Happy King Day!

Liberals Get Their Groove On

“Jared Loughner gave liberals something they desperately needed: a political distraction, and as an added bonus, a platform from which to proclaim their superior values. They haven't had such a gift since Oklahoma City. Prizes like this are rare, and liberals will rub it out long after the coating's worn off, cheap tin exposed to toxic air.” – Dennis Perrin

I wrote a post about the shooting of Congresswoman Giffords in Tucson, Arizona. I later deleted it because I didn’t think I made any points that millions of other people hadn’t already.

Yes, Arizona is a hell hole at the center of right wing nut land. Yes, Gabrielle Giffords was targeted for defeat by Sarah Palin and other tea partiers who are just shy of a diagnosis of psychosis.

But our entire country is a hell hole. Obama lovers are as guilty as tea partiers of being blood thirsty. Our president says he can kill citizens and liberals and the courts say he is right. Because he is from the right side of the elite tracks he can kill indiscriminately and still get a nobel prize for peace. Meanwhile, babies in Fallujah, Iraq are being born with birth defects because of America’s chemical weapons and none of the snooty liberal class can manage to utter one word against this continuing terrorism.

The real story is that there is no story,  only a change in political fortune for Sarah Palin, who is pretty much toast as a presidential candidate. Obama is sitting pretty. His worshippers love him even more, and will do even less to oppose his terrible policies. We used to say that Ronald Reagan had teflon, but he had nothing on Barack Obama, who is now in the cat bird seat because of a schizophrenic college dropout in Tucson.

Concerned Coalition for Prisoners Rights Press Conf 2011-01-06

Prisoner Rights in Georgia

You wouldn't know it if you only read the corporate media, but Georgia prison inmates recently went on a work strike to protest lack of medical care, abuse, and slave labor.

The United States has more of its population behind bars than any other country on earth, and the worst punishments are meted out to black people. We have The New Jim Crow and it has been privatized. Prisoners are just another commodity, cogs in the system's wheel. New York State is no different. Women at the Bedford Hills prison work for the Department of Motor Vehicles and can make up to $1.14. Up to? That means some make even less.

Mass incarceration is one of the worst injustices taking place in this country. Please pay attention to this story and spread the word as much as possible.

I Am Not Middle Class

"They call it the American dream because you have to be asleep to believe it." - George Carlin

In today's Room for Debate in the New York Times, the topic of discussion was the middle class, or rather why so many Americans think that meaningless term applies to them. I readily admit that I don't know what "middle class" means. According to a Pew survey, nine people out of ten will describe themselves as middle class but no one has a solid definition.

I am a working person. I have a college degree and an income which outside of New York City, would give me some creature comforts. No matter. If I were unemployed I would be in big trouble financially.

I depend on employment. That makes me a worker. End of story. If more people called themselves workers, which they really are, they would be more politicized and less likely to be delusional about their status in this country.

So that explains it. Being middle class means never having to think about your situation. That would be too painful for the average American.

Ted Rall

Obama Stokes Nuclear Fears

According to the New York Times, Barack Obama wants us to duck and cover. The administration wants us to: A. Be afraid of a terrorist nuclear attack and B. Stay inside when it happens. I have only three words: what the f*ck.

What are they hiding? What are they planning? What do they want us to support? No one knows exactly what they are planning, but I can guarantee that we are supposed to be in the mood for more war or for an increased attack on what is left of our civil liberties.

If I lived in Tehran I would be very afraid.

A Day That Will Live in Infamy

December 7, 2010 certainly sucked. Julian Assange is in jail, a federal judge rules that the president has the power to assassinate us at will, and our pompous ass president calls other people sanctimonious when they dare to speak out against his latest act of treachery.

December 8th can't get here soon enough.

Obama is Middle-Man!

Chris Floyd: Truth in Chains

Chris Floyd: Truth in Chains

"Tell a truth that discomforts power, that challenges its domination over our lives, our discourse, our very thoughts, and you will be destroyed."

Julian Assange has been brought down. Chris Floyd explains.

Walmart Public Service Announcement

"If you need help, ask a Walmart manager for assistance."

The only terror threats come from the FBI using dumb dupes to concoct crimes. Gag me!

John Brown
May 9, 1800 – December 2, 1859

“Had I interfered in the manner which I admit, and which I admit has been fairly proved (for I admire the truthfulness and candor of the greater portion of the witnesses who have testified in this case)--had I so interfered in behalf of the rich, the powerful, the intelligent, the so-called great, or in behalf of any of their friends--either father, mother, brother, sister, wife, or children, or any of that class--and suffered and sacrificed what I have in this interference, it would have been all right; and every man in this court would have deemed it an act worthy of reward rather than punishment.

This court acknowledges, as I suppose, the validity of the law of God. I see a book kissed here which I suppose to be the Bible, or at least the New Testament. That teaches me that all things whatsoever I would that men should do to me, I should do even so to them. It teaches me, further, to "remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them." I endeavored to act up to that instruction. I say I am yet too young to understand that God is any respecter of persons. I believe that to have interfered as I have done--as I have always freely admitted I have done--in behalf of His despised poor was not wrong, but right. Now, if it is deemed necessary that I should forfeit my life for the furtherance of the ends of justice, and mingle my blood further with the blood of my children and with the blood of millions in this slave country whose rights are disregarded by wicked, cruel, and unjust enactments--I submit; so let it be done!”

In December 1860, South Carolina seceded from the United States of America, but in fact, the civil war began the previous year when John Brown attempted to apprehend weapons from the arsenal at Harpers Ferry.

Brown’s execution 151 years ago today is generally categorized as proof of his failure, but if anyone ever won by losing, it is John Brown. He didn’t succeed in physically freeing any slaves, but he sowed the seeds which caused the slave holding states to move towards leaving the union.
Neo-confederates are celebrating the beginning of the civil war, but they should not be the only group calling attention to these momentous events. Secession was the beginning of the end of slavery, which died when the confederacy was defeated militarily.

My next Black Agenda Report column will delve into this issue further, but black Americans should celebrate secession more than the sore loser white supremacists.

May John Brown rest in peace.

Quantitative Easing Explained

LOL!

Here I am on Doug Lain's Diet Soap Podcast. We discussed the foreclosure crisis and other things. Enjoy.

Dear America, Your Taxes Are Going Up 20%, Food and Gas Prices Will Skyr...

"Turn off your tv sets and look around. People are rebelling all over the world against this same group of people."

David DeGraw keeps it real. The shoe has not yet dropped. The federal reserve continues the transfer of our money to the banks. It doesn't really matter if the republicans or democrats win when both serve the world's financial elites. If we don't resist we are toast.

Dietsoap Podcast

I was a guest on Doug Lain’s Dietsoap Podcast. We talked about the mortgage crisis. Listen and enjoy.

Bloomberg to Obama, "You're fired."

Last year, New York City Comptroller William Thompson came very close to defeating billionaire mayor Mike Bloomberg. Thompson desperately needed an endorsement from Barack Obama. He never got one.

There was never any chance that Obama would dare to piss off the rich guy, but his deed has not gone unpunished. Obama’s reward for helping Bloomberg get re-elected is that he may face a Bloomberg run for the white house. Not only may Bloomberg run for president, but he is currently bad mouthing the current president who betrayed his own party in order to help him.

Because there is no honor among thieves, Bloomberg was ratted out by rich buddy Rupert Murdoch. According to big mouthed Murdoch, Bloomberg says that Obama is “the most arrogant man” he ever met.

Ah, the irony of it all. If Bloomberg takes Obama’s job I for one will crack up laughing. Why bother with presidents who have to curry favor with rich people when you can just get a rich person in the top job and cut out the middle man.

If Bloomberg becomes president it is clear that America is nothing but a banana republic plutocracy. I suppose it does make sense. Rich people get what they want when candidates parade before them and promise not to do anything to upset their apple carts. Why bother with the charade, let’s just have rich people in charge.

Obama is Suddenly Noticing Black People

Those are not my words, they come from Dr. Boyce Watkins. Watkins is pointing out a recent political phenomenon.

“The Obama camp has rarely used the words ‘black man’ or ‘black woman’ in public for the last year, yet they are suddenly hanging in the hood more than the barber and the local drug dealer.  They are holding forums to rally black voters for the mid-term elections and telling black folks to vote as if Obama were on the ballot.

All the while, the issue of massive black unemployment hasn’t even been a blip on the administration’s radar screen.  Black foreclosures and the wealth gap have been seen as a nuisance to politics as usual.  Mass incarceration of African American men hasn’t become anyone’s agenda item.  Why in the world should black folks feel inspired to go out and vote?”

Why indeed. The democrats are cruising for a bruising on Tuesday. Obama’s sudden interest in getting out the black vote is proof of his party’s desperation. Most polls show that democrats will lose the house and may maintain control of the senate but will lose seats.

It looks like majority leader Harry Reid will lose as well as veterans like Russ Feingold. (Feingold was the only senator to vote against the Patriot Act. I feel a little said about him.) Obama never passes up an opportunity to stab progressives in the back, and his press secretary even said we need to be drug tested.

Fair enough. I don’t go where I’m not wanted. I am voting for green party candidates on Tuesday. I am no longer worried about hurting the democrats. We have to have competition and coalitions with leftists if we want to change this country. The democratic party has proven itself to be untrustworthy. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me 100 times, then I’m a chump.

Liberals Just Don't Care

The democrats are surely headed for big losses in Tuesday's mid-term elections. Barack Obama certainly won't lose for lack of effort. He has gone from backyard barbecues to high school auditoriums and this week deigned to speak with progressive bloggers, most of whom let him off the hook. In Salon, Dan Gillmor ponders why none of them said anything about the Obama administration defending, in court, and expanding Bush era civil liberties violations.

I commented and I kept it short and sweet.

"Most liberals are nothing but a bunch of snobs. They don't like Sarah Palin because she is dumb, but their smarty pants constitutional law professor president has gone to court to uphold and even expand Bush era civil liberties abuses and they say nothing.

They aren't wimpy, they are just dishonest. They only care about their people being in power, they don't care about what they actually do."

Most Americans think it is great idea to give up their power to the state. They just want the people they like to do it. Liberals are no different in this regard. I don't know when this attachment to authoritarianism will end, but end it must.