Thursday Open Thread | Ben Carson Tells Homeless Woman To Get Married

Posted on April 12, 2018 by rikyrah

This came across my Twitter Feed, and I got so mad reading it, I had to share.

Ben Carson Tells A Black Woman To Escape Poverty She Needs To Get Married
The former doctor spit out an offensive talking point that comes straight from Fox News.

Written By Parker Riley
Posted 9 hours ago

Ben Carson is doing his best to make people forget he is unqualified to be the secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). From the beginning, his mission appears to be to prevent low-income people from obtaining fair housing. For example, Carson has blocked an Obama-era Small Area Fair Market Rent rule, which would give low-income people better access to schools and jobs, a mandate that was supposed to go into effect on January 1st. He also wants to kick people out of HUD if they don’t work a requirement of 32 hours per week. Regardless of if there are little-to-no jobs in an area, if the jobs are paying a starvation wage or if the job is only 20 hours a week. Of course, he famously said people are “too comfortable” in poverty. Carson appears too comfortable at HUD with a $31,000 office dining room set, his family’s allegedly too involved in HUD and employees filing lawsuits against him.

That said, in a clear effort to clean up his heartless image, on Tuesday Carson visited Winridge Elementary in Memphis, Tennessee. He met with a woman named Shakila Boyd who was once homeless with her child and was saved because of HUD programs (more than likely, the HUD programs under the Obama administration). According to Fox 13 in Memphis, she said, “I’m going back to school now and everything,” Boyd said through tears while holding her daughter, K’Yanna. “I have a house. They helped me get a job and I’m doing better now.”

Carson’s response to Shakila’s story? He believes the way to stop poverty is for more peopleto get married. “Number one: finish high school. Number two: get married. Number three: wait until you get married to have children,” Carson said. “Just those three things, and you’re two percent less likely to live in poverty.” Obviously, getting your education and waiting to have children until you are ready to have children will reduce poverty. But the deeply misinformed Ben Carson is completely wrong about marriage reducing poverty. Countless studies have proven you cannot marry yourself out of poverty. This is a recycled talking point from the conservative right that Carson has the nerve to spit out in front of a woman who poured her heart out. As Kristi Williams of the Ohio State University told The New York Times in 2015, “It isn’t that having a lasting and successful marriage is a cure for living in poverty. Living in poverty is a barrier to having a lasting and successful marriage.”

I’ve told you numerous times why I can’t stand Carson. Man grew up getting every Government program that there was, back when it actually meant something. If he grew up in these times, nobody would overlook his ‘ youthful indiscretions’. He’d have been solidly in the school-to-prison pipeline.
Then, he takes a job that he’s completely unqualified for and proceeds to try and grift – him and his entire family. He absolutely disgusts me, and is turning away from the FAIR HOUSING goal that is the core of HUD’s mission. I can’t wait for when he’s measured for his orange jumpsuit.

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85 Responses to Thursday Open Thread | Ben Carson Tells Homeless Woman To Get Married

  2. SouthernGirl2 says:
    April 12, 2018 at 8:39 pm

    Breaking News: Trump is poised to pardon former advisor to Dick Cheney, Scooter Libby.

    Reply
  4. Liza says:
    April 12, 2018 at 7:32 pm

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
    April 12, 2018
    Contact: Linda Benesch, lbenesch@socialsecurityworks.org

    233 Members of Congress Just Voted to Steal Social Security’s $2.9 Trillion Surplus

    (Washington, DC) — The following is a statement from Nancy Altman, President of Social Security Works, in reaction to nearly every Republican member of the House of Representatives, as well as seven Democrats, voting for a Constitutional amendment requiring that all annual revenue and spending balance every year:

    “Every pay period, starting with our first jobs, America’s workers contribute to Social Security. The program uses those funds to pay all benefits and related administrative costs. Social Security does not add even a penny to the deficit, as Republican President Ronald Reagan so clearly stated when he was president.

    When Social Security runs a surplus, Social Security holds the funds in trust. Social Security currently has a $2.9 trillion accumulated surplus. In the guise of a so-called balanced budget amendment, 233 members of the House of Representatives just voted to pretend that the accumulated surplus does not exist.

    Ninety-seven percent of Republicans just voted to steal those past contributions. They voted, in effect, to not pay back hardworking Americans when those funds will be needed to pay their earned benefits. (Ninety-six percent of Democrats voted to honor their commitment to the American people.)

    That 233 politicians would vote to steal this money is shameful. It helps explain the low regard the American people have for Congress. Fortunately for Social Security beneficiaries, the amendment did not attain the two-thirds majority required to pass the House. But those who voted for it are now on the record in support of stealing the American people’s earned Social Security benefits.”

    https://www.socialsecurityworks.org/2018/04/12/politicians-steal-social-security/

    Reply
    • Liza says:
      April 12, 2018 at 7:47 pm

      Why a Balanced Budget Amendment Would Harm Social Security and Federal Deposit Insurance
      APRIL 9, 2018 AT 10:15 AM

      The problems with a constitutional balanced budget amendment, which the House will vote on this week, go far beyond the significant economic harm it could cause. For instance, its requirement that policymakers offset federal spending in any year with revenues collected in that same year would prevent Social Security and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) from using their reserves for their intended purposes of paying benefits and responding to bank failures, respectively.

      Social Security. By design, the Social Security trust fund has built up reserves — in the form of Treasury securities backed by the full faith and credit of the United States — which it will use to help pay benefits for retired “baby boomers” in the late 2020s and early 2030s. Social Security now holds $2.9 trillion in Treasury securities.

      But under the balanced budget amendment, it would essentially be unconstitutional for Social Security to use these savings to pay promised benefits. Instead, it could have to cut benefits, because all federal spending would have to be covered by tax revenues collected during that same year. More precisely, Social Security could use its accumulated Treasury securities to help pay benefits only if the rest of the federal budget ran an offsetting surplus (or if the House and Senate each mustered the three-fifths vote to override the balanced budget requirement).
      …
      https://www.cbpp.org/blog/why-a-balanced-budget-amendment-would-harm-social-security-and-federal-deposit-insurance

      Reply
    • Liza says:
      April 12, 2018 at 8:11 pm

      The So-Called Balanced Budget Amendment is a Backdoor Attack on Social Security
      …
      The BBA would require federal spending in any given year to be offset by revenues collected in that same year. In practice, that would force cuts to the earned Social Security benefits now received by over 60 million beneficiaries.

      The law requires that Social Security’s surplus – which is currently over $2.8 trillion and growing –be held in trust, segregated from the general fund of the federal government. The BBA would ignore this reality and pretend that Social Security’s $2.8 trillion reserve does not exist.

      Those voting for the BBA are voting to, in effect, steal all the past contributions made to Social Security by America’s workers and their employers. They would be voting, in effect, to steal the interest earned on those surplus contributions. They would be voting not only to steal those contributions but to ignore the fact that Social Security’s revenue is dedicated to just one purpose – the payment of Social Security’s earned benefits and related administrative costs.

      To repeat, Social Security does not add a penny to the deficit. The program’s funds are wisely kept separate from the rest of the federal budget to protect the American people’s earned benefits. But if the BBA becomes law, that separation would end. Social Security’s benefits would be cut to offset other costs, including the $1.5 trillion tax handout that Republicans just gave to billionaires and corporations. Indeed, that is the true purpose of the BBA. Republicans don’t care about balancing budgets, but they do care about transferring wealth from the most vulnerable people in our society to the wealthiest among us.

      We know this because they have been attempting to cut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid for years. Throughout his career, soon-to-be former Speaker Ryan has supported voucherizing Medicare, privatizing Social Security, and block granting Medicaid. This is jargon for ending all three programs. Immediately after passing the tax giveaway to the wealthy, Ryan told radio host Ross Kaminsky that “we’re going to have to get back next year at entitlement reform,” His pejorative label for three extremely invaluable, well-designed programs.
      …
      For Ryan and his caucus, the appeal of the BBA is that it’s a sneaky backdoor way to cut benefits while avoiding political accountability. They already starved our government’s general revenue with their tax scheme. By using the BBA to cut Social Security off from its dedicated trust fund they can force cuts to happen without leaving their fingerprints. If the BBA were to become law, cuts would follow, probably automatically, without the need for even another vote .
      …
      A vote for the BBA is a vote to raid the Social Security and Medicare trust funds. It is a vote to end the promise of Social Security, which workers have relied on for over eighty years. It is a vote that says to the American people, in the strongest possible terms, that they should throw the thieves out of office this November.

      https://socialsecurity.news/balanced-budget-social-security/

      Reply
  7. yahtzeebutterfly says:
    April 12, 2018 at 6:08 pm

    August 3 – August 5 convention in Chicago:

    “WAKANDACON FESTIVAL TAKES INSPIRATION FROM BLACK PANTHER TO CHICAGO”
    http://www.syfy.com/syfywire/wakandacon-festival-takes-inspiration-from-black-panther-to-chicago
    Excerpt:

    Fresh off the end of Chicago-based comic convention C2E2, a new Marvel-inspired con is on the horizon. The fun-to-say Wakandacon, a three-day event bringing the Black Panther setting’s spirit of Afro-futurism, tech, and nerd culture is coming to Chicago for the first time this August.

    With all the panels, booths, workshops, and live entertainment you’d expect from a convention, this black-owned and -operated convention “is a space for black people to look past the present and into our future,” said co-founder Ali Barthwell in the con’s statement.

    https://i.pinimg.com/originals/c9/66/06/c966066266591e7e26662f50d2ac5b96.jpg

    Reply
  11. Ametia says:
    April 12, 2018 at 3:50 pm
    Reply
  12. Ametia says:
    April 12, 2018 at 3:43 pm
    Reply
  15. Ametia says:
    April 12, 2018 at 3:36 pm

    No, Mark Zuckerberg, we’re not really in control of our data

    Facebook’s CEO repeated this fiction 45 times in his testimony. That’s like saying anyone can control a 747 because it has buttons and dials.

    https://s2.washingtonpost.com/5b316c/5acfc1cdfe1ff61ddddf47e7/YXdhcmVvZjQxMUBnbWFpbC5jb20%3D/7/39/3a569220054ddfca9b49a25bb24a75b5

    Reply
  17. rikyrah says:
    April 12, 2018 at 2:42 pm

    Why Does Pruitt Have Four Email Addresses?
    April 12, 2018 at 1:43 pm EDT

    EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt “has used four separate agency email addresses since taking office, according to Senate Democrats and an EPA official, prompting concerns among agency lawyers that the EPA has not disclosed all the documents it would normally release to the public under federal records requests,” the Washington Post reports.

    Pruitt’s four email addresses include one in the conventional agency format, pruitt.scott@epa.gov, as well as three others: esp7@epa.gov, adm14pruitt@epa.gov and sooners7@epa.gov, an apparent reference to the University of Oklahoma, whose football team Pruitt follows closely.

    Another EPA staffer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation, said that Pruitt’s use of different emails has raised concern among agency lawyers responsible for scouring the administrator’s official correspondence in the course of responding to FOIA requests from journalists and outside groups. If there is an email account that was not searched for records in response to a FOIA inquiry, the official said, that “would be an enormous breach of the public trust.”

    Reply
  23. SouthernGirl2 says:
    April 12, 2018 at 1:21 pm

    The biggest fraud in the history of American politics talking about the ‘rule of law’. #IMPEACH this thug NOW!

    Reply
  24. yahtzeebutterfly says:
    April 12, 2018 at 1:20 pm

    “NJ Attorney General joins lawsuit challenging the end of DACA protections”
    https://www.app.com/story/news/politics/new-jersey/2018/04/12/new-jersey-attorney-general-grewal-files-daca-amicus-against-trump-decision/510631002/
    Excerpt:

    New Jersey has joined 16 states and the District of Columbia in challenging the Trump administration’s phase out of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program for unauthorized immigrants, arguing the move harms not only the young recipients but also the state’s economy, public universities, public health and safety.

    Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal filed an amicus brief in the Eastern District of New York challenging the end of DACA, which has more than 17,400 active recipients in New Jersey. The Obama-era initiative has offered temporary protections and work permits to immigrants who came to the U.S. as children.

    Undocumented students: New Jersey Assembly to vote on extending financial aid

    New Jersey has more than 50,000 DACA-eligible immigrants, according to the amicus brief. Grewal described DACA grantees as workers and taxpayers who are “part of the fabric” of the Garden State.

    “While New Jersey and other states can point to a multitude of ways in which removing DACA grantees will cause significant harm, the federal government has yet to cite one valid rationale for doing so,” Grewal wrote in a prepared statement. “That’s because there isn’t one. We owe it to ourselves to fight this unjust and unnecessary action, and as the State’s Attorney General I’m glad to do so.”

    Also today”
    “New Jersey Assembly to vote on extending financial aid to undocumented students”
    https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/new-jersey/2018/04/12/new-jersey-assembly-vote-extending-financial-aid-undocumented-students/508466002/

    Reply
  25. rikyrah says:
    April 12, 2018 at 12:50 pm

    Can I admit how depressing it is that they’ve grown to 300 in such a short amount of time?

    Homeless Girl Scouts hold first cookie sale in Union Square
    By Zack Tawatari | April 12, 2018 @12:52 AM

    The familiar flavors, the iconic uniforms, and a prime location at the Kellogg’s store in Union Square — Girl Scout Troop 6000 meant business.

    Girl Scouts across the country sell cookies, but the Troop 6000 scouts courting cookie customers are unique: Every member of Troop 6000 is, or has been, homeless.

    “I was scared, I was lonely, I didn’t know what to do,” said Karina Cabrera, a member of the troop. “I wasn’t trusting myself, and I was just kind of like heartbroken because I didn’t like that I was going through this and I didn’t know why I was.”

    Giselle Burgess started the troop last year with the help of Girl Scouts of Greater New York and the city Department of Homeless Services. She wanted to give the girls a sense of community, and reassure them that they were not alone.

    “We’re scared, we’re nervous, and we don’t know what’s going in the situation as an adult, so imagine how they must feel,” Burgess said. “I definitely felt that they needed to be able to connect with someone, with peers that are living through the same situations that they have.”

    Troop 6000 began with eight members but has grown to nearly 300 girls — a reflection of the city’s homeless crisis. The goal is to expand to 500 girls in 15 shelters.

    “It gives more sense of a community to girls and families as they’re going through this transition process, because girl scouting is about community, it’s about sisterhood, it’s about a neighborhood, and it’s about involvement and having roots,” said Meridith Maskara, the CEO of Girl Scouts of Greater New York.

    Reply
  26. eliihass says:
    April 12, 2018 at 12:32 pm

    Didn’t think it was possible, but I simply loathe and resent this slimy weasel Pompeo even more than I did Condoleeza’s Exxon guy..

    I only hope in the end, his exit is twice as humiliating ..

    Reply
  27. eliihass says:
    April 12, 2018 at 11:43 am

    I do appreciate how infinitely better and more decent congressional Dems generally are …But I remain incredibly frustrated with how they keep giving these crooked republicans undeserved passes and letting them slide …Especially when these same republicans given the chance, will blatantly screw them over and run the bus over them again and again – no matter the so-called bipartisan ‘friendships’ they insist they have forged ..

    That’s why we can’t ever get ahead..

    Reply
  28. rikyrah says:
    April 12, 2018 at 11:38 am

    IF this isn’t an apt description of the ZEGK:

    A friend at a D.C. public relations firm once described Paul Ryan as “the weaselly brother-in-law who is always talking about the big financial deals he’s involved in but is really just trying to move Mom and Dad into a retirement facility so he can sell their house for bitcoins.” That seems like a pretty apt description.

    Reply
  29. rikyrah says:
    April 12, 2018 at 11:30 am

    WaPost: Alexandra Petri: Paul Ryan can’t possibly have made a deal with the Devil

    “I don’t see this as some Faustian bargain, Devil’s bargain or whatever it is you call it.”
    — House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) to Jake Tapper, asked about whether he “personified the Devil’s bargain the GOP has signed with Trump”

    Paul Ryan did not make a deal with the devil. That much is obvious.

    His piano-playing has not improved. He has not become any wiser. He has not been able to travel widely and see the great sights of the present and past. Helen of Troy has not made him immortal with a kiss, and he has not gotten to go to a single witches’ sabbath (although he has heard continually about witch hunts).

    … Sometimes — he is almost too afraid to voice the thought aloud — he thinks that increasing the deficit was not always his cherished wish. That it was something different. Something to do with Jack Kemp, maybe.

    (He got to see Jack Kemp, once, in a dream, but Jack just looked disappointed and turned away.)

    Undermining the institutions of this democracy? Was that the wish? He does not think that was the wish. If he was he doing this to protect the institutions, then what were all these hearings casting vague suspicion on the FBI?

    He tries to remember.

    Tax cuts were a wish, and entitlement reform, and there must have been a third thing. To see Greg Gianforte seated in the House after he body-slammed a reporter? No.

    To stand behind a president who spouted racism about “shithole countries” and equated the white nationalists at Charlottesville with those who protested them? To allow President Trump to fill his White House with family members and conflicts of interest leagues deep and fathoms wide? To support a man who never released his tax returns?

    At least Ryan managed to preserve the integrity of his beloved Republican Party, a party of ideas, not of people who are banned from malls and want to do unspeakable things to schoolchildren in the name of the Second Amendment. He has lost himself, maybe, but he has protected his party’s image as a group of people who were united by something more than greed or identity. And at least the majority has been preserved.

    Why does he hear laughter? Is none of this true? Has there been some horrible mistake?

    … No, there can have been no deal with the Devil.

    The Devil at least makes a point of giving you something you want in return. Trump has no such scruples. He is happy to take your labor, for months, and then walk away, leaving you with a shattered reputation and an agreement with no signature on it. Ryan may have given away his soul, but he has started to wonder, as Stormy Daniels did, whether Trump even bothered to sign his side of the thing.

    Reply
  30. Liza says:
    April 12, 2018 at 11:05 am

    SG2, I just now saw this.

    Reply
  31. eliihass says:
    April 12, 2018 at 10:57 am

    For over a year, Mike Pompeo has shown and continues to show those who somehow got amnesia and forgot that he was one of the original Tea Party Birther folks, exactly who and what he is … a greedy, transparently slimy pos with delusions of grandeur, who will suck up and grovel to a buffoon just to stay in his ‘good graces’ and to be considered for and to get into a position of power he has absolutely no business being in …and all while turning a blind eye to the shenanigans of a hostile foreign entity that continues to threaten our democracy..

    Reply
  38. rikyrah says:
    April 12, 2018 at 9:59 am

    I’ll say it again..

    ALL Democrats should either have Ted Lieu or Maxine Waters’ attitude.

    Rep. @tedlieu says career prosecutors and FBI agents would continue any investigation even if Pres. Trump fired “some of the Republicans at the top.”

    “This train has left the station. There’s nothing this president can do to stop it.” https://t.co/bHcSNuDcUA pic.twitter.com/4wiw4DECZ4

    — ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) April 12, 2018

    Reply
  39. rikyrah says:
    April 12, 2018 at 9:57 am

    It was deliberate. Stop giving this muthaphucka the benefit of the doubt.

    Trump shoots self in foot with Twitter missile taunt at Russia

    Courtney Kube, national security and military reporter for NBC News, talks with Rachel Maddow about Donald Trump warning Russia that he’s launching missiles at Syria even though the US has not actually decided what kind of action to take Bashar al-Assad.

    Reply
  40. eliihass says:
    April 12, 2018 at 9:56 am

    How does anyone look at or listen to this Tea Party Mike Pompeo weasel and not see how completely and desperately mediocre and slimy, and lacking ..

    Reply
  41. Ametia says:
    April 12, 2018 at 9:55 am

    White NC candidate: ‘I’m a member of the African-American community’

    “I’ve eaten at many a fish fry held by my ‘brothers’ and ‘sisters,’ ‘aunts’ and ‘uncles’ in that community; I’ve celebrated birthdays, births, marriages, graduations, Christmas, Thanksgiving, July 4, etc., with many members of the African-American community,” Shipman wrote in an email to The News & Observer.

    http://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/politics-columns-blogs/under-the-dome/article208504129.html

    Reply
  42. rikyrah says:
    April 12, 2018 at 9:55 am

    Exclusive: Preservation notice shows breadth of Mueller probe

    Rachel Maddow shares the contents of an exclusively obtained, previously unseen letter to Department of Justice officials directing them to preserve “Documents and Responsive Materials” related to Donald Trump’s firing of James Comey.

    Reply
  43. rikyrah says:
    April 12, 2018 at 9:54 am

    Bannon to Trump: DO NOT COOPERATE (also fire Rosenstein): WaPo

    Robert Costa, national political reporter for The Washington Post, talks with Rachel Maddow about his new reporting that Steve Bannon is encouraging Donald Trump to fire Rod Rosenstein, stop cooperating with Robert Mueller, and fire his lawyer Ty Cobb as well.
    Apr.11.2018

    Reply
  46. rikyrah says:
    April 12, 2018 at 9:07 am

    Maddow was BLISTERING on Paul Ryan last night.
    Blistering!
    Loved it.

    Paul Ryan legacy gives lie to Beltway’s deficit hawk mythology

    Rachel Maddow shows how the Beltway media spun up an elaborate myth about Paul Ryan as a budget hawk focused on reducing spending and debt. Ryan announced his retirement two days after the CBO announced a record deficit resulting from the budget Ryan oversaw.

    Reply
  47. rikyrah says:
    April 12, 2018 at 9:04 am

    Cincinnati Bengals reportedly asked Eric Reid for a commitment that he wouldn’t kneel during national anthem; he refused and left without a contract offer: https://t.co/xfjJDhSSOP pic.twitter.com/0uRed59rj9

    — The Root (@TheRoot) April 11, 2018

    Reply
  48. rikyrah says:
    April 12, 2018 at 9:04 am

    The company that publishes the National Enquirer paid a former doorman at one of Trump’s N.Y. buildings $30,000 during the presidential campaign for a tip about Trump it never ran. https://t.co/vR1vCMX0eu

    — The Associated Press (@AP) April 12, 2018

    Reply
  49. rikyrah says:
    April 12, 2018 at 9:02 am

    Sex scandal gets vastly more serious for Missouri’s GOP governor
    04/12/18 08:00 AM—UPDATED 04/12/18 08:06 AM
    By Steve Benen
    In contemporary politics, sex scandals are not always career-ending controversies. The public is often forgiving, for example, when politicians are contrite about mistakes in their personal lives.

    But make no mistake: the allegations surrounding Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens (R) are vastly more serious than routine controversies about adultery. The Kansas City Star reported overnight:

    When she tried to leave, sobbing after a non-consensual sexual encounter, she says the man who would be governor physically stopped her.

    What happened next, she testified under oath to a Missouri House committee investigating allegations of misconduct against Republican Gov. Eric Greitens, is spelled out in graphic detail in a 25-page report and transcripts of testimony that the lawmakers released Wednesday.

    It’s the first time the public has heard sworn testimony from the woman at the center of allegations of misconduct against the governor.

    The full report is online here. I should emphasize that it’s quite graphic and explains in some detail alleged non-consensual sexual assaults.

    Reply
  50. rikyrah says:
    April 12, 2018 at 9:01 am

    True, cause they wanted to be conned.

    Paul Ryan’s one real accomplishment as a politician was repeatedly conning gullible journalists https://t.co/IVWaAyhEuP

    — Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) April 11, 2018

    Reply
  51. rikyrah says:
    April 12, 2018 at 8:58 am

    This is true but Paul Ryan’s defining legacy is being complicit in the shredding of democratic norms. https://t.co/WsALECOxFe

    — Topher Spiro (@TopherSpiro) April 11, 2018

    Reply
  52. rikyrah says:
    April 12, 2018 at 8:58 am

    Spend two years enabling an anti-democratic, incompetent man-child. Do long-term damage to the nation’s fiscal health. Exacerbate the nation’s political divides … Walk away when it’s clear that your party will lose the House. Never change Paul Ryan

    — Michael Cohen (@speechboy71) April 11, 2018

    Reply
  53. rikyrah says:
    April 12, 2018 at 8:56 am

    About the Oklahoma teachers. It’s not that I’m not sympathetic to their plight, but how many of them have been voting GOP all along?
    Yeah, Uh huh.

    For the teachers, their chant – “Rain, snow, earthquake, lightning / Nothing can stop us from doing the right thing” – had a special resonance for those who had endured freezing rain and debilitating blisters. The marchers were quickly mobbed by a sea of supporters, workers from the state’s department of human services, clapping and clutching bottles of water to hand out to their teachers.
    ………………..
    “I am just overwhelmed. I knew this was going to be a big deal, but what it turns out to be is historical,” said Radonne Broeffle Musgrove, a 31-year veteran of the classroom who thinks the teacher’s movement is a game-changer for the traditionally conservative state.
    ………………….
    The band marched on, passing one of the many oil wells that dot Oklahoma City’s skyline as two competing media organizations flew overhead with their news helicopters. Throughout the march, the news copter helped to draw supporters to the side of Route 66 to cheer on the marching teachers.

    As the parade passed the governor’s mansion, the marching band burst out in a rendition of the O’Jay’s Back Stabbers. A middle-aged African American woman dressed in a floral dress sang along: “They smile in your face, all the time they want to take your place.”

    Finally, the 38-year-old marching band director, Justin Morgan, called the band to order when a police escort arrived to greet the column as they entered the state capitol grounds. Morgan, who is on strike himself, said that in his nearly decade as a marching band instructor that he had never seen energy like it.
    ………………….
    One of the first speakers was the Tulsa schools superintendent, Deborah Gist, whose decision to close Tulsa schools during the first week helped persuade other superintendents from around the state to also close their schools in solidarity with the teachers.

    “I love y’all! I love y’all!” said Gist as she struggled to catch her breath and wipe tears from her face. Gist said: “This is not a rally. This is not a protest. This is a movement. Movements are made up of moments so here what it is important this moment cannot be the moment it has to be part of a bigger movement.”

    Gist called on the crowd to run for office to replace the state legislators, who are refusing to increase taxes on wealthy Oklahomans to pay for public education. Her call came as dozens of teachers from around the state have filed paperwork to run for state representative in the fall’s elections.

    Although the teachers are excited to be done with the grueling march, they know the fight isn’t over: the Oklahoma state house has declined to take up a bill already passed by the Republican-dominated state senate to increase capital gains taxes to pay for increased education funding.

    Reply
  54. rikyrah says:
    April 12, 2018 at 8:50 am

    Ex-FBI Director James Comey compared President Trump to a “mob boss” in a taped interview with ABC News, according to a promotional video released Wednesday.
    “How strange is it for you to sit here and compare the president to a mob boss?” host George Stephanopoulos asks Comey in a clip shared by ABC News.

    Reply
    • eliihass says:
      April 12, 2018 at 11:22 am

      Nothing sadder than faux-righteous folk like Eddie Glaude who thoroughly resent the Obamas, but will again and again, shamelessly grovel and permanently affix their lips to the butts of ‘stunningly superficial’ and hollow racist idiots like Joe Scarborough, Mika.. etc..

      Happy to stay mute or mealy-mouthed, while playing the subservient negro …so as not to ‘offend’ Scarborough and get canned from the occasional t.v preening gig where he gets to chime in only when Joe Scarborough permits him to… And only if he can get in as many anti-Obama digs…

      He serves almost the same largely humiliating and demeaning black-face purpose for Morning Joe, as those $3 dum-dums Diamond and Silk do for Fox and Friends..

      The only difference is Mr. Glaude is educated where the Silk and Diamond women are not..

      Reply
  61. yahtzeebutterfly says:
    April 12, 2018 at 5:31 am

    Happy Birthday, Herbie Hancock! 🎈🎂🎈 (April 12, 1940)

    https://youtu.be/XrgP1u5YWEg&rel=0

    Reply
  62. rikyrah says:
    April 12, 2018 at 4:31 am

    Good Morning,Everyone 😄😄😄

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