"The thief is sorry he is to be hanged not that he is a thief."

WTF is wrong with folks who have the name O'Donnell here in A-merry-ca? This time it's Lawrence and not Christine I have to talk about.

Seems my liberal friend got into some hot water when he made -what some would consider- racially insensitive remarks about Hip Hop Mike.

"As the first congressional election during his party chairmanship approaches, Michael Steele is dancing as fast as he can trying to charm independent voters and Tea Partiers while never losing sight of his real master and paycheck provider, the Republican National Committee"

Ahhh Lawrence, you can't say that. Just because you are a liberal and we are ideological soul- mates don't ever believe that you can get away with saying the same ignorant s&^# that I have to call republicans and conservatives on. I can call Hip Hop Mike all kinds of names, but you can't. It's that simple. You will have to find another way to make your point.

For the record, I am not one of those black folks who believe that liberals are anymore enlightened than conservatives when it comes to matters of race.- Although I do believe that they, at least, more often or not, make an effort to try and understand us. They try not to seem as insensitive.- Folks like O'Donnell think that they can get away with saying certain things because they are on the same political team as most blacks. That would be a mistake. We are on the same team but we are not the same. We are the same as Hip Hop Mike but we are not on the same team as he is. Hip Hop Mike knows this, which is why he screams bloody murder when he gets the business from liberal whites. Anyway, he demanded an apology from O'Donnell and he got one.

..I chose a word that could be misinterpreted as a racial reference on the same night that I took to this pulpit to so righteously condemn the racist e-mails sent by new york billionaire and Republican candidate for governor, Carl Paladino is ironic. So too, that Michael Steele has yet to pass judgment on those same e-mails.

I completely understand and sympathize with the many ways in which a party chairman’s public speech is constantly constrained. i think we all know what Michael Steele would like to say about his New York candidate’s e-mails and I think we all understand why he hopes he’s never asked about them. My public speech is not similarly constrained by political considerations. I am honored that Michael Steele believes me to be the kind of person he can call to explain his hurt and politely request and expect an apology. After apologizing to him on the phone, I told him I would apologize on this program, something he did not request. I also told him that I, too, thought the interview was a lot of fun, that I enjoyed our give and take. and that I would love to do it again whenever his schedule allows. Mr. Chairman, I sincerely apologize."

Yeah OK Lawrence, if you say so.

Still I am disappointed with Hip Hop Mike, we slam liberals when they go all David Duke on him but he refuses to condemn the ignorance on his team. Go figure. But that's alright Mike, you are a republican, you are just doing what comes natural.

Finally, I have a couple of stories I would like you to comment on for me because (for professional reasons) I can't.

This one and this one. Thank you!

Jig alert!

Tiger is in town this weekend, and I am tempted to scoot on over to Aronimink to see what someone who just had to give up almost a billion dollars to his ex, looks like. Dyaaam!

Anyway, barring some last minute bombshell, it looks like Elena Kagan will become one of the supremes. The republicans gave it their best shot, but it wont be enough. (NRA or no NRA, she is pretty much in.) And I know that I wasn't supposed to, but I heard the dog whistles during the process. (And folks wonder why Michael has been on the lawn so long.) And I am sure that the base heard it as well. But be careful Michael, even conservative black folks love Thurgood:

"More than a few of us African Americans are not very liberal. We are born-again Christians, instill a strong work ethic in our children, and are aghast at others who game the system.
Some of us voted for Ronald Reagan in 1984, because he was more optimistic than Walter Mondale; for George Bush the father in 1988, because he was more experienced than Michael Dukakis; and for George Bush the son in 2004, because John Kerry was too elitist.
We wondered why the Republican Party did not encourage Gen. Colin Powell to become the first black president in 2000. Now we know why.

Those of us moderately conservative blacks who enjoy watching Supreme Court confirmation hearings were dismayed last year by the GOP's trashing of Sonia Sotomayor's pep talk to young Latino females (after all, we talk the same way when encouraging our kids toward excellence). But this attack on Thurgood Marshall at Elena Kagan's confirmation hearing is the last straw.

We will not be voting Republican for a very long time, because, to paraphrase Kanye West's Katrina statement, "the GOP don't like people of color."
Rosamond Kay
Philadelphia
yakr47@aol.com [Article]

Rosamond even left an e-mail address, just in case some of his right wing buddies believe that he is a plant.

"This wasn't a surprise. Michael Steele, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, kick-started this bash-Marshall campaign last month by pouncing on Kagan for praising a 1987 Marshall speech in which the ex-justice said the Constitution, "as originally drafted and conceived," was "defective." Marshall had been referring to the Constitution's definition of slaves as three-fifths of "free persons." But Steele's oppo gang at the RNC seized on this and zapped out a memo hammering Kagan: "Does Kagan Still View Constitution 'As Originally Drafted And Conceived' As 'Defective'?'"

Does the lawn still need a jockey"? Yes it does. And, fortunately, thanks to Michael, it still has one.

Newt's truth problem, and Hip Hop Mike's race card.

No work today. I am getting cabin fever thanks to all this damn snow outside. Thank goodness for blogging and my republican friends for the entertainment they bring me during these long dreary days of winter.

Where do I start? I think I will start with my man Newt. You remember Newt, don't you folks? He is the guy who asked his dying wife for a divorce after cheating on her, and then publicly rebuked Slick Willie for getting his whistle wet in the people's house. Newt has a way of losing touch with reality, and, like most republcians, he tends to play fast and loose with the truth. In the republican world "truthiness" (I think that's Colbert's word) is just not in vogue.

Consider the following:

"Tuesday night on the Daily Show, Jon Stewart called out Newt Gingrich for Gingrich's claim that the current Administration was 'radical'. At one point, Gingrich pointed to the Administration's 'mirandizing' of the Christmas Underwear Bomber as an example of the Administration's 'radical' actions.

Stewart took exception, asking Gingrich what the difference was between the current Administration treating the underwear bomber as a criminal and the Bush Administration treating Richard Reid as a criminal. Gingrich answered: " Richard Reid was an American Citizen." http://www.thedailyshow.com/ *click on the 5th video on the right side of the viewing window; 3:06 mark*

Except, as Stewart later pointed out, that's simply not true.
Richard Reid was a British citizen.
"Reid, 29, a British citizen and convert to Islam, was arrested for allegedly trying to light a fuse to set off explosives concealed in his sneakers while on American Airlines Flight 63 from Paris to Miami on December 22."
http://archives.cnn.com/2002/LAW/10/04/reid.guilty.plea/
This information of course completely nullifies Gingrich's point.

As Stewart said to Gingrich later in the interview in regard to one of Gingrich's opinions, "don't let reality get in the way". [story]

And his O ness wants to meet these people in the middle? Maybe he should reconsider.

And then, of course, there is the leader of this republican tribe. My man Hip Hop Mike himself. Seems old Mike is not so pleased with some of his fellow republicans and now he too is playing the race card. (I thought black conservatives weren't supposed to play the race card? Isn't that for us progressive "racism chasers" who use racism as an excuse for our failures?) Oh well, I wonder if when a conservative black who likes to preach that racism is so yesterday in A-merry-ca cries race it has as much weight?

"RNC Chairman and designated GOP sparkplug Michael Steele finds himself the center of attention once again this week -- this time for an interview published in February's issue of Washingtonian magazine in which he charges his critics with racism.
Near the end of the story, called "Up In The Air" by Paul West, Steele implies that he and the RNC face more scrutiny because he is black:

Steele acknowledges that at times he has a tendency to take things too far. "And I get checked on that, just as when I was a young boy and I pushed the envelope too far and my Mama was there to check me."

But there's an edge to his voice when he talks about a double standard that he believes has been applied by his critics, and he posits racism as the cause: "I don't see stories about the internal operations of the DNC that I see about this operation. Why? Is it because Michael Steele is the chairman, or is it because a black man is chairman?"' [story]

Sorry Mike, you can't cry racism now. If some of the folks in your party do happen to be just a little racist I think you might have to suck it up. You don't get a do-over. That's why they put you there, to show the rest of us that they aren't racist. At this point you have to just play along.

"This is, of course, the same Michael Steele who had previously vowed not to play the race card. The GOP chairman said last October he didn't take part in race politics in an interview with Univision, during which he declined to condemn Glenn Beck's assertion that Obama is a "racist."'

Yeah, but that was last October. In post-racial A-merry-ca time that was soooo long ago.

Mike, it might be time to switch.

*

"There is nothing a white man with a penny hates more than nigger with a nickel"

Remember that saying Hip Hop Mike? Well I hope you do, because it is about to become very relevant in your life.

Poor Hip Hop Mike. It seems that he has been doing a little moonlighting for dollars while collecting a check from the GOP to make them the party of Lincoln again. Mike has been charging $8,000 a pop to speak at different venues while chairman of the GOP.

Hey Mike, I am not mad at ya. A brother has to live. Gators and those fly suits I see you sporting cost money. But the GOP crowd is not pleased.

"The former Maryland lieutenant governor, who was elected chairman of the GOP in January, has given a dozen speeches to corporate boards and colleges. He has charged $8,000 per appearance while at the same time collecting a salary of $223,000 as the leader of the party. The chairman's paid speeches were first reported by the Washington Times.
Richard Bond, who was chairman of the party from 1992 to 1993, said he was "shocked" Steele had accepted the money and that he "didn't take a dime" from speaking fees during his tenure. A current member of the 168-member RNC, who did not want to blast Steele publicly, called the speeches a "bad idea."'

Now Mike, you and I both know that they don't like you. They only put you out there because you were their version of his O ness. Now, as the president's star dims, watch how yours will go dim right along with him. The republicans don't need their own version of the articulate Negro anymore, because the one they feared so much is getting his ass handed to him in the polls.

Don't believe me Mike? Well guess who broke this story about you? If you guessed one of those liberal rags like the New York Times you would be wrong. It was the conservative Washington Times. I wonder why you think they did that, Mike?

"Harry Sandler, who handles Mr. Steele's bookings at Newton, Mass.-based American Program Bureau, told The Washington Times that Mr. Steele "tends" to charge between $10,000 and $15,000 for an appearance and that he received roughly that amount for a Sept. 21 speech at Philander Smith College in Little Rock, Ark. Mr. Steele has an upcoming speaking engagement at DePaul University in Chicago, for which he will be paid $12,500.

"Holy mackerel, I never heard of a chairman of either party ever taking money for speeches," said Frank J. Fahrenkopf Jr., RNC chairman under President Reagan and CEO of the American Gaming Association.

"The job of a national chairman is to give speeches. That's what the national party pays him for. We didn't have a rule book back then, but being national chairman was and is a full-time job," Mr. Fahrenkopf said."

Mike, I tell you what I am going to do; -and some of my fellow field Negroes won't like this-. But here it is: I am going extend an open invitation to you to come back to your people and leave the dark side. Those people you are running with are not your friends. See how mad they get at you when you make a little money? It's because they don't think you should be pulling down $230,000.00 per year AND still want more. The only black folks in A-merry-ca allowed to make money are ball players and actors. Didn't you know that Mike?

So hurry Mike, this offer won't last very long. If you can make as much as $10,000 per speaking engagement now; just think of how much you will be able to make once you pull the switch.

*Pic from Getty Images.

Does Hip Hop Mike Really Care?

Hip Hop Mike is a trip. Divide and conquer, that's his thing these days. Since when did Michael Steele care about the welfare of black governors, or black anything for that matter? I think I will answer that one: never!

Yet there is the report from The Hill that according to the NY Times, Hip Hop Mike is surprised and "stunned" that his O ness didn't want David Paterson to run again to be the governor of the great state of New York.

“I found that to be stunning, that the White House would send word to one of only two black governors in the country not to run for reelection,”

Yeah right, like you care. Since when did you become concerned about the fate of black folks? Oh, wait, I know; since it become politically expedient to do so. I think this is just Hip Hop Mike trying to manipulate the political dialogue in a negative way for the dems. Anything to score cheap political points huh Mike? This is taking it a step further than just the usual disputatious back and forth between political foes.

“It raises a curious point for me. I think Gov. Paterson’s numbers are about the same as Gov. Corzine’s. The president is with Gov. Corzine,” Steele said. The RNC chairman was referring to Gov. Jon Corzine, the Democratic New Jersey governor who is facing a tough reelection bid this year.

Hmmm, he might have a point there...but let me leave that one alone. Because honestly, I think I could make the case that Paterson is much worse at being governor that Corzine. Bad numbers or not.

If you can't make that case, well then O man we might have a problem.

I just wish that someone other than Hip Hop Mike had said it.