You see pride, I see prejudice.

It's just amazing to me how short our memories are in this country.

Not too long ago, after a racist slaughtered nine innocent people in a church, the country was outraged that he would do it under the banner of the confederate flag. Now, two weeks later, we are back to being our old selves.

 "American public opinion on the Confederate flag remains about where it was 15 years ago, with most describing the flag as a symbol of Southern pride more than one of racism, according to a new CNN/ORC poll. And questions about how far to go to remove references to the Confederacy from public life prompt broad racial divides.

The poll shows that 57% of Americans see the flag more as a symbol of Southern pride than as a symbol of racism, about the same as in 2000 when 59% said they viewed it as a symbol of pride. Opinions of the flag are sharply divided by race, and among whites, views are split by education." [Source]

 

I am going to take a guess and say that the more educated one is the more likely they are to see the flag for what it truly is: A racist treasonous symbol of defiance and ignorance.

 

"Among whites, there's a sharp divide by education, and those with more formal education are less apt to see the flag as a symbol of pride. Among whites with a college degree, 51% say it's a symbol of pride, 41% one of racism. Among those whites who do not have a college degree, 73% say it's a sign of Southern pride, 18% racism."

 

Just as I suspected. Although 51% of "educated" white folks still consider it a symbol of pride.

 

Hmmm, how many of those same people consider the swastika a symbol of German pride?

 

So I guess it won't Dbe long before Wal- Mart starts selling confederate flags again. I am sure that other retailers will do likewise now that then backlash has cooled off. 

 

One person who might have changed his stance about the flag is Texas governor , Rick Perry. His speech today in Washington had be doing a double take.

 

"Rick Perry stepped up to the lectern and paused. The former Texas governor scanned the room, a Thursday luncheon at the National Press Club, and proceeded to delve into a particularly gruesome chapter of his state's history.

 

"Ninety-nine years ago -- on May 15, 1916 -- at a courthouse in Waco, Texas, a mentally disabled 17-year-old boy named Jesse Washington was convicted of raping and murdering the wife of his employer," Perry said, as a pall of silence fell upon the room. "He pled guilty and was sentenced to death. But Jesse died no ordinary death. Because he was black."

Speaking slowly but emphatically to a predominantly white audience, Perry recounted the horrific lynching outside the McLennan County Courthouse, where 15,000 people gathered to watch Washington be tortured, mutilated, castrated and burned alive. The incident, he said, was an "episode in our history that we cannot ignore. It is an episode we have an obligation to transcend."' [Source]

Governor, we would love to "transcend" that dark part of our history, but every time I see that damn flag I go back to that very dark place.

*Pic from the wahingtonpost.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bad boyz.

You GOP boys are a hot mess. Open marriages, tax dodging, and lord knows what else. I might actually watch this debate tonight, because it's on CNN. At least we now know that there will be one less person standing on stage. (Goodbye Rick, we hardly knew ya. And, on behalf of every fashion conscious man in America, let me just say that it will be a pleasure not having to look at your cowboy boots and suit hook up ever again.)

Rick Perry has endorsed Newt. Apparently he believes that Newt is the last true conservative left standing with a shot of winning this thing. Personally, I don't see it. Mitt will be the republican nominee who goes up against his Oness in the general election. I don't even think that it will be close. But that's just me. I could be wrong. Wingnuts tend to do strange things, and they can be unpredictable.

One thing that they are not unpredictable about is how they deal with the issue of race. We know exactly where they stand on matters of race, and I suspect that their supporters do as well.

Chauncey DeVega did a pretty good job of summing it all up:

"In South Carolina, where the Confederate flag still flies, there was Rick Perry (a neo-Secessionist that wants a Civil War 2.0 and a renewed fight for states' rights); Ron Paul (a bigot whose newsletters continue to suggest that African Americans are ravenous, craven, criminal, stupid beasts); Rick Santorum (a man fascinated by bestiality and the idea that blacks are parasites who only want to live off of white people); and Newt Gingrich who sees all African-Americans and Latinos as being on welfare and the public dole until proven otherwise. In total, these candidates are a rogues gallery where white supremacist attitudes towards non-whites is a standing rule, one only to be disputed after the fact." [More here]

Anyway, the debate is about to start. This should be fun.....

Oh Lawd! They just started and it has started already. Newt says that the "elite media" is protecting his Oness and he is "appalled" and "outraged" that CNN is choosing to start the debate by asking him about his ex doing a sit down with ABC.

Yes Newt, go on and shoot the messenger. That always works with the red meat crowd....

Did Mitt Romney just talk about changing the tax code? Ahhm, excuse me, why do you care?

Hurricanes, white quarterbacks, and the evangelical candidate.

"Field, make sure you pick up a couple of cases of bottled water and snacks, and make sure you tap the ATM and get some cash. Oh, and don't forget to get some flashlights and batteries if you can..."

That's what part of my text from Mrs. Field looked like as the big gal upstairs prepared to hit you heathens on the East Coast with yet another rare natural disaster. This times it's of the hurricane variety. What will it be next, a meteor shower? WTF? Even the city that never sleeps is shutting down. These are strange days, indeed.

Irene is her name, and she is going to cost us some money.Heck she already started. This lady has expensive taste. Not even the Donald can afford this one. She might tear up his casinos in AC and some of his Manhattan high rises with one devastating swoop.

Speaking of strange, I see that ESPN the Magazine done went and made #7 white to make a point. [See pic with this post.] As is to be expected, some folks aren't pleased. But I have to give it to ESPN, they know how to sell magazines. Fire up those color arousal buttons and folks will talk. Talk leads  to curiosity, and curiosity leads to sales. And, let me say for the record, I can't even imagine Michael Vick as white. And if you knew how white folks feel about their pets  and vice versa, you couldn't either.

Finally, congrats to Governor Big Hair. I see that he is leading the republiclown field of presidential candidates. He does seem to be the "godliest" of all the candidates. Poor Mitt, he just doesn't have the right religion to satisfy that good ole republiclown base that is so full of true believers.

Governor Big Hair is the real deal among the republican bible reading base, and the main stream media is starting to take notice:

"That’s the mirror-mirror question for Republicans. Forget charisma, charm, intelligence, knowledge and that nuisance, “foreign policy experience.” The race of the moment concerns which candidate is the truest believer.

This was always a tough hurdle for Romney, whose Mormonism is reflexively distrusted by Southern evangelicals. Even so, in the absence of a better candidate, Romney had a fighting chance to win his party’s support. Then came Perry.

Talk about a perfect-storm, composite candidate. Combine Elmer Gantry’s nose for converts, Ronald Reagan’s folksy confidence and Sarah Palin’s disdain for the elites — and that dog hunts.

Perry doesn’t just believe, he evangelizes. He summons prayer meetings. He reads scripture while callers are on hold. Not incidentally, he’s a successful governor. Perhaps most important, he’s a wall-scaling fundraiser whose instincts make him a force of nature in the political landscape." [Source]

He is a force of nature alright, I am just glad that god created him. He might be the only one who can save us from these strange  times.

They sure are crazy in Jersey, and bye bye Tim.

Oh my! There was a mass murder in Jersey. Some wack job stabbed seven people to death--including three children. Now, in case you were wondering, I am not writing about New Jersey; I am referring to the British island of Jersey.

This has not been a good couple of weeks for the British.

"LONDON (AP) — A man was arrested on suspicion of stabbing six people to death, including three children, on the British island of Jersey in what was the deadliest crime in the community's living memory, police said.
Neighbors said Sunday the victims were members of the same family. The dead, all Jersey residents, were a man, two women and three children, police said.
Some were stabbed inside their home, others outside the property, which is located on a relatively secluded side street. The 30-year-old suspect, who was not identified, also sustained unspecified injuries that were not life-threatening. Police said they were questioning him at his hospital bed." [Source]

So let's see now; there were approximately five deaths attributed to the London riots, and this wacko just goes out and tops that number in one fell murderous swoop.

Goodbye Tim Pawlenty, we hardly knew ya.

"Bland cheese curd/make-believe Republican candidate Tim Pawlenty ended his candidacy today in a desperate bid to convince voters he had been running for the GOP nomination. As his announcement came on a Sunday morning when news editors were at their orgy mansions in the Hamptons and regular GOP voters were sleeping off their oxycontin in church, the move did little to combat the reality that Tim Pawlenty doesn’t even exist.
The Christian Science Monitor mentions Pawlenty’s exit in passing, in this article that’s ostensibly about Tim Pawlenty quitting the 2012 race:

Candidates who go all-in but fall well short in Ames typically find it difficult to raise money, and without personal wealth to fall back on, Mr. Pawlenty decided to cut his losses and bow out. In addition, the entry of Texas Gov. Rick Perry into the race Saturday, combined with Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann’s victory in the straw poll, has shifted the focus to their expected battle for the hearts and minds of conservatives.

Good-bye, what’s his name! Hello, crazee lady and guy who was Al Gore’s former campaign manager and who also is hated by God. [CSM]" [Source]

"..regular GOP voters were sleeping off their oxycontin in church.."

Damn I wish I had written that. It is sooo......so insightful.

Anywhoo, Tim is out and Rick is in. Rick is much more colorful than Tim, so Rick should generate some excitement for the base. Much like Sarah did and Michele is doing now.

BTW, is it true that the drought is so bad in Texas that they are recycling sewage water in one Texas town? Yes, I think it is. Hmmm, Perry running for President and a Texas town recycling sewage water. Now there is a perfect metaphor if I have ever seen one.

Don Lemon's Iowa adventure, and welcome aboard Governor Big Hair.

"She came out, after speaking for just a couple minutes,” Lemon said. “There were other reporters and cameras there. And I asked her very respectful questions: ‘How do you think you did in the debate last night?’ and ‘How do you think you’re going to end up in the Ames Straw Poll?’ And her two campaign aides started elbowing me.”

Lemon continued: “I told them, asked them not to elbow me. And then her husband Marcus started doing the same thing. And then he elbowed me into the cart. And I said, ‘You just pushed me into the cart.’ And he goes, ‘No, you did it yourself.’ It was just, I don’t know, why they would choose to do that."

When Bachmann Press Secretary Alice Stewart was asked if she, or Marcus Bachmann, pushed Lemon, she responded simply, “Our number one priority is the safety and protection of Michele Bachmann.” Things were terribly crowded, and it appears that everyone was struggling to get by in the video below, so this looks to be an accident. But as CNN and The Advocate are both reporting the story, we'll wait and see if Lemon speaks out on the subject again. CNN itself adds:

It’s typical for presidential candidates, especially ones as popular as Bachmann, to wind up in a crush of supporters and reporters at campaign events. But Friday’s episode was unusual." [Source]

Oh my! It seems that my girl Michele is somewhat of a virago. Anyway,that was Don Lemon talking about his run in with Michele Bachmann and her husband, Marcus. (BTW, Michele Bachmann has won the Iowa straw poll, so girlfriend is legit.) Now Don Lemon, bless his heart, has come out and declared that he is Gay. Do you think he makes Marcus a little uncomfortable? Hey, I am just putting it out there. Cause, you know, "the streets be talkin".

Finally, I see that Governor Big Hair has officially launched his presidential bid. Nice. He chose an interesting place to launch it from. Watching Rick Perry on stage one can't help but think that he is an anachronism. A man so out of place in modern day A-merry-ca (He wants to take his state and secede for crying out loud!) that he actually appeals to folks who want to go back to that Ozzie & Harriet era.

But I am going to leave Governor Big Hair alone. After all, the man just kicked off his campaign. There will be lots of time to talk about his immigration problem, his Catholic problem, his economics problem, his Gardasil problem, (that's an interesting one, look it up) and, of course, his hypocrisy problem.

Oh well, I wish Governor Big Hair well. The next few months should be interesting.