Red scare.

Drip...drip....drip.....

So this story being reported by CNN about a computer link between servers owned by a Russian bank and the trump organization could be somewhat of a big deal.  If you are riding with the under and not the over as to when trump will be impeached, you might be in a better position these days.

There sure seems to be a lot of smoke here, and the GOP is doing their best to cover for their leader. But at some point the heat might get too hot for even them to stick around. Let's face it folks, this Russia stuff is not going away anytime soon.

Most people (your friendly Field Negro included) believe that trump's tax returns could hold the key to what's going on here. Most people are still trying to figure out why he refuses to release them. None of us actually believe that he is not being allowed to release them because of an audit.

If this is in fact true, why won't he release the letter the IRS sent him advising him of the audit? It's a rhetorical question. I know why. He is the charlatan in chief.

But he is not the only charlatan in his circle. Time and time again his people have told us that they had no meetings or connections with the Russians.  And yet, we are learning now, that this is far from the truth, and that they lied about their connections and conversations with the Russians.

"The server in question came under scrutiny last summer after internet data from a computer server owned by the Moscow-based Alfa Bank searched for the contact information of a computer server owned by the Trump Organization.

Their internet searches exceeded other companies, with this Russian bank alone accounting for 80 percent of the Trump server look-ups, according to CNN, which reported that FBI investigators found the server connection "odd."

It's unclear how consequential it would be if such a connection were found. CNN reported that there are no specific allegations of wrongdoing.

The server issue was recently mentioned in a Breitbart article that inspired President Trump to claim on Twitter that his phone was tapped during the election by the Obama administration, according to a White House official cited by CNN. "[Source]

I need a stiff vodka to process all of this.

*Pic from cnn.com



    

Breakfast with "the blacks".

Herr trump's handlers told him that it would be important to do something for "the blacks" today--- it being the start of Black History Month and all--- so there he was posing with every black person he could find in his White House. Not to mention their family members, the White House help- staff, and any other black person he could find within earshot. (It must have been a long search.) He  called it a "little breakfast", because God forbid anyone gets the impression that he is trying to do anything serious with black folks.

Of course it all went about as bad as you would have expected it to.

Herr trump, as usual, found a way to make the entire occasion about him,  by calling out CNN for spreading fake news.

He had one of his Negroes who was always on CNN defending him, and he gave him a nice head pat and compliment about being the kind of Negro that he likes. ("What's the matter boss, we sick?")

Ok, those weren't his exact words, but you get the picture.  He might as well have said it that way. Donald has a way of praising his kind of Negro when the occasion calls for it. "Look at my African American over here."

Anyway, Paris Dennard must have been feeling on top of the House today when massa trump singled him out for praise because he stood up for him to those evil doers over at CNN.

"Trump went around the table thanking many of his African-American supporters, including GOP strategist and CNN contributor Paris Dennard. “Paris has done an amazing job in a very hostile CNN community. He’s all by himself, seven people and Paris. I’ll take Paris over the seven,” he joked.

“But I don’t watch CNN so I don’t get to see you as much,” he added. “I don’t like watching fake news.”'

Good old Paris.

So if he doesn't watch CNN, how did he know the particulars of those shows that his buddy Paris was on? The man is such a liar.

"Frederick Douglass is an example of somebody who's done an amazing job and is being recognized more and more, I noticed," Trump said. "Harriett Tubman, Rosa Parks and millions more black Americans that made America what it is today. Big impact. I'm proud to honor this heritage and will be honoring it more and more."

And everyone of them would be turning over in their graves right now if they knew that after everything that they had to fight for, America still saw it fit to elect you president.

 

*Pic from cnn.com  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Billy made him do it.

I wonder how many of you married guys out there could tell your better half that you did some inappropriate things because some dude half your age was "egging" you on.  I am willing to guess that not many. Of course not many of you happen to have millions (yes Donald, millions; not billions) of dollars laying around, either. 

I was listening to some of Melania trump's interview with CNN, and you have to kind of feel sorry for her. She actually blamed her husband's misogynist and sexist behavior on a man half his age.

Which begs the question: If Donald trump can be so easily be influenced by a lightweight entertainer, how can he stand up to world leaders with much more influence and gravitas?

Donald wasn't there during the interview, so you have to wonder what his people were thinking. Hillary stood right by Bubba's side as he did his best Shaggy impression after his numerous flings in the nineties. It's ironic that trump's wife is now doing the very thing that they accuse Hillary of doing: Standing by her man while Stevie Wonder can see what's really going on.  

Melania said some other interesting things as well:

"Melania Trump is suggesting that, as First Lady, she could be interested in leading an effort to combat bullying and negativity on social media.

Mrs. Trump - whose husband frequently uses social media to attack opponents - said in an interview Monday on CNN that she was worried about its impact on children.

She said she is concerned that her 10-year-old son Barron would be exposed to tough talk on Twitter and other social media platforms.

Donald Trump, of course, is frequently combative on Twitter.

Just earlier Monday, he took to the social media platform to unleash attacks on both sides of the aisle, targeting both Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and House Speaker Paul Ryan and claiming the "dishonest" media was conspiring against him."

Ok Melania, so as First Lady you will not take on poverty, education, healthcare, world hunger or adult illiteracy. Your issue will be bullying on social media?

Well, for starters, you might want to holla at the man you were just defending.

 

*Pic from Wikipedia.org

 

  

Demonizing a movement.

"  If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor."

~Desmond Tutu~

The debate is so silly. "Why do they say that only black lives matter? Don't all lives matter?"

Let's think about that for a minute. The name of the movement is not only black lives matter, or, white lives don't matter. It's not even something as intimidating to hear as say, Black Panthers, or Black Power. The name itself is tame: Black Lives Matter. All of us who identify with the movement in one way or another are still scratching our heads over the majority population's issue with what it represents.

To listen to people like Sarah Palin and other right- wing zealots, you would think that the black lives matter movement is right up there with Isis as a group that should be feared in this country.

It's why I am not sure of what to make of some of the platitudes coming from politicians in Washington. There is a disingenuous nature to all of it. Let's just strike the right tone. Even though deep down we feel just like Sarah Palin and Bill O'Reilly.

I listened to Charles Blow on CNN last night, and he made an excellent point to Don Lemon, who was doing his usual best to make his white listeners feel comfortable.

I am paraphrasing, but he said something to the effect that he should not be apologizing for his blackness, and the burden shouldn't be on him to have to teach folks in the majority not to be racist. He argued that he is the one being victimized. Why should the one doing the victimizing, he wanted to know, get a pass?

He is right. The debate about racism and injustice in this country has always been about blaming the oppressed. If you call out racism, you are the racist. If you see injustice and speak on it, you are rocking the boat. "Can't we all just get along?" 

We could. But the charlatans and hucksters who are profiting from making poor and marginalized white people believe that  black people are the root of all of their problems would never stand for it.

On a personal note I need folks to understand something: If we never come together as a country it will not effect my life one bit.

It won't make my home or wife any less beautiful; it won't take a dollar out of my bank account; and it wont raise my golf score or improve my second serve or the quality of my backhand in tennis. I will continue to enjoy the life I have now, and the memories of a wonderful life that I have lived to this point. 

This debate is about the people (black and white) who have been marginalized in this country, and the systematic and institutionalized racism that keeps tearing our country apart by denying people at the bottom of the social and economic ladder real opportunities.

To blame this on the black lives matter movement is just silly and wrong. It strikes me as people who need to look at themselves and their own short-comings, trying to find an excuse for something that they have failed to do.    

This struggle for social justice and equal rights is not about black versus white; it's about the survival of this country. The sooner we all realize that and stop trying to blame or situation on a movement formed around a hashtag, the better off we will be.

*Pic from wikipedia.org

"Mr Meltdown" fights back.

      This trump Rubio feud  is getting serious. I mean these cats are beefing like Biggie and 2Pac.

Ugly stuff. I saw their rallies today and the way they were carrying on was not becoming of two men who are seeking the highest office in the land.

Poor trump seemed a little rattled last night after Rubio stepped in that ass. It got so bad that he (trump) started using words like "bigly" (it's a real word), and he changed color so many times that I thought that there was something wrong with my television.

Poor Wolf Blitzer lost control of the debate early on, and it went downhill from there.

You have to wonder, though, what took one of the candidates so long to expose trump and call him out on things like his illegal immigrant workers, his tax returns, and Trump University.  

Now that the gloves are off Rubio seems to feel embolden to keep playing the dozens with the orange one. It should be fun, because others have tried before and failed. Trump has been non-stop in his counter attacks on the upstart Cuban American, but Rubio seems to be really getting under his skin.

"He called me Mr. Meltdown," Rubio said.

Rubio added:

Let me tell you, during one of the breaks — two of the breaks — he went backstage. He was having a meltdown. First he had this little makeup thing, applying makeup around his mustache, because he had one of those sweat mustaches. Then he asked for a full-length mirror. I don't know why, because the podium goes up to here. Maybe he was making sure his pants weren't wet. I don't know."

Your mama. No, your mama.

*Pic from star-telegram.com


  

The F word.

 I was listening to Van Jones and some other political pundits chop it up on CNN this morning, and Jones was lamenting the fact that the president is being too "lawyerly" in his assessment of the threat that Isis poses to the United States.

He needs to be more forceful as he addresses this issue, and he needs to say with no uncertainty what a serious threat Isis has become to our homeland. I am paraphrasing, but that was the gist of what  he and the others panelists were saying.

Now here is the thing, and this will upset the fear mongers among us, but the truth is that Isis does NOT pose an existential threat to the United States.  Russia poses an existential threat. North Korea poses an existential threat. China poses an existential threat. But Isis (sorry right-wingnuts) does not.

You would never know this of course given the climate of fear and consternation that has been gripping the country. The leading candidate for the GOP presidential nomination is calling on us to set up a data base to track Muslims, and he wants to round up their family members and kill them if they are related to terrorists. And, believe it or not, the leader of a large university is calling on his student body to arm themselves and shoot Muslims when they dare to step on his campus.

I wasn't around Germany in 1933, but I can imagine that this is what it felt like.

Benito Mussolini; Fumimaro Konoye; D. F. Malan; Adolf Hitler; Donald Trump. All these men have something in common. If you pay close attention to what is happening in America , I am sure that you can figure out what it is.

BWB

  And now field hands,  I bring you banking while black. (BWB)

"Activists are planning to protest outside a Citibank this afternoon after video of a black teenager being forcibly detained by D.C. police officers was shared widely, spurred by the hashtag #JusticeforJason.

The friend who filmed the encounter tweeted that: "We where approached because a white couple felt uncomfortable around me and my friend in the bank , this is how the police responded."

Organizer Erika Totten says the man in the video is an 18-year-old that she previously taught English literature. "He's just one of the sweetest children that I’ve ever had the honor of teaching," she said. "Someone said they were scared. Because of his skin. Because he’s a black boy."

Ultimately, according to Totten, the teen wasn't charged with anything after the incident, in which he can be heard screaming in pain on the ground."

See video here.

Are black folks overreacting? Or, given all that has transpired of late, is our angst justified?

Finally, if I can stay awake long enough I will be watching and live- tweeting the dems debate tonight.

I know that there will be Hillary and that Bernie dude on stage, but honestly, I am not sure who else is in it. Poor CNN.

They are trying their best to hype it up, but there is no Donald Trump around to give us all a few good laughs. And we know where all the candidates stand on various issues by now. Unless Bernie or one of the other candidates have a moment, it will be debate business as usual.

Sadly, this is like ESPN trying to promote a soccer match between the USA and Antigua. There is just no reason to watch.

*Photo from TheTruthAbout/ flicker & wired.com

The revolution is brought to you by cable news.

Something about the wall to wall coverage of this uprising in Baltimore seems a little unseemly to me.

As if a community suffering is something to pontificate about 24/7 from a cozy  temperature controlled news studio.  

Gil Scott Heron, may his soul rest in peace, was wrong. The revolution will be televised.

CNN has sent their Negro du jour, Don Lemon, to the streets, to interview troll protesters in order to give that network a much needed ratings boost.

MSNBC is calling back every black host and guest that ever appeared on their network in order to help white America understand the "riots" from the Negro perspective.

Meanwhile, over at FOX VIEWS, it's just more of the same: Scare old white people
into thinking that the black bogeyman is right around the next corner.

And on and on it goes. Each network hoping to capture that moment that sparks conversation at water coolers in cozy temperature controlled offices all across the country.

"Wow! Did you see that mother smack the hell out of that kid of hers and drag him away from the rest of those thugs?" Good for her. Give that woman a medal." 

Under different circumstances that same black woman would  have child welfare services called on her by some white woman in the grocery store. Now she is a hero.

Yes, get over here right away! I saw it with my own eyes! The woman just hit her son in the back of the head repeatedly. Yes, I will wait. 

I tried to say something but she told me to mind my own f*****g business. Please hurry. I fear for the child's safety.....   

Let me stop.

"You will not be able to stay home, brother
You will not be able to plug in, turn on and cop out
You will not be able to lose yourself on skag
And skip out for beer during commercials
Because the revolution will not be televised"

Yes it will, Gil.

But enjoy the riot while it is in limited release.

*Pic from mashable.com

The propaganda kings.

The media is a powerful tool. And whoever controls it controls the narrative and the perceptions of those who consume it.


The Nazis used propaganda to their benefit, and they made it work for them in unimaginable ways. "Radio propaganda" worked in Rwanda and a million Tutsis were slaughtered because of it.


The truth is, media has always played a role in conflicts both domestic and global. (Do you remember all those flags in the FOX studios during the lead up to the Iraq war?)


But lately it seems that the right wing propaganda machine has been forced into overdrive.


"Earlier this week, Fox News reported that Darren Wilson, the Ferguson police officer who shot and killed 18-year-old unarmed Michael Brown, suffered a fractured eye socket following his confrontation with the teenager. The reporter, Hollie McKay, cited a “source close to the [police] department’s top brass” as providing that information to the network.


However, on CNN Thursday, Don Lemon reported that Wilson did not suffer a fractured or broken eye socket and was rather treated at the hospital for swelling around his face and eyes. Noting that that specific injury has not been reported by CNN, “but is making its way around other media organization,” Lemon cited a “source close to the investigation” who told CNN that Wilson’s x-rays came back negative for a fractured eye socket.


“That source says it is not true, at all, he did not have a torn eye socket,” Lemon said. “Unequivocally.”


Following Lemon’s report, Nancy Grace offered up her official position on the matter: “I really don’t know if we’re going to know what any of this is, or the truth of it, until it comes out in court.” [Source]


Oh yes, FOX VIEWS comes to mind when we think of propaganda. But it is not only FOX. It's newspapers, websites, and blogs. The right wing spin machine is working overtime to make this uprising in Ferguson, Missouri something that it is not.


“It would not be impossible to prove with sufficient repetition and a psychological understanding of the people concerned that a square is in fact a circle. They are mere words, and words can be molded until they clothe ideas and disguise.”   ~     Joseph Goebbels~


My "lying eyes" see a "square" in Ferguson, Missouri.

No more Hurricane, and some folks need an image makeover.

Let me start this post by saying R.I.P. to Rubin "Hurricane" Carter. My man had some skills in the ring, but lost 19 years of his life due to racism and an unjust system of justice at the time.

Anyway, speaking of racism, apparently there are some folks in the media who are concerned about the klan rebranding themselves and changing their image.

"Somebody had to ask it: can the Ku Klux Klan rebrand itself as a civic organization to make its message more palatable to a subsection of the American public that digs racism but rejects violence?

Whoops, that was a typo. Nobody had to ask it.


Nonetheless, in the wake of last Sunday’s shooting at a Jewish Community Center by a KKK member, some organizational brethren attempted to distance themselves from alleged shooter Frazier Glenn Miller, insisting he had “gone rogue” and did not represent the modern KKK that eschews violence and bills itself as sort of racist Elks Lodge. Apparently taking these tools at face value, CNN actually asked marketing experts if the KKK could shed its cross-burning past.


To the marketing experts’ credit, their answer was a resounding no. And to the article’s credit, further down it becomes an informative piece on the splintering of hate groups that often as not spend their time fighting each other as they do their various race wars.


Nonetheless, the world could have done without these insights:

From a sheer marketing perspective, the lack of central leadership poses more problems for the KKK if it’s serious about revamping its image. Just look at the Catholic Church, Ries said. 

“The KKK doesn’t have a Pope. Look at what that guy has done. You have to have a leader like that to make people believe a change has happened,” she said.   

Without a clear leader, marketing experts said, crafting and conveying a spin-friendly message is impossible.

The point is that the KKK doesn’t have a spin-friendly message. Isn’t it?" [Source]


Unbelievable! You know that cable news is running out of s*** to talk about if they are throwing out topics about how the klan can change their image.


Speaking of changing their image, the right-wing should consider doing that as well.


Although when you have folks like Antonin Scalia calling for "revolt"  against the government if you don't like paying taxes, and conservative media declaring that the Clintons are so powerful that they can make babies at will to score political points, it might be pretty hard for them to seem normal.

Missing.

Man this missing plane story is a trip. (No pun intended.) I guess it's possible for planes to disappear out of the sky and never  be seen again, but in this day and age it seems quite unlikely.


CNN has been all over this story from day one. If you happen to be a pilot or a former FAA official you have probably already gotten a call from a CNN producer. 


Anyway, this has to be extremely heartbreaking for the families of the passengers on that plane. Not getting any closure with what happened to their loved ones and holding out hope that there is even a slight chance that they might be alive.


Now they are saying that this might have some kind of nefarious plot executed by the pilot or pilots on the plane. Great. So now it's not enough-- post 911-- to be suspicious of fellow passengers, but now we have to watch the damn pilot as well.


Finally, this Bill O'Reilly obsession with Beyoncé is getting kind of creepy. It's gotten so bad that even late night hosts are starting to notice.


Now he claims that he is only concerned about all the sexuality in her act and the impact that it might have on young black women.  


"In the video, Beyonce can be seen dancing provocatively on a pole, showing off her hot body and dancing provocatively for her husband, Jay Z while in a limo.


“Teenage girls look up to Beyonce, particularly girls of color,” O’Reilly said. “She is an idol to them. Why on earth would this woman do that. [sic] Why would she do it when she knows the devastation [of] unwanted pregnancies and fractured families." [sic]


I need a break. Bill O'Reilly cares as much about  the welfare of "girls of color" as I do about old white men on FOX: Zero!


Bill, take it from me, a black person; you are the last person we want advocating for us or pontificating about what you think is wrong with the black community. The last time you were in an area with more than one black person you made an absolute fool of yourself.


Maybe you should be trying to get your own house in order (not to mention your workplace) before you start worrying about what goes on with black folks.

Another Negro pisses off Ted.

The GOP's favorite son, Ted Nugent, has been all over the news lately. The folks over at CNN are really upset at Pedophile Teddy, and, like MSNBC with "Christiegate", and FOX Views with Benghazi, they will not let it go.


Ted, of course, is fighting back. Now he is going after Don Lemon. This makes sense, because Don Lemon has the highest profile of any black person on CNN.
And in case you didn't notice, Teddy doesn't like black folks too much.


"Unable to leave well enough alone, Ted Nugent took to Twitter on Friday evening to bash Don Lemon presumably after viewing the segment in which the CNN host accused the rocker of giving a disingenuous apology for his “sub-human mongrel” Obama remarks.


Speaking with Ben Ferguson this afternoon, Lemon suggested Nugent’s apology came with too many caveats and sounded “like he’s apologizing to himself or, possibly, to powerful Republicans who might have gotten him to take it back and do it fast.”


“If @DonnLemmon [sic] is a journalist Im the prez of the NAACP,” Nugent wrote on Twitter....


If @DonnLemmon is a journalist Im the prez of the NAACP" [Source]


OK Ted, we get it, you are certifiably nuts. Now the big question is this: How many more GOP supporters are out there like you?  


Finally, I am not sure if I am happy or sad to learn that the noose found around the neck of the statue of a civil rights icon at the University of Mississippi was put there by members of a well respected college fraternity.


It's a good thing because it is not a hoax. This is good because when people lie about these things it diminishes and trivializes the real racism out here.


It's a bad thing because you would think that college educated young people would be too smart to embrace the ignorance that is usually reserved for your garden variety racist.


The three former members already face vandalism charges, but the university has also turned over its evidence to state and federal authorities. If it is determined that the noose — which was accompanied by an old Georgia flag bearing the emblem of the confederacy — represented a threat to other students, they could face hate crime charges.


The man who found the vandalized statue last Sunday said that two men walking away from the scene were uttering racial epithets. “I came up on a couple younger-looking boys by the loading dock that were yelling ‘white power’ and ‘f— n—–s’ on my way back over towards the statue,” he said. “When I rounded the corner of (the George Street House), I noticed the rope and the flag, and it definitely showed the Confederate flag.”


Just frat boys being frat boys.