Steppenwolf are a Canadian–American[1][2] hard rock group that was prominent in the late 1960s. The group was formed in 1967 in Los Angeles by vocalist John Kay, guitarist Michael Monarch, bassist Rushton Moreve, keyboardist Goldy McJohn and drummer Jerry Edmonton after the dissolution of Toronto group The Sparrows of which Moreve was not a member.[3]
The band has sold more than 25 million records worldwide,[citation needed] releasing eight gold albums and twelve Billboard Hot 100 singles of which six were Top 40 hits,[4] including three Top 10 successes: “Born to Be Wild“, “Magic Carpet Ride“, and “Rock Me”. Steppenwolf enjoyed worldwide success from 1968 to 1974, but clashing personalities led to the end of the core lineup. Today, frontman John Kay is the only original member left, having served as lead singer for more than 40 years since 1967.
Hot damn!!!!!!
Hey NOW! :-0
Obama Responds To Question On Donald Trump ‘Feeding Fantasies’ About Birthplace (VIDEO)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/14/obama-donald-trump-interview_n_849499.html#comments
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama says Republicans who are sowing doubts about whether he is American-born may gain politically in the short term by playing to their constituencies but will have trouble when the general election rolls around.
Obama says that’s because most people are confident that he was born where he says he was – in Hawaii – and are more worried about gasoline prices and unemployment than conspiracy theories or birth certificates.
The president spoke Thursday in an interview with ABC News.
State officials long have certified that Obama was born in Hawaii. But Donald Trump, the real estate tycoon and possible GOP presidential candidate, has revived questions about Obama’s place of birth.
Obama says Republican efforts to go after him in a politically expedient way create problems for them.
The comments were in response to a question from George Stephanopoulos about Obama’s potential opponents in 2012:
George Stephanopoulos: I wonder how you size up your potential opponents? I mean all of us have been struck by Donald Trump rising to the top of the Republican field by feeding fantasies about your background. What do you make of that?
President Obama: Well you know, I think that over the last two and a half years there’s been an effort to go at me in a way that is politically expedient in the short-term for Republicans. But creates, I think a problem for them when they want to actually run in a general election where most people feel pretty confident the President was born where he says he was, in Hawaii. (LAUGHS) He– he doesn’t have horns. We may disagree with him on some issues and we may wish that you know, the unemployment rate was coming down faster and we want him to know his plan on gas prices. But we’re not really worrying about conspiracy theories or– or birth certificates. And so– I– I think it presents a problem for them. But, look I right now have such a big day job that I am not yet focused on what’s happening on the other side. There’ll be a time where I’m– I’m very focused on it.
That got damn George Stephanopoulos! Asking the President dumb ass questions about the birthers and Donald fking Trump? Who gives a fk about ass clown Donald Trump? George should have been chased out of town after the ABC debate debacle.
THIS: “But creates, I think a problem for them when they want to actually run in a general election where most people feel pretty confident the President was born where he says he was, in Hawaii. (LAUGHS) He– he doesn’t have horns. We may disagree with him on some issues and we may wish that you know, the unemployment rate was coming down faster and we want him to know his plan on gas prices. But we’re not really worrying about conspiracy theories or– or birth certificates. And so– I– I think it presents a problem for them. But, look I right now have such a big day job that I am not yet focused on what’s happening on the other side. There’ll be a time where I’m– I’m very focused on it.”
TRANSLATION: Well, you know these MOFOs are batshyt crazy, George. I believe that Americans are intelligent and can see and smell the bullshit. And they’re not going to VOTE FOR CRAZY. So imma keep my cool and serve the American people. When the the time comes, I’ll break out a can of whoop ass on’em with that bullshit birhter nonsense, perhaps in the presidential debates? LOL
LOL told y’all he’s gonna bring in the birther craziness in his campaigning. He started last night in Chi-Town
Scott Walker’s questioners were bought & paid for by the KOCH BROTHERS
To: Reporters, Bloggers, Interested Parties
From: Public Campaign Action Fund
Date: April 13, 2011
RE: Tomorrow’s House Oversight Committee Hearing Brought to You By the Billionaire Koch Brothers
Introduction
Billionaire brothers David and Charles Koch have come under intense public scrutiny for their role in financing conservative organizations and political candidates. The brothers, who own and run the conglomerate Koch Industries, are influential players in conservative philanthropic circles, and have poured literally tens of millions into an anti-government, pro-free market infrastructure and political operation.
On Thursday, April 14, 2011, the House Government Oversight Committee, chaired by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) is holding a hearing regarding state budget deficits featuring Wisconsin’s controversial Governor, Scott Walker. Gov. Walker was infamously “pranked” by a caller earlier this year who Walker thought to be David Koch.
But Gov. Walker won’t be the only one in the committee hearing with a Koch connection. In fact, 14 members of the committee have received campaign contributions from Koch Industries’ PAC. In addition, three other people testifying in front of the committee have benefited from Koch funding or have attended private retreats with the Kochs.
The Koch Industries PAC contributed $111,500 to members of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in recent years.1
http://campaignmoney.org/press-room/2011/04/13/tomorrows-house-oversight-committee-hearing
Anybody watching Piers Morgan with Demi Moore and Ashton Kucher? They are Staunch PBO supporters.
April 14, 2011
BUDGET DEAL PASSES, BUT BOEHNER STRUGGLES WITH HIS CAUCUS…. When the parties reached a budget agreement late on Friday night, there was a sense of relief among those fearing a shutdown. A stop-gap measure would keep the lights on for six days, and the bipartisan deal would finance the government through the end of the fiscal year. All Congress had to do next was pass it.
But as of this morning, passage was no longer a sure thing. As Republicans discovered the cuts weren’t nearly as big as they had been led to believe, there was talk of a GOP revolt. Would the Republican-led House actually derail a budget deal negotiated by its own Speaker?
As it turns out, no. The House approved the budget deal a short while ago, 260 to 167.
But pay close attention to the partisan breakdown. Most Democrats opposed the deal (81 to 108) while most Republicans supported it (179 to 59).
That’s good news for Boehner, right? Well, not really. The day after the deal was struck, GOP leaders said they expected some defections on this, but thought the total would go no higher than 40, and the leadership was prepared to “work strenuously to keep the number below 30.”
The final tally of GOP defections was 59.
Also note, this means divisions among Republicans were so significant, the budget deal would have died, rather easily, were it not for House Democrats who once again saved Boehner.
I’m sure the Speaker is pleased the deal went through, but he can’t be pleased with the margin — a fourth of Boehner’s own caucus rejected the budget deal he personally negotiated.
Postscript: Just as an aside, watching the vote was unusually interesting. Democrats, in large numbers, waited a very long time to register a vote. This wasn’t an accident — Dems knew Republicans were finding it difficult to get to 218, and wanted to make sure GOP members were forced into the uncomfortable position.
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2011_04/028954.php
WELL DUH!!!
Senate rejects measure to defund Planned Parenthood (42-58)
Carrie Dann writes:As expected, the Senate has voted down a measure to defund Planned Parenthood, with five Republicans voting with Democrats to keep the funding in place.
The vote was 42-58.
Republicans voting against the stand-alone resolution to defund Planned Parenthood were: Sen. Scott Brown of Massachusetts, Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois, Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine.
The same resolution passed the House earlier today by a vote of 241 to 185. Seven House Republicans voted to keep the Planned Parenthood funding, while 10 Democrats voted to eliminate it.
The budget agreement completed last Friday included a deal to eliminate a “rider” attached to the must-pass funding bill that would have cut “Title X” funding for women’s health organizations that also conduct abortions.
Read more: http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/04/14/6472644… –
Rep Bruce Braley had Scott Walker SWEATIN’!
I loathe this bish!
Sarah Palin Going To Wisconsin To Rally Tea Party Supporters
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/14/sarah-palin-wisconsin-tea-party_n_849303.html#comments
WASHINGTON — Sarah Palin is heading to Wisconsin this weekend to address a Tea Party rally at the state Capitol, a site that has more recently hosted thousands of labor protesters speaking out against Gov. Scott Walker (R).
The Tea Party gathering will be held on Saturday, two days before this year’s tax day. The event is being organized by Americans for Prosperity. Palin aide Rebecca Mansour confirmed on Twitter that the former Alaska governor will be in attendance.
This bitch here…
The Wisconsinites are not going to put up with any foolishness from the Sno’HO’ they’ve got families and mouths to feed.
**PLEASE NOTE THAT 4 MEN FROM THE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE ARE KOCH BROTHER CONNECTED.
Congressional Hearing
Oversight Committee Looks into States Approach to Budget Debts
Wisconsin Gov. Walker testifies
Wisconsin recently saw the passage of a controversial funding bill that addresses the state’s $3.6 billion budget deficit. Today, a House Committee called Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) to discuss his approach to crafting the budget bill.
Along with Gov. Peter Shumlin (D-VT), Committee members and Walker studied what difficult choices individual states must make regarding state and municipal debt.
In a hearing titled “State and Municipal Debt: Tough Choices Ahead,” Committee members looked into states across the nation on how their government officials can tackle debt while increasing employment in the region.
House Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) explained his reasoning for holding the hearing, “rather than kick the can down the road in Wisconsin, Governor Walker’s actions to cut spending and address over-compensation of public employees are putting his state government in a stronger financial position.”
Gov. Walker’s testimony today follows a battle earlier this year over a bill that included a measure that limits unionized public workers’ capacity to bargain collectively. The law has recently been suspended while legal challenges pass through the Wisconsin courts.
http://cspan.org/Events/Oversight-Committee-Looks-into-States-Approach-to-Budget-Debts/10737420883-1/
Well, you don’t know what we can find
Why don’t you come with me little girl
On a magic carpet ride
You don’t know what we can see
Why don’t you tell your dreams to me
Fantasy will set you free
;)
Nice…
—————————————-
Breaking News Alert: Senate passes 2011 funding bill, sending it to President Obama
April 14, 2011 5:57:09 PM
—————————————-
The Senate on Thursday passed a bill that would fund the federal government through the end of September and reduce federal agency budgets by more than $38 billion. The funding deal, announced late last week, passed the Senate Thursday on a bipartisan 81-to-19 vote, hours after the House passed it on a 260-to-167 vote. Ahead of the final vote, the Senate also rejected measures that would have defunded the national health-care law and Planned Parenthood; the two Senate votes had been agreed to as part of the budget deal. President Obama must sign the funding measure into law by midnight Friday in order to avert a federal shutdown.
http://link.email.washingtonpost.com/r/F490YD/KEFFE4/R1TWC6/6F648X/5RT26/JY/h
Limbaugh: Obama Base ‘Savages,’ ‘Walking Human Debris’ (VIDEO)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/14/limbaugh-obama-base-savag_n_849246.html
On his Thursday show, Rush Limbaugh tore into what he called President Obama’s base.
Limbaugh said that the president was attempting to placate his base during his deficit reduction speech, and he used a panoply of epithets to describe the base.
“His base is made up of people even more vile than he is,” he said. “You’ve got…a lot of it is just walking human debris on the Democrat base side.” He noted that many on the left have been unhappy with Obama.
“That bunch of people, those savages that make up the Obama base, are fit to be tied,” he said. He had to get them back, and the one way to do it was to go out and savage us. That’s what they love. That’s what they get off on. That’s their orgasm. ‘Cause these people can’t find willing mates.
Sticks & Stones! But we VOTE beyotch!!!!!!!!!!!
April 14, 2011
THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING SPENDING CUTS…. About a week ago, with a very likely budget shutdown hanging over head, President Obama and Senate Democrats accepted a disappointing compromise, agreeing to cut $38.5 billion from the fiscal year’s budget. For many of us, the agreement was bitter sweet — averting a shutdown was good, but accepting such a large package of cuts was not.
This week, with access to more details, we’re looking at the package in a new light. By one estimate, discretionary spending is really only being reduced by $14.7 billion. The AP found that a lot of the cuts related to money that wasn’t going to be spent (leftover Census money, for example), eliminating programs that were set to expire, and not repeating expenditures intended to be one-time infusions anyway.
Late yesterday, the Congressional Budget Office narrowed the scope of the cuts even more.
A new budget estimate released Wednesday shows that the spending bill negotiated between President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner would produce less than 1 percent of the $38 billion in promised savings by the end of this budget year.
The Congressional Budget Office estimate shows that compared with current spending rates the spending bill due for a House vote Thursday would cut federal outlays from non-war accounts by just $352 million through Sept. 30. About $8 billion in immediate cuts to domestic programs and foreign aid are offset by nearly equal increases in defense spending.
When war funding is factored in the legislation would actually increase total federal outlays by $3.3 billion relative to current levels.
OK, so this year’s deficit will barely be affected, and the cuts are starting to look surprisingly small. But the agreement probably includes more sweeping, painful cuts in the near future, right? Well, that’s not quite right either.
Kevin Drum flagged language in the CBO report (pdf) that noted the agreement would cut about $2 billion a year over the next decade.
To be sure, there are some ugly cuts in this deal, which probably wouldn’t have been made at all were it not for the results of the midterm elections.
But some of the assumptions from last week about President Obama and Harry Reid agreeing to excessive spending cuts, making painful concessions out of weakness, probably need to be revised. It’s looking less and less like Dems got rolled on this one.
Indeed, as these new revelations become better known, it’s the right that’s outraged most. Prominent conservative activists are pulling their support for the agreement, and this morning, House Republican leaders were scrambling to make sure they have enough votes to actually pass this thing. John Boehner’s image as the GOP hero who got the better of that rascally White House in budget talks has tarnished quite a bit over the last few days.
—Steve Benen 1:45 PM
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2011_04/028951.php
BWA HA HA HA PBO’s really putting the paddle to their backsides.
GOP outrage = GREAT FOR DEMOCRATS!
Budget deal: CBO analysis shows initial spending cuts less than expected
By David A. Fahrenthold, Thursday, April 14, 1:50 PM
A budget compromise that was touted as cutting $38.5 billion from the 2011 federal budget would actually only cut $352 million in expected spending during this fiscal year, according to a Congressional Budget Office analysis — news that stirred conservative anger in the hours before a key vote.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/deal-includes-86b-in-cuts-that-likely-would-never-have-been-spent/2011/04/12/AFFbG4bD_story.html
—————————————-
Breaking News Alert: House passes 2011 funding deal that would keep government running through late September
April 14, 2011 3:09:04 PM
—————————————-
The House on Thursday passed a budget deal that will keep the government running through late September while cutting $38.5 billion in federal spending. The deal passed the House on a bipartisan 260-to-167 vote, with 179 Republicans and 81 Democrats voting in favor; 59 Republicans and 108 Democrats opposed the measure. The deal now goes to the Senate, which is expected to approve it later Thursday. President Obama must sign the measure into law by midnight Friday in order to avert a government shutdown.
http://link.email.washingtonpost.com/r/DME6KX/8AW4AQ/KJF2H1/CLAYGE/5RLIK/E4/h
Here you go, folks! Andrea Mitchell’s interview w/ Gene Sperling!
The question is asked around the 5 minute mark. Watch her face.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3096434/#42593372
Tears for Paul Ryan
by BooMan
Thu Apr 14th, 2011 at 12:13:16 PM EST
The Wall Street Journal editorial page is squealing like a stuck pig. I guess the president must have done something right in his budget speech. What I love is the indignation that anyone would be mean to Rep. Paul Ryan.
Mr. Obama did not deign to propose an alternative to rival Mr. Ryan’s plan, even as he categorically rejected all its reform ideas, repeatedly vilifying them as essentially un-American. “Their vision is less about reducing the deficit than it is about changing the basic social compact in America,” he said, supposedly pitting “children with autism or Down’s syndrome” against “every millionaire and billionaire in our society.” The President was not attempting to join the debate Mr. Ryan has started, but to close it off just as it begins and banish House GOP ideas to political Siberia.
Aren’t you just welling up with tears for poor Mr. Ryan? I mean, his feelings are really hurt:
Someone pass Budget Chairman Paul Ryan a tissue, because it appears President Barack Obama has broken his heart.
Reacting to Obama’s Wednesday speech on deficit reduction, Ryan said that he was first “excited,” then “naively optimistic,” then “disappointed,” then “sad” and finally, in the end, “sincerely disappointed.”
“I was excited when we got invited to attend his speech today,” Ryan, who authored the Republican budget proposal unveiled last week, said just hours after returning from George Washington University where he was given a front row seat for Obama’s address. “I thought the president’s invitation…was an olive branch. Instead, what we got was a speech that was excessively partisan, dramatically inaccurate, and hopelessly inadequate to address our countries fiscal challenges.”
If you watch the video of Ryan’s press conference it almost seems like he sincerely thought the president invited him to the speech in order to honor him in some way. If he truly believed that, that would be the saddest thing of all.
http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2011/4/14/121316/111
BOO fuckin’ HOO!
Here you go Paul: http://www.fotosearch.com/bigcomp.asp?path=ETA/ETA004/81ASCI-00000017-001.jpg
WTF? Andrea Mitchell asked Gene Sperling if the President could’ve taken a different tone with Paul Ryan for a more bipartisan effort? Phuck Paul Ryan, he’d better put on his big boy pants!
Translation: OMG! Obama, the big black ‘UPPITY NEGRO” stepped out of line, speaking about the white dude’s plan like that! Don’t he know his place, ye?
Fuck Andrea “ALANGreenspan husband wallstreethustler!
And furthermore, why didn’t this bish ask Paul Ryan and nem why the fuck have they been obstructing key legislation that would BENEFIT AMERICANS?
Andrea Mithchell’s an MSNBC media whore, bought and paid for. bye, girl!
*dead*
AMETIA “SHRUGS”
Andrea feels sorry for Ryan. Both Greenspan and Ryan are Ayn Rand followers. Andrea prolly has Ryan over at the house so they can conduct a seance lol
Note to Paul Ryan:
If you can’t run w/ the big dogs…stay off the porch!
h/t eclectablog This is brilliant! Start counting those 33 seniors the GOP are targeting to pay for their champaign & caviar!
Today I’m announcing a new hashtag: #33seniors. It comes from President Obama’s budget/deficit speech yesterday:
[The Republicans have] a vision that says even though America can’t afford to invest in education or clean energy; even though we can’t afford to care for seniors and poor children, we can somehow afford more than $1 trillion in new tax breaks for the wealthy. Think about it. In the last decade, the average income of the bottom 90% of all working Americans actually declined. The top 1% saw their income rise by an average of more than a quarter of a million dollars each. And that’s who needs to pay less taxes? They want to give people like me a two hundred thousand dollar tax cut that’s paid for by asking thirty three seniors to each pay six thousand dollars more in health costs? That’s not right, and it’s not going to happen as long as I’m President.
It’s brilliant framing. Simple, understandable, and, so far as I am concerned, indefensible by the Republicans whose plan to reduce the deficit and health costs is a sham. As Rachel Maddow put so well last night, they don’t want to reduce costs, they simply want to shift them to politically powerless groups: the poor, the disabled, and the elderly.
So whenever you are tweeting about the ridiculous Ryan budget or about some other heartless, greedy Republican’s plan to pay for tax breaks for the top 1% wealthiest Americans onto those who can least afford it and who have seen their incomes DROP over the past few years rather than rise by an average of a quarter million dollars a year, use the hashtag new #33seniors.
I want Republicans to look seniors in the eye for the next two years and tell them they have to pay $6,000 a year in extra healthcare costs so that one millionaire can get his or her $200,000 tax cut.
http://twitter.com/search?q=%2333seniors
http://www.eclectablog.com/2011/04/new-twitter-hashtag-33seniors.html
What If A White Guy Didn’t Get Katie Couric’s Job? Here’s A Diverse Short List For CBS
by Mark Joyella | 2:40 pm, April 13th, 2011
If the rampant but rather bland buzz is to be believed, CBS News will tap 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley as the next anchor of the CBS Evening News, replacing the soon-to-depart (and almost certainly daytime-bound) Katie Couric. (Couric herself even talked about the advantages of being in daytime during a visit to NBC’s TODAY this morning)
By all accounts, Pelley’s a great guy, well-liked at CBS News, and a fine choice to inherit the chair once owned by Walter Cronkite. Picking Pelley would reshuffle the evening news anchor deck, returning it to mostly white guys, with ABC’s Diane Sawyer the only exception. But what if CBS decided on a more diverse choice? Who’s out there? Is there anybody worth a look?
We asked Eric Deggans, TV/Media critic for the St. Pete Times for a short list.
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/what-if-a-white-guy-didnt-get-katie-courics-job-heres-a-diverse-short-list-for-cbs/?pid=649#image
Thursday, April 14 2011, 10:43 AM EST
by Kai Wright
Never mind yellow-ribbon displays in support of our troops. Want to really show off your patriotism? Pay taxes to fund health care for poor kids and unemployment insurance for laid off workers. That was President Obama’s refreshing message on government spending yesterday.
“We recognize that no matter how responsibly we live our lives, hard times or bad luck, a crippling illness or a layoff may strike any one of us,” Obama said, describing social safety net programs as part of a bedrock American belief that “we are all connected.” “We’re a better country because of these commitments. I’ll go further. We would not be a great country without those commitments.”
It was nice to hear the president offer a values-driven defense of government—and to hear an unequivocal rejection of the Republican plan to pay for millionaire tax cuts by ending the federal commitment to Medicare and Medicaid. Obama even implied Rep. Paul Ryan’s deficit-reduction plan is cowardly, because it picks on people who don’t have lobbyists.
“We do not have to sacrifice the America we believe in,” he said of Ryan’s budget. “And as long as I’m president, we won’t.”
All of this is likely great politics. Obama has cast the social compact as the very cause of American exceptionalism, as the root of our triumphant national identity.
But there’s another way to look at it, one that I’m free to articulate because I’m not running for office. Namely, that the inverse is true: What’s too often been exceptional about America is the distance between its professed ideal of shared prosperity and the reality of its winner-take-all, wealth-concentrating economy.
Without violent exploitation, our triumphant national narrative would have never begun—see under, slave economy. America created a white middle class following the second World War, using federally backed home loans and federally backed college education and union-bargained manufacturing jobs. But people of color were barred from participating fairly in that economy, too, and 19th century poverty continued to pass from one generation to the next.
So radical reformers in the 1960s built the Great Society, an effort to finally live up to the American ideal of equal opportunity, to make real the promise that you begin and finish life with a clean slate. Lyndon Johnson advanced more than 100 proposals to reshape American economic life in just two congressional sessions (kinda puts the supposedly overloaded legislative calendar of the Obama years in perspective) to create the country we live in today.
Those congresses created a federal commitment to supporting local public education. They opened up a range of programs to assist everyone in paying for college, not just white G.I.s. They created bilingual education for Spanish-speaking students and Head Start so poor preschoolers (of all colors) could get the same early-education advantage as (white) rich ones. They created food stamps and school breakfasts, federal support for arts education and scientific research, national parks that were accessible to urban centers and community service programs. Yes, they even created the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. That’s all before you get to Medicare, Medicaid, welfare, raised Social Security benefits and fair housing rules.
All of these were explicit efforts to close the foundational gap between America’s professed ideals and the reality of its rigged, whites-only economy. Here’s what Johnson said in June 1965, in his not-famous-enough speech about the Great Society to a graduating class of Howard University. It bears quoting at length:
Freedom is the right to share, share fully and equally, in American society—to vote, to hold a job, to enter a public place, to go to school. It is the right to be treated in every part of our national life as a person equal in dignity and promise to all others.
But freedom is not enough. You do not wipe away the scars of centuries by saying: Now you are free to go where you want, and do as you desire, and choose the leaders you please.
You do not take a person who, for years, has been hobbled by chains and liberate him, bring him up to the starting line of a race and then say, “you are free to compete with all the others,” and still justly believe that you have been completely fair.
Thus it is not enough just to open the gates of opportunity. All our citizens must have the ability to walk through those gates.
This is the next and the more profound stage of the battle for civil rights. We seek not just freedom but opportunity. We seek not just legal equity but human ability, not just equality as a right and a theory but equality as a fact and equality as a result.
And you know what? When public policy explicitly sought to create equity, it started to work. These programs have never been perfectly built, and certainly not perfectly implemented. They have much work left to do. But they have undeniably changed America.
http://colorlines.com/archives/2011/04/selling_the_great_society_as_the_definition_of_patriotism.html
How MSNBC’s ‘The Black Agenda’ Became The ‘White’ Agenda
April 14, 2011 08:10 AM
by Charing Ball
The other day I watched a YouTube clip of Dr. Cornel West and Al Sharpton feverishly debating each other on a show called “A Stronger America: The Black Agenda,” which was hosted by Ed Schultz.
I don’t know exactly what the two men were screaming at each other about, although I imagine that it must have had something to do with Obama and his focus (or lack thereof depending on whom you ask) on the black community. Truth be told, I actually found it hard to pay attention to any part of the discussion. Instead, I was particularly fixated on my internal question: why would a white man host a show about the black agenda?
Surely, I can’t be the only one who found this odd, if not comical. Here was a noted black activist on one side and a heavyweight of black thought on the other sniping and snarling at each other like two rabid dogs in a cage fight while Schultz sat in the middle like a concerned, yet delighted ringmaster. It makes me wonder how a program such as this was able to get the green light. Moreover, I wondered why there weren’t any black anchors or reporters at MSNBC who could have monitored the debate to at least give it the appearance of a true platform on black issues.
Well, maybe not. Although MSNBC is known to lean to the left, when thinking about the line-up of shows on the network, it’s obvious that the one thing missing is color. Hypocrisy is thy name and unsurprisingly, MSNBC is not the only diversity-challenged media outlet nowadays.
According to the American Society of News Editors’ annual diversity study, the number of journalists of color in daily newspaper and online-only newsrooms declined for the third consecutive year. Although American newspapers have showed a very slim increase in newsroom, the percentage of minorities in newsrooms totaled 12.79 percent, a decline of .47 of a percentage point from a year ago. Asian Americans dropped from 3.27 percent in 2010 to 3.10 in 2011; African Americans from 4.88 percent in 2010 to 4.68 in 2011; Hispanics from 4.63 percent in 2010 to 4.54 in 2011; and Native Americans remained constant at .48 percent.
What do these numbers ultimately mean? Well, it translates into the frivolous and whitewashed way that mainstream media covers “our issues.” Instead of the Ed Shultz-hosted program providing a thoughtful conversation on diverse perspectives within the black community, it turned into a knock-down, drag-down debate around so-called “black” topics.
Worse yet, the topics discussed on these programs are not presented in a way that examines the fragile quality of life black Americans have become accustomed to. Racism and systematic oppression are rarely mentioned. Yet, universal themes such as crime and poor education are presented solely as black issues. It’s no wonder that so many people of color distrust the media to tell their stories, or at the very least, dig deeper on issues and their impact on diverse populations.
The good news is that communities of color have not waited around for mainstream media to find their stories. If we did, we’d probably curl into a ball and cry ourselves into oblivion by now. No wonder we collectively suffer from race-based battle fatigue.
As for these “black” specials that the 24-hour news networks have been running ad nauseum since Obama first announced he was running for president, my belief is that these shows are less about appeasing black viewers as it is about making white liberals feel good about their faultless sensitivity on race issues. I am also thoroughly convinced that even Schultz, a self-proclaimed leftist liberal, felt delighted that he would be chosen to moderate on behalf of the minority class. He probably thought that he was a white man that “gets it” when in fact, he really didn’t. If he really did “get it,” then he would have passed the gig on to a journalist of color.
http://atlantapost.com/2011/04/14/how-msnbcs-the-black-agenda-became-the-white-agenda/
We saw through MSNBC from jump. and big Eddie S. as moderator of a black agenda, PLEASE! How about joining the 21st CENTURY and bring on the DIVERSITY, MSNBC
April 14, 2011
Wasserman Schultz: Obama was ‘brutally honest’ with the American people
Posted: 11:01 AM ET
Washington (CNN) – The U.S. House of Representatives is scheduled to vote Thursday on about $40 billion in budget cuts for fiscal year 2011. Then within 24 hours, the package must pass the Senate and be signed by President Obama.
At the same time, President Barack Obama unveiled his long-awaited deficit reduction plan Wednesday, calling for a mix of spending reductions and tax hikes that the White House claims would cut federal deficits by $4 trillion over the next 12 years without gutting popular programs such as Medicare and Medicaid.
On American Morning this morning, Future DNC chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz talked to Kiran Chetry about the criticism the President has received for his plan.
Video
http://amfix.blogs.cnn.com/2011/04/14/wasserman-schultz-obama-was-brutally-honest-with-the-american-people/
Michelle Obama Drops by Baby Shower for Expectant Military Mothers-To-Be
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2011/04/michelle-obama-drops-by-baby-shower-for-expectant-military-mothers-to-be.html
First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden attended a baby shower today for 40 pregnant Marine wives and their guests at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.
Bearing White House gifts – monogrammed onesies and blankets for each expectant mother – Mrs. Obama related her own struggles as a first-time mother.
“As a new mom, there are just an array of things that run through your head: ‘What’s this kid going to be like? Will I get my shape back? Will I ever sleep again? What’s a onesie? How does it work?’”
The First Lady said that said that eventually the mom’s will learn that babies are resilient and that the community will help them.
“It’s nice to have a supportive community around you, especially new moms; to have other moms who have been there, because we all get through it. They don’t break. I’ve come to know that babies are really resilient. But it always helps to have a community around you.
Lovely. Is that Matha Stewart? I’ll bet those women were beside themselves with delight!
Yep! Martha Stewart was apart of it.
I just love our FLOTUS and Dr. Biden
I’m thrilled to what our First Lady & Dr. Jill Biden are doing for our military men, women & their families. I’ve never seen this before! It’s wonderful!
I love FLOUTS & Dr. Biden too. These women exemplify strong, intelligent, motherhood, sisterhood, service, compassion… help me out here folks!
Agape love!
April 13, 2011
Mom drives into river, kills 3 kids; Son escapes
NY woman plunges minivan into Hudson after domestic dispute; 10-year-old boy escapes through window
(CBS/AP) NEWBURGH, New York – Police said a 10-year-old boy escaped through the window of a minivan as his mother drove herself and three children into New York’s Hudson River. The mother and three children died.
CBS New York reports Lashaun Armstrong managed to slip out of the van while the power windows were still functioning. He then swam back to the shore. Mavis Ryan, a passerby, found the soaking wet, shivering boy and took him to firefighters, authorities said.
Police said Lashanda Armstrong drove the minivan into the river in the city of Newburgh at about 8 p.m. Tuesday night. They say she was involved in a domestic incident right before she killed herself and the children.
The boy told firefighters his mother had driven off a boat ramp in Newburgh, about 60 miles north of New York City, and into the murky water of the river, Chief Michael Vatter said. Two boys, five-year-old Pierce Armstrong, two-year-old Lance Pierre and their 11-month-old sister Lainina were drowned along with their mother, CBS New York reports.
Vatter said Lashaun had about two minutes to escape – he got out of one of the van’s windows, pulled himself up onto a nearby boat ramp, turned around “and it was gone.”
Lashanda’s aunt, Angela Gilliam, said Lashaun is doing well.
Firefighters and police officers responded with boats. Divers searched for the minivan for about an hour before finding it submerged in 10 feet of water about 25 meters offshore. They used a heavy-duty tow truck to pull it up the boat ramp and onto land.
Everyone inside was dead, Vatter said.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/04/13/national/main20053520.shtml?tag=nl.e875
So incredibly sad.
Michelle Obama, Jill Biden to guest on ‘The View’
http://www.whas11.com/news/national/119839579.html
NEW YORK (AP) — ABC says First Lady Michelle Obama and Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, will be guests on Monday’s edition of “The View.”
They will be appearing live on the weekday talk show to discuss their campaign for national support of military families, ABC announced Thursday. Both women have been outspoken advocates for service members and their families.
While Mrs. Obama has previously guested on “The View,” this will be Mrs. Biden’s first appearance.
“The View” airs weekdays on ABC at 11 a.m. Eastern time. Its panel of co-hosts includes Barbara Walters, Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar (BAY’-har), Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Sherri Shepherd.
Go FLOTUS & Dr. Jill!
The 2012 Campaign Starts Now
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/13/barack-obama-budget-speech-2012-campaign_n_848935.html
WASHINGTON – Forget the Republican primary battle. It’s so boring even Donald Trump can’t make it interesting.
But in case you didn’t notice, the 2012 general election campaign began this week. It’s going to be about taxes and Medicare.
President Obama used Wednesday’s budget speech to try to set the 2012 framework, making plain on cable TV what he and his aides say to each other in private: GOP Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) handed them the keys to a second term.
The president’s aides think they are in a win-win situation. If Obama can cut a budget deal this summer that preserves the essence of Medicare, he’ll get credit as a deal-maker. If he doesn’t, he has a winning issue for 2012.
The Birther Whitewash
A reader writes:
I don’t know if this is exactly a dissent, but yesterday’s Yglesias award to Ann Coulter for being a voice of reason? Bullshit. There’s nothing brave going on here. This is the beginning of the whitewashing of the establishment right’s culpability in the spreading of birtherism.
Ann said, “Every responsible conservative organization to look at it has shot it down, which is why you normally hear it being talked about exclusively on the liberal stations.” Really? Then Hannity says, “One of the main people demanding it (Obama’s birth certificate) be released is Chris Mathews.” Really??! Coulter goes on to say, “You haven’t heard it (birther conspiracies) on Fox News…” REALLY!??!
They’re blaming Hillary Clinton, the liberal media and the Obama administration for the spreading of this crap. Not Rush Limbaugh. Not Glenn Beck. Not Fox News. Not themselves. And I’m afraid this is only the beginning.
http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/
Birtherism=WHITES, TEABAGGERS, FOX, GOP. THE PHUCKING END!
Married Without Children, Ctd
Many more readers are sounding off. One writes:
I was content to leave this topic alone, but with the email from your reader who exhorts the joys of being The Fun Aunt, along with your comments on the matter, have spurred me to wander into the fray. I wonder if the childless out there know that we, the parents of your beloved nieces and nephews, sometimes feel a sense of loss when you decide not to have any children.
My husband and I are the oldest of all our siblings, and have recently found out that we are never going to have the chance to be Aunt and Uncle. I was surprised to find myself shedding tears when I heard the news. I had looked forward to being an aunt for the same reasons you and some of your readers have suggested: to spoil our nieces and nephews a little, teach them things, take them places their parents might not have. Parents don’t always have the luxury of doing these things – or, if so, they’re drowned out in the day to day thankless and routine parts of parenting.
While I would never say that anyone should have kids to give me something in my life, and think that the “to have or not to have” question remains deeply personal, I wanted to let you know that some of us parents aren’t jealous that you have freedom, or a better job, or a better sex life … we’re just a little sad for what we see as a missed opportunity.
Another writes:
The notion that the childless by choice tend to be introverts and “planners” hits home with me. I have encountered many, many strange and irritating reactions to the decision of my wife and me not to have children. But none is more insulting – or frankly, common – than the insinuation that we haven’t thought it through.
“Who will care for you when you are older?” “Aren’t you afraid of being old and alone?” To which the only honest answers are, respectively, “I don’t know,” and “who isn’t?” regardless of whether one has children or not. No one knows whether the baby you have now will be able (or willing) to be your caretaker 30 or 40 years hence. Moreover, this seems a particularly selfish reason to bring a child into the world.
Another:
I have a problem with idea that married couples who choose not to have children are the only kind of people who “think before they act.” This is a little arrogant and condescending. I am a new father of a one-month-old daughter. Did I weigh heavily the responsibilities of being a parent, and the freedoms of not being a parent? Of course. Did I consider the economic and social impact my decision to have a child would have on me and my family. Of course I did.
By all means people should be free to be married and not have children. But to classify those people as individuals who think more deeply than those who decide to have children or as having a special ability to avoid being “led into a conventional life” (whatever that means) is bullshit. We all can think deeply. And we can all feel a reward and enjoyment in our lives based on the decisions we make. I thought long and hard with my wife about having a child. My life is so different and much more rich because I am now a father. It was the best deep thought I’ve had.
Another:
You said, “But I got to leave and merely enjoy this kid after a few hours, not stay and take care of him, or to endure a week of his sickness, or a minute of his nightly cries.”
Ah, but you see, that’s one of the things that makes having children so great: there is nothing I’ve ever experienced in my life quite like the feeling when I lay in bed with one of my boys when they’ve got a spiking fever. I know there isn’t anyone else in the world (besides my wife) that they’d rather be with at that moment. The fact that I can be that for them is just a thrilling feeling.
I tell people all the time that I love my wife in ways that are deep and profound, but the love I have for my children is just on a whole other level. And I didn’t know until I had them.
One more:
I am 34 and single and will likely never have children of my own. In the last ten years, however, I have fostered a little boy who is now 15 and an integral part of my life; I worked full-time at a homeless shelter with the children who lived there; I led a church youth group; and I have been able to open my door to several teenage mothers, be it for a weekend or for a month, to teach them how to parent their newborns.
I figured out a while ago that I could either be absorbed in two or three children of my own, or I could be the adult who stands in the gap for a larger number of inadequately parented children, being the adult they need to demonstrate love, discipline and loyalty. I have chosen the latter and never regretted it.
http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/
Interesting comments here. It’s a personal choice to have or not children. It’s a choice not to be taken lightly. We’ve seen the results of what unconscious choices bring, without planned parenthood.
There are myriad of ways to express our love, and having a child is just one avenue, not the begin and end all. I respect an individual’s choice to remain childless and or having a children.
The mediocre media is spinning the POTUS’ speech as usual. CNN had a segment on this morning highlighting college kids in Indiana who supported PBO in 2008, but now are pulling for Daniels. He promised us hope, now it’s just solace.. WTF
I see them. CNN is full of sh*t.
April 14, 2011
A LAUGHABLE RESPONSE TO A CREDIBLE PROPOSAL…. It stood to reason that Republicans weren’t going to respond well to President Obama’s debt-reduction plan. It calls for higher taxes on millionaires and billionaires; it intends to scale back the massive and bloated Pentagon budget; and it wants to protect investments in areas like education and health care that the GOP disapproves of.
But those expectations notwithstanding, I’d hoped the House majority party would come up with a response slightly less ridiculous than this.
[House Republicans’] responses thus edged beyond substance into the realm of personal grievance. Indeed, they implied that the speech may have poisoned the well so much that working together where common ground exists might now be impossible. […]
House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) attacked the partisan bent of the speech, then characterized it as “a political broadside from our campaigner in chief.” […]
After the press conference he suggested Social Security might not be doable anymore. “I was hoping Social Security and some budget controls, and I didn’t even hear that,” he said. “I was naively optimistic that the President was going to give us a sincere olive branch.”
Ah yes, the anticipated “olive branch.” This from the right-wing lawmaker who drew up a budget plan that “deliberately constructed to be as offensive to Democrats as it’s possible to be,” and didn’t even bother with insincere “nods in the direction of bipartisanship.”
The president presented a proposal that was entirely mainstream, and would have been considered palatable to the Republican Party before it descended deep into the fever swamp. Yesterday, however, this debt-reduction plan apparently hurt the GOP’s feelings.
No, seriously. That’s the state of the debate in 2011.
For his part, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said Ryan’s radical plan “sets the bar,” and will be the plan the GOP caucus sticks to.
Keep in mind, as recently as last week, Paul Ryan himself said he had no expectations that his budget plan would actually become law this year, but he’s choosing to push it anyway as part of a larger ideological “cause.” This week, however, the Speaker still considers the ridiculous proposal the only plan worth considering.
Obama said yesterday he envisions “a final agreement on a plan to reduce the deficit … by the end of June.” That’s not going to happen. Call it a hunch.
—Steve Benen 8:00 AM
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2011_04/028942.php
Ya know what, FUCK the Re-THUGLICANS!
Catherine Zeta Jones treated for bipolar disorder
April 13 2011 Last updated at 23:53 GMT
Catherine Zeta Jones has received treatment for bipolar disorder after dealing with the stress of her husband’s battle with throat cancer.
Zeta Jones, 41, made a decision to check into a “mental health facility” for a brief stay, said her publicist.
=snip=
Mark Davies, from mental health charity Rethink, said the actress had shown courage in revealing the disorder as there was still a stigma around mental illness.
“Although she’ll be feeling pretty fragile and vulnerable, she will have – in a sense – given some comfort to a lot of other people who are probably suffering in silence and probably feeling a great deal of fear,” he added.
Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-13073676
——————————————————————————–
What is bipolar disorder?
Bipolar, also known as manic depression, causes severe mood swings that usually last several weeks or months and can be:
* Low mood, intense depression and despair
* High or “manic” feelings of joy, over-activity and loss of inhibitions
* A “mixed state” such as a depressed mood with the restlessness and over-activity of a manic episode
Exact causes of are not known, but it is thought the following play a part:
* Genes seem to be important; if you have a relative with bipolar disorder, your chance of developing it is higher
* There may be a physical problem with the brain systems which control mood
* Stress can trigger mood swings
* People suffering Bipolar II have more than one episode of severe depression, but only mild manic episodes
Source: Royal College of Psychiatrists
More on the symptoms and treatment
I’m passing this on to my mother and her niece in the hope it helps them feel like the stigma is being eroded and become more comfortable with getting help.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102×4813554
Arizona Senate passes Obama birther bill after boost from Donald Trump
The Arizona Senate approved the so-called ‘birther’ bill requiring 2012 presidential candidates to prove they were born in the U.S. and are thus eligible to run for president.
The measure, House Bill 2177, is aimed at President Barack Obama and those on the political right who want him to produce a birth certificate proving he was born in Hawaii and not Kenya, where his father is from.
The Arizona Legislature passed the bill 20-8 on a party-line vote in the State Senate with Republicans backing and Democrats opposing.
The measure includes some changes that allow for other documents beside birth certificates to be produced by presidential contenders. It now goes back to the Arizona House of Representatives for another vote. The House previously approved the birther bill without new Senate changes.
The birther bill has come up several times at the Arizona Legislature. The measure has received a recent boost from real estate mogul and television personality Donald Trump, who wants Obama to produce a birth certificate. Trump is considering a run for president in 2012 and recently met with Arizona Rep. Carl Seel, R-Anthem. Seel is the author of the birther bill aimed at Obama and the 2012 race.
A candidate that can’t produce records proving he or she is eligible to run for U.S. president might be excluded from next year’s ballot.
http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/news/2011/04/13/arizona-senate-passes-obama-birther.html
This bill will come back and bite these crackers in the ass.
stupid ass clowns need to get a grip on their insecurities.
awe….he got his fee fees hurt by POTUS.
……………..
Paul Ryan Is Very Disappointed With The President: ‘Demagoguery Not Solutions’
As Fox News host Neil Cavuto said after watching Senator Paul Ryan reacted to Obama’s earlier address on reducing the budget deficit “the name calling ensues.” Earlier today President Obama gave a speech on how to best address fiscal responsibility (that may have been soporific to at least one senior White House official) that was predictably received along partisan lines.
GOP leadership followed the speech by delivering a reaction that can best be described by Ryan’s comment that the president wasn’t “building bridges but poisoning wells.” Ryan admitted that he had high expectations for Obama’s speech, saying “I was excited when I was excited when I was invited to his speech today” adding that he saw it as an “olive branch” but found it to be “excessively partisan, dramatically inaccurate and hopelessly inadequate to addressing our country’s fiscal challenges.”
http://www.mediaite.com/online/paul-ryan-is-very-disappointed-with-the-president-demagoguery-not-solutions/
Breitbart, RightOnline coming to Minneapolis
Conservatives counter Netroots Nation with summit by Koch-backed group
By Andy Birkey | 04.13.11 | 3:36 pm
Billed as a “counter to the leftwing Netroots Nation Convention” being hosted by Minneapolis in June, RightOnline has announced it’ll also be coming to Minnesota’s largest city this summer. The conference will feature Andrew Breitbart, a blogger whose selective editing of video has generated heated criticism, along with conservative blogger Michelle Malkin, Glenn Beck protoge S.E. Cupp, and Minnesota blogger Ed Morrissey. The convention is a project of Americans for Prosperity Foundation, which was founded by the Koch brothers.
Breitbart made waves in 2009 when he posted videos that purported to show an ACORN employee giving advice to a pimp and prostitute; the video was ruled by investigators in several states to have been highly edited and, in some cases, possibly in violation of state law. Despite the misleading videos, the flap contributed to ACORN’s demise and to Congress stripping its funding. Breitbart got the videos from colleague James O’Keefe, who months later was arrested by the U.S. Marshals and charged with entering the office of Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana under false pretenses with the intent of committing a felony.
Breitbart rose to fame again in 2010 when he posted selectively edited footage of Shirley Sherrod, Georgia State Director of Rural Development for the United States Department of Agriculture, during a NAACP event in which she appeared to be making a racist statement. The full video, however, showed that Sherrod had not made a racist statement. Despite that, she lost her position at the USDA.
Sherrod filed a lawsuit against Breitbart in February alleging defamation. Breitbart told Newsweek that he regretted posting the video, but declined to publicly apologize to Sherrod.
The convention will be held at the Minneapolis Hilton on June 17 and 18.
http://minnesotaindependent.com/80151/breitbart-rightonline-coming-to-minneapolis
Family Research Council joins ‘Black Genocide’ movement
By Ashley Lopez | 04.13.11 | 2:02 pm
The Family Research Council has added its voice and influence to the “Black Genocide” movement this week. In an email circulated to Research Council members, the anti-choice organization blamed Planned Parenthood for the 11 percent decrease in Washington, D.C.’s black population in the past decade. Demographers and actual experts, however, are attributing this shift to the stark polarization in income and education in D.C. #
According to The Washington Post, “The black population dropped by more than 39,000 over the decade, down to 301,000 of the city’s 601,700 residents.” #
The black population used to be a significant majority in the city. By 1970, seven out of 10 residents were black. While research shows that gentrification, an influx of jobs requiring higher education, and escalating rent and property taxes have led to the decrease in population, the Research Council contends that the cause is access to “free abortions to local women.” #
This is what the Research Council is telling their members is happening in D.C.: #
According to the latest D.C. census, the number of African-Americans in the city is alarmingly low. In one decade, “the black population dropped by more than 39,000.” Experts say the percentages haven’t been this low since World War II. Do liberals think that’s a coincidence? Obviously, the local Planned Parenthood clinics are doing their job. … If you thought that black children were endangered before, imagine if the city could continue promoting free abortions to local women. #
Meanwhile, Planned Parenthood, the group that most actively targets African-Americans, is awaiting its federal funding fate. … Help your members take advantage of the opportunity. Contact your Senators and remind them that there are plenty of legitimate health clinics out there that will provide services to women other than abortion. And 99% of them probably haven’t been implicated in child prostitution, sex abuse, or statutory rape! #
The “Black Genocide” movement is not new, but it has been getting significant play as one of favorite memes of the anti-choice movement as of late. The movement has been featured in ad campaigns all over the country — including Jacksonville. Last week, followers of the movement rallied outside House Speaker Rep. John Boehner’s office and spoke at a faith-based conference in Virginia. #
The movement recently saw a legislative victory when Arizona became the first state last month to outlaw race- or gender-based abortions. #
The Family Research Council is very influential in the conservative and anti-abortion movement. Every year the organization hosts what it call a “Values Voter Summit.” Already lined up to speak at this year’s conference in October are Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and others. #
http://floridaindependent.com/26849/family-research-council-black-genocide-movement
ONE WORD: GENTRIFICATION!!!!
Face it white folks, ya’ll roll up into the black neighborhoods and the price of property et.al gets HIKED up, and hardworking black folks can’t afford to live there anymore. GTFOH
Commentary: Who killed Malcolm X?
“The full force of the blast perforated the chest, cutting into ‘the thoracic cavity, the left lung, pericardium, heart, aorta, right lung.'”
Medically, this is how Malcolm X died, according to the new book “Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention,” by Manning Marable.
But who fired the shotgun?
The last of Malcolm X’s three convicted assassins was paroled last year, which might seem like odd timing for questions about guilt.
But Marable’s painstakingly researched book contends some of the wrong men did time for the killing. It’s indisputable that there were several shooters.
Marable, who died days before his book’s release last week, believed a man who was never charged fired the fatal shot. And he also believed that one man who served time wasn’t even at the New York ballroom where Malcolm X died.
It’s likely the dogged pursuits of Kansas City-based legal sleuth Alvin Sykes will be involved if anything new is proved about the conspiracy-laden 1965 murder.
Sykes is responsible for a federal bill that created a unit in the Department of Justice to prosecute old civil rights era murders.
He’s requesting the Malcolm X case be reviewed and/or investigated.
Sykes enjoys tracking splinters of information as much as he covets time to ferret out arcane pieces of legal language. I’ve known him for 20 years.
Never once has he cited a federal code, a court citation, a snippet of newly unearthed evidence that I couldn’t verify.
Marable’s work includes new interviews, source documents and theories long bantered about, but never fully denied or proved. Malcolm X’s death has long been shrouded by the dealings of that era: informants, infighting among black militants, power struggles within the Nation of Islam and allegations of lackluster handling of the initial investigation.
Sykes is already at work contacting Department of Justice officials, combing legal sources to see how jurisdiction can be established and tapping networks to connect with Malcolm X’s children for their support in pressing the new leads.
The work will also help Sykes continue questioning how the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act is being implemented. It was a huge achievement when he got it passed in 2008. But that’s a moot point if more cases aren’t carefully chosen for attention and then pursued fully.
Those who argue it’s best to leave the past dead and buried tend to discount how unsolved murders — or clouded cases such as this — chase the living through the descendants of the murdered, the accused, the never fully exonerated.
Rarely are these old civil rights cases as simplistic as people wish to believe. Their nuances often challenge how we’d like to recount history.
And sometimes, it seems the truth simply won’t let itself be known until a proper amount of time has passed.
Read more: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/04/14/111972/commentary-who-killed-malcolm.html#ixzz1JVF9s9W8
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is often mentioned as a presidential contender, but fewer than one in four voters in his home state would back him as a candidate, a poll released on Thursday said.
Two-thirds of registered voters “oppose Chris Christie for president in 2012,” according to the Rutgers-Eagleton Poll.
Fewer than half of Republicans and a quarter of independents support Christie as a candidate, the poll found.
This does not mean a future try would be opposed, just that New Jerseyans aren’t joining the national media’s storyline that Christie could take the nomination in 2012 if he wanted it,” said David Redlawsk, director of the Rutgers-Eagleton Poll and professor of political science at Rutgers University in New Jersey.
Christie, a former prosecutor, has been seen as a rising Republican party star since taking office last year and pushing a lean-government, low-tax agenda. But he has said he did not think he was ready to be president and did not plan to run in 2012.
New Jersey voters are unconvinced the buzz surrounding the governor’s political future is good for the state, the poll found.
Nearly two-thirds of those polled said having a governor on the national stage makes no difference or hurts the state’s image, while a third of voters said it was a good thing for New Jersey.
The poll of 773 registered voters was conducted from March 28 to April 4 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/14/us-usa-elections-christie-idUSTRE73D0SR20110414?WT.tsrc=Social%20Media&WT.z_smid=twtr-reuters_%20com&WT.z_smid_dest=Twitter
tee hee hee
Morning, Everybody! :-)))
Good morning all!
Hi Dannie. POTUS kicked some arse yesterday. He’s going to Ch-Town today for 3 fundraisers. I should take a flight out and see if I can attend one of them. LOL
Good MOrning, everyone :)
Sup, rikyrah. :-)
Inspiration for today….
Bible Verse Graphics
Ummm yummy! Thank you, SG2. :-)