Gloom, doom, and "brutalism".

  I must confess that I am as cynical as they come, and I trust no one. It's sad to admit to such a thing, but I basically hold a very unfavorable view of humans.

 But hey, I am a criminal defense attorney in a major city, and I preside over family law cases, so I have earned my cynical stripes. My question to the GOP is this: What's your excuse?

You are a major political party in what is supposed to be the most optimistic and hopeful country in the world, and yet, it's all "doom and gloom" with you guys. I could throw in "fear" in there as well.

I recently read an article  by David Brooks in the New York Times were he wrote about the "brutalism" of Ted Cruz, a man who I consider to be typical of the leading politicians on the right these days.

"In 1997, Michael Wayne Haley was arrested after stealing a calculator from Walmart. This was a crime that merited a maximum two-year prison term. But prosecutors incorrectly applied a habitual offender law. Neither the judge nor the defense lawyer caught the error and Haley was sentenced to 16 years. 

 

Eventually, the mistake came to light and Haley tried to fix it. Ted Cruz was solicitor general of Texas at the time. Instead of just letting Haley go for time served, Cruz took the case to the Supreme Court to keep Haley in prison for the full 16 years.

 

Some justices were skeptical. “Is there some rule that you can’t confess error in your state?” Justice Anthony Kennedy asked. The court system did finally let Haley out of prison, after six years.

 

The case reveals something interesting about Cruz’s character. Ted Cruz is now running strongly among evangelical voters, especially in Iowa. But in his career and public presentation Cruz is a stranger to most of what would generally be considered the Christian virtues: humility, mercy, compassion and grace. Cruz’s behavior in the Haley case is almost the dictionary definition of pharisaism: an overzealous application of the letter of the law in a way that violates the spirit of the law, as well as fairness and mercy.

 

Traditionally, candidates who have attracted strong evangelical support have in part emphasized the need to lend a helping hand to the economically stressed and the least fortunate among us. Such candidates include George W. Bush, Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum.

 

But Cruz’s speeches are marked by what you might call pagan brutalism. There is not a hint of compassion, gentleness and mercy. Instead, his speeches are marked by a long list of enemies, and vows to crush, shred, destroy, bomb them. When he is speaking in a church the contrast between the setting and the emotional tone he sets is jarring.

 

Cruz lays down an atmosphere of apocalyptic fear. America is heading off “the cliff to oblivion.” After one Democratic debate he said, “We’re seeing our freedoms taken away every day, and last night was an audition for who would wear the jackboot most vigorously.”                   

 

As the Republican strategist Curt Anderson observed in Politico, there’s no variation in Cruz’s rhetorical tone. As is the wont of inauthentic speakers, everything is described as a maximum existential threat." [Source]

 

But it's not just Ted Cruz. Watch the next republican debate and try to find a sense of optimism among the people on stage. You won't be able to do it. It will be all fire and brimstone, gloom and doom. America, if you let them tell it, is going to hell in a hand-basket, and getting their fast.

 

Watch Donald Trump and his brown shirt thugs get physical with someone at one of his campaign stops for just exercising their right to free speech. Or watch him single out some poor cameraman or reporter for derision from the crowd for just doing their job and earning in a year what he makes in an hour. Watch Chris Christie bully people for asking simple questions at one of his previous town hall meetings.  

 

This is the GOP way: Meaner, angrier, and louder than those soft, kumbaya singing, hand holding, dems.  It's become the party of John Wayne, and  not a moment too soon for their base of angry Americans looking for someone to blame for all of their anger. We will be tough, mean, and heartless, because that is what is needed to keep the America we love and cherish safe.

 

I am still trying to figure out what the hell they are all so angry about. And I am curious to know that if having someone from the majority population in the White House will cool some of that anger. I suspect that it will, because looking at it objectively, there is absolutely nothing for them to be angry about.

 

Let's "Make America Great Again!" If it will make you all less angry I am all for it.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Negroes don't jaywalk in Arizona, and the WGI just keeps on growing.

My friends over at Phxsoul.com tweeted about the following story earlier, and I need to know your take on it.


"An Arizona State University professor who was arrested by campus police last month is claiming self-defense, and the incident is getting a whole lot more attention now that 3TV has obtained video of it.

“The reason I’m talking to you right now is because you are walking in the middle of the street,” Officer Stewart Ferrin said to ASU professor Dr. Ersula Ore after stopping her near campus. She was crossing College Avenue, just south of Fifth Street.


Click here to view the raw video


But in less than a minute, the conversation quickly began to escalate.

“Let me see your ID or you will be arrested for failing to provide ID,” Ferrin said.

“Are you serious?” Ore asked.

“Yes, I am serious. That is the law,” Ferrin replied.

According to police reports, Ore said she was trying to cross College Avenue in the same fashion as several others trying to avoid construction.

“I never once saw a single solitary individual get pulled over by a cop for walking across a street on a campus, in a campus location. Everybody has been doing this because it is all obstructed. That’s the reason why,” Ore said to the officer. “But you stop me in the middle of the street to pull me over and ask me, 'Do you know what this is? This is a street.' ”

“Are you aware that this is a street?” Ferrin asked.

“Let me finish,” Ore said.

“OK, put your hands behind your back,” Ferrin said.

“Don't touch me,” Ore said. “Get your hands off me.”

Seconds later, things escalated even further.

“Put your hand behind your back. I’m going to slam you on this car. Put your hand behind your back,” Ferrin said.

“You really want to do that? Do you see what I’m wearing? Do you see?” Ore said.

She was wearing a black dress and after being "slammed" onto the car, she was wrestled to the ground. Her dress hiked up and her body was exposed.

While both Ore and Ferrin suffered some minor injuries, Ore was charged with aggravated assault on a police officer in addition to criminal damage and obstructing a thoroughfare. She intends to fight the charges.
Ore's attorney, Alane Roby, says Ore is claiming self-defense.


"She was exposed, told officer she was exposed," Roby said of her client while she was on the ground. "Her dress was up; the officer was reaching toward her anatomy. She felt uncomfortable with hands going there."


Professor Ore is an English professor whose research interests include cultural studies, according to ASU's website.

ASU released this statement to 3TV:

“ASU authorities have reviewed the circumstances surrounding the arrest and have found no evidence of inappropriate actions by the ASUPD officers involved. Should such evidence be discovered, an additional, thorough inquiry will be conducted and appropriate actions taken.

"Because the underlying criminal charges are pending, there is not much more we can say at this time. The Maricopa County Attorney's Office has reviewed all available evidence, including the police report, witness statements, and audio and video recordings of the incident, and decided to press criminal charges of assaulting a police officer, resisting arrest, refusing to provide identification when requested to do so by an officer, and obstructing a highway or public thoroughfare.”


True confessions, I am giving the po po a side-eye on this one for two reasons: The obvious racial dynamic, and the jay walking charge.


Now I get it, I live on the East Coast, so the whole jaywalking thing is not something that I can even relate to. I can't tell the last time a cop in Philly gave a ticket for jaywalking.


But sadly, here we are. Another "color aroused" confrontation gone wrong.


And keep in mind that we are talking about Arizona. We all know that they have some issues out there in Alabama West.


Some are questioning why the professor didn't just take the ticket and keep it popping. As black folks we are all supposed to know the rules, but I can understand if sometimes you just don't want to play along. Folks have day to day problems that can be exasperated by these types of events.


Anyway, what started out as a jaywalking ticket turned into an aggravated assault charge.


I will be following this story.


Then there is Rick Santorum, he doesn't think that it was such a bad idea if everyone didn't have an opportunity to vote back in the day.


I know that there are a lot of black conservatives out there, and I would really like one of them to justify that position for me.



I am serious; I would like to have a civil debate on the issue with you. I know you will never turn on one of your own publicly, so feel free to shoot me an e-mail and we will talk about it.


fnblg@yahoo.com


Finally, I know that Philly is the city of brotherly love, but poor Bill Walters isn't feeling any love from his neighbors.


Bill believes that he is being discriminated against because he is a member of the Klan. Yes Bill, in America, Klansmen have rights as well. It's just that your neighborhood watch friends have rights as well, and they just don't think it's a good look for you to be a part of their group right now.


"We are a conservative Christian group,” Walters said of the KKK. “My rights were infringed upon. I can’t believe in what I want to? This has infringed on my First Amendment rights. It’s reverse discrimination.” He has reached out the ACLU for support in a legal case against the neighborhood watch group, but they turned him down.


The town watch president Joe Nicoletti explained the decision to kick Walters out of the group, saying, “We received information that Bill had been distributing flyers in the neighborhood trying to recruit new members. And part of our bylaws state that members must promote harmony in the neighborhood, and we all know that harmony is not what the KKK is about.”


Walters insists that the KKK is not a hate group, saying, “I know we have a bad name, but it’s not that way no more.” For instance, he asked, “When was the last time a black or Hispanic got hung on a tree?” [Source]


Bill, I think it's been awhile. I think. 


But don't give up just yet, go back and work on your public relation skills.


I am sure you will be getting a call from FOX News real soon, so that might be a good place to start. They have a way of feeding the white grievance industry. (WGI)


Oh, and don't forget Rick Santorum; I bet you will get a friendly ear from him as well.


 


 

Who is really supporting the American family?

I was thinking about how republicans like to claim that progressives want to control every aspect of their lives with everything from health care reform to laws that make it harder for us to kill our children.

"Leave us alone", they scream. "This is a nanny state". "Keep your hands off of my money and my guns". 

Then I read a wonderful article by a colleague of mine who happens to be a fine family lawyer who has tried cases before me in the past. She wrote it over a year ago for the Huffington Post, but I think that given the social climate in our country it is worth revisiting.

"Rick Santorum and his tea-partying cohorts have their knickers all in a knot about the government telling people what to do with their money. As in the government making them pay for health insurance. Or making them pay more income tax. Or using their tax dollars to educate other people's children.

At the same time, they're all pumped up about the sanctity of marriage and family. Marriage and family meaning mom, dad and kids, everyone neatly organized in a hierarchy, with dad at the helm, providing for the flock. And sanctity meaning no outside intrusion, no government telling them that their children have to learn about sex or birth control or gay people or evolution.

So how would Rick and the tea-partiers feel if the government told them exactly how much money they had to spend on their children every month? And wage-attached their pay checks and deposited those funds in their ex-wives' bank accounts? What if the government took a 401(k) titled in a tea-partier's name and gave part of it to his ex-wife without his consent? Or worse yet, took his real estate and made him pay his wife half the value of it? Talk about the heavy hand of the state invading the innermost sanctum of the family -- it's a tea-partier's worst nightmare.

But these are, in fact, our society's actual family values. We collectively agreed, sometime in the latter part of the twentieth century, to empower the government to re-distribute wealth within the family. We routinely force one parent to pay the other parent. It's called child support. In those fabled "one in two marriages," we frequently take property paid for by one spouse and give it to the other spouse. It's called divorce. And we're very comfortable with this re-distribution. We think it protects the young, the weak and the vulnerable. We believe it creates, to quote my state's divorce code, economic justice.
 
Wouldn't Newt Gingrich cry socialism? And wouldn't he be right? Let's be honest -- this is the best of Karl Marx, pure and unadulterated. "From each {parent} according to his ability, to each {child} according to his need" is a pitch-perfect summary of the policy underlying child support laws. 
 
Just imagine if these laws came up for vote in today's legislatures. Picture the outrage, the denouncements, the fiery speeches about keeping the government out of our living rooms and our bank accounts. But if we count on parents to provide for their children, and spouses to share nicely after they split, what are we supposed to do when they don't? Doesn't it become all of our problem? And isn't that the point? Just like the homeless, the sick and the poor -- the extended family that is our community.

Let's be thankful that Rick, Newt and their brethren haven't started deconstructing family law yet, because if they do, it could be just like contraception: we could be about to witness the implosion of a social policy that we haven't given even a second thought to for decades. And we'll be caught unawares -- us women, that is -- hurtling back through time, casting off divorce laws along with birth control pills, in our race to a darker, earlier era where we will eventually land, barefoot, pregnant, and without access to the bank account." [Source]

In the world of Rick, Newt, and all of his quixotic dreamers, there will be no need for things like child support. This social contract that we have all collectively signed on to is no longer needed. Because, in their world, all marriages will be perfect. Inconveniences like divorce and single parenthood is not even considered. We have churches for that. Can we try universal and affordable health care? Nope.Who needs it? All we have to do is pray. 




  

The "Nig" in chief.

I wish Ricky (I should be in a) Sanitarium could control himself sometimes. I know all republicans think it, but at least they can control themselves. Ricky, on the other hand, not so much.

Poor Rick. Him of the now infamous "blah people" gaffe. This time around he caught himself before dropping the N word. Oh my! The 24 hour cable news folks would have had fun with that one.

"In this speech, he had been blasting Barack Obama for all things real and imagined. Then where this clip begins Santorum continues "We know the candidate Barack Obama...what he was like. The anti-war, government nig... (insert stumble here)."

FOX NEWS: "Well, I am sure he didn't mean Nigger as in black people are Niggers, Bill. What he wanted to say is that Obama is Niggardly when it comes to the government and the war." "Of course, I mean we all know that the man is not a racist. How could he be and be so devoted to his church....."

Anywhoo, all is well that ends well. Unfortunately for Ricky he was not going to be the candidate that faces his Oness come November. He was dying a slow death by a thousand dollar bills.

It's actually a shame, because I wanted him to hang in there a little longer. Now it looks like the candidate who can keep his thoughts to himself and keep his mouth in check will be the party standard- bearer.

I bet he won't call O a "Nig". At least not publicly.

Finally, while we are all outraged about Trayvon Martin, let's not forget that this kind of thing is par for the course for black men in A-merry-ca. I bring you a story from the ironically named town of White  Plains, New York. (h/t Tia for this story)

"As the Trayvon Martin case draws national attention, we look at another fatal shooting of an African-American male that has received far less scrutiny. Kenneth Chamberlain, Sr., a 68-year-old African-American Marine veteran, was fatally shot in November by White Plains, NY, police who responded to a false alarm from his medical alert pendant. The officers broke down Chamberlain’s door, tasered him, and then shot him dead. Audio of the entire incident was recorded by the medical alert device in Chamberlain’s apartment. We’re joined by family attorneys and Chamberlain’s son, Kenneth Chamberlain, Jr., who struggles through tears to recount his father’s final moments, including the way police officers mocked his father’s past as a marine. "For them to look at my father that way, (with) no regard for his life, every morning I think about it," he says."
[Full story here]


Oh, and before I forget; if any of you field hands happen to win the Megamillons Jackpot tonight please holla at your boy.

Let the push-back begin.

"Damn field! Why do you allow all those racist trolls to comment on your site?"

 I get that a lot. And my answer is always the same: Get used to it. Those trolls could be your neighbor, your co-worker, or even the person you set next to in church.

The thing about the Internet is that allows folks who couldn't always do it to hide behind an anonymous label and call you all kinds of vile things. He or she can do it from the safety of their trailer park or the Wal- Mart bathroom, and they can send it out to thousands of people reading every day with one push of a button to a black run website. Isn't technology beautiful?

The thing is, far too many of you so called progressive thinking people have been fooled into thinking that A-merry-ca is this forward thinking place full of enlightened people. You watch too many commercials with hip interracial friends getting along while sipping beer and playing with puppies. That is not A-merry-ca. That is what Madison Avenue wants A-merry-ca to be.

The real A-merry-ca is a place filled with the kind of folks you see commenting on this web site on a daily basis. The real A-merry-ca is full of envy,hate, and "color aroused" angst brought on by ignorance and prejudice. It's why you are seeing the blow- back from right wingers and some folks in the majority population with the Trayvon Martin case. Now you will hear what a bad kid he was. You will hear that he might have been kicking his killer's ass before he was slaughtered in that housing development like roadkill on a Florida highway. You will hear that Mr. Zimmerman actually had a black friend, and that he mentored black boys. And you will hear that if George Zimmerman didn't kill Trayvon Martin, the seventeen year old was going to beat him to a bloody pulp with those "street hardened" fists of his.

You will hear it, but don't believe a word of it. And even if you do, it should not affect how you feel about this case one little bit. The truth of the matter is that an unarmed seventeen year old was lawfully walking down the street to go and watch a basketball game at the home of a friend. He was spotted, profiled,  hunted down, and eventually killed.   

Trayvon Martin is dead, and George Zimmerman is free. Therein lies the problem. Justice has not been served. George Zimmerman has not even been arrested for a lessor crime than murder. Most A-merry-cans see the injustice in this. Most.

Sadly, in the dark hearts of many A-merry-cans, this is exactly how it should be. Because the person who died is a "young black thug". The hoodie wearing suspect fit a profile and fit our perceptions of what people who end up dead when there is a violent confrontation should look like. This fits the narrative. All the protesting and calls for justice does not.

So what's a good knuckle dragging racist to do? Well,for one, they can comment  and troll on black websites. Or, if they are fortunate enough, they can tell the world how it should be or manipulate the facts from their own websites. Or, thanks to their very own 24 hour cable news channel; they can go on television and tell millions of like minded people to ignore the calls for justice because justice was already served.

"Field, by allowing these trolls to leave these nasty comments and say all those vile things, you make it hard for me to go to your website."

I will miss you. But remember, you not reading the Field Negro blog and me blocking their comments won't change how they feel in their hearts or how A-merry-cans, in general, feel about you and me.

I just want you to understand what is happening here in the land of only some are free. It's been here all along. But we have a black president now, and black people, people of color, poor people, and progressive whites, are now demanding  that A-merry-ca lives up to her claim of exceptiona ism. The rest of the people in A-merry-ca want to know why. "Haven't we been exceptional all along?"

No, we haven't. And our actions and words lately prove more than ever why we have not.

"It's clear the president has been not a uniting figure on an issue that, I think many Americans thought he would be. And it’s very tragic and to take a horrible situation like that and inject this issue, which, you know, may be a factor, may not be a factor, but even if it is a factor, it’s one… If it is a factor, it’s obviously one sick man and to use that instead of just saying, as a healing president would do, try to bring people together, but instead try to divide people is really a sad, tragic legacy of this president.”

Wrong again Mr. Santorum. The "tragic legacy" of this presidency will be the behavior of those who thrive on division and are driven by hatred.

 “What the president said, in a sense, is disgraceful,” Gingrich told conservative talker Sean Hannity. “It’s not a question of who that young man looked like. Any young American of any ethnic background should be safe, period. We should all be horrified no matter what the ethnic background.”

We should "be horrified". But we are not. Not at the killing of that young man.  Instead we make excuses for justice denied to a dead young man and his family.

“It is a tragedy this young man was shot. It would have been a tragedy if he had been Puerto Rican or Cuban, or if he had been white, or if he had been Asian-American, or if he’d been a Native American,” he continued. ”At some point, we ought to talk about being Americans. When things go wrong to an American, it is sad for all Americans. Trying to turn it into a racial issue is fundamentally wrong. I really find it appalling.”

What I find "appalling" Mr. Gingrich is the fact that you would politicize the death of a human being to score cheap political points with like minded people.

You all deserve each other.






          

Is he a liar? Is he a racist? Or is he just misunderstood?

I am going to be channel surfing tonight between watching those who dats play the Lions and the republican presidential debates. This is because I really want to hear what these republicans are saying. I haven't made up my mind who I will vote for come 2012 just yet....

Anywhoo, you gotta love that sister in New Hampshire who confronted Rick (I should be in a) Sanitarium.

"At a campaign event outside a pharmacy in Hollis, New Hampshire Saturday afternoon, an African-American woman confronted Rick Santorum over recent comments he made that the NAACP and others have called racially insensitive.

While speaking about welfare reform last week, Santorum was quoted as saying, “I don’t want to make black people’s lives better by giving them somebody else’s money.” The candidate now denies that he said “black,” claiming instead that he said “blah.”

At the campaign stop Saturday, the woman — who slipped away from the event before ThinkProgress was able to get her name — asked, “Why do you have a problem against black people?”

WOMAN: Mr. Santorum, why do you have a problem against black people? We are the only ones who need aid? The statistics show that it’s not the popularity [sic] that’s the most needy.
SANTORUM: I didn’t say that. I understand that.
WOMAN: OK, then why’d you say that?
SANTORUM: OK, we gotta go. I didn’t say that. " [Story & Video]

Honestly, I think people are focusing on the wrong issue with Rick's statement. It's not so much that he said something that was racially insensitive while speaking to like minded people. (Welcome to A-merry-ca) The bigger issue is that he is flat out lying about what he said. If a man can lie about something as obvious as this, what else will he lie about?

Still, there are some folks who do not believe that Ricky was being racist. They believe that he was merely trying to reach out to us Negroes.

"NAACP President Benjamin Jealous denounced the comments as "outrageous," and even Fox News host Bill O'Reilly had to remind Santorum that his comments were specious when you consider that "most of the people, as you know, on welfare are white people." Then Santorum made the whole thing worse by denying that he'd even said "black" and insisting instead that what he'd actually said was "blah."

Blah, indeed.

In this weekend's Saturday-and-Sunday New Hampshire primary-debate double-header, if he doesn't take the opportunity to -- in Senate-speak -- revise and extend his thoughts on blacks and welfare, he'll just wind up being the latest in a long line of GOP politicians who not only can't connect with the black vote, but can't even make a convincing case that they've tried. Santorum tried -- and awkwardly failed -- to articulate a position that you hear all the time from black conservatives: that government assistance hurts African Americans over the long term. The problem for Santorum is that it doesn't sound as if he truly understands that message." [Source]

Yes, reaching out is nice. And I would more than welcome an open and honest dialogue on matters of race. The problem is, of course, that when you are talking about republican politicians, it's a thin line between scapegoating and reaching out.





 

He is just trying to make the "bluh" people's lives a little better.

"Well, you, you have to have someone you can work with, and this president has done more to divide than any other president that I've ever witnessed in my lifetime. This president goes out and gives speech after speech after speech trying to divide America between class, between income group, between racial and ethnic groups."

Pot meet kettle.

Rick ( I should be in a) Sanitarium told John King that he is pretty sure that he didn't use the word black when speaking to his white friends in Iowa. He says that he started saying something and in mid sentence it "changed" and something else came out. (I wonder why the change?)

 “I looked at that [video] and I didn’t say that,” the candidate asserted. “What I started to say was a word and then it sort of changed and ‘bluh’ came out. And people said I said ‘black’ and I didn’t.”

"We won't make "bluh" people's lives better with welfare"? I don't want to give welfare to blah people? Blue people, maybe?

Well I listened to Rick's speech in its entirety, and I really have to wonder who is the "they" and "them" that he kept referring to. There just aren't too many blue and blah people running around these days.

My friend Marc Morial isn't please, and he represents dem professional black folks from the Urban League.

"Senator Santorum is perpetuating a thoroughly false and destructive racial stereotype in a desperate attempt to score political points," Morial said in a statement released Tuesday. "He is appealing to the lowest common denominator within the electorate and quite frankly should be ashamed of himself." [Source]

Come on now Marc, why are you surprised? I know that Rick worked with you and your organization on a couple of occasions, but you should know by now that this is what republican politicians do; they play the majority against those evil minorities who want to take what they (the majority) have. 

“We looked at it and it is a little blurry,” O’Reilly explained. “I’m going to take you on your word.”

“I don’t use the term ‘black’ very often,” Santorum insisted. “I use the term ‘African American’ more than I use ‘black.’ And I as someone who did more work for historically black colleges, I used to — every year I used to bring all the historically black colleges into Washington, D.C. to try to help them.”

“You don’t have to convince me, senator,” O’Reilly replied. “I don’t think you’re a bigot.” [Source]

Maybe not a bigot Senator, just a despicable politician who will do anything for power.

Speaking of despicable politicians, I see that Newt has also jumped on the bash black parade.

"Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich said today he is willing to go before the NAACP and urge blacks to demand paychecks, not food stamps.
Gingrich told a town hall meeting at a senior center in Plymouth, N.H., that if the NAACP invites him to its annual convention this year, he'd go there and talk about "why the African-American community should demand paychecks and not be satisfied with food stamps."

Newt, I am thankful that the government doesn't have to give you food stamps, if it did, I am sure that we wouldn't have enough money to do anything else.



 





 

The Iowa Three.

Man it's nice to be home. It's been a long holiday.

So anyway, I am watching the election results come in from Iowa, and CNN is saying that it's going to be close between three candidates. (Poor Newt and Michele.) So far the turnout has been lower than expected. Hmm, I wonder what that means?

There is Soledad O'Brien. Poor thing, she is trying so hard to look comfortable in the land of corn. (She"tussled" with Michele Bachmann on her show.) Soledad claims her black side,but she might want to hold back a little on that until she leaves Iowa.

Thanks to one of the candidates, folks in corn country might start giving her the fuzzy eye ball because they think she wants a handout.

"Rick Santorum was responding to a question Sunday about how he would get the country back on track, and he was telling a group of Iowans that President Obama wanted to make them more dependent on programs like Medicaid.
There was little or no reaction from an audience that appeared to be all, or overwhelmingly, white. And perhaps as a result, Santorum continued with this gem of scapegoating: 

  '“I don’t want to make black peoples’ lives better by giving them somebody else’s money,” Mr. Santorum said. “I want to give them the opportunity to go out and earn the money and provide for themselves and for their families.”' 

Now that's special. A guy who stole money from the people of Pistolvania is lecturing a race of people about handouts.

"Asked about it later, Santorum told Sean Hannity on Fox News: said: “I haven’t heard it; all I can say is that I don’t single out any group of people– that’s one thing I don’t do,” Santorum explained. “I don’t divide people by group and race and class.”  [Source]

And people wonder why I say that Rick is crazy. Rick, are you saying that you didn't hear what you said? "I haven't heard it"? Yes, I think that's what you are saying.

Folks, I rest my case.

This just in: Santorum is leading with 49% of the votes counted. Hang in there folks, it could be a long night.  

Now it's Rick's turn, and Obama is just like Kim.

Congrats to former Pistolvania Senator, Rick [I should be in a] Sanitarium, for being the latest republican presidential flavor of the month. I am from Pistolvania, so I know a thing or two about Rick. (Even met him once.) And, how do I say this? Rick is crazy!

'"One of the criticisms I make is to what I refer to as more of a libertarianish right...This whole idea of personal autonomy, well, I don’t think most conservatives hold that point of view. Some do. They have this idea that people should be left alone, be able to do whatever they want to do, government should keep our taxes down and keep our regulations low, that we shouldn’t get involved in the bedroom, we shouldn’t get involved in cultural issues. You know, people should do whatever they want. Well, that is not how traditional conservatives view the world, and I think most conservatives understand that individuals can’t go it alone. That there is no such society that I am aware of, where we’ve had radical individualism and that it succeeds as a culture.” '

'I’m a pretty tolerant guy, but beyond his ideology, some of Santorum’s behavior is just a little bizarre. For example, Santorum has six children. In 1996, he had son born prematurely who lived for only two hours. He and wife brought the child home and introduced the dead infant to the rest of their children as “your brother Gabriel” and slept with the body overnight."' [Source]

Yesterday, on national television, Rick pretty much confirmed to the rest of A-merry-ca that he should not be the man we trust to hold the highest office in the land and the most powerful position in the world.

"Rick Santorum said today he would bomb Iran's nuclear plants if international inspectors aren't allowed inside, the Wall Street Journal reports. "You can't go out and say, 'This is what I'm for,' and then do nothing," Santorum said on Meet the Press. "You become a paper tiger." [Source]  

Oh ohhh, we have seen this movie before: No "international inspectors" means we will have to take "action". Well we just pulled our troops out of a country after taking "action" against another one of those "evil" Middle Eastern countries. 

Rick, you might want to start loading up those B2's right now, because Iran might have already started. 

Another one of those republican candidates just compared his Oness to Kim Kardashian. 

 "I’ve been looking at some video clips on YouTube of President Obama, then candidate Obama, going through Iowa making promises," he said at a campaign stop in Iowa. "I think the gap between his promises and his performance is the largest I’ve seen, well, since the Kardashian wedding and the promise of 'til death do we part."    

Poor Flipper, he is trying so hard to come off as being in touch with popular culture.

"The Huffington Post notes that Romney has lately been making more attempts to seem in-touch with pop culture, referring to I Love Lucy last week and Twilight (his favorite book, apparently) in May. He also recently compared Obama to Marie Antoinette."

"I Love Lucy"? OK, I guess if you are still jonesing to live in 1950's A-merry-ca, using "I Love Lucy" to make a point would make sense.

Finally, you have to feel sorry for Newt. I actually saw the poor guy crying the other day after talking about his now departed mama.

Newt says that he has been "Romney-Boated". I guess that's kind of like being "swiftboated"  without the military connection.

"I probably should have responded faster and more aggressively,’’ Mr. Gingrich told reporters here Sunday. “If somebody spent $3.5 million lying about you, you have some obligation to come back and set the record straight.’’

Mr. Gingrich acknowledged that his campaign had underestimated the damage inflicted by ads and mailers that accused him of influence-peddling because he had earned $1.6 million in consulting work for Freddie Mac.

The Iowa race, he said, was still in flux, and his “experiment” in staying positive – a promise he has not always stuck to – could still pay dividends at the caucuses on Tuesday.

As the campaign moves to New Hampshire and South Carolina, Mr. Gingrich said he would direct ads that point up Mr. Romney’s relatively moderate record as governor of Massachusetts — not attacks, he insisted, but a look at the record.
“I think you can do very calm, very pleasant ads,’’ he said. “The nature of the Republican Party is such that a calm, pleasant ad that says he was for tax-paid abortions, I’m against it” would have an impact." [Source]

You gotta love these "calm and pleasant" republicans. I can't wait to see the "calm and pleasant" campaign the republican nominee runs in the general election.

  





                                                      

More on Mr. 9-9-9 on 11-11-11

Today is Veterans Day, and every one of you reading this should take a minute or two to think about the men and women who have served this country.

The field has mad respect for all of them.

The field doesn't have any respect for Herman Cain. I don't know what really went on between him and those women, but his flip and cavalier attitude about this entire scandal (even using it to raise money) has been disgusting to watch.

He is like a character from a seventies black exploitation film. (I keep seeing him in that big hat that he likes to wear) All that's missing is the Courvoisier and a velvet covered love seat.

And now he is cracking jokes about Anita Hill:

"Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain — facing allegations of sexual harassment — is defending a joke he made about Anita Hill.

Cain said Friday he was approached at a recent event by a supporter who said Hill was trying to contact him.   

“And my response was ‘Is she going to endorse me?’” Cain said in an interview Friday on WGDJ-AM Albany, N.Y.

“He said it in a humorous way. I gave back a humorous response. It was in no way intended to be an insult toward Anita Hill or anybody else,” Cain said." [Source]

Herman seems to like to joke a lot. I guess that's why conservatives love him so much. There is nothing like a black man who likes to joke jig and laugh to keep some A-merry-cans entertained. There is one in every crowd. Sorry Herman, being president is no laughing matter. These are  serious f*&^%*g times!

I am not laughing with your simple behind, and I am pretty sure that most A-merry-cans echo that sentiment. Still, there are a lot of things you do that makes me want to laugh at you. Your 9-9-9 plan comes to mind. And the fact that you didn't realize that China has nuclear capabilities when in fact they have had it for over forty years. That one had me in stitches.

Meanwhile, two of the so called serious candidates in the republican primary were in New Hampshire demonstrating to the rest of us how they would lead our country.

"Republican presidential candidates Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum participated in the Granite State Patriot’s Constitutional Conversation Thursday night, where the two were not short on criticism of President Obama’s interpretation of the constitution.

“What’s the biggest constitutional failing of the Obama administration?” the moderator asked Santorum. The crowd laughed as Santorum scratched his head for a moment with a perplexed look.

“This is going to be a much longer debate now,” Gingrich said.
“
Gingrich paused and said, “Not understanding which country he’s president of.”
The crowd erupted with applause and gave the only standing ovation of the night to Gingrich’s comment. Santorum followed up by saying “Obamacare.”....

..The discussion then turned to the role of religion in the constitution in relation to a civic society. Gingrich asked Santorum asked what steps he would take to create a virtuous society.

“I was in a church in Iowa and I walked into a conclave of pastors. The pastor was up there preaching revival, and in many respects that’s true, American needs a revival of the principles that made America the greatest country in the history of the world,” Santorum said." [Source]

"Preaching revivial"? A revival of what? Jobs? No. Decent health care? No. A better educational system? No. Better environmental protections? No. "The principles that made America the greatest country in the history of the world". Oh, well if you put it that way; let us all pray.

Sarah, they don't want to roll with you.

It looks like Sarah is rolling out a bus trip this Memorial Day weekend to kick off her campaign.It's called the "One Nation Tour" and she will touch on all of the historic sites. (I hope she has been brushing up on her history. We wouldn't want her visiting the Liberty Bell in Wilmington.)

She also claims that she is going to be rolling with the "Rolling Thunder" folks, just to show what a true red white and blue loving patriot she is. But a funny thing happened on the way to Sarah's hog ride; the "Rolling Thunder" folks say that they didn't invite her.

"She wasn't invited. We heard yesterday she came out with a press release she was coming to Rolling Thunder," Ted Shpak, national legislative director of Rolling Thunder, told "Andrea Mitchell Reports." Shpak is one of three members of Rolling Thunder's current leadership who says he had no idea Palin was coming until it was posted on her website. " [source]

Whoops.

Oh well, I suppose that Sarah has to get out of the house. I know that her daughter is driving her crazy with this jungle fever stuff these days.

Sticking to my wingnut politician theme; I see that another republiclown has been caught throwing stones while living in a glass house.

**Rick [I should be in a] Sanitarium owes taxes on his Pennsylvania home, and he has had a lien filed against him. That is not a good look for someone who likes to preach to use about fiscal responsibility. But we shouldn't be surprised. Not when we see another wingnut pol running up a half a million dollar tab with Tifanny's and not think about paying it back until he is called on it. (Expect more on Mrs. Newt's jewelry fetish. Something about lobbyist and shady deals.)

Finally, I have one more wingnut polit-trickster to call out: This one is from the "land of Lincoln", and he, like so many others of his kind, believes that his O ness was elected to be president of these divided states because of "white guilt" and his black skin.

"Why was he elected? Again, it comes back to who he was. He was black, he was historic. And there's nothing racist about this," Walsh told Slate's Dave Weigel in an interview. "It is what it is. If he had been a dynamic, white, state senator elected to Congress he wouldn't have gotten in the game this fast. This is what made him different." [Source]

Oh boy, the poor white man again. He just can't catch a break.

** In an attempt to be" fair and balanced", I have updated the Santorum tax lien story. Apparently Rick paid his back taxes. (Sorry for the misunderstanding Rick)

Black History Month.

I wanted to blog about Black History Month so I went looking over at HuffPo (since they are reserving a section for us black folks now) and found this. Needles to say I was disappointed. More liberal guilt from a white woman named Helen Davey, ( that's not Helen in the picture) who just read "The Help" ,and as is to be expected with these sort of things; it brought back all types of childhood memories for the poor woman:

"My first best friend was Elisabeth Darity. I have an old, black and white photograph of the two of us, dated September 1943, when I was six months old. Nestled in Elisabeth's lap, I'm resting my tiny white hand on her large and comforting black one. My memories of Elisabeth begin when my older brother and sister went to school, and I felt left behind and lonely. Elisabeth was chosen to look after me, and I had no idea that I was her job -- I thought she was my friend who came to play. She was the first person who listened to me and took what I said seriously. My brother and sister, being older, would laugh at me, run away from me and call me a "crybaby." Elisabeth empowered me by pointing out that my siblings actually needed me as a third person to play most games. If they ran away from me, then I wouldn't play with them anymore. It worked! "

No Helen, Elisabeth didn't come to play. She came to work. Taking care of you was how she fed her family.

Anyway, I changed my mind about the Black History Month post. Every day is black history for me. I don't need a month that was set aside for me to reinforce A-merry-can exceptionalism. "See how we love you black folks? We even gave you your own month".

Let me start with Governor Kripy Kreme and go down from there. My man was in my city today to get an award from the very Blue Blooded Union League. The award is called....wait for it....."The Lincoln Award". Yes, the same Lincoln who freed the slaves. Maybe freeing people from their money and their jobs is the Republican version of Lincoln type values these days. That is certainly what the good Gov. has been doing in Jersey.

And speaking of the party of Lincoln; it looks like the GOP infighting has started already. Seems that former Senator Rick I should be in a Sanitarium called out Sarah:

"I have a feeling that she has some demands on her time, and a lot of them have financial benefit attached to them,"

Are you saying that it's all about the money with Sarah, Rick? Well she has a little something for you:

“I think the reports were much worse than what he really said. I think some things were really taken out of context. So I will not call him the knuckle dragging neanderthal that perhaps others would want to call him. I’ll let his wife call him that instead.”

Ouch! A "knuckle dragging neanderthal"? Now now Sarah, is that anyway for one future presidential candidate to talk about another?

O man, if they are treating each other with such contempt and derision, I shudder to think what's in store for you.

Finally, if this Negro isn't the slave catcher of the year I don't know who is. You would think that with all the problems his flock might have to deal with this pastor would find other things to occupy his time than to save white men.

Come on Rev. I am sure that the white men of A-merry-ca appreciate the effort. But take my word for it when I tell you that they will be just fine.

John and Rick deserve each other.

You have got to love wingnut politicians. I will start with my man John Kasich, the governor of the Buckeye state. (h/t to Keith Olbermann for turning me on to this story)

It seems that my man has him a very white and very male (as in zero blacks and four females-- out of 20 people) cabinet as he takes over that wonderful diverse Midwestern state. Apparently it is the first white out since 1962. Oh my!

Anywhoo, no harm no foul, it is, after all, his cabinet. He can choose who he wants to work for him. He says he is unfazed and he doesn't see color. He only wants the best people for the job.

The new governor claims to be unfazed by this. He says he did not intend to appoint an all-white group -- and there is absolutely nothing in his background to suggest otherwise. Kasich tells Plain Dealer Columbus Bureau Chief Reginald Fields that he simply set out to find "the best possible team I can get, and hopefully we will be in a position that we are fully diverse as we go forward."

Given Ohio's many problems, Kasich says, it was far more important to make the right hires out of the gate than "to find somebody to fit this metric." [Source]

Ok Gov. fair point. (And look, I am not even going to rip you for mixing up St. Patty's day and MLK Day. They are only a couple of months apart, and King might even be an Irish name. Who knows? Anybody can make a mistake.) But why did you slip a couple of black folks in for the photo op. of your swearing in? If you are color blind you are color blind. Why throw in some pepper with the salt for appearances only?

Gov. if what Olbermann is alleging is true, it smashed whatever little credibility you had on the race front. Not that you cared. But hey, I just thought you should know. I sure hope my cousins in Ohio are taking note.

Finally, you have got to love Rick (I belong in a ) Sanitarium. My man is running for President so he is stepping up the attacks on his O ness.

"The question is -- and this is what Barack Obama didn't want to answer -- is that human life a person under the Constitution? And Barack Obama says no. Well if that person -- human life is not a person, then -- I find it almost remarkable for a black man to say, 'we're going to decide who are people and who are not people." [Source]

HUH? Rick, I am guessing that Barack Obama is praying that you win the republi-clown primary and run against him in 2012.

Before I forget, shout out to the MMTC folks for putting on a wonderful conference here in DC. I had to mingle with half of Rev. Inc. earlier, and there are just too many lawyers in the house for my taste. But, other than that, it's a first class event. I just wish I knew all the technical stuff that everybody is throwing around. But hey, it will come to me.