The downfall of the "religious right" and hypocrisy in American politics.

Let me start this post by saying rest in peace to blogger Karyn Washington. She was a young sister who did some extraordinary things in the blogging world, and she started a movement to empower young girls of color.




She will be missed.




I agree with this author that the religious right and those who want a theocratic form of government here in America might be losing the culture and political wars to the more practical and secular minded among us.




I am sure that most people as individuals still consider themselves spiritual in one way or another, and they believe in a higher being or force guiding their lives. It's just that most people have a problem with politicians trying to dictate to them how and who they should worship. Folks are sick of politicians moralizing to them while doing the exact opposite (I see you Vance McAllister) in their own personal lives.




Folks are sick and tired of politicians passing laws to benefits those who already have far more than the rest of us while ignoring those who are truly in need in our society, and making foreign policy decisions based on their own personal religious convictions.




Damon Linker on W's second inaugural address:




"The speech was a crude expression of American parochialism and pious self-congratulation — the kind of address you'd expect from someone who believed toppling Saddam Hussein was a sufficient condition for creating a functioning democracy in Iraq, and who thinks that presidential rhetoric can rise no higher than paraphrasing the lyrics to "Onward Christian Soldiers." It was the speech of a simple-minded man leading a simple-minded administration."


Amen! And the "simple minded" politicians who subscribe to this simplistic and dogmatic code of morality are still around and still wreaking political havoc today. 


The good news is that they won't be around much longer, because, thankfully, like organized religion, their better days are behind them.

Confidential informant number seven, and another hypocrite is exposed.

"Where is Bagawire, he's nowhere to be found
He can't be found
First betrayer who gave away Marcus Garvey
Son of Satan, First prophesy,
Catch them, Garvey old
Catch them Garvey, catch them Woo -oo- oo"


Burning Spear was singing about a race traitor in the black community who betrayed Black Nationalist, Marcus Garvey.


This has been going for as long as there were people in the black community who would sell out others for their own personal gain.


The FBI under J. Edgar Hoover knew this, and they exploited it to their benefit. Under Hoover there were many Negro informants working for the FBI and getting paid handsomely do it. Google COINTELPRO when you get a chance, you will be find that this was a very effective tool in Hoover's arsenal.


Recently we found out that a famous photographer during the civil rights movement-- and a man with access to Dr. King ---was a "prolific informant" for the FBI. Sad but true.


This brings me to the latest revelations about Rev. Al Sharpton. I must confess that when I first heard that the Rev. was an informant for the FBI back in the day, the first person I thought of was Bagawire. And then I thought of Ernest Withers.


Could Rev. Sharpton have been taking money to spy on the black community for the FBI? I suppose that he could. But then I heard more about the story and I found out that Rev. Al was actually working as an informant for the FBI to bring down the New York Mob. 


"The Rev. Al Sharpton on Tuesday addressed his long-known role in assisting a joint FBI-NYPD investigation in the 1980s, CBS New York reported.
At a news conference, Sharpton said he was threatened by "music industry goons" years ago and went to the government for protection.


"They were threatening to kill me," Sharpton said. "I did the right thing and would do it again."



As WCBS 880′s Paul Murnane reported, Sharpton's paying a price with what he says is an old chapter in his life story being replayed across the front pages, with tabloid headlines including "Rev. Rat."


"I was not and am not a rat, because I wasn't with the rats. I'm a cat. I chased rats," Sharpton said Tuesday.


The Smoking Gun website said Monday that it obtained hundreds of pages of secret court filings and FBI memos providing new details about Sharpton's relationship with the feds.


The report shows Sharpton's work as "Confidential Informant #7″ helped develop cases on the Genovese crime family, including Vincent "The Chin" Giganti, the so-called "Odd Father," known for walking around in a bathrobe and pajamas, CBS 2′s Marcia Kramer reported.


The report said Sharpton acted as a confidential informant and secretly recorded conversations with the mob by using a bugged briefcase


When asked if he wore a wire to record the conversations, Sharpton replied, "The conversations were recorded."


Sharpton said he cooperated with the FBI, but didn't consider himself an informant." [Source]


I can hear some of my Italian friends now: " I always knew that fat Bingo-Bongo Moolie was no good. He is a rat! "


Hey, as long as I don't hear about Rev. Al passing on information to the FBI about what happened in New York's black community I will be fine with what he did. Sorry my mob friends, you all needed to be off the street. It might not be cool what Sharpton did, but he didn't do it to us.


Still, this is not a good look for the Rev. Was he cooperating with the FBI because he wanted to get bad guys off the street, or was he cooperating because he was caught up in some shady stuff himself?


"The FBI "came in 1982, '83, after Don King tried to entrap me in a drug deal that didn't work," Sharpton said. "Then seven months later, when I was threatened by members of the mob because I was saying that a lot of concerts should be going to black artists, and I went after them. I was threatened. I called these FBI guys back, since some of the guys were from California, and told them these are the kind of things they ought to be investigating."


He said of The Smoking Gun: "They know that President Obama is speaking at my convention this week and (U.S. Attorney General) Eric Holder is speaking, and they're just trying to get some attention, because at the end of the day, I'm not accused of committing a crime. So are you saying it's scandalous for me to help the good guys? It's crazy."


Sharpton said he's used to the attacks and the distortions, Murnane reported. His lawyers are now reviewing the documents posted on The Smoking Gun.
The revelations threaten to embarrass Sharpton ahead of his national convention. While the civil rights activist said he initiated the government cooperation, others have said he was pressured to cooperate after being ensnared in a drug sting, Kramer reported.


A video of the sting, which aired on HBO in 2002, appears to show Sharpton nod when an agent offers him a cut from future drug sales."


Watch that past Rev., it always comes back to haunt you.


Finally, speaking of stuff coming back to haunt you.


I am sure you all have heard by now about the congressman from Louisiana who was caught getting a little freaky with someone other than his wife. This wouldn't be a big deal if the guy wasn't such a hypocrite.


This is what happens when you profess to the world that you are a "family values Christian" while wearing your religion on your sleeve, and you act like a pig behind closed doors.


Yes, Bill Clinton was a pig, but he never pretended not to be. In fact, when he was being impeached for being a pig by all those self-righteous house republicans, some of them were doing exactly what Vance McAllister was caught doing, recently. (Remember Bob Livingston?)


Now, as is to be expected, Vance is asking for our forgiveness.


"Freshman U.S. Rep. Vance McAllister says he's asking his family and constituents for forgiveness after a West Monroe newspaper published a video that it says shows the congressman kissing a woman who wasn't his wife.


In a statement issued Monday, the Republican congressman said, "There's no doubt I've fallen short and I'm asking for forgiveness."


The Ouachita Citizen posted a video Monday of what it said was Dec. 23 surveillance video from inside McAllister's congressional office in Monroe, showing McAllister and a member of his staff.


"I promise to do everything I can to earn back the trust of everyone I've disappointed," McAllister said." [Source]


Vance, you might want to start with your wife.