Happy HUMP day, Everyone! Hope you’re enjoying the smooth jazz of Mr. Wes Montgomery.
Many fellow jazz guitarists consider Montgomery the greatest influence among modern jazz guitarists. Pat Metheny has praised him greatly, saying “I learned to play listening to Wes Montgomery’s Smokin’ at the Half Note.” In addition, Metheny stated to The New York Times in 2005 that the solo on “If You Could See Me Now,” from this album is his favorite of all time. Joe Pass said, “To me, there have been only three real innovators on the guitar—Wes Montgomery, Charlie Christian, and Django Reinhardt,” as cited in James Sallis‘s The Guitar Players and in his Hot Licks instructional video. Kenny Burrell states, “It was an honor that he called me as his second guitarist for a session.” In addition, George Benson, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Johnson, Joe Satriani, Jimi Hendrix, David Becker, Joe Diorio, Steve Lukather, Larry Coryell, and Pat Martino have pointed to him numerous times as a great influence. Lee Ritenour, who recorded the 1993 album Wes Bound named after him, cites him as his most notable influence; he also named his son Wesley
Following the early work of swing/pre-bop guitarist Charlie Christian and gypsy-jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt, Wes joined Tal Farlow, Johnny Smith, Jimmy Raney, and Barney Kessell to put guitar on the map as a bebop / post-bop instrument. While these men generally curtailed their own output in the 1960s, Montgomery recorded prolifically during this period, lending guitar to the same tunes contemporaries like John Coltrane and Miles Davis were recording. While many jazz players are regarded as virtuosos, Montgomery had a very wide influence on other virtuosos who followed him, and in the respect he earned from his contemporaries. To many, Montgomery’s playing defines jazz guitar and the sound that students try to emulate.
Dave Miele and Dan Bielowsky claim, “Wes Montgomery was certainly one of the most influential and most musical guitarists to ever pick up the instrument… He took the use of octaves and chord melodies to a greater level than any other guitarist, before or since… Montgomery is undoubtedly one of the most important voices in Jazz guitar that has ever lived-or most likely ever will live. A discussion of Jazz guitar is simply not thorough if it does not touch upon Wes Montgomery.”[3]
“Listening to [Wes Montgomery’s] solos is like teetering at the edge of a brink,” composer-conductor Gunther Schuller asserted, as quoted by Jazz & Pop critic Will Smith. “His playing at its peak becomes unbearably exciting, to the point where one feels unable to muster sufficient physical endurance to outlast it.” Wes received many awards and accolades: Nominated for two Grammy Awards for Bumpin’, 1965; received Grammy Award for Goin’ Out of My Head as Best Instrumental Jazz Performance by Large Group or Soloist with Large Group, 1966; nominated for Grammy Awards for “Eleanor Rigby” and “Down Here on the Ground”, 1968; nominated for Grammy Award for Willow, Weep for Me, 1969. Wes’ second album, The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery, earned him Down Beat magazine’s “New Star” award in 1960. In addition, he won the Down Beat Critic’s Poll award for best Jazz guitarist in 1960, ’61, ’62,’63, ’66, and 1967.[4]
Round Midnight
West Coast Blues
Open Court on the Legacy of President Obama
http://www.nba.com/video/channels/nba_tv/2013/06/05/open-court-obama-legacy.nba/
Miranda
−
I swear, I believe a memo went out:
From the Office of the President
To: All Staff
Re: Not one single solitary fuck
Effective immediately, each cabinet member, adviser, aide and supporting staff are directed to not give one fuck. Not a one. Not a half of one. Do not borrow one. Don’t even use one for temporary purposes. No fucks are to be given. Second term baby.
aspirational12 @aspirational12
@GetEqual is a Libertarian front group founded in 2010 by two southern racist Republicans to diminish support for PBO in the LGBT community
6:18 PM – 5 Jun 2013
What Susan Rice’s White House Promotion Means
By Jeffrey Goldberg Jun 5, 2013 10:33 AM ET
Revenge is a dish best served cold. Except when it’s best served hot.
Just a few months ago, Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and now President Barack Obama’s choice to be the next national security adviser, saw her main chance to become secretary of state dissipate before her eyes, as Senate Republicans (withJohn McCain and Lindsey Graham in the lead) excoriated her for, as they saw it, misleading the public about the attacks on the American diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, last year. (My thoughts about the attacks on Rice can be found here.)
Rice was forced to withdraw her name, and SenatorJohn Kerry was awarded the job. Now Rice will be, in effect, Kerry’s supervisor. McCain and Graham, by turning Rice into the scapegoat of the Benghazi debacle, have inadvertently allowed the president to bring her into the innermost ring of power, in a role that requires no Senate confirmation.
In the highly centralized White House foreign-policy and national-security operation (critics would call it overcentralized, and they have a point) the secretary of state, even one of Kerry’s stature, does comparatively little to set the administration’s overarching policy. Kerry seems to spend most of his waking hours pursuing a semi-quixotic Middle East peace plan. It will be Rice’s job to interpret the president’s broadest wishes and put them into place across several government departments.
Payback
Her influence will be especially pronounced, I think, because she is part of Obama’s original foreign-policy team — in what could have been a near-suicidal career move, Rice, a former official in President Bill Clinton’s administration, signed on to Obama’s campaign when his victory didn’t seem at all assured.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-05/what-susan-rice-s-white-house-promotion-means.html
itgurl_29
−
I can’t even describe how liberating and revolutionary Mrs. Obama’s actions were last night. It’s like she killed every worry every black woman ever had about appearing “angry” just for standing up for herself. And she put every Becky and Miss Ann on notice that those days of Black women biting our tongues and playing their little racial game is over. I am NOT angry or bitter or threatening if I stand up for myself. PERIOD!
SG2,
another gif for you
http://weknowmemes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/there-it-goes-the-last-fuck-i-give.gif
and another
http://api.ning.com/files/6ASHinGA5bt7EobzGzXJAAjD6WoeCSLfEUy1Z2fj74S6B7SY2vpiBnrK*IiPpxgmyg9C17S-uYHAltFSBpg8drHAz-OKe*m-/boom.gif
Before Steppin’ to Today’s Black Woman, Michelle Obama Would Like a Word
I’m sure you’ve heard about “FLOTUS Hecklegate” by now. If not, let me set the scene: the uber talented Michelle Obama is on stage at a Democratic fundraiser imploring the audience to do their best for today’s children. To give them a chance to grow in a world that leaves them empowered – as opposed to oppressed.
Then out of no where comes the distinct sound of a “disturbance” of some sort. It’s a heckler. A very loud, very insistent heckler. Apparently, Ms. Ellen Sturtz, an activist for a pro-LGBT rights group thought she could follow in the tradition of previous speech interrupters and heckle FLOTUS the same way other protesters have heckled her husband.
But Ellen Sturtz had another thing coming. Make no mistake: Michelle Obama is not the sista to disrespect. She made that abundantly clear.
Now, if it were just the heckling, this story may have died a quick death. But it was Michelle’s response to the heckling that made all the difference. FLOTUS paused her speech and told Sturtz in a clear I-am-not-the-Black-woman-to-mess-with voice: “One thing I don’t do well, is this.”
She then left the mic, moved towards the heckler and stated that the audience could “listen to me or you can take the mic, but I’m leaving. You all decide. You have one choice.”
The crowd roars that they want FLOTUS to stay and reportedly tell the heckler she has to get out.
Now, maybe if that were all there was to it, I wouldn’t have been moved to write this post. But here’s where it gets really interesting, at least for me.
Miss Millie Syndrome
When interviewed by the Washington Post, Sturtz-the-Heckler made the following remarks in an interview after she was escorted out of the room:
According to Sturtz she was evidently:
“stunned by Obama’s response. ‘She [FLOTUS] came right down in my face,’ Sturtz said. ‘I was taken aback.’”
In another interview Sturtz stated
“She [FLOTUS] obviously thought she was going to make an example of me or something. I wasn’t scared at all.”
Wait – you paid money to hear FLOTUS speak, rudely interrupt her speech and when you realized she wasn’t playing games, you were taken aback?! And are we really to believe that Michelle Obama got “right down in” your face to “make an example of you,” Chi-town style?
This is a classic case of what I call the “Ms. Millie Syndrome.”
http://www.afrostateofmind.com/before-stepping-to-todays-black-woman/
CNN Reveals Video Of Michelle Obama Confronting LGBT Heckler During DNC Fundraiser
by Andrew Kirell | 4:43 pm, June 5th, 2013
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/cnn-reveals-video-of-michelle-obama-confronting-lgbt-heckler-during-dnc-fundraiser/
found this comment about FLOTUS and the heckler over at Bougieland
http://www.blacknbougie.com/2013/06/main-stream-media-cant-help-but-paint.html
As usual, men have it all backwards
Don’t join military, McCain warns women
June 06, 2013
WASHINGTON: Sen. John McCain told the top US military chiefs he could not advise women to join the service with a sexual-assault scourge the military has not contained.
“Just last night, a woman came to me and said her daughter wanted to join the military and could I give my unqualified support for her doing so. I could not,” the Arizona Republican, a Vietnam veteran and ex-prisoner of war decorated with Purple Heart, told the uniformed chiefs of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.
“I cannot overstate my disgust and disappointment over continued reports of sexual misconduct in our military,” said McCain, who followed his father and grandfather, both four-star admirals, into the Navy.
http://gulftoday.ae/portal/3cae8e3c-39da-463f-b0d7-e5b14b1ae4c8.aspx
How about telling men NOT TO JOIN THE MILITARY IF THEY CAN NOT CONTROL THEIR SEXUAL URGES TO GROPE AND RAPE WOMEN IN THE MILITARY, John MCCAIN.
Jay Carney: Michelle Obama Handled Heckler ‘Brilliantly’
WASHINGTON — White House spokesman Jay Carney gave First Lady Michelle Obama rave reviews for her Tuesday night response to a protester, saying she handled the situation “brilliantly.” “It’s my personal opinion that she handled it brilliantly,” Carney told reporters on Wednesday, adding that he had not asked the president what he thought.
Read more at http://www.huffingtonpost.com
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/05/jay-carney-michelle-obama-heckler_n_3391268.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003
Do Republicans want immigration reform?
By Jonathan Bernstein, Published: June 5, 2013 at 12:54 pm
The story on immigration reform remains very simple: Republicans, at some point, will have to decide whether they want it to pass or not. Not whether they’ll vote for it — most of them won’t. But Democrats are happy to supply the bulk of the votes on this one, so all that matters is whether Republicans choose to let them or not.
That comes up again with Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), one of the Gang of Eight who drafted the Senate bill, suddenly announcing he will walk if border security amendments that would unravel the compromise legislation are not adopted in the full Senate:
Well, I think if those amendments don’t pass, then I think we’ve got a bill that isn’t going to become law, and I think we’re wasting our time. So the answer is no.
As Ed Kilgore notes, the story here appears to be all about Rubio’s presidential ambitions, with support for comprehensive immigration reform potentially spiking Rubio’s shot at the Republican nomination.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2013/06/05/do-republicans-want-immigration-reform/
NO! The Rebpublicans want the BLACK MAN out of the WHITE HOUSE.
A Drug War In The Time Of Color-Blind Policy
NationalJun 5 2013, 10:50 AM ET107
I don’t know that it will come as any surprise to anyone reading here that black people are arrested for marijuana possession a lot more than white people, despite their being virtually no gap in marijuana usage. Still this data from a new ACLU report is worth considering:
And now some data on actual arrest rates:
The overall black population has almost nothing to do with this disparity:
The disparity is not getting better, it’s getting worse. Since 1990 arrests for marijuana possession. The increase has not been color-blind:
The years between 2000 and 2010 do not simply constitute a war on marijuana, but a war on black people who use marijuana.
A rising wave smashes Negroes first.
http://www.theatlantic.com/ta-nehisi-coates/
Rubio threatens to betray his allies on immigration reform
By Steve Benen
Wed Jun 5, 2013 10:50 AM EDT.
As we discussed in April, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) spent a few months playing an awkward game on comprehensive immigration reform. On the one hand, Rubio has been a high-profile member of the “Gang of Eight,” helping negotiate the details of the legislation. On the other hand, the Florida Republican signaled his willingness to oppose the legislation he’s ostensibly helping write. Rubio would say he likes his own bill, but wouldn’t commit to it.
Many of those involved in the process grew weary of Rubio straddling the fence. It was common to hear Capitol Hill insiders joke that the senator thought he could be “a little bit pregnant” on the policy.
But all that changed in mid-April, when Rubio got off the fence and began championing the legislation he helped craft. And all of that changed again late yesterday when Rubio said he’s prepared to reject his own legislation.
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/06/05/18776448-rubio-threatens-to-betray-his-allies-on-immigration-reform?lite
Federal judge says minorities ‘predisposed to crime’
By Steve Benen
Wed Jun 5, 2013 12:35 PM EDT.
Judge Edith H. Jones of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals is facing serious allegations this week after controversial remarks the jurist made at Federalist Society in February. According to the conservative group, there is no transcript of recording of Jones’ speech, but affidavits from attendees point to deeply problematic language from anyone, least of all a sitting federal judge.
A variety of civil rights organizations and legal ethicists this week filed a complaint of misconduct. An affidavit from James McCormack, the former chief disciplinary counsel for the Texas bar, added that he believes Jones “violated the ethical standards applicable to federal judges under the Code of Conduct for United States judges.”
Making matters slightly worse, this wasn’t the only offensive comment Jones made at the event.
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/06/05/18777749-federal-judge-says-minorities-predisposed-to-crime?lite
Heritage ‘destroying its own usefulness’
By Steve Benen
Wed Jun 5, 2013 1:55 PM EDT
To her great credit, Senate Budget Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray (D-Wash.) held a hearing yesterday on the negative effects of austerity. The Washington Democrat, whose underappreciated skills are starting to generate more attention, reminded lawmakers that it is clearer than ever that now we need to focus above all else on our fragile economic recovery, and that the case for austerity in a time of economic weakness is simply wrong.”
Committee Republicans had a witness on hand to say the opposite.
As Dylan Matthews explained, all of this was quickly exposed as wrong. Indeed, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) pointed during the hearing that Furth’s claims about OECD numbers are largely the opposite of the figures from the OECD itself.
“I am concerned that your testimony to this committee has been meretricious,” Whitehouse told Furth. “I am contesting whether you have given us fair and accurate information.”
For a Senate Budget Committee hearing, that’s pretty tough language. Indeed, the senator was effectively accusing an economist from the nation’s preeminent conservative think tank of presenting deliberately misleading information on an important issue.
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/06/05/18778774-heritage-destroying-its-own-usefulness?lite
From ABC’s site:
Larry Smith:
It’s hard to make the argument
that you’re treated like a second-class citizen when you’ve got $500 to
blow on two minutes of heckling.
Tea Party Whining Backfires as All Political Groups Could Lose Tax Exempt Status
By: Sarah Jones
Jun. 5th, 2013
More lawmakers are beginning to call out the fact that social welfare groups should not be subsidized by the American taxpayers if they are violating the law with political activity.
Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) excoriated Republicans for failing to understand the basic language of the laws governing 501(c) 4s. He explained that the statue says they shouldn’t have any political activity, and so the real scandal is why aren’t Republicans even bringing the statute up in their hearings and why isn’t the IRS following the law.
Appearing Tuesday night on the Last Word, Blumenauer said, “They shouldn’t be shielded from public disclosure by the 501(c)4 status where they get millions of dollars and not required to disclose…. They shouldn’t disguise political action behind the guise of social welfare. It is not healthy, it’s not right, it’s not legal, we should stop it.”
…………………………..
Republicans paraded Tea Partiers in front of the cameras Tuesday to decry the “jackboot” of tyranny descending upon them via the IRS, never realizing that they are all in violation of the law. Tea Partiers put on an embarrassing display of ignorance combined with a staggering sense of entitlement with the following hyperbolic claims:
“This is about tyranny on the field of our founding documents.”
“I feel our country turned a corner into tyranny.”
“I am not here as a vessel, I am not begging the lords for mercy.”
Republicans made a huge miscalculation in bringing national attention to the blatant abuse of the statute by some social welfare groups. The law is very clear: The group must be engaged exclusively in social welfare.
Lawrence O’Donnell was pleased to report that more lawmakers are now talking about that scandal — the real scandal of the IRS, which is that the law is not being upheld in regards to social welfare groups. In the hearings Monday, the IRS auditors explained that one of the troubling things they found was a failure to review groups that were intervening in political campaigns
http://www.politicususa.com/hey-tea-party-illegal-disguise-political-action-social-welfare-groups.html
dannie22 •
Hello all. Yesterday I had a really bad day dealing with my white female supervisor but coming home and reading about FLOTUS gave me life! So today when I see that disrespectful heffa, I can just smile and think about our First Lady
………………………………………………
isonprize >
Dannie,
Your experience (my experience, most black women’s experience…sigh) is precisely why we will cut a bitch for Michelle Obama.
WE KNOW THE SHIT SHE HAS PUT UP WITH IN HER LIFE!!!
CODEPINK @codepink
class, gender & sexuality, etc and how we can be a more positive contribution to fighting for justice on all fronts #pt
Bobfr @Our4thEstate
Clue to @codepink You’re already irrelevant. Your vile racist attacks on @FLOTUS & @AliciaKeys will hopefully render you insolvent, soon.
12:21 PM – 5 Jun 2013
Oops! LOL Looks like Bobfr will cut a bitch too.
Nerdy Wonka @NerdyWonka
@sfpelosi That’s disgusting. They knew what they were doing with their tweets about Alicia Keys and FLOTUS. That’s why they deleted them.
sfpelosi @sfpelosi
Noone believes code pink evolved in 30 mins from calling Qs on WOC “Identity politics” to sincere apology. This is a #whitewash @NerdyWonka
11:28 AM – 5 Jun 2013
Obama Flips Off Republicans By Appointing Susan Rice National Security Adviser
By: Jason Easley
Jun. 5th, 2013
President Obama is giving the political version of the one fingered salute to Republicans and their scandals by appointing Susan Rice to be National Security Adviser.
The New York Times diplomatically reported that, “The appointment, which Mr. Obama plans to make on Wednesday afternoon, puts Ms. Rice, 48, an outspoken diplomat and a close political ally, at the heart of the administration’s foreign-policy apparatus. It is also a defiant gesture to Republicans who harshly criticized Ms. Rice for presenting an erroneous account of the deadly attacks on the American mission in Benghazi, Libya. The post of national security adviser, while powerful, does not require Senate confirmation.”
The clear message that President Obama is sending to congressional Republicans begins with an F and ends with a U.
http://www.politicususa.com/obama-flips-republicans-scandals-appointing-susan-rice-national-security-advisor.html
CODEPINK @codepink
We appreciate all the folks who are holding us accountable for our language on twitter. Codepink has disrupted dozens of people in power
Alycee @jazziz2
Shorter @codepink: We remember what happened to Komen; PLEASE don’t cut-off our $$$
12:32 PM – 5 Jun 2013
See, these folks can’t band together with WOMEN OF COLORS; nope they’ve got to SHOW their asses, which tells you they’re only in it for themselves. Fuck’em!
William Antholis @wjantholis
@AmbassadorRice before age of 50, has served at NSC, State Department, and UN. Zbig and Kissinger – none of that experience, Condi only NSC
9:40 AM – 5 Jun 2013
https://twitter.com/metaquest/status/342319722345422848/photo/1
Samuel L Dogson @insanityreport1h
How the fuck you gonna tell someone they gotta be respectful to someone DISRESPECTING them???? yo man… #WhitePrivilege is THE SHIT
Black Canseco @BlackCanseco1h
@insanityreport I want some #WhitePrivilege, too… I hope they bottle the ish and sell it on Amazon one day. Like vitamins.
Here you go Code Punks! Hillary gone show Michelle how to respond APPROPRIATELY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdG6KFGHRfg
OOPS! Mich channels herself. GOT IT
My daughter Renners:
i dont care much that people think folks are disrespectul to the prez
i think people are routinely disrespectful of all presidents
but aint nobody messing w/michelle
eff that!
and she got all us behind her and dont even need it
THIS!
And faor those of you who haven’t quite gotten it yet:
AUDIO: LGBT Activist Heckles First Lady At Fundraiser
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/lgbt-rights-activist-heckles-flotus-at-dem-fundraiser?ref=fpb
Nerdy Wonka @NerdyWonka
Curious that @CodePink only attacks women of color like @FLOTUS and @AliciaKeys but stay silent in the face of GOP obstruction.
11:15 AM – 5 Jun 2013
DON’T START NONE, WON’T BE N.O.N.E.
Nerdy Wonka @NerdyWonka
@CodePink deleted their disgusting tweet about First Lady Michelle Obama. This is 2013 you bigoted scumbags. https://twitter.com/NerdyWonka/status/342257564253315072 …
10:17 AM – 5 Jun 2013
60th Street @60th_Street
Let’s be clear. Obama is the ONLY president to have ever advanced LGBT rights. I seem to remember Clinton running in the other direction.
8:52 AM – 5 Jun 2013
3 words
BLACK FOLKS & TWITTER
April @ReignOfApril
Ellen Sturtz goes to heckle @FLOTUS in a private home & then describes the crowd’s response as “unsettling & disturbing.” Girl, bye. #LGBT
9:02 AM – 5 Jun 2013
BWA HA HA HA That bitch done bit off more than she can chew, swallow, and spit out.
Nerdy Wonka @NerdyWonka
FLOTUS was speaking about what can be done to help disadvantaged kids and was rudely heckled; but the heckler is a victim? Go have a seat.
9:18 AM – 5 Jun 2013
FLOTUS chose the right occassion to take off these and unpack her staples:
Miranda
LMAO!!! Like I said before there are people for which you ought to be ready to swing for at a moment’s notice without even knowing why. Folks woke up, saw something happened that involved FLOTUS, asked not one damn question other than “WHO SAID IT”…was swinging on that GetEqual woman and hadn’t read one word to know what she said, all they know is SOMEBODY SAID SHE DISRESPECTED MICHELLE..that was all that needed to be said. Put on the Chuck Taylors and grab the nunchucks…let’s do this!
itgurl_29 >
I would like to dedicate my jam, The Heat, by Miss Mariah Carey Cannon to the First Lady, Mrs. Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama. Because she truly brought the heat to ol’ girl
http://youtu.be/chF7ZLugIzM
Mahoganie: Musings East of the Anacostia River
A Melody with Her Lyric In Search for the Perfect Pitch
FLOTUS & The Heckler: South Side Chicago In The D.C. House!
Late last night and well into this morning, everyone has been talking about First Lady Michelle Obama and her immediate shut down of a heckler during a fundraiser at a private D.C. residence. The first reported account came from the Washington Post (WaPo), as they identified the heckler as 56-year-old Ellen Sturtz, a lesbian activist. According to the WaPo, Sturtz shouted remarks and demands in reference to the anti-discrimination executive order, which President Obama has not signed into law as of yet. The WaPo states that the executive order would “prohibit federal contractors from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.” Naturally the WaPo article went viral. Not for the simple fact that the usual hum drum of a heckler disrupted a low-key political affair, but that the First Lady actually confronted the heckler, which has a lot of us “sista-girls” either raising our fist in solidarity or shouting our “AMENs” as if were are on the front pew of the Last Baptist Pentecostal Church of Christ. A few blogs ensued with their paraphrased version and spin. The funniest, of course, coming from the blog Awesomely Luvvie. However, there is an element that is missing from each reported and paraphrased postings and I don’t need a hot topics team to dig around (Sorry Wendy). I got something better. My MOMMA!
Ok so… members of the D.C. Federation of Democratic Women (an organization that my mother and I are members of) were invited to the fundraiser. A selective few attended, including my mother. The fundraiser was at the private residence of a lawyer and veterinarian, both are originally from Chicago. I actually drove her to the event immediately after picking up my daughter from school. A couple of hours later I noticed she posted photos of the event on Facebook. I downloaded one of the pictures she took of the First Lady and shared it on Twitter; to say that the members of the D.C. Federation got to hang out with “FLOTUS” (First Lady of the United States – you’d be surprise to know how many don’t know that acronym). An hour or so later, I checked Twitter and saw that a reporter and editor from ABC News had reached out to me. They asked me about the heckler and the editor immediately followed both my accounts on Twitter; my Mahoganie_Jade and professional account. We emailed back and forth for a minute as I explained that I wasn’t at the event, but my mother was and could best give an account about what happened.
And she did…..
According to my mother:
And THAT’S what went down!
http://mahoganie.wordpress.com/2013/06/05/flotus-the-heckler-south-side-chicago-in-the-d-c-house/
“f you want to speak, I’ll leave.” Crowd almost immediately commands that heckler leaves and Mrs. Obama stays. Heckler is escorted out.”
https://twitter.com/owillis/status/342254184478932994/photo/1
BWA HA HA HA Spider Man; you’re my HERO! BWA HA HA HA
April @ReignOfApril
You confront the wife of the leader of the free world but then are “taken aback” when she confronts you right back. That’s privilege, folks.
7:17 AM – 5 Jun 2013
David Plouffe FOR ALL THE WINS
Plouffe’s Big Gamble
Obama adviser David Plouffe brought up decades-old allegations that Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) stole cars and burned down his own business because “he had no choice,” Politicoreports. “There was simply no other Obama aide with the stature or street cred with the Democratic base to confront Issa — even though he was a key player in the administration during the period covered by Issa’s inquiry.”
“His decision to trash Issa in such a personal way stunned Plouffe admirers who privately fret about poking such an ambitious and unpredictable adversary in the eye, fearing it will only reinforce the California Republican’s determination to prove that the orders to scrutinize conservative groups came from high-ranking administration officials.”
http://politicalwire.com/archives/2013/06/05/plouffes_big_gamble.html
FROM ITGURL
…………..
itgurl_29
Punks jump up to get beat down. Madea Benjamin got these old white ladies’ head boosted up cause POTUS let her ramble and make a fool of herself when he was giving his speech. Ol’ girl thought she was gonna make a lil’ name for herself like Madea and it backfired on her ass.
Mrs. Obama, like most women of the African Diaspora, has a low tolerance for bullshit, fuckery, and attention grabbing shenanigans. You are not going to scream and holler at a black woman and think you’re going to get away with it. She thought she was big and bad and bold, but when Mrs. Obama got down from that podium and looked her in the eye, woman to woman, she got scared as hell. If you wanna break bad on a sista, you best be prepared to be dealt with. And she better be glad FLOTUS is as classy as she is and simply offered her the mic. Because had that been another kind of sister, the only thing handed to her would have been her ass.
WORD! And FLOTUS knew she had the support of the rest of the audience. She had witnesses to her handling of this bitch. So she can runTELLdat to the maddening crowd all she wants. The other attendees were witness to her fuckery, and they aren’t HAVING IT either. ‘YOU NEED TO LEAVE.’ Enough said…
CODEPINK @codepink
Mrs. Obama should have said to LGBT protester: I don’t make policy but I certainly understand your concerns. Thanks for sharing them w me.
April @ReignOfApril
Who are you to tell the First Lady what she should and shouldn’t say? Is respect of others a tenet of yours or no? @codepink
7:22 AM – 5 Jun 2013
CODEPINK @codepink
. @MichelleObama should have been coached, long ago, on how to deal diplomatically w people who stand up to protest govt policies.
aspirational12 @aspirational12
@codepink @MichelleObama No. You need to coach your own rude, classless, protesters to know the diff between their allies and enemies.
7:34 AM – 5 Jun 2013
Code pind thinks FLOTUS is Kizzy and thez Miss ANNE. It’s the 21st century, bitches. Get over yourselves.
Fuck code pink and the rainbow colored ponies they rode in on.
found this at The Obama Diary
………………….
swbluega
June 5, 2013 at 8:15 am
The heckling of our First Lady at yesterday’s event and the constant criticism of our President from all directions continues to emphasize that President Obama is held to a different standard than previous presidents. He is too involved. He’s not involved enough. He is expected to do so much more against all odds. Every accomplishment is never enough. Every response is not fast enough. Every positive achievement is unfairly credited to the action(s) of someone else. Every negative incident is all the fault of this President.
There are individuals and groups who think that, unlike other presidents, President Obama was given some magical power just by being elected; that he could wave some magic wand and things would happen just because he commands it to be so. Sadly, this perception speaks to how little people really know about how our government works. Besides, would we, Americans who are protective of our rights and freedoms, really be happy having a President who had that much power?
People are falling for the lies spread by the GOP that the President’s administration is a culture of intimidation. Seriously!?!?!?!? If the President was THAT intimidating, why is it that the GOP is so comfortable with their obstructionism? Why do people like McCain, Graham, Cruz, Paul, et al freely spout their lies on Sunday talk shows and other venues? Would a Darrell Issa be able to generate this “Scandalgate” environment? Congress has spent the last 5 years doing NOTHING! That is the REAL scandal.
The President is not looking for a quick, temporary fix via an Executive Order. He is looking for a more permanent fix; legislation. A fix that will be hard to take away once he leaves office. The President does not want to short change us by giving a false sense of security via an EO, knowing that the benefits from an EO can be easily reversed. Besides, if these groups REALLY want change, why aren’t they going after Congress, the people who we have elected and who are in the position to enact legislation that will result in change that’s more real and more permanent?
In addition, all the things that people seemed to have expected the President to accomplish on day one were overshadowed by the crises that he had to confront on the first day he walked into the oval office. Should he have ignored the financial crisis? Should he have put aside the fact that we were in the midst of two wars? The President recognizes that the interests of his “base” are broad. We should recognize that, even with the deliberate obstruction of the GOP fueled by the misinformation of the MSM, and yes, the passive “support?” of his own party, everything cannot be done at once. And everything will not be done the way we THINK it should be done. But if we are really paying attention and stop allowing ourselves to be distracted by faux issues, we will realize that the President and his administration have overcome many obstacles and that we are benefitting so much from what they have been able to accomplish. And in the long run, if historians are fair and truthful, President Obama will be touted as one of the greatest Presidents– if not THE GREATEST President — of our lifetime.
http://theobamadiary.com/2013/06/04/night-owl-chat-dance-like-nobodys-watching/
These groups don’t really want CHANGE for anyone except for their own SELFISH gains.
CBS News ✔ @CBSNews
JUST IN: White House confirms to CBS News that Samantha Power, a former National Security Council staffer, to replace Rice as UN ambassador
6:54 AM – 5 Jun 2013
some more good comments:
JojoRaze >
What part of “You don’t heckle First Ladies because they don’t make policy, and thus you look a plumb fool when you do it” don’t folks comprehend?
As GN said last night, some 2520s think FLOTUS and POTUS are high-end waiters at their beck-and-call, so they bypass Congress and grassroots methods, like the Constitution says, and expect PBO and FLOTUS to fix it for them immediately. And if the purpose of this little outburst/tantrum from Ms Ann last night was to get rid of ENDA, where is GetEqual or whomever’s outreach to Congress, the American people to get it done. PBO doesn’t like to do things by exec orders only since it’s hit or miss, e.g., Guantanamo closure executive order failed because Congress didn’t give the funds, Deferred Action worked, because PBO didn’t have to ask Congress for money to help implement. He got rid of DADT by building consensus in the military and then in Congress.
Michelle just let folks know last night to think deep before you leap, if you’re feeling froggy. LOVE IT
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gn >
This was just such a classic incident in which someone decides to be needlessly and inappropriately provocative because they feel self-righteous and entitled. Big bad and bold when having the nerve to try to talk over the First Lady (she could be home with the girls—her life is set, she’s a mother, rich, and beautiful, she doesn’t need to be out here campaigning and fundraising for the midterms). Big and bold. Then whiny and passive aggressive when FLO returned a microfraction of what was dished out. I think that people here called it yesterday in terms of the switchblades coming out in force when people try this type of crap with the First Lady
Nerdy Wonka @NerdyWonka
Tom Donilon will resign as Pres. Obama’s national security adviser and Amb. Susan Rice will take over.
GOP and media tears are delicious.
6:35 AM – 5 Jun 2013
Sistermoon50 @sistermoon50 6h
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Bill Clinton signs DOMA into law, gets award from HRC. POTUS repeals DADT, FLOTUS gets heckled…
Vent @vcthree
Where was GetEQUAL last week when the Illinois Legislature had a vote on marriage equality, and left it on the table?
12:13 AM – 5 Jun 2013
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Vent @vcthree
Did they call any of the legislators? Did they send petitions? Or were they too busy planning this stunt?
12:13 AM – 5 Jun 2013
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Vent @vcthree
Hillary Clinton does the same fundraiser, and that heckler doesn’t even open her mouth. But FLOTUS has to take it because, Dem Fundraiser?
10:39 PM – 4 Jun 2013
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Vent @vcthree
Let me know when these orgs start pulling these stunts on the Clintons…
10:36 PM – 4 Jun 2013
New hashgtag: #dontfuckwithflotus
Elon James White @elonjames
Your cause does not outrank basic respect. #QuoteMe #TeamFLOTUS
10:00 PM – 4 Jun 2013
Vent @vcthree
So orgs have $500 to plant people in fundraisers so they can shout things out, but can’t organize any action on Congress? Oh, okay.
9:56 PM – 4 Jun 2013
Vent @vcthree
That organization paid $500 for somebody to go up in a private house and heckle the First Lady. Think about that.
10:28 PM – 4 Jun 2013
eclecticbrotha @eclecticbrotha
Motherfucker if you’re at a $500 a plate fundraiser saying “I was taken aback,” you better be talking about the chicken buffet.
8:41 PM – 4 Jun 2013
Vent @vcthree
When you troll in real life, things happen. You’re not protected by electrons, diodes, and a keyboard.
8:34 PM – 4 Jun 2013
itgurl @itgurl_29
You wanna lay claim to the civil rights movement, then fucking study it. Heckling the wife of your greatest supporter in history ain’t it!
11:03 PM – 4 Jun 2013
Only4RM @Only4RM
Learning the heckler incident happened in a PRIVATE HOME makes it that much clearer it was about CONFRONTATION & DISRESPECT. Not dialogue.
10:35 PM – 4 Jun 2013
Josh Marshall ✔ @joshtpm
The FLOTUS heckler is like the david broder of heckling. Heckles, then laments decline of civility when FLOTUS gets in her face.
11:12 PM – 4 Jun 2013
mattydean @mattydean
@eos16 Inappropriate. Ineffectual. Embarrassing. Please do not represent us again. You hurt our cause.
10:53 PM – 4 Jun 2013
allanbrauer @allanbrauer
Somebody heckled Michelle Obama and she’s getting crap for how she handled it? Someone hold my earrings.
11:40 PM – 4 Jun 2013
Bobfr @Our4thEstate
Clue to racists who hate the BLACK GUY in the WHITE HOUSE. He was elected TWICE & his wife is SPECTACULAR. Don’t mess with @FLOTUS or US.
12:54 AM – 5 Jun 2013
Just in case you missed it from last night….
Luvvie weighed in on the disrespect shown FLOTUS
The comments are hilarious….
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Michelle Obama Let a Protester Have It and I Approve!
[ 52 ] June 4, 2013 | Luvvie
People gon learn that folks got limits. According to the Washington Post, Michelle Obama was speaking at a private fundraiser when a lesbian activist named Ellen Hurtz kept interrupting her. She wanted POTUS Obama to sign an anti-discrimination executive order.
Wells, that wasn’t the time for her to be showing out and clearly, FLOTUS wasn’t here (nor there nor anywhere) for that. So she left where she was standing and stood in front of the woman and said:
OOP!!! Like a REAL G! Apparently, people asked Michelle to stay and Ellen was showed the door, and I hope given the suggestion that it better not hit her where the good Lord split her. Cuz… WELP. And afterwards, the lady talmbout she was “taken aback” by Michelle stepping to her because she paid $500 to be there.
AND?!? $500 doesn’t mean you could be incredibly rude and make demands of the First Lady, who isn’t even in charge of policymaking. Ma’am, $500 doesn’t buy you a get out of good sense card. You better have several seats! Iunno whatchu thought THIS was. She was taken aback that she thought she could talk AT Michelle with no types of repercussions. Don’t come for Michelle when she ain’t send for you.
See? The thing is that people forget she’s from Chicago. Michelle LaVaughn Robinson ain’t here to take your shit. You act a fool and she might embarrass you. Plus, she ain’t never scurred. Don’t be fooled by the degrees and the poise and class she shows regularly. Ellen tried it and got what she deserved.
FLOTUS doesn’t have to keep taking the crap people hurl her way. Barack might need to be nice because he’s all leader of the free world game proper but Michelle ain’t the one in office……….
http://www.awesomelyluvvie.com/2013/06/michelle-obama-protester.html
The Black Snob said it long ago…
Mess with POTUS, and while it will upset us…most of the time we will say ‘ it goes with the job’…
but, even breathe wrong towards Michelle…
WE.WILL.CUT.YOU
Shorter FLOTUS: I’m not Barack, I don’t play that ish.Glad she checked that heckler. Sick of the disrespect.Second term baby!
— KMO (@obamakimber) June 5, 2013
found these at POU:
Found this in the comments from another blog:
Can GetEQUAL NOW Make the LGBT Rights Movement Less Racist, Transphobic, and Ageist?
Dallas-based activist CD Kirven is credited with naming the new activist group GetEQUAL. She attended its initial planning sessions, got arrested for sitting alongside four other members in Nancy Pelosi’s office, and has never strayed far from co-director Robin McGeHee’s side. When Kirven first joined GetEQUAL, she was most excited about its promise of radical inclusivity; she disliked the predominantly white male face of the LGBT rights movement and hoped GetEQUAL would finally address issues of representational inequality within the community itself. But instead GetEQUAL focused mostly on ENDA and DADT and slowly became like the mainstream gay rights organizations they hoped to differentiate themselves from, Kirven believed. When a GetEQUAL member told Kirven that she was dragging down the gay rights movement by constantly bringing up issues like racial inclusiveness, it became clear to her she’d have to form her own group, and that’s why she founded GetEQUAL Now. It’s only associated with GetEQUAL in name and tactics — and it’s forming a grassroots army of butch dykes, trans folk, poor old queers, and people of color to contend with Gay Inc. so “fringe queer culture” will finally get some representation in gay mainstream politics and culture.
While attending Michelangelo Signorile’s LGBT Leadership Town Hall this April, GetEQUAL member Chastity Kirven noticed two things. First, that mainstream LGBT leadership not only seems okay with the government’s slow movement on our issues but also wants other queers to accept it as well. Secondly, Kirven realized that in a room of 60 activists she was only one of three people of color. Even the panel itself had only one person of color — Pam Spaulding of Pam’s House Blend. So Kirven stepped up to the mic to ask how the LGBT rights movement could more fully represent the actual diversity existing within our community. But instead of having her concerns addressed, Kirven was told they didn’t have enough time to answer her, and would she please ask her question “next time,” whenever that was.
On the way home, Kirven complained about what happened and was told by one of her GetEQUAL cohorts, “Whenever you play the race card, you drag the gay rights movement down. We have too much to do and don’t have time to have this conversation now.” Kirven felt incensed. “[The LGBT movement’s leaders] are getting paid $250k and have spent years regularly cutting out transgender people and queers of color from their back room deals,” Kirven said. “Earning that much money, it behooves them to explain themselves when it comes to race and inequality. I’m not the one playing the race card; it’s already on the table and they’re acting like it’s not there.”
Full story here: http://www.queerty.com/can-getequal-now-make-the-lgbt-rights-movement-less-racist-transphobic-and-ageist-20100616/#ixzz2VLXkSXiv
Michelle Obama Checks Protestor: ‘Listen To Me Or You Can Take The Mic’]
Jun 4, 2013
By NewsOne Staff
Ellen Sturtz claims in an interview with The Huffington Post, that she didn’t plan on interrupting First Lady Michelle Obama, but her fundraiser speech triggered her emotions and she couldn’t hold it in:
“I want to talk about the children,” Sturtz said. “I want to talk about the LGBT young people who are … being told, directly and indirectly, that they’re second-class citizens. I’m tired of it. They’re suffering. … We’ve been asking president to sign that ENDA executive order for five years. How much longer do we need to wait?”
Sturtz, a member of pro-LGBT rights group GetEQUAL, donated to President Barack Obama’s campaign because she believed that he would follow through on ensuring that the LGBTQ community no longer faced work-place discrimination. She claims to be surprised by the First Lady’s response:
“Basically, I was asked by the first lady to be quiet, and I can’t be quiet any longer. … I was surprised by how negative the crowd seemed to be. It was actually a little unsettling and disturbing,” said Sturtz.
“She obviously thought she was going to make an example of me or something. I wasn’t scared at all,” she added.
The organization is already throwing around “aggressive,” and insinuating that the FLOTUS was trying to be intimidating; this means the “Angry Black Woman” characterizations are not far behind.
Sturtz is reportedly on Twitter (@eos16), but with the First Lady’s supporters on a rampage, she’s understandably keeping a low social media profile.
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http://newsone.com/2531698/michelle-obama-fundraiser-confrontation/
Susan Rice, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, will replace Tom Donilon as President Barack Obama’s national security adviser, a senior administration official says.
m Donilon to resign as Obama national security
Obama national security adviser Tom Donilon will resign, according to White House officials. Susan Rice, the current U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, will take over. Rice has come under fire for her early remarks on the attack on the U.S. compound in Benghazi.
Read more at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/ap-source-tom-donilon-resigns-as-obama-national-security-adviser-susan-rice-to-take-over/2013/06/05/78286c10-cdd1-11e2-8573-3baeea6a2647_story.html
Good Morning, Everyone! :-)
Good Morning, Everyone at 3CHICS!!!
Morning, everyone!
Hey there, SG2. How’s Jay, my hero? LOL Is he still using his Spidey poweres?
LOL! Jay is good. He’s here with me today. Haley got an IPad for her birthday and my son downloaded some games and videos for them to play. They’re kinda excited to use an IPad.