"Negro, step away from the German vehicle".

More proof that "driving while black" is no joke.

A brotha can't even test drive a fine German automobile without catching it from the po po these days.

"A man who went car shopping in Gwinnett County ended up in jail during a test drive.

Jon-Christopher Sowells had just driven a BMW out of Philips Motors on Highway 78 in Snellville when an officer stopped him.

Sowell told Channel 2’s Kerry Kavanaugh he pulled over, unclear about why the Snellville police officer stopped him. 

"He said you don't have any tags on the car. I said, ‘No problem, I don't have any tags on this car because it's not my car. The dealer is right there we can get it all clarified,’” Sowells said.

Sowells said he asked the officers to call the dealer three or four times, then the officer asked to see some paperwork on the back seat. Not knowing what the papers were, Sowells refused.

“They asked me to get out of the car. I said 'I don't feel comfortable.' They commenced to open up the car door and they tried to drag me out of the door by my left arm," he said.

At that point, Sowells says, the officer had called for backup.

According to the police report, Sowells pulled away from the officers. Two officers grabbed their Tasers and Sowells got out of the car. He was arrested for obstruction.

“They're treating me like I'm a criminal and I hadn't done anything," he said.

Snellville Police Chief Roy Whitehead emailed Kavanaugh a statement.
"The officer observed a paper on the rear seat that appeared to be of the type dealers use when placing a vehicle for sale. He asked if he could retrieve it and Mr. Sowells refused. Based on his refusal to provide information and his passive and then active resistance, Mr. Sowells was charged with obstruction," the statement said." [Source]

Now why would the po po stop a black man from driving a black man wagon? BMW, Black Man Wagon, get it? I know I know, it's not funny, but honestly, I have to laugh to keep from crying. I am starting to see where Touré  is coming from. (Check out the comments after this article.) Even"Proper Negro" behavior can't save you anymore.

And I am supposed to be worried about Uncle Sam listening to my long distance call to my cousin in Jamaica? I don't think so. Not when I am worried about just stepping out the damn door.

I am glad that some folks are up in arms about their privacy and want to check the government, but it would really be nice if they were just as outraged at stories like this one.

Americans are worried about having their freedoms limited. Sadly, quite a lot of us have already had it taken.



 

The convenient Constituion.

I tweeted about this last night, and it bothered me so much that I am moved to blog about it again.

It's about this Edward Snowden fellow and the leaks that he put out there that allegedly endangered our national security.

Honestly, I have no idea if the information Edward Snowden put out there will actually make it easier for terrorist to attack us or not, but there is an aspect of this story that's troubling.

It's these hipsters, Libertarians, and white liberals  getting into a hissy fit about their privacy rights because of the NSA snooping on their phone conversations and Internet searches. They are crying a river about the Constitutional protections that are being stripped away by "Big Brother", not to mention the police state infringing into their personal lives, and they want answers from their government.

Fair enough. But where was the outrage when government decided that it was cool to "stop and frisk" young minority men in America's largest city? Doesn't that policy violate the 4th Amendment of our wonderful Constitution? I guess, in their eyes, it's cool to racially profile as long as it's under the guise of fighting crime.

Honestly, I am a little confused. So it's cool to violate the Constitution when we are trying to keep down street crime in New York, but not when we are trying to stop a terrorist attack that could kill thousands of people?

"But Field, this is apples and oranges; the NSA eavesdropping intrudes on a potentially large amount of people, and it is a violation of the First Amendment of our Constitution. 'Stop and frisk' only affects a small segment of the population of New York City. If they don't walk around looking like thugs the police won't be suspicious of them."

Got it now.

The Constitution is only for some of the people.

Good luck to you Mr. Snowden, Hong Kong is a beautiful place. It's a shame that you probably won't get a chance to enjoy it.

Finally, speaking of the Constitution being for some of the people; if you think that DWB is a joke check out the following story:

"Drunk driving is a serious problem in the United States, impacting many thousands of Americans every year, and so is racism. The two issues converged recently during a routine traffic stop of 64-year-old retired firefighter Jessie Thornton by police officers in Surprise, Arizona.

The motorist was handcuffed and taken into custody. Thornton submitted to a Breathalyzer sobriety test and blew a 0.000 blood alcohol content (BAC).

Thornton was eventually free to go, but not before his car had been impounded and the Arizona MVD had been notified of the DUI charge.

Despite the seeming exoneration of the test, the suspect was charged with a DUI, an assessment that led Thornton’s attorney to quip that the real crime was, “D-W-B. Driving While Black.”

Thornton told the local ABC News affiliate that he has been pulled over 10 times and issued four tickets since moving from Ohio to the retirement community of Surprise. This latest stop was the first time he’d been taken to the Surprise lockup.

The arresting officer cited the retiree’s red eyes as grounds for the arrest. Thornton credits chemicals in the neighborhood L.A. Fitness’s lap pool for the redness, a theory in line with Surprise law enforcement’s resident DRE—drug recognition expert.

---

According to Thornton: “After he did all the tests, he says, ‘I would never have arrested you; you show no signs of impairment.’ ”

A blood test that revealed no trace of alcohol or drugs validated this perception.

Thornton was eventually free to go, but not before his car had been impounded and the Arizona MVD had been notified of the DUI charge, which resulted in a notification that his driver’s license was being suspended and he would be required to attend “some sort of drinking class or something.”

Rather than attend the drinking class, former firefighter filed a claim against the city of Surprise seeking $500,000.

The National Education Association, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the American Civil Liberties Union, OneAmerica and the Racial Profiling Data Collection Resource Center of Northeastern University are among the many credible and able organizations working to heighten the awareness of and eradicate racial profiling from U.S. law-enforcement policy and practice.

---

Though harassed, inconvenienced and caused physical distress, Jessie Thornton can count himself among the luckier victims of racial profiling. He has the maturity and resources to fight back. His lawsuit is not about the money, he told ABC News: “I just don’t want any of this to happen to somebody else.” [Source]

Wow! A DUI charge -and arrest- for blowing 0.000 in blood alcohol content?

Those of you who drive everyday and happen to be black are not surprised.

There is something else that's not surprising: The only people who will be outraged are us.

Darrell is hurting the republican brand.

I know republicans would never take advice from me, but just this once try to listen: Lose Darrell Issa (he of the car fetish)as your face of these investigations into the IRS.

Mr. Issa is a liar and a fraud, and the longer you keep him front and center is the more you risk the chance of serious embarrassment and further erosion of your popularity as a political party.

He has been all over our television of late declaring that there is a connection to these scandals and the White House when it turns out that he actually knows better.

Fortunately someone on his committee is willing to come forward to expose him.

"Maryland Representative Elijah Cummings appeared on Candy Crowley’s State of the Union Sunday morning with what he believed was testimony refuting any link between the White House and the group of IRS officials who targeted conservative groups over the past two years, and called on House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa to release full transcripts of the investigation.

In the transcript quoted by CNN, an IRS official says he does not believe that the order to scrutinize tea party groups was politically motivated, nor did it come from above.

“This man was the manager of the Cincinnati group that reviewed the exemption process,” Cummings said. “Listen up now. He was a twenty-one year veteran of the IRS. He described himself as a conservative Republican. He is a conservative Republican working for the IRS. I think this interview and these statements go a long way toward showing that the White House was not involved in this.”

“This conservatve, twenty-one year veteran of the IRS,” Cummings continued, “is the same one who sent the initial case, the tea party case, up to the Washington technical office. It had not been requested by the Washington techincal office of the IRS.”

As Crowley pointed out, Cummings appearance was strangely reminiscent of Issa’s appearance on her show exactly one week before, when Issa used excerpts of his investigation’s transcripts to make his case that orders to scrutinize tea party groups had come from Washington. Crowley eviscerated his claim and faulted him for cherry-picking quotes. Cummings now arrived with excerpts of his own to make the opposite case.

Crowley asked Cummings if the full transcript of the investigation would ever be released.

“I want those transcripts to be released,” Cummings said. “But he’s the chairman of the committee. We’re not in power. Now, if he does not release them I will.”

“Can we get some sort of transcript?” Crowley asked.

“I’ll release them by the end of the week,” Cummings said." [Source]

I can't wait.

Finally, I really wish that that NRA would spend more of those long dollars that they have on things like gun safety and responsible gun ownership instead of buying off politricksters in Washington.

Now comes yet another case of a child who got hold of a firearm with tragic results.

This particular child is four, and he found a gun in his living room and used it to shoot and kill his 35 year old father.

But wait, there is even more irony to this story: The boy's father was a former Army special forces veteran who served in Iraq.

Go figure. You survive a tour of duty in Iraq only to be killed by your four year old son who found a gun just sitting around in the living room.

Yes America, you have a right to bear arms, but not to be stupid.

*Pic from Crooksandliars.com

Cory makes a run, and Jay fails at funny.

Good luck to Cory Booker with his run for the U.S. Senate.

I see that he is trying to go the same route as another popular African American politician: Ivy League cred, community organizer establishing his street credibility, and a run for the U.S. Senate.

But will he be a political moderate like the brother currently occupying the White House? Or, will he be aprogressive left winger?

In order to start positioning himself for higher office he better start heading to the middle. Americans tend to like their policy makers to be very vanilla (pun intended).

Speaking of African American politicians, I see that Jay Leno tried cracking a "brotha" joke about the one in the White House on his show.

 "On Thursday night, future former Tonight Show host and National Treasure Jay Leno took on the roiling NSA data collection story with the wit and sophistication his fans have come to expect. During his monologue, Leno joked that the saddest part of the story is that “it turns out 90% of phone calls Americans make are to order a a pizza,” and followed that bon mot with the observation that “When I was growing up, I was, we were afraid of Big Brother watching us. Now with Obama, we actually have a brother watching us!

Get it? Because he’s black!

Wait, sorry, I screwed up the transcription. What Leno actually said was “Now with Obama, we actually have a brothahh watching us!”

In case anyone in his audience missed the translation, though, he repeated the line in White English, adding, “You see what I’m saying? We got a brother watching us.”

Oh, my God, I’m still laughing, because President Obama really is a brothahh! See, “Big Brother” is a reference to the dystopian George Orwell novel 1984, and “brother” is a slang term for a black man.

Still, I think Leno could improve bits like these if he went to Robert Townsend‘s Black Acting School, and really learned to get his jive on. You gotta really drag the syllables out, like “We actually have a BRUH-thuuuuhhhh watching us,” and you gotta get your behind swaying, and maybe throw in a pimp-walkin’ hand gesture. At this rate, he’ll be in line to replace Bill Maher when the Tonight Show gig is up, which might actually be a big improvement."

Decent article , Tommy, but  don't you dare mention Robert Townsend's Black Acting School in the same article with the likes of Jay Leno ever again! That s*** is blasphemous to us black folks.

Jay Leno doesn't even have a funny card let alone a black one to be cracking black jokes.

Gladly, he and his lame jokes will be gone soon.

April does not like Negroes, and more madness in America.

Rain. Rain. Rain. I feel like I am living in my sister's hometown of Seattle and not Philadelphia.

Anyway, tonight my racism chase takes me to Dallas, Texas.

It seems that a poor 911 operator in Big D is so sick and tired of you Negroes that she risked her job and went on Facebook to rant about having to live in a country with all of you Negroes.

“Black people are outrageous! They are more like animals, they never know how to act, just loud [expletive] Always causing problems,” stated one of numerous incendiary Facebook messages posted under her name.

The posts were visible only to Sims’ Facebook friends, but photos of them were provided to local news station WFAA.

“I can count on 1 hand the black people I know who don’t have [expletive] for brains!!!” one post stated.

April Sims via Facebook

“I can count on 1 hand the black people I know who don’t have [expletive] for brains!!!” one of Sims' posts stated. 

Sims’ Facebook tirade against blacks seemed to have been motivated by her time on the job as a 911 operator, which began in November.

“I’m a very easygoing person and I will give the shirt off my back to help others,” Sims wrote in another message, “but when call after call are black people fighting and screaming and hitting each other and they want to yell at me and treat me like [expletive] when I’m trying to help, is not cool.”

When asked by another Facebook member what she thought Dallas Police Chief David Brown would make of her statements, Sims was defiant.

“I stand by every word I said,” Sims wrote. “And do not apologize.” [Source]

Finally, a racist that I can respect. At least April stood by her racism.

Unfortunately for April.....

"The Dallas Police Department announced it had fired April Sims, 23, for violating its social media policy."

Sorry April, we can't have you blowing off a 911 call because it's two N*****s on the other end of the line.

BREAKING NEWS!!

Six dead at Santa Monica College after mass shooting.

"According to unconfirmed reports, the shootings began during a domestic dispute at a home on the 2500 block of Kansas St. Neighbors described hearing multiple gunshots coming from a home that was engulfed in flames. 

Everyone threw themselves on the floor, screams,” student Marta Fagerstroem, who was on the bus, told NBC4. “The bus driver, she panicked. She couldn’t drive away. She was able to, after a while.” 

The college was quickly put on lockdown, and a suspect was engaged at the school library." [Source]

Watching CNN and it looks like it was a domestic situation gone bad.

Oh well, I am pretty sure that NSA tracking our cell phone records and computers could not have stopped this one.









 

Sorry Sarah.

I hate to come off as an asshole.....ok, I take that back, I don't really care if I come off as an asshole or not.

So anyway, I agree with HHS Secretary Sebelius that the little girl who is in Children's Hospital here in Philly and waiting to get on the adult waiting list for a lung should not be moved to the adult list.

The doctors who set up the transplant criteria set it up the way they did for a reason. While I feel for the little girl and her parents, her mother getting on television and crying for her little girl should not change the policy because this one little girl has gotten all this public sympathy.

Now, because of public pressure, the Secretary is calling for a review of the policy, and a federal Judge took the unusual step of ordering the Secretary to make exceptions for this little girl and put her on the adult waiting list.

Now look, I can't say that I blame her parents, if I had a little girl that was dying I would do everything in my power to save her as well. But that doesn't mean that we should change the rules in our society for this one little girl.

Now, as a result, Pandora's box has been opened.

"A second child at a Philadelphia hospital is asking a federal judge to order that he be put on the adult waiting list for a donated lung. 
 
The mother of 11-year-old Javier Acosta filed a lawsuit Thursday that says if he does not get a donated set of lungs soon he will die.

The case was initiated a day after a national organ transplant network complied with a judge's unusual order and placed a dying 10-year-old girl on the list.

Javier, a boy with cystic fibrosis who lives in the Bronx, is currently in the intensive care unit at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

The legal filing says Javier's brother was his age when he died while waiting for a lung transplant two years ago." [Source]

I wonder if some of these people crying for little Sarah would have cried as hard for Eduardo Loredo who also needed a transplant but couldn't afford it because his parents didn't have the money to pay for it.

Darrell's cars, and Will's bomb.

After reading the following post, I have come to the conclusion that maybe Darrell Issa is not  a car thief after all.

"One fascinating side-drama of Rep. Darrell Issa‘s current conflict with the White House over the IRS investigation is the broadside launched by former White House senior adviser David Plouffe, who tweeted, of Issa, “Strong words from Mr Grand Theft Auto and suspected arsonist/insurance swindler. And loose ethically today.”

Plouffe was responding to Issa’s “paid liar” attack on Jay Carney, but his tweet might make people wonder how a guy gets elected to the U.S. Congress after being accused of car theft… three times. Here’s how.

It should be noted that David Plouffe is not a journalist, but if he were, his tweet would be considered a massive breach (or not), because it implies guilt where it hasn’t been established. Darrell Issa was never convicted of auto theft, or any of the other things Plouffe tweeted about, but it is fascinating that, in an age where an errant scream can sink your electoral chances, a candidate could survive three accusations of auto theft, including two indictments.
The first alleged theft occurred in 1971, and did not result in an arrest or charges. Here’s what First Sergeant (Ret.) Jay Bergey told The San Francisco Chronicle in 1998:

“That kid stole my car out of the parking lot and took it to Cleveland, and I knew he did it,” said retired 1st Sgt. Jay Bergey, who served with Issa in 1971 on the 145th Ordnance Detail, an Army bomb squad stationed near Pittsburgh. 

“I confronted Issa. . .. . I got in his face and threatened to kill him, and magically my car reappeared the next day, abandoned on the turnpike,” the retired soldier said in a phone interview from his home in Pennsylvania. 

…According to Sgt. Bergey, the alleged auto theft occurred shortly before Christmas in 1971. 

Bergey said he had been sent on short notice to eastern Pennsylvania to dispose of ammunition. When he returned the next day, he said, the car was missing. 

Bergey said only a few soldiers knew of his overnight assignment. He said he concluded that Issa had stolen the car, driven it 150 miles to Cleveland and then returned to the barracks.

At the time a 15-year veteran who had served in Vietnam, Bergey said he confronted the teenage soldier. 

“I told him I was going to kill him if I didn’t get my car back,” Bergey said. He said Issa denied stealing the car, but soon after, the car was found abandoned less than a mile away.

That’s pretty thin, but Bergey went on to tell the paper that Issa’s mother “basically admitted that my car had been in Cleveland,” and that she told him “Issa had claimed to have purchased the vehicle,” according to the paper.
When Issa was asked about Sgt. Bergey’s allegation in 2011, he went on the attack, telling The New Yorker‘s Ryan Lizza “I can’t believe (Sgt. Bergey) ended his career as a medium-rank sergeant with an alcohol problem,” and added, “Did I steal his or anyone’s car? No. Did I have anything to do with it and do I know whether somebody else stole it or he simply left it in a drunken stupor? I’d have to go check. I didn’t.”

Issa’s second auto theft allegation happened in 1972, and did result in an arrest and charges, which were later dropped:

On March 15, 1972, three months after Issa allegedly stole Jay Bergey’s car and one month after he left the Army for the first time, Ohio police arrested Issa and his older brother, William, and charged them with stealing a red Maserati from a Cleveland showroom. The judge eventually dismissed the case. 

…The incident involving the Maserati was a case of mistaken identity, he said. “By the time I get home in ’72, my brother has been incarcerated,” he said. “Cleveland Heights is a pretty small town. He was arrested and sent off to juvenile detention for a year and now he’s back on the street, and the police stop us. We’re about a thousand feet away, but walking in a direction toward this car. And they put two and two together: ‘Hey, car sitting in the middle of the road and two guys walking toward it and one of them’—Billy had never been arrested for car theft, but he’d been arrested for other thefts. Eventually, they put together the, quote, eyewitness with us and we don’t match and the case is dismissed.”

That same year, Issa ran into trouble in another car that wasn’t his, this time for having a gun in his glove compartment. The car, and the gun, were his brother’s, and Issa claimed he didn’t know the gun was in there, and that there were no bullets. However, Lizza reported, the police report said that “there was a loaded clip and a box of ammo, and that Issa told the police that he was allowed to carry the gun and that he needed to protect his car.”
Taking Issa at his word (and why wouldn’t you?), you would think that, after his brother’s past had just gotten him arrested, Issa would be a little more careful about borrowing his car, or anything, from him. Apparently, that lesson didn’t sink in, as Darrell would go on to be arrested again, for something he says his brother did:

According to court records, on December 28, 1979, William Issa arrived at Smythe European Motors, in San Jose, and offered to sell Darrell’s car, a red 1976 Mercedes sedan. William was carrying an Ohio driver’s license with his brother’s name on it and the dealer gave William a check for sixteen thousand dollars, which he immediately cashed. Soon afterward, Darrell reported the car stolen from the Monterey airport. He later told the police that he had left the title in the trunk.

 The brothers had been together in Cleveland for Christmas, and, after Darrell gave a series of conflicting statements about his brother and whether he himself had recently obtained a second driver’s license, the investigator in the case became suspicious that the two men had conspired to fraudulently sell Darrell’s car and then collect the insurance money.

The brothers were indicted for grand theft. Darrell argued that he had no knowledge of William’s activities; William claimed that his brother had authorized him to sell the car, and he produced a document dated a few weeks before the robbery that gave him power of attorney over his brother’s affairs. On February 15th, with the investigation ongoing, Darrell returned to the San Jose dealership and repurchased his car, for seventeen thousand dollars. In August, 1980, the prosecution dropped the case. Darrell insisted that he was a victim, not a criminal. William had produced evidence that he had the legal authority to sell the car, and the injured party was reimbursed.

I’ve heard of “3 strikes” laws, but in Issa’s case, it seems he’s racked up three balls, each of which earned him a walk.

The “car thief” appellation gets thrown at Issa frequently by opponents, but given that these allegations are all smoke, news consumers should take all of the facts into consideration, and not just go with what their gut tells them." [Source]

I have had a few clients like Mr. Issa in my time. The poor guy just always seems to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.

I am sure that he is hoping that his fishing expedition  investigation to get something on his Oness will not be more of the same.

Finally, you all know I can chase the Big R with the best of them, and that when I see racism I am going to call it out. But....come on now....

"This past weekend was a huge movie weekend, with “Now You See Me,” “Fast and Furious 6,”  and “After Earth,” vying to become blockbuster king. On Monday, the numbers rolled in, and critics of “After Earth” seemingly rejoiced at Will Smith and son Jaden‘s “dismal showing” at the box office. “After Earth” came in third, garnering only $27 million, compared with “Fast and Furious 6′s first place landing and $34.54 million profit. But whether you are a professional critic or pedestrian movie-goer alike, was “After Earth’s s0-called weak showing a result of poor acting and plot as some profess, or does Hollywood and some Americans have a problem with a star such as Will having the audacity to think that more than one Black actor can live in the limelight at his or her own choosing?" [Source] 

I love my fam over at News One, and Will  Smith and M. Night Shyamalan are my Philly home boys, but let's keep it real; people didn't go to see the movie because they thought that it was a bad movie, not because of racism.

M. Night hasn't made a good movie since The Sixth Sense, and sorry Will, but you need a hit. You probably should have taken the Django Unchained role.

Anyway, Will Smith is not the type of actor of color that white folks will stay away from because of his race. White folks love Will Smith. Unfortunately for Will, though, they don't like a bad movie. 

"Born- free" Becky.

"A tea party witness from Alabama launched into emotional testimony Tuesday as she described her group’s political abuse at the hands of the Internal Revenue Service.

“We peacefully assemble. We petition our government. We exercise the right to free speech. And we don’t understand why the government tried to stop us,” Wetumpka Tea Party President Becky Gerritson said during her opening statement before the House Ways and Means Committee.

“I’m not here as a serf or a vassal,” she went on, beginning to choke up. “I’m not begging my lords for mercy. I’m a born-free American woman, wife, mother and citizen.” [Source]

Excuse me while I throw up.

So am I supposed to feel sorry for Becky? I think not.

Becky, if you think you are being persecuted as a "born-free American",  try being black in your home state of Alabama for one day. Their ancestors were not born free.

Try being Debra Simmons. You were in a five star hotel in D.C. getting all kinds of love from your right wing friends, while Ms. Simmons was getting her ass kicked and tasered in Mississippi for exercising her constitutional rights as well.

Or, try being a Negro anywhere in the city limits of Jasper, Texas, and see how that Constitution thing works out for you when you are catching a beat down in the police station.

Good for representative McDermott for calling bull s*** on what was pure "political theater", and checking patriot Becky for her whining, woe is me, grandstanding.

Of course, some on the right were not pleased, and others like Paul Ryan couldn't resist the opportunity to confirm what Congressman McDermott stated was happening. 

"McDermott said that liberal groups were also targeted during the administration of President George W. Bush, but there was no outcry by Congressional Republicans at the time. “The Republican were looking for a conspiracy where there isn’t one,” he continued.

“Let’s not forget, this happened under an IRS commissioner appointed by George Bush and was investigated by a Republican inspector general,” McDermott asserted.

“I haven’t heard a single word here about what questions you think we ought to be able to ask you about your tax-exempt request,” he said. “Anything else, like the circus that’s happening in the Oversight Committee or here, is simply political theater.”

“I’m going to deviate from my original question in response to what I just heard,” Ryan said to the laughs and applause of the hearing’s attendees.
“So, you’re to blame I guess is the message here,” Ryan said summing his colleague’s argument up to a conservative testifying about the targeting her group had received."

No Paul, you and your clueless colleagues in Washington are to blame for that ridiculous spectacle that was just as much of a waste as a group of IRS agents learning to line dance on our dime.

Guess who is coming to the McCain's dinner. And what's in Mr. Issa's closet?

I suspect that Senator John McCain will be easing up a bit on all the Obama hateration from here on out.

The thought of having a bi-racial grandchild like the chosen one can soften even the most hardened wingnuts and make them consider their place in this melting pot we all call home.(Well, most of them. Some are beyond help)

Of course, as is to be expected, it's not all kumbaya moments for Jack McCain and his blushing bride.

"Now this is sad.

On what should be a joyous occasion, Sen. John McCain and his family have to deal with some ignorance.

Sen. McCain happily posted a shot of his 27-year-old son Jack McCain‘s marriage to 29-year-old Bay Area native Renee Swift — they met in Guam while serving in the Air Force Reserves — on his Facebook page. Immediately, Facebookers started posting messages of “congrats!” underneath the picture and photo album. But then the ignorance started.

Commentors brought up Obama, the race of his new daughter-in-law and political leanings under the comment section.

One commenter, Diann Daily, wrote: “No wonder McCain has crawled into bed with Obama…His son married a black girl! McCain is a RINO and a TRAITOR! Eeeewwwwwwwww…..”

And others followed suit, with many calling him a “traitor.”

Then there are comments like these, from George Dwyer, who wrote “Did someone seriously post about this dude marrying a black chick like it was a bad thing? What dimension are you living in? Is it possible to be that ignorant in the year 2013?”

Indeed. The happy couple will honeymoon in Africa before returning to Guam." [Source]

Speaking of wingnuts, one in particular has been making some news over the past few days.

In my country we have a saying that goes like this: "Tief no love fi si tief wid long bag."

I am reminded of Darrell Issa, the face of the republicans when it comes to these manufactured scandals in Washington, when I hear that proverb.

Mr. Issa actually chose to go on national television on Sunday and call the White House spokesperson a "paid liar".

“The administration is still, their paid liar, their spokesperson, picture behind, he’s still making up things about what happened and calling this local rogue,” Issa said." [Source]

Now now Mr.Issa, that wasn't very nice. When you say mean things like that you open up yourself for others to look into your closet.

I am not going to say that Mr. Issa is indeed guilty of auto theft, arson, carrying a concealed weapon, and insurance fraud, because, from what I have read, the man was charged but never convicted of these things.

The person actually making the charges via twitter is a former member of president Obama's "inner circle", David Plouffe.

"Unlike Issa's rhetorical jabs, Plouffe's brush-back pitch at least has the benefit of accuracy. As we discussed a few weeks ago, Issa, the man Republicans have tasked with leading investigations into alleged administration misdeeds, really has spent a fair amount of his adult life as a suspected criminal. This Ryan Lizza piece in the New Yorker from a couple of years ago remains relevant.

"Many politicians have committed indiscretions in earlier years: maybe they had an affair or hired an illegal immigrant as a nanny. Issa, it turned out, had, among other things, been indicted for stealing a car, arrested for carrying a concealed weapon, and accused by former associates of burning down a building."

This is generally one of those truths the political world knows, but chooses not to talk about. It's not a secret -- Issa's background is the subject of insider jokes and private chatter -- but it's considered impolite to broach the subject publicly.

Which makes Plouffe's rhetorical shot all the more interesting.

---

For the record, Lizza's report on Issa highlighted one run-in with the law after another, including arrests and indictments. There are also many suspected crimes -- he's accused of deliberately burning down a building and threatening a former employee with a gun -- which did not lead to formal charges, but which nevertheless cast the congressman in a less-than-flattering light.

The New Yorker report also noted an incident in which Issa was in a car accident with a woman who needed to be hospitalized. He drove away before the police could arrive because, as he told the person he hit, he didn't have time to wait. Issa didn't face charges, but he was sued over the matter, and agreed to an out-of-court settlement." [Source]

Game on Mr. Issa. Now it's your turn to go after that mean Plouffe fellow for defamation. Just remember, the truth is a pretty good defense in these types of cases.

*Issa pic courtesy of litbrit.blogspot.com 

Glad to be alive, and PBS kills a film.

Today is Sunday so I guess it's a good day to reflect on how lucky I am to still be alive here in America.

Sadly, as a black man in these divided states of America, it's pretty much a guarantee that your life will be shorter than everyone else's.

You catch it from all sides; from your own peeps to those who are supposed to be protecting you. I am still shocked to hear that a black man is killed every 28 hours by the po po or a vigilante. (I see you George Zimmerman.) It makes me want to strap on a bullet proof vest under my Tom Ford.

Here in Philly there were several shootings over the weekend, and I can guarantee you that most of those shootings were perpetrated by black men against other black men.

This, of course, is not a problem for most people, because they wouldn't be caught anywhere near where most of these shooting occurred. But unfortunately for the people who live in those neighborhoods getting out is not an option that they can afford right now, so sadly they live with the reality of those shootings every day.

"A significant portion of those killed, 68 people or 22%, suffered from mental health issues and/or were self-medicated. The study says that "[m]any of them might be alive today if community members trained and committed to humane crisis intervention and mental health treatment had been called, rather than the police."

Yes, but it's hard to focus on "crisis intervention" when you are afraid of walking out your door and getting shot.

Finally, I am disappointed with PBS for choosing money over principles. They canceled the showing of the documentary "Citizen Koch" because it didn't paint the wingnut billionaires in a flattering light.

The Koch brothers have been using their money to influence what goes on over at PBS and apparently the suits over there took notice when the Koch brothers threatened to cut off their money pipeline if they showed this particular film.

This is what having money can do for you in America. You can buy politicians and the public airwaves to influence political thought.

You have to feel for the poor guy who produced the film.

"When did you guys find out that Jane Mayer was writing about your film getting spiked by PBS? I'm not certain exactly when we found out. Jane's somebody whose work we know. We had taken note of when she had done an exposé of the political activities of the Kochs in 2010, and we'd been in touch on and off for the last few years. When she asked us the status of where we were with this project and with PBS and we told her, she immediately said she was interested in this angle because she had been aware of the various ways in which they had wielded influence with the network and had participated in some of the science programming that had aired on PBS. She was really interested in following up on this.

Speaking out publicly about what the experience wasn't a decision that Tia and I reached easily. But we felt that our film was exactly about this topic—the power that ideologically-driven wealthy Americans wield over the public debate. They determine what gets talked about and what's important, around elections for example. They're really interested in setting the parameters of the conservation.
So given our experience with losing the PBS audience for political reasons, we felt it was appropriate to be transparent, to answer questions, to share this experience." [Source] 

PBS might have some explaining to do.


*Pic courtesy of noshoesnosocks.blogspot.com

Home of the crazies.

I wonder what would happen here in America if a brotha was calling for an armed march on Washington D.C.  (now it's state capitols) to overthrow the federal government?

It's a rhetorical question, because we all know what would happen. Heck if four black men walk down the street together they call in the riot police. (Think of those two phony Black Panthers who couldn't scare a typical Philly grandmother but who made national news.)

And here we have this wingnut who had planned an armed march in Washington for the 4th of July who actually has supporters and backers in the wingnut community.

"Adam Kokesh is cancelling his planned July 4 armed march on Washington, D.C., and instead calling for a march on all 50 state capitols with the goal of overthrowing the federal government.

Kokesh, a former host for Russian state-sponsored RT television who now hosts an internet radio show, told conspiracy theorist radio host Pete Santilli that it was time to "escalate our tactics" before cancelling the Washington march and urging supporters to march on their state capitol instead.

On May 28, Santilli, a promoter of conspiracy theories about the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks who recently drew scrutiny from the Secret Service over vicious comments made about Hillary Clinton, aired an interview where Kokesh read from a press release and provided other details about the expansion of his plans.

Previously, Kokesh launched a Facebook page to organize his armed march on Washington, an event he hoped would draw at least 1,000 attendees. The page currently lists more than 5,000 attendees.

In an interview with Buzzfeed, Kokesh detailed how he and others planned to march across the Memorial Bridge -- which separates Washington from Virginia -- while openly carrying firearms in violation of District of Columbia law. Kokesh told Buzzfeed that the event would be non-violent and said, "We're not going to resist government by force in any way." The Facebook description of the event stated, "This will be a non-violent event, unless the government chooses to make it violent." District of Columbia Police Chief Cathy Lanier stated that those who bring weapons illegally into Washington would face arrest. 

In the press release, Kokesh called for "A new American revolution" where "the American Revolutionary Army will march on each state capital to demand that the governors of these 50 states immediately initiate the process of an orderly dissolution of the federal government through secession and reclamation of federally held property." Kokesh also gave the federal government a one-year deadline to comply with his demands before possibly taking violent action, writing, "Should one whole year from this July 4th pass while the crimes of this government are allowed to continue, we may have passed the point at which non-violent revolution becomes impossible."

Describing the change in plans, Kokesh told listeners who planned to openly carry firearms into the nation's capital in defiance of local firearms laws to not come to Washington, D.C., but to instead organize armed marches or other events at state capitols nationwide. He also explained to Santilli that such an "orderly peaceful dissolution" would be a way to avoid a "chaotic collapse" of government and that it is the "last chance to do it the easy way." After Santilli suggested that "we can't wait for a couple of more elections in order to purge the system," Kokesh chastised him for giving credence to the notion that "elections can have a positive impact," adding, "that's clearly not the case anymore."

Unbelievable!

While cable news and the chattering class opine and animadvert about manufactured scandals in Washington, you have crazy people running around and threatening to overthrow the government. And not to mention people sending poison to our president and the Mayor of our largest city with the intent to do them harm.

*shaking head*