"Of course, many Americans -- including most notably our leading politicians -- couldn't care less about truly honoring those whose guts have been ripped out, whose limbs have been bloodily and painfully mutilated, whose minds have been destroyed. For the state and its enablers, the war dead are props used to purify and sanctify the ongoing and future campaigns of slaughter, in an endless procession of slaughters throughout history."

Lance Cpl. Isaac Gallegos is still alive, but Arthur Silber's comments still hold true in his case. What does Bush say when he meets maimed vets like Gallegos? "Sorry about your face." No, he doesn't say that. He says he appreciates their service, God bless, America loves you, keep fighting terror, blah blah and blah.

The Bushies surely screen and make sure that anyone meeting Dubya loves him, especially wounded vets who are liable to ask hard questions.

When I see Gallegos and others like him, young men who will never look normal again, I wonder what they think about. It must be too hard to admit that you are a chump who now looks like a character in a zombie movie, all because you were used by people who would never allow their children to be put at such awful risk.

Please look at all of these photos and remember that there are Iraqis who have suffered even more. Thanks to Uncle Sam, their medical system has been destroyed. They don't get medical care and when they are wounded as badly as Gallegos they usually die or they live but look even worse.

Happy Veterans Day.

Wish I'd Said That

"There are some who claim that torture is a nonissue because it never works--it only produces false information. This is simply not true, as evidenced by the many decent members of the French Resistance who, under Nazi torture, disclosed the locations of their closest friends and relatives. " - Alan Dershowitz

And the trains ran on time too.

You Go Chavez!

Spain's King Juan Carlos had a royal hissy fit today in Santiago, Chile. During the closing session of the Ibero-American Summit, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez repeatedly called Spain's former Prime Minister, Jose Maria Aznar, a "fascist." In 2003 Aznar joined Tony Blair as Europe's top lap dogs, otherwise known as the coalition of the willing. Along with Bush they bear responsibility for the deaths of one million Iraqis. Thank goodness Chavez has not forgotten and is unafraid to bring a skunk to the party.

El Rey was having none of it. After Prime Minister Zapatero tried diplomatically to shut Chavez up, Juan Carlos blurted out, "Why don't you shut up!" Poor King. He isn't used to plain speaking, but Chavez was in the house. (You can see the video in Spanish here.)

Aznar not only helped kill Iraqis but he also posthumously honored Meliton Manzanas, who was one of Franco's chief enforcers. According to Amnesty International "Melitón Manzanas had been responsible for the torture of hundreds of Basques during the rule of General Franco." Looks like Chavez hit the nail on the head and caused the royal nose to come out of joint.

You go Hugo!

Love, Lust and Lies

"All the documentation I mentioned above was available to Baisden and the show's producers. They had the paper trail and other family members tried to talk to them and dispute the claims. They knew Jena-Gate was a lie when they let Jones on the air this week. But they simply didn't care. " Andre Banks, Write What I Like

"[Baisden] declined to specify how much was collected or how the money was distributed."
Chicago Tribune

Love, Lust and Lies is the name of Michael Baisden's God-awful syndicated radio show. Every day Baisden makes idiotic remarks about male/female relationships and entices otherwise innocent but attention seeking people to call in and expose their own stupidity. I have only listened to Baisden when I have been forced to do so, that is to say when I have been a captive audience of one of his fans.

The rightness of my reaction was confirmed this week when Marcus Jones, father of Jena 6 defendant Mychal Bell, attacked Color of Change on Baisden's show. Color of Change was one of the first organizations, on the net or off, to bring world wide attention to the Jena 6 case. Color of Change has an authorization signed by all six families, Jones included, to raise funds for attorney fees. Color of Change has also produced the invoices and cancelled checks to prove that their efforts are on the up and up. They have raised $212,000 and disbursed $210,000 to the lawyers, all with the permission of Jones and the other families.

Mychal Bell is still behind bars because of a drug related arrest made prior to the Jena 6 arrest. I point that out to instill some sense of compassion for his father, who may be the user or the usee in this mess, the degree of blame that should be directed at him is unclear.

Color of Change provided Baisden with the relevant documentation before his broadcast, so he isn't being honest when he now claims that Marcus Jones is responsible for the lies told on his show. Yes, Baisden immediately threw Jones under the bus when Color of Change proved the charges to be false. There is no honor among the dishonorable.

It is difficult to know where to begin with this mini scandal. Initially Baisden claimed that all six families signed a letter asking Color of Change to stop raising money. When two of those families denied having signed such a letter, Baisden then claimed it was signed by four of the six. To make matters even more interesting, some of the signatories say the letter they signed didn't even mention Color of Change. Baisden has declined to produce said letter. Why am I not surprised?

Baisden wrote a lame letter of quasi apology but has not given a full explanation on the air, the only apology that would count for anything. He should also give Color of Change an opportunity to speak on his show and address his charges.

That won't happen. Baisden is nothing but a snake in the grass. He has announced plans to raise $1 million of his own. I hope he does so, and I hope that the money pays for legal fees and for some compensation to the families for their ordeal. I also hope that he leaves a paper trail, like Color of Change. I'm not inclined to hold my breath.

Thanks

Alternet and Dissident Voice have once again posted my Black Agenda Report column on the gangster Rudy Giuliani. Thanks to them for the support.

Giuliani's former police commissioner, Bernard Kerik, was indicted yesterday. Indicted for what you may be wondering. Nothing much, just two counts of bribery, tax fraud and making false statements. By the way, Giuliani appointed Kerik police commissioner after being informed that Kerik had taken cash from a mob connected construction company. Nice.

Did you know that Kerik was also deported from Saudi Arabia? Did you know that he harassed employees of the New York City Department of Corrections who crossed his then girlfriend, or who wouldn't work for the Giuliani campaign?

So much scandal so little time, unless you are the national corporate media. Members of that august group ought to make the Giuliani/Kerik connection a continuing front page article throughout the campaign season. Oh sorry. I forgot. Only John Edwards hair is worthy of national press attention.

Project Censored 2008

Did you know that Mahmoud Ahmadinajad never said he wanted to "Wipe Israel off the map"? Did you know that Phillipino workers who built the U.S. embassy in Baghdad were the victims of human trafficking? Did you know that U.N. forces massacred Haitians? Did you know that American citizens have no habeas corpus rights or that Bush has slowly built a mechnism to impose martial law?

Well you can learn all this and more by doing a quick perusal of Project Censored 2008. Project Censored will tell you what no one else will, namely that we don't have a free press in this country and that ultimately we don't have a very free country at all.

Eric Clapton and Racism

"Vote for Enoch Powell. Enoch's our man. I think Enoch's right, I think we should send them all back. Stop Britain from becoming a black colony. Get the foreigners out. Get the wogs out. Get the coons out. Keep Britain white. I used to be into dope, now I'm into racism. It's much heavier, man. Fucking wogs, man. Fucking Saudis taking over London. Bastard wogs. Vote for Enoch, he's our man, he's on our side, he'll look after us. I want all of you here to vote for Enoch, support him, he's on our side. Enoch for Prime Minister! Throw the wogs out! Keep Britain white!" - Eric Clapton in 1976

Legendary rock guitarist Eric Clapton has always acknowledged his indebtedness to black musicians. His biggest hit single was a cover of Bob Marley's "I Shot the Sheriff." Black blues guitarists were his main sources of inspiration.

It came as a shock in 1976 when Clapton gave an on stage shout out to avowedly racist British politician Enoch Powell. At first Clapton claimed to be drunk when he made the comments. Since that time he has called Powell "outrageously brave... he spoke from the heart."

Now that Clapton has published an autobiography, his support for keeping Britain white should not be forgotten. Salon seems to have forgotten. In a review of the book they don't bring up the issue at all. Shame on them.

Obama and McClurkin

"His choice of the raving anti-gay (but himself formerly closeted) gospel singer and pastor Donnie McClurkin to headline a campaign fundraising tour reveals Obama as a not just a panderer, but inept as well. The fact that McClurkin was a Bush supporter just three years ago makes Obama appear to be totally unprincipled."

As always, Black Agenda Report has the definitive analysis.

"God delivered me from homosexuality" - Donnie McClurkin

Yeah, whatever. I will have more to say about the Obama/McClurkin fiasco in Black Agenda Report this Wednesday. In the meantime, check out this October 25, 2007 interview with one of McClurkin's male lovers.

"Q. How long were you guys being sexual?

A. Off and on for three years, 2001 to 2004.

Q. During this time to 2001 to 2004 is really the height of his anti-gay rants. The book came out, he made comments, he told the New York Times in 2002 he’s counseling adolescent boys to convert them from homosexuality. Would you hear about these rants?"

Oy vey! So when McClurkin was on the 700 Club claiming that gay people were "killing America's children" he was still having sex with men. Puhleeze! The late Steve Gilliard hit the nail squarely on the head.

"I mean, this guy is lying about where his dick is going and people tolerate this crap. He's a reformed bisexual my ass. Well, I don't think I'd let him get near my ass, honestly. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I'm an active heterosexual and I really don't have to struggle with that. Any time you have to struggle, you still wanna do it."

Amen.

Wish I'd Said That

"Pelosi, Harry Reid and the rest of what passes for Congressional leadership have perfected their criminal enterprise. Every act of treachery is followed by lame excuses for inaction. The truly spineless ones, progressives wallowing in denial, foolishly whine, asking each other what is wrong when the answer stares them in the face. The Democratic party is complicit in killing democracy. "

Oh wait, I did say that in today's issue of Black Agenda Report. Nancy Pelosi is public enemy number one. I don't want to hear any more moaning, groaning or whining about why Democrats don't grow a spine. They don't want one. They don't believe in democracy for anyone outside of the ruling elite group. Period. End of story. It is time for progressives to grow thier own spine and start telling the truth, ugly though it is.

I have to thank Arthur Silber for being such an inspiration to me. His latest essay, A Nation on the Edge of the Final Descent (II) is simply superb and deserves to be read thoroughly.

"For this is where we are in the United States, nearing the end of the Year of Our Lord 2007: the truth is not merely unpleasant, an uninvited guest who makes conversation difficult and awkward. Truth is the enemy; truth is to be destroyed. To attempt to speak the truth on any subject of importance requires a deep reserve of determination, for to speak the truth requires that one first sweep away an infinite number of rationalizations, false alternatives, and numerous other failures of logic and the most rudimentary forms of thought -- as well as the endless lies. On that single occasion in a thousand or a million when a person overcomes these barriers and speaks the truth, he or she discovers an additional, terrible truth: almost no one wants to hear it. This is how we live today: lies are the staple of our diet. Without them, we would die, certainly in psychological terms."

Keep telling the truth Arthur. I hope to follow in your foot steps.

Worst Corruption Ever

Who is Joseph Nacchio? He was CEO of Qwest communications, convicted earlier this year of 23 counts of insider trading. He is free while he appeals his conviction, and thank goodness. Nacchio claims that the National Security Agency asked Qwest to violate regulations on warrantless surveillance in February 2001, seven months before September 11th.

Nacchio was advised that the request was illegal and he refused to go along with the Bushite scheme. His good deed did not go unpunished. Qwest was immediately cut out of government contracts and Nacchio was successfully prosecuted by the federal government.

"Nacchio discovered that the NSA was engaged in a project to gather warrantless surveillance data on millions of Americans. He took advice of counsel. His lawyers told him, correctly, that this was illegal. They probably also warned him that if Qwest participated in the program, it would be committing a felony. So Nacchio said, no, sorry, I can’t work with you on this. But I can help if you want to change the law. And the reaction of the NSA? It was, apparently, to cut Qwest out of a series of contract awards by way of retaliation. (If that charge sticks, it would probably be yet another felony.) And the second reaction? To try to build a criminal case against Nacchio as a means of retaliation against him. (And if that charge sticks, it would probably be yet a third felony–on the part of the Government officials who did it). We are seeing the Government engaging in a sweeping pattern of criminal dealings, and ultimately, one of the biggest crimes of all, abusing the criminal justice process to strike out at an individual who refused to play their crooked game."

No wonder Rove and Gonzales resigned. They may be going to jail themselves. Oh wait, that would mean the Democrats were actually willing to send them to jail. Sorry. I forgot how things really work. Back to reality.

The first effort to allow warrantless spying on Americans began in 2000, when Bill Clinton was still president. Will the second president Clinton investigate that ought-to-be-scandal? Take a wild guess.

Now the telecoms (ATT, Verizon) are using their cash to buy off Congress and get immunity from their law breaking. Democrats like Sen. Jay Rockefeller have already expressed a willingness to throw democracy under the bus. Because citizens have successfully used the courts to bring some of the dirt to light, the telecoms are scared and must now turn to bribery.

The hat tip goes to Chris Floyd of the Empire Burlesque blog for once again exposing the bipartisan corruption in Washington.

Cosby Under the Influence

"I think, I think just looking, I’ve, I’ve—if, if they’re putting out and it’s public. But I also think that the, the white male and the black male putting—the black male putting this on record, and then, of course, you have white rappers. You have to look at what they share—my belief—what do these two men or boys share, the white boy and the black boy, 70 percent of whatever? And not all black males agree with the rap music. " - Bill Cosby

Can Bill Cosby just shut up? Better yet, can he go to Hazelden or Betty Ford and leave the rest of us alone? Like the bad penny that keeps showing up, Cosby won't go away, keeps drinking, getting high, or popping too many paxils and percocets. Now he is writing books too.

Today he and Dr. Alvin Poussaint appeared on Meet the Press to promote their new book, “Come On, People: On the Path from Victims to Victors.” Poussaint is a psychiatrist, and ought to know when someone is under the influence. He needs to do an intervention and then get his friend of the next plane to rehab.

Many years ago I stopped watching Bill Cosby interviews because he never answered the questions put to him. He said whatever he wanted and often made little sense. At the time I chalked it up indulged celebrity assholiness. In 2004 he began his hateful tirades against black people and wore dark glasses even when indoors. That is a sure sign of being high and or drunk. Enough already. Go away and get help.

Hat tip to Digby.

Tutu's Speech

Here is a transcript of Tutu's 2002 speech that put pro-Israeli pants in a collective twist. The University of St. Thomas cited it as the reason for giving Tutu the bum's rush. They claim that he "compared the state of Israel to Hitler." I don't think he said that at all. Judge for yourself.

Thanks to Alternet for the text and Jewish Voice for Peace for the context.

Desmond Tutu Labeled Anti-Semite, Banned from Speaking

Archbishop Desmond Tutu is a Nobel Peace Prize laureate. He is respected by people all over the world, but not in St. Paul, Minnesota. Tutu was invited to speak by the University of St. Thomas' Justice and Peace Studies program. When the local Jewish Community Relations Council objected, he was disinvited.

Tutu has quite rightly equated Israel's occupation of Palestine with South African apartheid. Now he is being punished. The Zionist Organization of America has pressured colleges to make Tutu persona non grata on their campuses.

Please write to the university president, Fr. Dennis Dease, DJDEASE@stthomas.edu and the Executive Director of the local JCRC, Steve Hunegs, Steve@MinnDakJCRC.org and tell them how you feel about censorship of critics of Israel.

Hat tip to Norman Finkelstein for this news.

Wish I'd Said That

"As a Jew who experienced real anti-Semitism as a child, I'm deeply disturbed that a man like Tutu could be labeled anti-Semitic and silenced like this. I deeply resent the Israeli lobby trying to silence any criticism of its policy. It does a great disservice to Israel and to all Jews."
Marv Davidov, University of St. Thomas (Minnesota)

Rev. Lennox Yearwood Returns to Capitol Hill

"Congresswoman Maxine Waters showed up at 1:30 and saw me standing there. She demanded that I be let into the hearing. Cops were swarming the door, and the honorable Congresswoman from California escorted me into the hearing. Once I got in, three cops stood near me, so I would not forget that I was in their territory. "

Charges against Lennox Yearwood were dropped, thank God. Unbowed, he returned to attend hearings on the Blackwater mercenaries and once again he was refused admission, that is until Congresswoman Maxine Waters demanded that he be allowed into the public hearing.

Does anyone in Congress supervise the Capitol Hill police? Will the Congressional Black Caucus make a statement? Apparently the answers are no and no.

News:Palmdale California Security Guard Breaks A Girls Wrist

Pleajhai Mervin

"Hold still nappy head."

Pleajhai Mervin is a 16 year old from Palmdale, California. A security guard broke her wrist in an effort to subdue the dangerous cake criminal. He also felt compelled to say, "Hold still nappy head," when assaulting the young girl. It is all on video. But wait, there is more. A student who video taped the incident was arrested along with Mervin and his sister. Now Palmdale is safe from teenagers who drop cake, and tape police brutality.

Mervin's mother, Latricia Majors, was arrested and spent the night in jail when she demanded the guard be arrested. She was also suspended without pay from her job with the school district. The guard was suspended with pay.



he dropped a piece of birthday cake in the school cafeteria and ended

Sign Petition Against Attack on Iran

"Any preemptive U.S. attack on Iran would be illegal. Any preemptive U.S. attack on Iran would be criminal."

Go to After Downing Street to sign the petition. Follow the instructions. If you don't register and log in your "signature" won't register.

Remember Jena

If the images moved you as much as they did me, you can watch them here.

Comments For This Post Are Now Closed

"High Holidays Over, Clinton and Obama Woo Big Jewish Donors." So reads the posting of a Chicago Sun-Times story on Huffington Post.

Too bad if you want to post a comment, comments are now closed. Too bad if you want to read comments already made, those are nowhere to be found.

I don't recall this ever happening on Huffpo. What gives? Did the system crash? I suspect that the comments were very critical of the blatant sucking up to Jews because of Israel. The comments were so critical that they were removed. Then again, why would they be removed? Did someone complain and if so who would that be? Clinton, Obama, the usual ADL/AIPAC suspects?

Of course, these are just my guesses. I asked Huffpo to explain but somehow I don't think I will ever get an answer.

Wish I'd Said That

"New York is the ATM for American politicians. Large amounts of money come from the Jewish community. If you're running for president and you want dollars from that group, you need to show that you're interested in the issue that matters most to them."
Hank Scheinkopf, political consultant


"There are a lot o f guys at the working level up here [Capitol Hill] who happen to be Jewish, who are willing to make a little bit of extra effort and to look at certain issues in terms o f their Jewishness, and this is what made things go in the last couple of years. These are all guys who are in a position to make the decisions in these areas for those senators. You don't need that many to get something done in the Senate. All you need is a certain commitment to get something done and, if guys are willing to put time into that instead of a million other things they have to do, if they're willing to make a couple of calls, if they're willing to become involved, you can get an awful lot done just at the staff level...The senators have a million things to do and they'll take the recommendations [of their aides] most times."
Morris Amitai, former AIPAC Executive Director

Obama Does Act Like He's White

Someone should have told Barack Obama that it is better to be thought a wimpy accomodationist than to open your mouth and prove it. When asked two weeks ago about the Jena Six case, Obama could only say that the young people ". . . appear to have been railroaded into a very difficult situation." That was all Mr. Audacious had to say on the matter.

His mealy mouthed response is apparently what got Jesse Jackson's goat. Now that a supporter quite rightly called him out and a mass movement spawned by the case has reached its zenith, the great audacious one proved that he is anything but. "Outrage over an injustice like the Jena 6 isn't a matter of black and white,"

Earth to Obama. It is all about black and white and black people are expressing more outrage than white people are. If Obama can't stand up for black people when we most need to be supported, he is worthless to us.

Go get him Jesse and while you are at it, rethink your endorsement.

Obama "Acting White"

I read about Jesse Jackson's comments on the Crooks and Liars website. This was my response.

"Once again, the white liberal fans of C&L show their true colors. Pun intended. 'Let’s just stop talking about race already.' Difficult to do if you live in Jena. Difficult to do if you are black anywhere in this country.

It is unfortunate that there is no video or audio of Jackson’s statement. I would like to be able to comment on his remarks with greater authority. Also, it would be a mistake to discuss this issue by focusing on a poor choice of words.

He is correct that Jena is a defining moment, and all of the Democratic candidates should have spoken out about what is nothing more than old time lynch law, segregationist justice.
Obama should be taken to task. He showed his hand in his lame convention speech. “There is no black America.” There certainly is in Jena. He has not been acting white, but he has been doing everything to please white people. He wants to keep troops in Iraq, he supports military action against Iran, which would be a war crime. He seriously wants to be president, and that is bad news for black people and anyone else who believes in peace and justice. You can’t raise $30 million from the check bundlers if you don’t dance to their tune of empire and corporate control.

Should black people support Obama? I argue that we shouldn’t want a black president at all. Obama can’t win the nomination unless he tells white people that he will not talk about race. The end result of that gambit means more Jenas, literally and figurately, for black people. Sorry, this black person is not an Obama fan.

As for Jackson, he knew what he was getting when he endorsed Obama. Maybe he should rethink his choice. Kucinich’s platform is more in line with Jacksons anyway. Time for a switch Jesse.

Why Bush Can Attack Iran

Read and cry.

"Suck on this"

"We hit Iraq because we could." So says pulitzer prize winner Tom Friedman. This prison rape fantasy, there is nothing else to call it, was spewed back in 2003. Watch the video from 2:52 until about 5:40. It will make your blood turn cold and then boil.

The billionaire bull shit artist gets hot at the thought of G.I.s going house to house and terrorizing Iraqis. His sick fantasy came true. He must be very happy now.

Democracy is Dead, Let the Movement Begin

As the Yearwood incident shows, democracy is dead. It is time for activists to acknowledge that fact and move on without the Democratic party.

It is time for serious movement building, which is what my current Black Agenda Report column is all about. Stay tuned for my movement to do list next week.

Rev. Lennox Yearwood Assaulted by Capitol Police

Rev. Lennox Yearwood was assaulted by capitol police officers when he tried to exercise his rights as a citizen. He wanted to see Gen. Petraeus testify. The hearing was open to the public and his presence should not have been a problem, but he has a black face and he was wearing a button in support of the Iraqi people. Video of the assault can be seen here, and an interview with Yearwood here.

Yearwood's leg was broken in the assault and he has been charged with assault himself. It is clear that he did not harm or attempt to harm anyone.

Anti-War Movement Frustrated

No s_ _ t. Of course the anti-war movement is stymied and frustrated. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

As my new idol Chris Floyd says, it is time to face facts. Democracy is dead and the Democratic party helped kill it. Bush is in better shape now than he was last year. Reid and Pelosi wake up every day and decide how they are going to assume the position. It doesn't matter that Rove, Gonzales and Libby are gone. They are always replaced and Bush and Cheney remain in place. Yes, impeachment remains off the table.

I feel badly for Michael Lerner and others. They think the Democrats will change, but it is time they woke up and smelled the coffee. In tomorrow's Black Agenda Report, I will begin writing about the formation of a new movement. A mass movement and the civil disobedience that must go with it are our last hope.

Give it up Lerner. They are just not into you.

Fake Bin Laden Video

No copy of the video had appeared on Islamic Web sites as of yesterday, as has been the norm for past al-Qaeda videos. A spokesman for SITE declined to comment on how it obtained the most recent video. - Winter Patriot

Maybe he did get a nose job and dye his hair, moustache and beard. Or maybe it is all a fake. It is strange that a right wing group, SITE, got this video before anyone else.

They are only cited on National Review Online, or Fox News, and one of the partners has been hand picked by Bush to man lots of posts on Homeland Security and other Bush organizations.

Hat tip to Chris Floyd at Empire Burlesque.

The Columbus Dispatch and Dr. Goebbels

It is the end of the week and I'm a little tired/lazy. So for the second time today, my post consists of a letter I already wrote to someone else.

An attack on Iran is imminent. Bush gave a speech worthy of Hitler wherein he claimed that Iran will cause a "nuclear holocaust" in the Middle East. Never mind the fact that Iran doesn't have the bomb and won't have the capability of producing one for at least five years. Of course, the only country in that region with a nuclear capability is Israel. If there is a nuclear holocaust they and their American partner in crime will be to blame.

The Columbus Dispatch recently published a cartoon showing Iranians as cockroaches. Paging Dr. Goebbels. Note the response to another reader. Here is my response to the call for genocide. (Hat tip to CAIR.)

I was stunned to see your newspaper compare human beings to vermin. Dr. Goebbels did that. Do you want to be in the same company? Your response to a concerned reader is as disgraceful as the cartoon.

"But since the drain cover depicted in the cartoon is clearly labeled with "Iran" and "extremism" it is clear that the cartoon refers only to those elements of the Iranian regime who support extremism. In other words, it doesn’t come close to labeling all Iranians as cockroaches."

When I exterminate roaches I don't discriminate. My goal is to take them all out. Clearly you think that Iranian human beings deserve the same treatment, whether "extremist" or not.

For shame.

Please write to the Columbus Dispatch and cc CAIR. The incitement to murder must not go unanswered.

Walt, Mearsheimer and Amazon

Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer are professors at Harvard and the University of Chicago respectively. Last year they wrote a ground breaking essay, "The Israeli Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy." It was well past time that someone took on that elephant in the living room.

In my opinion, Walt and Mearsheimer are a little too kind. They don't go far enough in dissecting the harm done by the Israeli government and its American minions. I believe that Israel and its lobby are grave threats to the American people. They have made us complicit in the commission of many human rights abuses, from the killing of Lebanese citizens, to the use of children as human shields in the occupied territories. Israel has successfully placed a bulls eye on all of our backs. If bin Laden hates us, it isn't because of our "way of life." It is because of Israel.

Walt and Mearsheimer were called anti-Semites and everything else except children of God. Their credentials didn't shield them completely from criticism but it is difficult for any honest person to dismiss them out of hand. Of course, honesty and U.S. relations with Israel are oxymorons.

The two have written a book that was published just this week. Yesterday I checked out Amazon.com with every intention of buying it. I was floored when I saw that Amazon is recommending it ("Buy Both and Save") alongside The Dealiest Lies by Abraham Foxman. Deadliest Lies was written for the sole purpose of debunking Walt and Mearsheimer. I wanted to complain to Amazon, but that is nearly impossible because they don't tell you how to contact them. I wrote Walt and Mearsheimer instead. Here is my letter.

Gentlemen,

I order books and CDs from Amazon. I do so in part because Amazon always informs me about books with subject matter similar to the one I am ordering, books I may not know about.

Yesterday I went to the Amazon site to order your new book. To my dismay, I was also offered an opportunity to order The Deadliest Lies, Abraham Foxman’s new book. Neither I nor anyone else interested in your book wants to read Foxman’s. There are numerous books for people with similar interests that could have been linked to yours.

Once again you two have been proven correct. There is an Israeli lobby and it doesn’t allow dissent. Even a powerful corporation like Amazon is terrified of selling your book along with others that address the same issue. They feel compelled to link your book with one written for the sole purpose of debunking it. I’m sure this is a first for Amazon. They have insulted you and your readers.

I don’t know if this situation has come to your attention, but I hope you can persuade Amazon to de-link you from Foxman. Amazon purposefully makes it difficult for customers to reach them. I thought you might have access where I do not.

Thank you for writing your book. You have done the world a great service by doing so. I will buy it, but not from Amazon.

Barnes and Noble will get my money this time around.

Impeach Bush

Salon.com has a great article which proves what many people already surmised. Bush knew that Saddam Hussein had no weapons of mass destruction.

It isn't really news, nor does it let Hillary Clinton and John Kerry off the hook. If I figured out that Bush and Cheney were lying, they did too. They made a political calculation that being pro-war would get them campaign cash and a presidential nomination. The pro-Israel check bundlers would have looked askance at an anti-war position.

Poor stupid Kerry. He was hoisted on his own pitard and then didn't know how to get down. As I said many times in 2004, he needed only to be doubly cynical to get into the White House. He just should have said that he depended on the president and gave him the benefit of the doubt. Silly me, thinking that the Democrats have any political sense.

Well that is all in the past. The biggest question is this, what does Bush have to do to get impeached? There is already plenty of evidence but the Democrats have declared impeachment "off the table. They are accessories to all of Bush's crimes. Nothing will come of this information and an attack on Iran will begin World War III. Maybe the fundies are right after all. We are living in the end times.

Dennis Kucinich Disappears

August 30th is International Day of the Disappeared. It is a day to remember those who have fallen victim to the worst human rights abuse of all. Thousands of people around the world have had their lives snuffed out by political violence. They haven't been imprisoned and they haven't died on a battle field. They are simply gone and are almost always gone forever.

In America we have political disappearances. Just ask Dennis Kucinich. The Democratic Congressman and presidential candidate is alive and well, but you wouldn't know that he is alive or that he is running for president if you depend on the corporate media for information. I dissect it all in this week's edition of Black Agenda Report.

Vacation Ends

I took a couple of trips in August and came home relaxed and refreshed. Of course I also returned to reading the news, and so my light hearted feeling came to end along with my vacation.

The Bush administration is about to start World War III by attacking Iran and no one with the power to stop him is willing to lift a finger. The president raves about a "nuclear holocaust" caused by Iran, when it is Iran's sworn enemy, Israel, that is the only nuclear power in the Middle East.

The House and Senate pass anti-Iran resolutions, letting us know that they will be silent when the bombs begin to fall. Press reports indicate that 1,200 bombing sites have already been chosen, which means that thousands of Iranian human beings will die.

While we watch and wait for the destruction to begin, we should at least listen to those brilliant, prescient voices that explain so much to us. One of my new favorite bloggers is Arthur Silber. Silber has been trying to warn us both about the Bush decision to start another war, about Democratic party complicity and the liberal naivete/stupidity that will make more killing inevitable.

Thanks to Arthur Silber, I now know about Chris Floyd, who explains it all so well.

It is, by any measure, a remarkable achievement, one of the greatest political feats ever. Despite Bush's standing as one of the most despised presidents in American history, despite a Congress in control of the opposition party, despite a solid majority opposed to his policies and his war, despite an Administration riddled with scandal and crime, despite the glaring rot in the nation's infrastructure and the callous abandonment of one of the nation's major cities to natural disaster and crony greed -- despite all of this, and much more that would have brought down or mortally wounded any government in a democratic country, the Bush Administration is now in a far stronger position than it was a year ago.

It does't make me happy to say it, but Floyd has hit the nail squarely on the head. As we slide towards destruction, we should at least know why this has happened. I will be making more recommendations in the days to come.

Vacation Time

No more posting until the end of the month. Of course, if Bush started a new war I would shake myself from my self-imposed stupor and put fingers to the key board.

Hot Ghetto Mess and White Celebrities

"The black kid was driving." - Lindsay Lohan

Ah yes, the black kid is always the guilty one. Lindsay Lohan's club hopping friend is lucky to be living at this particular moment in history. There was a time when a convenient lie told by a white woman resulted in the death of a black man.

Lohan is a druggie but she is better than Phil Spector. He is a killer. In my Black Agenda Report column I ask why the murdering Spector gets less press attention and vitriol than accused dog fighter Michael Vick. The question is rhetorical because the answer is obvious.

Bush Dictatorship

“Maybe the people who think there’s a conspiracy out there are right.” - Rep. Pete DeFazio

I recently wrote about Bush's new National Continuity Policy in my Black Agenda Report column. The new policy essentially lets the president use any event, incident, epidemic or natural disaster as an excuse for taking over all three branches of government.

The national corporate media paid no attention to this new policy and the Democratic presidential candidates did not utter a peep. Thankfully some members of Congress were concerned, but it doesn't help much if they are denied access to classified documents.

Pete DeFazio is a member of the House Homeland Security committee and he has the security clearance that goes along with that membership. No matter. The White House denied him access to the materials.

Yes, we conspiracy theorists are right. In fact we shouldn't call ourselves theorists anymore. Bush has given us too much ammunition and it is past time for impeachment. Too bad for us. The Democratic party is determined to do just the opposite of what we want.

Nazis Attack Iran

That is the title of my column in the current issue of Black Agenda Report. By a vote of 97 - 0 the U.S. Senate has joined the House in calling for the extermination of the Iranian people.

Of course no one ever says those words, but make no mistake about it. Mass murder of the Iranian people is the number one agenda item of the United States and Israeli governments. Americans are about to be turned into war criminals because of the power of the Israeli lobby and the blood thirstiness of the neo-cons.

The silence surrounding the impending holocaust is shameful. Most liberal bloggers won't touch the issue and the media is silent. Arthur Silber puts it beautifully.

The conclusion is stark and infinitely bleak: an attack on Iran would wipe every other issue and concern out of existence for the foreseeable future, probably for years to come if not much longer. Forget debates about global warming; nuclear clouds might be spreading across the globe. Never mind reforming our health care system; millions of people around the world, and possibly here at home, will be worried about survival of the most primitive kind. Nothing else will matter in the least.

The deck has been stacked, the lies are big enough and told often enough to be believed. The U.S. is about to bring about armageddon. Please speak out before it happens.

Photos: Marie DeBanville, Bruno Garcin-Gasser

Marianne Pearl is Black

The American media machine cannot digest Black life, and can only package its semblance of real life in white-face. Apparently, white people cannot stare "Others" in the face, and must tell stories that have their own made-up existence featured. - Black Agenda Report

How hard is it to understand? The woman in the photo and her mother are obviously people of African ancestry, yet Hollywood is having none of it. Marianne Pearl has been white washed, with her full permission. I for one don't care that she doesn't have the confidence or the consciousness to speak up for African people. She doesn't have the right to tell the rest of us that yet another removal from the pages of history is in any way permissible.

It is truly shameful that so many white people cannot bear to see a picture that doesn't have themselves at the center. Even the left succumb to the assumption that only whiteness is normative. David Corn dismisses the casting complaint out of hand.

The recent blog-driven fuss kicked up by the movie A Mighty Heart -- whether casting pale-skinned Angelina Jolie as darker-skinned Afro-Cuban-Dutch Mariane Pearl, the wife of murdered journalist Danny Pearl, was an act of racist dimensions -- seems irrelevant when you consider an important piece of evidence: the movie itself.

The casting outrage is irrelevant? It certainly isn't to the people who are told to keep quiet when their very likeness is erased. In this case Pearl's nationality is the excuse for putting Angelina Jolie in blackface. Sorry, race is the issue, not being Cuban and Dutch and born in France. Pearl should not be portrayed by a white person for the simple reason that she is not white. How hard is that to understand?

Happy Juneteenth

"The people of Texas are informed that in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and free laborer."
Major General Gordon Granger, June 19, 1865, Galveston, TX

If you benefitted from the free labor of enslaved people, and you found out they were free, would you say something or would you keep them in chains? Well, slave owners in Texas and other states said nothing. Surprising? Hell no!

In June of 1865, 4 years after the Emancipation Proclamation, and 2 months after the confederacy was defeated, enslaved Texans found out they were no longer enslaved. It is a date well worth celebrating.

Happy Juneteenth!

Mitt Romney and the Jerusalem Post

First the good news. The Jerusalem Post won't do anymore political ads for Rudy. The bad news is that Giuliani isn't alone. Mitt Romney got the same treatment from the right wing Israeli paper. Read here and scroll down to the comments section.

In their respective fund raising screeds Giuliani took Democrats to task for being insufficiently easy on terrorists. Romney said we don't need the U.N.

The silence continues. There have been no mentions of this ought to be scandal in the press and there has been silence from Democrats. Is there an Israeli lobby? They certainly think so. My guess is that they are right.

Jerusalem Post Raises Money For Rudy Giuliani

You read that correctly. The right wing Jerusalem Post is sending out a fund raising email on behalf of Giuliani.

Hmmm. A foreign newspaper raises money on behalf of an American presidential candidate? Where is the outrage? Of course, none will be expressed. The Norman Finkelstein lesson has been learned. The tenure denial was akin to cutting off his head and sticking it on a pole.

Why is this email a big deal? Well, for starters, foreigners are not supposed to make contributions to American political campaigns. The fund raising letter doesn't bother to raise that point. Also, corporations are not supposed to make contributions to American political campaigns, even in kind donations like sending an email. The Democrats won't complain because they all feed from the same AIPAC trough. You will be able to hear a pin drop.

On the other hand, what does the Jerusalem post have to fear? Israeli "art students" end up at the FBI and DEA, Israeli "movers" celebrate as they take photographs of the burning twin towers and Congress said and did nothing.

So I take it all back. The Jerusalem Post should do whatever the hell it wants. They can get away with anything.

Sorry. I forgot myself.

Norman Finkelstein Denied Tenure

The fix was in long ago but still I hoped. I meditated good positive vibrations and sent them in the direction of Chicago. It didn't matter. Alan Dershowitz put critics of Israel and its lobby on notice. You will never work in any town again.

Norman Finkelstein is, for now, an assistant professor in the political science department at DePaul University. He is the author of one of my favorite books, The Holocaust Industry. As anyone can tell from the title, his insistence on honest scholarship made many enemies. Dershowitz was just the most persistent. He threatened to label DePaul anti-Semitic. He threatened to label all Catholics anti-Semitic. He won.

Academic freedom was the big loser. Actually, if the ADL and Dershowitz are happy, then the entire nation loses.

DePaul president Dennis Holtschneider ought to be ashamed of himself. It would be interesting to know how many faculty are personally denied tenure by the president after the members of their department gave the green light. I will go out on a limb and say the Finkelstein case is unique in that regard.

God bless Finkelstein. If you want to send your regards email him at normangf at hotmail.com.

Update

Finkelstein was interviewed on Chicago Public Radio today. Listen up.

Congressional Black Caucus and Fox News

I was happy to sign a letter to Democratic presidential candidates (Clinton, Obama, Edwards) who chose not to participate in a Fox News sponsored debate. It is a long, sad story, but some members of the Congressional Black Caucus are in favor of holding a presidential debate with Fox. Incredible, isn't it?

Color of Change has admirably led the charge on this issue. Here is the letter.

Dear Candidate,

Your decision last month not to attend the debate sponsored by Fox News and the Congressional Black Caucus institute demonstrated truly principled leadership.

Now, a group of CBC members, led by Congressman Bennie Thompson (D-MS) and Congresswoman Carolyn Kilpatrick (D-MI), is asking you to reverse that decision. But the truth about Fox and its partnership with the CBC institute has not changed. A Fox-CBCI partnership will use the brand of the CBC—perhaps the most prominent and powerful Black political institution in America—to lend legitimacy to a propaganda network that regularly denigrates black people, black culture and black institutions. This partnership is bad for Black America, and it is a huge mistake.

Since before the debate partnership was announced publicly, Black bloggers, community newspapers, columnists, and radio hosts have expressed outrage that such a partnership would even be considered. Over 16,000 members of ColorOfChange.org reached out to individual CBC members and the CBC institute in hopes that they would be responsive and accountable to the community they purport to represent. But the leadership of the CBC institute has continued to willfully ignore the voices of Black Americans, and amazingly, also dismissed voices of dissent from within the CBC itself (nearly a quarter of CBC members have expressed opposition to the debate, either publicly or privately). Now, more than ever, it’s obvious that the CBC’s leadership is painfully out of step with Black America.

It has been suggested that by skipping this debate, you are missing a valuable opportunity to speak on issues of concern to Black Americans. However, the CBC institute debate broadcast by CNN as well as Tavis Smiley’s debates on PBS provide similar opportunities to address these issues without sending the message that you are willing to validate a network that is consistently hostile to Black Americans and Black political interests.

You did the right thing by rejecting Fox. We applaud your leadership and will continue to support your decision.

Brandon Quante White, The SuperSpade
Garlin Dorell Gilchrist II, The SuperSpade
Jill Tubman, Jack and Jill Politics
Wayne Bennett, Field Negro
Bruce Dixon, Black Agenda Report
Glen Ford, Black Agenda Report
Leutisha Stills, Sr. Correspondent & Chief Researcher, CBCMonitor
dnA, Too Sense
Pam Spaulding, Pam's House Blend
Chris Rabb, Afro-Netizen.com
Rikyrah, Mirror on America
Earl Dunovant, Prometheus 6
Margaret Kimberley, Freedom Rider
James Rucker, ColorOfChange.org

We are still looking for signers, particularly bloggers. If you are interested, please email Gabriel at gabriel AT colorofchange DOT org.

Jerry Falwell and the Savage Christians

"Christians perpetrated the crusades, the inquisition, the slave trade and imperial adventures too numerous to mention. It may be comforting to pat ourselves on the back and consign those behaviors to past centuries. We are living in the 21st century after all. Who would use the name of the Christian God to justify mass killing? A majority of modern day American Christians, that's who."

Who made this brilliant statement? Yours truly in this week's Black Agenda Report. The words are harsh, but I can back it all up. Let me know what you think.

Christian Terror Plot

"Christian Terrorist Arrested at Falwell Funeral"

That should have been the headlines in today's newspapers. Mark D. Uhl is a Liberty University student. I'm guessing that means he is a Christian. He was also arrested with homemade bombs in his possession. He says he wanted to keep protesters from disrupting the funeral. It isn't clear who he thought was going to disrupt or how they would do it, but making bombs is an indication of violent intentions and a very sick mind.

The right wing are going nuts because of a poll that showed 8% of American Muslims approving of suicide bombing in some cases. So, a majority of Muslims are opposed to terrorism. They certainly aren't like Christians. A majority of them are in favor of torture and a majority of them are in favor of deliberately targeting civilians in warfare.

Thank God for Muslims. Hopefully they will keep those crazy Christians in check.

Bush Plans Dictatorship

"If this were a dictatorship, it'd be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I'm the dictator."
George W. Bush

Bush uttered those very unfunny words on December 18, 2000. On that day the president-elect went to capitol hill to meet with Congressional leaders and emerged from the meeting flipping them and the American people this rhetorical bird.

The president is making good on those words and there hasn't been a peep out of Congress or the press. In a document released on May 9, 2007 entitled "National Continuity Policy," Bush makes good on his sick fantasy. In case of “any incident, regardless of location, that results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the U.S. population, infrastructure, environment, economy, or government function” Bush will control the entire U.S. government, not just the federal branch.

It isn't really surprising. Bush decides who is an enemy combatant, a person without legal rights, and who should be spied upon.

If ever there was a moment for conspiracy theories, this is it. Will there be a phony terror attack, or a declaration of war against Iran? We don't know what the trigger will be but it is time to be afraid.

Actually it is time for impeachment. Bush's unpopularity makes him particularly dangerous. So does the acquiescence of the media and the silence of the Democrats. State legislatures have the right to begin the impeachment process but they have been smacked down by Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi.

We are screwed. The phrase may be inelegant, but it says it all. Maybe we will all end up in Guantanamo. Who knows? The National Continuity Policy contains "classified continuity annexes." WTF!? As I said, we are screwed.

Thanks to Crooks and Liars for the tip.

Obama and Affirmative Action

". . . if we have done what needs to be done to ensure that kids who are qualified to go to college can afford it, that affirmative action becomes a diminishing tool for us to achieve racial equality in this society."
Barack Obama

Was I right or what? In this week's Black Agenda Report I asked if black Americans ought to want a black president. If the would be president in question is Barack Obama, the answer is a definite no.

In his over rated speech at the 2004 Democratic convention, Obama declared that "there is no black America." What nonsense. Identity politics haven't disappeared for anyone else in the country. It would be ludicrous for black people to think that anything about their situation has changed because St. Barack says so.

Unfortunately, black politicians only get support from white voters when they deemphasize their blackness. That inevitable means not standing up for other black people or for their interests.

George Stephanopoulos doesn't really care about the handful of black kids from double Ivy League households. He wants to get rid of affirmative action and he asked about Obama's kids as a convenient excuse. It just wouldn't do to 'fess up that George wants white guys to stay on top withouthaving to deal with pesky newcomers demanding a slice of the pie.

That is not surprising, but a black politicians have to give the answer that most whites want to hear. Bad news for us, for Obama and any other black presidential candidate.

Corruption in Nigeria

As I said in Black Agenda Report recently, Nigeria is a sea of corruption because of the crookedness of Andrew Young and others. Read it here.

Israel Shoots Peace Prize Laureate

". . . when Palestinians do engage in nonviolent protest, and are subjected to brutal repression as a result, how come the mainstream U.S. media don’t pay any attention?"
Common Dreams

The Palestinians can't win. Even when they and their supporters practice non-violence they can be killed and the American media won't report it at all.

If Mairead Maguire or any other Nobel peace prize winner was shot by soldiers from any country other than Israel, their would be a nation wide out cry. Of course, you can't cry out when you don't know what is happening. That is the whole point of shutting out inconvenient information.

No shut outs here. Watch the video.

"Bomb, Bomb, Bomb, Bomb, Bomb, Iran" - John McCain

I posted these comments on the Huffington Post website. Don't know yet if they will appear.

"It is impossible to run for president without repeating every lying utterance of the Israel lobby. It is Israel that has the bomb, not Iran.

Hillary and Obama will say nothing about this disgraceful, ugly display. McCain will get a pass from them and from the media when in fact he is no better than the Virginia Tech gunman. Cho came by his murderous rage through pure insanity. McCain would kill on an even larger scale and make it all sound good and reasonable.

Once again we see the awful hypocrisy that is killing this nation. We recoil when individuals kill but sing songs to encourage government killing, which is always the most lethal. No terrorist group in history has ever killed on the scale of a government.

The fundies are right. The end is near."

It's Wednesday

Wednesday isn't just hump day. It is Black Agenda Report day. Don't miss it.

Does White America Love Imus?

The Don Imus debacle just gets worse. For years he has been the biggest purveyor of racist hate speech on the air waves. He is also very powerful, so even prominent liberals like Frank Rich will bow and scrape in order to stay in the very lucrative Imus circle.

After describing the Rutgers University women’s basketball team as “nappy headed ho’s” he first apologized and then had a two hour long come to Jesus meeting on Al Sharpton’s radio show. He was still slapped with a two week suspension. Clearly his bosses were not amused by his comments and were not impressed with his contrition. Thank God for small favors.

Now the truth is coming out. Don Imus is popular because he is so hateful. Like Howard Stern, he has a large white, male audience because he gets away with making the racist, misogynistic statements they wish they could get away with saying. It is at the very least impolite to call anyone a “ho” or to talk about a former first couple as “Bill Clinton and his fat ugly wife, Satan.”

Now the apologists are coming out of the wood work and some of them are black. Congressman Keith Ellison says that black people should think of "redemption and reconciliation" if Imus is truly contrite. Gwen Ifill, host of Washington Week on PBS, was herself a victim of Imus’ bigotry when he called her a “cleaning lady.” She criticized Imus, but in a strangely detached way. In a New York Times op-ed she asked, "Why do my journalistic colleagues appear on Mr. Imus’s program? That’s for them to defend, and others to argue about."

Ifill knows the real deal. Don’t complain too much about powerful white men. They can do what they want, including insult and offend, with impunity. Why shouldn't she ask about her colleagues who sully themselves to suck up to this misogynistic bigot? Ifill certainly knows her bread is buttered with the corporate media and that she had better not step out of line if she wants the spread to stay on the loaf.

Here is a good rule for everyone to follow. Don't trust anyone who apologizes for Imus. They are all believers in white male supremacy, whether they admit it or not. James Carville, Paul Begala, John McCain, and Rudy Giuliani are all guilty. So is Frank Rich if he returns to the Imus fold.

Unfortunately, the Rutgers team has decided to meet with Imus. I see no reason why the subjects of his hatred should help dig him out of the hole he dug for himself. Of course they are being lionized for their decision, but that is to be expected. Black people are always told to forgive mistreatment. It is time for someone to say enough already. Imus should not be allowed to have a kumbyah moment with the objects of his scorn.

He believes in his ugly words. He shouldn't be allowed to pretend he doesn't. It is time for him to go and it is time for everyone of every race to say good riddance.

A Little Time Off

I'm going to take the rest of Holy Week off. No posting unless the news is really big, in which case you will have heard about it some where else.

Rosie O'Donnell

Right wingers have their pants in a twist because Rosie O'Donnelle questions the official 9/11 story and said it was "an inside job." They even say she should be fired.

Wrong. Rosie should have been fired for making fun of Asians with her "ching chong ching chong" routine. The right wing only care about subservience to their point of view. Racist jokes are no biggie. Not only did she offend many people but her so-called apology was anything but and just as offensive as her original comments.

BTW, if O'Donnell is going to delve into 9/11 conspiracy theories, she should stick with the only one worth mentioning, that Israel knew about the terror plot. Even an outspoken "liberal" won't touch that one.

Shout Outs

Many thanks to Counter Punch and Alternet for linking to my Black Agenda Report column.

Reuters

Harold Ford is Still a Joke

"We must finally emerge from the Jim Crow mentality that celebrated every Black grasp for the golden ring, no matter how loathsome the grasper." - Black Agenda Report

Progressives around the nation should have heaved a sigh of relief when Harold Ford lost his U.S. Senate race last year. The Senate went Democratic without him, but he is so dangerous that it would have been better for him to lose even if the Republicans had remained in the majority. One Joe Lieberman is enough.

But like a bad penny, Ford keeps showing up. First, God-awful Clintonite James Carville publicly used Ford to attempt a coup against Howard Dean, head of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). Howard Dean was the architect of the Democratic victory, but he isn't a Clintonite, so Carville stabbed him in the back. Mind you, past and future Clinton strategist Terry McAuliffe never won anything when he headed the DNC, yet Carville never uttered a peep against him when he got his butt kicked every November.

Now Ford is the new Chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) and he is as duplicitous, two-faced and stupid as ever. Yes, I said stupid. Ford would be a nobody if white liberals didn't get the vapors every time they laid eyes on a black ivy leaguer. He has always been nothing but a light weight and a rank oppportunist, and being an opportunist in the Democratic party means heading right.

He is stupid because he thought that dressing like Elmer Fudd and posing for a photo-op in front of the stars and bars would get rednecks to vote for him. He is stupid because he thought that lying and calling his black grandmother white would also get him votes from said rednecks. Yes, he lied about his own grandmother. How low can you go?

Like all other idiots Ford goes out of his way to prove his stupidity. Today he blogged at the Talking Points Memo Cafe and made himself look more foolish than ever. In his nonsensical tome, "In Search of Common Ground," Ford told progressives to stop being mean to him and his establishment friends. It could have been boiled down to "Just shut up."

Ford told those of us who ignore his utterances what he has been up to lately. (Sometimes ignorance is bliss). He recently gave a speech on what he thinks the Democratic party should be doing. Here is his silly agenda.
(1) Keeping America Safe; (2) Giving Americans the Tools to Compete; (3) Holding Government Accountable for Results; (3) Creating the Hybrid Energy Economy; (5) Making America the Most Pro-Family Country on Earth; and (6) Ending Poverty For All Who Work

No mention of Iraq, no mention of attacks on civil liberties, no mention of any legislative proposals and no mention of what on earth it means to hold government accountable for results. What trash.

Oh, and no mention of poor people who don't have jobs. If your out of work, screw you. Ford isn't even smart enough to talk about raising employment. Just in case anyone was confused, he made it clear that poor people will not be discussed while he is around.

So there you have it. Ford is a lying dog and he isn't even very smart. That means he will run for office again. Democrats should make it clear that he won't be welcomed.

Black Women Need Abortion Rights

Black women would be the biggest losers of all if Roe v. Wade were to be over turned. In this week's Black Agenda Report, I make the case that black people must stop being shy about sex, and afraid of religiosity. Abortion and reproductive rights are an essential part of American civil rights law, and we shouldn't be squeamish about saying so.

Also, we need to stop paying attention to people like Alveda King, a recipient of right wing think tank money. She is Dr. King's niece, and she uses her family name to advocate for the bad old days when abortion was illegal. The Christian right are now setting up "pregnancy crisis" centers in black neighborhoods, despite the fact that abortion doesn't rank very highly on the list of black Americans' concerns.

Unfortunately, that lack of concern is bad news. It means that the continuing onslaught against abortion rights does not get the approprite response from the people who would be most affected if Roe is overturned. Silence will be seen as consent and the days of the coat hanger will return.

"I Miss Iraq, I Miss My War, I Miss My Gun"

When I got up this morning I had never heard of Brian Mockenhaupt. I was better off that way. He is a pathetic loser and a sadistic SOB.

In an awful tome entitled, "I Miss Iraq, I Miss My War, I Miss My Gun," Mockenhaupt waxes sentimental about having the power to kill people. That is the long and the short of it, but he covers his bloody urges with nonsense about missing the adrenaline rush. If all he wanted was a rush he could take up sky diving.

I will do my best to translate through Mockenhaupt's BS. It is a tough job but someone has to do it.

But war twists and shifts the landmarks by which we navigate our lives, casting light on darkened areas that for many people remain forever unexplored. And once those darkened spaces are lit, they become part of us.

Translation: I was an ordinary asshole before, but in Iraq I had the power to make good on my secret desire to be a killer.

War is exciting. Sometimes I was in awe of this, and sometimes I felt low and mean for loving it, but I loved it still. Even in its quiet moments, war is brighter, louder, brasher, more fun, more tragic, more wasteful. More. More of everything. And even then I knew I would someday miss it, this life so strange.

Translation: I am such a loser. I have no clue how to bring joy or excitement to my life, so having the power to kill filled up my worthless life.

We often raided houses late at night, so people awakened to soldiers bursting through their bedroom doors. Women and children wailed, terrified. Taking this in, I imagined what it would feel like if soldiers kicked down my door at midnight, if I could do nothing to protect my family. I would hate those soldiers. Yet I still reveled in the raids, their intensity and uncertainty.

Translation: I don't give a fuck about other people, especially if they are not white. I know what I do is wrong, but I couldn't care less.

I didn't have any Iraqi friends, save for our few translators, and I'd rarely been invited into anyone's home.

Translation: I am so stupid. I actually think an occupier would be welcome.

Leaving the war behind can be a letdown, regardless of opportunity or education or the luxuries waiting at home. People I'd never met sent me boxes of cookies and candy throughout my tours. When I left for two weeks of leave, I was cheered at airports and hugged by strangers. At dinner with my family one night, a man from the next table bought me a $400 bottle of wine. I was never quite comfortable with any of this, but they were heady moments nonetheless.

Translation: I was an ordinary guy and then I was important and got attention I didn't deserve. I still want the attention I had when I walked around with a big dick, um, gun.

There are no electric bills or car payments or chores around the house. Just go to work, come home alive, and do it again tomorrow. McCarthy calls it pure and serene. Indeed. Life at home can be much more trying.

Translation: I hate my life. It is filled with quiet desperation, so much desperation that I find serenity in terrifying women and children.

I'm glad Mockenhaupt took the time to tell the world what an awful piece of crap he is. He didn't tell me anything I didn't know already, but if I had written the same thing, I would have been dismissed out of hand. We should give him credit for telling the truth about why some men love war. That truth is ugly and Mockenhaupt thankfully let the cat out of the bag.

Lies, More Lies and Iraq

Did an Iraqi suicide bomber use two children to get through a check point and then kill the children in the detonation? So the headlines say.

My first reaction was that this was truly awful. The Iraqis have actually sunk to the level of the Israelis, who routinely use minors as human shields. Yes, the Geneva Conventions frown on that sort of thing but what do Israelis have to worry about when Uncle Sam lets them do whatever they want.

But seriously, I thought it was just horrible and unbelievable. After thinking about it for a few moments, it became less and less believable. In fact, I didn't believe it at all.

When I looked for the story in the New York Times, my reaction was somewhat vindicated.

"Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, a top American military spokesman in Baghdad, said late Tuesday that his office had no record of the bombing but that it was researching it. 'I don’t know what event he’s talking about,”'Colonel Garver said."

It seems that Sears doesn't talk to Roebucks before spinning tall tales. I don't think anyone should believe this report unless it is verified by an independent source.

Martin Luther King and Israel

Did King equate criticism of Israe with anti-Semitism? Contrary to often cited quote, he did not. There is no evidence that he ever made the the statement. The story is here in an essay entitled, "The Use and Abuse of Martin Luther King Jr. by Israel's Apologists." It is well worth reading.

Michelle Malkin Sucks

That is my Black Agenda Report column in a nutshell. Dinesh D'Souza sucks too. My thanks to Counter Punch and Smirking Chimp for reprinting.

Malkin and D'Souza are "people of color" who make a living bashing other people of color whenever it is convenient and profitable. For D'Souza that means , black Americans are always responsible for the discrimination that continues to be practiced against them. Malkin also makes the case that Japanese American internment was right and righteous. Of course she is in favor of interning Arabs and Muslims now. What a coincidence. The two of them are part of the vast right wing conspiracy who make a fortune spreading vicious, hateful ideology. It is time they were called out.

Congress Will Approve an Attack on Iran

". . . advocates of Israel's interests have prevailed on the Democratic leadership to strip any prohibition on the President taking military action against Iran without prior congressional approval. . ."

The United States is heading towards war with Iran. I'm afraid there is no other conclusion to reach. There is another inescapable conclusion. AIPAC and the rest of the pro-Israel lobby are behind it all. Why else would members of Congress with few or no Jewish constituents jump onto the bandwagon of nuking Iran?

It is a disgrace that the new Democratic majority in Congress can't put together a decent bill, even if vetoed, that will end the occupation of Iraq. Now they have completely chickened out and given Bush permission to attack Iran.

Mark my words. They will all line up and vote to approve attacking Iran, just like they did back in 2002 when they voted to attack Iraq. Hillary and Obama will be very eloquent, but when the rubber meets the road, they will say yes to killing thousands of Iranians.

Speaking of AIPAC, they have reached such a low point that they will promote a crazy Christianfascist preacher who wants to see Israel destroyed in a nuclear war. John Hagee gets invited to the annual AIPAC conference and gets applause. Why?

"What matters more to AIPAC and its allies -- all that matters perhaps -- is that you back the hardline Israeli government without reservation, support the institutionalized dehumanization of Palestinians and offer crucial moral support for the illegal usurpation of Palestinian land. "

Any more questions?

Mayans Say "Bush Has Cooties"

"That a person like (Bush), with the persecution of our migrant brothers in the United States, with the wars he has provoked, is going to walk in our sacred lands, is an offense for the Mayan people and their culture."
Juan Tiney

I had intended to take Friday off but sometimes a good story changes my plans. It seems that Mayan Indians in Guatemala have better sense than Christians. They are galled, offended and just plain pissed off that George W. Bush has the nerve to set foot on their sacred ground.

After Bush pays a visit to an archaeological site at Iximche, Mayan priests will cleanse the area of Bush's "bad spirits." Are you listening Christians? Get a clue.

Don't let Bush into your sanctuary in the first place. If you do, get busy with reconsecration. Remember what the bible says. Don't give a place to the devil.

Porn Free

There are so many Republicans in the closet, their symbol shouldn't be an elephant; it should be a moth!
Bill Maher

Why do gay porn stars and/or prostitutes gravitate to the Republicans? Damned if I know. The latest conservative porn king is Matt Sanchez.

Sanchez is a former Marine. Come to think of it, so was Jeff Gannon, another conservative former escort and pin up. Gannon had a friend in the White House who helped get him press credentials with the phony Talon News Service, which no longer exists. Those leather necks are certainly into leather, or so it would seem.

I digress. Last week Sanchez was honored at the CPAC convention. Of course, no one ever forgets their favorite porn star, so Sanchez was immediately outed as a gay man who made money by filming sex acts.

Sanchez explains himself, sort of, in Salon. He whines as the right wing always do. He is Latino so liberals should like him, he is a student at an Ivy League school, so liberals should like him. Porn was just a summer job and oh so long ago, everyone should just forget about it.

Of course the self-hatred and love for white supremacy is right below the surface. Anyone who shows up at a CPAC convention is automatically suspect in that regard. I do give Sanchez credit for actually having served in the military, unlike the rest of the flag wavers, but that is all.

No where does Sanchez mention that the CPAC conventioneers are opposed to him getting married to a man he loved. Actually, Sanchez doesn't have anything to say about being gay, about gays serving in the military, or why conservatives mobilize voters by demonizing him and people like him. What an opportunistic hypocrite.

If Sanchez won't support gay marriage rights as much as supports the right of the American military to kill, he should just shut up and disappear.

Love Letter to Eric Oemig

Eric Oemig is a Washington state Democrat, a freshman state senator. Oemig is sponsoring a bill, S8016, which would call on the United States Congress to initiate impeachment proceedings against President Bush. It turns out that some of the founding fathers were thinking about something useful after all. They gave state legislatures the authority to begin impeachment proceedings if Congress refused to do the job.

Sounds good, but D.C. insiders, Democratic insiders, are standing in the way. Speaker Nancy Pelosi has already said that impeachment is "off the table." Now U.S. Senator Patty Murray and U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee are telling their fellow Washingtonians in that state's legislature to kill Oemig's bill. They are worried about "divisiveness" that would "impede" the Dems agenda.

The Democratic party is truly corrupt. The same people who could have gotten rid of Joe Lieberman are now showing us why they didn't. They didn't want to. They have no interest in fighting the Republicans, none what so ever. Now they are working to squelch any efforts by anyone else who isn't afraid of the Republicans.

It seems there is "zero chance" that the full Washington state senate will vote on the measure. That is truly criminal.

In the meantime tell Eric how much you love him. You can email him at oemig.eric@leg.wa.gov. Keep it tasteful please.

Praise the Lord

You can't fool all of the people all of the time. Praise God! Ted Haggard's New Life Church has lost members and money ever since his relationship with a gay prostitute was made public.

I have no desire to join a church with 14,000 other people, so I never understood the megachurch appeal. I do understand not wanting to be treated like a sucker. It is good to know that megachurch fundies, or a healthy percentage anyway, don't either.

New Life has had to lay off some of its staff because of the defections. I do wonder if the lost members have thought about the real Haggard story. Have they considered that their homophobic rhetoric is a sham? Have they thought that they need to stop bashing gays? Have they realized that gay people are also Christians and that demonizing them is wrong? Probably not but I can hope.

I hope they have also realized that megachurches are all about the money. They are businesses and the Haggards among them are the CEOs. Haggard was all about getting rich and I hope they realized it.

Now that is too much to ask.

Hillary's Fake, Black, Southern, Preacher Accent

Someone must tell her that she must never, ever, ever speak like this again. She just sounds like an idiot.

I do feel for her in a way. Her husband could pull this sort of thing off very easily. But she does not have his charisma, so she shouldn't try it. Ever.

Another Thing About Oprah

I am not a fan of Oprah Winfrey. In fact I am always glad when her efforts to market nonsense to gullible people are exposed.

Today we have to thank Salon for revealing the latest insanity from Oprahland. It is a land ruled by a cult leader. She rules by entertaining people and using the resulting happy feeling to sell stuff that no one really needs. That is pretty much what every other CEO does.

She differs because she is selling the intangible. If you buy a car that turns out to be a lemon, you swear not to buy from that manufacturer again. If you buy an idiotic idea that is perceived as being positive, the lemon qualities are a little harder to discover.

Change is easy in Oprahland. Just change your thoughts and presto, you have more money, love, or muscle mass. Of course everyone's experience is just the opposite. If change were easy we wouldn't need rehab, AA or Weight Watchers. Thank goodness we have them but unfortunately their very existence inspires stupid people to think that every issue in life can be resolved with a few positive thoughts.

Books like The Secret, the current cult leader favorite, are extremely dangerous. They teach that misfortune is our fault. Poverty, illness, and family problems only exist because we don't have the right thoughts. These are especially dangerous ideas to sell to black people. We have less because our ancestors were never compensated for their labor and because racism hasn't disappeared.

White people aren't buying property more often because their thoughts are positive. They buy property because their families have more wealth. If mom and dad hand you money for a down payment, it doesn't really matter if your thoughts are positive, negative or in between.

The Secret even lies about the bible, telling us that it promotes prosperity.

Mat 19:16
And behold, one came up to him, saying, "Teacher, what good deed must I do, to have eternal life?"
Mat 19:17
And he said to him, "Why do you ask me about what is good? One there is who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments."
Mat 19:18
He said to him, "Which?" And Jesus said, "You shall not kill, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness,
Mat 19:19
Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
Mat 19:20
The young man said to him, "All these I have observed; what do I still lack?"
Mat 19:21
Jesus said to him, "If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me."
Mat 19:22
When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful; for he had great possessions.
Mat 19:23
And Jesus said to his disciples, "Truly, I say to you, it will be hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 19:24
Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."

Oh well, so much for The Secret. Oprah couldn't do the damage she does if American weren't so stupid. Any practicing Christian should know the story of the rich young man. Jesus didn't tell him to think positive and get more cash. He told him to give it all away and follow Him.

I'm guessing that The Secret doesn't mention this story.

Thanks Tom Paine

I just noticed that Tom Paine reprinted my latest Black Agenda Report column. Thanks.