NOW, SPECTOR'S WEIGHING IN....

And it's not pretty.

After all this time of waiting for him to grow a spine, he finally appears to do it.

'Course, this is the same guy who wrote that "magic bullet" theory on JFK's assassination as a young U. S. Attorney trying to score brownie points, so I'm not holding my breath.

CHENEY UNRAVELING...

THE PERSONIFICATION OF EVIL

So sez the rag we in DC read (unless we're drunk and then we're reading the "Moonie" ah, Washington Times). From WaPo (that's Washington Post for outside DC):

"Whether swearing at a Democrat on the Senate floor or calling Donald Rumsfeld the best defense secretary in U.S. history, his conduct makes even some Republicans nervous."

Or this:

But as his astonishing interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer laid bare last week, Cheney is increasingly out of touch with reality. He seems to think that by asserting things that are simply untrue, he can make others believe they are so.

Maybe that works within the White House. But for the rest of us, it's becoming a better bet to assume that everything -- or almost everything -- Cheney says is flat wrong.

Maybe, because Cheney shot a Texas lawyer in the face last summer, and literally got away with it (when you or I would be facing at the very least, an Assault with a Deadly Weapon Charge, even if the shooting was accidental), no one's willing to take him on because they might catch a face or belly full of buckshot.

Maybe because Cheney's still touchy about those five deferments from Vietnam he received when he sees Chuck Hagel or Jim Webb strolling the halls of the Senate buildings, because they are living reminders to him that they honored their country by doing their duty and going to Vietnam to serve, and he didn't.

Maybe, because Cheney can tell anyone, be they a U. S. Senator (Patrick Leahy, D-VT) or a member of the media who's been the lapdog for the entire six years of the debacle we call a Presidency (Wolf Blitzer) to F* Off at will, and they do it, he can tell the entire United States of America to go F* themselves and he expects full and total acquiescence.

I've said this before: Cheney is evil personified. He is the physical manifestation of Satan; or as close to it as a human being can get. So we should not be surprised that Americans found their voices as well as their spines and are "pushing back" on the rhetoric coming from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue for the last six years, that Cheney's growling, and growling very LOUDLY.

My friend, Pesky, defended me, his blog sister, from a person posting a comment about me that was undignified and had the stench of straight up playa hating. His post was that of "never touch a dying dog in the street, for the dog will still tear your hand off. And the breath I'm smelling is all dog..."

In the case of Dick Cheney, Pesky's comment is perfectly fitting for the Vice President who lied, cheated, stole, and yes, shot a person in the face, to keep the power that he obtained illegally, and is now sensing it's slipping away. He's reacting like a dying dog, or any wounded animal that's been cornered and has nowhere to go, and nothing to do but fight till it's dying breath. But, while he's in the throes of dying, a cornered animal is going to bite, claw and scratch until he takes that last breath, or some human being comes along and puts a bullet in it to put it out of it's misery.

My father used to hunt wild game. Once, he took my brother when he was old enough to shoot a gun. (Save your outrage for the Gun Guys over at BuzzFlash, okay?) The night before they went off hunting, I was eavesdropping on their conversation as my father gave instructions and advice to my brother. I remember my father telling my brother to make sure that if he shot game, to completely kill it - not to rely on killing it with one shot, because the animal is suffering and may injure others in his wounded state.

He said that about killing bears and mountain lions, too. Wounded, they are more dangerous, because they are in pain, and can inflict more damage because as a result of pain, they are lashing out. As a seven year old, I never forgot this piece of advice, though my father never took me hunting. I guess I remember it now, because Cheney reminds me of a wounded animal, lashing out at everyone telling him he's acting like he's off his meds.

He's a wounded animal. And Congress needs to strike that final blow and put him out of his misery. Can you spell I-M-P-E-A-C-M-E-N-T?

CHUCK HAGEL IS MORE ANTI-WAR THAN THE DLC

THIS GUY IS MORE ANTI-WAR THAN MOST DEMOCRATS...

And that's saying a whole lot. Read the interview he did at Truthout:

If we can't win and the public wants out, isn't it the responsibility of Congress to check the power of the president?

Sure.

But it seems Congress has been ineffective at that.

Well, we have. We've abdicated our responsibilities. That has to do with the fact that the Republican Party controlled the White House, the House, and the Senate. When that happens, you get no probing, no questioning, no oversight. If Bill Clinton had invaded Iraq and after two years he was having the same problems, do you think the Republican Congress would have put up with that? I don't think so.

You know the end is getting near when a Republican sounds more anti-war than the Democrats, especially DLC members. In fact, the DLC is inherently pro-war. Which should disqualify any of them that voted to authorize this hellhole of a war. Thank God John Kerry got the memo this time, realizing that his "I was for it before I was against it" stand isn't going to play no better this time than it did back in 2004. Hagel's starting to distinguish himself from a lot of ReThug "front-runners", many who rubber-stamped everything Bush has done since stealing the White House back in 2000.

And Joe Lieberman is revealing day by day that he isn't and probably never was a true Democrat. Which is why I will say that Harry Reid's stuck with him, after the golden opportunity of neutralizing this DLC whore was presented to him last summer and when Lieberman decided to disregard the wishes of Democratic voters in Connecticut and run Indy, Reid should have stripped Lieberman of his Committee assignments. Now this human waste is demonstrating he's going to stick it to Democrats, especially those who supported Ned Lamont, at every opportunity. I guess Colin Powell's "Pottery Barn Rule" really applies here.

But the accountability; well, folks, Sen. Chuck Hagel just handed us the weapons to beat Democrats over the head with. Since the DLC is arguing for Democrats to be more like Republicans (not ReThugs - there's a difference), ask them are they willing to become more like Chuck Hagel?

TOM TANCREDO IS A BIGOTED PLAYA HATER

From fellow blogger Jill Tubman, over at JackandJillPolitics :

This is a novel approach notable for its daring. You had to figure that the new power and unity of the Congressional Black Caucus with one member as a presidential candidate and a few others as committee chairs has to be scary. This is a direct, racist attack that I am willing to bet that more wingnuts will be pushing as the CBC begins to assert their growing power.

Tancredo:

"It is utterly hypocritical for Congress to extol the virtues of a colorblind society while officially sanctioning caucuses that are based solely on race," said the Colorado Republican, who is most widely known as a vocal critic of illegal immigration.

Now, if a white congressman is representing a district that is 70% African-Americans, you would think he could ask the Congressional Black Caucus for some help in providing accurate representation. And, because it is the Congressional Black Caucus, who would be in a better position and have a better opportunity to educate their white peers about the issues faced by African-Americans in the community than the CBC? While they denied Cohen's entry into the CBC, per se, they also didn't bother to discuss how they would be willing to work with him.

And it can't be because they are angry, sad, whatever, at the fact they don't count Harold Ford, Jr. among their ranks anymore. He's the Derelict of the bunch among their ranks that they couldn't reign in, or count on for unanimity, and he was always going contrary to the CBC's agenda, while former Chair Mel Watt (D-NC) always provided him, Albert Wynn (D-MD), Artur Davis (D-Alabama), David Scott and Sanford Bishop (D-Georgia) cover for their treachery.

But handing a racist like Tom Tancredo (R-ReThug/CO), ammunition to begin destroying the ethnic caucuses like Newt Gingrich did back in 1994 (cutting off their Congressional Budget) goes beyond the pale, cause he's not going to stop at the CBC. They can't even claim the status of being Congress' conscience, when they show how much their own consciences have been seared by a quest for power they didn't really have, and allowing their marginalization by the likes of the first Woman Speaker of the House, and in concert with the DLC.

It will be, ahem, interesting, at least, to see how girlfriend from Detroit is going to battle this new development, preventing Tancredo's concept from gathering steam and escalating into full blown war. It will also be interesting to see how Pelosi and the rest of the Democratic Caucus responds to the threat. If the CBC is left to fend for themselves, the Latino and Asian Caucus better take note - ethnicity when it's convenient, and disgarded when it becomes trouble.

My concern is whether or not the CBC will read the memo...THIS TIME.

SEN. BARACK OBAMA; TRIANGULATING TWIT?

AMERICA'S NEXT FIRST FAMILY? NOT SO FAST...

...So sez Rep. Maxine Waters (D-California) of the Out of Iraq Caucus. And she's right. NOW is the time for either of them to stop being clones of one another and take a clear stand on the Iraq War. From all accounts, these two are not only going to be battling for the African-American vote, but they will also be engaging in Battles Royale to distinguish themselves from each other.

In my opinion, it would serve Obama right, because I'm tired of the triangulating twit he's become. He came to DC and learned how to play the Beltway Insider game a little too well for this African-American. I wish the media would quit serving him up to African-Americans as the next MLK or Malcolm, because those brothers put their lives on the line when it mattered. Already, he's concerned he might catch a bullet on the campaign trail. Well, Senator Obama, if you had not believed your own press clippings, maybe you wouldn't be worrying like you are now. I like how sister Maxine is ignoring her own skeletons and calling you out to stand up for something, instead of pussy-footing around and trying not to be defined by the media or your now-adoring public.

The way I see it, Obama threatens to desecrate all those brothers stood for. I also don't like when he claims ethnicity when it's convenient, and runs away from it as fast as the former Rep. Harold Ford, when it's necessary. Also on my crap list regarding Mr. Obama are the following:

His having to be dragged by Senate leadership to vote with the Caucus against cloture in the Supreme Court Confirmation "Sudden Sam" Alito;

His vote to confirm Condoleeza Rice for Secretary of State and make the argument that sounded suspiciously like he voted for her because of the "Jim-Crowism" of some African-Americans who are all to happy to see a Black Face in a Perceived High Place. I say "perceived" because for all she has done as Secretary of State (demonstrating massive levels of incompetence) we can almost be inclined to forgive her predecessor, Colin Powell, for selling the world what he knew then, and what we know now, was outright lies to start a global war.

His vote to pass the Net Neutrality Bill and his sorry, triangulating attempt to defend himself over on DKos. Voting for the above should be enough to get you disqualified from running for President.

Other things that I may not have included from my DKos posts are voting for the Iraq War (glad John Kerry got the memo, finally), voting for the BK bill, voting against Net Neutrality, and voting to continue sending money into the Black Hole known as the Iraq War. Hillary has yet to apologize for her vote; although she's doing her best to distance herself from it. Obama ran on an anti-war platform; Illinois voters must be pissed to learn he's no longer anti-war, and, in fact, favors part of Bush's plan to send more troops to Iraq.

We want someone who is as different from the current Looney Tunes in the White House from Al Sharpton. We want someone who makes Bryant Gumbel look like Malcolm X. We want a Russ Feingold-Jim Webb type, with some Harry Belafonte thrown in for flavor. And neither Obama or Hillary has it; they're blander than vanilla, but well-trained in the art of circular firing squads, triangulation and fence-straddling. They, like Bush, surround themselves with people who say what they want to hear, but can't give them the real deal advice for fear of losing their jobs.

Hillary is referred to on some of the blogs as this. And here's my reasons why I can't vote for her in 2008:

And I've now coined the phrase for Obama - Triangulating Twit. Until he proves himself and take a firm stance on the Iraq War, neither of them are qualified to run for President, because I don't want anymore DLC, Beltway Insiders in the Oval Office, period.

NOT EVERYONE LOVES OBAMA...

So sez the Skeptical Brotha. And I'm in agreement with him. I do apologize for the lengthy time between posts, though. And a belated Happy New Year.

I don't know what's annoying me more: Harold Ford, Jr. becoming the next Whore for the DLC, or the manufactured ascendency of Barack Obama to the White House, and he hasn't even done anything of significance yet.

I stole this from Skeptical Brotha. Read it and then head over to his site and show him some love, okay?

“And so we shall have to do more than register and more than vote; we shall have to create leaders who embody virtues we can respect, who have moral and ethical principles we can applaud with an enthusiasm that enables us to rally support for them based on confidence and trust. We will have to demand high standards and give consistent, loyal support to those who merit it. We will have to be a reliable constituency for those who prove themselves to be committed political warriors in our behalf. When our movement has partisan political personalities whose unity with their people is unshakable and whose independence is genuine, they will be treated in white political councils with the respect those who embody such power deserve. ” -Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

As we profess to honor the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr this week, we should be mindful of his words. As the leader of a movement tasked with dealing with politicians large and small, he came to become intimately familiar with human nature and the psyche of the black politician. He came to understand what made each tick and was able to separate the wheat from the chaff. Barack Obama has taken a step this week on a journey that no other African American has ever been on. It is a step leading to the precipice of ultimate power: the Presidency. We, along with the entire world, will get a chance to see what this brotha is really made of. Unlike the dashing enigma that some in the corporate media have portrayed him to be, in reality, he is nothing of the sort.

His path to power has been eased by his gracious personality and his craven political accommodations to those of greater power. His unique positioning in the field of 2008 contenders is both calculated and largely deceptive. While Senator Obama is one of us, his candidacy is not from us.

This boom-let of uncritical and fawning praise and publicity culminating in his announcement for President is not a creation of the black community. We actually chose Jesse Jackson. He spoke for an undiluted consensus of black political thought. He did so eloquently and forthrightly despite the enormity of his vanity and ego. In contrast, Al Sharpton’s political persona is substantially weaker and his vanity, ego, and manifold character flaws are even greater. However, the substance of his critique of the Democratic Party as an institution which takes African Americans for granted is valid. Obama, on the other hand, speaks for those to whom he is indebted.

Dr. King was insightful when he wrote, “The majority of Negro political leaders do not ascend to prominence on the shoulders of mass support. Although genuinely popular leaders are now emerging, most are selected by white leadership, elevated to position, supplied with resources, and inevitably subjected to white control. The mass of Negroes nurtures a healthy suspicion toward these manufactured leaders.”

Obama is a manufactured leader who has allowed himself to be advanced by a cabal of media elites and “DLC centrist” political actors determined to choose an alternative to Hillary Rodham Clinton. Those of us in the progressive black blogosphere have ample reasons to be suspicious of brotha Barack. While it is important to examine what a politician stands for, it is just as important to examine who stands behind them pulling the strings.

Standing foursquare behind Senator Obama is the Chicago Daley machine. The Daley machine of old led by their father, and the Daley machine of today, have always stood for the maximization of white ethnic political power and the subjugation of minority communities to their corporate backed rule. As I’ve said before, Mayor Daley has endorsed Obama for President in a self-serving power move designed to eliminate the looming black threat against his re-election in a metropolis that long ceased to be majority white. His brotha Bill Daley, the former Gore Campaign Chairman and Secretary of Commerce in the Clinton Administration, has also come aboard ship Obama, signing on as a senior advisor.

In the Daley Machine of old, the contenders had to make a great show of coming to Chicago and kissing daddy’s ring. During that time, he controlled the Illinois delegation of convention delegates to the Democratic National Convention. His active support was usually critical and his active efforts in 1960 led to JFK’s narrow win over Nixon. Today, the Daley brothers exercise that power as a team.

Mayor Daley heads a Chicago political fiefdom in which he is virtually unchallenged. He has maintained that control by buying off black elected officials with patronage and pork barrel projects and by shamelessly catering to rapacious corporate interests. He issued his first Veto in 17 years as Mayor to prevent the City of Chicago from mandating that Wal-Mart and other big box retailers pay living wages of at least $10.00 an hour. He did this despite an accumulation of over $78.9 billion in assets for Wal-Mart’s founding family.

Mayor Daley’s brotha Bill Daley negotiated NAFTA on behalf of the Clinton Administration and PNTR with China. These, and other regressive free trade packages advanced by the corporate friendly Clinton Administration facilitated the ongoing destruction of America’s manufacturing base by shipping jobs to Mexico and other developing nations better suited to paying workers poverty wages and leaving Americans unemployed. He is now the Chicago front-man for the investment banking firm of JPMorgan.

Obama’s vote for the Oman free trade agreement is probably the source of Bill Daley’s enthusiasm and should be a basis for progressive skepticism. Oman prohibits union organizing and is nothing more than a top down dictatorship with a record of human rights abuses. Dr. King was assassinated in Memphis as he supported a strike by black sanitation workers for living wages and collective bargaining rights. It is an affront to King’s legacy and contrary to his dream to support right-wing trade agreements that fail to uphold people’s basic human right to a living wage.

Political Scientist Michael Parenti has postulated that “American capitalism represents more than just an economic system; it is an entire cultural and social order, a plutocracy — that is, a system of rule by and for the rich — for the most part.” Now that Obama’s moderate, mealy-mouthed political manifesto has met with critical acclaim and made him a millionaire, he is acceptable to the ruling class as a colored proxy and Trojan horse for their malevolent interests.

During the contentious debate over the nomination of dangerous black reactionary Janice Rogers Brown to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, the nations second highest and most important appellate court besides the Supreme Court itself, Obama said, “I am not somebody who subscribes to the view that because somebody is a member of a minority group they somehow have to subscribe to a particular ideology or a particular political party. I think it is wonderful that Asian Americans, Latinos, African Americans, and others are represented in all parties and across the political spectrum. When such representation exists, then those groups are less likely to be taken for granted by any political party.” Part of that statement contains a kernel of truth but also reveals a stunning lack of insight about liberation movements and progressive social change. Nobody tasted freedom by becoming an Uncle Tom reactionary.

None of the groups he has mentioned has been unscathed by a bald-faced economic, social, and politically directed racism meant to subjugate them under a paternalistic white hand. His lack of fortitude in filibustering the nominations of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court and Appellate Judges like Clarence Thomas Clone Janice Rogers Brown, reveal a political moderation that goes against the progressive grain of the black political consensus and a capitulation to the contemporary forces of reaction.

This betrayal and lack of fortitude make him palatable to the teeming masses of white political activists yearning for the chance to wave their support of Obama in our faces as proof of their liberalism while the racist underpinnings of our imperialistic domestic and foreign policy remain intact. I believe in the old adage “show and prove.” Both Obama and the liberal white blogosphere must do copious amounts of both before they are “absolved of all sin” by me. His run for the White House was paved by the efforts of Jesse Jackson and the black community 20 years ago. Obama has yet to show himself worthy.

While Jesse Jackson was at heart a black politician and part-time preacher in search of political legitimacy. Al Sharpton is a street hustler with a clerical collar in search of a better hustle. If that means partially representing the black political consensus by running for President while simultaneously living the high life on campaign funds solicited by GOP operatives trying to embarrass and weaken the democratic party, he seems to be O.K. with that. That, in a nutshell, describes Reverend Al’s 2004 Presidential bid.

Al is always getting in bed with disreputable people he has no business dealing with in an unscrupulous effort to make a damn dollar. Rhetorically however, he comes closer to being on point than most of his so-called mainstream brethren. He sounds the right notes at the right times from an undiluted, and politically honest sheet of authentically black music.

“This is not about a party. This is about living up to the promise of America. The promise of America says we will guarantee quality education for all children and not spend more money on metal detectors than computers in our schools.”

“The promise of America guarantees health care for all of its citizens and doesn’t force seniors to travel to Canada to buy prescription drugs they can’t afford here at home.”

“The promise of America provides that those who work in our health care system can afford to be hospitalized in the very beds they clean up every day.”

“The promise of America is that government does not seek to regulate your behavior in the bedroom, but to guarantee your right to provide food in the kitchen.”

“The issue of government is not to determine who may sleep together in the bedroom, it’s to help those that might not be eating in the kitchen.”

“The promise of America [is] that we stand for human rights, whether it’s fighting against slavery in the Sudan, …AIDS in Lesotho; (or)… police misconduct in this country.”

For the aforementioned reasons, I feel it necessary to sanction another run by Al Sharpton. America, especially black America, could use a sober dose of candor regarding race and its relationship to the Democratic Party. While this falls far, far, short of an endorsement, I feel his presence necessary to articulate what Obama always fails to say. If for no other reason, I relish the chance to see Sharpton “spank the donkey” one more time. If he has to slap some damn rhetorical and policy sense into Barack Obama in the process, so be it. If nothin’ else, it might keep Barack honest enough for black folks to eventually support and honor the legacy and dream of a King.