Nothing New Under The Sun.

Listening to this vintage clip of Bush and Clinton back in 1992, I can visualize the inevitable Obama/Romney debate playing out the same exact way.

The only exception is countless progressives pointing to Obama's Wall Street bankroll, claiming he can't really "feel our pain" with all that campaign dough. To be honest, no politician can really feel our socio-economic pain on a basic level. Too much money floating around for that to happen. The only thing they can do is listen and hear how Americans are struggling and respond appropriately.

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The Ballot vs. The Bullet.

It's been established throughout history that there's nothing scarier to many Americans than the sight of a black man with a gun, let alone a large group of black men armed to the teeth. Often ignored is how gun ownership by white Americans surpasses other ethnic groups by a factor of 2.5 to 1. A black man with a gun is scary to many whites, but a white man with a gun is even scarier to most blacks, especially considering past and present news. If Trayvon Martin was alive, he'd attest to that very fact himself.

In fact, it was the New Black Panther Party agitating for "alternative justice" in regards to George Zimmerman that spurred on white American alarm, which included an offer by a Neo-Nazi group to keep an eye out on "anyone" who could potentially "cause problems." The Daily Caller recently glommed on a feature in the NBPP spring edition newsletter where columnist Chawn Kweli lamented how the election of President Barack Obama into office has yet to produce any visibly positive results for the black community. Given the backlash over having a man of distinctive color in the Oval Office and Trayvon Martin's death as a bellwether for ethnic relations in the U.S., I can understand this sentiment. It does seem as though Obama hasn't done enough, if anything, for the plight of black Americans in supposedly "post-racial" America.

The NBPP wonders if black Americans should stop relying on The Ballot and start using The Bullet to get their points across. I believe that could end up backfiring in a bad way. Blacks taking up The Bullet in significant numbers would be the stuff of survivalist/race realist/"real American" militia dreams, as it would be Card Blanche for those groups to finally put an end to America's "black problem" once and for all. Yes, plenty of people still think this way. In a country where weapons stockpiling is often a first response to any crisis, armed protest could be an especially bloody affair.

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Women Are People, Too.

Emily L. Hauser has an interesting blog post up on progressives, or namely how male progressives who are self-proclaimed feminists or at least claim to be supportive of feminism should not practice misogyny just because the target of such happens to be from the other team. This comes from Fox News talking head S.E. Cupp being featured in a recent issue of Hustler Magazine with a certain male member Photoshopped in her mouth. The underlying message is that moderately attractive women like Cupp should shut the fuck up and keep being eye candy and fantasy wank material for legions of ogling male viewers.

As Hauser and commentator Darth Thulhu both mention, Hustler founder Larry Flynt fancies himself as a progressive, despite building an empire mostly on pushing women and female sexuality as consumer goods for a vast and never-ending male market. Hauser's main issue is how progressives should not fall prey to "othering" conservative women by dint of being conservative. All women deserve equal respect and the common courtesy of not being dismissed and devalued into walking, talking Fleshlight status.

I've been trying to figure out why people are still driven to do these things, despite information and evidence that points to why they, well, shouldn't. Despite all efforts of enlightenment, it seems that some people steadfastly believe women to be beneath them, either by biblical decree, physical dominance or commonly held convention. Efforts to maintain the second-class status of womenfolk continues to produce the same sort of corrosive effects that efforts to maintain the second-class status of minorities produced.

Pointing out errors in progressive representation does not excuse conservative thoughts on women and their roles within society. Many of these people still hold the shopworn belief that if women only reduced themselves to reproducing sex receptacles, then they would be truly happy. Many are actively working on removing women's options towards a happier and more independent lifestyle. The War on Women™ continues unabated, aided by those intent on nullifying sociopolitical power hard-won by women and others.

And yes, I realize today's blog post title is also the title of a Good Housekeeping article written back in 1960 by Betty Friedan.

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George Tierney Jr. of Greenville, South Carolina Makes A Big Mistake: Calls Sandra Fluke A "Cunt" And Gets Burned By Internet.

The above comes courtesy of otherwise charming gentleman George Tierney Jr. of Greenville, South Carolina. Poor George figured he could get away with calling someone a "dick sucker" and a "cunt" without any repercussions. Being this Twitter, George Tierney Jr. of Greenville, South Carolina's scathing rant was quickly made available to all 36,882 (as of 5/22) of Sandra Fluke's followers and millions of Tweeters all over.

Of course, George Tierney Jr. of Greenville, South Carolina's outburst was bound to hit the blogs. And once George Tierney Jr. of Greenville, South Carolina found that out, he promptly lost his shit:

Whoever runs this site needs to take my damn comments off of it. I did not give you permission, nor did you ask me for it. It shows up on google and I will see a lawyer if this doesnt disappear. Ask me before posting bullshit about me. You fuckers had no right.

Sincerely,

George Tierney Jr

You dont get to make the rules. I am the george tierney that made the comments to sandra fluke, not to you..take it off google. If it goes to a lawyer, it will be settled in court, with me getting paid.

Sincerely,

George Tierney Jr

George Tierney Jr. of Greenville, South Carolina has no idea how blogs work, how the Internet works or how people don't necessarily need your permission to put your stupidity on display. Teenagers who post naked photos of themselves on Facebook only to find them strewn across the Internet can attest to the impossibility of having Internet content taken down. Perhaps George Tierney Jr. of Greenville, South Carolina should incorporate his person and secure legal and monetary backing from RIAA/MPAA/etc., but lets not give George Tierney Jr. of Greenville, South Carolina any ideas.

George Tierney Jr. of Greenville, South Carolina claimed he was using his "inside voice" and didn't deserve being outed. His "inside voice" is the kind of voice that'd get his mouth washed out with soap as a kid or his teeth punched out of his mouth under some circumstances. Twitter and the Internet in general is usually a safe place for keyboard cowards like George Tierney Jr. of Greenville, South Carolina to safely mouth off.

That's the thing about wielding your First Amendment rights: not only can other people do it, too, but you also have to consider the consequences that follow. George Tierney Jr. of Greenville, South Carolina simply didn't know how that worked, nor did he really know how the Internet worked. And how his name and location will most likely pass on as a slightly memorable meme and as an example of how SEO spam can wreck someone's shit on Google and other search engines. Sucks for George Tierney Jr. of Greenville, South Carolina.

George Tierney Jr. of Greenville, South Carolina should know when to fold and not double down on the stupid, as shown below:

Poor, poor taste, George Tierney Jr. of Greenville, South Carolina. If he issued a half-assed apology about being sorry if Sandra Fluke was offended, closed his Twitter account and stayed off the Internet for a few years, people might forget about George Tierney Jr. of Greenville, South Carolina. Or maybe not. George Tierney Jr. of Greenville, South Carolina is pretty popular on the Internet now that this is out in the open. Maybe George Tierney Jr. of Greenville, South Carolina can get a reality TV show out of this or something.

George Tierney Jr. of Greenville, South Carolina
George Tierney Jr. of Greenville, SC
George Tierney Jr. of Greenville, S.C.
George Tierney Junior of Greenville, South Carolina

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Convenient Cheat Sheet For Boilerplate "Race Realism" In Online Venues.

The Internet is a pretty wonderful place. Sadly, it's also populated with those who share rather dim views on America's largest minority group. In any unmoderated or loosely moderated Internet discussion, you'll have those who insist on espousing their views on this group while expecting others to nod their head in agreement. You'd have a fight on your hands if you go about directly disputing their highly disingenuous claims, as they can yell you out of the debate as a last resort.

Nowadays, many of these people call themselves "race realists," as a way to distinguish themselves from actual racists who wear white pointy hats, worship Hitler and have tattoos all over their arms and shaven heads. Race realists claim to only be telling "the truth" about minorities and how whites are simply...better. These people expect others to treat their arguments as gospel and accept them willingly and unquestionably.

The following is a checklist, courtesy of a news item concerning the New Black Panther Party (post upcoming) and the comments that followed. There was an entire string of comments that pretty much hit every space on the BINGO card, plus a few extras:

• Whites succeeded with "intelligence and hard work," something that's considered lacking among the blacks
• Whites could advance without slavery (nevermind the American economic system profitted from it)
• Black women are the biggest beneficiaries of Afirmative Action, despite statistics and other proof to the contrary
• The Democrat party is racist
• African tribes inslaved one another and sold them to the Dutch, et al., so that largely excuses white Americans and we should really be blaming those Africans, Dutch, et al.
• Other races helped the U.S. florish. It's not all about you, blacky!
• The U.S. would be better off without blacks
• It's not whites' fault those Africans didn't have the balls to stand up to our ancestors
• They can't even cooperate with one another, let alone stand against us
• Muslims still engage in slavery, so go be mad at them and leave us whites the hell alone

The last three come courtesy of commentator BUD. Such a nice fellow:

• Blacks should be glad we "rescued" them from Africa. We did them a favor.
• We weren't forced to give blacks their freedom, we did it willingly.
• Blacks are their own worst enemy.

This is what many people tell themselves, over and over. Others were taught this by family, friends, etc. Internet trolls and the so-called "race realists" have these boilerplate arguments cooked up and ready to serve in a variety of ways, some insidious and others more blatant. In the end, the message is the same: whites rule, blacks drool. Oh, sorry. The "race realists" attempt to be a bit more tactful than that.

I have a greater theory on America's ethnic divisions, but that'll have to wait for another day and time. It has a lot to do with the concept of tribalism. It fits, as we all break down into tribes at the end of the day.

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Reading Between The Lines.

Look, Mitt Romney made a mistake ever talking about the fact that he created 100,000 jobs. Bain Capital’s responsibility was not to create 100,000 jobs or some other number. It was to make profits for his investors, most of whom were pension funds, endowments, and foundations. and it did it superbly, acting within the rules and very responsibly and was a leading firm.

Sometimes you have to stand back and carefully read between the lines. If Think Progress hadn't brought up the following, I never would have noticed:

Technically, of course, Ratter is right — companies’ only legal obligation is to create value for their owners. But as Rattner notes, Romney has built his campaign on claiming that Bain was actually some kind of altruistic job creation machine. Just this morning, Romney spokesperson Andrea Saul said, “Mitt Romney helped create more jobs in his private sector experience and more jobs as Governor of Massachusetts than President Obama has for the entire nation.”

By acknowledging that “Bain Capital’s responsibility was never to create…jobs,” Ratter is unwittingly endorsing the entire message of the Obama campaign ads, which is that Bain prioritized profits for it wealthy owners over jobs and pensions for its middle-class employees.

Unwittingly? I don't think guys like Rattner got where they are by making gaffes. Then again, how does that explain guys like Romney, Santorum and the junior Shrub? If it was intentional, the message may have been a bit too subtle for the low information set. Think about it: if the venture capital firm's goal was only to make investors money, then how can Mitt Romney stand on his claim of creating 100,000 jobs? At least that's what's being subtly hinted.

Conservatives will counter that by stating how CEOs are just as responsible for job gains as they are for returns on the investment. Romney has as much claim to those 100,000 jobs as he does to his $100 million gain from loading a $5 million investment with $400 million in debt. I wonder if that means he's just as culpable for those job losses...

Apparently not, as conservatives already found a patsy they could use to redirect the heat from Romney:

Here’s what the Obama Web video doesn’t mention: A top Obama donor and fundraiser had a much more direct tie to the controversy and actually served on the board of directors at Richardson, Texas-based Ampad, which makes office paper products.

Jonathan Lavine is a long-time Bain Capital executive and co-owner of the Boston Celtics. He is also one of President Obama’s most prolific fundraisers. He has already raised more than $200,000 for the Obama campaign this election, according to Federal Election Commission records.

Lavine started working for Bain in 1993. He was one of three Bain executives who served on the board of directors of Ampad for several years, a post he held until 1999. Here’s a news release announcing his departure from the company in April 1999.

Lavine’s placement on the board of Ampad suggests he had a more direct role than Romney in the series of events surrounding the layoffs, labor disputes and eventual bankruptcy of the Marion, Ind., factory featured in the Obama campaign video.

Asked about Mr. Lavine’s role, Obama campaign spokesman Ben Labolt put the focus back on Romney.

“No one aside from Mitt Romney is running for president highlighting their tenure as a corporate buyout specialist as one of job creation,” Labolt said. “The president has support from business leaders across industries who have seen him pull the economy back from the brink of another depression”.

And, Labolt argued, Romney, as the CEO of Bain, would have been the one ultimately responsible for what happened with Ampad.

“He made profit at any cost for himself and his partners by outsourcing jobs and bankrupting companies,” Labolt said. “From buyout to bankruptcy, Mitt Romney was CEO and sole owner of Bain. The managing director working on Ampad reported directly to him and has said Romney could have ordered him to settle with the union but didn’t.”

The CEO is ultimately responsible for the operations of the entire company. In other words, the buck stops with him. Except if said CEO wants to pass the buck to an unwitting subordinate. Mitt can't fire Lavine at this point, but he can try to have him stand in for the tarring and feathering. Quite a few people have already taken the bait.

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Sins Of Omission.

Some blogs and quite a few news sites try to shape and mold the news they blog/report on to fit their own agendas. Case in point is the following from one of those blogs that doesn't think highly of liberals, Obama or any combination of the two. The following is what they got from the Chicago Sun-Times:

It was the middle of the lunch rush Saturday, and Mike Winston was working in the kitchen of his Tinley Park restaurant, the Ashford House, when a waitress screamed a fight had broken out in the dining room.

Police call the melee at the restaurant a targeted assault by a mob that Winston said wielded metal batons and hammers. Ten diners were hurt in the attack, and three of those were hospitalized.

Tinley Park police had five suspected assailants in custody, and Winston said 18 young men, all wearing hooded jackets and obscuring their faces with scarves and other coverings, stormed into the restaurant.

“They came running in the door single file,” said Winston, who owns Ashford House, 7959 W. 159th St., and the adjacent Winston’s Market.

Winston, and police, said the men knew who their targets were, and that the attack wasn’t a random act of violence. Winston said the mob “targeted” a group of 20 diners, all of whom were from out of state.

“Once they attacked the table, they went and started hitting random people,” Winston said.

At this point, it looks as though a dozen-and-a-half masked punks stormed in and just started mollywopping innocent patrons for no reason. It's no wonder the blog in question picked this story up and just ran with it, straight to the end zone:

Anti-racists: Beating presumed fascists in the head with hammers, one swing at a time.

Score.

But something's missing. As it turns out, the Sun-Times included an update to the story, something the blog in question nor the commentators enjoying their daily recommended allowance of red meat didn't notice or cared to not notice:

A law enforcement source Sunday said the group beaten at a Tinley Park restaurant Saturday was made up of white supremacists, and those who assaulted them were protesters attacking their beliefs.

According to a May 3 post on whitenewsnow.com, someone with Williams’ email wrote that the “May Meet for White Nationalists and Families” would be on May 19 and 20 and that the purpose would be “economic networking,” “Work for Whites,” “Family Assistence (sic)” and “Real Time Activism.”

As it turned out, the restaurant became a temporary den of White Supremacist iniquity. Not that it justified beating dozens of patrons with hammers and bats. The group behind the incident posted a statement outlining their rationale for beating these people senseless:

On Saturday, May 19th a group of 30 anti-fascists descended upon Ashford House restaurant in the Chicago suburb of Tinley Park where the 5th annual White Nationalist Economic Summit and Illinois White Nationalist Meet-and-Greet was taking place. The White Nationalists were targeted inside the restaurant and physically attacked, causing several injuries and completely shutting down their meeting. The anti-fascist group was privy to anonymous inside information. This fascist event had been in secret planning for six months. The attendees have attempted to cover up the true intent of the event with mainstream media reports initially reporting the white nationalist conference as a wedding party and then as an Irish heritage meeting. The event was advertised on www.stormfront.org, an established white nationalist fascist internet forum.

Attempts to verify that info via that particular seedy den of online White Supremacist iniquity were unsuccessful. According to the New York Observer:

A message thread at Stormfront.org dating back to April matches Anti-Racist Action’s statements regarding the date and nature of the meeting. User “Sgathaich” posted about the event on April 3 and added, “If you are a business owner/self employed bring your info. All ideas are welcome. White’s working for White’s [sic]. White’s supporting White’s [sic]. We are taking back what is ours.”

"Taking back what is ours." Funny how these people can't seem to coexist with anyone who looks or thinks the slightest different from them. Racial distribution is a zero-sum game to these folks.

But this post isn't about a group of idiots clashing with another group of idiots. It's about how some sources tend to pick and choose what to broadcast and what to hold back, in order to generate the maximum amount of outrage and mouth-foam. It's not just penny-ante blogs that commit these acts -- established media does this in grand fashion and the GOP is currently the reigning champion of the art. For example, witness the GOP fete Mitt Romney for "creating" 100,000 jobs while ignoring the vast amounts of "creative destruction" left behind by his firm.

I won't even touch on the subliminals: dangerous "anti-racists" beating peaceful "pro-white" patrons during an event that draws plenty of socialist protesters and other "wrong-thinking" individuals and groups. Still, beating the living shit out of them is not the way to handle these groups. Confrontation and ridicule works much better and without the added benefit of making these people "martyrs" or "heroes" to their fellow idiots.

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Birds Of A Feather.

Many people want to praise Mitt Romney for being a "job creator," although he hasn't done much of that during his time at Bain Capital. After all, his job was really generating profits, not jobs. Keep in mind this same guy once expressed how he loved "being able to fire people":

"I like being able to fire people who provide services to me," Romney said at a Monday breakfast in New Hampshire, when talking about health care. "You know, if someone doesn't give me a good service that I need, I want to say, 'I'm going to go get someone else to provide that service to me.'"

Now that we've established that Mittens prefers changing out his cogs with better...cogs, here's Mittens expressing his love for a fellow "job creator":

“I wish Californians had elected Meg Whitman. She would have been more successful and explained to Californians the need to cut back on spending and eliminate unnecessary programs.”

You have to wonder if he heard about Whitman's plans to cut 30,000 workers from Hewlett-Packard's workforce:

Hewlett-Packard’s chief executive, Meg Whitman, plans to cut 30,000 or more jobs next week, according to officials familiar with the plan. Her goal, they said Thursday, is to spend the money she saves on increasing the efficiency of the company’s sales force and on creating new products.

The executives, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak for the company, said that H.P. would seek layoffs and voluntary retirements from across the company. The total could be as much as 10 percent of H.P.’s 324,000-person work force. China, which is one of H.P.’s highest growth areas, will probably be spared, as will its research and development efforts.

I thought Whitman was no longer with HP. Apparently, previous CEO Léo Apotheker's plan to take the company completely out of the personal computer business didn't sit well with shareholders. Don't feel bad for the guy -- he walked away with nearly $10 million in severance pay and bonuses.

Whatever Apotheker's plans for HP were must have been so bad they were willing to try out someone who already brought the company to damn-near ruin for a second go around. Funny how those things work in the corporate world.

I wonder what the sudden show of love for Whitman's coming from. You don't think he's finally found that special someone to play running mate with, did he? At least Meg doesn't exude the batshit crazy of Michele Bachmann or the "aww shucks" dingy hucksterism of Sarah Palin. Nope, just the cold-blooded reptilian mind for disposing companies and personnel who've outlived their usefulness to them. Birds of a feather, indeed.

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Cory Booker Blasts Obama On Bain Capital Criticism, Throws A Bone To GOP In The Process.

"If you look at the totality of Bain Capital's record, they've done a lot to support businesses, to grow businesses," he added. "And this, to me, I'm very uncomfortable."

"This kind of stuff is nauseating to me on both sides," Booker said. "It's nauseating to the American public. Enough is enough. Stop attacking private equity. Stop attacking Jeremiah Wright. This stuff has got to stop, because what it does is it undermines, to me, what this country should be focused on. It's a distraction from the real issues."

The above quoted came courtesy of Cory Booker. Although he still lends support to President Obama's re-election campaign, he doesn't like how his campaign pushed around poor Bain Capital. In fact, he equates such attacks on the private equity firm with those from the GOP on Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Don't ask. Perhaps it has something to do with Booker looking towards the future and how he will have to utilize his connections with financial big hitters for his future political aspirations. In that case, it was smart of him to springboard himself a considerable distance away from President Obama, in the event the president ends up tarred and feathered for being "anti-business."

The focus of Booker's (and many other's) discontent is a video focusing on Bain's acquisition of GST Steel in 1993 and the company's subsequent bankruptcy years later:

Not said in the current consternation swirling around the news outlets and Twitter is how Bain Capital managed a $40 million takeaway before directing the scraps to the garbage can. At the cost of thousands of jobs, of course. Even the authenticity of that "100,000 jobs" claim is suspect:

The claim that Romney helped create more than 100,000 jobs is difficult to prove. The campaign has said the figure comes from current statistics on three companies that Romney helped start or expand -- Staples (89,000 jobs), Sports Authority (15,000 jobs) and Domino's (7,900 jobs). However, the companies themselves, as opposed to Romney and Bain, may be responsible for the actual job creation since Bain's initial investment. The figure also does not include companies -- like GST Steel, which the Obama campaign and super PAC are highlighting -- where jobs were lost.

For some odd reason, private equity is sacrosanct, along with the rest of corporate America and the "job creators." At least that's the message I get from Booker and many others, including former auto czar Steve Rattner:

I think the ad is unfair. Look, Mitt Romney made a mistake ever talking about the fact that he created 100,000 jobs. Bain Capital’s responsibility was not to create 100,000 jobs or some other number. It was to make profits for his investors, most of whom were pension funds, endowments, and foundations. and it did it superbly, acting within the rules and very responsibly and was a leading firm. So, yeah, I do think to pick out an example of somebody who lost their job unfortunately, this is part of capitalism. This is part of life. And I don’t think there’s anything Bain Capital did that they need to be embarrassed about.

Mitt Romney shouldn't be "embarrassed" about partaking in vulture capitalism, an exclusive pastime that's becoming as American as baseball and apple pie.

Could this all be a rather subtle way of telling Obama he should lay off the "job creators," lest he find his re-election chances that much dicier come November? Considering how the Citizens United case opened the floodgates for corporate participation in elections, it's easy to see his supporters on Wall Street get a bit uncomfortable if he starts attacking them just a wee bit too much. And it's also easy to see said supporters send a subtle signal for him to knock it off before they drown Mitt Romney in millions of campaign funds in retaliation.

And with those attacks off the table, it's assumed that the Obama campaign will scramble to whup on some other aspect of Mitt Romney, preferably one that not only doesn't matter in the realm of electoral chances, but could also result in fierce backlash for Obama and Democrats. Religion? Nah, they made it clear they wouldn't touch that with a ten foot pole:

Mr. Axelrod also said that the Obama campaign had no intention of focusing on Mr. Romney’s religion.

“We’ve said that’s not fair game,’’ Mr. Axelrod said, when asked if he believes Mr. Romney’s Mormonism is an issue in the campaign.

Neutering the Obama campaign while pushing for certain types of Democrats to provide cover by denouncing strong criticism of certain issues surrounding Mitt Romney's campaign is something the GOP wouldn't mind happening. From the talk on Twitter, there are more people attempting to defend Booker's rationale for his statements than those who want to put the focus back where it belongs: on Bain Capital and its practices. It's a far-gone conclusion that the GOP will point to people in Obama's own party urging him to lay off Bain, Romney and the "job creators" when his campaign attempts to focus on this and other economic issues.

The man has plenty of cool points, but not nearly enough to cash in for throwing the GOP a nice, juicy bone.

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Everything You Ever Wanted On A Silver Platter.

There are plenty of cynics among us, especially those who are bitter about the president not being able to give them everything they ever wanted on a silver platter in the first 100 days of his administration. That bitterness takes over when he finally manages to get something done in the face of a completely insane and obstinate legislature. Frankly, we could have kept this from being a problem back in 2010, but hindsight is 20/20. Which is why reading how this guy didn't get his pony exactly when he wanted it pissed me off to no end:

At first I was just going to ignore this travesty, because it’s a move so clearly calculated to drum up attention among the gays that really it should just be ignored. I mean, big words, big deal; put your legislation where your mouth is if you want to impress me. But then the blissed-out, adoring responses started appearing in the media. And on Tumblr. And on my Facebook feed. “My hero!” trumpeted one acquaintance on Facebook. “Such a brave move for Obama!” announced a Tumblrite. Again, are you kidding me? The man is the president of the United Fucking States. Have you guys ever read that little “Declaration of Independence” thing? It’s 2012, for fuck’s sake. This isn’t some backwater redneck hick who’s suddenly seen the light of day. We’re getting this excited because a Columbia- and Harvard-education lawyer from Chicago supports the idea of equal rights? He hasn’t actually done anything yet - he’s just not opposed. And everyone’s acting like this is some huge ethical revelation or act of moral clarity. Seriously?

And it goes on and on. Seriously, I lose respect for people who choose to stamp their feet and throw a shit fit when they're not instantly gratified.

Obama’s 100 Days should have reflected that slogan. He should have gone into the White House four years ago and done exactly what he received a mandate from the people to do - shake shit up, and fast. Obama’s should have pushed harder, more immediately, and further on health care. He shouldn’t have surrendered to Congressional Republicans so quickly. Once he had a health care reform in his pocket, he should have worked quickly and aggressively to solidify the coalition that had put him in office. DADT should have disappeared within the first 6 months of the Obama administration. He should have worked quickly and aggressively to undo Bush-era policies on abortion, HIV, and education, which would have put the gays, the feminists, and the teachers’ unions firmly in his pocket. If Obama had had any true vision beyond “Change” as an empty slogan, or if he had had any loyalty to the people who believed in and supported him to begin with, he would have worked first and foremost to fulfill those campaign promises.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt had a mandate from the American people to shake shit up and get things done when he came into office. Most of the changes he helped push through during his first term were spat back out. If Obama had charged in hard and fast like many people wanted him to, chances are the blowback would have been so fierce that it would have left the rest of his term in shambles and the GOP that much more dedicated towards blocking practically every "socialist" legislation he had in mind.

The net effect would had been a one-term presidency. But that's okay, since he martyred himself upon the altar of uncompromising progressiveness. I'm fed up with people wanting the president to martyr himself in the name of emo-progressive purity.

In short, Mr. President, I’m thoroughly unimpressed by your manipulation of my identity group for your own political gain.

And I'm thoroughly unimpressed by your temper tantrum. Give the man some time to get the shit you want done...done.

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Occupational Taxes, County Bankruptcies And You.

Ever since Jefferson County, AL's half-cent occupational tax, authorized in 1967 but not collected until 1988, was struck down as "unconstitutional" back in 2011, the county's been out of an estimated $66 million in desperately-needed revenue. It was the proverbial straw that broke the county's back and drove it into one of the largest bankruptcies in recent history.

Now the county wants to resurrect that tax in an effort to get its fiscal house back in order. Except there's plenty of vocal opposition that would rather have the county eat its cold bowl of court-imposed and "taxpayer"-supported austerity. Instead, Jefferson County is being forced to trim back on indigent care, most notably the services provided by Jefferson County's Cooper Green Mercy hospital. Most of the AL.com crowd wouldn't mind seeing the hospital close its doors, despite it serving a significant portion of JeffCo's poorest and uninsured.

Cooper Green is currently some $8.9 million bucks in the hole. The hospital's seen its obstetrics and oncology services put to an end in an effort to cut back on spending. People who can't afford decent care from the other surrounding hospitals may have no other choice but to hit the emergency rooms of UAB and others. Meanwhile, the county is doing its best to shed enough of its budget to meet a $40 million dollar shortfall. It doesn't matter how much that ground glass hurts going down, you have to finish all of your austerity before eating dessert.

The whole point of the occupational tax? There are thousands of suburbanites outside of Jefferson County who commute into the county for work but leave promptly afterwards, with their paychecks not far behind. Most of these people choose not to spend any money inside the county beyond the occasional lunch and a tank fill-up. They don't pay property taxes because they don't live in Jefferson County, but they still utilize the road networks and rely on law enforcement, fire and rescue and other resources.

These folks live in Shelby, St. Clair, Bibb, Tuscaloosa and Blount Counties*, places with much lower taxes and far more conservative social and political mores. As you can imagine, they'll extract wealth from JeffCo, but that's about it. A half-cent occupational tax would go a ways to recoup some of those expenses spent on those commuting into JeffCo.

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Misplaced Vigilance.

The ultimate task for the people is to remain vigilant and aware ~ that the government, their government is out of control, and this moment, this opportunity, must not be forsaken, must not escape us, for we shall not have any coarse but armed revolution should we fail with the power of the vote in November ~ This Republic cannot survive for 4 more years underneath this political socialist ideologue.

The above comes from the "Whitehouse Watchdog" section of the Greene County, VA Republican Party's "Constitutional Conservatives" newsletter. Outside of the Free Republic, Fox News and other notably right-leaning locales, GOP newsletters are perhaps the best source for hyperbole, veiled hatred and outright hysteria. Ponch McPhee (heh) is the man assumed to be responsible for the above outburst in political insanity.

I'm not here to blame a single person who could easily walk back his words with a boilerplate apology. Instead, blame falls on an entire political spectrum that's collectively tweaked something fierce at the sight of a man of color occupying the highest office in the nation and presiding over what is arguably the most powerful nation on Earth. And it's tweaked to the point where armchair patriots issue oblique death threats through newsletters and e-mails passed on from supporter to supporter until they're inevitably intercepted by people with a modicum of common sense and shared with the general public, most of whom are understandably repulsed by the entire thing.

These people can't come out and say what they really want, as it would very well destroy their social lives and their power within the American Mediasphere. So they rely on twisted double-meanings, racially motivated dog whistles and coded rhetoric. Most people will instinctively parse the true meanings of their words. Others will just nod approvingly without realizing the subliminals underneath.

We all know most conservatives have a penchant of selling woof tickets to canceled events. And their words would mean absolutely nothing if it wasn't for that one person who takes those woof tickets at face value and attempts to cash them in. I believe some of the conservative folk are actually counting on some lone individual to swallow the hype and attempt something irretrievably stupid and dangerous.

Let it be known that if anyone was to take a run at the president, First Lady or God help us, the kids, the rioting that will ensue will make the L.A. and Detroit Riots seem like quaint and annoying Tea Party protests. If that someone actually succeeded, the United States of America will effectively collapse as a nation, as the generations of unmet grievances and unhealed wounds will burst open and consume this nation in a manner that even the so-called "patriots" never counted on.

Conservatives claim they want to "save" the nation from many perceived evils, yet they prove to be the exact evil the country is plagued by. Because the country couldn't be the exact way they want it, the armchair patriots, Teabaggers and the like are now engaged in a nationwide temper tantrum. You hope they decide to hold their breath and turn blue, but it never gets to that point. They're locked in the "knock things down and scream" stage. Someone should go fetch a belt.

Oddly enough, conservatives project their very failings onto their enemies...and it sticks. Instead of the conservatives being know as petulant children, it's the liberal "hippies" and "socialists" who are prescribed this behavioral trait. Instead of conservatives being spectacularly lazy and greedy, it's minorities who are accused of being this. If the GOP could get away with tagging Obama as an adulterer, they would, and they would proceed to ignore the likes of Newt Gingrich, David Vitter and Richard Melon Scaife.

These conservatives don't know what the fuck they're doing and they should stop before someone, somewhere gets hurt.

The challenge before us is very clear. Creating a blueprint for winning back the Senate and retaining the House, along with defeating the President is our party’s mission. We must return the Republic back to the people.

Conservative codespeak is an amazing thing. It's always implied that this country can't be shared with all 313.5 million of its current inhabitants. No, it has to be "taken back" by a small cadre of "freedom loving" individuals, who invariably and without fail are Anglo-Saxon descendants of either advanced or middle age. The people whom the country has to be "taken back" from are, without fail, minorities, the politically liberal, those with lifestyles or beliefs that deviate from the Protestant template, etc. In essence, people who don't look, act or think like them. And these folks use the words of the nation's founders and the constitution they created as justification for their beliefs and actions.

If the Founding Fathers were alive, you think they'd want to have a quiet chat with these people?

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Mother's Day.

While scores of mothers across the United States will be able to share this day with their kids and loved ones, many parents won't be able to for a variety of reasons, many of them excruciatingly painful. For many, Mother's Day is a painful reminder of not being able to have their child by their side. No gifts, no happy greetings of "happy Mother's Day," no way of both mother and children expressing the love they have for one another.

Sadly, there are those who believe any time is a great time to be an asshole:

I suppose Sabine's not having that great of a Mother's Day. Such a hate-filled message has no place on a day like this, or any other day for that matter.

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Cutting Through The Subliminals.

ERIC BOLLING: What would you call a guy who not only used cocaine, but dealt cocaine in high school and/or college? What would you call that kind of guy?
GREG GUTFELD: The president.

[laughter]

ERIC BOLLING: Besides "president."

No, they're not speaking about George W. Bush's run-ins with the white stuff. Once again, conservative talking heads over at Fox News are doing their best to tag President Obama with what conservatives usually think of blacks (outside of "the good ones" like our old friend, Jesse Lee Peterson). After the media blow-up over Mitt Romney's prep school escapades, they had to use something to redirect attention back onto the president.

Not only did our dynamic duo attempt to suggest our current president had triple beam dreams, but Bolling tried to cement the idea even further into the heads of low-information conservatives everywhere with the following:

SEAN HANNITY: It's -- the biggest campaign donor in 2008 was the media, Eric. What about this issue? Now, he said I was in a daze for years in high school playing basketball. I drank heavily. Used drugs -- plural. He's admitted to cocaine use. And I don't remember many questions about the specifics of his drug use. Where did he get the drugs? Who did he do drugs with? How did he get off drugs? How deep did this go? What drugs did he use? Is that fair?

BOLLING: That's more than fair, and I think he's actually even admitted to buying or selling drugs, as well, which makes it a little bit different.

Bolling apologized, but the underlying message is still out there. You gotta admire (or better still, abhor) conservatives' ability to let loose with lies and coded rhetoric, only to walk it back with quiet, half-hearted apologies, knowing that in the end, the underlying message still hit its mark.

Come to think of it, conservatives are going positively batshit over Obama these days. First, the subliminals from Senator Rand Paul*. Having a gun pointed at the head of a sitting president is generally A Bad Idea™, especially with your smug mug glowing with conceited approval. The Virginia-based National Association for Gun Rights dismissed the ensuing uproar as "silly" and responded with the same gun pointed at Rand Paul's dome.

What's funny about all this is that the president hasn't proposed any type of anti-gun legislation. In fact, he's thrown conservative gun owners a bone or two. Rand Paul and Co. know exactly what they're doing and what kind of message they're sending.

Meanwhile, Obama-induced social psychosis led one West Virginia county to throw its Democratic primary votes in the general direction of a Texas convict:

Keith Judd, the winner over Obama, is also known as Inmate No. 11593-051 at the Federal Correctional Institution in Beaumont, Texas, where he is serving a 17.5 year sentence after being convicted in 1999 for allegedly making threats at the University of New Mexico and also for extortion.

Somehow, someway, Judd was able to get on the ballot and pull out a victory over Obama in Logan County.

Call it the anti-Obama vote or the ultimate protest vote.

Maybe it was the anybody-but-Obama vote.

Whatever it was it wasn’t even close as Judd was able to win by 11 points in an embarrassment to the Obama camp and the national Democratic Party establishment.

With 37 out of 38 Logan County precincts reporting, Judd had grabbed 2,786 votes to Obama’s 2,231, winning 55.5 percent to 44.4.

With nearly 100 percent of the precincts reporting statewide in the wee hours of the morning, Judd was pulling 41 percent to Obama’s 59 and had garnered close to 72,544 votes.

There's a message in here, too. Apparently, Logan County, WV would rather have a convicted felon in office than suffer the indignities of being led by a nigg...ahem. But it wasn't just Logan County that came down sick with a case of the vapors:

The results were even worse next door in Mingo County where Obama was humiliated by 20 points or 1,005 votes by the Texas prisoner. With 100 percent of the precincts reporting, Judd had 2,972 votes (60.1 percent) to Obama’s 1,967 votes (39.9 percent).

Judd also won in eight other counties, taking Lincoln, Boone, Clay, Gilmer, Hardy, Tucker, Webster and Wyoming counties.

Obama only beat Judd by 31 votes in Mercer County by a 2,486-2,455 tally.

Judd took Boone County 2,343 to 2,199 in a 52-48 percent margin and also grabbed Lincoln County 1,533 to 1,382. In Wyoming County, Judd won by a 1,428 to 1,085 vote tally over Obama.

The whole state didn't come down sick -- Obama walked away with Huntington and Charleston, the most populous cities in the state.

And since you're wondering how someone cooling his heels in an federal prison in Texas ended up on a West Virginia ballot? Here's how:

Judd, 53, has been a Democratic presidential candidate before, appearing on Idaho’s 2008 ballot, finishing a distant third behind Obama and Clinton with only 1.7 percent of the vote.

Judd, who lists his hometown as Texarkana, Texas, took advantage of West Virginia’s rather liberal ballot access laws to gain a spot in this year’s Democratic Primary – a head-to-head match-up with Obama.

The law requires prospective candidates meet residency, age and other requirements, including a $2,500 filing fee, to get on the ballot.

Judd met those requirements and landed a spot on West Virginia’s ballot – the only state he was able to do so – despite being held behind bars.

Judd was the only candidate on the WV ballot other than the president. As it turns out, it was more about voting against Obama than it was a genuine preference for a jailbird. In the words of Ronnie Brown, "I voted against Obama." Considering how Hillary Clinton trounced Obama back during the 2008 primaries, you could safely say they just don't like the man.

But I wonder if certain people would have stayed home if the only other alternative on the ballot was yet another person of color. I think I already know the answer to that question.

*Rand Paul serves as proof positive of why voting for Ron Paul is A Bad Idea™

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Obama Takes A Stand On Same-Sex Marriage.

The 44th President of the United States did what no other president has done so far: stand in unequivocal support of marriage for same-sex couples.

Afterwards, the current front runner for the GOP candidate nomination did what most people expected him to do: reaffirm his unequivocal opposition to marriage for same-sex couples.

The president's campaign team responded with the following video, which included a clip of George Bush expressing ambivalence, if not support, over the issue of same-sex marriage.

I don't see a downside for the president coming out (sic) in support. After all, he advocated same-sex civil unions, not the act of homosexuality itself. Yes, it is possible to be against homosexuality in general yet not mind those of different proclivities to join in legally sanctioned union with one another. The only temporary loss will be scores of churchgoing black folk who will briefly reconsider their support of Obama until they remember what the alternative to an Obama administration looks like.

Mittens had to reaffirm the GOP party line to avoid looking like a fool to his own supporters. There's no way he can moderate his way out of this unless he wants to risk pissing off the Teabagger contingent. If he's worried about looking like a wimp in front of those folks, he should look back to his time in prep school, back when he cut a fellow classmate's hair under the assumption of him being "queer" and different. Of course, Romney has no recollection of the event:

“He can’t look like that. That’s wrong. Just look at him!” an incensed Romney told Matthew Friedemann, his close friend in the Stevens Hall dorm, according to Friedemann’s recollection. Mitt, the teenaged son of Michigan Gov. George Romney, kept complaining about Lauber’s look, Friedemann recalled.

Remember how his campaign people attempted to capitalize on Romney's zany antics as proof he wasn't completely wooden and robotic. You have to wonder if they're regretting that. Even his wife pitched in by vouching for the man's capacity for fun-loving:

“There’s a wild and crazy man inside of there just waiting to come out,” Romney’s wife, Ann — a graduate of Cranbrook’s sister school, Kingswood — attested in a television interview this month, evoking what she saw as his endearing and fun-loving prep-school persona.

Wild and crazy, indeed. The more the Obama team buries Romney and his ilk, the greater the chances of Obama's reelection.

And of course, there always has to be someone around to piss in the punch bowl. Yes, Obama is no LBJ. He's just Obama. And by all indications, that's plenty and then some.

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I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings.

"I have never been so humiliated in my life, all because I wanted a job,"

Like millions of Americans, Tateasa Adams pounded the pavement for a decent-paying job. When Six Flags Over Georgia called her back for a follow-up, she expected a face-to-face interview for a stage performer gig. She didn't expect to be led off in handcuffs.

When an outstanding warrant in Gwinnett County, GA popped up on a background check, Adams admitted to blowing off a traffic court date on account of being at her fiance's bedside as he underwent cancer treatment in Boston. When you're dealing with a loved one who's sick and ailing, you want to be by that person's side and in the process, you tend to blow off things that don't seem as important in comparison. For some, that includes a court date.

She didn't expect park officials to immediately call the police. While some businesses have a stated obligation to ring the alarm on scofflaws, the following is a profile in entrapment:

Six Flags sent Adams an email confirming her appointment on Feb. 29 for a "pre-appointment screen." She was instructed to return to the park "dressed in business attire -- this is an interview." Adams was also told to bring a valid photo identification.

"I arrived early," she said. "When I got there they sat me down in a room with a video camera, took my license, and had me fill out another application."

So park officials not only tricked Adams into showing up for her own arrest, they also stalled for time until the county police showed up. While most people are probably livid over park officials taking it upon themselves to see a scofflaw receive sweet, sweet justice, you'd have to wonder what the overall response would be if Tateasa Adams was Todd Adams, wanted for indecency with a child. I know, it's the "devil's advocate" angle, but you'd have to wonder.

On the other hand, it's still entrapment. Even the folks at the Cobb County P.D. say it's not the purview of some theme park to set up its own law enforcement sting:

“It seems to me a dangerous practice to engineer someone’s arrest,” Buckley told the AJC. “They run the risk of creating unnecessary claims for themselves. It just doesn’t make any sense.”

Adams was taken to Gwinnett County where she made bail and was subsequently released. The kicker?

Adams said she's still looking for work but fears she's already lost out on opportunities due to her arrest record. Her mugshot appears on the first page returned when one does a web search of the name "Tateasa Adams."

"This has been a total nightmare," she said. "I'm not making any excuses for missing the court date. I should've taken care of that. But it's not like I'm some dangerous criminal."

In the U.S., having a criminal record is a scarlet letter that precludes you from any occupation short of "temp worker" and "fry cook," and even I'm not so sure about the latter. I have to wonder if Ms. Adams happened to be of a different hue, would she had been given an opportunity to sort this out on her own. (i.e. seek an attorney, voluntarily turn herself in, etc.)

Thanks to a critical life decision, Tatesia Adams gets to have her literal mugshot at the top of Google's search rankings for her own name. If I were in her shoes, I'd hire these guys to help scrub my name clean, consider filing suit against Six Flags and burnish up that singing career while thinking about what it means to be "self-employed" for the foreseeable future.

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Standing Your Ground.

When Marissa Alexander used her legally licensed firearm to protect herself and her kids, she didn't imagine she'd be sent up the river for 20 years. But that's exactly what's happening. What makes it worse is that Alexander's case is the perfect scenario for how Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law should be used:

Alexander claims she was acting in self-defense, that her husband, Rico Gray, attacked her when he found messages to her ex-husband on her cell phone. Gray has said in testimony that he had previously warned Alexander that he would kill her if he ever found out that she had been unfaithful. In her panic, she ran to the garage, hoping to escape. Once there, she found that she did not have her keys and that the garage door was broken.

Feeling that there was no other route of escape, Alexander armed herself and re-entered the house. Gray confronted her, threatening to kill her once again. The mother of three turned her face away and fired a warning shot into the ceiling in hopes that Gray would back down, which he did, taking his children from a previous relationship and fleeing the house.

Ironically, there'd be a much greater chance of her walking free had she actually shot and killed him. Now there's a lesson domestic abuse victims might pick up in similar situations. It'd also help if Alexander was a photogenic blonde woman of noticeably WASP heritage. The law tends to be an ass when it comes to black Americans, black American women especially.

It's also worth noting that Alexander passed up a three-year plea deal, like any person would do if they genuinely believed themselves to be innocent. For some odd reason, the prospect of a 20-year bid seems like the prosecution and judges making an example of someone who didn't cop out when asked to.

The judge's rationale for convicting Alexander?

“Maybe I would be agreeing to a new Stand Your Ground motion, which highlights some of the difficulties we are struggling with procedurally implementing this new law,” he wrote, “but ultimately the motion is denied.” In his opinion, Alexander’s decision to re-enter the house was “inconsistent with a person in genuine fear of his or her life.”

Now contrast this ruling with the one for Greyston Garcia:

Circuit Judge Beth Bloom ruled Mar. 27 in a widely reported case that Greyston Garcia would not have to stand trial for killing Pedro Roteta, whom Garcia stabbed. According to Judge Bloom, Garcia was within his rights under Stand Your Ground law, because Roteta swung a bag of radios at Garcia, which, had it struck its intended target, could have been lethal.

Garcia, of Miami's Little Havana neighborhood, did not come under attack from Roteta. Instead, he found Roteta stealing a radio from his car. When Roteta saw Garcia, he ran away, and Garcia followed him, pulling out a knife. Garcia chased Roteta for a block, cornering him, and Roteta swung his bag of radios at Garcia - the potential lethal force. It was then that Garcia stabbed him.

Protecting your property is OK and "protecting" your neighborhood from an imagined menace is OK, too. But protecting yourself from an abusive human being isn't in the cards.

Rulings like these send a message. Battered wives, minorities and those who are perceived to be at the bottom of America's socioeconomic totem pole are now being put on notice.

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