THE "REAL" PLANTATION

THE REAL PLAN OF THE DLC REGARDING AFRICAN-AMERICANS...

From Margaret Kimberley at the Black Commentator.

Criticizing the Bush administration in a black church on Martin Luther King Day is an easy way to get applause. The crowd is in the palm of the speaker's hand, eager to be inspired and filled with righteous indignation. New York's junior Senator, Hillary Rodham Clinton, found herself in just such a situation. She had an audience full of ardent supporters who feel a genuine affection for her and for her husband.

At Canaan Baptist Church in Harlem she described Republican one party rule as being akin to a plantation. Of course the right wing went into outrage overdrive. If they could just get over their Hillary hatred she would have little appeal, if any. When Trent Lott mused that she might be struck by lightning, Hillary's stock soared so much that she must have thanked God for Trent when she said her prayers at night.

Of course she is right about the Republicans. They love being the masters of this country and, they hope, of the entire world. For decades they have nursed fantasies of reconquest, waiting for the day when they could bring the nation back to the good old days when everyone knew their place.

Democrats behave the way oppressed people usually do. They cow and begin believing that their masters are not only powerful but deserving of the position they hold. Too few dream of waging war against the plantation system. Most just want a seat at the table in the big house and are satisfied when the master doesn't beat them too badly. If a few crumbs are thrown their way they are in seventh heaven.

Hillary's speech was not very impressive and neither is she, right wing blood lust not withstanding. She is just Mrs. Slick Willie. When she supports legislation to ban flag burning, legislation that she knows is unconstitutional, she insults the people who always rush to her defense. She and her husband play a tiresome game with Democrats. The right wing hate them so they get credit they don't deserve. They have concluded that they can get away with just about anything.

In the days after hurricane Katrina destroyed New Orleans, Bill Clinton sucked up to the Bush family and declared that we shouldn't be too critical of them. Hillary now criticizes her yes vote on the war, sort of. Now she says she “takes responsibility" for her vote and complains that troops who are in Iraq because of her support don't have enough armor.

It is important to keep the triangulating, back pedaling and pandering in mind when tempted to be impressed by Hillary's King Day speechifying.

The week before King Day, Hillary showed her true colors. She and Harry Belafonte were both guests at a Children's Defense Fund luncheon. It is a gross understatement to say that she avoided Belafonte. If he were infected with leprosy and the first case of contagious avian flu she could not have stayed further away from him.

Belafonte had committed the unpardonable sin of speaking ill of the white and powerful when he quite correctly referred to Bush as a tyrant and a terrorist. The Senator went nowhere near his table, stayed at the event for only fifteen minutes and refused to comment on his presence or her failure to acknowledge it. She saw nothing wrong with the plantation system on that occasion.

Bill and Hillary are the masters of their own plantation. It is called the Democratic Leadership Council. The DLC exists to make sure that anyone who dares to break free realizes their error and runs back to Tara before sundown.

The DLC has already turned the bright, charismatic Barack Obama into an apologist for the Bush administration:

“Let me say this - I don't think that George Bush is a bad man. I think he loves his country. I don't think this administration is full of stupid people - I think there are a lot of smart folks in there. The problem isn't that their philosophy isn't working the way it's supposed to - it's that it is. It's that it's doing exactly what it's supposed to do."

Yes, that is what life on the plantation will do to an otherwise intelligent mind. DLC talking points may make Obama sound like an idiot, but he isn't one. He knows the rules. Stick with the DLC, spew their bizarre mumbo jumbo, or give up any hope of political aspirations.

The DLC plantation has already chosen the Democratic presidential nominee for 2008 and it is none other than Hillary Clinton. The plantation system is so secure that it isn't risky to make a prediction two years ahead of time.

Just a few short weeks after hurricane Katrina destroyed the Gulf Coast, Harry Belafonte had this to say at the Congressional Black Caucus annual conference. Both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama were present:

"The most important wreckage to look at is the wreckage of the Democratic party. We must look through the ravages of the Democratic party to see if there is anything worth salvaging."

Thanks to the DLC and Bill and Hillary Clinton, Belafonte's worst fears have been realized. The Democrats have their own plantation and it may not be worth saving.

MAINSTREAM MEDIA WHORING

SENATOR BARACK OBAMA PROVES ON "MEET THE PRESS" THAT PIMPIN' AIN'T EASY



RECRUITMENT POSTER FOR COLLEGE YOUNG REPUBLICANS

And, finally:


CHRIS "TWEETY" MATTHEWS WITH HIS DATE,ENJOYING DINNER AFTER COMING FROM THE SCREENING OF "BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN"

Earlier this week, Matthews and Russert let all of America know that they are spineless, racist blowhards, who are no longer real journalists but are in it for the money and access to the Beltway Cocktail parties. MSM whoring in action. Hat tips to Steve Gilliard and Michael Moore for their expertise with Photoshop, LOL.

DRIFTGLASS SAID IT...

DRIFTGLASS KNOWS...JUST LIKE THE SHADOW

The following is from a fellow blogger named Driftglass. Many of us in the blogsphere urged him to start his own blog because so many of his commentaries were being featured on Steve Gilliard's blog and he's deadly with the written word. I apologize for some of the language, but, hey, I've copied the Rude Pundit on this blog, and you haven't complained. Yet.

"Let them eat cake…and wash it down with ass water."

How much do Republicans love our troops?

So much that they lie them into Iraq with no way out in the first place.

So much that they can’t be bothered to put enough of them on the ground to put out the insurgent hellfire they unleashed.

So much that they fuck them out of their benefits.

So much they mock their mothers when they want straight answers about why their sons had to die.

So much they slander them and question their honor and service when veterans stand up and demand an accounting of Republican lies and treachery.

So much that they let them die to save a few bucks on proper armor for their vehicles and their bodies.

So much that they can't be bothered join in fighting the Iraqi War they created from scratch and cheerlead so loudly.

And now this -- so much that they make them drink toilet water...

Halliburton Cited in Iraq Contamination

By LARRY MARGASAK, Associated Press Writer 17 minutes ago
Troops and civilians at a U.S. military base in Iraq were exposed to contaminated water last year and employees for the responsible contractor, Halliburton, couldn't get their company to inform camp residents, according to interviews and internal company documents.

Halliburton, the company formerly headed by Vice President Dick Cheney, disputes the allegations about water problems at Camp Junction City, in Ramadi, even though they were made by its own employees and documented in company e-mails.

"We exposed a base camp population (military and civilian) to a water source that was not treated," said a July 15, 2005, memo written by William Granger, the official for Halliburton's KBR subsidiary who was in charge of water quality in Iraq and Kuwait.

"The level of contamination was roughly 2x the normal contamination of untreated water from the Euphrates River," Granger wrote in one of several documents. The Associated Press obtained the documents from Senate Democrats who are holding a public inquiry into the allegations Monday.

...
The company's former water treatment expert at Camp Junction City said that he discovered the problem last March, a statement confirmed by his e-mail the day after he tested the water.

While bottled water was available for drinking, the contaminated water was used for virtually everything else, including handwashing, laundry, bathing and making coffee, said water expert Ben Carter of Cedar City, Utah.

Another former Halliburton employee who worked at the base, Ken May of Louisville, said there were numerous instances of diarrhea and stomach cramps — problems he also suffered.

…
Halliburton has contracts to provide a number of services to U.S. forces in Iraq and was responsible for the water quality at the base in Ramadi.

Granger's July 15 memo said the exposure had gone on for "possibly a year" and added, "I am not sure if any attempt to notify the exposed population was ever made."
The first memo on the problem — written by Carter to Halliburton officials on March 24, 2005 — was an "incident report" from tests Carter performed the previous day.
"It is my opinion that the water source is without question contaminated with numerous micro-organisms, including Coliform bacteria," Carter wrote. "There is little doubt that raw sewage is routinely dumped upstream of intake much less than the required 2 mile distance.

"Therefore, it is my conclusion that chlorination of our water tanks while certainly beneficial is not sufficient protection from parasitic exposure."

Carter said he resigned in early April after Halliburton officials did not take any action to inform the camp population.

The water expert said he told company officials at the base that they would have to notify the military. "They told me it was none of my concern and to keep my mouth shut," he said.
…

DRIFTGLASS AGAIN:

I guarantee you that Dubya’s dog has never had to drink shit-laced water, and the Aquafina his daughters suck down between mojitos never smelled like ass.

Every day, in every little way, the GOP telegraphs exactly how much contempt they have for working men and women. Hillbilly armor. Charging the battle-wounded for their meals while in hospital. And now this.

But of course we’re told that somehow this Administration's habit of treating soldiers like souvenir baby alligators that they’ve gotten bored with isn’t what lowers troop morale. No, the sin, we are told, is in having the temerity to talk about the fact that this Administration doesn’t give a shit about working-class people who volunteer to serve their country.

Because in addition to everything else, Republicans think soldiers are playthings who can be used to fight and die at the whim of the President, but aren't nearly clever enough to figure out when they're being screwed and treated like disposable field hands.

Jesus Christ.

With friends like Dick Cheney’s Halliburton, who needs enemies?

Apparently, one of their "friends" aspires to become the first African-American Senator from Tennessee. He supports this crap, and wrote Bush a letter, admonishing him to "stay the course" cause "we're making progress in Iraq".

I wish that last comment was for snark effect; unfortunately, it's the truth.

CIVIL WAR WITH THE DLC

Molly Ivins posted this up at Working for Change. She hands over the ammunition to annihilate the Democratic Leadership Council.

Not. Backing. Hillary.
Equivocation in Democratic party has gone on far too long -- time for real leadership


AUSTIN, Texas --- I'd like to make it clear to the people who run the Democratic Party that I will not support Hillary Clinton for president.
Enough. Enough triangulation, calculation and equivocation. Enough clever straddling, enough not offending anyone. This is not a Dick Morris election. Sen. Clinton is apparently incapable of taking a clear stand on the war in Iraq, and that alone is enough to disqualify her. Her failure to speak out on Terri Schiavo, not to mention that gross pandering on flag-burning, are just contemptible little dodges.

The recent death of Gene McCarthy reminded me of a lesson I spent a long, long time unlearning, so now I have to re-learn it. It's about political courage and heroes, and when a country is desperate for leadership. There are times when regular politics will not do, and this is one of those times. There are times a country is so tired of bull that only the truth can provide relief.

If no one in conventional-wisdom politics has the courage to speak up and say what needs to be said, then you go out and find some obscure junior senator from Minnesota with the guts to do it. In 1968, Gene McCarthy was the little boy who said out loud, "Look, the emperor isn't wearing any clothes." Bobby Kennedy -- rough, tough Bobby Kennedy -- didn't do it. Just this quiet man trained by Benedictines who liked to quote poetry.

What kind of courage does it take, for mercy's sake? The majority of the American people (55 percent) think the war in Iraq is a mistake and that we should get out. The majority (65 percent) of the American people want single-payer health care and are willing to pay more taxes to get it. The majority (86 percent) of the American people favor raising the minimum wage. The majority of the American people (60 percent) favor repealing Bush's tax cuts, or at least those that go only to the rich. The majority (66 percent) wants to reduce the deficit not by cutting domestic spending, but by reducing Pentagon spending or raising taxes.

The majority (77 percent) thinks we should do "whatever it takes" to protect the environment. The majority (87 percent) thinks big oil companies are gouging consumers and would support a windfall profits tax. That is the center, you fools. WHO ARE YOU AFRAID OF?

I listen to people like Rahm Emanuel superciliously explaining elementary politics to us clueless naifs outside the Beltway ("First, you have to win elections.") Can't you even read the damn polls?

Here's a prize example by someone named Barry Casselman, who writes, "There is an invisible civil war in the Democratic Party, and it is between those who are attempting to satisfy the defeatist and pacifist left base of the party and those who are attempting to prepare the party for successful elections in 2006 and 2008."

This supposedly pits Howard Dean, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, emboldened by "a string of bad new from the Middle East ... into calling for premature retreat from Iraq," versus those pragmatic folk like Steny Hoyer, Rahm Emmanuel, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden and Joe Lieberman.

Oh come on, people -- get a grip on the concept of leadership. Look at this war -- from the lies that led us into it, to the lies they continue to dump on us daily.

You sit there in Washington so frightened of the big, bad Republican machine you have no idea what people are thinking. I'm telling you right now, Tom DeLay is going to lose in his district. If Democrats in Washington haven't got enough sense to OWN the issue of political reform, I give up on them entirely.

Do it all, go long, go for public campaign financing for Congress. I'm serious as a stroke about this -- that is the only reform that will work, and you know it, as well as everyone else who's ever studied this. Do all the goo-goo stuff everybody has made fun of all these years: embrace redistricting reform, electoral reform, House rules changes, the whole package. Put up, or shut up. Own this issue, or let Jack Abramoff politics continue to run your town.

Bush, Cheney and Co. will continue to play the patriotic bully card just as long as you let them. I've said it before: War brings out the patriotic bullies. In World War I, they went around kicking dachshunds on the grounds that dachshunds were "German dogs." They did not, however, go around kicking German shepherds. The MINUTE someone impugns your patriotism for opposing this war, turn on them like a snarling dog and explain what loving your country really means. That, or you could just piss on them elegantly, as Rep. John Murtha did. Or eviscerate them with wit (look up Mark Twain on the war in the Philippines). Or point out the latest in the endless "string of bad news."

Do not sit there cowering and pretending the only way to win is as Republican-lite. If the Washington-based party can't get up and fight, we'll find someone who can.


Amen, sister, AMEN.

I swear, all the DLC does is think up new and exciting ways for the Democratic Party to continue losing elections and remain in the Minority Party. It's time to GET RID OF THE DLC.

CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS' WAR HAWK

Since the Tennessee Congressman and Senate Candidate is such a supporter of the Iraq war, I thought he would like to read the following blog, that's being circulated in the blogsphere. I got this from the Freeway Blogger over at Steve Gillard's.

This just came from the Freeway Blogger.

Like most of you, I get a lot of mail that begins with "send this to everyone you know." For what it's worth, I wrote back to Doug encouraging him to consider condensing his message and using his right to free speech by public signposting. I should've just printed the letter.

I'm publishing it now because he just killed himself.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Spc Douglas Barber: PTSD- Every Soldier's Personal WAR!
1/9/05

By Doug Barber

In the last month I have been working with Jay Shaft, the editor of Coalition For Free Thought in media regarding my experiances in Iraq and since coming home from the war. We have only touched on some of the struggles of being a soldier, however we have not dug deeply into the personal war that Operation Iraqi Freedom has caused for returning soldiers.

Donald Rumsfeld and President Bush do not want to reveal to the American people that this war is a personal war. They want to run the war like a business, and thus they refuse to show the personal sacrifices the soldiers and their families have made for this country.

My thought today is to help you the reader understand what happens to a soldier when they come home and the sacrifice we continue to make. This may be lengthy, it may be short; but no matter how long it is, just close your eyes and imagine a flag drapped coffin.

Inside that coffin is the body of a man or woman who will never get to live their life to the fullest, yet they bore the total cost so that we could live free. Their soul is somewhere else and all we have is their memory which over time will be forgotten by other everts of greater importance. The families of these soldiers have a hole in their hearts that will never be replaced, even though they have pictures and happy memories.

Some families will refuse to believe they are gone, but still their sons and daughters are the heros of a country that sent them to war. This war on terror has become a personal war for so many, yet the Bush Administration does not want journalists or families to photograph the only thing that is left of our soldiers who have died. They do not want the people to remember that image of a flag draped coffin as the last memory this country will ever have of our fallen men and woman.

They say that America will raise their voices and demand a stop to the war, but my question is why should we not show the results of war? For us as a country, we send these soldiers to war and we see their faces while they are alive. I say let their memories live on in every photo, even when they do come home in a flag drapped coffin. Let their sacrifice be forever etched in the memory of America. We owe their families this at the very least.

All is not okay or right for those of us who return home alive and supposedly well. What looks like normalcy and readjustment is only an illusion to be revealed by time and torment. Some soldiers come home missing limbs and other parts of their bodies. Still others will live with permanent scars from horrific events that no one other than those who served will ever understand.

We come home from war trying to put our lives back togather but some cannot stand the memories and decide that death is better. They kill themselves because they are so haunted by seeing children killed and whole families wiped out.

They ask themselves how you put a price tag on someone elses life? The question goes unanswered as they become another casualty of the war. Heros become another statistic to America and they are another little article relegated to the back of a newspaper.

Still others come home to nothing, families have abandoned them: husbands and wives have left these soldiers, and so have parents as well. Post Tramatic Stress Disorder has become the norm amongst these soldiers because they don't know how to cope with returning to a society that will never understand what they have had to endure to liberate another country.

PTSD comes in many forms not understood by many: but yet if a soldier has it, America thinks the soldiers are crazy. PTSD comes in the form of depression, anger, regret, being confrontational, anxiety, chronic pain, compulsion, delusions, grief, guilt,dependance,loneliness, sleep disorders, suspiciousness/paranoia, low self-esteem and so many other things.

We are easily startled with a loud bang or noise and can be found ducking for cover when we get panicked. This is a result of artillery rounds going off in a combat zone, or an IED blowing up.

I myself have trouble coping with an everyday routine that deals with other people that often causes me to have a short fuse. A lot of soldiers lose multiple jobs just because they are trained to be killers and they have lived in an enviroment that is condusive to that. We are always on guard for our safety and that of our commrades. When you go to bed at night you wonder will you be sent home in a flag draped coffin because a motar round went off on your sleeping area.

Soldiers live in deplorable conditions where burning your own feces is the order of the day. Where going days on end with no shower and the uniform you wear gets so crusty it sometimes sticks to your body becomes a common occurence. We also deal with rationing water or even food for that matter. So when a soldier comes home to what they left they are unsure of what to do being in a civilized world again.

This is what PTSD comes in the shape of--soldiers can not often handle coming back to the same world they left behind. It is something that drives soldiers over the edge and causes them to withdraw from society. As Americans we turn our nose down at them wondering why they act the way they do. Who cares about them, why should we help them?

Talk show hosts like Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, Rush Limbaugh and so many others act like they know all about war; then they refuse to give any creadence to soldiers like me who have been to war and seen the brutality of war. These guys are nothing but WEAK SPINELESS COWARDS hiding behind microphones while soldiers come home and are losing everything they have.

I ask every American who reads this e-mail to stand up for the soldier who has given their everything for this country to stand up to these guys in the media; ask them why they don't pick up a weapon and follow in the steps of a soldier. Send this e-mail to as many people on your e-mail lists and ask them to do the same.

There needs to be a National awareness for every Veteran who has ever served in any war. Send e-mails to the Big Mouths on TV and ask them to have soldiers like me on their programs. I am asking you as Americans to BOYCOTT every TV show or host/journalist that refuses to tell the real truth.

THIS IS A PERSONAL CHALLENGE TO BILL,SEAN AND RUSH TO HAVE ME ON YOUR PROGRAM TO SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT. Other wise you are nothing but dirt under every soldiers boot!


Spc Douglas Barber

Since I read in the Memphis Flyer that Harold thinks progress is being made in Iraq, my attitude is that of Bill Maher's: IF YOU SUPPORT THIS WAR, GO FIGHT IT.

And for those starry-eyed bloggers and worshipers like Chris Jackson and David Bander, you're welcome to come on my blog at any time and debate the issues; not defend this privaleged, bloviating jackass as the next best thing in the United States Senate, cause I'm not buying it. So you can drink your cans of STHU on this one. I had an older brother who served in Vietnam - I was a baby when he shipped out, but when he came back, I was about eight years old, and I can truthfully tell you that 'Nam messed up a lot of guys who were really children and saw war up close and personal. He got addicted to drugs, tried to be a pimp, and only because he landed in jail, where he kicked his habit, he cleaned up his act and became a Special Ed teacher when he got out.

You would think his life had a happy ending. It didn't. He was gunned down by thugs in his former life before he had a chance to fully realize his more promising one. But he would have never been set on the path of his old life, but for serving in Vietnam, fighting a war that we now know, should have never been fought.

Just like Iraq. Just like soldiers named Doug Barber. And the likes of you, or your buddies, Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, wouldn't talk to this guy on the street, let alone allow him on their talk shows to tell the truth about the Iraq war. It would be an indictment of Bush's lies to the country, while invalidating yours, and their support of the war. While Doug Barber did the physical taking of his life, I submit that what he suffered during his service, the PTSD, and the willingness of the Bush Administration to cover up what hideousness they are sending our kids into, but are unwilling to go and do the dirty work themselves; that's what killed Doug Barber.

So Harold, when you pontificate as a war hawk, remember that you're really a chicken hawk. You think going over to visit the troops and reporting to us what you did, which is really a damned public relations stunt to prop up your damned Senate campaign, is supporting the troops? Or proclaiming progress while you write letters to Bush telling him to "Stay the Course" is going to win you that Senate seat? Start talking to some people who have buried their loved ones that came home in those body bags, or people who's children came home with limbs missing and their mental faculties shot to hell. Then, ask yourself if you can still stand up before people and tell them of your "love" for the President, and your support of this war. You've never known what a "Reality Check" is; dude, I'm giving you one; up close and PERSONAL.

I have a brother who's love I will never know; who will never reach his "baby-boomer" years because of chicken hawks like you who served in Congress back in the 60s sent him off to fight a war no one understood and then, we learn, no one should have fought. Just like your votes and support for the Iraq war, sends kids off to fight in another war that should have never been initiated; not to mention, takes money away from programs to help people in poverty. Do you have the guts to stand before Tennesseeans who have lost their children in this war, or live in dire poverty and tell them why you support fighting in Iraq?

Or, will you run off and hide, and try to act like Bush by making sure your critics are not allowed in the same room with you when you get up to bloviate and wax poetic on serious issues that essentially mean life or death?

I don't care that you think I'm a bitch. And I really don't care that you think because you're an African-American, other African-Americans like me should shut the hell up and not criticize your performance as a member of Congress. The CBC Monitor took care of that for me. Most of all, if you think I care that you believe what I've said here is less than Christian, I will wear that as a badge of honor, because I know what it is like to stand for your values, and to get beat up for not selling out your principles, morals or values. In case you forgot, true Christians are quite capable of getting angry when we see the lies, the greed, the corruption, the abuse of the public trust by the likes of you and others in Congress who think like you. A Christian isn't perfect; he/she is forgiven. While I work on expressing myself in a cordial manner, when I read about the stupid decisions you make and the asinine comments you give in the press, I see a red haze, and I react with righteous anger because I'm seeing an incompetent, arrogant horse's ass, born into privalege, never known what it is like to physically suffer, go hungry, go cold, not have enough clothing to wear; can't see a doctor when you're sick; parents who are often last hired, first fired - you've never known that life. So that's why you're so damned cavalier about placing others' lives on the line for pure, unadulterated BS.

Because you don't know what it is like to suffer and millions of us do it every day, often with a smile on our faces to keep from crying or shooting someone in frustration.

You think holding public office makes you a real man? Real men fight their battles and they stand for something, instead of falling for anything. I think we know what category you currently fall in, don't we? The day you look back on all of this and admit you were wrong, and the day you look me in the eye and admit you were a political jackass, but you want to change that and become a real human being, is the day I'll consider you a real man.

NEW ORLEANS' MAYOR IS CRACKING UP

ACCORDING TO NEW ORLEANS MAYOR RAY NAGIN, GOD IS PUNISHING AFRICAN-AMERICANS, BECAUSE HE'S "MAD" AT THEM, AND IS RESPONSIBLE FOR SCENES LIKE THIS.


It's not often I agree with MSNBC Pundit Joe Scarborough, but last night, he replayed Mayor Ray Nagin's speech given in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, by saying that New Orleans would be rebuilt as a "Chocolate City". I hope he doesn't think that he's getting a pass on making such as provocative and inflammatory speech, and I say this as an African-American, who's proud to be an African-American.

Face it, if David Duke had rode through with horse, hood and burning cross, saying the same thing up in Baton Rouge, the man would be tarred and feathered, plus run out on a rail within 24 hours.

Nagin's own City Council member, Oliver Thomas, was on Scarborough Country, saying he's going to have to clean up the mess Nagin made with his speechifying. But, what's worse is that, forgotten in all the hoopla about Nagin's speech is that:

(1) He's a former Republican turned Democrat, when he learned he couldn't become Mayor any other way. Remember, unless the Republican is one in the mode of Jim Jeffords,think of it as a leopard doesn't change its spots and;

(2) The picture of yellow school buses sitting in flood waters that could have been used to evacuate people from New Orleans, if he had thought to use them.

The other guest on Scarborough Country, a well-known writer, said that in his opinion, Nagin was suffering from mental fatigue due to the trauma of having to deal with Hurricane Katrina's devastation. In other words, Nagin's lost it. And, I really believe that when I heard that speech about how God was "angry" at New Orleans, and African-Americans in particular. Now, you know some wingnut is going to seize on Nagin's speech and say he was correct. But the God I serve isn't a God Who would impose suffering on a specific group of people because they are Black, as Nagin's speech literally stated. If that's the case, God should be raining down fire and brimstone, and the U. S. Capitol and the White House should be in flames right now.

Making inflammatory speeches when a time of healing needs to be done and healing words spoken. Ray Nagin didn't do either; instead he's exacerbating the wounds left by Katrina and the Federal Government.

He's lost it, and the best thing he could do for the city of New Orleans is to step down from his post and resign gracefully. Failing that, look for Nagin to be the first elected official escorted from office...in a STRAIGHTJACKET.

THE RUDE PUNDIT'S ANNUAL MLK WOULD MESS UP GEORGE BUSH EDITION

The Rude Pundit says a whole lot more, but I pulled out the relevant excerpts from Dr. King's interview with Alex Haley in 1965:

Check out King in a January 1965 interview with Alex Haley in Playboy:

"PLAYBOY: Can you recall any other mistakes you've made in leading the movement?
"MARTIN LUTHER KING: Well, the most pervasive mistake I have made was in believing that because our cause was just, we could be sure that the white ministers of the South, once their Christian consciences were challenged, would rise to our aid. I felt that white ministers would take our cause to the white power structures. I ended up, of course, chastened and disillusioned. As our movement unfolded, and direct appeals were made to white ministers, most folded their hands -- and some even took stands against us.

"PLAYBOY: Their stated reason for refusing to help was that it was not the proper role of the church to 'intervene in secular affairs.' Do you disagree with this view?
"MARTIN LUTHER KING: Most emphatically. The essence of the Epistles of Paul is that Christians should rejoice at being deemed worthy to suffer for what they believe. The projection of a social gospel, in my opinion, is the true witness of a Christian life. This is the meaning of the true ekklesia -- the inner, spiritual church. The church once changed society. It was then a thermostat of society. But today I feel that too much of the church is merely a thermometer, which measures rather than molds popular opinion."

King tells Haley that it's specifically the "white church" that has failed: "As the Negro struggles against grave injustice, most white churchmen offer pious irrelevancies and sanctimonious trivialities. As you say, they claim that the gospel of Christ should have no concern with social issues. Yet white churchgoers, who insist that they are Christians, practice segregation as rigidly in the house of God as they do in movie-houses. Too much of the white church is timid and ineffectual, and some of it is shrill in its defense of bigotry and prejudice. In most communities, the spirit of status quo is endorsed by the churches."

Not only did white preachers diss Dr. King, Black Preachers, such as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's father, dissed him as well, and wouldn't allow him in their pulpits. And these are the same Rent-A-Preacher Negroes who are in their pulpits on this day, citing what a wonderful man Dr. King was, and what sacrifices he made.

To which I remind them, "Sacrifices you, yourself weren't willing to make, you bastard..."

What is worse is preachers who are Pastors of "Mega-Churches" like Rod Parsley and Creflo Dollar. Both pimp the poor for money like Rev. Ike, while using their pulpits as campaign staff for election candidates like J. Kenneth Blackwell or Michael Steele. Instead of doing what God called them to do.

Or, maybe God hasn't called them, but they are showing that they are in it for the money.

Yeah, the MLK would mess Up George Bush edition is a must read. Hat tip to His Rudeness, and another tip to blogger Steve Gillard on the Rent-A-Preachers.

WHAT IS OUR DREAM?

THIS MAN HAD A DREAM. THE DEMOCRACTIC PARTY DOESN'T EVEN HAVE A PLAN.

Why is it that when we celebrate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., we always reflect on his dream, yet fail to realize that in the midst of all that dreaming he did, the good Reverand actually had a plan to achieve those dreams?

The Democratic Party certainly has neither. They dream of the day when they can retake Congress and become the majority party again, yet they fail to plan as to how they are going to accomplish their dreams when they consistently keep bowing down, or cowering down in the face of the opposition. Why should we fight for a party that no longer fights for us?

Dr. King's dream was that we would all be treated equally, economically, educationally, environmentally, spiritually. His dream is certainly not being manifested when the Democratic Party refuses to exercise it's constitutional rights to oppose policies, legislation and judicial appointments because it is the morally correct thing to do. They don't fight for us in any way that matters, and on the day that would have been Dr. King's 76th birthday, I'm declaring here and now, that rather than wait for a political party that is supposed to fight my battles, I will damn well fight my own. Now, while that may not sound very "Christian", nonetheless, we need to stop being too lazy to fight for what's right ourselves.

The party of Biden, Lieberman, Feinstein and other pontificating blowhards, have already shown us who they will fight for, and it's not US, the people who vote for them. It is time to clean house, but while we clean house, we take back our country ourselves, and continue to try and advance the dream Dr. King gave his life for.

So, let's ask ourselves: WHAT IS OUR "DREAM"?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DR. KING. YOU CONTINUE TO BE MISSED, AND I APOLOGIZE THAT WE ARE NOT FULFILLING WHAT YOU LEFT FOR US TO DO. I PROMISE TO CONTINUE ASSISTING IN THE MANIFESTATION OF YOUR DREAM, WITH EVERY BREATH IN MY BODY. YOU DESERVE THAT YOUR DREAM BE REALIZED IN ALL OF US.

PROGRESS IN NEW ORLEANS...WHERE?

IS THIS BUSH'S EXAMPLE OF "PROGRESS" IN NEW ORLEANS? TELL THAT TO THOSE WHO DON'T KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON WITH WHETHER OR NOT THEY WILL BE ABLE TO RETURN HOME...

Four months since Hurricane Katrina struck the South and devastated her. Four months of survivors, first called "refugees" being scattered to the four winds, never knowing when, or if they can return. The threat of bulldozing down their property without their permission. Halliburton's been awarded contracts for rebuilding the town that GeeDubya has "fun" in.

Where's the progress GeeDubya is seeing? Maybe he can point it out to Mayor Ray Nagin, who's been touring the country, asking the transplanted to come back home.

I forget...the average American's view of progress is not the same as Dear Leader's.

I'm calling relatives and asking them where's the progress. But, I warn you, their responses may be in language unfit to print here, but as always, the Rude Pundit can say it better than I can.

RECTAL JOURNALISM?

THE MAINSTREM MEDIA CAN SURE USE ONE OF THESE

According to David Sirota, the journalism we are seeing is basically fecal matter pulled right from the horses rear ends of "journalists" like Joe Klein.

Sirota pulls no punches either. Here's a tidbit:

A lot has alreay been written about Joe Klein's latest column - a true foray into fantasy. The man is the eitomy of a journalist who is so self-absorbed, so obsessed with himself, or so lazy that he quite literally thinks he can just make things up. But sadly, Klein epitomzes a new brand of journalism sweeping the nation. It's what I call Rectal Journalism because its based on reporters and pundits simply pulling stuff right out of their asses and peddling it as fact, when in fact it is anything but.

Check out the rest at his blog.

Sure explains why the newspapers are not worth anything more than lining bird cages and becoming kitty litter.

KICKBACK MOUNTAIN OR BROKEBACK CONGRESS

You be the judge... But when I saw it, I thought Corey Anderson needs a tip jar for the photoshop job on the movie poster from "Brokeback Mountain".

"If you can't change it, then you gotta stand it..."

"I wish I knew how to quit you....(read Congress)"

FIRING THE FIRST SHOT

MEET THE CONTENDERS FOR BILL FRIST'S SENATE SEAT

According to the Tennessee Chattanoogan, Rep. Harold Ford, Jr. fired the first shot at his Senate competitors, in tying them to the ever growing scandal of Jack Abramoff.

Unfortunately, he didn't expect they would SHOOT BACK.

I think some Democrats are going to go down in this scandal, too, but as long as for every Democrat that goes down, that 10 corrupt Rethugs go down, I'll settle for the loss of DLC-type Democrats.

Why do I say DLC-type Democrats? Cause, more than likely, they were feeding at the corporate trough, instead of standing up for the core values of the Democratic Party.

I said in an earlier blog that Harold Ford needed to take up his own gauntlets he throws down in an effort to look like a tough politician. It's like Popeye trying to whip Bluto's butt without eating his spinach first. From where I sit, this race is only going to get uglier for Ford, and it's not even the end of January yet.

WHAT THE DEMS NEED TO DO DURING THE ALITO HEARINGS

IT'S A DIRTY JOB, BUT SOMEONE HAS TO DO IT...

I'll make this quick.

Machine Gun Sammy Alito should not get confirmed by the U. S. Senate to the Supreme Court. Roe v. Wade is on the chopping block, and if he's confirmed, Alito will take an axe to that decision and quickly move on to any remaining civil liberties and civil rights gains in the last two hundred years.

So, the Democrats need to go into "Filibuster Mode" and Bill Frist's "Nuclear Option" be damned. If he's got the guts to use it, that is. Reid can well shut down the Senate and nothing, and I mean, NOTHING, gets done. And just like when slimy Newt Gingrich shut down the Government back in 1996 because he was pissed at Bill Clinton, Frist's actions will have the country blaming his ineptness in leadership ability, in spades and double.

Of course, we all should have suspected Frist's competency when he diagnosed a comatose woman from watching video tapes.

So, to interpret why I put the picture of a scene from "The Shield", let's recap:

Michael Chiklis' character, Vic Mackey, is holding a gun on a suspect. Mackey represents the Democratic Party which have grown a pair.

And the suspect (weeping and crying) is the Republican Party, being made to bow down in defeat and not confirm Machine Gun Sammy to the Nation's Highest Court.

One can dream...

MY TAKE ON LIL' RICKY

LIL' RICKY CHANNELING HIS IDOL...

On this blog, I normally write about how much the Democratic Party needs to get rid of the Democratic Leadership Council, or the evil empire and its enablers (which usually includes elected Democratic officials). Thus far, I've had jack to say about Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, because usually, the loony can speak well enough to alienate everyone and their mothers.

First off, I like the nickname the blogsphere has given him, "Lil' Ricky"; which is a far cry from the adorable son of Ricky and Lucy Ricardo on "I Love Lucy". The current "Lil' Ricky" acts as spoiled as his mentor, GeeDubya, especially when he doesn't get his way. Every time he opens his mouth, he removes all doubt as to whether or not he is a foolish wingnut. But to threaten to withhold all Congressional aid to the state of New Jersey, is going into Tony Soprano territory without FBI Witness Protection. And he aspires to be President, while pissing off an entire state, whom I hope will have as long a memory as Californians have with the Boobengrabber.

Next, Senator Cat Killer/Inside Stock Trader Bill Frist, puts Lil' Ricky in charge of doing an, ahem, an ETHICS investigation, into the lobbying and money changing. That's like putting Satan in charge of winning souls for Jesus. In both instances, you already know that what should happen and desired results, are not going to be forthcoming.

The best answered prayer we can hope for: Lil' Ricky becoming "Former Senator Santorum." As Nancy Pelosi has said about the Republican Party, "One person stepping down is not enough to clean up the Corruption within the Party."

Yeah, but when you force more than one to stand down, that's the best application of Congressional "Mr. Clean" I can think of.

SCANDAL...THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING

Thanks to former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham. According to sources at TIME Magazine, the former disgraced, bribed Congressman, isn't planning to go down by himself.

Well, you seldom see a rat going down a sinking ship by himself, so this isn't really a surprise. Like Duke was going to admit to taking bribes by himself. I'm willing to bet that when he realized no one on the Hill was going to provide him cover, and he was going to be the proverbial sacrificial lamb, Duke made a call to his lawyer to arrange a plea, and to the Feds, offering cooperation and willingness to get himself wired for the cause.

Pass the popcorn, this is going to get better. You can't make this stuff up.

Just when you think Nixon couldn't be outdone, along comes the millenium GOP and they make Tricky Dick look like Billy Graham. LOL

COME CLEAN, OR GO HOME

IT'S NOT ENOUGH FOR THE DEMOCRATS UNLESS THEY'RE GOING TO BE LIKE THIS GUY...

I love it when I get David Sirota's updates. He makes a good argument that in 2006, it will not be enough for Democrats to campaign that they are better than the Republicans. Unfortunately, just like the Democratic Party has been infected by Republican wannabes, better known as the DLC, the Republican Party has likewise been infected with Neo-Conservatives, who ate up the moderate or true conservatives. You know that the Republicans are in trouble when the likes of William Buckley is trying to distance himself from the antics of late. Even BoBo is calling out the thugs in the Republican Party...

But, read what my friend, Mr. Sirota, has to say on this:

Getting Caught vs. Coming Clean

By David Sirota

Can you hear that sound coming from Washington? It is the Democrats licking their chops as Republicans seem to collapse under the weight of corruption scandals. With the indictment of former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, on money-laundering charges, the salivating began. Then there was the guilty plea by Rep. Duke Cunningham, R-Del Mar (San Diego County), on bribery charges. Now, with indicted Republican Jack Abramoff signing a plea agreement that could bring down other lawmakers, we detect a hungry growl from the minority party.

The Democrats' excitement is understandable: Republicans as a whole have clearly embarrassed themselves, with California Republicans leading the charge in making their party a national joke. First there was Cunningham. Then came Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Redlands (San Bernardino County), who was exposed for using his powerful positions on the House Appropriations Committee to lavish taxpayer-funded contracts on lobbying clients of his close friend, lobbyist and former California Rep. Bill Lowery. Now, two more California congressmen, Rep. John Doolittle, R-Rocklin (Placer County), and Richard Pombo, R-Tracy, are implicated in the Abramoff scandal, having taken large campaign contributions from Abramoff's clients.

In short, the GOP has humiliated itself in a way that only reinforces an image of the party that the public already holds: too beholden to big-money interests.

But underneath all the Democratic Party excitement about the GOP's corrupt missteps, a question still lingers: Is it enough for national Democratic Party leaders to simply point out their opponents' flaws?

The answer is likely no, especially if the flaws are related to corruption. The fact is the public has long believed politicians of both parties are bought and paid for by special interests. And, by and large, the public is right.

Industries now regularly spend millions of dollars underwriting political campaigns. Californians got a bitter taste of this most recently with Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's special-election campaign, funded with huge amounts of corporate cash. These contributions were called donations, but the public knows that's just a euphemism for what it really is: legalized bribery.

Then there is lobbying -- that synonym for selling insider access and connections to big-money interests, and then converting that access into congressional votes. Once a small specialty field, lobbying has become a billion-dollar bipartisan industry, with the revolving door between business and government spinning faster than an industrial strength fan.

This not-so-hidden system of money for votes means that congressional Democrats have to do more than just complain about Republicans so-called "culture of corruption." They must actually get up the courage to start advocating for fundamental reforms -- reforms that are already being pushed in states across the country.

Governors in Montana and New Hampshire, for instance, have pushed a slate of serious reforms that would, among other things, prevent lawmakers from immediately cashing in and becoming lobbyists, and would stop gifts from lobbyists to government officials. In Colorado, lawmakers last year pushed legislation to force companies seeking contracts with the government to publicly disclose their efforts to lobby state officials.

Perhaps most important are the successful efforts in Connecticut and Arizona to once and for all eliminate the system of legalized bribery and replace it with publicly financed elections, whereby qualifying candidates receive a certain amount of public money to compete in campaigns. Instead of a political process that favors candidates who can best shake down big-money donors, these states now have a publicly financed system that allows candidates to run on their ideas, their convictions and their integrity.

These states' efforts are clearly motivating others. As just one example, Assembly member Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley, is leading a group of Democratic legislators pushing a bill in the upcoming session that would create a public-financing system for legislative and gubernatorial campaigns.

America is clearly sick of pay-to-play politics. But the public knows that corruption is a disease that afflicts the entire political process. It is why a Wall Street Journal poll showed that the public views both parties negatively at the same time -- the first such double-negative ratings in the poll's 15-year history.

Unless national Democratic Party leaders follow the lead of states pushing reform and fully embrace plans to seriously clean up our country's corrupt political system, Americans will likely fault the scandal-plagued Republicans only for getting caught, not for committing a sin worthy of being tossed out of office.

Well said, David. I always did admire a man who possessed intelligence as well as good looks...LOL

MAKE US (AMERICANS) ONE

Every year, I'm glad to see the end of Christmas and the beginning of a new year. I'm hopeful, because it seems that every January 1st, we get to start over, or start anew. Fresh. Clean. Innocent, even.

My late pastor, the Rev. Dr. Robert T. George, used to always preach the same sermon, every 1st Sunday of the New Year. The Theme: "LORD, MAKE US ONE."

That sermon never grew boring, or old, or tired - it was timeless in that, where there still were divisions among us, be they societal, racial, class status, economic, educational, or political, there was my Pastor, pleading before God Almighty to "MAKE US ONE."

As in "ONE NATION UNDER GOD, INDIVISIBLE, WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL."

As in "WE ARE ALL OUR BROTHER'S KEEPERS."

As in "WE'RE ALL IN THIS LIFE ON PLANET EARTH TOGETHER."

As in what Jesus depicted through His earthly life as He brought together those 12 disciples who came from every and all walks of life. Regardless of political or societal affiliations. Jesus didn't care if you were a Harvard Law Grad, or an alumni of St. Albans; in fact, He probably was more comfortable at being with those who were considered "the scum of the Earth."

Yet, Jesus always considered every one He met as a potential "brother (or sister) in Christ."

In other words, He pleaded the same plea of my late pastor when Rev. George preached the sermon "MAKE US ONE." No division, no discrimination, no biases, no wingnuttery (while pimpin' Jesus' name to make it legit), love, mercy, compassion for all, regardless of their status in life, or what the viccisitudes of life has dealt them. We shouldn't have to wait before a national disaster like Hurricane Katrina hits to show any of the above, to whomever is in need of love, a kind word, or a generous gesture to help out.

And last, but not least, I'm pledging to do whatever I can, in whatever capacity I can, to work towards getting individuals elected to public offices, be they state, city council, school board, Congressional or Senate seats, in this year, who believes that our country should be united and will use their office to facilitate whatever is needed in that America can say "MAKE US ONE, BECAUSE WE ARE ONE!"

HAPPY NEW YEAR!