"I believe we can be better,"

I know Sarah is glad that her children are no longer babies. Now the poor woman won't have to worry about the Jews getting their blood.

"Palin aide Rebecca Mansour said the former Alaska governor stands by her video.

"There has been an incredible increase in death threats against Gov. Palin since the tragedy in Arizona, since she's been accused of having the blood of those victims on her hands," Mansour said. "When you start to accuse people of having the blood of innocent people on their hands, it incites violence."

Yes, let's all feel sorry for Sarah. She is, after all, the real victim in all of this.

Anyway, let me stop, I just saw the O man's speech and my spirits have been lifted. He called for all of us to be nicer to each other and to elevate the discourse here in A-merry-ca. I feel that the least I could do is tone down the finger pointing and rhetoric for one night.

"But at a time when our discourse has become so sharply polarized - at a time when we are far too eager to lay the blame for all that ails the world at the feet of those who think differently than we do - it's important for us to pause for a moment and make sure that we are talking with each other in a way that heals, not a way that wounds. "

I feel you O. Now let's see how the wingnuts react to your speech. I have a feeling that our little detente won't last too long.

MLK vitriol, and Glenn Beck believes that the killing of six people is funny.

It's getting close to MLK's birthday again, and the usual nutcases are coming out of the woodwork as they usually do this time of year. God forbid you Negroes have an American hero like the rest of us.

"Born Michael King Jr., the man known to the world as Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. has continued to be an enigma. Both revered and reviled, he has been a force to be reckoned since he led the historic march in Selma, Ala., in 1965 and continues to be so even in death.

"Sexual degenerate" and "communist" are not terms often associated with this revered nonviolent leader who spearheaded the civil rights movement.

Yet, Brett Reese, a member of the Greeley-Evans School District 6 Board of Education, is broadcasting just such an attack on Dr. King through his 104.7 FM pirate radio show..

"Just a sexual degenerate, an America-hating communist and a criminal betrayer of even the interest of his own people," Reese reads during his radio broadcast." [Source]

Oh my! I know that all of you Negroes with one of those fans with brother Martin's picture on the back are going to be pissed at that one.

Hmmmm, a "sexual degeenerate". I wonder if he was any worse than my man Thomas Jefferson?

Finally, someone told me to turn on 1210 AM here in Philly this morning and listen to the radio. I flipped on the little desk top radio in my office and all I heard was laughter and joking. It took me awhile to figure out that it was Glenn Beckkk's radio program and that he was yucking it up with his co-hosts about the killings in Arizona.

One joke after another; about the president, Joe Scarborough, and then some congresswoman named Louise Slaughter. Apparently they have a history.("Oh no we can't use that name,-Slaughter- they might want to shut us down" Ha ha ha ha!!!")

Glenn, I am glad that you and your cronies think that the death of six people (including a nine year old girl) is funny. The rest of us are not laughing.

BTW, I am still waiting for Sarah Palin to apologize for putting the congresswoman in the cross hairs of her political rifle.

A moment of silence........

It's day three after the tragedy in Arizona and the nation is still "grieving". A congresswoman was shot and is clinging to life, a nine year old girl and a federal judge lost their lives; and, at least for now, a country feels like it is losing its soul.

I am sorry I missed the moment of silence today. Unfortunately I was in one of those places in this country where the killing of a little girl (and many others) doesn't quite get the same attention.

I feel for Dallas Green and his family. The loss of little Christina is a tragedy that no parent (or grandparent)should have to live with. But so was the loss of little Cashae Rivers. She was only five years old when a single bullet struck and killed her after piercing through her back while she drove in the back of a car. There are others, but I can't list them all now. I don't have the time or the stomach.

Anyway, because of who the victims were, there will once again be a gun control debate here in A-merry-ca. The NRA will have to go into spin control and get their lobbyist to earn their fat paychecks. They will win. Why? The shooting of folks "who really matter" are too few and far between.

Giving new meaning to the term "red states."

I was going to rip kicker David Akers of my Philadelphia Eagles for costing us the game today, but after seeing his tear filled interview I changed my mind. I must be getting soft in my old age.

At least when it comes to field goal kickers; not when it comes to wingnuts.

"According to a law enforcement memo based on information provided by DHS and obtained by Fox News, Jared Loughner, the alleged shooter of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, may have been influenced by a pro-white racist organization that publishes an anti-immigration newsletter.

No direct connection, but strong suspicion is being directed at American Renaissance, an organization that Loughner mentioned in some of his Internet postings and federal law enforcement officials are investigating Loughner's possible links to the organization." [Source]

So the shooter from Arizona was a xenophobic racist. (I guess there was something to that 2009 memo). No surprise there. He was also crazy. No surprise there. He was also able to purchase a handgun in spite of all the signs pointing to him being mentally unstable. No surprise there. This is, after all, NRAmerica.

Something else that isn't surprising: the wingnuts are now all claiming that the shooter was a democrat. "He was a godless leftist who read the Cummunist Manifesto." (He liked Mein Kamp as well but that's beside the point in wingnutland.) This all, of course, means nothing. (For the record, there is as much if not more evidence to prove that his ideology and influence is more right leaning than left.)

Still, Jared Lee Lougher's political and ideological leanings are irrelevant. As usual the wingnuts are missing the point. This is not about a deranged individual named Jared Lee Lougher going on a shooting spree. This is about the leaders of a movement (insert tea party here) and of a major political party calling for citizens to rise up against the government to regain political power. The rhetoric on the right came from the top. ("You lie!") It's about a major political figure on the right putting the congresswoman's face in her "cross hairs" with the image of the scope of a rifle for special effect.

“don’t retreat, instead- RELOAD!” Nice. Thank god he didn't get to reload Sarah. Thanks to the brave citizens who tackled him, Jared Lee Lougher didn't get to fire off the 31 more bullets left in his clip. But Sarah isn't alone. Other wingnuts, such as Sharron Angle, called for "armed insurrection" against congress. But we are supposed to forget all of this because this nut job has no direct ties to the republican party.

It doesn't work that way. You created this environment and now you have to live with the consequences. Scrubbing your facebook page and having the benefit of FOX NEWS 24/7 propaganda won't change the facts. Your rhetoric and red meat fired up your base, and those among you who are well meaning came out and exercised their civic duty and voted out the bums who they thought were not acting in their best interest. That's fine. On the other hand, those among you (and those in the population at large) who hated the government for a different reason, saw this as an opportunity to put their hatred on full display.

I started this post on a sports note and I will end with one as it is directly connected to this story. The nine year old girl who tragically lost her life was the granddaughter of the manager who brought Philadelphia a championship in baseball back in 1980. She went to the gathering because she wanted to be a politician, (she was president of her elementary school class) and she admired the congresswoman. She paid for that visit with her life.

"According to the Alaska Dispatch site, Palin aide Rebecca Mansour said in an interview with Alaska radio host Tammy Bruce, a Palin supporter, that there was 'nothing ' about the 20 crosshair-like symbols that appeared on a map of districts targeted last year by Palin's PAC, including that of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.).

"We never ever, ever intended it to be gun sights. ... We never imagined, it never occurred to us that anybody would consider it violent,' Mansour said." [Source]

Of course you didn't Rebecca. But just remember, chickens don't stay out forever. At some point they have to come home.

"Someone fell through the cracks, Bret'

That was Shepard Smith of Radio Rwanda to his colleague, Bret Baier.

He was talking, of course, about Mr. Jared Lee Loughner .(What is with these shooters and the name Lee?) A stark raving wingnut who took in upon himself to make some news today by killing six people (including a federal Judge, and a nine year old girl) and wounding twelve.
One of the wounded was a US Congresswoman. I am having 1995 flashbacks.

Poor Gabrielle Gifford was doing what a politician is supposed to do; meeting and reaching out to the constituents in the middle of her district. But in this toxic political climate, and thanks to- so called- main stream politicians threatening her and putting her in their "cross hairs", (yes Sarah, I am talking to you) one where popular talk show hosts who reach millions of people make a living off of ignorant and hate filled demagoguery, (yes Glenn and Rush, I am talking to you) she just didn't realize how dangerous the world in which she lives has become. Frankly, I am surprised that something like this didn't happen sooner. Remember all those tea party folks attacking their elected officials at those town hall meetings in the middle of the health care debate? Wingnuts, you are Jared Lee Loughner.

"I won't pay currency that does not involve gold and silver". Of course no one wants to jump to conclusions, but I will. This wingnut was exactly the type of ignoramus that the likes of Rush and Beck preach to everyday. With the help of the Jared Lee Loughners of the world, FOX NEWS and talk radio thrived; now watch how fast they will all try to run away from him.

It won't work. Those of us in A-merry-ca -who actually use our brains to think- can see exactly what is going on. Pump up the ignorant, and when they do the expected go into your best Inspector Renault impersonation.

I must admit that two years ago if someone were to tell me that an elected official in Washington would be shot, I would have thought it would be the man giving his condolences from the White House this evening, and not some poor congresswoman from Arizona. Now, however, I am not surprised. This is the nation that we have become.

It is a nation where we are told to fear those other people because they are taking our jobs and our way of life. It's not them. The real threat to our democracy is coming from those individuals who are going to be falling through the "cracks". Cracks that are being made bigger everyday thanks to an ideology of hate and hysteria that benefits a few but hurts many.

"We need a drum roll for those front runners in the election; those illegal teachers, pigs, and politicians of yours are under illegal authority of their constitution. Those dirty pigs think they know the damn year. Thirdly, tell them mother fuckers to count from 0 to whenever they feel a threat to stop their count…Those illegal military personal are able to sign into a country that they can't find with an impossible date! How did you trust your child with them fraud teachers and front runners, listener? Did you now know that the teachers, pigs, and front runners are treasonous! " [Source]

Enough Jared, your 15 minutes are up. You can turn things over to your friends now.

Carry on A-merry-ca.

Keeping immigrants out of America and killing Americans in Arizona. Republicans are on a roll.

Boy those wingnuts in Washington are off to a really great start.

"House GOP leaders are scrambling to remedy the rocky start to the opening of the 112th Congress by approving a measure Friday to invalidate votes taken by two Republican lawmakers who weren't properly sworn in.

As The Ticket reported Thursday, the leaders were stunned discover that two representatives — veteran Texas Rep. Pete Sessions and freshman Pennsylvania Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick — weren't on the House floor Wednesday during the official swearing-in. Instead, they were in the Capitol Visitors Center at a party marking Fitzpatrick's first day in Congress. At one point, the lawmakers looked up and noticed on TV that the oath was being administered to their colleagues." [Source]

First order of business; pass a bill to repeal "Obamacare". It has no shot of passing, but hey, you know, anything for the "tea party" folks.

Meanwhile, here in Pistolvania, republi-clowns are taking steps to keep those immigrants from getting out of control.

"Hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens are crossing U.S. borders to give birth and exploit their child as an 'anchor baby'.." [Source]

You tell em, Daryl. And, while we are at it, why don't just we revoke the citizenship of all those Negroes who live in Detroit? I mean, since we are just kind of toying around with the 14th Amendment, why don't we just go for it?

And finally, the republi-clown governor is killing people in Arizona.

"Two people have already died in Arizona and another 96 are waiting for a life-saving transplant they may no longer be able to afford after the state slashed money reserved for the procedures.

One lawmaker said Arizona is now home to "death panels." And those whose names were on the list, those who will surely die without a transplant, found themselves in a state of disbelief.
"It's a shock to me," said Randall Shepherd, who thought he would receive Medicaid funding for the heart transplant he needs.

"There's a bit of a personal loss and the realization that this could be me in time if something's not changed here," Shepherd said, referring to the two who have died. "Until I get a new heart, my life is in a holding pattern."

Shepherd, like many others outraged by the state decision to slash $1.2 million from the state's Medicaid funding, said he believes the cuts could have come from elsewhere. Nonetheless, he said he understands the reasoning behind the decision.

"It's obvious. If the state's broke, it is broke," he said. "I can kick and scream all I want, and if there's no money for a transplant, it is just not going to happen.

"I really feel bad for the governor, for the legislators, those who had to make this decision," he said. "I certainly wouldn't want to be in their shoes and making the call that results in somebody else living or dying."

Arizona's Senate Minority Leader-elect David Schapira, a Democrat from Tempe, said he will seek emergency restoration of Medicaid coverage for certain kinds of transplants.

"I would like to alert people in the rest of the country that we have death panels right here in Arizona, and those who cut this funding and refuse to restore it are the death panels," Schapira said.

He was referring to Gov. Jan Brewer and her fellow Republicans who now hold a two-thirds majority in both legislative chambers. Schapira called Brewer "a one-person death panel." [Source]

Maybe Sarah was right, but she had the wrong person all along. Jan Brewer, how do you sleep at night? That was a rhetorical question. I know you sleep quite well. You are, after all, a wingnut.

THE WINGNUTS ARE HERE!

"The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature.

No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.

(Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons.)"

My republi-clown friends left out that little part of the Constitution so I thought I would post it for those of you who are not familiar with that very important document. "Oh field, stop it, there you go being messy again, you know that portion of the Constitution was Amended. It's called the 14th Amendment, field." WHOOPS. Sorry, it was Amended; bad field Negro.

It's just that all this reading of the Constitution by all these strict constructionist made me want to go back to the strictest interpretation of that fine document. As it was originally intended by those who framed it, that's all.

I swear, these newly elected officials are a trip. And why did some of those dumbocrats in Washington even participate in this silly symbolic exercise?

"Some 135 lawmakers from both parties participated in the reading of the document approved in 1787 and in operation since 1789. Leading off was new House Speaker John Boehner, who recited the "We the People" preamble. He was followed by outgoing Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who read Article I, Section 1 that gives legislative powers to Congress.

The document, long a subject both of reverence and wrangling, has never been read in its entirety in the House, and the event, coming on the second day of Republican control of the chamber, was a nod to the tea partiers who returned Republicans to power.

Tea party backers often cited the Constitution in arguing that Washington is ignoring the limits of federal power outlined in the document.

Democrats went along, but before the reading started they asked why Republicans chose to omit sections, including those pertaining to slavery, that were later amended. In particular, they asked about the Article I, Section 2 clause that classified slaves as three-fifths of a person for the purpose of congressional apportionment and taxation.

Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill., asked why those elements of American history were being left out, "given the struggle of African-Americans, given the struggle of women."

"We fail to show the American people that imperfection is not to be feared and that our ability to constantly improve on what the Founders gave us is a blessing, not a reason for divisiveness," Black Caucus member Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., said.

Goodlatte said he and others had worked closely with the Library of Congress and the Congressional Research Service in coming up with the most accurate presentation of the Constitution. He noted to Jackson, son of civil rights leader Jesse Jackson, that another pioneer of the civil rights movement, Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., had been asked to read the 13th Amendment that abolished slavery. " [Source]

Isn't that special? Now that would make for a very nice little bit of symbolism now wouldn't it?

Symbolism is nice, but get with me when stuff like this stops happening in A-merry-ca.

Of course, when half of the people who populate this country dwell in the "Twilight Zone", a more perfect union is going to be that much harder to come by. "except Obama, except Obama"...Oh my! A birther outburst in the congressional chamber. Not surprising given the folks who now occupy most of the seats in that venerable body. The Capitol police removed the wingnut, but I am guessing that most of the elected wingnuts present were secretly saying, yesssss.

"Williams: I'm curious as to how much responsibility you feel specifically because of something that happened this morning. During the reading of the Constitution, Congressman Frank Pallone of New Jersey, was reading a portion of the document, interrupted by someone who heckled from within the chamber. It was to express doubt over the president's American citizenship. Provided you believe the president is an American citizen, you've got 12 members co-sponsoring legislation that does about the same thing, it expresses doubt. Would you be willing to say, "This is a distraction, I've looked at it to my satisfaction. Let's move on"?

Boehner: The state of Hawaii has said that President Obama was born there. That's good enough for me.

Williams: Would you be willing to say that message to the 12 members in your caucus who seem to either believe otherwise or are willing to express doubt and have co-sponsored legislation?

Boehner: Brian, when you come to the Congress of the United States, there are 435 of us. We're nothing more than a slice of America. People come, regardless of party labels, they come with all kinds of beliefs and ideas. Uh it's, it's the melting pot of America. It's not up to me to tell them what to think." [Source]

Yesssss!

Dead birds and the "N- word."

The Philly Bar Association is hosting a fancy get together right about now, but I am going to have to pass. I hate hanging out with a bunch of lawyers after hours almost as much as I hate being in a room full of wingnuts. Besides, I wanted to get inside as soon as possible. I didn't want to have a bird falling on my head. Seriously, WTF? Birds falling out of the sky? I am starting to get a bit concerned, because it's not just the birds in Arkansas and Louisiana; dead fish and dead birds are popping up all over the place.

Of course, in order to keep crazy bloggers like moi from screaming the sky is falling, folks who are supposedly in the know are giving us all types of explanations for this phenomenon. From "cold water stress", (whatever that is) to fire works explosions; they are scrambling very hard for answers. "Repent and believe field, the end of days are upon us". Pray for me people. Pray for me.

The progressive in me wants to say that this is all a result of global warming, but I will save my I told you so speech until I get more information.

But enough about dead animals. I want to talk about an interesting case making the rounds here in Philly. I talked about it with some colleagues today and we disagreed on some issues.

It seems that this white reporter at the local FOX affiliate (surprise surprise) dropped the "N"- word" a couple of times in a staff meeting. He was fired and he sued to get his job back. On its face it seems like a slam dunk for the station. But not so fast. The court has found that his suit has merit and has moved the case forward for trial. His argument is this: Black employees at the station have used the "N -word" and they are still there. (Always a problem that pesky little "N-word") Also, he is a reporter, he used the word while discussing the issue of the NAACP burying the "N- word" with some other reporters and...why am I explaining all of this? Here, let me cut and paste for you:

"U.S. District Judge R. Barclay Surrick has ruled that former Fox29 reporter-anchor Tom Burlington's lawsuit against the station, claiming a double standard and alleging that he was the victim of racial discrimination, may go to trial. However, Surrick denied Burlington's claim of a hostile work environment.

Burlington, who is white, was fired after using the "n" word during a June 2007 staff meeting at which reporters and producers were discussing reporter Robin Taylor's story about the symbolic burial of the word by the Philadelphia Youth Council of the NAACP.

Burlington, who began work at the station in 2004 and is now working as a real estate agent, was suspended within days and fired after an account of the incident was published in the Philadelphia Daily News. He alleges that he "was discriminated against because of his race," according to court documents. He claims in his lawsuit that at least two African American employees at Fox29 had used the word in the workplace and were not disciplined....

The dispute began after Taylor, who is white, used the phrase the "n" word during the 2007 staff meeting. She said participants at the burial had said the full word "at least a hundred times or more," according to court records.

"Does this mean we can finally say the word n-?" Burlington asked colleagues, according to depositions.

Nicole Wolfe, a producer and one of the three African American employees among the nine people at the meeting, exclaimed: "I can't believe you just said that!"

Burlington told Taylor that although he did not necessarily expect her to use the word in her story, he thought that doing so gave the story more credence.

Burlington says he used the word only once and approached several attendees after the meeting to explain himself. The Daily News account said he had used the word more than a dozen times." [Story]

I don't know Mr. Burlington; "Does this mean we can finally say the "N- word?" sounds a little like you have waited all your life to be able to use it. This is where my colleagues and I disagreed. We all agreed that, as a reporter, he certainly had a right to use the word in the context of the story. But he lost me with his little outburst. (My collegues didn't have a problem with it.) He went from being a reporter who was trying to do his job and get the best possible story for the station, to just another white guy who wanted the chance to say nigger, publicly. Publicly.

Let me know what you think. And remember to look up when you go outside tomorrow.

An inconvenient intrusion.

"Honey I am home!" It's nice to be back on the plantation, it really is. I really love traveling but Philly is where my heart is. (At least for now.)

Before I forget; thanks for all the holiday shout outs and the wonderful e-mails and comments that you all left me. Right back at [everyone of] you.

Now enough of the niceties; let's talk.

I recently encouraged all of you who care about real American history to visit the wonderful President's House Memorial here in Philly. Sadly, not everyone shares my sentiments. It seems that some big shot arts critic from the New Yaawk Times took issue with the new attraction here in the city where our "founding fathers" left their mark.

Edward Rothstein penned the following:

"PHILADELPHIA — The convulsive currents that roil the telling of American history have become so familiar that they now seem an inseparable part of the story itself. Here is a nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to a proposition of human equality, that, for much of its first century of life, countenanced slavery, institutionally supported it and economically profited from it. The years that followed have been marked by repair, reform and reversals; recompense, recrimination and reinterpretation. Extraordinary ideals and achievements have been countered by extraordinary failings and flaws, only to be countered yet again, each turn yielding another round of debates......

And here, in this city where the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence were signed; where a $300 million Independence National Historical Park has been created, leading from the National Constitution Center to Independence Hall; and where the Liberty Bell, as a symbol of the nation’s ideals, draws well over a million visitors a year, a great opportunity existed to explore these primal tensions more closely on a site adjacent to the Liberty Bell Center in Independence park. Unfortunately, those opportunities have been squandered in “The President’s House: Freedom and Slavery in the Making of a New Nation” which opens on Wednesday.....

“History is not neat,” we read. “It is complicated and messy. It is about people, places and events that are both admirable and deplorable.” And the President’s House, we are told, “exposes the core contradiction at the founding of this nation: enshrinement of liberty and the institution of slavery.”

But what precisely is being exposed? A few yards away, the Liberty Bell Center discusses abolition and slavery; the park’s visitor center has an exhibition about the Underground Railroad; the nearby African American History Museum has a powerful audio and video history of blacks in Philadelphia. Accounts of slavery are even found at Mount Vernon.

Here, though, we get neither a sense of the place, nor a sense of the issues (and much of the year, the open air will be inhospitable). We don’t learn about the differences between Washington and Adams. We don’t learn much about the pictured events. There is no real narrative. Illustrations can also be melodramatically contentious: we see a seemingly disdainful Washington dangling a “peace medal” before a suspicious Seneca Indian leader

As for slave life, it is also difficult to piece together. The video screens that come to life above the fake mantels give the impression of a half-finished 21st-century home. The videos themselves (with scripts by Lorene Cary), in which slaves and servants provide first-person accounts of experiences, at least provide some sense of life. But how do we put these experiences in context? What was Philadelphia’s free black community like? How did white workers and black slaves live together here?

We are told that the President’s House “offers an opportunity to draw lessons from the past.” But what lessons? That Washington was flawed? That slavery was an abomination? Are these revelations? A memorial to the practice of slavery is mounted here, inscribed with the names of African tribes from which slaves derived, but it has no particular relationship to Philadelphia or this site. The need for some such memorial is keen, but here it seems thumped down as an intrusion..." [Read the full article here]

And that, my friends, is the problem with so many folks in the majority population: They view the sad legacy of slavery as nothing but an "intrusion". Memorials such as this one only reminds us of the flaws that even the "greatest" among us had. And if they were flawed, what does that say about us?

I am glad that folks like Annete John- Hall and my friend Michael Coard responded.

"The esteemed critic obviously missed the point of the exhibit.

Rothstein argues that the commemoration, by focusing on slavery, loses sight of other important history. You know, real American history.

Like more about George Washington, for one. The father of our country, America's foremost patriot. Military man. President. Name and image affixed to every stamp, currency, school and monument you can possibly imagine.

Except that a narrow little inconvenient truth surfaced as plans were made to build a president's house memorial. Something conveniently omitted from my history books: Washington unapologetically owned more than 300 Africans, nine of whom he shuttled back and forth between his Virginia plantation and his presidential home in Philadelphia." [Source]
Well put, Anette. But you have a long way to go if you want to convince the rest of A-merry-ca that your position is the correct one. I leave you with the words of "Tyrome". (Not a real name, I am sure. Just someone trying to be funny by poking fun at what he/she perceives as an ethnic name from a certain group.)

"PC ot[sic] of control. We don’t care about 1700-era slave stuff. The whole slave/victim/in-the-past thing is gettning[sic] real old to Americans.

My Irish ancestors where mistreated but thats[sic] not worth building a monument.

George Washington did great things for OUR country. People shouldn’t hijack it to push there[sic] PC victimhood shtick. "

2011 should be fun.

The governor and the coach.

I hate to start the new year on a sour note, but I am going to have to go there.

Michael Haywood is my first House Negro of the year because his behavior merits it. I know he has not yet been found guilty of domestic violence against the mother of his child, but come on Mike. Where there is smoke...

I detest even the appearance of domestic violence; and, apparently, so do the people over at the athletic department of the University of Pittsburgh. This Negro got a major college coaching job in December and was fired just a couple of weeks later. The sad thing is, of course, that division one coaching jobs are few and far between for people of color, and many people have been working very hard to insure that folks like Michael Haywood get their fair shot. He might have been a good football coach, and he might have done well at Pitt. But sadly, we will never know.

Finally, I have to rip Governor Krispy Kreme (New year, same old field). My man was on a Florida vacation while his state was buried in snow. And, in typical Governor Krispy Kreme fashion; he had the nerve to be upset when folks questioned his judgement.

“If someone is snowed into their house, that’s not our responsibility,” Gov. Chris Christie said during his first press conference upon returning from Florida Thursday. "

Ahh, excuse me Governor, but making sure that the government is acting in the best possible way for its citizens is your job. And if you want to avoid criticism in the future you might want to spend a little less time beating up on the teacher's unions and more time paying attention to what it means to govern your state.

2011!

I wonder where we are headed and what we will be talking about a year from now? I am sure that the 2012 presidential elections will be in full effect; wingnuts will be screaming more foolishness from their high profile perch over at Radio Rwanda; there will still be a war raging in some remote corner of the world; there will still be a war right here at home, where 300 plus people will, once again, lose their lives violently in my hometown of Killadelphia.

Still, I know what we won't be talking about: (By we I mean the folks here in A-merry-ca.) Poverty. Corruption. Education.Crime. Race. Social justice.....You get the idea; we won't be talking about anything that makes us uncomfortable. We don't want to feel uncomfortable while we pursue happiness here in A-merry-ca.

Anyway, we talked about a lot in 2010. And, for the most part, I enjoyed the conversation. At least the conversation we had here. We talked about a lot of the things that makes A-merry-ca uncomfortable, which is why this blog will always be, for the most part, on the outside looking in.

But we will keep having that conversation in 2011, because I want to talk; and judging from the comments and the folks who come to the fields on a daily basis, so do you.

So please keep talking to me and letting me know what you think. I promise that you will always know what I think no matter what.

Here is hoping that 2011 will be filled with happiness for you.