Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Giving them (the press) his ass to kiss. And more news from post-racial America.

Mitt would have been better off skipping this European trip and vacationing in the beautiful mountains of Utah this summer. Honestly, it has been one misstep after another.

And now for the latest:

"WARSAW, Poland - A Mitt Romney spokesman reprimanded reporters traveling with the candidate on his six-day foreign trip, telling them to "kiss my a**" after they shouted questions from behind a rope line.

As Romney left the site of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Warsaw and walked toward his motorcade parked in Pilsudski Square, reporters began shouting questions from the line where campaign staffers had told them to stay behind, prompting traveling press secretary Rick Gorka to tell a group of reporters to "kiss my a**" and "shove it." 

Wait, it gets better:

Gorka told reporters answering questions to "show some respect."
"This is a holy site for the Polish people," he added.

"We haven't had another chance to ask a question," one reporter noted to Gorka.

Gorka told another journalist to "shove it."

Show some respect for a holy site of the Polish people yet you curse at a reporter on that very site?  Amazing! [Source]

Mitt, please come home, it's clear that you and your peeps aren't cut out for this traveling stuff.

Meanwhile, back here on the home front, the racism chase continues.

Did you hear the one about the dude who walks into a motel room in Ohio,  turns on the television, and gets a wonderful message on his television that says "Hello nigger"?  Yep, it really happened. (You Negroes need to stay out of places like Motel 6)

Anyway, my man did as he was taught; he called the NAACP. Good luck with those year long free stays at Motel 6 my brotha. [Source]

Did you hear the one about the guy in Florida (Where else?) who shot the black dude in the head and was upset because "he had only shot a nigger"?

"Today's egregious Florida gun crime comes to you from Port St. Joe, where police say 59-year-old Walton Henry Butler shot a man in the head last night, then sat down and ate dinner while the victim lay bleeding at his door. Police say he was upset because "he had only shot a nigger."
 
The victim, 32-year-old Everett Gant, had gone to Butler's apartment to confront him about calling a child a "nigger" and making "several racial remarks to the black children in the apartment complex," according to the police report. Butler allegedly responded by shooting him in the face with a .22-caliber rifle.
 
After Walt Butler shot Everett Gant he stated he shut the sliding glass door with Everett Gant lying outside the door, called 911 then funished cooking supper, sat at the kitchen table and began eating.
 
When Sheriff Nugent arrived on scene he made contact with Butler by phone. Butler told him to come in he was eating dinner and had put up the gun. Butler was sitting at the table and acted as if it was an inconvenienced [sic] when he was asked to stand up and handcuffs were put on. He said he did not understand the problem he had only shot a nigger." [Source] 
 
Maybe that dark meat on the ground was making him hungry.
 
Anyway, the "nigger" will live. So unfortunately for Mr. Butler, unlike Mr. Zimmerman, he won't have all his pals sending money to a website to help him make bail.
 
Welcome back home to your post-racial America, Mitt.
 
*Second pic from theGrio.
 
 
 
  
 
 
 





Monday, July 30, 2012

Mitt keeps stepping in it, and T.J. is a victim of DWB.

Mitt Romney is at it again. He raised over a million dollars at a fundraiser in Israel, but the real news from that meeting was his foot in mouth moment about the income disparity between the Israelis and Palestinians.

Mitt originally didn't want the press to attend the meeting, and now we can see why.

"Mitt Romney ended his trip to Israel on a controversial note, angering Palestinian officials by suggesting Israelis have been more economically successful because of their culture.

'As you come here and you see the GDP per capita, for instance, in Israel which is about $21,000 dollars, and compare that with the GDP per capita just across the areas managed by the Palestinian Authority, which is more like $10,000 per capita, you notice such a dramatically stark difference in economic vitality,' Romney told a group of Jewish donors at a Jerusalem fundraiser that netted more than $1 million for his campaign.

The Republican candidate told supporters he began noting "enormous disparities" between neighboring countries during his time in the business world and cited a 1998 book, "The Wealth and Poverty of Nations" by David Landes, which studied why some countries did better than others.

"He says if you could learn anything from the economic history of the world it's this: Culture makes all the difference,' Romney told supporters. 'And as I come here, and I look out over this city and consider the accomplishments of the people of this nation, I recognize the power of at least culture and a few other things."' [Source]

Yes, because we all know that those Jews just love money.

"The “culture” argument doesn’t merely imply that poorer economies somehow deserve their fate due to an inferior value system. It makes generalizations about the characters of both populations. Abraham Diskin, a political scientist professor from Tel Aviv pointed out, 'You can understand this remark in several ways. You can say it’s anti-Semitic. ‘Jews and money.’” [Source]

So culture is now the determinative factor in how much money we make or have? Hmmm, tell that to those Muslims in the UAE, Oman, or Kuwait. I suspect that natural resources has a lot to do with it as well.

Finally, Mrs. Field will be glued to the television for the next few minutes. T.J. Holmes, formerly of CNN and now BET, tweeted that he was pulled over for driving while black in Atlanta,("driving while black ain't no joke") and he is appearing on MSNBC to tell his story. This has to do with a lot of questions that have been going around about a post racial America, lately. Different folks have been weighing in on this issue, and the general consensus is that things have actually gotten worse on the race front since a certain beige guy took office in the White House.

"Former CNN anchor T.J. Holmes was pulled over a mile away from his Atlanta home Monday morning and quickly took to Twitter to document the entire ordeal.

The television personality tweeted a picture of a cop car in his side mirror with the caption "Driving while black ain't no joke."

Holmes did not mention that one of the officers who pulled him over was black.
The 34-year-old did say, however, that one of the officers, though he did not specify which, struggled to give an explanation for why he was pulled over.
"This is a damn shame. Officer is literally stumbling over his words trying to explain why he stopped me," Holmes tweeted.

Holmes returned to the micro-blogging site minutes later, telling his nearly 50,000 followers that the officer said he "wanted to make sure [Holmes] had insurance on the car." [Source]

When are folks going to learn that self- hating black folks (also known as slave catchers) can be worse than the man when it comes to stepping on the necks of us black folks?

Anyway, I hope that this is not a stunt by T.J. to promote his new show. Although I doubt than in this case it would be possible to do that. My man would have to have the Atlanta police department in on the scam with him, and I honestly don't think that would ever happen.

T.J. now says that he is having second thoughts about going public with his ordeal. He has been getting a lot of both positive and negative feedback, and he has been called a racist and the "the N word" for putting the po po on blast on  twitter.

Hang in there T.J., and remember, always keep your insurance card, registration papers, and driver's license close by.









Sunday, July 29, 2012

"Bomb,bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb Iran". The retrurn of the Neocons.

While we take some time to enjoy this summer's Olympics, I hope that we are also paying attention to the candidates running for president of these divided states of America as well. One in particular has been letting loose with some troubling rhetoric and pronouncements of late.

Mitt Romney, while standing on foreign soil, has declared that if he becomes president he will take this country to war with Iran to stop them from furthering their nuclear capabilities. Take some time to think about that for a minute. This is after one of his aides declared that Mr. Romney would back an Israeli military strike on Iran to thwart their nuclear enrichment program. Of course the very right wing Prime Minister of Israel agrees with him.

"Earlier, Netanyahu welcomed Romney as 'a representative of the United States' and told the Republican that he agrees with his approach to the Iranian nuclear threat.
"'Mitt, I couldn't agree with you more,' Netanyahu said.
'We have to be honest and say that all the sanctions and diplomacy so far have not set back the Iranian program by one iota. And that's why I believe that we need a strong and credible military threat coupled with the sanctions to have a chance to change that situation,' Netanyahu said."  

Mr. Netanyahu spent a lot of time around these parts (Graduated from Cheltenham High) and I have heard from some folks that are familiar with Benjamin that he had some issues even back then. First of all Benjamin, Mitt is not a "representative of the United States", he is simply a wealthy private citizen trying to become our president. But I digress.
The problem with Chickenhawks like Mitt Romney is that they have no idea how dangerous this type of rhetoric can be to the stability of the world, and particularly in the Middle East. Mitt said he wouldn't campaign on foreign soil, but this all about getting Jewish votes in the upcoming election and showing a contrast in his foreign policy style with Obama. By saying that an "Iran strike is on the table" if he becomes president, he is trying to show us that Obama has been president for almost four years and hasn't struck Iran as yet. What is he waiting for?
Well Mitt, he is waiting for the diplomatic type solutions such as economic sanctions to work, and from all appearances -with all due respect to Mr. Netanyahu and the Neocons in this country- it appears that they have been working.  
What is sad about all of this is that Mitt could ultimately become our president, and, if he does, we might wish for the days of W. I am not going to rip his personality like my man Brooklyn Bad Boy over at Kos, but everything about Mitt Romney should bother you. (We could start with the fact that that Dan Senor is his foreign policy point person.) And it should really bother you if you have a male loved one who would be deemed eligible to go to war for this country.

*Pic from Getty images 




        

  


Saturday, July 28, 2012

Bob Costas shows his ignorance, and the Wilsons of Mississippi need a wake up call.

I watched the opening ceremony of the Olympics last night and I am still pissed at Bob Costas for making mention of Idi Amin when the Ugandan athletes came out. Like WTF? That was ignorant and uncalled for and a guy like Costas should have known better. It goes to show just how ethnocentric some of these clueless folks can be.

Can you imagine some foreign reporter talking about Bull Connor, Jim Crow, Watergate, or the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki when the American athletes came out? Exactly.

Anywhoo, tonight I really want to post about that Negro couple down in Mississippi. I am sure you have all heard about it by now, they wanted to get married in a lily white Baptist church and some members of the congregation said no way.

I am going to write about it, but not from the perspective that you think. I expect this type of behavior from certain so called Christians, so there is nothing about this story that surprises me.

I am actually going to attack black with this post because some of you Negroes get on my last nerves. It's too easy to write about the obvious bigots in this story. Let's talk about you clueless Negroes who joined this church believing that you were going to be accepted as one of them.

I have a question for you two Negroes: Wasn't there a predominantly African American Baptist church in your area? Why didn't you get your Sunday morning worship on with those folks? And now we are supposed to feel sorry for you because these white folks gave you both their you know what to kiss? I don't think so.

"I feel like it was blatant racial discrimination," Prior to this, I had been telling people how nice they were here," Wilson said. "It makes you re-evaluate things. We were doing everything right. We wanted to get married."

Oh Negro please! Give me a break!

The beautiful thing about being a cynic when it comes to certain aspects of human behavior is that I will never be disappointed. The folks in Crystal Springs, Mississippi are doing exactly what I expected them to do.

"Wilson said he understands Weatherford was caught in a difficult position and he still likes the pastor, but he also thinks the pastor should have stood up to the members who didn't want the couple to marry in the church."

Mr. Wilson, there is a gentleman on line one for you; he says that he is from "The Drop Squad" and that you need to call him as soon as possible.




 
    

   

Friday, July 27, 2012

More blunders for Mitt, and the homophobic Chicken man.

Poor Mitt, he just couldn't wait to score political points after meeting with M16, the British version of the CIA. Rather than keep his mouth shut, (it was a secret meeting) Mitt just couldn't resist name dropping:

"I appreciated the insights and perspectives of the leaders of the government here and opposition here as well as the head of MI6,” Mr. Romney told reporters Thursday. “We discussed Syria and the hope for a more peaceful future for that country.” [Source]

Pssst, Mitt, you are not president just yet; there is the whole election thingy left to do. 

So anyway, some dude called me out on twitter today for saying that it was ironic that Boston, historically one of the most racist cities in America, was telling Chick- fil-A to stay out. He was also seemed pissed because I basically said that we can't dictate where folks set up their business as long as they are not breaking any laws. (BTW, if I was an elected politician in Chicago, I would be focusing on all the gun violence in that city right now, and not the narrow minded beliefs of a CEO.)  

But here is the thing; you don't have to patronize Chick- fil-A. I know a lot of you love those chicken sandwiches, but sometimes you have to make sacrifices for what you believe in.

I will personally miss their lemon meringue pies, but I won't be going back.
Folks who agree with the bigoted position of the president of that outfit will continue to go, and those of us who take an opposite position can spend our dollars elsewhere. That's how it works in these divided states of America.

 I respect the activist protesting against the Mr. Cathy and his company, but not the politicians who would use the power of government to ban or restrict a company because of the beliefs of those who run it. Now if Chick-fil-A restaurants started denying service to same sex couples or Gays we would have a problem, and I would demand that the people I elect to make such decisions shut them down.

Until then, wingnuts will continue to wolf down those chicken wraps every day [except Sunday] and those lemon meringue pies will continue to go into their greedy wingnut mouths.    

  

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Mitt's European misadventure.

When is the gymnastics portion of the Olympic games going to take place? Is it too late to get one of our presidential candidates on the American team? I bet he would get a perfect ten for his flips.
Flipper Mitt Romney once again demonstrated to us why he is the biggest flip flopper in the world. Just a day after telling NBC News that he had issues with the London Games, there he was at 10 Downing Street going on and on about what a wonderful job the Blokes are doing over there in London.

(Have we even had the opening ceremony yet?) Talk about embarrassing. Now even the Brits know what a wishy- washy flip flopper we have running for the highest office on our country. (BTW, whatever happened to not playing politics while on foreign soil?)

Let's see now:

'"You know, it's hard to know just how well it will turn out," Romney told NBC. There are a few things that were disconcerting. The stories about the private security firm not having enough people, the supposed strike of the immigration and customs officials … that obviously is not something which is encouraging.'"

Flip.

'"What I see shows imagination and forethought and a lot of organization, and I expect the games to be highly successful,' Romney said....'My experience with Olympic organizing is that there's always a few very small things that end up going not quite right the first day or so,' Romney said. But the issues always get "ironed out,' he added."

Flop.


Wednesday, July 25, 2012

It's an Anglo thing, and the voter fraud myth.

Mitt Romney is across the pond. Nice. He made sure he slammed O before he left,--- because we have this thing about politicking in foreign countries--- and one of his aides allegedly told the Brits that they have something in common (wink wink) that the black dude in the WH just can’t understand.

"We are part of an Anglo-Saxon heritage, and [Romney] feels that the special relationship is special," the aide reportedly said, adding, "The [Obama] White House didn't fully appreciate the shared history we have." (For the record, Flipper and his peeps are denying this quote, so someone is lying.) 
Anywhoo, I will spare you the silly jokes like the one about Mitt going to check on his foreign bank accounts, because this is a serious matter. It goes to his ability to represent the United States on foreign soil and show us his gravitas on International matters.

Mr.Romney could have saved himself the trouble of this trip. Americans could care less about foreign policy in this upcoming election. It's all about the economy. If it was about foreign policy President Obama would spend half the money that he (Mitt) does and still win the whole thing. Believe it or not, it is the Democrat who has the foreign policy cred this time around. 

Speaking of the elections, President Obama will certainly have his work cut out for him this time around. Republicans are doing everything in their powers to make sure that they get the desired result. Here in Pistolvania and other states-- where the African American vote could make a difference-- strict voter ID laws to cut down on  imaginary voter fraud are suddenly popping up all over the place.  

"Pennsylvania House Majority Leader Mike Turzai (R) said that the voter ID law passed by the legislature would help deliver the state for Mitt Romney in November. "Pro-Second Amendment? The Castle Doctrine, it's done. First pro-life legislation -- abortion facility regulations -- in 22 years, done. Voter ID, which is gonna allow Governor Romney to win the state of Pennsylvania, done," Turzai said at this weekend's Republican State Committee meeting ...."

Thank you Mr. Turzai.

The irony is, of course, that republicans have been more guilty of shenanigans when it comes to voting than the poor, older folks, and minorities, who are all going to have a harder time voting under these Draconian republican measures.

But this too, like Gore v. Bush, will pass. And republicans know it.  

Americans are too easily distracted with other things to give a damn about something as trivial as voter suppression.






  


  


Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Move over "Weezy", and Mr. Capehart strikes back.

Before I start this post I would like to say rest in peace Sherman Hemsley.(There is a pretty decent and on point tribute to him in the link I provided) Dude almost made it cool to be a House Negro. I just hope that he "moved on up" today.

So anyway, one of the pitfalls of being an opinionated black man in America--- who isn't afraid to speak his mind--- is all the negative feedback you get from ignorant  small minded folks. People who can't really debate you on the facts and issues at hand, so they resort to juvenile, petty, and sectarian attacks.

The e-mails are numerous, and the comments...well, you see a lot of them on this blog.

Jonathan Capehart is a sometimes television commentator and a writer for the Washington Post. He is a pretty intelligent dude who has strong opinions on certain issues. One of them is the Trayvon Martin case. It is a case that he has written extensively about over the past few months. I am sure that the poor guy gets his share of nasty e-mails, comments and letters, and one particular stalker person drove him to write an entire column in response.

I have vowed not to give  anymore of my own personal opinions about the Martin case until after the trial, but the following is a cut and paste job from some of Capehart's column that I thought I should share with you:

"Some fellow named Rick, who has emailed me from two different addresses since last week, really didn’t like what I had to say about Sean Hannity’s interview with George Zimmerman. His first email came Thursday morning, the day after the killer of Trayvon Martin said he had “no regrets.” The second one came later that day. And ever since he has emailed asking for a response. “I will send this to you ‘ad-infinitum' until I get a reasonable and rationale [sic] response from you,” Rick wrote me via email Saturday night.

Well, Rick here comes your answer.

“One of the burdens of being a black male is carrying the heavy weight of other people’s suspicions,” I wrote at the outset of the national furor over Zimmerman not being in jail for killing Trayvon. We already know that Trayvon brings out the worst in people. But Rick’s racist rant — complete with misspellings and poor grammar — gives my statement renewed relevance as he joins far too many others in denigrating the life of a person he didn’t know by using stereotypes to justify his hate. 

Much in the way Sanford Police Detectives dissected Zimmerman’s call to the department that rainy night on Feb. 26, I dissect Rick’s missive. Would that folks like Rick gave Trayvon the same benefit of the doubt they are demanding be given to Zimmerman.
I read your response in regards to the Hannity/Zimmerman interview. It is so full of holes a semi truck can drive thru the huge gaps you leave.
Martin broke this guys [sic] nose and was pounding his head into the concrete... he probably was in the process of killing him before he got (justifiably) shot.
This requires us to believe Zimmerman’s version of events. Understandable simply because we only have his side of the story. Trayvon is dead. Clearly, there was some kind of physical fight as Zimmerman’s injuries attest. Yet, few if any Zimmerman supporters seem to ask themselves this question: What would you do if you were a 17-year-old staying as a guest in a neighborhood not your own and were accosted by a stranger who you noticed had been following you in a car?

Besides, as I’ve written many times, Zimmerman’s story is the one “full of holes.” For instance, I’m still trying to figure out how Trayvon’s hands were found under his body when Zimmerman told police in several interviews that he pulled Trayvon’s arms away from his body mere seconds before police arrived.
Martin is just another typical example of an "angry, black, and totally uneducated" product of black culture which believes in Jerry Springer tactics for problem resolution.
What this portion of Rick’s racist rant ignores is a report from Trayvon’s teacher at Dr. Michael M. Krop Senior High School in Miami where he was a junior. He was “an A and B student who majored in cheerfulness,” she said. Nothing that I have seen since that February report disputes that.

Trayvon spent some time at the George T. Baker Aviation School after his regular school day because he wanted to be involved in aviation either as a pilot or a mechanic. He used to help his father Tracy Martin when he coached little league baseball. His father also credited Trayvon with saving him from a fire when he was just 9 years old.

Sure, Trayvon was suspended from school three times, including for being found with a plastic baggie that had traces of marijuana. Trayvon is hardly the first teenager of any race caught dabbling in doobies. Yet, this seeming rite of adolescent passage has given people like Rick an excuse to brand Trayvon a hard-core thug itching to kill someone for the hell of it, despite ample evidence to the contrary...." [Entire article]

I have to give it to you Mr. Capehart, you are one patient man. 

 

Monday, July 23, 2012

The [not so high profile] trial of another killer.

A killer went on trial today in Colorado, and here in Philly a killer's trial just came to an end. In the days to come you will hear a lot about the trial of the killer in Colorado, but I would like to tell you a little bit about the trial of our killer here in Philly.

"Living in the Point Breeze section of South Philadelphia, Allen Moment Jr. understood no-snitch culture.

Moment stayed true to the code, even after Jan. 20, 2006, when he was ambushed outside his house on Pierce Street, near 22d, shot a dozen times, and left for dead in his girlfriend's arms.

Two years later, Moment was still alive and still at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. A month in a coma, multiple operations to repair his riddled bowels, and one infection after another had atrophied his muscles. He was a quadriplegic.

Moment lingered until Aug. 6, 2008, when he died of a final drug-resistant infection at age 24. But before he died, Moment finally told his mother and uncle - and police detectives - who had shot him: his cousin Marvin Flamer, now 37; Flamer's nephew Nafeas Flamer, 23; and Nafeas Flamer's friend Hakim Bond, 23.....

Allen Moment lived in an area of South Philadelphia known for corner gangs that settled disputes with guns.

According to Assistant District Attorney Richard Sax, Moment had a problem. He knew and was friends with people from his corner. But the Flamers - his father's extended family - lived near 24th and Ellsworth.

There was bad blood between young men from the two corners, and in early 2006, the fever was up.

Torn between the two groups, Moment tried to play peacemaker. At one point, Sax said during the trial last week, Moment took a gun from Nafeas Flamer. Then someone shot at Flamer and word was that Flamer suspected Moment had "set him up."

Moment sold drugs - court records show he was sentenced to two nine- to 23-month prison terms in 2003 - and on Jan. 20, 2006, he was outside his house when his girlfriend, Aisha Williams, asked him to get crack cocaine for her mother.

According to Williams' trial testimony, Moment said he would deliver the crack to her house, and she turned and began walking away.

"I got to the corner and heard shots, and I thought, he's shooting at somebody or getting shot," Williams said.

Williams said she turned and saw Moment staggering toward her: "I said, 'I thought you got hit.' He said, 'I did. Don't leave me, I don't want to die.' "
Williams did not die, but neither did he get well.

And he would not tell anyone who shot him. He knew, as Sax said, that "Snitches get way more than stitches."

Let me jump in here: Did you read that? Aisha asked him (Mr. Moment) to get crack for her mother. SHE ASKED HIM TO GET CRACK FOR HER MOTHER! Okay, let's read on:

"...Moment's dying declaration was recorded Feb. 14, 2008. Though he lived almost six months more, Moment had already received the grim news from HUP surgeon Carrie Sims. He was dying, Sims said. An infection resistant to all drugs could not be stopped.

The video shows Moment propped up in bed, a large tube attached to his nose. He barely opens his eyes. He nods or blinks as a detective shows photos and asks him to confirm his identifications. Only once does he struggle to rasp aloud a reply.

It wasn't much - maybe three minutes - but Sax needed all the evidence he could get because the intimidation and threats did not end when Moment died.
Two years later, shortly before the start of the trial of the Flamers and Bond, Abdul Taylor was killed.

Taylor, 32, a former high school basketball star and popular Kingsessing recreation center coach, came on the scene right after Moment was gunned down.

He did not see the shooters, but Taylor knew many young men from the basketball courts. He kept his ears open and learned enough to become a key witness against Moment's killers.

On May 6, 2010, Taylor went to a corner store for his mother and was shot dead in front of his house at 23d and Ellsworth Streets.

DNA evidence led to 21-year-old Derrick White, who was charged with killing Taylor to keep him from testifying. Sax prosecuted, and on Feb. 29, a jury convicted White of first-degree murder and sentenced him to death...

Sax's key live witness was Moment's girlfriend.

Williams, now 34, identified the Flamers and Bond in statements to detectives after the shooting. But by Tuesday, when she took the witness stand, Williams had long since "gone south" - recanted the identifications and blamed detectives for creating the statements.

"Because you people don't let me alone!" Williams replied when Sax asked her why she had signed her initial statements to detectives as well as photographs of the three shooters she identified.

"A friend of mine is dead," Williams said. "If I could help you, I would, but I didn't see nothing."

Let me jump in here: "I didn't see nothing." I am not going to rip the "no- snitch culture", that's just too easy. I understand that there are folks living in these communities with real fears of retaliation. (Look what happened in the story to poor Abdul Taylor.) But that is a part of the problem. Sadly, it's a tragic nonending cycle.

The good news is that a killer was found guilty last Friday, and he will never walk the streets of Southwest Philly ever again. The bad news is that there are too many more like him waiting to strike. [Read the full story here.] 

*Pic from Philly.com

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Fooled by an icon?

I live in Philadelphia, Pistolvania, so I know and work with a lot of Penn State alums. For the most part I find them to be smart decent people. For the most part. One aspect of PSU alums that has always kind of creeped me out is their undying devotion to all things JoPa. Some of them, it seemed, literally worshiped the ground the man walked on. To say he was an icon in these neck of the woods is an understatement.

Which is why the latest news out of Penn State is so shocking. If you had told me ten years ago that Joe Paterno would be implicated in a scandal to cover up child sexual abuse, and his statue would be coming down in Happy Valley, I would have called 911 and asked them to have you committed. Joe Paterno was Penn State, and he was, in the eyes of many, everything that was right about college football. It's like hearing that Vince Lombardi gave the Packers steroids before every game. 

This should be a lesson to all of us who devote our lives to worshiping others. We have to be careful, because no one is infallible and above the sins of the rest of us mortal men. Joe Paterno might have been a great football coach and motivator, but he was human and susceptible to human failings. From the looks of it he put the image of the program that he carefully and successfully built above the lives of innocent children, and that will forever be a stain on his legacy.  

His legacy will now be viewed in the context of a still evolving scandal, and there is no doubt that it has been tarnished forever. Now all the good he did will be overshadowed by a scandal that might mean the "death penalty" for the proud program that he built.

This morning his statue was covered and removed under armed security. The surreal image that goes along with this post is a stark reminder of just how uncertain life can be. Who could have imagined that it would end like this? I am sure that the folks who love and admire Paterno certainly could not. The rest of us who are a little more cynical are not quite as surprised. This is what we have come to expect in a society where things are never as they seem. "Normal" ("clean cut") All American kids can become mass murderers, and men who claim to be messengers of God can harbor evil iniquitous secrets. You just never know.

"Losing a game is heartbreaking. Losing your sense of excellence and worth is a tragedy"

Sorry Joe, but not heeding your own words was an even bigger one.


     




Saturday, July 21, 2012

"livin in a violent world"

I am just making some observations tonight, but I am not getting on my soapbox, because that's what friends do; we just talk to each other.

A few years ago a former client came to me and wanted me to represent his little brother. He was upset because, as he put it at the time, the young man was a "civilian" and wasn't in "the game". He didn't have a record and was just caught up with some bad kids in the neighborhood. According to his brother, "he (his little brother) wasn't a soldier" like him, and he didn't want him to become one. 

Anyway, I have since heard that term "civilian" used to describe folks who aren't involved with a certain lifestyle by folks who are in that life. And I have since heard them address themselves as "soldiers" as well. I suppose that in their own minds, most of the people getting killed in our inner cities are "soldiers" fighting their own meaningless wars for drugs, money, and turf.

That is how the rest of society views them as well. Maybe not as "soldiers", but people thugs caught up in a deadly and violent lifestyle who kill each other all too frequently. But we know where they are, and we know when to stay away and who to stay away from. It is why even though we have had 193 murders and counting so far in Philly (not to mention the carnage taking place in other cities all over America) we don't even seem to notice or care. They are way at the bottom of our consciousness scale. Those killings don't affect us.

It is why President Obama did not make an official statement about the 274 murders in his hometown of Chicago so far this year, but he had to make one about the shootings in a movie theater in Colorado.

When violence is random and in places that we don't expect it, we get 24 hour cable coverage and front page news headlines. We know the names of all the victims and the shooter will forever live in infamy. It ignites gun control debates and we ponder and pontificate about the violence of our culture until it fades away and the next tragedy strikes.

That doesn't happen when we pick up the paper on Monday morning and read about the shootings and mayhem in the streets of pick a city, that's just the way it is with "those people". We expect that. It's like reading the box scores from last night's baseball game. And, believe it or not, the "soldiers" fighting their senseless and violent battles want it that way. They have their turf and their enemies are defined: Other "soldiers" in the game who know the rules and who, for the most part, play by them.

Sadly, the folks who live within the confines of their battle field do not have the luxury of just moving out or tuning out the violence. They might not be soldiers in the battle, but they are also at war. Unfortunately for them, though, the presidential candidates will not take a break from their campaigns to consider their plight and mourn with the rest of the country. Flags will not be flown at half-mast, and the residence of North Philadelphia, East St. Louis, or the city of Detroit will not be getting a visit from the president.

 “Turned on the TV this morning. Had this shit on about — about livin’ in a violent world. Showed all these foreign places…where foreigners live, and all. Started thinkin’, man. Either they don’t know…don’t show…or don’t care about what’s goin’ on in the ‘hood. They had all this foreign shit. They didn’t have shit on my brother, man.”   ~Doughboy (Ice Cube) Boyz N The Hood~

Well Doughboy, Aurora, Colorado is right here in America, but it might as well be in a foreign place to folks "in the hood".





    

    

       

Friday, July 20, 2012

There will be more "Dark Knights" (and days) to come.

A mass shooting has once again rocked the American psyche. Sadly, this is just the latest in a long line of random killings that is not going to end anytime soon. Here in America we celebrate guns and the violence they bring. We are such cowboys us Americans. I have to give credit to Michael Bloomberg for his willingness to address the gun control issue head on. Unfortunately, our two presidential candidates are not going to go there


Anyway, you have to wonder about a country where you can't drive a Pagani Huayra but you can buy an AR-15 assault rifle. Still, I won't get on my gun control soap box tonight, unlike certain [right] wingnut politicians who can't wait for a tragedy to say something stupid , (Congressman Gohmert, if the shooter wanted to attack Christians, why do you think he didn't just shoot up a mega- church?) I will leave the soapbox for later.


The back and forth will go on for the next few days, and the happiest people in America will be the NRA lobbyists on K Street. ---I guarantee you that the recession will not be affecting them.--- Whichever side you choose in this debate, I am sure that you feel for the victims and the family members who will have to bury them over the next few days.

Hopefully, one day, we will be able to figure it all out.





 









Thursday, July 19, 2012

That tax thing again, and a salute to Senator McCain.

I would like to start this post like I have a few others over the past few days: by asking Mitt Romney to release his tax returns. I know it's an uncomfortable subject for Mr. Romney and his supporters, but I.....wait, let me just let the Washington Post's editorial page tell us why he should release them.

"FOR MOST AMERICANS, income tax returns are a private matter, and federal law protects that privacy. For those who would be president, a different standard applies. The modern presidency demands so much of one individual — decisions of immense complexity, consequence and difficulty — that the candidates’ characters must be thoroughly examined.

The exploratory process is often unpleasant for candidates, especially when it is stimulated or exploited by their opponents. But it is essential for voters. The probing and investigating is a chance to examine all the ups and downs of a career, the critical moments and life experiences that might foretell how a president will make decisions.  

This is why, as we said months ago, Mitt Romney’s tax returns are important. He has described himself as a successful capitalist who took risks and created wealth, a laudable credential. Voters would benefit by seeing and evaluating the details of that story, including through his tax records.

So far, Mr. Romney has made public one year of his federal return, for 2010, and promises to release the 2011 return when it is ready. He has declined to disclose any earlier years. This is an error that he should quickly reverse. He does not need to go as far as his father, who made public 12 years of tax returns when he was running for president in 1968, but more than two years would be informative..."

Thank you!

Anyway, I wanted to do a post tonight congratulating and praising senator John McCain of Arizona. Mr. McCain is a man that I don't often agree with, but he did a brave and courageous thing by standing up to some of the wingnuts in his own party and he should be commended for it.

The republican party is becoming so unhinged at its core that we soon won't recognize the "party of Lincoln" anymore. To think that they would accuse a trusted and long time aide to our Secretary of State of being infiltrator and a spy for the Muslim Brotherhood is preposterous and shocking. (BTW, she is married to a Jew)  

So back to Mr. McCain. Yesterday he took to the floor of the Senate and gave one of those "profiles in courage" speeches that we get from politricksters every now and then.

"In a floor speech Wednesday, McCain defended Abedin, calling her “an intelligent, upstanding, hard-working and loyal servant of our country and our government, who has devoted countless days of her life to advancing the ideals of the nation she loves and looking after its most precious interests. That she has done so while maintaining her characteristic decency, warmth and good humor is a testament to her ability to bear even the most arduous duties with poise and confidence.

“Put simply, Huma represents what is best about America: the daughter of immigrants, who has risen to the highest levels of our government on the basis of her substantial personal merit and her abiding commitment to the American ideals that she embodies so fully,” McCain said. “I am proud to know Huma and to call her my friend.”

I salute you sir. And shame on Michele Bachmann and the purveyors of hate and prejudice for even dignifying these unfounded charges against a hard working American because of their own bigotry and ignorance.



 



Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Politics as usual?

It's always nice to be in Washington D.C. and close to the folks calling the shots in these divided states of America. Shout out to David Honig and the MMTC folks for bringing me down. David always brings in the big boys from AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, and Sprint; not to mention a Commissioner or two from the FCC, and he does a hell of a job of making them accountable. You Negroes in America better start paying attention to where the deals are cut, or you will forever be on the outside looking in. These big companies have a lot of money to buy all the influence that they need here in Washington. If folks like David and the rest of the gang at MMTC weren't paying attention for you, it would probably be a lot worse than it already is.

Anyway, here in D.C. both political gangs have been digging in, and it hasn't been pretty.
Of course with all this money and bad blood flowing out there, we  knew that it would get ugly really fast.

Mitt in particular has been in a very bad mood. He is fighting mad at those Chicago boys for going old school on him. Mitt is used to being the HWMIC and he doesn't like being questioned.
He has brought in Rush and the Brietbart crew to help him get personal, and we can expect wingnut guns to keep blazing for the rest of the summer.  Drug use? Commie ties? Citizenship? Oh my! Just how low can we go? And all because we want to see his tax returns. (BTW, the fact that O used drugs as a youngster is probably exactly why he should be president.)

Finally, I would like to thank Sheriff Arpaio for his service to this country. Thank you for all of your hard work in exposing President Obama's "forged' birth certificate there Sheriff, we could not have gotten to the bottom of this without you. Of course, some folks might think that you have a bone to pick with your President.

"America's self-proclaimed toughest sheriff finds himself entangled these days in his own thorny legal troubles: a federal grand jury probe over alleged abuse of power, Justice Department accusations of racial profiling and mistreatment of Hispanics and revelations that his department didn't adequately investigate hundreds of Arizona sex-crime cases."

The good sheriff is a little thin skinned. But, just think, if what he is alleging is true, he will go down as one of the greatest investigators in American history.

Stay cool folks, it is hot out there.






  

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Mitt fights back, and a new "Freeway Ricky".

I would like to start this post like I have the past few that I have written on this blog:by asking Mitt Romney to release his tax returns.  

Honestly, as I have said before, I am quite sure that he has done nothing wrong, but I think it is important because those Obama folks just won't let it go. I honestly believe that this is a good way to shut them up.

Speaking of Mitt, I see that he has decided to go on the offensive and give that Obama guy a piece of his mind. (His side kicks have as well.) Mitt thinks that Obama and his people want people to be "ashamed of success", and he is not going to take it anymore.

"IRWIN, Pa.—Mitt Romney unveiled an aggressive new stump speech Tuesday, accusing President Barack Obama of being too cozy with political donors and suggesting the president wants Americans to be "ashamed of success."
Speaking to several hundred supporters at a wireless services company outside Pittsburgh, Romney took aim at Obama's comments at a campaign event in Virginia last Friday in which he emphasized the role government played in building private enterprise.

"Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive," Obama said Friday, citing the teachers and people who build "roads and bridges." He continued: "If you've got a business, you didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen." 

"President Obama attacks success. And, therefore, under President Obama, we have less success," Romney said. "I will change that."

Addressing the crowd in a more passionate tone than he has exhibited on the campaign trail in months, Romney called Obama's comments "startling and revealing" and said he found it "extraordinary that a philosophy of that nature would be spoken by the president of the United States."

Yes, but Mitt, you did build your wealth with the help of government.

Finally, you Negroes killing each other in inner city America over drug corners need to take a lesson from suburbia when it comes to drug dealing. These real gangstas in suburban American could teach you wanna be drug dealers in urban America a thing or two about hustling. Turns out this "clean cut" (see white) young man from the suburbs of Cincinnati was overseeing a 3 million dollar drug empire while skateboarding, keeping up his Facebook page, and basically doing all the things that "clean cut" kids in suburbia like to do.

 "..Cops first became aware of a high-grade hydroponic strain of marijuana being sold for $350-$400 an ounce in the Mason school district near Cincinnati last year. An undercover agent began making buys at Mason High School, where the teenager was a student, and uncovered a dealing operation headed by the arrested student.

"The undercover officer uncovered six students or former students working for that individual and trafficking drugs in two school districts," Fornshell told ABC News.

"The group supplied an overwhelming amount of marijuana in the Mason and King school districts," Fornshell said.

The marijuana previously sold in the areas was a lower-grade variety smuggled into the U.S. through the border, but the weed they began seeing last year was a much more expensive product.

The student helped lead cops to uncover a major grow operation, run by locals out of warehouses and other buildings in three nearby towns.

Six other adult individuals were ultimately arrested for their role in growing and distributing the drug."

Authorities seized 600 plants from the three grow houses, with an estimated street value of $3 million.[Source. Check out how Diane Sawyer describes the perp.]

Oh lawd! My peeps on the rock better step their game up as well. Now these white folks can get good the collie weed right in their own back yard. What is the world coming to?

Too bad this kid couldn't sell some of the collie to Mitt and some of his boys; they need to chill just a little bit.


*Pic from skydancingblog. 


Monday, July 16, 2012

Mitt talk, and old family matters.

Before I start this post I would like to join numerous republicans and others in calling on Mitt Romney to release his tax returns. I am sure that he has done nothing wrong, but I am just tired of this back and forth and I am sure that he could put an end to it tomorrow if he wanted to.

Anyway, I have to give to Mitt. If he doesn't become our next president, and a couple of years from now Jabari Parker -and not Mitt Romney- is the most famous Mormon in America, he will at least be responsible for adding a couple of new phrases to the American lexicon:"Retroactive retirement", and "self- deportation". You gotta love it. Republicans are good at that. Mitt and his people are just doing what all good republicans do: Find interesting ways to say things.

Now maybe we will all start thinking outside the speech box.

For instance, consider the following: Joint defeating. This could be when two teams stink up a game and we don’t want to declare a winner, or when two boxers go 15 rounds without really fighting each other.

Future felon: That one baby who sticks out for all the wrong reasons when we visit the nursery.

Retroactive sex: Yes, you are married now, but there is that one who got away, and now you have to “tap that ass” ...let me stop. But you get the idea; it's all about creative phrasing. I actually admire that about Mitt's people. It kind of makes you wonder why they didn't come up with a groundbreaking campaign slogan like O had back in 2008.  

Finally, now I know why a certain group of people came up with so much money online for a certain dude down in Florida.

Unfortunately, it seems that he allegedly has a thing for first cousins as well.  



  


   

Sunday, July 15, 2012

It wasn't AAA, but it got the job done.

I would like to start this post by asking Mitt Romney to release all of his tax returns. It's important for our election process and democracy here in America.

Mitt, I thank you in advance.

Anyway, I remember my parents telling me stories about when they were young college students in these divided states of America. They would often have to drive down South and the accommodations for people of color was not exactly what it is today.

Recently I stumbled on an article from The Root about a book that was written back in the day to help the "Negro motorist" navigate Jim Crow America while driving.  My parents didn't have the "The Negro Motorist Green Book", but somehow they managed.

"In 1936 a Harlem postal worker and activist named Victor H. Green decided to develop a guide that would help African Americans travel throughout the country in a safe and comfortable manner. The Negro Motorist Green Book (also called The Negro Travelers' Green Book), often simply known as The Green Book, identified places that welcomed black people during an era when Jim Crow laws and de facto segregation made it difficult for them to travel domestically without fear of racial backlash.

The Green Book listed businesses and places of interest such as nightclubs, beauty salons, barbershops, gas stations and garages that catered to black road-trippers. For almost three decades, travelers could request (for just 10 cents' postage) and receive a guide from Green. Eventually the guide expanded to encompass information about Canada and Mexico.

Like users of today's popular recommendation sites such as TripAdvisor, travelers collected information during their journeys, which they shared with Green and his team of editors. The data were then incorporated into future editions. "Historically, The Green Book falls in line with the underreported activism of black postal workers and the heightened awareness of driving while black in certain regions of the country," says Robert Smith, associate professor of African-American and civil rights history at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. "Although many think of this book in historical terms, the challenges facing black travelers then resonate with black travelers now, particularly as it relates to racial profiling and stop-and-frisk laws."  

If there are any of you Negroes out there reading this with an entrepreneurial spirit, you might want to consider developing a similar book for the modern day Negro traveler.  Jim Crow is now illegal so the challenge is to teach Negroes their legal rights as it relates to things such as racial profiling on our highways. Also, you might want to include a chapter on just how to behave when stopped in order to keep your ass out of a Rodney King type situation.

The following is from a person calling themselves Willski who left a comment under the original post:

"We need to be real in this day and time. Several years ago my niece her two sons and her mom were traveling cross country. My niece was traveling from California to North Carolina to start her new job. They stopped in Texas to purchase some food at a local eatery. When a Godly white couple approached them and informed them to fill their car up with gas at this stop, and do not stop in certain portions of Texas in that they not friendly toward African Americans. My niece was grateful to the couple. I myself traveled from California to Michigan to see family. I took the I-80 route from Reno Nevada on. Every thing wen well until I got to Iowa. I stopped a gas station road side to purchase some sodas and water. When I went in the establishment I was meet with a tumultuous greeting as to "What Do you Want." I said it not worth it - to come down to level of these individuals. I simply left the place never to return again. Just recently I was traveling to the Monterey bay area from the greater Sacramento/Stockton area when I came up a little town on the way to purchase from a subway sandwich shop and I was meet with that same old garbage what are you doing here. This time it was more unspoken of than spoken. I am 62 years old and I have seen racist garbage from the elite to the lower social economic class. I still hurts. I have a thick skin but I hate to see my love ones exposed to it. African Americans still need to cautious. America can still be a dangerous place for blacks traveling it. I still stock up on food, water, sodas, and gas. Take Care My brother & Sisters......"

Well Willski, I am not as cautious as you-----or I am sure my parents were back in the day, but I always make sure that the hotel room door is locked, and I never go more than 15 miles over the speed limit on the highway. 




      
  

Saturday, July 14, 2012

Some republicans don't like Condi, and 35 questions for Mitt.

Before I start this post I would like to, once again, ask Mr. Romney to release his tax returns. I really want to see them because I am thinking about voting for the guy, and before I do that I need to know as much as I can about the candidate I pull the lever for.

Anyway, speaking of Mitt, I have said before that I think that he should consider Condi Rice as his running mate. I think it would be a good political move on his part, and it would actually help him with voters who are sitting on the fence. That's just my two cents.

Having said that, knowing his party the way that I do, I am thinking that it might not happen.

"Vdare, the website run by white nationalist and CPAC panelist Peter Brimelow, today editorialized against the possibility of Condoleezza Rice becoming Mitt Romney's running mate.
Someone writing under the name "Patrick Cleburne" (Cleburne was a Confederate general) calls Rice an "an Affirmative Action cipher with no visible talent except for obeying Neocons" and says her nomination would indicate that "a Romney Presidency is likely to degenerate into minority appeasement."

A similarly-themed "Say No to Rice!!!" email forward sent to BuzzFeed includes a link to the Vdare item. It is a pledge which attacks Rice on her foreign policy, experience, and looks, suggests Arizona Governor Jan Brewer as a superior female vice presidential candidate:

Vdare, the website run by white nationalist and CPAC panelist Peter Brimelow, today editorialized against the possibility of Condoleezza Rice becoming Mitt Romney's running mate.
Someone writing under the name "Patrick Cleburne" (Cleburne was a Confederate general) calls Rice an "an Affirmative Action cipher with no visible talent except for obeying Neocons" and says her nomination would indicate that "a Romney Presidency is likely to degenerate into minority appeasement."

A similarly-themed "Say No to Rice!!!" email forward sent to BuzzFeed includes a link to the Vdare item. It is a pledge which attacks Rice on her foreign policy, experience, and looks, suggests Arizona Governor Jan Brewer as a superior female vice presidential candidate:" [Source]

Sorry Condi, it doesn't look like the [right] wngnuts like you very much. I just hope that these mean spirited comments will not affect the vetting process and Mr. Romney will still consider you as his running mate.

Finally, it is obvious that Mitt has some problems. But fortunately for him, unlike Jay- Z, he does not have 99 of them; he actually has 35.