Showing posts with label Confederate. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Confederate. Show all posts

Sunday, February 21, 2016

Confederate endorsements and killing sprees.

Image result for SCCAC trump Images   From the dog bites man department, this pro-confederate flag group in South Carolina endorsed Donald trump for president.

"COLUMBIA, S.C. — A South Carolina group dedicated to “defense of the proudly Confederate South” rallied at the State House here on

Saturday, showcasing a mixture of Confederate flags and signs supporting Donald Trump as the Republican presidential primary unfolded across the state.
 
The South Carolina Conservative Action Council said the event was held in observance of the anniversary of the burning of Columbia after Union soldiers invaded the city in February 1865. Along with marking the burning of Columbia, the rally promoted the group’s recent endorsement of Trump’s presidential campaign. Trump eventually won the South Carolina primary handily, creating an even bigger problem for the Republican establishment.  
 
Several neo-Confederate and white supremacist groups have expressed support for Trump. His campaign did not respond to multiple requests for a comment from Yahoo News asking whether it accepts the SCCAC’s endorsement and why such groups are drawn to Trump."
 
Hey, it must have helped, because trump easily beat his two  one Cuban American and one Canadian opponent in the South Carolina primary Saturday night. (Maybe this is why Cruz was trying to paint trump as being anti-confederate.) In the words of my Philly homeboys, McFadden & Whitehead, there ain't no stoppin him now.  Jeb dropping out (Americans have seen enough Bushes for one lifetime) gives Rubio a glimmer of hope, but in my humble opinion it will not be enough. Yes, Marco will get some cash now, but money alone can't win you elections anymore.
 
Just ask Jeb.   
 
Image result for uber shooter trump Images Finally, did you hear the horrific story of that Uber driver who killed six people at random in Michigan this weekend? Scary stuff.  It makes you want to delete your Uber app and just start taking the good old yellow cabs again.  
 
And there are reports that he was picking up fares in the middle of his killing spree.
 
They are saying that the guy is an "average Joe" with no prior criminal record, and that they still don't  have a motive. 
 
Six innocent people minding their own business only to have their lives cut short by this monster.
The motive might be that he is just an evil dude who hates people.
 
 "Joshua B. Plotkin @jplotkin 52 minutes ago Philadelphia, PA                          
 
 
 
 
 
 

Thursday, June 18, 2015

Made in America.

Image result for image dylann roof confederate flagOn September 15, 1963, the 16th Street Baptist Church was bombed, and four beautiful little girls lost their lives when a group of evil baleful and malevolent racists planted sticks of dynamite under the front steps of their church. Martin Luther King called the killings "one of the most vicious and tragic crimes ever perpetrated against humanity".

So what should we make of this latest terrorist attack and massacre on yet another house of worship  in Charleston, South Carolina? It is not 1963, and the Klan (or so they would have us believe) cannot boast about having thousands of members and influence.

It is 2015, and we are supposed to be living in a "post-racial" country. So how could this happen? How could a gunman walk into a house of worship and slaughter nine people because he doesn't like the color of their skin?

Over the next few days you will hear a lot of pundits and "experts" try to explain what took place in Charleston on Wednesday evening. Some, like the president, will blame a culture of guns and the ease with which people can get their hands on them. Still others, like GOP candidates and conservatives, will blame the actions of this racist lunatic on his hatred for Christians. They will then make the ludicrous claim that there is now some kind of war on Christians raging in this country. But I am sorry, he slaughtered those people in that church because their house of worship is where they were most vulnerable. He would have shot them all to death in a Chuck E Cheese restaurant if it would have been more convenient for him to do so.

What we need to be asking ourselves is this: How could a millennial--- in a country that is supposed to be the "shining city on a hill" for the rest of the world--- commit such a horrific act? What (or who) is influencing the minds of individuals like this who was not even a thought back in 1963? 

Many of us, of course,  saw this coming.  And I have personally written about it in the past. To be sure, there will be more to come. And I can only hope that those who are charged with keeping us safe will focus as much of their attention and resources on domestic terrorists as they do the people plotting to kill us from thousands of miles away under the banner of Isis.

"Michael, Rena, Nalin and I are praying for the victims and families touched by tonight's senseless tragedy at Emanuel AME Church. While we do not yet know all of the details, we do know that we'll never understand what motivates anyone to enter one of our places of worship and take the life of another. Please join us in lifting up the victims and their families with our love and prayers."

That was the governor of South Carolina, Nikki Haley, posting on her facebook page. Her statement offers a clue about what is currently wrong with America. "...we do know that we'll never understand what motivates anyone to enter one of our places of worship and take the life of another"
Ahhhm, hellooooo!! We do know what motivated this young man: His hatred for black people. For her to try and ignore that very glaring reality speaks volumes about the tenor of purposeful cluelessness that is so prevalent among a certain segment of our population.

Instead of posting messages on her facebook page, Nikki Haley should demand that the flag of hatred flying over her state's capitol be removed. That would be a profile in courage. That would go a long way towards letting the rest of America know that hatred and bigotry will not be tolerated, and that proudly flying an official symbol of hatred and bigotry is not how you stop the next massacre of innocent unsuspecting Americans in their house of worship.


  







Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Snowed in, but still chasing the big R.

I feel like I am living in Northern Minnesota right about now. Snow is all around me. *Memo to self: Buy a really nice snow blower this weekend*






This is crazy. I knew this was going to be a rough winter, but this is getting to be a bit too much for my Jamaican blood.








So anyway, snow or no snow; the racism chase must go on.








Tonight my first stop takes me to the state of North Carolina, a state where they are fast becoming as loony as some of their neighbors to the South.








How about this head scratcher?








"A North Carolina mother is reeling after an elementary school rewarded her black son with a Confederate Army hat.


When Natasha Lea's 9-year-old son Jacob got off his Reidsville school bus last week, she said she was absolutely floored by what she saw him wearing on his head.


"I said, let me see that hat," Lea emotionally recalled to MyFox8.
Jacob obediently handed her the grey flat-topped cap, which didn't have any outside markings on it. But when she looked inside, she saw the damning proof.
Its tag read "Confederate."




Of course, the clueless folks in the elementary school didn't seem to think that there was anything wrong with their contribution to this sad bit of irony.






Rockingham County Spokesperson Karen Hyler confessed that the hat was given away to Lea's son as part of a class prize in exchange for "big bucks," a kind of academic currency rewarded to their students." [Source]


But the gift wasn't given in a "malicious way" by his teacher, she said.


"Before winter break in December, the class had an auction where students could bid on different items using their 'big bucks,'"


No, it might not have been "malicious"; just incredibly stupid and insensitive. And, if you ask me, a little bit racist.




Speaking of racists, conservatives, in an effort to do away with the rights of minority voters, are now falsely claiming that the Voting Rights Act discriminates against white people. Yes, they really said that.



"Conservatives insist the congressional effort to strengthen the Voting Rights Act (VRA) unfairly discriminates against white voters. The claim rests on evidence that’s shaky at best—but could still make it harder for the bill to win the Republican support it needs.


The Voting Rights Amendment Act, unveiled Thursday by a bipartisan group of lawmakers, aims to update the formula used to determine which areas of the country must get federal approval before making any changes to their voting rules—a system known as “pre-clearance.” In June, the Supreme Court struck down the law’s existing formula, under which almost all the southern states were covered, ruling that it was out of date.


In an interview last week with msnbc, Center for Equal Opportunity president Roger Clegg argued that the VRA’s pre-clearance system unfairly advantages those claiming discrimination. Clegg’s organization has fought to narrow the application of civil rights laws.


“They don’t like these laws, and so they’ve brought lawsuits, that’s fine,” Clegg said, referring to voting rights advocates. “If they can prove that there’s been racial discrimination they’ll win those lawsuits. Why would the deck be stacked further in their favor?”


Writing last week in National Review, Clegg made an additional argument against the new legislation. Clegg called the bill “color-conscious,” charging that it “offers protections for ‘minority voters’ that it withholds from ‘nonminority’ voters.”' [Source]


Look, I know that some of you white conservatives believe that you are losing your country to brown and black people, and that if you don't find ways to keep them away from the voting booth they will take away whatever power you think you have.




But here is the deal: Voting with people of color on some of the major issues of the day, might actually be more in line with your own best interest-- and better for you-- than voting with the party ---and for people--- who you believe have your best interest at heart.




Sorry, but unless you happen to be a major corporation, or you have enough money to own an NFL team; they are just not that into you.




In case you didn't notice, the wealth gap is really growing in the world. (The poorest 3.55 billion people must live on what the richest 85 people possess.) And every politician and every lobbyist ---who owns these politicians--- want to be with the guys with the big bank accounts; not the rest of the people. 




"Hans von Spakovsky, a senior fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation and a persistent critic of aggressive enforcement of civil rights laws, has gone further.


“For the first time, [GOP Rep. James] Sensenbrenner’s bill actually says that the protections of this amendment will only apply to racial minority groups, and they defined them in the law, and it specifically excludes white voters,” von Spakovsky told the Washington Times.


He added, “They’re basically giving a ‘get out of jail free’ card to black elected officials in the South, where they can discriminate all they want against white voters.”




Wouldn't it be nice, if, just for once, "white voters" and "black elected officials in the South" would come to realize that they all want the same thing?



Wednesday, October 16, 2013

"The confederacy's last hurrah"

As we inch closer to a possible deal in Washington, (the wingnuts are still singing funeral songs) it is not a time for poli-tricksters to be patting themselves on the back.

I see dumbocratic senators stepping up to the microphone and thanking Mitch McConnell. I have to wonder why. He (McConnell)is a part of a wingnut cabal that is hell bent on destroying this republic. 

Anyway, it's not over yet. Let's hope that the members of the house come to their senses and vote to save the economic future of their country.

Anyway, there is no doubt that the country is more divided both racially and ideologically than ever. One party, to their detriment, has doubled down and embraced their Southern and homogeneous roots.

They have chosen the flag of the confederacy to represent their cause and to express their disgust with the Socialist in chief.

Now, of course, they are trying to spin their way out of facts. But they can't. Images don't lie.

"....Republicans forced a government shutdown in what many saw as an ill-fated final effort to delay the law. They would fail.

But in the process, many Democrats became utterly convinced that the evils of the Confederacy were again being visited upon Americans.

“Confederates are rejoicing,” Jackson proclaimed on October 9. “They’re winning.”

“It’s confederate. It’s states’ rights,” he continued. “It’s not just health care act, it’s anti-voting. It’s women’s right to self-determination. It’s a whole range of infrastructure issues that made America great the last 50 years.”

Jackson had many supporters but they kept silent at first, awaiting more evidence to confirm their conviction – that Republicans were, in fact, revolutionary and racist – to materialize. They would not have to wait long.

On the second weekend of the government shutdown, a conservative protest took place in front of the White House. Through the fog of that grey day emerged the unmistakable symbol of the Confederacy – the battle flag flown by Generals Lee, Jackson and Beauregard. One man, misguidedly embracing that dubious symbol unfurled in anger for the last time nearly 150 years ago, had provided Democrats with the evidence they needed to confirm their worst suspicions. The floodgates were opened.

“Ghosts of the Confederacy out in force as fringe rules GOP,” declared The Daily Beast’s Eleanor Clift.

“You reap what you sow, and Republicans are paying the price for elevating a minority within their party,” she continued. “The standoff coming to a head feels like an existential struggle, and that’s an invitation to the most aggrieved fringe of the GOP to come out in full force.”

Quoting a variety of Democratic sources, Clift confirms that that the Republicans have embraced the insurrectionists within their ranks. “Embracing the confederacy is bad history and bad politics,” one California university professor helpfully reminded Clift’s readers.

“That’s obviously going to undercut what they’re saying,” POLITICO’s Mike Allen observed of the lone protester’s ability to capture the media’s attention and, thus, detract from the Republican messaging. “And does reflect badly, even though there’s no reason it should.”

Some even heard the yips of the rebel yell echoing through history, bouncing faintly along the marbled walls of the Capitol Building. “This is all about a handful of people who got elected as Republicans that want to bring down our government,” insisted Congressman Charlie Rangel, a New York Democrat serving in Congress since 1971.

“The same way they fought as Confederates, they want to bring down the government and reform it,” he added. “Well, I can tell you this, if you look at the states that they control, take a look at the Dixiecrats, see how they went over to the Republican Party.”

These are statements of faith, but the congregants who subscribe to this belief structure are numerous. Some would argue that it is theirs – a devotion to an ideal that delegitimizes their opponents and renders the internalization of their ideas and arguments unnecessary – that is the truly dangerous ideology.
Others would say that this effort on the part of Democrats is part of an elaborate effort to repent for past sins. The Republican Party having been historically the party of emancipation, suffragism, and civil rights.

But these are questions to be resolved another day. Today, the battle is again joined in the minds of many Democrats as they seek to relive the glorious and horrible War Between the States." (Source) 

Noah, it's not just in their minds. Pictures don't lie, and attitudes can't hide. Why do you think that "one man" felt emboldened to raise a contemptible symbol of hatred at that Tea Party protest? It's because he knew that he was among friends.

 "Democratic legislators and their ideological allies determined that attacking Republicans on the substance of their ideas was simply not enough. Some embraced the politically expedient tactic of suggesting, or outright insisting, that their Republican opponents were not legitimate governmental actors. They were insurrectionists, saboteurs, and — perhaps most damningly — racists."

The funeral song the republicans sang was Amazing Grace. How fitting. Since it is, after all, about a man seeking redemption from a wretched soul.









Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Flag Time!


Well here we are again my repukelican friends,back in South Carolina. And I know you know what that means. Yep, it's confederate flag time. It seems like every four years as we move through South Carolina we have to deal with this issue. And of course, the repukes, given their base, always have a harder time dealing with it. (Party of Lincoln my ass)

Now I have to give it to John McCain, he has remained principled with this issue, and he has refused to back down on his stance against flying that symbol of the confederacy on the top of South Carolina's state capitol. Even if it's down in the land of Dixie. Now it took old John awhile to come to this principled moment, and it took losing to the frat boy to do it, but he came around, and he is still taking that position, so let's give him some credit for that.

It should be fun to see how the other repukelican candidates approach this issue. I am sure they will do the wrong thing. I mean, come on, they are repukelicans (sorry cobb). And I think we have heard this song before. They will say it's a state's rights issue, and something that should not be decided by anyone else but the people of South Carolina. "Heritage not Hate". That flag still flies right near the capitol, and there are still quite a few folks down in South Carolina who don't think it was a good idea to remove it in the first place. They have been following McCain around waving confederate flags at him in protest and giving out fliers. I wonder how the other candidates from the grand old party will deal with this issue? I know that Mitt, for instance, previously came out against it, but I think that might have something to do with the fact that he has already written off South Carolina as a state where he can win the primary, and not because of some deep principled conviction.

"Probably the worse advise I've ever given myself....I knew it was a symbol that was offensive to so many people...And afterwards I went back and apologized."

OK Mr. McCain, I am going to take your word for it. But I am not sure about the folks running against you from your party. And given the party of Lincoln's history lately, I know you can't blame me.