Different Day, Same Shit.

"I hear all the time the expression 'the good old days'," Leon said. "Well, the good old days, we forget they have been good for some, but they weren't good for everybody.

"You can't go back, you can't live in the past," he added. "It drives me crazy when the captains of the religious right are always calling people back...for Blacks to be back in the back of the bus, for women to be back in the kitchen, for gays to be in the closet and for immigrants to be on their side of the border."

"What you and I understand," Leon said, "is that when Jesus says, 'You can't hang onto me,' he says, 'You know it's not about the past, it's not about the before, it's not about the way things were, but about the way things can be in the now.'"

The above comes from a sermon delivered by Dr. Luis Leon at St. John's Episcopal Church on Easter Sunday. It just so happened that the president and First Family were in attendance. You can see where this is going.

Predictably, folks on the right aren't taking Dr. Leon's moment of "real talk" too well - in fact, they're having flashbacks of Dr. Jeremiah Wright's infamous sermon and they're looking forward to seeing the president toss the good pastor under the bus in the same manner. I doubt that'll happen, but you can count on conservatives grinding their axes on this particular stone for the next few months. And you can count on CNN, NPR and other mainstream outlets politely tut-tut the president for encouraging this sort of thing.

Look beyond the consternation and manufactured outrage and you'll see a blinding, glaring truth that very few want to acknowledge or embrace:

"You can't go back, you can't live in the past," he added. "It drives me crazy when the captains of the religious right are always calling people back...for Blacks to be back in the back of the bus, for women to be back in the kitchen, for gays to be in the closet and for immigrants to be on their side of the border."

Which is what conservatives have been asking for all along, only in various ways that easily pass muster in a polite society where blatant talk is absolutely unacceptable. If it isn't curtailing women's rights by leaving their reproductive faculties under the control of state legislatures via abortion and birth control bans, then its putting an end to GLBT rights, same-sex marriages and fair treatment of illegal immigrants. I won't even mention the designs these folks have for black Americans - needless to say, it ain't pretty.

Thing is, conservatives absolutely hate it when these things are put out in the open. They hate it even more when they get called out on it. Some folks even resort to unabashed projection - anointed conservative mouthpiece Rush Limbaugh called the president "a racist" who "promotes racist behavior whenever he can" and "inspires racism":

“Obama’s presence inspires this guy to go all divisive, all racist. And start jamming on the Republicans for wanting blacks in the back of the bus, women back in the kitchen, when he can’t name a single person who does.”

I think he means the president can't name a single Person That Matters™ who's stupid enough to openly ask for these things - that's something you'd do only via dog whistles and codewords.

Truth isn't something that can be borne lightly; some people can't stand to bear it at all. Nevertheless, offering truth at every opportunity is the key to changing society for the better. If that means conservatives and their mouthpieces catch the vapors over it, then so be it.

By the way, the president looked rather dapper on this Sunday outing.

“Wait a minute, don’t touch my groceries. I can’t have someone negroidal touch my food. It’s against my creed,”

While Texans prepare for a post-Obama re-election civil war and possible UN takeover*, one Texan is making a brave stand against...some black guy bagging his groceries. Seriously.

A Hawkins man is claiming his civil rights and religious freedom were violated earlier this year when a black man sacked his groceries and a Big Sandy grocery store owner banned the customer from the business.

DeWitt R. Thomas filed a federal lawsuit in July against Keith Langston, owner of Two Rivers Grocery & Market.

According to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Tyler, Thomas entered the market on March 5 to buy food.

He stated in a nine-page, hand-written lawsuit that he told the grocery sacker, a black man, “Wait a minute, don’t touch my groceries. I can’t have someone negroidal touch my food. It’s against my creed.”

Thomas claimed the cashier was “perplexed” by his request and yelled at him to take his items and leave.

In a telephone interview Wednesday, Thomas said, “It’s pretty simple. They treated me really bad because I told them it was against my creed.”

According to the lawsuit, Thomas went on to explain he meant a black person when he used the term “negroidal.”

If you're wondering what sort of "creed" prevents him from having someone "negroidal" touch his Lunchables and Capri Suns, you're not alone.

Thomas said his religious beliefs are based on Vedism, which he said encompasses Hinduism.

“Vedism translates into knowledge. I am not this way because I am ignorant. Ignorance is the enemy,” he said.

This isn't the first time anyone's attempted to cloak their racial viewpoints in religious doctrine. Consider Mormon views on blacks in the ministry and the old story of how Shem, Ham and Japheth justified black slavery. Sadly, religion has always served as the last refuge of racist scoundrels.

A quick glance of Vedism doesn't seem to bring up any red flags about having "negroidal" folks touch your belongings. My thinking is that this could all be a foundation of bullshit used to springboard an otherwise frivolous lawsuit.

Good on the storeowner for giving this guy the boot. Too bad there are many others just like him, most of them who are just a bit smarter to keep their mouths shut and not embarrass themselves in public.

*It's funny how the same people who'd probably vote for a property tax increase to keep the captivating Kenyan's claws off the country would most likely scream in terror if their taxes were raised for anything else.

This past Fourth of July, the fine folks in Winfield, Alabama woke up to the handywork of their friendly neighborhood "Christian organization", that left flyers encouraging the town's white Christians to join them for a Negro-free holiday gathering full of good food, great music and plenty of pro-white propaganda.


Gee, I thought Christ's love didn't recognize any ethnic boundaries. Or many religious ones, at that. Then again, when your Jesus looks like this, you kinda expect him to stay on the right (or is that white?) team.


The city is a bit miffed. They don't want to be associated with any of this shit, and I don't blame them. The only thing that sucks more than a closeted Klansman in a Hardee's bathroom is a bunch of "Christians" using the faith as a cover for their bigoted tendencies. Speaking of which:

According to the flier, the three-day conference, being held in a rural area, will end with a "Sacred Christian Cross Lighting Ceremony."

Welp, at least they saved on the laundry bills. And I'm done.