The Progressive Electorate - Front Page

Flying High With Karl Rove

admin — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 20:14:56 GMT

From my buddy @nerdette who is a must follow on Twitter.

Last week, weary after a day of doing the good work of the union, I sat down at my gate, waiting for a plane to take me from El Paso back to my home in Austin, Texas. It's been a little more than a year since I've left my hometown of DC, and I love Texas - largely because you can go about your business with little fanfare. People only really care about football stars or country music crooners (and occasionally a skinny indie rocker) much more than they know who their house legislator is.

I flip through Twitter, rearrange my bags, glance at a bunch of folks in BDUs, clearly about to go on leave, when I see someone out of the corner of my eye. Someone that looks a lot like Karl Rove.

In El Paso? What?

He's smaller than I thought he'd be in person - perfectly normal looking. After about 15 minutes of my staring, he started to notice my attention. He didn't make much eye contact. And he's likely not much different from anyone else - breathes oxygen, takes a poop in the morning, etc. He wore a dark tailored suit, was typing on a Mac, and carried around a Texas Realtor Association bag and a very nice Tumi roller bag.

Trust me, about a million thoughts, questions, jokes ran through my head. Smash his laptop, vomit in his lap, run up and scream "babykiller!" or "turd blossom" or whatever.

As I sat across the gate, heart pounding in my throat, I thought of a friend of mine who helped me face a childhood fear. Like me, my friend was terrified of Freddy Krueger - a fictional boogeyman from the Nightmare on Elm Street horror flicks. The only way he ever got over it was to image himself walking up to Freddy and calmly shake his hand. When he did that, he stopped feeding the panic and fear.

I sat in the airport terminal, getting suggestions from everyone in twitterland on what to do (sorry I can't post all of them here - just check my @s - y'all are hilarious!) watched people get into line, talk on their phones, shift their weight in their chairs. Thing is, no one else knew who this guy is. Sometimes us political hacks forget the world doesn't revolve around our myopic, 24-hour news cycle perspective. And anyway, he's a private citizen now.

I decide to put my friend's tactic into action. I strode over to Rove and his laptop.

Me: Hello, sir (it's Texas people, you say "sir"). Are you Karl Rove?
Rove: [smiling] Why, yes I am.
Me: I study your work quite a bit.
Rove: Well, thanks. [looks at my shirt] Who are you with?
Me: I work for the Teachers' union.
Rove: Oh, I like the Texas AFT. Good reading reform work. Big fan.
[Me: WTF?]
Me: "Nice to meet you. Can I shake your hand?"

He smiles and obliges, and then I mentioned that I loved his White House Correspondent's Dinner rap, to which he laughs uncomfortably and says "it was more of a twitching than a rap." I walk away.

So there you have it, folks. I shook the hand of Bush's Architect. No worse for wear. Free from fear.

NRCC aide publishes Rep. Perriello's staffers home addresses, even GOP AG calls this "Appalling"

MinistryOfTruth — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 05:51:19 GMT

"It's an invitation to intimidation"

Via Sam Stein at HuffPo

A press assistant for the National Republican Congressional Campaign tweeted the home addresses of campaign staffers for Rep. Tom Perriello (D-Va.) Tuesday night.

And the last time this happened, wingnuts published Rep. Perriello's home address and screwed it up, posting his brother's address instead. When someone vandalized Perriello's brothers home (by vandalized, I mean severed a gas line and attempted to EXPLODE) the FBI got involved, and VA Republicans slammed the release of the address by Tea Party operative Mike Troxel.

The NRCC staffer who did this, Andy Sere, is a despicable douche, needless to say. I would publish HIS home address, but I have this personality disorder called ETHICS, so, instead, I've come up with a way to really piss Andy off.

For more, go below the fold
Crossposted at Daily Kos

Who would have thought I'd ever find myself agreeing with this guy . . .

Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, who has a following in the Tea Party movement, called the posting of Perriello's brother's address "appalling."
"I think that is way over the line," he said. "I don't think it's close. It's an appalling approach. It's not civil discourse. It's an invitation to intimidation."
roanoke.com

Bold text added by the diarist

Certainly, if Cuccinelli thought publishing Perriello's brothers' address was appalling when a TeaBagger did it, he would say the same thing if we changed the words "TeaBagger" to "NRCC aide", and "Perriello's brothers' address" to "Perriello's staffers' address"

Amazingly, Cuccinelli and Perriello's campaign manager agree on terminology here, as both have called these kinds of instances "Appalling"

"NRCC spokesperson Andy Sere clearly crossed the line tonight, but will Robert Hurt stand by idly while those who recruited him and represented his campaign carry out these dangerous and unethical practices? It's appalling and outrageous,"
HuffPo

Bold text added by the diarist

So, here are a few questions I have for Andy Sere, GOP VA-05 candidate Robert Hurt and their colleagues . . . .

1. WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING????

2. Will you take responsibility for any violence or intimidation against Rep. Perriello's staffers whose personal privacy you have violated?

3. Seriously, WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING????

Now, unlike Andy Sere I have an ethical problem with this kind of thing, but since I won't stoop to the level of Andy Sere I've come up with a great way to support Rep. Perriello and his embattled staffers that all of us can enjoy . . .

It's what some like to call grabbing a mop

First!

Visit Congressman Perriello's re-election campaign webpage

Follow Congressman Perriello on Facebook

Follow Congressman Perriello on Twitter

And if you can do so, please go to ActBlue and send Team Perriello some well deserved love

Congressman Perriello did the RIGHT THING for us by voting for health care reform, and he has been a strong supporter of President Obama in his first term in Congress. Tom Perriello has stood up and fought for us, it's time that we return the favor.

So? What are you gonna do?

(Oh, and my personal message to Andy Sere)

Peace to one and all, even slugs like Andy Sere . . .

You can follow me on Twitter @JesseLaGreca!

Stab Corporatism in the Heart

MinistryOfTruth — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 02:46:31 GMT

I thought I'd follow up on an awesome diary from early today by Jason Rosenbaum of the PCCC titled "ACTION TIME: Closing the "Enthusiasm Gap" with this, from a press release from the David Segal (RI-01) election campaign. . .

David Segal has vowed that, if elected, his first act in Congress will be to co-sponsor the TRADE act, which would renegotiate NAFTA.

"Just like labor and environmental advocates warned, trade agreements like NAFTA have proven to be a raw deal for the American people," Segal said. "Rhode Islanders have lost 4,482 jobs to NAFTA alone, and nationwide more than 1.5 million American jobs have been outsourced due to NAFTA.
"It's a slap in the face to American workers that our current trade agreements give corporations incentives to lay off U.S. workers and move jobs abroad where they can pay their workers sub-poverty wages and wreak havoc on the environment," David Segal said.
VoteSegal.com

Bold text added by the diarist

55 days left till election day. Who wants to help me GRAB A MOP?

First, check out this brilliant ad by the SegalForCongress team!

Now this is what I'm talking about!

(To help donate to run more ads like this, click here)

For all those who have read Naomi Klein's "Shock Doctrine", and all those who know what a disaster NAFTA and other "free trade" agreements have been, this is EXACTLY what we want to see from a congressional candidate who GETS IT!

More below the fold
Crossposted at Daily Kos

David Segal is running for Congress in Rhode Island's First district, which is currently held by Patrick Kennedy, who is retiring after this year.

His primary is next week.

According to Segal, "These job losses aren't an accident or the result of a force of nature: they are the direct result of the obscene power that corporations wield over our government. Corporations and the extremely wealthy spend tens of millions of dollars each year to ensure that our trade agreements guarantee their profits, even if it's at the expense of millions of our working families."
VoteSegal.com

Bold text added by the diarist

David Segal has vowed to vigorously support the Trade Reform, Accountability, Development and Employment (TRADE) act, which would take away the incentive for multi-national corporations to send American jobs overseas. The TRADE act would give the GAO (Government Accountability Office) the power to re-evaluate and renegotiate trade deals like NAFTA. The TRADE Act would also protect American jobs from those who seek to exploit cheap labor and weak environmental regulations around the world.

David Segal understands the reality that we can NOT give Corporations an incentive to ship jobs overseas. The only people who benefit from free trade agreements hat undermine America's competitive advantage with the rest of the world are the wealthy executives of multinational corporations and their investors, because, in reality, the free market that Conservatives crow about is exactly like the black market, no rules, no umpire, it is unfettered greed run rampant and the biggest corporations are guaranteed an unfair advantage over Main St and the small businesses that are the backbone of our economy. The only difference between an unfettered "free market" and an unfettered black market is that in a free market the drug dealers get FDA approval and the loan sharks are Too Big To Fail.

David Segal GETS IT, and a bill like the TRADE act would stab Corporatism in the heart, which is great news for the struggling small businesses who the multinationals have a huge advantage over.

With all that said, I hope you will show your support for David Segal by following the links below. We need more fighters for Main St like David Segal, and now more than ever.

GOTV resources for David Segal supporters nationwide can be found here

You can follow David Segal on Facebook by clicking here

You can follow David Segal on Twitter by clicking here

You can visit VoteSegal.com to learn more about David Segal's candidacy for Congress

And, if you are able to, please make a donation to ActBlue and help elect David Segal!

I was worried when Patrick Kennedy announced his upcoming retirement that working class people would lose a valuable voice in the House of Representatives. But after learning more about David Segal's plans for when he is elected to Congress, I feel "FIRED UP", and "READY TO GO"

How about you? Do you have your mop ready? I know I do!

David Segal sure has his mop ready to go!

We have more than enough puppets in Washington. Corporations and the extraordinarily wealthy have too much control over our government, and over our society - and that power is only growing. We're at a watershed moment in American history: We need to stand up and fight back.
nobodyspuppet.com/

Peace and love to all . .

You can follow me on Twitter @JesseLaGreca!

Barack Obama: $400 Billion in Major New Investments in America

deaniac83 — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 01:30:00 GMT

Crossposted from The People's View.

I think that by now you all caught yesterday's Labor Fest speech by President Obama. The President was fired up (if you haven't watched the speech yet, by the way, follow the link and you can see the video), and so was the crowd. But the President didn't go there just to rally the troops. He proposed an important new investment in the nation's infrastructure: $50 billion in new federal infrastructure spending.

Alongside it, the Obama administration is proposing two more economic investment measures: a $100 billion incentive for research and development by increasing extending the R&D credit permanently, and a $200 billion plan to let businesses write off all capital investments. Of course, Democrats and the President are still pushing for the small business jobs bill that the Republicans have been blocking in the Senate, with $30 billion in loan guarantees and $12 billion in tax cuts for small business.

Put them all together, and the Obama administration is front-loading a near-$400 billion investment in America's economy and jobs. Let's go through these investments one by one.
$50 billion in new infrastructure spending

We heard about this the President's speech yesterday. As Rachel Maddow noted in June, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act allocated $100 billion in infrastructure spending, the largest since Eisenhower and the building of the highways. And now, the President is proposing something ingenious: creating an infrastructure bank, run by the government, that would leverage $50 billion in taxpayer investment with a multiple-fold private investment. It would also set national priorities in infrastructure instead of funding it the old way: earmarks by powerful members of Congress.

The President proposes to fund a permanent infrastructure bank. This bank would leverage private and state and local capital to invest in projects that are most critical to our economic progress. This marks an important departure from the federal government's traditional way of spending on infrastructure through earmarks and formula-based grants that are allocated more by geography and politics than demonstrated value. Instead, the Bank will base its investment decisions on clear analytical measures of performance, competing projects against each other to determine which will produce the greatest return for American taxpayers.

The spending would fund the three R's of infrastructure to begin with: Roads, rail and runways.

ROADS: Rebuild 150,000 miles of roads - renewing our commitment to the backbone of our transportation system;
RAILWAYS: Construct and maintain 4,000 miles of rail - enough to go coast-to-coast;
RUNWAYS: Rehabilitate or reconstruct 150 miles of runway - while putting in place a NextGen system that will reduce travel time and delays.

Not only is a 21st century infrastructure critical to our nation's future, it will create good paying jobs for Americans who need work now. Progressive economists have hailed infrastructure spending as a great way to rebuild the economy.

Republicans, of course, are already opposing this plan. John Boehner does not want us to rebuild America. He'd much rather spend it giving trust fund babies their inheritance tax-free.

$100 billion to expand and make permanent the R&D credit: leading in new technologies and protecting American jobs.

The President's proposal - to be unveiled tomorrow - extends the research and development credit for American businesses from 14% to 17% and makes it permanent. The Washington Post reports that it will be paid for by closing other corporate tax loopholes.

The business proposal - what one aide called a key part of a limited economic package -- would increase and permanently extend research and development tax credits for businesses, rewarding companies that develop new technologies domestically and preserve American jobs.
It would be paid for by closing other corporate tax loopholes, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the policy has not yet been unveiled.

What's more, Research and Development credits are highly productive for the economy, spurring a two-fold increase in spending by businesses for every federal dollar spent. Robert Atkinson, the President and Founder of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation and the former Vice President of the Progressive Policy Institute explains:

Whatever its flaws, Atkinson said extensive economic research shows the credit works. His own group estimates that the credit spurs about $2 in private research and development spending for every dollar it costs the government, and about 70 percent of the spending goes to paying workers, making it an effective job creation tool. Noting that the U.S. has one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world, 35 percent, Atkinson said: "It's pretty clear we need to do something about our corporate taxes if we want to remain competitive," and he said expanding the R&D credit is one way to lower the tax burden on businesses. "Other countries wake up every morning asking how they can win this fight. We do not."

Let me re-iterate that: every dollar in federal spending in the R&D credit results in $2 in private spending, and 70% of that spending goes to create good paying American jobs. That means for every dollar the federal government spends on this credit, not only does it help continue critical research and development in areas like information technology and green energy, but it also creates $1.40 of income for an American worker. Make that tax credit permanent right now!

$200 billion in capital investment credit for businesses.

The US economy saw a robust growth in capital investment spending (which is a fancy term for businesses buying equipment and software) in the second quarter of 2010. In that period, it was up 21.9% from this year's first quarter. This is the best such gain in more than a decade:

Meanwhile, the annual rate of business spending on equipment and software in the second quarter was up 21.9% from the first quarter, the biggest increase in more than a decade, after plunging at annual rates of as much as 32% in 2008 and early 2009. Such spending accounted for the lion's share of the economy's modest 2.4% growth in the second quarter.

This was possible because of the large amounts of cash corporations have been hording for the past year or so, when they were reluctant to spend it due to the credit crunch. At least for them, credit seems to have eased, and they have put that cash-on-hand to use purchasing new equipment and replace old ones. This is a very encouraging sign for several reasons. First, capital investment spending is typically followed by a boost in hiring by the companies who are making those investments. When companies buy new machinery and equipments, they need employees to handle them. The previously cited USA Today report brings optimistic news.

[Barclays Capital Chief Economist Dean] Maki says job growth - spurred by capital spending and falling productivity growth as companies can no longer wring more work out of exisiting employees - will reach about 200,000 a month by early 2011.

There is of course also a secondary effect from capital spending that goes beyond just the firms doing the spending. The firms making those equipments (often small businesses) see rising sales and a greater demand for their products, and hire more workers as the need for production increases. The good news is that companies seem to be willing to continue this trend.

In a late July survey of 400 large and midsize companies by The Corporate Executive Board, 51% said they plan to increase capital spending the next 12 months, up from 39% in the fourth quarter.

The not-so-good news is that more recent data shows that they could use a push in the form of tax incentives to continue that spending, as capital spending seems to have gotten off to a rocky start in the current quarter that began in July, falling 8% (month-over-month).

Boosting that investment spending is in the interest of the American economy. Incentivizng that spending by letting companies deduct from their taxes the cost of capital purchases up front, as President Obama is proposing, would help boost it. It's a front-loaded proposal with an up-front 2-year cost of $200 billion, but as the Times notes, businesses would end up taking the deductions over time anyway in the form of depreciation of equipment.

The upfront deduction would allow businesses of all sizes to keep more money now and would give large corporations, many of which are sitting on cash because of uncertainty about the economy, an incentive to spend and invest.
It would cost an estimated $200 billion in revenues, though the ultimate net loss would be $30 billion over 10 years, administration officials say, since businesses would eventually deduct the depreciated value of the equipment in any case.

Small business jobs bill.

There's not much more to say on it except to reiterate what we know. The Republicans in the Senate are blocking a small business jobs bill that helps in two parts:

$30 billion in loan guarantees through small community banks that serve local small businesses.
$12 billion in direct tax breaks for small businesses.

Small businesses is the engine of growth and job creation in the American economy. There is no if's and's or but's about it. Small business creates 64% of America's new jobs. They need help to innovate and hire new people, and Democrats and President Obama want to give it to them.

This is our choice.

One can argue that the above list contains too much help for business. It does contain a lot of help for business, but targeted help for them to do things the economy needs to jump start itself. All of this investment is ultimately investments in American jobs and the American economy. We have a private economy, and for us to rebound, we are going to need those targeted help for the private sector, which are far from broad-brush right wing approach of "cut the corporate tax rate and give them money to move jobs offshore."

No one will deny that the American economy is on a difficult path. But indications point to that difficult path being a path forward. We can choose to keep moving forward on it, or we can, as President Obama says, hand the keys back to the Republicans this November. If they get back in power in Congress, you can forget about investing in America's infrastructure and creating jobs. You can forget about helping community banks or small businesses and creating jobs. You can forget about critical investment in research and development to keep America on the cutting edge and to create jobs. You can forget about incentivizing investments in equipment and software and creating jobs.

In other words, if the Republicans regain power, you can forget about creating jobs, and you can forget about making any progress. We progressives and liberals have a choice to make. We can choose to stay on a difficult path forward and elect Democrats, or we can choose to lay down and let the Republicans take over. Let's make the choice to keep moving us forward.

Self-plug: You can read this and other thoughts of mine on my blog, The People's View. You can also follow me on Twitter @thepeoplesview.

Let's Get Moving Alabama Democrats

admin — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 23:50:04 GMT

We are entering the final two months of the 2010 election cycle and we spend more time beating each other up rather than working together. I understand that a lot of people are concerned about the process in replacing Kenya Marshall in the Jefferson County 17th place vacancy. However, we have our nominee in Elisabeth French regardless of how flawed the process was and we need to unite behind her now.

Such diaries like Denial at Bessemer Opinions are only further driving apart the party.

There have also been calls for Nikki Still supporters to ramp up a write-in campaign, but Still herself so far is not enthused about it. However, letter after letter in the paper and voter after voter in person tell me that write-in is exactly what they are going to do. Many feel like a vote for French is a vote for the race based system that has infected the Democratic Party.

So we will write in our vote for Nikki Still.
Some progressives have demonstrated their unwillingness to address the problem as found on Progressive Electorate. (Emphasis mine)

Left in Alabama has video from yesterday's SDEC Meeting in which
Elisabeth French was appointed to replace Kenya Marshall on the Democratic
ballot. A number of folks I've talked to are disappointed that the nomination
did not go to Nikki Still - the 2nd place finish in the July 13th Runoff. I'm
confident Liz French will competent just as I thought Nikki Still would. The issue we should all agree on is the need to rid our State of the parasite called partisan Judicial elections.

Rather than looking inward to solve their own problem, they say focus on the unrelated but also important problem of partisan judicial elections.

We are not ignoring the problem, we have been talking about the need for non partisan judicial elections for a long long time. That is the root of the problem. Taking politics, as much as possible, out of the Judicial selection process. Most other states have done this.

Yes, it is reasonable to argue that the process was flawed. But we've got to move past that with a limited amount of time left in this election cycle.

That being said, I want to direct you to the new Alabama candidates blog Fight for Alabama . The folks at Left in Alabama worked on this project for the entire month of August. Should be a good resource if it is promoted and used.

HELL YES! Obama ruins Boehner's golf day!

MinistryOfTruth — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 02:28:02 GMT

Credit where credit is due, Obama kicked ass today.

$50 BILLION dollars for infrastructure JOBS!

Where are the jobs? They're coming, $50 billion dollars worth!

Here's the goods . . . .

? ROADS: Rebuild 150,000 miles of roads - renewing our commitment to the backbone of our transportation system;
? RAILWAYS: Construct and maintain 4,000 miles of rail - enough to go coast-to-coast;
? RUNWAYS: Rehabilitate or reconstruct 150 miles of runway - while putting in place a NextGen system that will reduce travel time and delays.

This will be PAYCHECKS, much need PAYCHECKS for people, but we can always do MORE and BETTER, and we can make John Boehner mad in the process. Sound good to you? Sounds great to me.

More below the fold, and some fun at John Boehner's expense!
Crosspostead at Daily Kos

Again, credit where credit is due. $50 Billion dollars worth.

Caption away!

This is what a guy looks like when he doesn't realize he's about to be outsmarted.

Regarding JOBS, this is looks like it could be just the beginning.

? A vision for the future. The President proposes to pair this with a long-term framework to reform and expand our nation's investment in transportation infrastructure.

bold text added by the diarist

and as Joan says . . .

It's a solid, job-creating policy idea to take into the fall campaign season, a) because it's absolutely necessary, and b) it's jobs, jobs, jobs. It's going to be hard for Republicans to honestly argue that the nation's transportation infrastructure doesn't need this critical investment before it falls entirely apart (not that they need honest arguments) and harder for them to fight a good job plan.

bold text added by the diarist

Check it out, as already frontpaged here at DailyKos by Joan McCarter, but then remind yourself, while this is GREAT NEWS for ~~John McCain~~ the entire economy, and especially the lower 98% of income earners who aren't dependent on the Bush Tax Cuts for the Rich and the Plutonomy for support, this is also terrible, awful, bad news for John Boehner's golf game.

For Labor Day, I already had a mind to have some fun with "The Apocalypse is coming!" Sir John of Orange today, but that cagey Obama beat me to it. $50 billion dollars later, I had to re-write my whole diary. I'm telling, there is some work coming out of this, and it is going to cut into Boehner's golf time, and that makes him mad. Works for me.

Stephen Colbert felt bad last night that John Boehner has been taking so much heat for comparing the financial crisis to "killing an ant with a nuclear weapon." Colbert said: "Republicans prefer to kill ants with magnifying glasses. Or as they call it 'sunboarding.'"
Colbert continued that Boehner's also faced "vicious hate speech" from MSNBC host Joe Scarborough, who accused Boehner of being lazy. Scarborough, said Colbert, is "racist against Tangelo-Americans." We've heard it before, he added: "Orange people don't like to work. Orange people just drink all day. Orange people hate Mondays and love lasagna."
"I hope that next week is better for you and your son, Chester Cheetah," Colbert said.

tpmlivewire.talkingpointsmemo.com

Help celebrate this Labor Day by Grabbing Your MOP, and laughing your ass off at John Boehner as we seek to improve his golf game, permanently.

So, here is my question. WHY THE HELL IS HE ORANGE????????

Perhaps it's genetic?

Perhaps John Boehner is a victim of de-regulated industries?

(The above 2 pics found at tildology.com)

Or perhaps John Boehner is just a lazy, out of touch asshole who'd rather play golf with his plutocrat chums all day while they think up new ways to let Wall St gamble with your retirement, which won't be happening until you are 70 if they have their way, thankyouverymuch.

I suspect that today, to celebrate labor day, John Boehner didn't tip his caddy, and while muttering under his breath as he puts his manly lob wedge back in his golf bag, John Boehner is cursing Obama's efforts to use the power of the EVIIIL Government to create jobs instead of cutting taxes for the rich like it's supposed to. Surely Boehner will have to reschedule his Monday tee time now that he will have to find someway to call this "Wasteful spending" or a "Government Takeover". Ooooh, how that makes John Boehner mad, he thinks as he cheats on his scorecard.

So here I am, thinking of ways to ridicule Boehner (which is hard to do if you want to be original), and along comes Obama and throws a 50 BILLION dollar Jobs plan in my lap. Credit where credit is due, Mr. President. You knocked this one outta the park on Labor Day.

So, what would be the icing on the cake here? How about showing some love to the man who can help retire John Boehner, and let him finally work on that hitch in his swing permanently.

Check out this press release from Boehner's Democratic challenger, Justin Coussoule.

Whatever it takes to get the Golfer to Visit his District
"Living in the Eighth District, we know Boehner has done nothing to serve us in years. Now he's not even showing up to pretend he's been doing anything for Ohio. This should tell you something about Boehner's opinion of the residents here. He already thinks he doesn't have to advocate for us; now he thinks he doesn't even have to report to us either," says Coussoule. "And he's not making a party distinction here. He's ignoring the entire Eighth District."
Challenging a politician like Boehner to a debate in his home district is like trying to catch a greased pig. Boehner's slippery agenda has taken him from Minnesota and Wisconsin last week to Kansas and Missouri in the coming days, but he has yet to sit still in southwest Ohio. Coussoule wants to make it clear that if Boehner is too busy to come home, the debate can take place in Washington, D.C. or any other place in the US where Boehner seems to be more comfortable.
Unfortunately, Boehner's record shows he's only comfortable making appearances in exchange for signed checks and cold cash.

Bold text added by the diarist

If you really want to rain on Boehner's tee time, check out Justin Coussoule's campaign website, and if you are feeling extra feisty this labor day evening, follow these links to help GRAB A MOP and show Boehner the door.

You can follow Justin Coussoule on Twitter

You can follow Justin Coussoule on Facebook

And, if you can, make a small donation and help Justin Coussoule give John Boehner all the time in the world to work on his golf swing!

Because Justin Coussoule will support an idea like this. Credit where credit is due, Obama just put together $50 BILLION for JOBS you can't send offshore, $50 BILLION in paychecks for working class Americans. Justin Coussoule would support that. John Boehner can't even support his sagging waist.

Awwww, look, now you gave John Boehner a sad . . .

If only we could keep that look on his face permanently.

Peace and love to all, and happy labor day!

You can follow me on Twitter @JesseLaGreca!

Happy Labor Day

admin — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 00:03:55 GMT

Happy Labor Day

Here's a roundup of good diaries portraying the history of the Holiday.

1. Left in Alabama Happy Labor Day

As you enjoy the hot dogs, burgers and cold beverages of the traditional American Labor Day celebration, don't forget that this day off was brought to you by the efforts of organized labor -- that is, workers who stood together so they could not be taken advantage of separately. This was not an easy or bloodless fight and at one time Alabama was a hotbed of union activity, a history that our betters have done a great job of hiding away in a dark place.

2. Fight for All Workers by Laura Clawson - Daily Kos

Which discusses reasons to join a Union as well as President Obama's Labor Day address.

3. The Mudflats

Good diary about Richard Trumka's recent visit to Anchorage

Recently Richard Trumka, the president of the AFL-CIO came to Anchorage to conference, and to march in protest against the Sheraton and the Hilton Hotel here in the city. These two hotels have been under boycott for some time to protest unfair and illegal labor practices, including firing workers for handing out leaflets, and stealing tip jars from coffee shop workers. I marched with protesters, both union and non-union, from the unionized Captain Cook Hotel, down to the Sheraton, and around the building. After the march we gathered to hear Richard Trumka, and other labor leaders and Sheraton employees speak about the boycott.

What is Ron Sparks thinking? Or is he?

outside the norm — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 16:09:26 GMT

Well, now that Ron Sparks - the "true" Democrat so highly touted on this page-has the Democratic nomination wrapped up, some very strange happenings seem to have failed to garner attention over here. Someone explain please, if you can, why this "True" Democrat has endorsed Richard Shelby's for re-election to the US Senate, even though there is a fine progressive Democrat in the race against the "Big Dick". Someone tell me why Sparky would even consider making an endorsement of ANY Republican when he is the head of the Democratic ticket in November. Much more important why endorse THIS Republican in particular? Let's look below the fold for some more discussion.
The Dick has opposed virtually every piece of legislation offered since Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi have been in charge of the houses of Congress. He opposed S-CHIP, the Lily Ledbetter Act, the stimulus, the Health Care Reform, Wall Street Reform and you all know the rest of the litany. He is one of the main opponents of President Obama's agenda and of Progressive policies everywhere. Why did Sparky endorse such a slug?

Not because the Democratic candidate was just as bad, that's for sure. William Barnes has taken the progressive position on most-if not all- the issues facing our state and our nation.

I also question the mysterious absence of any discussion of this abomination on a site that calls itself a "Progressive Electorate". Come on guys, just because you endorsed Sparks, you are going to turn your heads and not notice this aberration? I can't believe that, as I have too much respect for the major bloggers on this site. Where is the outrage?

Just for your information, over on LIA we are drumming up support for a protest write-in vote. Some of us are planning to write in Pam Wallace for governor. At least we will be voting for a Democrat - the only one available it seems.

Joe MIller's Supporters Carrying Guns in Family Parade (AK-Sen)

admin — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 02:07:22 GMT

Must watch this You Tube video titled Help Us Scott McAdams You're Our Only Hope

The premise is that Joe Miller supporters are walking like Storm Troopers carrying assault rifles while marching in a family parade. Intimidation tactics at their finest.

cross posted at Daily Kos
As the creator of this video says ,this is not about the 2nd Amendment,

Not paid for by any candidate or candidate's committee. If corporations can spend unlimited amounts of money on elections then I can do this for free. I am a huge fan of the 2nd amendment, but marching with guns in a family parade is crossing the line from making free use of our rights to using a gun as a form of intimidation.
If you are going to carry firearms conceal them. I am glad that my home state, Alaska, has some of the least regulated gun laws in the country. Our 2nd Amendment can protect us from a great many things--as it was meant to do. However, it apparently cannot hinder those who wish to intimidate others with their political beliefs.

Ron Paul, Sharrrrron Angle, Ken Buck and Joe Miller. The Gifts that keep on giving this campaign cycle. None of them have a monopoly on crazy and that's a good thing because their Tea Party beliefs are what's keeping us in play in the Kentucky, Nevada, Colorado and Alaska U.S. Senate Races.

We've pledged to raise $1,000 for Scott McAdams on our Act Blue page this weekend. We are at $467 which is almost halfway to our goal.

We cannot afford Joe Miller, the Darth Vader of 2010 electoral Politics. We must support Scott McAdams. Word is that the DNC is still trying to remove McAdams in favor of a more "well-known" candidate. However, McAdams over the past two weeks has shown to be quite competent and his poling numbers have increased. Even if the DSCC and DNC are not excited about McAdams, the netroots certainly are having helped McAdams reach well over $100,000 raised on Act Blue. Let's Go McAdams. !!!

"I have a huge man crush on Joe Miller . . . Jesse Helms" says Erick the Slow, son of Erick

MinistryOfTruth — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 19:18:59 GMT

Revealing

I have a man crush on Joe Miller
Posted by Erick Erickson (Profile)
Friday, September 3rd at 10:37AM EDT
14 Comments
I so totally have a man-crush on this dude. He calls the Democrats 'socialists', says Barack Obama is 'bad for America', and wants to privatize social security.
Wish they'd actually kept it going to the point where I was also praising Jesse Helms.

Okay, the man crush thing, funny. But Jesse Helms? Wonder what you were praising Jesse Helms for?

And remember, if we don't bust our asses this November to GOTV, idiots like Erick son of Erick will be in charge this fall.

More WTFLOL at Erick's expense, and a chance to show some love to Scott McAdams at his expense below the fold.
Crossposted at dailykos

Now, before I give Erick and Joe Miller their well deserved verbal thrashings, here is your chance to show some love to Democratic Alaska Senate candidate Scott McAdams . . . .

As an educator and commercial fisherman, Scott knows Alaska's future economic health depends on wise use of Alaska's resources and the best schools possible so Alaskans have the skills to compete in the increasingly competitive global market. Although Alaska's economy has done better during the international recession than most in the Lower 48, Scott believes much more action is necessary to grow the economy to create jobs for Alaskans. Alaska has an unprecedented opportunity right now to develop its considerable resources and launch a new energy economy for Alaska that will create good-paying, reliable jobs for decades to come.
scottmcadams.org/issues

The choice this election couldn't be clearer. Democrats want to CREATE things and make them better, Republicans want to DESTROY, repeal and get rid of things and go backwards . . . .

Now, back to Erick son of Erick's little man crush . . .

Proudly, Erick the Slow links to MediaMatters who has the video, where he gets thrashed in the comments. Notice the african americans on the panel. Is that who Erickson was going to crow about Jesse Helms to?

How would Zombie Jesse Helms feel about your man crush, Erick? Zombie Jesse Helms is not to be trifled with, he is very feared in the Zombie Republican community. (unlike Pat Buchanan, who they usually send out for groceries).

I wish I could give my kids names like like Jesse Jesserson out of spite, just so everyone knew whose kid was mine, because I am that awesome. It would help the kid too, sorta, maybe, he'd either get tough and athletic or get beat up a lot with a name like Jesse Jesserson, and if he got beat up a lot, he might study more, and if he was smart he might go into business or law or something important that would help people, if only he was smart.

But if he was not smart, getting beat up all the time as a kid with a dumbass name like Jesse Jesserson, well, that wouldn't be good. He'd probably get a chip on his shoulder, maybe develop a nasty streak, and if he wasn't smart but just a little clever he would be a real sonofabitch when he got tired of getting beat up. That is why you don't name your kid JESSE JESSERSON or some stupid shit like that. That kind of thing will screw a boy up.

And that is how we end up , somehow, in my theory, with Erick fucking Erickson on CNN, because no one ever went broke on TV selling rightwing corporatist bullshit. And CNN has to have some of that to fit into their place in the marketplace, which is toward the bottom.

And that is where CNN will stay as long as they keep selling FOXlite, slanted fake news to keep Republican mouth breathers unoffended, lest the truth somehow take them unawares about how their sheltered, echo chamber governing philosophy is an EPIC FAIL for everyone who isn't WEALTHY, including themselves.

Because if you are some idiot named Ralph Ralphson who has been beat up a bunch as a kid for having a stupid name with a chip on your shoulder, and you do not have a lot of brains but a nasty, half clever sort of half wit (no offense meant to anybody whose name this might be) and a TV network will pay you to say RightWing bullshit because there MUST be a debate and it is too much for the right or our fawning, idiot controversy driven media to just say "Freedom of religion means freedom of ALL religion, they can build their mosques wherever they want!", but a liberal like Kos gets the boot on the so called 4 1/2 hour a day "liberal" channel for the sin of bringing up MSNBC's No#9 hitter and GOP mouthpiece Joe Scarbourough's dead girl problem. (tweety gets a 1/2 for being barely less than 50% tool)

Because our corporatist media, owned by the WEALTHY interests that are screwing us and laughing their way to the bank, will always be there to deceive us. Orwell had it wrong, in all respect, it is really he who controls the media controls the present, he who controls the present media controls the past, and he who controls the media documenting the past controls the future.

And then there is Erick son of Erick. It's out with the old Lou Dobbs, in with the new Lou Dobbs at CNN, the "we always let the Right Wing get the last word in channel."

So, in light of Erick son of Erick's new found man crush, because I always celebrate displays of love among others no matter whether it is a man and a woman or a man and a man or a woman and a woman or a woman and a woman and a woman and me (in my dreams), I thought this would be a fun opportunity to fundraise for Scott McAdams, who is the total ANTI-PALIN, a big, smart guy, like the opposite of my potentially ill fated son Jesse Jesserson. There is a reason you don't name your kid. Strom Stromsson. I mean, what kind of a jerk has a name like Strom!

Unlike END ALL FEDERAL GOVERNMENT EVIL SATAN Joe Miller, who comes off talking about these things as if they were foods he's never tried but doesn't like.

You have to understand, Erick is not that smart of a guy, even by Republican standards. Erick is kind of slow. He wants to let Wall St gamble with our hard earned retirement money really bad, but the GOP doesn't want that said out loud. And he has a big ole public man crush on Joe Miller, a guy who is to the right of Captain Caveman. In his defense, Captain Caveman was an unevolved fictional cartoon character. In a Republican primary Captain caveman might be able to beat Michele Bachmann.

Erick is VERY slow, even backwards. Jesse Helms? The Jesse Helms who was the face of Republican bigotry and hate along with Strom Thurmond before he became the archbishop of Zombie Republicanland? Yeah, there's a lot to praise about Jesse Helms, if you are a bigoted asshole who is stuck in the 1950's.

And the idea of privatizing social security so Wall St can gamble with you retirement while calling your opponents "Socialist" gives Erick the Slow a big ole Man-Crush, but Erick isn't smart enough to keep his yap shut. You see, Erick believes in Republican ideas, which means he'll say anything to get political power so he can serve the interests who keep him well fed and on tv. He learned this, apparently, by watching the pros at work.

And teabagger GOP Senate candidate Joe Miller is everything that gets a Wall St crony like Erickson into a tizzy seeing starbursts. Joe Miller wants to go back to the good ole days before FDR's New Deal, when working class people were totally at the mercy of the banks with no one to help at all, no social security, no health care, no retirement, just low paying work with no labor unions and a pair of bootstraps to pull yourself up with if you didn't have to make soup out of them for you and your poor parents who can no longer work and have no support but there already suffering children. In Joe Miller's world the invisible hand will save us all if we can just give the rich and the special interests everything they want for just a few more years. It worked great for ~~BushJr~~, ~~BushSr~~, Reagan, didn't it?

If and when Senator McConnell ever becomes Senate Majority leader, idiots like Joe Miller will be in a great position to prop up Wall St with tax cuts for Billionaires and de-regulation while ignoring how they are pluging the middle class and everyone else deeper into the Bush Great Recession.

But of course, all of that will be Obama's fault.

Today, you have a chance to really piss Erick the Slow, Joe Miller and Mitch McConnell off. You can start by following these links and helping out a good Democrat like Scott McAdams.

Just watch this video, where McAdams bashes Sarah Palin for supporting an ivy league lawyer like Joe Miller over a proven small town mayor like Scott McAdams!

Cause nothing says real uhmrican like bailing on your public service to your state for a bunch of pretty dresses and a well paying job at Fox!

This is what the Senate needs, not a rubber stamp for Wall St like Joe Miller!

You can visit the official campaign website for Senate Candidate Scott McAdams by clicking here

Check out Scott McAdams on Twitter by clickinghere

You can follow Scott McAdams on Facebook by clicking here

And please, show Scott McAdams some love by making a donation to his Senate campaign with ActBlue

Because if you don't, this is what will be in charge this fall.

And for the record, I don't have a man crush on Scott McAdams, I just think he has better ideas that will benefit the working class than Joe Miller.

Peace and love to all . . .

Follow me on Twitter @JesseLaGreca (and by the way, I HATE that I share my name with that jerk, Zombie Jesse Helms!)

Why Cecil Williamson Should Not Hold Elected Office

admin — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 05:32:08 GMT

This article is the final installment on the League of the South by Edward Sebesta. I will start with his conclusion that Cecil Williamson should be removed as President of the Selma City Council. The academic portion of his analysis discusses the League of the South's recommended books and essays as well as position papers on race. We recommend that Mr. Sebesta's writings be utilized in countering the neo-Confederacy agenda.

Neo-Confederacy involves many different tasks to carry out its agenda. It isn't just newsletters denouncing civil rights or arguing that African Americans have low IQ (topics in the Sons of Confederate Veterans publication "Southern Mercury"), but also maintaining monuments, markers, buildings, and other objects on the landscape to racialize the landscape and mark it white and more specifically Confederate. Neo-Confederacy involves observances to mark the calendar and time with Confederate identity. Finally it involves articles and discussion about the Confederacy to instill Confederate identity among the living. It is a whole variety of actions to create the Confederacy in the minds of the living.
Cecil Williamson's involvement with neo-Confederate organizations and his involvement with honoring Nathan Bedford Forrest show that he is still pursuing and working for the neo-Confederate agenda. He is normalizing the Confederacy and marking it on the landscape.
Cecil Williamson continuation in office provides the precedent and example to other neo-Confederate to enter public life. If Cecil Williamson can be in public life, let along president of the Selma City Council, other neo-Confederates will be encouraged to enter public life.
Cecil Williamson needs to be removed from public office. It isn't just that he has a track record of being involved with and supporting a racist organization without apology for doing so. That would be a valid reason in itself to seek his resignation or defeat at the polls.
However, the greater reason is that Cecil Williamson is still neo-Confederate and still pursuing a neo-Confederate agenda at this time, as manifested by his involvement with honoring Nathan Bedford Forrest.
The neo-Confederate agenda isn't merely racist, with a host of other bigoted attitudes towards Unitarians, Muslims, gays, Hispanics and others. It is an agenda that seeks a hierarchical society of inferiors and superiors. It is a movement at war with democracy itself. As long as Cecil Williamson is in public office, he is afforded the scope to work against the American democratic way of life. This can't be tolerated, the effort against Cecil Williamson needs to continue and must not fail.

The League of the South While Cecil Williamson Was a Member Part IV and Conclusion

Note, the original name of the League of the South was the Southern League before they changed it.

The League of the South, on one of its early web pages in 1996 tells the reader that they aren't a racist group as follows:
The Southern League is a serious organisation of responsible citizens hailing from a broad cross-section of Southron society and led by individuals of high standing in their professions and their communities. We cannot stress strongly enough that the Southern League is NOT a racial separatist organisation. From our founding the League has steadfastly rejected and denounced hate-oriented organisations of all stripes, regardless of their ethnic composition or political ideology. Membership in the Southern League is open to ALL, regardless of ethnicity, religious affiliation or national origin. (We even accept Yankees, as long as they think like Southrons.) All that we require of prospective members is that you be a law-abiding member of your community and you must genuinely embrace the articulated principles and goals of the Southern League. We have members in nearly every American state and from every major cultural group residing within the borders of Dixie. If you love the South and desire to see her resume her status as a constitutional confederacy of sovereign states, then we invite you to apply for membership. (Colors and emphasis in the original).

In the above statement is a link to an official statement about race stating;
It has recently come to the attention of the Southern League that several web sites espousing racial hate, like the neo-Nazi "Stormfront" web page, have placed links on their web pages to our DixieNet home page. We believe that this was done out of a mistaken perception that Southerners who take pride in the unique heritage of the South and who fly the Confederate flag do so to express a view of white racial supremacy - a false notion that has been propagated by a persistant campaign of hate aimed at Confederate symbols by the NAACP and other black racial extremist groups. The Southern League decries both black and white racial extremists who distort and tarnish the symbolism of our proud Southern banner.
Unfortunately, the Southern League has no means of preventing disreputable web sites from placing hyperlinks to DixieNet on their web pages. The Rebmaster of DixieNet has sent e-mail to these sites requesting that the links be removed, but we have no power to compel this. Therefore, DixieNet wishes to make it clear to all users that the Southern League has no formal or informal ties to such groups. The Southern League specifically and categorically denounces and rejects the narrow, race-based agendas of web sites like "Stormfront" and others like it. Users should note that DixieNet does not place links on it's web pages to "Stormfront" or any other sites that actively promote a race-hate agenda.

RECOMMENDED BOOKS
However, it might be worthwhile to examine the web site a little closer. First, this statement seems somewhat at variance with the contents of the "Southern Patriot" which were also online at the website and could have been read by Cecil Williamson.
At this same web page is a web page of recommended reading
As you remember, one of Cecil Williamson's claims is that the League of the South was an academic enterprise and "... they wrote a series of articles about Southern independence now, not about the 1860s."
However, the list of recommended books was mostly about the Civil War and the Confederacy. Also, some racist books make up the list of books which the League of the South stated was "Our Literary Guide for Southrons and admirers of Southern civilization everywhere ...."
The list recommends "The South Was Right!," by James Ronald Kennedy and Walter Donald Kennedy , a book which argues a white supremacist interpretation of the history of Reconstruction and declares the Voting Rights Act to be a fraud. Their webpage is online here . Then there is the recommendation of "Southern by the Grace of God" which glorifies the KKK of both Reconstruction and the 1920s and portrays lynching as a civil virtue.
BlackCommentator.com has some information about this book.
Most notable is the recommendation, "Paved With Good Intentions: The Failure of Race Relations in Contemporary America," by Jared Taylor, who was at that time and is now the publisher of American Renaissance a rabid racist publication. The Southern Poverty Law Center wrote a short biography on Taylor.
The book "Paved" blames African Americans for all their own problems and claims there is no real problem of white racism and also portrays African Americans as a criminal class. There is sympathetic review of his book at the racist
www.vdare.com website.
Then on the same web page there are recommended publications. "Southern Partisan" the magazine that calls Nelson Mandela a terrorist, and condemns Martin Luther King day, condemns civil rights legislation, and court decisions supporting civil rights. There is also recommended Chronicles magazine , a magazine which sees minorities as feral.
Later in 1997 the list of recommend books is expanded. Link to archive of recommended books
Besides the books already mentioned, are some new additions.
There is the book, "Southern Slavery As It Was," by Rev. J. Wilkins, founding League of the South Board member, and Douglas Wilson, head a neo-Confederate church in Moscow, Idaho. It is a defense of antebellum slavery in the South. This extract explains why the authors felt the book was necessary. Quoting from the chapter, "Why We Are We Writing About This?:
It is obvious that in a fallen world, an institution like slavery will be accompanied by many attendant evils. Such evils existed with ancient Hebrew slavery, ancient Roman slavery, and with American slavery. The issue is not whether sinners will sin, but rather how Christians are commanded to respond to such abuses and evils. Another is clearer - the New Testament opposes anything like the abolitionism of our country prior to the War Between the States. The New Testament contains many instructions for Christian slave owners, and requires a respectful submissive demeanor for Christian slaves. See, for example, Ephsians 6:5-9, Colossians 3:22-4:1, and 1 Timothy 6:1-5. [Emphasis in the original]
But we mentioned that the harm was two-fold. The embarrassment of evangelicals over the plain teaching of the Bible can be put to an adept use by those in rebellion against God. Dr. Jerry Falwell was once in a television debate with a liberal Episcopalian bishop. Sad to say, the liberal bishop mauled Dr. Falwell badly. They were debating an issue like abortion or sodomy, and Falwell was maintaining the biblical position, and the bishop responded by saying yes, but the Bible allows for slavery.
[The authors state that Falwell was embarrassed and could only "hem and haw."]
One time a man was handing out tracts at a gay and lesbian dance. Those attending the dance did not appear to be pleased and someone apparently called a liberal Methodist pastor to come and deal with him. He came down, and in the course of the discussion, the Christian said that Leviticus condemns homosexuality as an abomination. The liberal pastor responded by saying yes, but the Old Testament allowed for slavery. The Christian responded by saying yes, it certainly did. "So what's your point?"
If those who hate the Word of God can succeed in getting Christians to be embarrassed by any portion of the Word of God, then that portion will continually be employed as a battering ram against the godly principles that are currently under attack. In our day, three of the principle issues are abortion, feminism, and sodomy. If we respond to the 'embarrassing parts' of Scripture by saying, "That was then, this is now," we will quickly discover that liberals can play that game even more effectively than embarrassed conservatives. Paul prohibited eldership to women? That was then, this is now. Moses condemned sodomy? That was then, this is now.
In a certain sense, we are backing into an informed discussion of the War Between the States. You have been told many times that the war was over slavery, but in reality it was over the biblical meaning of constitutional government. The inflammatory issue is slavery, however, and so the real issue is obscured in the minds of many. [Emphasis in the original]

[Wilkens, Steven J. & Wilson, Douglas, pages 9-12 "Southern Slavery As It Was," Canon Press, 1996, Moscow, Idaho. Also, Vol. 4 of Credenda Agenda with Wilson as the author,
Then there is the biblical defense of slavery by R.L. Dabney, 19th century pro-slavery theologian titled, "A Defense of Virginia and Through Her the South."
In 1998 there are further additions to the recommended books
There is the book, "Civil War Two: The Coming Breakup of America" by Thomas W. Chittum, in which he predicts the United States will break up in race war and plots across the map of the United States enclaves, corridors, and bastions of racial groups in the United States.
ESSAYS ON THE LEAGUE OF THE SOUTH WEB SITE
The book recommendations are not the only things that would tip off Cecil Williamson that the League of the South was obsessed with race. There are the essays that the League of the South had online.
"Race War will continue until we can talk about it honestly" originally appearing on the League of the South web site in 1998.
Then there is the text of a speech by Alabama State Senator Charles Davidson defending slavery. It is at this link:. A quote from it: (All capitals in the original.)
FOR EXAMPLE, IN 1860, THE U.S. CENSUS REPORTED THAT AROUND 10,000 FREE BLACKS OWNED SOME 60,000 BLACK SLAVES. IT WAS A BLACK SLAVE MASTER, NAMED ANTHONY JOHNSON, WHO SUED AND WON HIS CASE IN A VIRGINIA COURT IN 1653 THAT CHANGED TEMPORARY SERVITUDE TO LIFETIME SERVITUDE. THUS THIS BLACK SLAVE OWNER ESTABLISHED PERMANENT SLAVERY IN VIRGINIA. MOREOVER, WHEN THE CHEROKEE INDIANS WERE REMOVED BY THE U.S. GOVERNMENT ALONG THE "TRAIL OF TEARS" OUT WEST, ALMOST 30% OF THE PEOPLE REMOVED WERE BLACK SLAVES OF THE CHEROKEES. JUST AS WHITE EUROPEAN SLAVES WERE PRIMITIVE, BARBARIC PAGANS WHO PRACTICED HUMAN SACRIFICE, INCEST, WITCHCRAFT, AND IDOLATRY;YET WERE CONVERTED TO CHRISTIANITY, LEARNED TRADES AND SKILLS AND BECAME A CIVILIZED PEOPLE UNDER BLACK, ORIENTAL AND WHITE MASTERS, SO ALSO DID BLACK AFRICAN BARBARIC, PAGANS BECOME CIVILIZED, CHRISTIANS WITH SKILLS AND TRADES UNDER SLAVERY IN THE OLD SOUTH.
SLAVERY WAS A FAMILY INSTITUTION IN THE OLD SOUTH, JUST LIKE IT SAYS IN THE BIBLE IN GALATIANS 4: 1 "AS LONG AS THE SON IS A CHILD HE DOES NOT DIFFER AT ALL FROM A SLAVE ALTHOUGH HE IS THE HEIR OF EVERYTHING." A TYPICAL FAMILY PLANTATION HAD ONE FAMILY OF WHITES LIVING NEXT DOOR TO ONE FAMILY OF BLACKS. THEY HAD THE SAME LAST NAME, WORKED IN THE FIELDS AND ON THE FARM, SIDE BY SIDE, PLAYED TOGETHER, PRAYED TOGETHER, RAISED EACH OTHERS CHILDREN, TOOK CARE OF EACH OTHER IN SICKNESS AND ALL IN ALL, LOVED ONE ANOTHER, JUST LIKE FAMILY. IT WAS AT THESE SMALL FAMILY FARMS THAT SOUTHERN BLACKS WERE TAUGHT ABOUT AND CONVERTED TO CHRISTIANITY, BY THE MILLIONS! I AM SURE THAT THOSE CONVERTED BLACK SOUTHERNERS ARE MOST GRATEFUL TODAY, JUST LIKE OUR WHITE EUROPEAN ANCESTORS ARE GRATEFUL FOR THEIR CONVERSI0N TO CHRISTIANITY WHILE SLAVES OF BLACK MASTERS IN NORTHERN AFRICA,SUCH AS, THE BLACK COPTIC CHRISTIANS IN EGYPT, ONE OF THE OLDEST CHRISTIAN GROUPS IN THE WORLD. REMEMBER, IT WAS NOT FROM YANKEES THE SOUTHERN BLACKS LEARNED ABOUT JESUS CHRIST. FOR THE MOST PART, IT WAS FROM SOUTHERN SLAVE OWNERS.
IT WAS HERE ON THE FAMILY PLANTATION THAT BLACKS LEARNED TRADES AND SKILLS FROM FARMING TO SAWMILLING TO RANCHING TO CARPENTRY TO DRIVING STEAMBOATS AND RAILROAD TRAINS. EVEN THE ABOLITIONIST'S YANKEE GOVERNMENT'S DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION ADMITTED IN 1892, AFTER ITS TOTAL FAILURE OF THE "RECONSTRUCTION EXPERIMENT", THAT THE BEST TECHNICAL EDUCATION THAT THE WORLD HAS EVER SEEN, WAS THE EDUCATION THAT WAS GIVEN BY THEIR MASTERS TO THE SLAVES BEFORE THEIR EMANCIPATION.
REMEMBER, THAT BLACK SLAVES FROM NIGERIA, THE MOST POPULOUS REGION IN AFRICA, WERE NOT CIVILIZED AND NOT CHRISTIAN, PRACTICING VOODOO, CANNIBALISM , AND WITCHCRAFT, JUST LIKE THE WHITE EUROPEAN SLAVES DID. THESE BLACKS WERE CAPTURED IN TRIBAL WARS BY OTHER BLACKS IN NIGERIA . WHITE PEOPLE DID NOT RUN THROUGH THE JUNGLES OF AFRICA KIDNAPPING BLACKS AND MAKING THEM SLAVES. BLACK AFRICANS CAPTURED AND SOLD OTHER BLACKS AS SLAVES, THEY WERE ALREADY SLAVES OF BLACK AFRICANS BEFORE THEY EVER SET FOOT ON A SPANISH, PORTUGUESE, ENGLISH OR NEW ENGLAND YANKEE SLAVE SHIP. SUCH SHIPS STAYED ANCHORED OFF SHORE FOR FEAR OF JUNGLE DISEASES AND THE SLAVES WERE ROWED OUT IN LONG BOATS BY AFRICANS AND PUT ON BOARD. MANY OF THESE SLAVES WERE ALREADY RIDDLED WITH DISEASE AND HALF STARVED.

Surely Cecil Williamson should have noticed this new very public position paper on race by the League of the South posted early 1998.
The link to the document , "The LS Position on Matters Concerning Race, Social Engineering, and the legitimate desire to preserve the core Anglo-Celtic Culture of Dixie that Defines Southern Civilization and Nationhood. "Social Engineering" is the neo-Confederates terminology for integration and civil rights legislation and is a terminology from the 1950s and 60s segregationists. "Social engineering" is a stigmatizing term for civil rights, after all, most legislation, such as legislation against crime, hopes to support one form of society versus another, anarchy and violence, and could be called social engineering.
The League of the South disavows a spirit of malice toward any group and extends an offer of Christian goodwill and cooperation to all who wish to see the South a free and independent nation based on the principles of free association and ordered liberty.? The League believes that all groups should be free to pursue their own interests without the help or hindrance of government, and since we support free association within local, self-governing communities, we think governments should force neither segregation nor integration.

The careful reader will also not that this neutrality regarding integration doesn't agree with the League's praise of George Wallace who sought to force segregation.
The League of the South supported Serbia in the Balkans and managed to make the issues in the Balkans a reason to fear Hispanics in the United States. In the article,
"The Kosovo Standard,"
League president Hill states:
If the U. S. government (more precisely, the American Empire) operated consistently on principle rather than expediency, it would be worried about establishing a precedent for the "Kosovo Standard." Please allow me to indulge in a bit of fantasy for a moment. Suppose that the American Southwest (including southern California) should become predominately Hispanic in its ethnic composition (which is likely early in the next century). The Atzlan Liberation Army (ALA) , in an attempt to break off territory there in order to form an independent Hispanic state or to bring about a reconquista on behalf of Mexico, goes to war against forces of the U. S. military.
The ALA's pretext? "Human rights violations" by the U. S. against Mexican-Americans. The U. S. Border Patrol and National Guard units from Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California take the field against the ALA to thwart Hispanic territorial ambitions. Pleas for action against "Anglo racism" are picked up and parroted by the international media. Videotape footage of Yankee brutality along the Border dominates the airwaves, and La Raza undertakes a massive propaganda campaign for intervention against the Gringos. Washington is accused of "ethnic cleansing" as American forces succeed in driving ALA fighters toward the Mexican border. Streams of pitiful Hispanic refugees follow them southward, choking the dusty roads leading to Tijuana, Juarez, and Matamoros. The BBC conducts interviews at border checkpoints across the Rio Grande, soliciting tales of horror and brutality.
Remembering the "Kosovo Standard" of 1999, Third World nations within the UN petition NATO to act to prevent a "humanitarian disaster." NATO officials balk at the request. But how will they wriggle out of this one? All the preconditions for a military actions have been met (according to the "Kosovo Standard"). When must the air strikes begin in order that America's military capabilities might be suitably "degraded?" Would the Hague Tribunal dare brand the American President--Gore, Bush, or even Clinton (don't dismiss it) -- a War Criminal and call for his immediate arrest? Would Tony Blair call him a "bush-league Milosevic?" And would CNN blather on continually about "the worst humanitarian disaster since Kosovo?"

So Hill argues that the United States must tolerate genocide in Kosovo so that Hispanics can't ask for military support when they try to break up the United States.
Then there is the League of the South's
position paper on race by League president Hill. They had it on their web page as early as 1999.
However, the earliest copy on the Internet Archive, Jan. 2000, is here
Some quotes from the text of "The Issue of Race in the Southern Debate: A call for proportionality, honesty, integrity, morality and an end to demagoguery..." The title has the "...".
Each time the League leadership addresses itself to the issue of race, the policy we advance must be free of hatred and malice. This has been our position from the start.? Though many blacks may be taught to hate us in their homes and institutions, our response to them must be grounded in Christian charity.?

This first quote sounds somewhat promising, but there is more to the essay:
This does not mean, however, that we must subscribe to the flawed Jacobin notion of egalitarianism, nor does it mean that white Southerners should give control over their civilisation and its institutions to another race, whether it be native blacks or Hispanic immigrants.? Nowhere, outside of liberal dogma, is any nation called upon to commit cultural and ethnic suicide. ? Furthermore, our surrender would ultimately be regretted by all parties as the remaining liberties were squandered by those who had no desire to preserve the Eurocentric, (and therefore "racist"), institution of the rule of law.
???? Let us in the League, then, confidently defend our ethnic, cultural, and religious heritage.? After all, we have as much right to do this as anyone.? Let us also not fall prey to the notion that any other group besides ourselves could (or would) defend and preserve the biblically-based rule of law that has undergirded our Southern society since its formation.? Undoubtedly, the liberal and neo-conservative pundits will attempt to smear us as "racists" because we stand up for ourselves and our posterity.? This is, regrettably, unavoidable because we are confronted by fundamentally dishonourable and dishonest people who substitute the ad hominem attack for rational debate.? Therefore, we are obliged to develop thick hides to fend off the attacks that will inevitably come.

And:
But at the same time, we will loudly proclaim that we will have no truck with those who wish to interject malice and hatred into the racial issue, and that includes both sides, black and white.? Being proud and thankful of who we are does not mean that we must denigrate others.? But let us always speak the truth about race (as well as all other things) no matter how uncomfortable it may be or how politically incorrect it is.
? ? For instance, League member and syndicated columnist Charley Reese noted in a recent column that black-on-white crime has reached epidemic proportions (e.g. 100 white rapes against blacks in 1994 as compared to over 20,000 black rapes against whites).? Reese writes: "This huge disparity between white-on-black and black-on-white crime is the elephant at the tea party that both the press and the federal government pretend they can't see. They are vile hypocrites." ? Well said, Charley.

The conclusion is:
Such hypocrisy is guaranteed to fuel white resentment, but we must not allow ourselves to be pulled into the vortex of hatred and violence to "settle the score."? Rather, we should speak the unvarnished truth and continue to work positively for the interests of our own people.? And of course this means protecting ourselves when necessary, individually and collectively.
???? Today's white Christian Southerners are the blood descendants of the men and women who settled this country and gave us the blessings of freedom and prosperity.? To give away this inheritance in the name of ? "equality" or "fairness" would be unconscionable.? As the progeny of Lee, Jackson, Forrest, and Davis, let us summon the courage to defend what the God of the ages has given us.? No one else will do it for us.

So the concluding theme is to be free of "malice" but ready to rumble for race war.
When terrorist flew their planes into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, 9/11/2001, a great many of the League of the South members were ready to support the American government's war on terror. The League leadership was entirely opposed to any effort in support of the American government. A lot of League members quit in 2001. They didn't quit over the League of the South position on race, but because of the League's views on 9/11.
This was League President Hill's commentary on 9/11
The League of the South condemns the 11 September attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, DC. Those who aided and abetted the perpetrators of these attacks ought to be brought swiftly to justice. We also offer our heartfelt prayers and condolences to the families of those who died in the attacks, as well as to those who were injured.
? ? ? ? ?In the midst of rightful sorrow and anger that accompany such events, we ought to struggle to understand why this has happened to us. The logical question with which to begin is a simple one: Why does the United States have so many enemies abroad? Could it be that since the War Between the States, America has become an empire with its tentacles-both military and financial-squeezing the entire globe? The U.S. Establishment elite has committed itself to a thoroughgoing reconstruction of the world in its own image. Such policies have thus alienated many peoples who don't wish to live in the mold Uncle Sam foists upon them. Now, innocent Americans are paying the price-in--blood--for their leaders' arrogance, hubris, and megalomania. In short, the U.S. has ignored the Founders' sound advice, and oftentimes has not been a good neighbor. It is long past time for the U.S. to restore a foreign policy based on vigilant neutrality and a defense policy based truly on defense rather than imperial ambition.

And:
We ought to learn two important lessons from witnessing the destruction of these dual symbols of imperial America. First, only fools trust in horses and chariots. Second, the love of money is the root of all sorts of evil. One might say that this is America's wake-up call to forsake its idolatry and to return to its true Christian and Constitutional foundations. We were founded as neither a democracy nor an empire but as a federated, constitutional republic firmly grounded upon Biblical principles of governance. Let us learn from this terror and return humbly to our roots. Righteousness and justice-and not power and profit-should be our goal. If we approached other peoples in this spirit then at least we could claim the moral high ground when we ourselves suffer injustice. Let us not forget the admonition that violence begets violence and that reaction based solely on a desire for revenge, especially against innocent foreign nationals, is unjust.

This wasn't well received by many members who were ready to support a war against the Muslim world. This is the time that Cecil Williamson left and might be one reason he quit. Another reason might be that by 2000 and 2001, the claims of the League of the South to not be racist were receiving increasing skepticism. The Southern Poverty Law Center had done an article about them, as well as others. It really wasn't possible anymore to try to argue that the League of the South was some eccentric Southern Agrarian group having "academic" discussions about secession or culture etc. It was becoming revealed as a hateful organization. Members of the League of the South also began to find out that it was a top down organization. The leadership of the League of the South isn't elected and sets agenda and policy. Neo-Confederates may talk about "ordered liberty" and a hierarchical society, but they don't imagine that means they individually are on the bottom.
Another reason for people to leave the League of the South was that in one way it had achieved its goals. By 2002 the Sons of the Confederate Veterans had adopted fully and explicitly the agenda of the League of the South. There wasn't really a need any more for the League of the South.

About that Democratic "Tar Baby"

MinistryOfTruth — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 22:06:55 GMT

Do you have your Saturday mop ready?

First, check out this ad by Blue America for Democratic House candidate Billy Kennedy, which nails wingnut Virginia Foxx (R-Crazystan) as "Crazy, Cruel and Ignorant"

But of all the terrible, idiotic things Virginia Foxx has said, Blue America left out the worst one.

More on this moron below the fold, and what you can do about it.
Crossposted at Daily Kos

I come to you today to detail the wankery that is Virginia Foxx, and to present to you a sane alternative for 2010, in Democratic candidate Billy Kennedy.

There are many words that one could use to describe NC-5 House Rep Virginia Foxx, but "Tar Baby" would never be one. In fact, I would think the average person would never use the phrase "tar baby" to describe anyone or anything in the year 2010, unless that person were a bigot, or Republican Virginia Foxx, the slack jawed yokel.

So, how hard would it be to put together a campaign ad around this quote?

Because, when you are an out of touch, bought off shill for Corporate America, "Tar Baby" isn't just a racial slur from the pre-civil rights era!

(Oh, and the fact that we have our first black President has nothing to do with anything!)

Now, as your alternative to the crazy, pre-civil rights relic that is Virginia Foxx, I'd like to introduce you to the ideas of Billy Kennedy.

JOBS
The past ten years have been some of the worst for the American worker. We work harder for longer hours and for less money. There has been literally zero net job creation since the decade began. Many of the larger corporations are reporting strong profits, based often on layoffs and reduced labor benefits. Our economy relies on consumer spending for two-thirds of its growth. If Americans don't have a paycheck, or a reduced paycheck, consumer spending just doesn't happen. It's a vicious cycle.
Middle-class households made less in 2008 than they did in 1999. Today, one in five of us is underemployed or without a job at all. One in nine of our families can't make the minimum payments on our credit cards. One in eight of us are in trouble on our mortgages, and one in eight of us is now on food stamps. The current Great Recession "disappeared" more than $5 trillion from our retirement accounts and savings.
We the people of the American middle class believed in civic duty and in hard work, and we believed that politicians in Washington were dedicated to our interests and respectful of our important contributions.
We were wrong.
Politicians of both political parties have spent their time tearing our country apart and listening to lobbyists for the biggest, most powerful corporations.
In 2001, Washington politicians passed tax cuts for "all" Americans. What they really did was give two-thirds of all tax cuts to the richest Americans. As a result, we went broke while Wall Street got rich, and government revenues dropped in 2004 to the lowest level since 1950, causing huge budget deficits. There's no money to rebuild our schools, provide job retraining, or shore up Medicare for our seniors. Americans find out that even though they have health insurance, it won't pay for their cancer treatments.
The chickens came home to roost in late 2008. Washington "solved" the crisis by giving huge bailouts to the very banks and other institutions that gambled away our retirements and savings on Wall Street. Washington placed little accountability on that bailout money and didn't take away the right of Wall Street to gamble. Instead, Washington "encouraged" banks to lend to small businesses. They didn't. They hoarded our money for themselves. Now our small businesses, the ones who hire workers, can't get money even to start projects.
This brings us to February 2009. Congress passed "The Stimulus Package." It spent on things like infrastructure, education, and research, and it tried to jumpstart our economy with some state aid and tax cuts. The stimulus has helped. So far, contracts, loans, and grants for North Carolina's 5th District have amounted to $168,291,173, creating 209 new jobs. But the stimulus was mostly damage control-saving thousands of jobs for teachers, fire departments and police.
The "Jobs Bill" that Washington is currently fighting over appears to be yet another band aid over a huge wound. It is a very limited package of small-business aid, unemployment benefits, and corporate tax credits.
No single "fix" will get us out of this mess. Neither the government alone nor the private sector alone can solve the jobs problem. Instead of calling each other names across the aisles up there in Washington, why can't our representatives do something for both short-term and long-term job creation?
1. Like it or not, we live in a global economy. To compete, we must make investments in research, our crumbling infrastructure, and education. Failure to commit to a quality public education for the next generation of American workers will sink us further and further. We must consider upgrades to our infrastructure.
2. We must invest in new technology and renewable energy because new American jobs depend on it. China has now jumped ahead to become the world's largest manufacturer of wind turbines and solar panels, and they are now adding 100,000 new jobs a year in renewable energy as a result.
3. We have to become more export-oriented. We need to stop giving tax breaks to American companies who move our jobs overseas and instead provide tax incentives for companies who bring or keep those jobs right here at home.
4. We need to focus on creating jobs for rural people. Farm- and eco-tourism have promise. So does the "local foods" movement. We need small lending programs for rural entrepreneurs to start small businesses or encourage high-tech jobs in our rural communities.
5. We must address the price of health-care. Spiraling costs are dragging down American companies.
Here's how we can pay for some of this:
1. Tax cuts to the richest among us have cost our treasury $1.35 trillion in revenues. We should repeal those tax cuts and use the savings to cut taxes for low- and middle-income workers; provide a tax credit for small businesses that hire new workers; and provide tax incentives for businesses wanting to enter into technology and renewable energy projects in rural America.
2. A person who makes $1 million in wages pays the same Social Security tax as a person who makes $106,800 because of an unfair "cap." We should drop the cap on Social Security taxes to keep it solvent for future generations.
3. We can link private and public investment money which could do what America's banks currently won't: make low-interest loans to good ideas and small businesses.
America is in a major crisis, and it's time those in Washington stopped the partisan bickering and did something. Our country's future depends on it.

billykennedyforcongress.com/pages/issues

Some of Virginia Foxx's greatest hits in living in the past include denying that Matthew Sheppard was killed because he was gay with his mother in the audience. After the incident, civil rights hero and House Representative John Lewis (D-GA) had this to say of Foxx.

"She should be ashamed," said Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), himself a victim of a hate crime during the struggle for civil rights. "That is unreal, unbelievable. The law enforcement people and almost every reasonable person I know believes he was murdered because he was gay."

But Virginia Foxx has no shame. When she isn't using racial offensive terms or fighting to make the world safer for hate inspired criminals, she is out spreading lies about fake "Death Panels".

Rep. Foxx: The Republican plan would "make sure we bring down the cost of health care for all Americans and that ensures affordable access for all Americans and is pro-life because it will not put seniors in a position of being put to death by their government."

politicalcorrection.org

Demonizing minorities, denying reality, and using fear to mislead American voters, the rightwing trifecta!

Now, on a late Saturday afternoon, we can do one of two things about Virginia Foxx and her crazy, corporatist, wedge issue heavy agenda.

a. Do nothing.

b. Take 5 minutes to Support Billy Kennedy

Because Billy Kennedy sees right through this wedge issue, divide and conquer nonsense.

Even when a candidate or political party wins an election through the use of a wedge issue, once they arrive in Washington they do nothing to further its cause. That is when it becomes painfully clear that the candidate never had any real commitment to the issue itself. The candidate simply used the issue to try to fool the people and win the election at any cost.
I will not be distracted from what is most important to voters!

billykennedyforcongress.com/pages/issues

So, here is your choice. We can have a Representative for North Carolina's who thinks the term "Tar Baby" is appropriate in the year 2010, or we can have a Representative who wants the Government to work (GASP!) for what is best for everybody, not just the Corporations, the rich and the special interests.

Seems like an easy choice to me.

So, what are YOU going to do?

If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem. In this case, the solution is to help elect Billy Kennedy to Congress!

Check out Billy Kennedy's campaign website

You can follow Billy Kennedy on Twitter here

You can follow Billy Kennedy on
facebook as well

Because we know what the alternative is going to look like . . .

And most importantly, if you can, make a small donation and send some love to Billy Kennedy with ActBlue

Because elections are about choice, and when Billy Kennedy is choosing his words the term "tar baby" is NEVER an option.

Cheers, and peace and love to all!

Follow me on Twitter @JesseLaGreca

Are you Ready for Some Football?

admin — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 16:20:27 GMT

College football officially kicks off today. Of course there were some games the last two nights. But the big cheese plays today.

Rollllll Tide. We are playing San Jose State today.

Penn State, the team of CasualWednesday, comes to Tuscaloosa next weekend for an epic showdown and renews a major rivalry of the 70's and 80's.

Who is your team? What games are you looking forward to this weekend?

Monday nights showdown between Virginia Tech and Boise State could have National Title implications. If Boise wins they are in prime position for a run at a BCS championship. If VA Tech wins they are in the hunt and all talk ends of Boise not getting their fair shot at the title.

I look forward to watching some of the LSU- North Carolina game tonight. UNC has a number of starters out though due to NCAA violations. For LSU and hot seat Les Miles this is a must win.

Ken Buck (CO-Sen) - American Schools Were Better Prior to Integration

admin — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 01:14:10 GMT

I have no doubt that Ken Buck is using a blatant dog-whistle here when he's talking about the U.S. Government getting involved in federal education.

ht to Think Progress

In the 1950s, we had the best schools in the world, and the United States government decided to, um, get more involved in federal education. Where are we now after all those years of federal involvement? Are we better, or are we worse? So what's the federal government's answer? Well since we've made education worse, we're gonna even get more involved. And what's gonna be the result?

Not only is Buck misrepresenting the facts, I believe he's certainly playing the race card. When I think of the Federal Government, education and the 1950's I instantly think of Brown v. Board of Education. Buck was up there playing a game of Charades or Pictionary with these College Republicans. I was waiting for someone to call out - George Wallace or Brown V Board.

Again - The superfecta of Rand Paul, Sharrron Angle, Joe Miller and Ken Buck. The gifts that keep on giving.

Scott McAdams (AK-Sen) - Help us Get to $1,000

admin — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 23:24:24 GMT

Scott McAdams has a real chance to beat Joe Miller in the Alaska Senate Race. According to a Rasmussen Poll conducted earlier in the week he only trails Miller by 6 points.

We've raised $375 in the past week for McAdams on our Act Blue page . Help us get to $1,000 this weekend.

McAdams talked earlier this week about how the National Democratic Leadership has yet to get behind his campaign.

It remains to be seen whether McAdams will receive support from the Democratic National Committee or the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. McAdams says it doesn't matter.
"The DSCC and the national Democratic Party doesn't even know my name. And that's fine by me," he said. "I love the Alaskan Democratic Party, they've been behind me 100 percent, Sen. Mark Begich has been behind me 100 percent, and that's just fine by me."
But he acknowledged the support of the two national organizations would make a big difference.
"I'm not sure exactly what their strategy's going to be. I'm not sure what their plan is," he said. "This is a small population state. We can raise enough money to win. Nobody knew who Joe Miller was on the 31st of May."

The DNC and the DSCC may not get behind McAdams, but we can raise enough money to make this viable. Swing State Project has pledged to raise $2,400 so feel free to use their Act Blue links and help them reach their goal.

One thing I will say: If we do want big players like the DSCC to get involved, demonstrating serious grassroots enthusiasm for McAdams is the way to do it. So please help us reach our goal of $2,400 - the equivalent of one maximum federal donation - for Scott McAdams as quickly as possible.

Rasmussen already moved this race from Solidly Republican to Leans Republican which is certainly positive movement for McAdams as well as the Democrats nationally The superfecta crazy of Rand Paul, Sharrrrron Angle, Ken Buck and Joe Miller at the gifts that keep on giving.

We are all in this together. This race is the best value in terms of bang for our buck. SSP hits the nail on the head. Let's Go Team.

Being NOT WHITE with not-white supporters = playing the race card = DOG WHISTLE

MinistryOfTruth — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 21:10:08 GMT

In my ongoing pledge to GRAB A MOP, I bring you this . . .

In Pennsylvania's 6th congressional district, where Democrat Manan Trivedi is challenging Rep. Jim Gerlach (R), the Republican's campaign is painting Trivedi as a far left-winger and has said Trivedi "doesn't share our values."
~snip~
"What we are saying is that Trivedi is a far-left fringe candidate who does not share the common-sense values of the taxpayers, families or seniors of the 6th district," said Gerlach campaign spokesman Mark Campbell.
"The only one who has played the race card here is him, by going to Indian-American groups to raise money," said Campbell.
thehill.com

Bold text added by the diarist

So what are common sense values in the Pennsylvania's 6th district? I guess in Congressman Gerlach's spokesperson Mark Campbell would say being white while running for office would be one.

This is what a DOG WHISTLE sounds like, one designed to create fear of the "other", and we should fight against it . . .

More below the fold.
Crossposted at The Progressive Electorate.com

_______________________________________________________________________

Now, regarding my diary yesterday titled No more META, no more handwringing, time to kick @$$. What I really mean is it is time to grab a mop, and that means YOU!. Ask yourself, what have I done to push for more progress? What have I done to advocate for greater change and equality? And most importantly, what can I do to achieve the goals I want met?

What I am saying, dear readers, is to ask not what Obama and the Democrats have yet to do for you, ask what you can do for your country!

And what I will be doing is kicking Republican butt, the same Republicans who wrecked this place in the first place. Anyone who wants to join me can email me or follow me on twitter for more info.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled de-programming . . .

________________________________________________________________________

How dare Manan Trivedi, who is Indian-American and an Iraqi war vet, raise campaign money from Indian-American groups! Manan doesn't look like you (assuming you are white), so clearly he doesn't share your values, or something . . .

But when Republican House Representative Jim Gerlach, who happens to be white (I know, what are the odds of a Republican politician being white?) raises money from his white supporters, well, now that is common sense.

If this has shades of "a racist who hates white people and white culture" to it, it should, because it is based off of the same old "Southern" strategy that the right has been using for years, only now, if you aren't in the south you can use the new expanded "50 state southern strategy", where you can transform latinos, indian americans and muslims and any other non whites into the Willie Horton you've always wanted to run against! (available only in Republican Red)

You see, to the Republican "we are always the only victim" mindset, common sense dictates that a non white person has no business running for office or seeking the support of other non white people, or building a mosque or eating at a segregated lunch counter. All of those things equal THE RACE CARD. Besides, those rights have been reserved for the kind of people who share Republican "common sense" values (like being born white).

Of course, this bullcrap will allow Jim Gerlach to avoid talking about the GOP's economic record (FAIL) or their ideas on civil rights (more FAIL) or the GOP record on deficts (created by GOP war profiteering and tax cuts for rich people who don't need them), in fact, with this strategy of "He doesn't share our values" (like torture or opposing religious freedom for non christians), a Republican NEVER has to run on the reality of their failed ideology, and that is just okay with them.

But not with me.

Because this kind of thing is really just a loud DOG WHISTLE for rightwingers who have been trained to perk their ears up at signs of "The Other", and whether it is a brown person, a non christian, Teh Gay or just someone who apears "not to share our values", you can be sure that rightwingers and those who harbor prejudice will always side with "their kind", and that is just what Jim Gerlach is counting on. He doesn't need ideas to create jobs or make things better, he can just scare you into voting for him with fear of the other. Naturally.

You see, who needs things like policies when we can just agree to hate and be afraid of people who aren't exactly like us!

But that doesn't work on me, or on many open minded people like me. We see past petty differences, and we like details and policy. For a peek into the policy proposals of Manan Trivedi, just check out his campaign issues page.

The Strength of a Healthy America
The United States spends more on healthcare than any other nation in the world, yet nearly 50 million people are without...

A Focus on the Nation's Future
Between 1969 and 2000, high school completion rates have dropped by 30 percent.

Energy to Grow the Economy
Access to reliable, affordable energy is vital to the success of the United States economy and our global security.

Energizing Job Growth
Fighting for the creation of new jobs and to protecting existing jobs must be our number one priority.

A Leader in the World
The resources we committed to Iraq have hamstrung our efforts to combat terrorism in Afghanistan and around the globe.

Pledging to Protect Social Security
Social Security is a promise made to all generations of Americans - a promise Manan Trivedi intends to keep.

I will say this to you simply, fellow Democrats. Either you are part of the solution or you are part of the problem. Complaining without answers is not helping. You want to help? Grab a Mop.

I'm doing just that, and wiping the smiles off of Republican candidates faces seems a great place to start.

So support Manan Trivedi for congress, and if you can, give a little love his way.

Donate to Manan Trivedi with ActBlue here

You want to win? Good! Let's start by winning some elections.

The alternative is not an option.

I leave you, today, with the same words I left you with yesterday . . .

So what are you waiting for? We've got work to do, and time is running short.
Peace

You can follow me on Twitter

Update: Is anyone else having trouble with the site loading?

admin — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 03:12:50 GMT

Looks like for me anyways the site is loading a bit quicker. I think that there were some page breaks that were messing up the loading. I played with the code for a bit.

Please let me know how it's performing for you.

I hope to have this fixed here this morning as long as I get some feedback.

Governor Jan Brewer's Opening Statement

admin — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 23:56:30 GMT

This is painful and cannot even be described. A must watch.

Boxer vs. Fiorina: The People's Senator vs. Privileged CEO

deaniac83 — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 21:42:10 GMT

Crossposted from The People's View.

Last night, Sen. Barbara Boxer debated her Republican challenger, disgraced former HP CEO with a golden foot in her mouth, Carly Fiorina. ?Not only did Fiorina have no shame about cutting 30,000 jobs at HP and shipping them overseas while taking $100 million in compensation for herself, and that's just in cash compensation, including a $21.4 million golden parachute. ?If you want to find out the Fiorina story of self-enrichment at the expense of HP employees, see this Perks and Pinkslips timeline at Fiorina Facts.

The debate included a range of topics, and skipped some I thought were critically important (especially Citizens United and campaign financing), but Sen. Boxer's opening statement really summed up who has been fighting for California all her life and which candidate has looked out for nothing but naked self interest.

SENATOR BOXER: Thanks to the good people of california who have put their faith in me. ?And because of that, I've been able to enact thousands of provisions, for our children, the first-ever, after-school program. ?For our veterans, the first- ever, comprehensive casualty care center in california for our wounded warriors. ?We've doubled the transportation funding. ?That means thousand of job -- thousands of jobs.
And jobs are my focus. ?That's why I'm working to make california the hub of the new clean energy economy. ?That's why I'm working to make sure small business gets access to credit. ?And that's why I'm working to stop tax breaks to companies who ship overseas. ?Jobs overseas.
And when I talk about shipping jobs overseas, I'm reminded of my opponent. ?When she was CEO of Hewlett Packard, before she was terminated, actually, she shipped 30,000 jobs overseas. ?Think of it. ?That's the size of foster city. ?And through all of that pain, what did she do to show any sacrifice? ?She took $100 million.
So that reminds me of wall street. ?That's what happened on wall street. ?Bonuses at the top, paying for -- pain for everyone else.
I want to see the words "made in america" again. ?And I ask for your vote. ?Thank you.

(Transcript credit to the wonderful people at Livedash.com.)

There are a myriad of issues that Boxer and Fiorina are worlds apart on -- including Fiorina's plan to criminalize women and doctors in contrast with Barbara Boxer's lifelong record of protecting a woman's right to choose -- but this really is the crux of the choice. ?Not that Barbara Boxer has ever failed to offer a clear choice to Californians, but this year the choice may the most stark.

On one hand, we have a progressive standard bearer who has fought to keep the children of California away from gangs, to create jobs and a green energy economy, and go to bat for California's small businesses and small family farms. ?On the other side, we have a radical right wing woman of privilege whose life has been devoted to self enrichment at the expense of the employees she was responsible for. ?Fiorina eliminated their jobs for her own greed. ?And now her greed has reached to a level that she thinks she can buy Senate seat that belongs to the people of California.

Make no mistake. ?Fiorina is a woman who almost destroyed one of the best tech companies in the world. ?As Arianna Packard, the granddaughter of David Packard (that's the 'Packard' in Hewlett-Packard), herself a Republican, noted in March,

"I know a little bit about Carly Fiorina, having watched her almost destroy the company my grandfather founded. So, allow me to disillusion you of a few of your stated reasons for supporting her," Packard wrote.
"Most business commentators consider Fiorina's tenure at HP to be a disaster," Packard continued. "The stock price dropped by 50% only to rally 10% on the announcement of her firing. She fired 28,000 people before she herself was fired, departing with the 21 million dollar golden parachute that is financing her campaign."

Ms Packard may be a Republican, but she knows when some greedy CEO is trying to screw with her grandfather's handy work.

Fiorina also has a familiar attitude: I got mine, now screw you. ?While Sen. Boxer has been pushing hard against Republican opposition to small business and community bank funding, Fiorina opposes that funding. ?Boxer fought to protect the jobs of California teachers so that they are there as the students come back to school, Fiorina stood opposed to California's school-children. ?However, Fiorina would like you to know that she would like her Bush tax cuts made permanent and that she is very worried that she won't be able to pass on her money, made at the expense of her employees, to her inheritors.

Let's move on to some other issues California cares a great deal about. ?We Californians believe in a woman's right to make her own medical reproductive decision. ?We do not want the government butting into our doctor's offices or kitchen tables and make that decision for women. ?In order?to protect the privacy of families as well as the safety of young girls, we have beat back three consecutive "parental notification/consent" initiatives. ?Sen. Boxer is a steadfast defender of that Constitutionally protected right, while Fiorina would criminalize it. ?She would criminalize women who have it as well as the doctors who perform the medical procedure. ?Fiorina tried to sell her position as defending "states' rights," but not once did she contradict Sen. Boxer's charge that she would criminalize it.

Dear Carly, we Californians like out federal legislators to defend the rights of individuals, including that of women to have a safe, accessible and affordable abortion.

Asked about whether same sex couples should have access to the federal rights of marriage, Barbara Boxer courageously and proudly came out in support of the marriage equality, and our right to have all the federal benefits of marriage conferred to us if and when we choose to do so. ?Fiorina hid behind the conservative veil of activist-judge-overturning-the-people's-vote (Prop 8), entirely avoiding even the issue of federal benefits.

Another issue Californians care about is our environment. ?We want to breathe clean air. ?Barbara Boxer took a stand against the oil and coal industry funded Proposition 23 that would overturn the California Clean Air Act (AB 32). ?Fiornia? ?In a spectacular display of cowardice and pandering, she refused to take a stand, but she did take the opportunity to call California's clean air and clean energy policy a "job killer."

Moderator: So time is up. But you didn't answer part of Pilar's question, which is, do you support Prop 23, which would suspend AB-32.
FIORINA: My focus is on a national energy policy.
Moderator: Yes or no. Just answer, do you support it?
FIORINA: I have not taken a position on it yet. I think what we're doing -- there is no question in my mind and no question in those who have studied AB32, that AB32 is at the very least, in the short term a job killer. So why would we go forward? But what we need is national energy policy.
Moderator: Senator boxer?
SENATOR BOXER: Well, if you can't take a stand on Prop 23, I don't know what you will take a stand on. This is a crucial bill. And I'll tell you the reason why. If we overturn california's clean energy policies, that's going to mean that China takes the lead away from us with solar, that Germany takes the lead from us with wind.
But I guess my opponent is kind of used to creating jobs in china and other places. I want those jobs created here in america. I want to see the words "made in america" again. And this is the way we're going to do it.
The whole world is going green. And I know that my opponent has gotten huge support from the coal companies, from big oil. They are hoping that I don't make it. And I am asking the people of this state who care about these issues to really take note. Because if my opponent gets there, california is done for, in terms of its lead on clean energy.

There you have it. ?Fiorina thinks clean energy is a job killer, won't take a position on turning rolling back California's clean energy policy, and big oil and big coal are terrified of Barbara Boxer.

This is the choice before Californians -- but to a degree this is also the choice before all Americans. ?No matter where you are in America, you can help keep a real champion of progressive causes, Barbara Boxer, in the Senate. ?Donate if you can. ?Call everyone you know in California, and tell them why it's crucial they vote for Boxer. ?We have a choice to make - do we want the Barbara Boxers of the world to continue to give voice to the voiceless in the halls of power? ?Or do we want failed job-cutting self-enriching corporate CEOs to take over?

Self-plug: You can read this and other thoughts of mine on my blog, The People's View. You can also follow me on Twitter @thepeoplesview.

Trumka: Boehner's Idea of Job Creation is to Hire a Second Caddy.

Curtis Abbey — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 20:40:38 GMT

Labor is getting behind John Boehner's opponent Justin Coussoule. From the AFL-CIO blog today.

Be sure to visit BeatBoehner.com, and click here to find out more about Justin Coussoule who is running with labor's support to unseat Boehner in Ohio's 8th Congressional District. He is a West Point graduate, a former Army captain, a lawyer and a small business owner.
Boehner's so-called job creation strategy is to return to the Bush policies of tax cuts for the wealthy and Big Business and free rein on Wall Street. Tuesday in St. Louis, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka summed up Boehner's jobs program.
His idea of job creation is to hire a second caddy.

Blue America PAC has been doing a great job with their support of Justin Coussoule. Labor is joining their campaign and backing this ad, which is up on at least one billboard in his district.

We had Justin Coussoule on my facebook group Progress For a More Perfect Union last week for a Q+A and I was pretty impressed with his answers, especially to my question :) If you missed it here's another go.

Question 1 - Grassroots Support Nationally
Spandan Chakrabarti Thank you for challenging John Boehner. What kind of grassroots as well as national Democratic support are you getting, and how can we get you more?

Answer
We're all grassroots. No national party support. We need vols, $ and votes. Anything people can do to help spread the word! A little help from a lot of people will help get us there.

Question 2 - Net Neutrality
Martin: 1. What do you think about the debate over net neutrality?

Answer
@ Martin: Support net neutrality. One more place we need to prevent big business from crowding out the people's right to be heard.

Question 3 - Polling
Brad: How are you faring in the polls, Justin? I haven't seen any numbers so far.

Answer
Brad: No one has ever bothered to poll here. Boehner hasn't faced a real challenge in the 20 years he's been in the House. A good District poll is about $20k.

Question 4 - R+14 District
Chris McGann Hey, Justin. Great to have you here. My question: Your opponent seems more interested in becoming Speaker of the House than working for the people. I like that strategy, but how do you convince the people of an R +14 district to support a Democrat?
Answer
This District is 55% Ind. The rest is split evenly D and R. The D's have chosen never to compete here against Boehner. That's why the R+14. Boehner has taken his constituents for granted once again and is actively running for Speaker. The people here are tired of his arrogance. We need a voice in the House, not a Speaker. Someone who is in touch with the people of the District. That's what the majority of the voters here want. We hear it every day.

Question 5 - Boehner Not Representing His District
Anastasia Pantsios Does it seem to you that voters are becoming more aware of Boehner's lack of concern for regular people's lives? What are they saying to you about his failure to campaign in the district, if anything?

Answer
We know that Boehner's strategy will be to ignore us for as long as he can. As soon as he acknowledges us or reacts to us then he gives us credibility. So we'll keep on talking to voters 3 and 4 at a time and building our campaign up one day at a time as we have for the last 7 months. It's a case of turning an opponent's strength into a weakness. He needs to act like he's got nothing to worry about in his home district, and we'll keep exploiting that.

Question 6 - Health Care
Jeff Reed
What are your thoughts on the Health Care bill? What improvements could be made? Thoughts on the Public Option? My state of Missouri just voted overwhelmingly against the mandates, something I did not support without the presence of a public option.
Thank you Justin, and best of luck from MO-9.

Answer
The health care bill was a good start. We need a public option. We need more effective reform. Our goal should be affordability and accessibility. The current reality (1/6 of our economy spent on health care and we're not even close to the most healthy country in the world) is just not sustainable. It's consuming our economy and us, and many of our citizens are suffering from lack of care.

Question 7 What Can We Do To Help?
Jacqueline Jacqrat Propps Hi Justin, so excited and proud of your campaign against the evil that is Boehner. What can people do, either in OH-08 our outside your district to help your campaign gain ground? What do you need for us to do to help you #BeatBoehner.com?

Answer
Great question. We need dollars and volunteers to help us win votes. It's that simple. People in district can help us knock doors and make calls. People outside the district can help make calls. Everyone can help spread the word by forwarding our website, FB, Twitter. Tell everyone you know about our campaign and ask them to follow us and tell their friends. And of course, everyone can donate. Every dollar counts. Radio and cable TV spots are as cheap as $50-$100 each. Yard signs are $1 each. We're an all volunteer, grassroots campaign, so every dollar helps advance this worthy fight, not pay consultants.

Questions 8+9 Jobs and the Economy
Rory Michael: Justin, nobody can deny that there is still a major problem with foreclosures across the nation, and that our economy is still not where it needs to be. When you make it to DC, what do you plan to do to address the crisis we continue to face?

Maria Suhr: Hi Justin...what are your thoughts on how to create jobs in OH-8 and the nation? I think that is what people are really focused on right now.

Answer
I don't have a magic bullet on the economy. No one does. If they did, they would have used it by now. It took decades to get in this hole. It will take years to climb back out. People like Boehner who offer quick fixes and easy answers just want a vote. He has no ideas, except more of what got us in this mess. We need to make things in this country again. We need real jobs for working middle-class people. Green jobs are one possibility. Whatever the next big industry is, we need to get in on it, innovate, be the world leader. We need to make products and provide services right here in the US again. Fair trade, not free trade.

Question 10 - Lake Communities
Anastasia Pantsios Have you talked to people around Grand Lake St. Mary's? What are they thinking and telling you? What do you think needs to be done to restore the lake to acceptable condition for recreational use?

Answer
The Lake communities need money, now. They know what the problem is and how to fix it. We need to help the businesses and the communities survive in the short-term, kill the algae in the lake and then address the upstream sources of contamination with the farm practices that we know will reduce the impact on the lake. All of this takes money and a little leadership and support from the state, local and federal government. The people of GLSM don't need hand-holding, but they do need a little help from their Rep. Sadly, they're not getting it. Boehner has chosen to ignore them. Essentially telling them that they are on their own.

Question 11 - Lobbyists and Change
Hi Justin, I would like to know how lobbyist's are allowed to practice? I feel they buy our politicians and cause any real change from happening. Would love a yard sign here in Hamilton.. TY

Answer
Agreed. That's exactly what we're fighting in this race. Boehner is the most coin-operated career politician in Washington. Want to know where his priorities lie - follow the money. They ain't with the middle class, I'll tell you that. If you send us a note through our campaign website asking for a yard sign, we'll get you one! And thank you! Spread the good word!

Question 12 - Guantanamo Bay
Spandan Chakrabarti Since you are a military person, I am wondering how - or if - you plan to add your voice to closing Guantanamo Bay, if you are elected.

Answer
Gitmo should be closed ASAP. I'd like to see the President follow through on this commitment.

Question 13 - West Point Experience and Military Contracting
Curtis here. What lessons could you bring to the Congress from West Point?
In the military is there much of a debate about how private contractors should be used? Do you think we have a healthy mix now or should there be changes to our procedures for military contracting?

Answer
Most important West Point lessons: always put the needs of those you serve ahead of your own - public service is synonymous with selfless service; leaders of character choose the harder right over the easier wrong, they do the right thing even when no on is watching. The most important lesson is that leaders of character never compromise their honor or integrity. Stay true to that core principle and that is all anyone can ask of you. As far as contractors, in some instances they are OK. But we need a self-contained fighting force that is highly trained and cohesive. We can't hire out our nation's defenses. That just doesn't work. Ask the Romans. And the waste, fraud abuse and fleecing of the US taxpayer that seems common place in military contracting should make us all very suspicious.

Question 14 - Female Candidates
Rory Michael Justin, an AP article was released today (the 90th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th amendment) stating that we still have a huge gap in how many female candidates are elected to office, what are your thoughts on this?

Answer
Women are slightly more than half of the US population. We need more women in elected office at every level and in the judiciary. Our institutions of government should reflect the people they serve.

Question 15 - Accessability
Laura Thomas Justin, Are you going to be a hands on congressman? If I have a concern, can I call your office?

Answer

Absolutely. I live in this district with my wife and young children. I have no intention of spending any more time away from SW Ohio than I have to. That is exactly the problem we have now - an out of touch, absentee politician. We need to get back to basics - accessible and accountable representation.

Question 16 - Republicans Taking Over House and Senate
Linda Morris Justin are you fearful that we Dems will lose the majority in both houses as was reported today. When you win how will that affect the things you want to do?

Answer
As Dems, we need to get up off the mats and fight. The R's are trying to create a self-fulfilling prophecy. If they say they will win majorities over and over, then people and the media start to parrot their mantra. They are not offering anything of substance as an alternative. In this race, Boehner is doing the same thing, hoping that if he repeats that he's the next Speaker enough then everyone will just assume that's reality. Don't believe it. Get energized and fight for the government that we deserve.

Question 17 - Golf courses
Anastasia Pantsios Do you think the 8th district needs more golf courses?

Answer
I think the Gov. is on the right track with GLSM. But I think his plan doesn't fully go into effect for 2 years. The lake and its communities can't wait that long. And no, we don't need more golf course in OH-8! We need more jobs after 20-years of failed representation by Boehner. Where are the jobs Mr. Boehner! Let's put Boehner on his home course permanently, so he can play golf even more than his current 100+ times per year.

Closing Remarks from Justin Coussoule
Thanks to all for the great questions and the words of support. Please help us spread the word and keep an eye on our campaign. With a little help from a lot of people, we can fight for and win real change for OH-8 and our country!

Justin Coussoule's facebook page
Justin's campaign page
If you can give any amount is appreciated, no matter how small. Even $1 sends a message. Thanks to your support so far we're nearly at our goal for this cycle!