Any black man will do.

If you happen to be a black man living in West Virginia these days, bad water isn't all you have to worry about. Apparently there is an APB out on you. No black man in particular; any black man will do.




They want you for participating in some "suspicious activity".






That is so vague. I mean "suspicious activity" could be anything for crying out loud.






That's why this is somewhat problematic for men of color in that state. Unless, of course, you happen to be a well known black man in West Virginia. (Whatever happened to Major Harris?)






For instance, you might be walking down the street and minding your own business, but because you happen to have a copy of the Wall Street Journal you get arrested. Yes you could; because in West Virginia a black man reading the Wall Street Journal just might be viewed as "suspicious." Do you see where I am coming from? This is messed up on so many levels.






Oh well, this is all just a sign of the times. The more things change.....




But here is a scary thought: A few years ago, before the Internet and social media, this wouldn't even have been a big deal. Just business as usual here in some parts of America.




Good ole boys and gals would meet in the town square and exchange pleasantries about the whole thing.




"Hey, you seen any suspicious Negroes, lately?" "Nah, not yet, although I did see one down at the Piggly Wiggly and he was checking out mighty fast." "What he look like?" "Bald, dark skin, bout 5'10' 5'11'." "Did you get his license plate number? We might have to inform the sheriff about this."


Oh lord! Hey, at least it's not Oklahoma.

Troubled waters, and more about the bridge.

If you are reading this from the beautiful state of West Virginia you might be a little thirsty right about now.




Sadly, you folks seem to have a water problem. This is not good because water is one of those things that we take for granted but we need very much. If you have ever sat next to a person who has never taken a bath you will understand where I am coming from.




Anyway, West Virginia is one of those red states where the people tend to vote republican. They resent the government and believe in the free enterprise system, and they believe that the government should just get out of the way.


The thing is, though, sometimes we really do need the government to do things like make sure corporations do not contaminate our water.




 "The water that some 300,000 West Virginians usually depend on to slake their thirst, wash their bodies and brush their teeth is now good for only one thing -- flushing their toilets, authorities told them Friday.

"We don't know that the water is not safe, but I can't say it is safe," Jeff McIntyre, president of West Virginia American Water Co., told reporters about the water his company provides to customers in central and southwestern West Virginia.

That's been the case since Thursday, when residents of Kanawha County reported a foul odor -- similar to licorice -- in the air.

Investigators from the Kanawha County Fire Department and the state Department of Environmental Protection soon found where it all started -- a leak from a 35,000-gallon storage tank along the Elk River, which is a regional water source." [Source]

I hope that their democratic senator in name only will be able to explain this to his constituents. He can't blame this one on that evil Obama guy.




Or, I take that back, knowing the loons on the right I am sure that they will try.


Finally, Bridgegate continues to be a story as more documents are being released thanks to a legislative committee investigating the fiasco.




Chris Christie has nothing to worry about if his milk is clean, if not, well he might have a hard time serving out his term as governor let alone becoming president of these divided states of America.

Who cares? They are just people.

The next time you hear some free market conservative talking about the beauty of free market capitalism, just say the words Massey to him. And, if that doesn't work, try Sago.

Oh ohh, here comes field using another tragedy to once again to score cheap political points.

Yep, you damn right! Because the people who love to promote the laissez-faire economic philosophy so popular among the wingnuts, rarely stop to think about the human cost of their abstract ideology. They put people in charge of overseeing something as dangerous as a mine, and these people keep their eyes on the bottom line and not the human factor.

It's why, time and time again, when we hear of these tragic mine explosions, we realize that the multi million dollar corporations that these poor minors bust it for, are usually in violation of multiple safety codes. (Fifty three in March for this latest company.) It's why these scumbag mining corporations consistently fight against giving their workers the right to organize with a union and fashion a collective bargaining agreement under which they can work.

This latest case is particularly egregious because the owner of this mine is a big time republican donor and global warming denier . This clown lines his own pockets while shelling out money to keep state and party officials in said pockets. And it's not just republicans; democratic poli-trick-sters in that state like Rick Rahall and Robert Byrd should shoulder some of the blame as well.

So twenty five more men (and counting) have lost their lives, and no one will be held accountable. We will hear that it was because of some accident or another: A gas leak, poor ventilation, or poorly trained workers. What we won't hear is that until some of these corporations start putting people before profits, sadly, another day in the not too distant future, the country will be mourning the loss of yet more miners.

A hanging chad might not be so bad after all.

I have said it on this blog before, but let me repeat it: I am not a big conspiracy guy. I think that man did land on the moon, I think that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone, and I don't think that the government created the AIDS virus to kill black people and Gays.....well, I take that back, I am not too sure about that one.

But having said that, this story has me troubled. I first caught a glimpse of it on CNN tonight, where some old guy from West Virginia (who if you just looked at him, you wouldn't believe he would vote for the O man in a million years)tried to push the button on an ES&S touch screen voting machine (more on them in a minute) for Obama. Apparently, the poor old guy kept pushing the Obama button on the touch screen, but the machine kept registering, McCain. This is not some conspiracy buzz, I actually saw it happening live on my television, and the story is all over the Internet. Of course the republican county commissioner swears that there is nothing wrong with the machines,and the old guy just happened to get a bum machine. To CNN's credit, the followed up on the story, but the company said that this machine might just not have been calibrated properly. Hmmmm, not calibrated properly. And just what does that mean? And who is doing the calibrating? (Can one of you computer savvy field Negroes help me out with that one please?)

This whole ES&S touch screen thing got me to wondering: How many of these machines are in use? And what states are using them? "When I pushed Obama, it jumped to McCain. When I went down to governor's office and punched [Gov. Joe] Manchin, it went to the other dude. When I went to Karen Facemyer [the incumbent Republican state senator], I pushed the Democrat, but it jumped again. The rest of them were OK, but the machine sent my votes for those top three offices from the Democrat to the Republican.."

Okay, now is the time to cue in the Twilight Zone music. I must confess that I have heard some folks obsessing over these shaky voting machines (which are always controlled by some company with a connection to republicans) before, but I never paid much attention to them. I viewed the folks who were always complaining about them, kind of like I always viewed the folks who believe in UFOs. I hear them but I really don't listen to them if you get my drift. Now....I am not so sure. The more I read about these Es&S folks, the scarier the shit gets.

Hell, I am even learning that they used them in Ohio for crying out loud. Be afraid Obamaholics, be very afraid. Where there is a will (and a republican with money) there is a way. So don't go counting your fried chickens just yet.

And you gotta give the rethugs credit. All I have heard about is ACORN and their shaky voter registration drives. Nothing about ES&S and their shaky touch screen voting machines. Distract. Distract. Distract.

Folks, could we be far away from a time in this country, when the best man you can have on your political team is a good computer programmer, or hacker? I dare say that we might be there already. Obamaholics, you better pray that isn't the case.

Okay Rod Sterling, you can get out of my head now.

Sorry "O" man, these "Mountaineers" don't want you.

“'The contrast between the large, adoring crowds Obama draws at public events and the gritty street-level work to win votes is stark. The candidate is largely insulated from the mean-spiritedness that some of his foot soldiers deal with away from the media spotlight.' "

That quote is from a Washington Post article about the racism and downright vitriol some of the "O" man's volunteers have been subject to thanks to some of our fellow citizens here in A-merry-ca.

I haven't commented on this in awhile, but today is a perfect time in lieu of the severe ass whipping that the Ice Queen is putting on the "O" man tonight. This ass whipping comes compliments of my banjo playing friends in West Virginia.

Now if these folks were voting on the basis of policy and just pure politics it would be one thing. But quite a few of them have been willing to admit that they will not vote for the "O" man because... he is.....well...you know, tall. :)

But seriously, the level of ignorance in this country is astonishing. What's scary is that the folks in West Virginia are proud to let the country know that they will be laying the marker in the sand. And damn it if more folks were like them this little uppity nigger from Illinois wouldn't actually think that he could be the president of these divided states. I actually think that quite a few of them are angry that he was allowed to even go this far. Poor "O" man, he is trying to build a movement based on unity, and when he actually does win the dumbocratic nomination to be president, the country, because of him, will be more divided than ever. Black folks will continue to get his back. (90%) But some white folks, mostly the poor and uneducated ones will continue to reject him by almost the same margin.

I visited West Virginia once. I was up in Morgantown, and the town wasn't all that bad. Of course it was a university town, and I was among West Virginia's educated class. But from what I can remember the people were friendly and decent, and I wasn't called a nigger not once. Well, not to my face. But there was poverty there, and I remember that the state had a lot of natural beauty but noticeable poverty as well.

Which is the irony of all this. Why would a state that has been one of the countries' poorest all these years, so overwhelmingly support a politician who would give them more of the same, and not one offering change? Why wouldn't they at least give the black man a chance? And hell, he isn't even all the way black. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, after all, they keep sending a former Klansman to Washington.

So tonight, the Ice Queen will be giving another victory speech thanks to her moonshine drinking friends. And she will demand that the super delegates pay attention. She will demand that the ones abandoning her, like a Rastafarian on a pig farm, reconsider their votes. But if they are like me they won't. They will see West Virginia for what it is, a state with a large Bubba population, who would rather switch than fight for the black man.

The problem for the "O" man and the Obamaholics, is how many more West Virginia' do we have out here? How many of these types of folks do we really have in A-merry-ca? You know the ones. The ones that if Obama came to their homes and gave every family a check for $10,000 they still wouldn't vote for his black ass. Yeah thanks for the check "Osama", you got our vote brother........ yeah right nigger, not in this life, and the other one ain't looking too good either.

"The contrast between the large, adoring crowds Obama draws at public events and the gritty street-level work to win votes is stark. The candidate is largely insulated from the mean-spiritedness that some of his foot soldiers deal with away from the media spotlight."

Yeah but not for long "O" man, not for long.