they needed," Twohig said.

Burke said the men should not have picked up the backpack.

"I would not wish for them to pick up a backpack that has a bomb in it," she said. "I'm sure they didn't know what it was." [Source]

Hmmm, it kind of makes you wonder if those clowns in Spokane got mad because the workers did find the bomb. I am just sayin.

Men behaving badly.

Hey fellows, how many of you, to this day, cringe when you see a little bunny rabbit? Yeah, me too. Those "Fatal Attraction" flashbacks will do that to you. For those of us old enough to remember that flick, it changed our lives forever. No more mind games with the jump -offs.

Well, unfortunately, some of us didn't learn that lesson, and the results were tragic for the girlfriend of former Chicago Bear, Shaun Gayle. Do you remember this story?:

"The pregnant girlfriend of the former Chicago bears All-Pro safety Shaun Lanard Gayle, Rhoni Reuter(42), was found shot to death in her suburban Chicago apartment on Thursday, according to the local police. The Deerfield Police Department says that the body was found when neighbors called the police, after hearing screams coming from Reuter's apartment. Lake County coroner said she suffered multiple gunshot wounds and confirmed that Rhoni Reuter was pregnant. Police indicated that Shaun Gayle was the father of the unborn child, but he was not a suspect in the shooting. " [Story]

Well apparently the trial is on the way for the jump-off who shot and killed Rhoni Reuter.
It's not looking good for Gayle. Some are suggesting that he should share some responsibility for the death of his former girlfriend as well. Sadly, I am nut so sure you can argue with them.

"It is too bad that Shaun Gayle can’t be charged with something in the murder of his girlfriend Rhoni Reuter and the couple’s unborn child.

Marni Yang is currently on trial for allegedly shooting Reuter at her Deerfield home.

This is not an attempt to diminish Yang’s responsibility for Reuter’s death if she is found guilty.

But Gayle should bear some responsibility for the doggish behavior that led to this tragedy.

When Gayle initially was questioned about his relationship with Yang, a real estate agent who helped Gayle with real estate deals, he denied having more than a business relationship with the woman to the media.

I always thought Gayle was being less than honest about the relationship.

Because in order to believe that Yang killed Reuter in a fit of jealousy, and also believe Gayle’s contention that he had no romantic involvement with Yang, you would have to believe that Yang was delusional or bonkers.

Casual sex for him, but not for her

On Tuesday, Gayle testified that he had a casual sexual relationship with the woman, and confirmed that the night before the pregnant Reuter was killed, he had sex with her rival.

Sexual triangles always pose a risk for great harm because some women (and men) will go to great lengths to dispose of their rivals. We’ve seen too many instances in which the matter is settled by violence.

But this was the first time that I’d heard of a woman killing another woman over the affections of a man she had absolutely no sexual relationship with whatsoever.

Worse yet, defense lawyers claim that Gayle was seeing 18 or 19 different women at the time he was involved with Reuter." [Story]

Damn Shaun! "18 or 19" jump-offs? You clearly did not see "Fatal Attraction". Shaun, I have to agree with the writer; your behavior was inexcusable, and while you can't be charged criminally, I don't know how you will ever be able to live with yourself.

Finally, this story out of Cleveland, Texas has me troubled and shaking my head. I am sure you all of heard it by now. (Especially some of my white readers who switch back and forth from the fields to Stormfront.) As much as 18 men (and possibly more to come) ages 14-27 charged with sexually assaulting an 11 year old girl. This is not good. Everyone of the men charged looked like me, and the alleged victim was Hispanic. So, apparently, it being Texas, racial tensions are running high. The word is that the yo....-I won't even call her a young lady I will say child.- the child acted way older than her age, and she posted pictures of herself on Facebook doing things that 11 year old girls shouldn't be doing. But this is not an excuse. She is ELEVEN. I know that kids are looking more mature these days, but, again, she was ELEVEN. Had she been fifteen or sixteen I would have still called for the prosecution of those adults who allegedly assaulted her, but I would not have been as outraged.

I have been reading some blogs about this story, and they have written that folks are shying away from the gorilla in the room: race. Well I am not. I never do. If what the prosecutor alleges did in fact happen, every one of those young men should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Just as the perpetrators in the Dunbar Village assault should have. The fact that they all happened to be black doesn't matter to me.

Some of you parents need to do a better job with your kids, that's all. Especially your sons. I bet that somewhere out there Shaun Gayle's parents are nodding their heads.