First, ban all the Muslims.

What a  day in America. She is a country that is looking more like Germany circa 1933 than the "shining city on a hill" that Reagan liked to talk about. It is a country now being controlled by a right-wing and racist cabal that is hell- bent on taking us to a darker time in our history. 

The Supremes  gave the president a win with his Muslim ban, the vote was close (5-4), but close only counts in horseshoes.

Just remember this day the next time someone tells you that elections don't matter. It was trump's pick , Neil Gorsuch, who had the deciding vote. Gorsuch, thanks to Mitch McConnell, was able to hijack the Supreme Court pick of Barack Obama and put the right-wingnut jurist on the court. 

Justice Sotomayor's dissent in the case was on point. Unfortunately she was in the minority.

"Ultimately, what began as a policy explicitly 'calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States' has since morphed into a 'Proclamation' putatively based on national-security concerns," ....But this new window dressing cannot conceal an unassailable fact: the words of the President and his advisers create the strong perception that the Proclamation is contaminated by impermissible discriminatory animus against Islam and its followers." 

This is a slippery slope, but Americans will support it, because it has a negative effect on Muslims and not Christians. In their minds, it will only effect the lives of those other people. 

Enjoy this all for now trumpbots, today it's the other guy, tomorrow it will be you.

Anyway, given the current climate in our country, stories like the following does not surprise me.

" The mayor of a western Pennsylvania town called for black protesters to be “destroyed” by a water cannon in a misspelled Facebook post.

Karen Peconi, the mayor of the Pittsburgh suburb Arnold, shared a Viral Leaks video on her account that showed black “rioters” being sprayed with water hoses and a photo of teenage civil rights demonstrators being hosed by firefighters 55 years ago in Birmingham, Alabama, reported WTAE-TV.

The Facebook posts were made in response to ongoing protests of the police shooting death of 17-year-old Antwon Rose Jr., who was killed June 19 by police officer Michael Rosfeld while fleeing a traffic stop.

“I’m posting this so the authorities everywhere sees (sic) this … bring the hoses,” wrote Peconi. “They don’t care about jobs for PGH … none of them work now. That’s how they can do this at 7 a.m. Very sad.”

She called on law enforcement to blast protesters with a “water canon,” misspelling “cannon.”'. [Source]

Bring on the German Shepherds. This is trump's America, and this is his kind of Mayor. Right down to the misspelled tweet.

Mr. Boehner, Mr. McConnell, you should have been there.

It was nice to see all those folks going back to Selma to relive that bloody and horrible day in America's history some fifty years ago. 

I watched the activities on MSNBC today, and seeing all those people coming together to say never again was a beautiful thing.

I saw all those people, but there were some very important people who unfortunately I did not see.

"Another day, another political leader (or two) failing to grasp the very simple concept of optics and symbolism.

Today’s what-the-hell-were-you-thinking winners are Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) as it pertains to their respective no-shows to the 50th anniversary of the march on Selma. Did House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) attend? Yes. RNC Chairman Reince Priebus? Yes. Former President George W. Bush and Laura Bush? Yes. Do all of these GOPers being in attendance mean Boehner and McConnell are excused for not taking a day to show unity around a truly historic event in our nation’s tumultuous history on race relations?

Absolutely not. Nor does it excuse Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid for not attending, nor the second and third ranking Senate Democrats (Dick Durbin of Illinois and Chuck Schumer of New York) from blowing it off, either. But Boehner and McConnell are the focus here, and here’s why:

Optics is a topic that has been discussed before on this space, particularly as it pertains to President Obama and ill-advised tee times.

Note: As a fellow southpaw on the links and one who can appreciate the stress relief golf can provide regardless of score (I shot 62 this morning…on the front nine), nobody is begrudging someone with as stressful a job as Mr. Obama owns from getting away from it all for a few hours. It’s not exactly a new thing either: Democratic President Woodrow Wilson reportedly played 1200 rounds of golf.

Republican President Dwight Eisenhower racked up around 800. Nixon loved it. So did Clinton. Party is irrelevant. With Mr. Obama (who has played over 200 rounds, which suddenly looks relatively small), the issue around optics is not around playing golf, but the timing of certain outings…particularly last summer when he was on the first tee less than 20 minutes after a statement on American Jim Foley’s beheading by ISIS, and especially for not going to Paris following terror attacks there when many other world leaders found the time.

In Boehner’s and McConnell’s case, each appears to at least be wise enough to leave the clubs in the garage this weekend (especially Boehner–a scratch golfer). But that doesn’t make the optic of two-thirds of government leadership not being in Selma yesterday any less embarrassing for the Grand Old Party..." [Source]

I disagree with the writer. This is much more than just "optics". This is personal to us black folks.

The two leaders of the republican party not being in Selma is a personal affront to every person of color in this country.

Republicans say that they want to reach out to minorities, but this is not how you do it. Talk is cheap.
Show us that you are sincere by showing up in places like Selma.  

I have a lot of issues with George W. Bush, but I give him credit for showing up in Selma.

Unfortunately, the current leaders in his party are causing folks like Colin Powell to say the following:

“I still see it in the Republican Party,” Powell said. “And I still see it in other parts of our country. You don’t have to be Republican to be touched by this dark vein.”

“America is still going through this transformation from where we were 50, 60 years ago,” Powell said.

“You have to remember it was just 60 or 70 years ago that we still had poll taxes, that we still had literacy tests in order to vote, that voting places were only open two days a week for African Americans. So we’ve come a long way, but we still have a long way to go.”

I don't think that people like John Boehner and  Mitch McConnell share the sentiments of Colin Powell.

To them, we have already arrived.

Election roundup.

Last night was election night in the United States of the Koch Brothers, and if it was a football game being played on the dem's home field the fans would have been leaving the stadium by halftime. It was a beat down.


Republicans all over the country kicking up their boots and feeling like they are on top of the world. They now control Congress by even larger numbers and the Senate for the first time in eight years.


Mitch McConnell has declared that he will work with the president with certain limitations of course) and the president was just on television acknowledging the obvious and promising to be a good Negro and work with the GOP to get things done. (Watch it Mr. President, those people are not your friends.) I have a feeling that  as soon as they all get back to Washington it will be business as usual with them to show their base who can beat up on you more.


And speaking of the aforementioned Mr. McConnell, dude was actually in a heated race before his opponent--- another wishy washy democrat--- decided that she would run as far away from the president as possible in order to bolster her red state cred. Well how did that work out for you Ms. Grimes?


Here in Pistolvania we sent the republican governor packing. Although he (Corbett) would have lost to my mailman last night if he had decided to run. The guy was that unpopular. (When you have to Photoshop a black person for one of your campaign website you are beyond pathetic.)  That was one of the very few bright spots for democrats. To stay with my football analogy; it was just one of a few field goals when they needed a lot of touchdowns.


I would also like to take this time to congratulate Mia Love and  Tim Scott. They are two Negroes who ran as republicans and won historic races last night.  See field, the GOP folks aren't racist.
Some of the biggest racists in America had Negroes caring for their children. But I digress.


Anyway, Mia has bought in.


“This has nothing do with race. Understand that Utahans have made a statement that they’re not interested in dividing Americans based on race or gender, that they want to make sure that they are electing people who are honest and who have integrity,” Love said. “That’s really what made history here. It’s that Race, gender, had nothing to do with it, principles had everything to do with it.”


.......explained that “there are very few black residents” in Saratoga Springs and reiterated that she “wasn’t elected because of the color of my skin, I wasn’t elected because of my gender.”
“I was elected because of the solutions that I put at the table because I promised I would run a positive issues-oriented campaign and that’s what resonated,” she added". [Source]


See you in Washington, Mia.


Last night was a good night if you love the good collie weed. Oregon, Alaska, and Washington, D.C. decided to take Peter Tosh's advice. The rest of the country can't be too far behind.


It was also a good night  if you believe in workers receiving a fair wage for the work that they do. Four conservative states decided that the federal minimum wage is too low and they voted to raise their state's minimum wage higher than the one set by the federal government.


Still, these little victories mean nothing to hard core democrats out there. We are going with the football analogy again. This is like making money at the concession stand but losing the game.


   "As president, I have a unique responsibility to try and make this town work," Obama, a Democrat, said at a White House news conference. "So, to everyone who voted, I want you to know that I hear you".


The town you speak of Mr. President isn't exactly a microcosm of our country. Take a look around you, all you will see in that town are robots who were bought and paid for by well- heeled groups to write legislation the way they want to.


 In the United States of Koch Brothers they wouldn't have it any other way.   











 





 









    

"Dumb & Dumber"

"

"Games people play
Night or day they're just not matchin"

I hear you Spinners, but these dudes sure are trying.

"Kentucky Senators Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell were caught on a hot mic in the Capitol Wednesday evening pitching a strategy to pivot to a more compromising tone in hopes of forcing Democratic lawmakers to negotiate an end the government shutdown.

“I just did CNN and I just go over and over again ‘We’re willing to compromise, we’re willing to negotiate,’” Paul said, having just concluded an interview with Erin Burnett. “I don’t think they [Democrats] poll tested, ‘We won’t negotiate.’ I think it’s awful for them to say that over and over again.”

“Yeah, I do too,” said McConnell, who himself had just been at a “candid” meeting with President Barack Obama and other congressional leaders, during which little progress on the stalemate was made. “I just came back from that two hour meeting with them and that was basically the same view privately as it was publicly.”

“I think if we keep saying, ‘We wanted to defund it, we fought for that, but now we’re willing to compromise on this,’ they can’t—I know we don’t want to be here, but we’re gonna win this, I think,” Paul said." [Source]

Yes, but if you win and the people suffer ,what kind of victory is that?

Finally, I am sad to report that Herman Wallace has passed away. He died "less than a week" after being released from a Louisiana prison which kept him locked up under conditions that would have violated most international human rights standards.

His freedom was short lived, but the struggle to treat human beings better than animals continues. Because I am quite sure that authorities in Louisiana's Angola Prison treat their pets better than the prisoners they are charged to watch.  

 


 

Intentionally clueless.

I got a lot of e-mails and tweets from folks wanting to know my opinion about this "accidental racist" song that Uncle L and some country singer decided to serenade us with.

While I appreciate the attempt to address the issue of race and our differences here in America (and yes, I know that the country singer has love for Obama, but that doesn't get him a pass in my book), I am sadly going to have to give thumbs down to these artists and call out this song for the bull s*** that it is.

Why would I give some dude a pass for wearing a confederate flag? You are not an "accidental racist", you are a f*****g racist! And someone besides his mama needs to knock out Uncle L for signing off on this crap. Please believe that some dude wouldn't be singing about wearing a shirt with a big fat swastika on the front and some Jewish rapper would be telling him that it's cool and he is just misunderstood. (BTW, Uncle L, I do not wear a big gold chain)

Loved this quote from someone calling themself "Censure" who posted comments under the article I linked.

"It is essentially Mr. Smith saying "You don't judge me for my innocuous chains and doo-rag and I won't judge you for sporting a symbol created to represent the battle to keep my people enslaved, which continues to be sported by card carrying racists today." It is essentially creating an offense on the part of black people in order to whitewash history, condone, permit, and assuage the guilty feelings of people that obviously don't care enough about the feelings of blacks that they continue to sport that flag. LL sounds like a battered wife excusing her husband's abuse because, "We both have our faults. I should have made sure dinner was done by the time he got home."

Where are Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder when you need them?

Maybe we should just take a break from this racism discussion thing for awhile.

Congrats to the Louisville Cardinals for winning the NCAA basketball championship last night. It will be interesting to see where Coach Pitino puts that tattoo. I have some suggestions, but I am sure that coach would like to put that episode behind him.

But all is not good in the state of Kentucky. (Thank you Mother Jones) Apparently the senior senator from that state was caught on tape with some of his "operatives" smearing a potential opponent and making fun of her mental illness.

Now, as is to be expected, the slimy senator is crying foul and playing the race card no less. When confronted about his actions he quickly said that liberals made fun of his wife's ethnicity and demanded an FBI investigation into the alleged "wire tap" of his campaign office.

Welcome to the new way of crisis management in America: attack the person responsible for allowing the rest of us to see that you are doing wrong.

Rutgers University is hoping that this tactic works for them. Eric Murdock, the whistle blower who exposed their ignorant Bobby Knight wannabe of a coach, is now being investigated for extortion.

"A person familiar with the FBI's probe told The Associated Press on Sunday that investigators are interested in Eric Murdock, who left his job as the men's basketball program's player development director last year and later provided the video to university officials and ESPN.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the inquiry has not been announced. The investigation was first reported last week by ESPN and The New York Times."

"Negro, I know you didn't just think we were going to give you close to a million dollars and allow you to just walk off into the sunset looking like a hero."

Can you stop a weasel with a pitchfork?

I swear, every time I see that little weasel, Mitch McConnell, I want to take a pitch fork to his dome. (I am speaking metaphorically so save your damn e-mails.) I love you Claire McCaskill, let's raise our pitchforks together. These wingnuts can try to spin this tax brake for wealthy folks anyway they want to, it's still a tax break for folks who don't need it, and it will cost us money, damn it! I thought that they wanted to reduce the deficit.

And now, to add insult to injury, "the One" has decided to go ahead and cut a deal with the weasels of Washington. Wingnuts are crying a river, and they claim that raising taxes during tough times for any A-merry-can would be wrong. Bulls^%t! Not raising taxes for high end wage earners will cost us more than the extended unemployment benefits and the payroll tax cuts combined. His O ness wanted those things in his little deal with the devils. Not enough! -BTW, I am writing this as someone who would be hurt more than many of you reading this by these cuts, so I come to this debate from a position of moral rectitude.-

"Administration officials sought to cast the deal in a positive light, saying many of the new provisions would do more to accelerate the economic recovery than the tax cuts at high income levels.

But Congressional Democrats have expressed increasing anger that the payroll tax cut and the jobless aide, which Mr. Obama demanded in exchange for continuing the Bush-era tax rates for the highest-income Americans, were not enough in return for such a big concession.

The payroll tax cut would put about $120 billion back in the pockets of workers and the unemployment benefits would cost about $60 billion, officials said. Continuing the lowered tax rates for the highest-earners, by contrast, would cost the government $700 billion in lost revenue over the next 10 years, according to budget analysts.."

Do you hear that O? SEVEN HUNDRED BILLION. (With B) Remember that figure come 2012 when the little weasels in Washington are slamming you about the budget deficit.

Still, I am glad to hear that hard working folks who lost their jobs and now depend on their unemployment benefits might be spared. Folks like Felicia Robbins might still have a happy holiday. You know who won't have a happy holiday? Folks like yours truly who are sick and tired of seeing the weasels in Washington get over on hard working people.

I know what I want from Santa this Christmas: a nice pitchfork.