An alleged racist and a convicted tax cheat. And once again an unarmed black man is shot by the police.

These past few months haven't been good to my friends in the GOP.

Yes, thanks to more moderate candidates and the inability of democrats to articulate their message and run on the accomplishments of their president, they (republicans) won sweeping victories in the mid-term elections.

Now, though, they find themselves having to deal with a racist and a tax cheat in their fold. This, coupled with the fact that ----thanks to an ongoing economic recovery---- their sworn enemy, Barack Obama, is enjoying his highest approval ratings in a very long time. 

Of course, in the case of the racist, he is being supported by his party leaders who seem to think that adding one more racist to a party with a perception problem when it comes to matters of race is a good idea.

"More than a decade ago, Representative Scalise made an error in judgment, and he was right to acknowledge it was wrong and inappropriate. Like many of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, I know Steve to be a man of high integrity and good character. He has my full confidence as our Whip, and he will continue to do great and important work for all Americans,"

To me, Representative Scalise didn't just make "an error in judgment". He knew exactly who he was speaking to when he spoke to that white supremacist group and why he was doing it. The fact that he called racism a "novelty" and  his only issue with David Duke is that he couldn't get elected tells you all you need to know about the man.

"The novelty of David Duke has worn off," Scalise said. "The voters in this district are smart enough to realize that they need to get behind someone who not only believes in the issues they care about, but also can get elected. Duke has proven that he can't get elected, and that's the first and most important thing."

All this of course, speaks to a larger issue with the GOP and men like Steve Scalise. If you go into the comments section of conservative blogs (and even progressive blogs like this one) you will see the overwhelming support for what Scalise did back in 2002. What's the big deal? They ask. Aren't the Al Sharptons and Jesse Jacksons of the world black supremacist? Why demonize this poor man for standing up for white people? If you happen to have this point of view that's fine. But the problem for those with these views is that most of our leaders who happen to share these views can't state so publicly.

Unfortunately for folks like Steve Scalise and his many supporters, it's just not cool to be a racist publicly in America these days. Publicly.

Sadly for them, though, they still have to reassure like-minded people that they still have their backs in this politically correct world where the brown people are slowly taking over.

"He [Scalise] has never been affiliated with the abhorrent group in question. The hate-fueled ignorance and intolerance that group projects is in stark contradiction to what Mr. Scalise believes and practices as a father, a husband, and a devoted Catholic.." 

Translated: Sorry y'all, now that I have been exposed I have to disavow any knowledge of what we were trying to do back then. But hang in there with me, as soon as this all blows over it will be business as usual.

Finally, I can't let tonight's post go without highlighting yet another police shooting of an unarmed man here in America.

"Houston, Texas – This week, Houston police shot an unarmed man multiple times because he was acting suspicious and not obeying their commands. Two officers fired multiple shots at 38-year old Mike Walker, with some of those shots being fired even after it was obvious that he did not have a gun.

The shooting occurred in the parking lot of a convenience store on Buffalo Speedway and West Fuqua, in front of multiple witnesses.

Walker was the passenger in a car that was pulled over for making an illegal lane change, but whether or not the driver was actually guilty of any traffic violations has not yet been proven. When the driver of the vehicle saw the police lights behind him, he pulled into a nearby Sunny’s Food Store.

According to police, they ordered the occupants of the car to sit still and put their hands up, and then they claim that Walker ignored their orders and reached under his seat. That’s when police immediately opened fire.

At that point, Walker, after already being shot, got out of the car  and began to strip off his clothes. Clearly unarmed and not posing a threat, another officer got involved and shot him several more times.

“When I was about to walk into the store, I heard gunshots, so immediately I turned around and grabbed my son and got us both on the ground,” witness Laquesha Spencer told 2 News.
“I’m telling him ‘Lay down, they are going to shoot you. They are going to kill you.’ And I guess he was in shock, he had already been shot three times, because I heard multiple gunshots,” Spencer said.

There were a number of witnesses who overwhelmingly agreed that the police used excessive force and unnecessarily escalated the situation.

In a statement to the media, Houston Police Department spokesman Victor Senties said:

They saw the doors open up, one of the officers gave repeated verbal commands to stay inside the vehicle, then the officer went to brace the door to keep him (the passenger) inside. At one point he had his arm all the way under the seat, right up to the elbow, as if he was trying to grab something. The officer gave him commands to show his hands … at that point the officer was in fear of his life and that of his partner. The second officer seeing the suspect try to reach into his waistband and into his sweater as if he was trying to locate something. He also feared for his safety and once he was out of the area, where there were people behind him the officer discharged his weapon as well.”

However, many witnesses dispute this struggle, and say that the man was simply ignoring officers, but not being aggressive in any way.

According to the victims mother, the police would not let her into the hospital to see her son, and had guarded his room for hours after the shooting.

“I was there ’till about 5 a.m. this morning, they have a police officer in his room and they won’t let me in there. He didn’t even have a gun. He’s never owned a weapon, he didn’t have one on him,” 53-year-old Laura Walker told reporters.

After shooting Walker, Police then arrested the driver and impounded his car to search for weapons, but they have not said if the driver, or Walker will face any charges.

Walker is currently being treated at Ben Taub Hospital where he is listed in serious, but stable condition." [Source]

So they still not sure if Walker will be even charged with a crime. Interesting.

I swear that there should be this code be in the criminal statutes of some states: Acting suspicious while black. Punishable by serious wounding or even death.