Bringing out the Malcolm in Clarence.

*

My man Rippa shot me an e-mail earlier today and wanted to know what I thought of my favorite uncle's take on the Second Amendment. Seems CT was unusually animated during the most recent supreme court hearings while listening to arguments in the McDonald v. Chicago case.

Now Clarence, you need to quit. You might fool some of these other Negroes with your new found pro- black stance, but you aren't fooling me. This is a new low, even for you.

Let me quote from Courtland Milloy's article and then I will make my point:

"He hardly ever speaks during oral arguments, often appearing asleep on the bench. But in his written opinion Monday supporting the right to bear arms, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas roared to life.

Referring to the disarming of blacks during the post-Reconstruction era, Thomas wrote: "It was the 'duty' of white citizen 'patrols to search negro houses and other suspected places for firearms.' If they found any firearms, the patrols were to take the offending slave or free black 'to the nearest justice of the peace' whereupon he would be 'severely punished.' " Never again, Thomas says.

In a scorcher of an opinion that reads like a mix of black history lesson and Black Panther Party manifesto, he goes on to say, "Militias such as the Ku Klux Klan, the Knights of the White Camellia, the White Brotherhood, the Pale Faces and the '76 Association spread terror among blacks. . . . The use of firearms for self-defense was often the only way black citizens could protect themselves from mob violence."

This was no muttering from an Uncle Tom, as many black people have accused him of being. His advocacy for black self-defense is straight from the heart of Malcolm X. He even cites the slave revolts led by Denmark Vesey and Nat Turner -- implying that white America has long wanted to take guns away from black people out of fear that they would seek revenge for centuries of racial oppression.

If I may use another quote which I am sure many of you have heard: "Nigger please!"

Like you really care about poor Otis McDonald and his right to protect himself against urban terrorist. (AKA "street pirates") The only thing that Clarence Thomas wants to protect is a right wing ideological agenda, and a powerful gun lobby that pours millions of dollars into the pockets of his friends.

Shame on you Clarence! Reasonable people are trying to do everything in their powers to protect their cities against the scourge of gun violence and you wake from your usual oral argument stupor to lecture us about Denmark Vesey and Nat Turner? Do you think Shakuwrah Muhammad's life would have been spared if she was packing? Do you think that six month old baby in North Philly would have been spared from that urban terrorist's gun if her parents were packing? Right outside of Philly there is a small city under siege. Do you think one of those eleven murders that have taken place in the past couple of months could have been prevented if every law abiding citizen was packing? A police officer was shot there yesterday, I am guessing he was armed as well. These thugs and criminals aren't running into homes and shooting people, they are shooting each other, and decent law abiding citizens are getting caught in the cross- fire.

" This was no muttering from an Uncle Tom, as many black people have accused him of being"

Yeah, Ok, Courtland, I see he has you hoodwinked as well. And I have to start seriously questioning your smarts as a journalist. If that's really what you are.

"He dismissed the cogent gun-control arguments of his retiring colleague, John Paul Stevens, conjuring up the abolitionist Thaddeus Stevens instead: "When it was first proposed to free the slaves and arm the blacks, did not half the nation tremble?"
Let 'em quake, Thomas appears to be saying.

From Frederick Douglass, Thomas writes: " 'The black man has never had the right either to keep or bear arms,' and that, until he does, 'the work of the Abolitionists was not finished.' "
Because of his conservative take on affirmative action and prisoners' rights, he has been cast as an uncouth African American who didn't understand black history, a dupe for arch conservative Justice Antonin Scalia and a man who couldn't think for himself.

What Thomas has created, however, is a legal defense of the Second Amendment so thoroughly original and starkly race-based that none of the white justices would even acknowledge it, as if it were some blank sheet crafted by an invisible man.

That ought to be a clue enough for black people that this document is at least worth a look. You may not agree with his conclusion, but there'll be no mistake about where he's coming from. " [Article]

I know exactly where he is coming from. And I hope he keeps a lot of toilet paper with his briefs. He will need it to wipe off all the s*#t.

*Pic lifted from kerrywaghorn.com

R.I. ..........I am not sure.

I have to be true to myself and write this post. I have been thinking about it ever since my man Robert Byrd went off to meet his maker. I wish I could say rest in peace, but while I do want him to rest, I don't necessarily want it to be peaceful. I want him to have nightmares every now and then. Particularly when he thinks about his night and days of marauding with the klan. And I want him to wake up in a cold sweat when he thinks about his 14 hour filibuster of the civil rights bill. Or, when he remembers dropping the N word over at Radio Rwanda. And then there is all that pork to his beloved West Virginia. Yes, the main stream media has been ignoring certain aspects of my man's life, but I wont.

This post from someone over on Facebook sums up my feelings on one level:

"If people want to be fair and balanced on all issues you need to call a spade a spade. No one who knows the history of what the KKK actually did to minority groups would actually try to tell a minority to just get over it. While I am willing to acknowledge that Byrd was re-elected in West Virginia many times very similiar [sp] to Jesse Helms and Strom Thurmond in NC and SC (supposedly due to remorse or whatever you would like to call it) in today’s age where people are thrown out of office for having an affair or seen as unfit to be a candidate because of their sexual orientation, a man with provocative ties of this nature should have never been senator this long in any state. Period…then again maybe David Duke should try to make another comeback"

But then, on another level, I do appreciate his support of his O ness and his votes on certain civil rights issues. But then again.....

“I shall never fight in the armed forces with a Negro by my side… Rather I should die a thousand times, and see Old Glory trampled in the dirt never to rise again, than to see this beloved land of ours become degraded by race mongrels, a throwback to the blackest specimen from the wilds. ”

That was Rob, a year after he supposedly renounced his ties to the kkk, writing to a friend.

But, hey, times have changed. And, to be fair, he did say this:

"It has emerged throughout my life to haunt and embarrass me and has taught me in a very graphic way what one major mistake can do to one's life, career and reputation'

That was Rob talking about his membership in the klan.

"The death of my grandson caused me to stop and think," Byrd said. "I came to realize that black people love their children as much as I do mine."

Okaay, his grandson died in 1982. Took you awhile to come around there didn't it Mr. Byrd? (Better late than never I guess.)

Still, I hope that most of your rest is in peace. Most of it. Not all.

I don't think Lark can be a part of the baby making plot.

I am not in a good mood, folks. I have been seeing some very unflattering pics of Lark lately and many of you have been sending me e-mails and teasing me about Lark's demise. Oh my, not even our memories are safe these days. :( Anywhoo, I am hoping that my girl just had a bad makeup day. (she just left home without her MAC, that's all) Keep your fingers crossed for me, so that when I do find her, she will not be in this type of shape.

OK then, so let's talk about terrorist babies, shall we? Seems that a wingnut from Texas (Where else did you expect?) thinks that we have to be very afraid of Muslim breeding women:

"U.S. Rep. Joe Barton, R-Ennis, isn't the only Texas congressman making headlines in Washington. Citing a "retired F.B.I. agent" as his source, U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Tyler, said on the floor of Congress last week that terror cells are plotting to breed future terrorists inside the United States. "It appeared they would have young women who became pregnant [and] would get them into the United States to have a baby.
They wouldn't even have to pay anything for the baby," Gohmert said. "And then they would return back where they could be raised and coddled as future terrorists. And then one day, 20, 30 years down the road, they can be sent in to help destroy our way of life."
Gohmert issued the warning in defense of Arizona's immigration law, which the Obama administration is planning to file suit over." [Article]

Folks (and all you wingnut defenders out there) please let that sink in a little bit....is it just me or do any of you ever wonder how the republic survived this long. "Terror cells plotting to breed future terrorist." And, of course, he says he has a source for this information. Calling Mr. "retired FBI agent". Calling Mr. "retired FBI agent". Where is he spending his days in retirement? Bellevue?

According to TPM, this might be a part of a larger effort by conservatives to "overturn birthright citizenships." (Or maybe it''s just this.) Oh, OK. Now it all makes sense. *cue in Rod Sterling's voice here*

And for those of you who like to pray I hope you are sending up some shout outs to the big guy [or gal] up above for his O ness. It seems that according to some right wing religious groups, the big guy used BP as a vehicle to direct his wrath at the cigarette smoking, non church going, Saul Alinskey loving, beige man in the White House. The big guy is not too pleased at his O ness for going after his chosen people ,and so those shrimp loving, Tabasco sauce eating, people in the Gulf, must be taught a lesson on his watch.

What else? Oh yes, I see that some of you are still not showing love for the Booty Shaking Network's award show. It was last night, and I hear that my man Chris Brown (or young Ike Turner. I kid, I kid!) Had a come to Jesus moment as he sang about MJ. Nice.

Chris, you have a lot of talent my brother, but in the future, please save the come to Jesus moments for those times when you are in his house. Just my [not so] humble opinion. Yeah I am in a bad mood. Did you see Lark's picture? It's enough to make a man totally rearrange his priorities in life.

Pulling stuff out of the air, and Airbending.

Most black men are endowed with a large organ in a certain part of their body.

Now that statement has no basis in fact. It's a myth; a stereotype that has taken on a life of its own. But folks spread it, and others buy into it. Someone pulled it out of the air a long time ago and (thanks to guys like me :) it just kind of stuck.

We can understand when some folks buy into stereotypes. They don't know any better, and they don't take the time to try and find the truth. (Although, trying to get to the bottom of the first part of my post might take some work.) Regular folks. But not someone who was elected Governor to lead a very large Southwestern state. I am talking, of course, about one Jan Brewer. Jan just pulled a statement out of her ass for all the world to hear and expects the rest of us in this country who actually use our brains to believe it.

"PHOENIX (AP) - Gov. Jan Brewer said Friday that most illegal immigrants entering Arizona are being used to transport drugs across the border...Brewer said the motivation of "a lot" of the illegal immigrants is to enter the United States to look for work, but that drug rings press them into duty as drug 'mules.' 'I believe today, under the circumstances that we're facing, that the majority of the illegal trespassers that are coming into the state of Arizona are under the direction and control of organized drug cartels and they are bringing drugs in,' Brewer said. 'There's strong information to us that they come as illegal people wanting to come to work. Then they are accosted and they become subjects of the drug cartel,' she said." [Article]

"There's strong information". Yeah right. You have to love a country where people can just make up s&*t to fit neatly into their ideological box. There is no such information and Jan knows it. Sure, someone in law enforcement might have told her that there have been instances where illegals are being used to transport drugs into the country, but I am quite sure that they did not say "MOST."

Most wingnuts are assholes. See, that's me just throwing something out there that I cannot back up factually. (Although it might be true) But I can do that. I am not the Governor of of one of states in these divided states of A-merry-ca. I don't have that kind of standard to live up to. Jan Brewer does.

And before I go, I have to rip my homeboy, M. Knight Shyamalan. His latest flick, "The Last Airbender", might or might not be a good movie. But I will never know, because I will never watch it. Look M. Knight, I know you want to appeal to a certain demographic. (Hey, they buy the tickets) but you have to make a better effort to give your project some form of historical accuracy and credibility. If you don't even that certain demographic you are trying to reach will say no thanks.

"Gwen Florio
writes the Native American
news blog, BuffaloPost.net
M. Night Shyamalan's sixth sense seems to have failed him. Because when it came to casting for his most recent movie, The Last Airbender, due in theaters Thursday, he saw white people. Just one problem. The characters in the Nickelodeon anime series on which Airbender is based are, you know, not. Much rightly has been made over the fact that even though the original series mostly features Asian themes, the lead roles in the movie went to three white actors and an Indian, Dev Patel. Who plays the bad guy."

M. Knight, this is not good. And they even have a website dedicated to calling you out:

"The website Racebending.com airs its outrage over the situation, and it urges a boycott of the movie. But Racebending's focus - like that of most of the accounts of the controversy surrounding the casting of Airbender - has to do with the Asian-white divide." [Article]

Of course M. Knight has an answer for why he his film was cast this way:

"..Here’s the thing. The great thing about anime is that it’s ambiguous. The features of the characters are an intentional mix of all features. It’s intended to be ambiguous. That is completely its point. So when we watch Katara, my oldest daughter is literally a photo double of Katara in the cartoon. So that means that Katara is Indian, correct? No that’s just in our house. And her friends who watch it, they see themselves in it. And that’s what’s so beautiful about anime..." [Article]

Alright M. Knight, whatever you say. "Ambiguous", huh?

Well, you can call it whatever. But you need a hit. It's been awhile. I wasn't feeling "Signs", or "The Happening," or" Lady In The Water", or "The Village"... you get the picture. (Pun intended.) You needed a hit, and this wasn't the way to get it.

FRAUDS!

Do you want to know why I hate politics in A-merry-ca? It's because of s&*t like this:

"Aug. 21, Hilton Theater
Expect a lot of good-natured conflict when conservative Republican pundit Ann Coulter and Democratic strategist James Carville share the stage at the Hilton as part of the casino’s Summer Speaker Series. The time and ticket prices are TBA. "

WTF? So Carville and Coulter are actually touring together ,now? See, here is the deal: to me, politics is serious business, and I don't expect two people with different points of views about how to move the country forward to be doing speaking tours together. (Of course, when it comes to Carville, I guess I shouldn't be surprised. He is, after all, married to a wingnut)

I am sorry, but if we are in a life and death struggle for the future of the republic I don't want to be your damn friend. Sadly, this is what happens with the political elites and talking heads in this country: they are all in it together. It's a big scam, and ordinary A-merry-cans are getting played like Jimmy Hendrix's guitar.

And speaking of life and death struggle: I see that former VP Dick Cheney is in the hospital again due to his ticker acting up. Now there is a man that doesn't play nice with his political enemies. I bet you would never see Cheney going on a speaking tour with any democrat. (Of course, from the way his ticker has been acting up, I am guessing that he won't be going on any tours anytime soon..... I might have to go to church tomorrow.

And finally, I know that Wal-Mart shoppers can get damn near anything in those stores, but babies?!

"Couple sell baby in Walmart store parking while drug induced. The pair face child endangerment charges after they were to take $25 for their child at Walmart. The child is safe, and the people at Walmart, who were approached about the sale had called police." [Article]

How will that poor child survive as an adult? "When I was a kid my parents tried to sell me at Wal-Mart for $25." Poor kid. I swear that sometimes I think that there should be some kind of screening and testing before folks are allowed to have kids. Just sometimes.

Glen, I would march with you, but you creep me out.

Today is the first anniversary of MJ going off to that big dance studio in the sky. I was talking to a friend today and she kept mentioning how creepy MJ was. She said that every time she saw him (especially the post plastic surgery, Liz Taylor nose and chin, Michael) she felt "creeped" out. Not me. Maybe it's because I loved some of his music so much, but I never felt "creeped" out by MJ.

Now, to be sure, there are some things in life that do creep me out:
Clowns are creepy. So are images of large rabbits; and we can't forget cats. Those twins from "The Shining" were creepy. Frogs, and people holding large bibles in public creep me out as well. Oh, and I can't forget those anchors on FOX television. Now that's creepy!

Anyway, speaking of creepy: I see Glen Beck is planning a march on Washington D.C. to commemorate Dr. King's historic march and speech back in 1963 .

Now this is A-merry-ca, so Beck and his minions are free to march until their heels bleed. But as king funkadelic lamented over at Kos; I too have to wonder who Beck is bringing with him?

[From the looks of this he already has some folks eager to sign up] You black folks won't like this, but I bet he has a huge turnout. All those white folks are more that eager to show that we have moved past our racial issues and can embrace the dream of the commie we used to hate. And there will be some black folks there, too; the ones who are all too willing to show the rest of us that Beck isn't such a bad guy.

Let me sign off with a post from Rudolph over at Instablogs:

"Wonders shall never end.

The uncompleted work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. will now be finished by the very Reverend Glenn Beck.

Yes, you heard me right.

The Fox news opinionated entertainer is organizing a march on Washington on the same day and at the same spot where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous “I have a dream” speech.

Beck will be talking about getting black Americans home to their conservative roots. He plans to use black boards, white chalks, pies and pictures to show black Americans how the Democratic Party had deceived them for so long.

He plans to talk about justice -but not its cousin – social justice.
Rev. Beck will raise the issue of personal responsibility – just like Minister Louis Farrakhan did during the Million Man March on Washington.

What other proof does anyone need to certify the failure of Jesse Jackson, Andrew Young and Al Sharpton, than to have Glenn Beck leading the new civil right movement.
For those mischievous fellows who do not pay serious attention to Beck, he reminded then that his mission came straight from God.

At first, he wondered what God was doing talking to a guy like himself. And then, he got a call from the Vatican.

And there you have it.

Only in America." [More]

Oh Rudolph, what's with all the sarcasm? FYI, I think that they do have some things in common: Didn't they both go to jail?

Gretchen Carlson for President!

I know certain people won't like this post, but I am sorry, I have to go there.

Once again I have to dedicate some space and a little of my time to my friends over at Radio Rwanda and objurgate them for their behavior. My rant tonight will be focused on the clowns who ply their wares in the A.M. over at that joke of a network. And while it's true that I will always strike a discordant note when it comes to these folks, I have to do my part to try and save this republic from itself.

We all know that the folks over at Radio Rwanda have issues with some folks, and we have learned to live with that. Most of us who happen to have a certain hue do our best to ignore them, and people who actually use their brains more than their mouths tend to tune them out. But we would be fooling ourselves if we did not think that they are relevant in the larger scheme of things because of their popularity and influence over a certain segment of our population.

So what is it, you say, that has me thinking of my contemptible friends? Well, it seems that the usually voluble Gretchen Carlson compared her job to that of the president of these divided states. Yep, she said it:

"This is what being President of the United States is all about. It’s these tough, huge, monumental decisions. It’s not about how you run a campaign, it’s not about whether or not you’re popular, it’s not about whether you’re a celebrity or good-looking or tall or short. It’s in a time of crisis, making these executive decisions. It’s just like our job…what’s the role of an anchor during huge breaking news? You remember growing up? You’d tune to the television, and that one moment during the year, they would have to carry a story all along, It’s the same thing as being the President of the United States!”

"IT'S JUST LIKE OUR JOB"? WTF? Hey, I know the folks over at Radio Rwanda don't think much of his Oness, but have they really reduced his level of importance to a Radio Rwanda anchor? Wow! And Michelle, please watch your man; that trick thinks he is "good-looking".

Anyway, the sun will come out tomorrow, and the Radio Rwanda & Friends folks will be right there, front and center, in red state living rooms. The coffee just wouldn't be the same without a daily dose of indoctrination.

And speaking of daily. A man named Stewart who has a show by that name, did a nice job of putting this all in perspective on his show recently. He is a comedian, but it's all kind of appropriate, because I am sure that we all know by now that the main stream media in this country is a joke.

Oh, and before I go; congrats to Landon Donovan and the American football (soccer) team for making football (soccer) fans of millions of fence sitters in this country. That was a nice win. And you almost got robbed again after yet another clueless linesman called offside on a goal that was clearly onside. It should be fun watching the game against the "Black Stars" Saturday. (Why do I keep hearing"Fred Locks" in my head?) Bob Bradley might want to invite Slick Willie to the game. The man is a living breathing lucky charm.

"You've Got Mail"

I received the following e-mail before I went on vacation. I was impressed with the gentleman's honesty and his willingness to discuss an uncomfortable subject. I asked him if I could share it with my fellow field hands and he said cool. (The one caveat being that I didn't publish his full name). I will call him RL.

"Dear Field-

First off, I have to tell you that I'm white. I mean really white. I was born and raised on a farm in rural Minnesota. I grew up on country music, the religious right, and extremely boring food. After high school, I moved to Madison, WI. Madison considers itself a center of progressive, liberal ideas. I bought into that. I didn't fit in where I was from, and I thought the "liberal" Madison thing was right for me. But I worked for three years as a Special Education Assistant at East High- the school that serves more low-income/racially diverse students than any other in the city. I saw a disproportionate number of black kids labeled learning disabled or emotionally disturbed, and therefore part of Special Ed., simply because their parents weren't around (addicted to drugs, locked up, or just plain absent) or they realized that the standard education system didn't offer anything for them. Most of these kids truly believed that the only paths out of poverty were sports, music, or selling drugs. I thought it was a failing of black culture, black parents, hip hop, etc. I was in my early twenties. There had been only one black kid in my grade in high school. Nobody told me any different. I had no idea.

During the time I lived in Madison, I became friends with some Socialists and Anarchists. I sort of agreed with their ideals but I wasn't ready to face the fact that every bit of mainstream culture was designed to get me to distrust anybody that seemed the slightest bit different for any reason. Besides, the degree of their passion for the cause seemed to be proportionate to the size of the checks their bourgeois parents sent every month. Two years ago I fell in love with the Obama message- I truly believed that he would bring about a new era of equality and prosperity- and I was really proud to vote for our first black president. My more politically aware friends told me I was naive, but I told them they were too cynical. Hope and change would save us all.

Fuck that. It seems so obvious now. So obvious that I'm shocked there aren't riots in the streets.

I'm 30 years old. I live in a small town in northern Wisconsin (my wife got a job here when she graduated law school last year). With no college education, a year of unemployment under my belt, and the majority of my work experience in the building trades (where nobody is getting work right now) I should be on the Glenn Beck train blaming brown people and socialists for my situation.

Thank god for the internet. It's given me access to ideas that are not available from any other source around here. Such as: 1) Most of the problems that regular poor/working class people have are the direct result of decisions made by the rich, with the full knowledge of the inevitable result. 2) It's in the interest of the rich/ruling class to cultivate racism to distract people from the true source of their problems. 3) The choice between Democrats and Republicans is not a true choice between change for the better and change for the worse. 4) Capitalist greed is color-blind, but its effects are felt most harshly by non-whites.

Before I started reading your blog and others like it, I thought I was part of the solution. I know better now. I may not have been making things much worse by myself, but I wasn't making things any better. I have learned in the last year that patronizing, paternalistic thought and action are not part of the solution. I have learned that real equality and justice are farther away than the media and politicians would have white "liberals" believe. I've had racist thoughts. I've said racist things. I'd like to blame that on the culture I grew up in, but most of the time I knew better. And I can't blame my raising for my own actions. I am a grown man and I am responsible for what I do.

I don't know the answer to the problems facing our world. But I do know this: next time I'm in Madison (or another large city- I haven't seen any non-whites in Rhinelander, WI) and I see a black man on the corner asking for spare change, I'm not going to blame his lack of initiative or unwillingness to "pull himself up by his bootstraps". I know his situation is the result of systematic capitalist greed, made worse by paternalistic white bourgeois liberalism. It's easy to see everything in terms of color-blind economic injustice but I know there is more to it than that.

If you read this and think "This fucking asshole is just as racist as ever", I need to hear that. All I see are problems, in my own life and in the world around me. What I'm learning is that the problems in my own life and the problems in the greater world are interconnected. The most obvious solutions seem light years away, but I am trying to take steps in the right direction. Your writing has been a valuable resource to that end. Thank you."

No, thank you RL. Heartfelt honesty without paternalistic posturing is always appreciated.

If you are ever in Philly look me up. We will have some beers and cheese steaks together.

A real "Beer Summit".

Let's talk!

I don't like this war in Afghanistan, and I have made my feelings clear about that campaign for some time now. No one has won a war over there since Genghis Khan.- And forgive me for sounding a bit unpatriotic, but I don't see that trend changing anytime soon. As was the case with the Iraqi war, no good will come of it. But his O ness campaigned on a promise to prolong it and chase down al-Qeada over there. Sadly, it seems that this promise,unlike others, cannot be broken.

Having said that, I have to wonder about my man Stanley McChrystal. Talk about a loose cannon. (no pun intended) my man sat down with "Roiling Stone Magazine" and caught a serious case of diarrhea of the mouth. This, at a time, -to stay with the diarrhea analogy- when we are running out of toilet paper.

"Are you asking about Vice President Biden?" McChrystal says with a laugh. 'Who's that?"
'Biden?' suggests a top adviser. 'Did you say: Bite Me?"'

That is just one example of the mouthy general and his crew letting it all hang out.

Of course, I am sure that none of us were surprised to hear that O is not a happy camper, and he has summoned the good general to the White House for an old fashioned sit down. (I wish I could be a fly on that wall. ) As to be expected, the wingnuts are not pleased. ("How dare that nig....Obama call a four star general on the carpet like that as if he really is the HNIC..")

'“I found that time painful,” McChrystal says. “I was selling an unsellable position.”
An unnamed adviser to McChrystal alleges the general came away unimpressed after a meeting with Obama in the Oval Office a year ago.
“It was a 10-minute photo op,” the general’s adviser says.
“Obama clearly didn?t know anything about him, who he was… he didn’t seem very engaged."'

Really Stanley? And yet he gave you damn near everything you wanted in Afghanistan. Even after you tarnished the memory of a true patriot with your bullshit. (Breathe field; breathe...)

I don't know what O will do. I am guessing he keeps the guy. That's his style. Keep the status quo. Don't upset the apple cart.

"I extend my sincerest apology for this profile. It was a mistake reflecting poor judgment and should never have happened. Throughout my career, I have lived by the principles of personal honor and professional integrity. What is reflected in this article falls far short of that standard. I have enormous respect and admiration for President Obama and his national security team, and for the civilian leaders and troops fighting this war and I remain committed to ensuring its successful outcome.”

Apology accepted. Now let's go and wait for more coffins to come into Dover.

That's not the Gulf Of Mexico

in the picture you are seeing. That's Nigeria. And apparently they have had their own environmental disaster long before all that "black gold" started spilling into the Gulf.

I read the following story over at The Root, and I do believe that it's cut and paste worthy:

"It's a truth universally acknowledged that in the news media that one missing white girl equals half a dozen dead black girls or 100 dead Muslims or 1,000 Africans with AIDS. The missing white girl will always get front-page coverage while death and disease striking men and women of color will be relegated to the inside pages, below the fold. Wikipedia even has an entry for it: Missing white woman syndrome.

It's a sad fact that this rule applies also to American oil spills. While everyone is now aware of the massive leak off the coast of Louisiana, in the Gulf of Mexico, only now is the U.S. news media beginning to notice in print the 50 years of environmental devastation inflicted in Nigeria. According to the Times story, oil spills equal to the Exxon Valdez spill have occurred every year for the past five decades.

''The oil spews from rusted and aging pipes, unchecked by what analysts say is ineffectual or collusive regulation, and abetted by deficient maintenance and sabotage," the Times article said. "In the face of this black tide is an infrequent protest--soldiers guarding an Exxon Mobil site beat women who were demonstrating last month, according to witnesses--but mostly resentful resignation.''

''Small children swim in the polluted estuary here, fishermen take their skiffs out ever farther--there's nothing we can catch here,'' said Pius Doron, perched anxiously over his boat--and market women trudge through oily streams.

''There is Shell oil on my body,'' said Hannah Baage, emerging from Gio Creek with a machete to cut the cassava stalks balanced on her head.." [Article]

Hannah, it's just too bad for you that you weren't born on A-merry-ca's Gulf Coast. But, then again, maybe it wouldn't have made any difference for you. Just ask the parents of Mitrice Richardson.

PSA: It feels good to be home. I missed you guys...well, some of you. :)

Just taking a hit of the blogging pipe.

Please hang with me a little as I feed my blogging addiction. Mrs. Field is still sleeping off a long day of shopping ("women be shopping") and I have a few moments to creep before I continue my vacation.

Sorry to see that there is still a strong anti USA sentiment in the rest of the world. That was a Mali referee who robbed the USA soccer team of a win over Slovenia in the World Cup. Ugly stuff. Mali Coulibaly has just been sent to the house. Staying with soccer: you Frenchmen better cut this crap out and try and stick together. If you don't, they are going to stop allowing all of you brothers to represent France.

Out in the land of Snoop I see that Laker fans are proving to the rest of the country that Philly isn't the only city with boorish sports fans, (BTW, what the hell is up with Ron Artest? )
and Tiger is on the prowl, once again, in a major tournament. Tiger, I sure hope that your latest accuser is more like Billy Jean, and not Rielle Hunter.

And speaking of the left- coast, looks like yet another maniac decided to bring death and destruction to those who are close to him and then take the easy way out. I know, I know, but what about the "Street Pirates"?

Looks like the military is testing out a pain ray gun (for crowd control purposes, only) in Afghanistan. It zaps you and makes you feel like you are on fire. Kind of like being in a microwave. And here we thought tasers were bad.

Finally, rest in peace Manute Bol, and have a happy Father's Day to all of you dads out there holding it down. Not you Tiger. :)

"The first thing we do let's kill all the lawyers"

Isn't that what Ronnie Lee Gardner did? Kill his lawyer? So why did we have to take out poor Ronnie Lee like that? And, by firing squad no less. Wow, and here I thought I was living in the 21st century. Silly me.

Although, some things do point to the fact that we are living in a new age: Turns out the Utah AG actually tweeted about those three snipers sending a few bullets to Ronnie's heart. Nice.

"Shurtleff's next tweet announced: "We will be streaming live my press conference as soon as I'm told Gardner is dead. Watch it at www.attorneygeneral.Utah.gov/live.html."
['The silence was deafening': A first-person eyewitness account of the execution]
But even without a Twitter-happy A.G., death by firing squad draws media attention, given its infrequency and seeming archaism. And there's the inevitable question: Firing squads still exist in the United States? "

You have got to love those folks in Utah. I wonder what Joseph Smith would think about all of this?

Jack this post.

I am off the plantation tonight folks, and I am watching the end of the Lakers C' game, so this post is going to be very short. In fact, I am probably not going to post much at all, so please go ahead and jack this bad boy.

I do have a kind of informal poll question, though: I know there is no real comparison between the two, but in terms of leadership and the perception of getting things done, do you think that O has done a better job of handling the BP oil spill than the frat boy did with Katrina?

And, if you do comment, could you also give me one practical thing that you would do if you were "king of the world", to solve the education gap in this country?

Thanks!

Congrats to the Lakers and all of you basketball fans out on the leftcoast.

"Can't we all just get along"?

*

There is so much angst and anger in A-merry-ca these days and the natives are just taking things out on each other. (Rodney, that was a famous quote, but if your ass was around today you wouldn't have been alive to make it. That was BO. Before Obama.) Sadly, those charged with protecting the reservation are on edge as well. They do things that we don't expect them to, but when they do we are no longer surprised.

We have all seen the video from the land of Starbucks by now. No need to dwell on the obvious. Girlfriend was seventeen. I know, I know, she was rude,belligerent, and ignorant, (these kids need some serious home training)but that overhand right (Or was it a left?) shouldn't have been put on a girl. -Or any woman for that matter- Had that been a female police officer dusting it up with this jaywalker I wouldn't have tripped, but watching a man go all Mike Tyson on a woman is not cool. I don't care if he is wearing a uniform. And who the hell catches a beat down for jaywalking?

I don't think I am going to ever get like my man Francis Holland with the W.A.A.M. self help group. BTW, that's an acronym for "whites are after me". You gotta love Francis. But man the s*&t out hear is depressing. And this is not only about white folks gone wild. Humans have gone wild. (I still can't get over the two year old that those animals shot to death in Chester.) But when humans charged to protect me go wild, there is an added dimension to my anxiety and exasperation.

There is more:

"Five current or former New Orleans police officers were indicted in federal court Friday in the shooting death of a man in the days after Hurricane Katrina and burning of his body.
Federal prosecutors allege that one NOPD officer fatally shot 31-year-old Henry Glover without justification, and that other officers burnt Glover's body and left it in a torched car beside a levee. The 11-count indictment also alleges two other officers lied and helped cover up the incident.

Charged are former officers David Warren and Lt. Robert Italiano, and three current cops, Lt. Travis McCabe, Lt. Dwayne Scheuermann and Officer Greg McRae . "[Article] (h/t Michael A down in Nola)

Of course, this was before Obama, before our post racial A-merry-ca. This was when there was real angst and tension on our reservation. Not anymore, Obama changed all that....

Sorry Francis, I don't need "W.A.A.M." therapy just yet. I have to figure out who is really after me, first.

*Pic courtesy of AOL....OK, that's bullshit! Pic lifted from AOL. :)

"The one answer I will not settle for is the idea that this challenge is too big and too difficult to meet.”

I thought about blogging about President Obama's oval office address and his well scripted talk with the A-merry-can people. I thought about blogging about the despicable Governor of Arizona, Jan Brewer, who- along with other despicable acts- refuses to go along with her state's Clemency Board and allow a wrongfully convicted man (my opinion) to be freed after 28 years in prison.

I thought about blogging about them, but I can't; not after reading the following story:

"At 11:08 a.m. yesterday, 2-year-old Terrence Webster died from a bullet wound to his head.
"He died on his own, thank God for that," said Robin Powell, Webster's maternal grandmother, who had sat vigil by the Chester tot's bedside. "We wouldn't have ever been able to make the decision to take his tiny body off of life support."

While grateful that his soul will rest in peace, Powell is enraged that a killer stole his life away before he had a chance to live it.

Webster was returning home with his parents, Tisheta Green, 25, and Thomas Webster, 26, and his 4-year-old brother, Thomas "T.J." Webster Jr., to their apartment in a public-housing development on 9th Street about 2:30 a.m. Sunday when a gunman ambushed the family.
Powell said that the four were able to escape gunfire outside of the home and get inside, but when the unidentified gunman shot two bullets through the door, one of them struck Thomas Webster in the hand and then hit Terrence in the head.

The other bullet struck Green in her left leg, police and family said. Friends said that Green didn't know she was shot until after she arrived at the hospital, cradling her bleeding son in her arms.

The only member of the family to escape physically unharmed was T.J., Powell said.
More than a dozen friends and relatives gathered in Powell's Brookhaven home yesterday evening to mourn Terrence, lovingly known as "Lil' Pop" because of his affection for Pop-Tarts. "He was bright," Powell said. "He was sunshine."

As the Rev. Calvin Williams led the group in prayer in a steamy living room with the curtains closed, Powell sobbed into the leg where her daughter had been shot. Green herself said nothing, as she lay on the couch, overcome with anguish and pain.

It's been less than two months since Powell mourned the death of her own son, Thomas Lee "Bear-Bear" Green Jr., 23, who was shot and killed on April 17. His alleged killer, 16-year-old Omar Rashad Hooks, has been arrested. Police have not yet released a motive in that slaying.
"We just did this," Powell said. "It ain't even been two months and I'm grieving again. Our family is really close. We just don't live the way our children died."

Powell said that T.J., Terrence's brother, has been traumatized by what he witnessed.
"He's scared to death of the dark and loud noises now," she said." [More]

"Bear-Bear", huh? ....OK, so we are killing two year old children now? I was going to write some things about this story as well, but I changed my mind. Maybe sometimes "silence is golden."

And,well, maybe not.........let me close with this:

The president was eloquently speaking about making the Gulf and the people who work there whole again. He spoke about all kinds of commissions and blue ribbon panels who will be made up of some of the country's finest minds to work on the problem. That's great. But long after the Gulf is cleaned up and BP has reorganized, (thanks to a bankruptcy judge) the next Terrence Webster will be buried, and we will all be just as outraged at his death. Just don't expect any blue ribbon commissions or oval office addresses. As is the case with this two year old victim, the President won't even know he existed.

“Today, as we look to the gulf, we see an entire way of life being threatened by a menacing cloud of black crude,”

Oh the irony of it all.

You have nothing to fear from this "HNIC". Unfortunately, I can't say the same for the Congressmen from North Carolina.

With all due respect to F. Scott Fitzgerald; there are "second acts in American lives".

Take my man G. Gordon Liddy, for example. You remember G. Gordon Liddy don't you? He is the convicted burglar and liar who spent four years in prison for his role in one of the most ignominious acts in A-merry-can history.

And now this charlatan is a popular right wing radio host with mainstream credibility. He accommodates like minded people on his radio program who are allowed to say things like this:

"...the President has demonstrated that he has a default mechanism in him that breaks down the side of race - on the side that favors the black person."

Who elects these people? The aptly named Steven King (it's all about the horror) said those words while discussing his O ness with my man G. Gordon. But Mr. King has some history, so his comments about O was not that surprising. And it fits a pattern. Glenn Beck parroted the same narrative when talking about Obama hating white people, recently:

"Obama has 'exposed himself as a guy' with "a deep seated hatred for white people"'

I don't know, I guess when a person who looks like others you have had a hidden fear of all your life has the codes to the button, it's time to get a little nervous. He is, after all, the most powerful person on earth. We just can't have him hating the wingnut white guy now can we.

Still, Beck and Liddy promoting and participating in that type of talk is one thing; but hearing a congressman talk that way is scary. Even for a guy named Steven King.

And speaking of congressman, I just want to give a shout out to that politrickster from North Carolina who went all MMA on the little wingnut with the camera. * in my best haughty, pompous, young republican, college student voice* "Hi congressman, do you fully support the Obama agenda?" Give me a break! This is where the politrickster should have asked the wanna be Radio Rwanda reporter just what the hell his agenda, was. Instead, he asked him, "Who are you?" No! No! No! No! You already know who he is. He is a little wingnut trying to score political favors by playing gotcha with some democratic pol. You ask him nothing. You clock the little wanna be Radio Rwanda reporter and act as surprised as he is. You tell everyone that he was approaching you, and that you thought he was coming to do you bodily harm, so you reacted. How is that for a You Tube moment?

And how old is that congressman? Seventy? And that kid is begging him to let go of his arms? "Sir, please let go of my arm."

Sorry I don't live in your district, Bob. That would have been one extra vote for you.

Why?

There are things in life that just makes you want to say why. [like this, for instance] You always think about these things when you come across certain stories: Like the one about the folks at the World Cup wanting to ban the vuvuzelas because a bunch of players are whining about their concentration. Please. Personally, I love the "swarm of locusts" type sound that the horns give off. They are unique to South Africa and the fans in the region and they should stay.

Also, they are raiding Sizzler Restaurants in Arizona. Why? Are the undocumented workers busting it in the kitchen going to make the steaks into weapons of mass destruction?

And finally, I have a serious question: If you are young, single, and wealthy; and you play the most important position on a team in the country's most glamorous and prestigious league, why are you in a strip club at three in the morning? (Vince, does the name "Big Ben" mean anything to you?)

The strip club? I guess my man didn't get the memo about no "sex being in the champagne room." And even if there was sex, why would you need to go to the champagne room to get it? Come on Vince, let's start treating life as if it's your Titans play book: with a seriousness of purpose. You have way too much talent to waste.

Justified?

I would have posted earlier tonight, but I just stopped laughing long enough to actually try and post something. Why was I laughing, you say? Well I will tell you why: While riding in my car earlier today, I heard a host on some local talk show wonder out loud about the number of "AFRICAN AMERICANS PLAYING ON THE BRITISH SOCCER TEAM" ???????? Let that sink in a minute.........Yep, he really said that. See why I was laughing? Help us lawd!!!!

Anywhoo, I don't really want to get a rep as a racism chaser...... and if it wasn't a slow news night I wouldn't even post the following story. But someone sent it to me and I thought it would be interesting to see how different people react to the same video.

It's another case of the po po gone wild in yet another urban outpost of A-merry-ca. Now, to be fair, being a po po anywhere is a tough job, so please believe that I understand when they go close to the line sometimes. Still, I don't think they should ever cross that line. No matter how stressed they are.

So now comes the following story from my man Dr. Boyce over at AOL Black Voices: (I swear this man has better Air R's than I do.)

"I am not quite sure what to make of the ruffled YouTube video that is now scouring the web out of Paterson, New Jersey. In the video, the woman filming, who mentions that her mother works in the sheriff's office, is taping a New Jersey police officer holding a black man to the ground. The man clearly has his hands behind his back and appears to be restrained. As the woman videos the incident from a distance, the officer inexplicably grabs the man, turns him around and puts pepper spray into his eyes. He appears to do it twice...."

Dr. Boyce has obviously made up his mind. After seeing the video, how about you?

"Excuse me, but don't I know you from somewhere?"

It's Friday night, and as I continue my journey with you, my fellow travelers, while pursuing the A-merry-can dream, there is so much that I could be blogging about:

Racism in Indy. Africa hosting the World Cup and all the issues, both internal and external that comes with the turf. BP still acting the fool. And, speaking of the World Cup and BP; like a well scripted play, the A-merry-cans and the Brits face off tomorrow on the World Cup pitch.

But of all the stories that t I could be blogging about, none fascinates me more than one coming out of the state of Florida.

"Alex and Donna Voutisinas of Boynton Beach, Fla., met and fell in love at work, and they were about to get married when they realized they had crossed paths before ... as kids at Disney World.The couple was looking through old family pictures for their wedding video when they came across a picture of a then 5-year old-Donna and her brothers at Disney World and realized Alex's dad was pushing him in a stroller in the background, WPTV.com reports. At the time, Donna's family had just moved to Florida from New York, and Alex's family lived in Canada."It's unbelievable," Donna says. "I still get chills to this day."

Wow! Talk about Karma! My spirituality meter is really low, but this story gives me the chills.

I wonder how often stuff like that happens? I bet it does all the time, we are just not fortunate enough to catch it on camera. But we have all been there: Sometimes that pick up line isn't just a line. Sometimes you really do feel like you know her from somewhere. And now, we know, that maybe, just maybe, you do.

I meet people who are supposed to be strangers all the time (sometimes in places that I have never been) and I swear that I have seen them before.

"Excuse me, haven't I seen you somewhere before?" "Yes, we met at Disney World when you were in your stroller and I was, like, three." "Yep, I thought you looked familiar."

I swear these people better stay married. Because If they don't, I fear something bad might happen. You don't want to mess with karma. [More]

THE STRANGE TALE OF ALVIN M. GREENE

You know what I love about A-merry-ca? Everybody can be somebody. All it takes is a little drive and a willingness to put yourself out there.

Unless you have been on another planet for the last couple of days, I am sure you have heard about my man Alvin Greene by now. Seems old Alvin was an unemployed military vet who was recently accused of committing a felony (one allegedly involving sex no less). Yep, Alvin, if he wins, could be sitting in the halls of power as a registered sex offender. Hey, at least, unlike the other [non registered] sex offenders in congress, we will all know who Alvin is.

But seriously, how could this happen? I told you all there is something in the water in South Carolina. Now the dems smell a rat, and they want answers. Poor Jim Clyburn is quite upset:

"COLUMBIA, S.C. — The No. 3 Democrat in the U.S. House called on federal authorities Thursday to investigate how an unemployed South Carolina military veteran entered and won the state's Democratic primary for U.S. Senate.

"Here is Alvin Greene, unemployed, he goes into the Democratic headquarters and pays $10,000. That's no little bit of money for an unemployed person," House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., said. "This guy, who is he? Where did he come from?"
Greene, 32, stunned the Democratic Party establishment Tuesday night when he handily defeated Vic Rawl, a four-term state lawmaker and former judge, for the party's nomination. Rawl, who had campaigned little but already raised $186,000, was forced to scrap a fundraiser planned for Thursday night.

Greene has not reported any fundraising, run any ads, or put up signs or a website in his challenge of Republican U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint. He had been considered such a long shot that neither his opponent nor the media bothered to check his background, which includes a November arrest on a charge of felony obscenity.

"There are a number of things that are taking place in the South Carolina political process that I find suspicious," Clyburn said. "I believe there's a coordinated effort to circumvent state and federal laws and seriously subvert the electoral process. Something needs to be done."
Greene, who says he left the military last August after 13 years in the Army and Air Force, has said he paid the $10,440 filing fee by saving up two years of his service pay. On Thursday, Clyburn said he's skeptical Greene paid the fee himself and demanded that federal authorities investigate where the money came from. " [story]

What are you suggesting Jim? That repubs fronted the money for Alvin? Come on Jim, why would they do that? I know Alvin was unemployed, but he might have had some money saved up.

"In Washington, the head of the committee to elect Democrats to the Senate tried to distance himself from the South Carolina primary results.
'South Carolina is not a place I'm focused on a lot," said Sen. Robert Menendez, chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. "I'm simply saying the DSCC is not engaged."'

Bob, I don't blame you. I would distance myself from all things South Carolina my damn self. At least until we can find out what's going on down there.

THE ALIEN IN OUR HOUSE!

Please read what Dorothy Rabinowitz, writing in the WSJ, had to say about his O ness:

"The deepening notes of disenchantment with Barack Obama now issuing from commentators across the political spectrum were predictable. So, too, were the charges from some of the president's earliest enthusiasts about his failure to reflect a powerful sense of urgency about the oil spill.

There should have been nothing puzzling about his response to anyone who has paid even modest critical attention to Mr. Obama's pronouncements. For it was clear from the first that this president—single-minded, ever-visible, confident in his program for a reformed America saved from darkness by his arrival—was wanting in certain qualities citizens have until now taken for granted in their presidents. Namely, a tone and presence that said: This is the Americans' leader, a man of them, for them, the nation's voice and champion. Mr. Obama wasn't lacking in concern about the oil spill. What he lacked was that voice—and for good reason.
Those qualities to be expected in a president were never about rhetoric; Mr. Obama had proved himself a dab hand at that on the campaign trail. They were a matter of identification with the nation and to all that binds its people together in pride and allegiance. These are feelings held deep in American hearts, unvoiced mostly, but unmistakably there and not only on the Fourth of July.

A great part of America now understands that this president's sense of identification lies elsewhere, and is in profound ways unlike theirs. He is hard put to sound convincingly like the leader of the nation, because he is, at heart and by instinct, the voice mainly of his ideological class. He is the alien in the White House, a matter having nothing to do with delusions about his birthplace cherished by the demented fringe. .."

That is a stunning pronouncement coming from a major columnist writing for a major A-merry-can newspaper.

"The alien in the White House" is what she is calling a man who was elected by a majority vote to be our country's leader. By writing that Obama doesn't identify with real A-merry-cans (as if George Bush did. I sure as hell didn't identify with the SOB. But then, I suppose, I am a globalist like Obama) what she is really saying is that nothing about him -from his name, to his skin tone, to his biological history- says A-merry-can. He is not one of us, so he can't relate. The reason that he has been facing criticism for his handling of the BP oil spill, is not because of his cool seemingly detached way of methodically dealing with problems, but rather his "un- affiliation" with the real A-merry-ca.

His "sense of identification lies elsewhere"? I wonder just where in the hell that would be? Africa? Indonesia?Cuba? Russia? Canada? Where? That, my friends, is a revealing and amazingly risible statement. But this is what masquerades for intellectualism in A-merry-ca these days. Rather than attack the man for his policies that might have led to this particular disaster (although I blame Bush, his former side kick, and BP) or even his style of handling things, we get this: that he is not really one of us. Imagine that: Our president is not one of us. Amazing!

"He is the alien in the White House, a matter having nothing to do with delusions about his birthplace cherished by the demented fringe."

Dorothy, I have news for you, you belong to that "fringe" as well. [Article]

HERB, BEER, OR CIGARETTES? OR SHOULD WE JUST LET OBAMA RAP ABOUT IT?

This is a good way to start this post because the World Cup is fast approaching. But I was a pretty good football (soccer) player in high school, and I played for a club side in Jamaica that traveled to various rural venues to play different teams. On one such outing we played in a little village called Royal Flat, (Only you true yawdies will know where this is) and as is usually the case at such venues, because many folks have a literal interpretation of Psalms 104:14, the smell of the good collie weed was in the air. No biggie. But then, while glancing around the crowd, I saw one of those images that has stayed with me all my life: There, on the sidelines, was a kid who couldn't gave been more than eight or nine, -dreadlocks flowing- with a big fat spliff hanging from his mouth. And what was just as amazing is that none of the people in the crowd even seemed to notice or care. Still, I guess it's beats smoking a damn cigarette. What is it comedian George Wallace used to say? "The world has gone crazy."

Now fast forward. Here I am in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, far removed from those days on the rock. I am chilling with my morning coffee, (Community from Louisiana, it's a Mrs. Field thing) when the reporter leads the morning news with this. Talk about deja vu. WTF? The Rastafarian kid might have been on some sort of religious mission. I mean some religions baptize their kids at an early age, so I get the whole ritualistic possibilities of what he might have been doing. (Unlike the little rug rat who is just hooked on cigarettes in Indonesia) But a beer at the ball game for a kid who couldn't have been more than ten?

I swear these fans in Philly never cease to embarrass the hell out of me. But field, are you sure it was beer. I mean his mother or father could have put his milk in a beer bottle. Well, yes, I suppose it could. And now, the Phillies, in order to save face, are saying that the little frat boy in training might have been drinking from an empty bottle. (Memo to MLB; removing the video clips from your broadcast won't make it go away.) Yeah, OK, well he was sure enjoying the hell out of that empty bottle.

And look, I know that things aren't always as they might appear. Videos sometimes lie. Have you heard the latest about Obama? Seems folks are claiming he was in a 90's rap video ,aptly named: "Whoomp there it is". I swear you can't make this s*&t up. Although, I must admit, dude does look like his O ness. Oh stop it field, you know they say we all look alike. You of all people should know better. OK, let me stop.

But on a serious note, if that was beer in that little party animal's bottle, his parents got some "splaining" to do. I laughed when I saw the little dread back in the day, but I am older now, and that s@#^ ain't funny no more.

Is red the new black?

That's my man Charles Lollar in the pic. Charles is running as a republican to go to Congress from Maryland's 5th District. I don't know much about Charles, he seems like a nice enough guy. (Thank you for your service!) Although I wasn't pleased to read this:

"Chances of winning: Lollar, who recently solicited money from donors at a Maryland bar decorated with a Confederate flag, is fighting an uphill battle against House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer."

Not cool Charles, not cool.

Still, maybe I spoke too soon about that republican tent being too small. Seems that there is a profusion of black folks running as republicans this coming political season. -The most since reconstruction-And I, for one, am happy about it. I don't think that they are "delusional" as some would suggest. We need fresh ideas and a diversity of views to bring to the political table. Seems that there is no shortage of black folks willing to climb up on the back of the elephant. (Including some dude named Issac Hayes, a 26 year old who used to work for Newt, some candidates with tea party backing, my girl Angela and some cat named Vaughn Corrogan:

"After losing his middle-management job at US Airways following 9/11, Vaughn started a limousine company and a female clothing line, Vaughn Wear. He's also a deacon at his church."

Vaughn, you might have needed to sit this one out.

Anyway, of the 35 candidates named by the New York Times, I am guessing that maybe four or five of them have a legitimate shot at winning their primary. I think they will find that getting republicans in certain states to fork over money to the Negro candidate will be much easier to do in theory than in the real world. But we will see. And then, of course, there is the fact that many of them are political neophytes, so they were going to be behind the eight ball with the party machine in their various states to begin with.

What this all proves, of course, is that the political landscape is changing. Whether this "Motley Crew" represents a good change is left to be seen. Contrary to popular belief, black folks have shown that they will be willing to vote for the person who they perceive to have their best interest at heart. If that means voting for the white guy over the candidate who looks like they do, well then, so be it. Just ask Artur Davis in Alabama. He thought that being black and being a democrat was enough. It wasn't.

So if folks are picking up what these republican candidates are putting down it will be all good for them. But if they are not...well, see Artur Davis.

The other problem, of course, is that many of these candidates are running in republican primaries, so they have to speak to the interest of their constituents. And the last time I checked ...well let's just say that you aren't going to get any future first round NBA draft picks out of any of these districts. Tacking to the right and then tacking to the center is always tricky for politricksters. And for the black republican politrickster, it is even more so.

"President Barack Obama and San Francisco liberal Nancy Pelosi are implementing policies that are destroying our conservative Mississippi values. ... No one will defend and promote our conservative Mississippi values more vigorously."

I hear you Angela, but here is the paradox:

"Chances of winning: Though media savvy, McGlowan will have a tough time running against state Sen. Allan Nunnelee in the primary."

Nunnelee is a part of that conservative Mississippi machine with the old school values you so fervently embrace. The problem is, Angela, they don't embrace you.

The faux revolutionaries: The rise of the "Noisy Negroes".

I sit on the board of a very good organization here in Philly. It's an up and coming 501(c) whose founder (Shout out to Malika) does great work with helping at risk young ladies get themselves together. I remember during the early stages of getting her organization off the ground, the group's founder would have various meetings and head sessions with so called leaders from different areas in the city. Some of these so called leaders talked a great game,-we could barely get trough meetings because of all the talking- and they were always down for whatever. As long, of course, as they were just talking about it. I suspect that they would be much like some people who comment on this board with very strong feelings about certain groups in various parts of the world. The thing is, when this young lady needed funding to help get her organization off the ground, these down ass leaders were nowhere to be found. When she needed actual volunteers to help out with various projects, these down ass leaders were nowhere to be found. This is typical of an individual I like to call the faux revolutionary, or the "Noisy Negro". They talk a lot, but that's about all they do: Talk.

I have issues with the tea party folks and the wingnuts who organize around right wing causes, but I will never accuse them of just talking a lot. They actually organize and put their boots on the ground, and they usually aren't afraid to write a check. They will walk to the voting booth, to Washington, and to the office of their local elected representatives. The farthest the "Noisy Negro" will walk is to his or her television to watch whatever, or to his or her computer to comment on a blog in order to cement his or her "Noisy Negro" status. Oh, and they will walk to meetings to talk if they can have the floor. That's just what "Noisy Negroes" do.

I suspect that's why many of our communities are in the shape they are in. We have "Noisy Negroes" in the pulpit, "Noisy Negroes" in city hall, and "Noisy Negroes" masquerading as community leaders.

"Noisy Negroes" are cool sometimes because they keep us entertained. They represent a kind of minstrel show, a comic relief from life. But sometimes we need a little more than just comic relief. Sometimes we need to get serious. These are serious times that call for serious actions. But I know that we won't get anything -even faintly resembling serious action- from the "Noisy Negro". Nope, that would actually require doing more than just talking or typing. That would require being quiet and listening for a minute.