Teabaggers Losing Their Damned Minds

Not that many of them had much of one to lose to begin with, but the teabaggers are now resorting to the T word to express their racist Republistoked anger at the passage of health care reform.

Terrorism.

Let's call these people what they are and what Rep. Bart Stupak rightfully called them. Domestic terrorists.

I don't like and have zero tolerance or respect for the Tea Klux Klan, especially after last weekend's disgusting display protesting a bill that will prevent the insurance companies from denying them coverage due to a nebulous list of preexisting conditions.

The Tea Klux Klan is 75% Republican and monoracial. It's an Astroturfed movement that claims it's not racist, but hurl racist and homophobic slurs at African-American, Latino/a, Jewish and gay legislators. Your protest rallies are monoracial affairs filled with racist signs showing your breathtaking levels of miseducation to the world.

And note to Dale Robertson, founder of the teabaggers, 'nigger' is not spelled with an 'a' in it.

What we have is the spectacle of white people behaving badly, just like their pointed hood wearing, Confederate flag waving parents and grandparents did the last time we engaged in passing ground breaking progressive legislation in the 60's.

Nullification didn't work then, and it won't work in the 2K10's.

Turn off the Fox Noise, right wing talk radio and read a fracking book that's not penned by Glenn Beck, Ann Coulter, Sarah Palin or Rush Limbaugh.

As Parliament-Funkadelic once sang, free your mind and your ass will follow. But if you want to follow the GOP off the cliff of irrelevance, be our guests.

But we're putting you peeps on notice that we're going to fight harder for our vision of an America that works for everybody who lives here. We are not going to allow large numbers of stupid people to vote us back to the 19th century.

Not this time, in 2012, 2014, not ever.

Been there, done that.

Negro Republican Calls President 'Buckwheat'

Yeah, I know it would be desirable to have more African descended people involved in both parties, but what's the point of that exercise if they're going to mimic the oppressors behavior?

Corey Poitier is running for US Rep. Kendrick Meek's House seat in Florida since Meek is running for the US Senate.

The high school civics teacher delivered a passionate speech against the health care reform bill Monday night to Broward County Republicans. During the speech, Poitier addressed the President by saying “Listen up, Buckwheat…”

Aargh, another Negro GOP sellout is born.

That might gain Poitier GOP fans, but not in a district that is 57% African American and 9 out of 10 peeps voted for the man he just disrespected with the comment.

And it begs the question I asked at the beginning of this post. What's the point in having Black peeps in the GOP if all they are going to do is be chocolate covered sycophants spouting the same tired conservative talking points we overwhelmingly reject when white candidates spout them?

Teabaggers Hate On Man With Parkinson's At Protest

This infuriating video is one reason why I have little to zero tolerance for teabaggers and conservafools in general.

All I can say about the heartless fools mocking this man with Parkinson's disease is that when the karmic wheel comes around, I'd hate to be you.

This is the true face of the GOP, the Tea Klux Klan and the conservative movement.

Did it make you angry seeing that? Good!

Now channel that anger into positive action to preserve our majority. Our best revenge for this gentleman is to get busy registering voters and planning to bumrush the polling places in November.

You can bet that these wastes of DNA who disrespected this man will damned sure be there to vote GOP as soon as the polls open. We need to working even harder to give these people an electoral beatdown they'll never forget.

Reagan On The $50 Bill? Hell No!

Once again our conservafools are trying to memorialize the late Ronald Reagan, and their feverish attempts to do so before his 100th birthday in 2011 are becoming more irritating.

A proposal to put him on Mt. Rushmore was laughed out of existence, and he already has his name attached to Washington National Airport (which I still refuse to call Reagan National), an aircraft carrier and one of the largest federal buildings in DC.

Personally I'd put JFK or FDR on there before Reagan.

In addition to the conservaplanning for a yearlong 100th anniversary birthday celebration, efforts are underway in California and Nevada to name mountains after Reagan. I can guarantee you that those 2011 celebrations of his birthday won't see anything but Black sellout faces at them.

Now Congressman Patrick McHenry (R-NC) wants to put Ronald Reagan's face on the 50 dollar bill.

He has introduced legislation which would redesign the 50 dollar bill to replace President Ulysses Grant with Reagan. McHenry's rationale for it is claiming every generation needs heroes and it is time to honor President Reagan by placing him beside Presidents Roosevelt and Kennedy.

He may be yours and white conservative America's hero, but as an African-American, I have no love for Reagan's racist behind. That distaste for Reagan was cemented when he made that infamous 1980 'I believe in state's rights' speech during his presidential campaign in Philadelphia, MS.

McHenry goes on to say Reagan transformed our nation's political and economic thinking.

Damned sure did, for the worst. Do the words 'voodoo economics', 'trickle down economics' and 'trillion dollar deficit' ring a bell?

The bill has been sent to the House Financial Services Committee, and Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) isn't ready to jettison Grant for "someone whose policies are still controversial."

"Our currency ought to be something that unites us." said Rep. Sherman.

Neither are the people who still admire Grant for helping to win the Civil War

Thus isn't the first time the GOP has tried to stick Reagan's face on our currency. When they had control of Congress, in 2005 they tried to put Reagan on the $50, but the bill never made it out of the House Financial Services Committee.

They attempted to replace Franklin D. Roosevelt with Reagan on the dime, but Democrats rose up and nixed that proposal.

A proposal to put Reagan's mug on the $20 bill drew objections from Tennessee lawmakers who didn't want Andrew Jackson removed from it.

In a letter to his congressional colleagues, McHenry wrote, "President Reagan is indisputably one of the most transformative presidents of the 20th century. Like President Roosevelt on the dime and President Kennedy on the half dollar, President Reagan deserves a place of honor on our nation's currency."

No, he doesn't. Rep. McHenry. Vanilla flavored peeps that share your political philosophy may believe that nonsense, but much of the American public doesn't share the same warm and fuzzy feeling about Ronald Wilson Reagan as you do.

I and many people saw his 'transformative presidency' in the 80's as a less than pleasant time in which the United States became more mean-spirited, more bellicose, more racist, and more divided politically and socially.

So no, definitely don't want Reagan's mug on Mt. Rushmore, much less any US currency.

When Is A Terrorist Attack NOT a Terrorist Attack?

One of the things I've been pondering since the attack on the building in Austin housing the IRS is this question.

Why is it that when Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan killed 12 of his fellow soldiers and wounded another 31 at Fort Hood back on November 4, the T-word came out with no hesitation and the obligatory slamming of Islam soon followed?

But flip the script and you have a white male burn his house down, leave an anti government manifesto on the Net, and dive bombs a plane into a federal building housing the IRS, or another white male in 1995 instigates the destruction of another federal building in Oklahoma City, the MSM twists itself into a pretzel to avoid calling it a terrorist attack or say it's the work of a lone individual?

To delve further into Bizarro world, the same conservapeeps decrying the foiled Christmas underwear bomber and giving the president 'soft on terris' grief on it are calling this vanilla flavored one a hero.

Hmm.

So when is a terrorist attack NOT a terrorist attack?

Miss Me Yet? Hell Naw!

This billboard is greeting passengers traveling along Interstate 35 near Wyoming, MN.

The people who paid for it are wishing to remain anonymous, but I have an answer to the question posed on the billboard.

Hell naw I don't miss Bush.

I'm proud to say I never fell for the 'compassionate conservatism' okey doke. I never voted for him as Texas governor nor for the presidency.

His disastrous stints as Texas governor and president proved many times over the wisdom of me voting for his opponents, and I'm glad the worst president ever is back in suburban Dallas.

Teabaggers, You Owe Great Britain A Lot Of Money!

TransGriot Note: I have no love for the racist white wing Teabagger movement. Saw this interesting post from Maura Hennessey which points out that if the Teabaggers continue to claim they are the heirs of the peeps who conducted the original 1774 Tea Party in Boston, there may be potential legal and fiscal consequences.

Teabaggers, you owe Her Majesty's Government a lot of money

Dear Teabaggers,
As a former counsel attached to the Chancellor's office, and having once represented the parent company of Messers Davison, Newman and Company, Ltd, I feel that it is my duty to my clients to bring to your attention the following facts:

You claim to be the legal heirs, as well as the moral heirs, to a group of gentlemen who illegally trespassed upon the merchant ship Fortune, a brigantine then commanded by Benjamin Gorsham, Master and carrying a mixed cargo, including Twenty Eight Teak Chests containing Tea, the lot consigned to Mr Henry Lloyd of Boston Massachusetts, a merchant.

These gentlemen committed the following illegal act on the Seventh of March, the 1774th year of the Common Era and the Thirteenth Year of the Reign of HRM King George III of happy memory, to wit: They did trespass upon Fortune, breaking into the hold, and brought the tea onto the decks where they broke the chests and spilled them into the Charles River.

Of this shipment, Sixteen Chests were the property of Davison, Newman & Co, Tea Merchants and Importers, London. Said Sixteen Chests and their Contents were insured by Messers Peregrine Cust, James Bradley, Charles Harris, Robert Thornton and William Greenwood who wrote a policy with themselves holding the Risk at Lloyds signed and effective upon the Twenty Third of December in the year 1773.

Messers Cust, Bradeley paid to the policy holders Messers Davison, Newman & Co the sum of Four Hundred Eighty Pounds Sterling, the agreed and insured value of the Sixteen Teak Chests and their Contents.

Messers Cust, Bradley et al did therefore petition His Royal Majesty for relief, successfully, with His Majesty's Government covering the expenses and levying a tax to recover said expenditures upon the responsible individuals.

Owing to the subsequent unpleasantness in the Americas between 1775 and 1783, this amount was not reimbursed in spite of it being legally levied in response of the willful destruction of private property.

Therefore, the responsibility for the payment of said amount devolves upon the legal heirs and assigns of said perpetrators, which you freely claim to be.

Said legal heirs currently include Ms Sarah Palin, Mr Glenn Beck and the membership of an Organisation known as "Tea Party Patriots"

On behalf of the Government of Her Royal Majesty Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith, etc, the successor to the Government of His Late Royal Majesty George the Third, I petition and demand that the owed sum of Four Hundred Eighty Pounds Sterling, legally levied in the Year 1774 be paid with suitable interest, said sum in current monetary value now being the equivalent of $8,924,601,649.92 reckoned at six percent per annum.

I remain your Obedient Servant,
Maureen Eileen Hennessey, Q.C.
On behalf of Her Majesty's Government

Condoleezza For The New Millenium Is Running For Congress

My first Saturday Sellout piece was about Angela McGlowan, the Faux News conservanegroid spokesmodel who is called on when they need cover to attack Black people in general or the First Lady.

I was wondering why I hadn't seen much of her lately on the GOP Propaganda Network and now I know why.

To top off a bad week for liberal-progressive folks, I read over at Jack and Jill Politics that Miss Right Wing Thang had some meetings up on Capitol Hill with the NRCC and various Repugnican congressmemebers.

That's right, Angela is coming to a congressional district near you. To be precise, she's going back home to the Magnolia State to run for Congress in Mississippi's 1st Congressional district.

The 1st Congressional District stretches across the northern-northeastern corner of the state. It was formerly held by now Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) from 1995-2007 until he was appointed by Gov. Haley Barbour (R) to fill the remainder of Trent Lott's senate term after he resigned on December 18, 2007.

Democrat Travis Childers now holds that seat, and the Repugs are going after him.

There are already two people running in the Republican primary, so Angela's going to see if she can parlay her Fox face time, Ole Miss education, her time working in Sen. Jon Ensign's (R-NV) office (yes, that John Ensign) and beauty pageant good looks into a Congressional seat.

Michael Steele and his GOP minders would probably love for McGlowan to win the primary and be the one challenging Childers in the fall so they can trumpet how 'diverse' they are.

If you're parroting the same bull white male Republicans have been spouting for decades, putting it in a pretty package won't change the fact I and other African Americans ain't voting for your Oreo cookie chomping behind.

We're a lot more politically savvy than you give us credit for, but it'll probably work on the folks she helped bamboozle every day on Faux News.

As for Angela, ugh. What a waste. Another one working for the Dark Side of the Political force.

Since I have relatives in Mississippi, I'll definitely be paying attention to how this plays out.

And oh yeah Angela, the Field Negro is still awaiting a response to the invitation to debate him you keep ducking.

Pat Robertson Hatin' On Haiti

Boy the competition for this week' TransGriot Shut Up Fool! Award just got a little tighter.

The entire planet is focused on expeditiously getting help to the people of Haiti following a devastating 7.0 earthquake and once again Marion 'Pat' Robertson opens mouth and inserts foot in the wake of a natural disaster.

Pat went off on a bizarre tangent over the successful slave rebellion that ejected the French and led to Haiti's independence during his 700 Club broadcast.



"Something happened a long time ago in Haiti, and people might not want to talk about it. "They (Haitians) were under the heel of the French...and they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said 'We will serve you'...and so, the devil said 'Okay, it's a deal' and kicked the French out," Robertson said.

During an earlier report with a reporter for Robertson's CBN News, the televangelist questioned whether the earthquake in Haiti was a "blessing in disguise."

Haiti's Ambassador to the United States Raymond Joseph verbally pimp slapped Robertson and gave his clueless behind a history lesson he sorely needed when he appeared on the Rachel Maddow Show to discuss the situation in his country.

In addition to being a racist fool wallowing in vanilla flavored privilege, you've shown yourself to be ignorant of history as well. Haiti is the world oldest Black republic and the second oldest in the Western Hemisphere after the United States.

One of the causes of Haiti's poverty is because the Southern slaveholders didn't want a repeat of Haiti's successful revolt on US territory and sought to make life difficult for the nascent nation. France forced Haiti to pay crushing reparations in exchange for diplomatic recognition.

Speaking of recognition, because of Southern opposition the United States didn't extend diplomatic recognition of Haiti until 1862, a year after the Southern states jumped off the Civil War and seceded from the Union.

There's no truth to the rumor that President Obama proclaimed Pat's mouth a disaster area, but I suggest that Pat change the name of his show to the more apropos title of the 666 Club.

When You Republicans Start Consistently Doing Things For The African-American Community, Only Then Will We Cut Y'all Some Slack On Race Gaffes

The GOP is up in arms because of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's (D-NV) foot in mouth moment that recently came to light thanks to the recently published book 'Game Change'. During the 2008 campaign he's allegedly quoted as saying that it was an advantage for for then candidate Obama to be a 'light skinned Black with no Negro dialect'

Sen. Reid quickly apologized for it, the president accepted the apology along with other African-American political and thought leaders.

"While there is no question that Senator Reid did not select the best word choice in this instance, these comments should not distract America from its continued focus on securing healthcare or creating jobs for its people," Sharpton said.

Congressional Black Caucus Chair Barbara Lee (D-CA) stated, 'But while there is "a deep unease about race which cannot be swept under the rug, Reid's public actions speak louder than words."

"Over the years, I have had an opportunity to work with Majority Leader Reid. Senator Reid's record provides a stark contrast to actions of Republicans to block legislation that would benefit poor and minority communities," she said, citing health care reform as one example. "I look forward to Senator Reid continuing to serve as Majority Leader to guide this important agenda through the Senate."

Michael Steele and friends immediately screamed foul and demanded Sen. Reid's resignation as Senate Majority leader, claiming a dubious 'double standard' on race when it comes to Republicans versus Democrats on race issues.

There's a double standard alright, and it's one the Democrats have earned thanks to forty plus years of fighting for and passing legislation that helps my community.

The Republican whining is especially acute in light of the resignation of Trent Lott (R-MS) from his majority leadership position after making racially insensitive remarks in 2002. He stated at then-Senator Strom Thurmond's 100th birthday celebration if Thurmond's 1948 pro-segregation presidential bid had been successful, the country would have been better off.

There's light years of difference in the two situations that anyone with functioning brain cells can see. Sen. Harry Reid doesn't have the long history of working with white supremacist groups and negative NAACP Congressional Report Card ratings (F by the way) that former Senator Trent Lott had.

Unlike Sen. Trent Lott, who spent his career along with his party fighting legislation that would help African-Americans, Reid has been on the other side of the issues fighting to pass them. and has the A rating from the NAACP to prove it.

The Republicans can stop whining because they have caused and continue to exacerbate their problems with race that feed the false 'double standard' they complain about in the first place.

I don't see Democrats actively working to suppress voter turnout in African American communities, advocating tax policies that only benefit their well heeled supporters, and being openly hostile to advancing civil rights legislation.

When they stop acting like the party of George Lincoln Rockwell and build up a history in this century of tirelessly working on issues that will benefit African-Americans and other working class Americans, and have done so for 40 plus years, then and only then will African Americans consider giving them a pass when they make mistakes on race issues.

Mike Huckabee's Potential 'Willie Horton'

If former Arkansas governor and Faux News show host Mike Huckabee runs for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, get ready to see the picture of this gentleman in a lot of political attack ads directed at him.

This is Maurice Clemmons, who has a long criminal record. At age 17 he was convicted of aggravated robbery in 1989 and sentenced in Little Rock, AR to 95 years in prison.

During his term as governor of Arkansas Huckabee commuted his sentence, which resulted in Clemmons 2000 parole. Clemmons subsequently violated his parole, was sent back to prison and released in 2004.

Huck caught a lot of flak during the 2008 GOP nomination race because in GOP eyes he issued too many clemencies and commutations. He cited Clemmons' age at the time as a reason for doing so.

Why this is blowing up is because of the ambush deaths of four police officers in a suburban Seattle coffee shop Saturday.

If it turns out Clemmons is the person responsible for the deaths of Lakewood police Sgt. Mark Renninger, 39, and Officers Ronald Owens, 37, Tina Griswold, 40, and Greg Richards, 42, Huckabee's gonna have some problems with the 'law and order lock 'em up and throw away the key' side of the GOP base.

Huck's already trying to do damage control on the developing story now by playing the blame game.

"Should he be found to be responsible for this horrible tragedy, it will be the result of a series of failures in the criminal justice system in both Arkansas and Washington state."

Yep, and one of those failures is one you are responsible for.

Stay tuned to this developing story that many of us will be watching, especially Mike Huckabee.

Pat Robertson And CBN Friends Are Tripping Again

Happy Halloween Peeps!

Too bad I'd already selected my Shut Up Fool! award winner for this week or televangelist Pat Robertson and CBN contributor Kimberly Daniels would have snatched the prize.

Pat posted an unhinged commentary by Daniels on his Christian Broadcast Network website as part of his anti-Halloween crusade.

His Hateraid for Halloween goes back to 1982. Back in the day he called it a “Satanic ritual” and said on his 700 Club TV show, “I think we ought to close Halloween down.”

On Oct. 29, 2007, Robertson called Halloween a “festival of the devil” and added that celebrating the holiday is “a mistake for Christians.”

Kimberly Daniels took it a step further by stating in the piece that has subsequently been taken down from the CBN website, “[M]ost of the candy sold during this season has been dedicated and prayed over by witches,” Daniels wrote. “I do not buy candy during the Halloween season. Curses are sent through the tricks and treats of the innocent whether they get it by going door to door or by purchasing it from the local grocery store. The demons cannot tell the difference.”

The Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, urged Robertson and Daniels to lighten up.

“I’ve heard of the devil being in the details, but to think he’s lurking inside a Snickers bar is a little too much,” Lynn quipped. “Pat Robertson has always peddled some scary stuff, but this is over the top.”

Added Lynn, “I hate to see all of that candy go to waste. I wish Robertson would send it to me, because I’m throwing a Halloween party and could use it.”

I agree, Rev. Lynn. A chocolate bar is a terrible thing to waste. That's why I eat as much chocolate as I can stand and revel in every delicious minute of it.

It would also be a travesty to let those gummi bears, gumballs, malted milk balls and other delectable confections that hardworking people created go to waste as well.

“I think Pat has been watching too many scary movies. Still, if he doesn’t want to celebrate Halloween, that’s fine with me, but he should quit trying to spoil everyone else’s fun.”

No kidding, Rev. Lynn.

Yo Pat and Kim, if you have any candy corn, send it my way. I'll be glad to scarf it up for you or any candy you're not using tonight.

But seriously, y'all need to stop tripping over there at CBN.

Rush Flushed From Potential NFL Ownership Group

Rush Limbaugh's racist chickens have come home to roost.

With significant opposition mounting inside and outside the NFL, the ownership group headed by Dave Checketts dropped him from the group attempting to purchase the NFL's St. Louis Rams

"It has become clear that his involvement in our group has become a complication and a distraction to our intentions; endangering our bid to keep the team in St. Louis," Checketts said. "As such, we have decided to move forward without him and hope it will eventually lead us to a successful conclusion."

24 of the league's 32 owners would have had to approve any sale to Limbaugh and his group. Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay predicted that Limbaugh's potential bid would be met by significant opposition.

"I, myself, couldn’t even consider voting for him," Irsay said from the NFL owners meeting currently taking place in Boston. "When there are comments that have been made that are inappropriate, incendiary and insensitive ... our words do damage, and it’s something that we don’t need."

Several NFL players have also voiced their displeasure with Limbaugh's potential ownership position along with NFL Players Association head DeMaurice Smith.

Smith has also urged players to speak out against Limbaugh's bid.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has also commented on the potential Limbaugh ownership as well

"I have said many times before that we are all held to a higher standard here. I think divisive comments are not what the NFL is all about. I would not want to see those kind of comments from people who are in a responsible position within the NFL. No. Absolutely not."

Rush of course is going to spin it as the 'mean old liberals' are ganging up on his Oxycontin popping behind. The facts are that it's his big mouth that cost him a shot at owning a piece of an NFL team, and I and a lot of people are very happy about that.

Exhibit A:

* "Look, let me put it to you this way: The NFL all too often looks like a game between the Bloods and the Crips without any weapons. There, I said it."

Exhibit B:

* "I mean, let's face it, we didn't have slavery in this country for over 100 years because it was a bad thing. Quite the opposite: Slavery built the South. I'm not saying we should bring it back. I'm just saying it had its merits. For one thing, the streets were safer after dark."

Exhibit C:

* "The media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well. There is a little hope invested in (Donovan) McNabb, and he got a lot of credit for the performance of this team that he didn't deserve."

And I won't even bring up the reams of other hateful crap Rush has said about African-Americans, liberal progressives, and other POC and laughed all the way to the bank for saying it.

The bottom line is that the NFL didn't want or need a Marge Schott for the new millennium.

The NFL is still getting over the racist legacy of the late Washington Redskin owner George Preston Marshall. He refused to allow African-American players on his team until 1962, and only because then Interior Secretary Stewart Udall threatened to revoke the team's 30 year lease on RFK Stadium if he didn't.

The NFL has recently been cracking down on the shady behavior of players. The last thing Commissioner Goodell needed was to have a NFL owner who on an almost daily basis has a radio show in which he makes jacked up racist and sexist statements.

Don't You Conservatives Have Your Own Heroes?

Conservatism: n, The disposition and tendency to preserve what is established; opposition to change; the habit of mind; or conduct, of a conservative.

I have a conservative that likes to post comments every now and then on this blog. This person seems to think like all conservatives tend to do that they are smarter than everyone else. I've got to call him out on one of his more ludicrous statements.

To borrow an old saying, those of you who THINK you are intelligent really annoy those of us who ARE.

One of the things that I have noted in my decade long battle of wits on and off the Net with conservatives is that they always make this claim that a Democratic or progressive hero if he were alive today would vote GOP.

Excuse me for a moment while I double over in laughter. (cue The Proud Family Papi Boulevardez laugh here)

One of the people whose name they love to try claim as one of theirs, Franklin D. Roosevelt, had this to say about conservatives in an October 26, 1939 radio address:

"A conservative is a man with two perfectly good legs who, however, has never learned to walk forward."

Obviously FDR wouldn't be voting GOP right now because the Republicans are the peeps who playa-hated the New Deal for decades and have spent the latter half of the 20th century working tirelessly to dismantle it and its crown jewels of Medicaid and Social Security.

Abraham Lincoln said about them in a February 27, 1860 speech:

"What is conservatism? Is it not adherence to the old and tried, against the new and untried?"

John F. Kennedy? Please. There's as much chance of JFK voting Republican as George W. Bush has of successfully completing a Dale Carnegie speaking course.

"Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future."

Does that sound like a man that would vote GOP? Nope.

They sank to new lows last year when the National Black Republican Association ran ads in support of Michael Steele's failed 2006 US Senate campaign in Maryland claiming that Dr. Martin Luther King would have voted Republican.

I have only this to say. Better yet, I think I'll let Dr. King's words speak for themselves.

"Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity."

Is the conservative movement so bereft of its own heroes that you have to disingenuously try to appropriate mine and attempt to twist their words to support your political agenda when that person's lifetime body of work is geared toward progressive causes and themes?

Yep.

Both parties have been in existence over 100 years. Their constituencies have flipped over time. It is now the GOP that has since 1964 been the home of the Dixiecrats and race-baiting bigots. The once solidly Democratic South has flipped the script in our time period to become Republican. Conversely the Democratic Party since 1964 is the one pushing progressive forward-thinking legislation and the one taking the lead role in civil rights matters.

It must be frustrating to be a conservative. Y'all have a longer losing streak than the Chicago Cubs and you're not as loveable. Ann Coulter and the conservative pundits that spout similar poisonous rhetoric devoid of facts just illuminate the image problem y'all have and the moral bankruptcy of conservatism as a political philosophy.

I gues it's tough being on the WRONG side of every issue in American history.

Y'all were on the losing side (and still are) in terms of American independence, slavery, the 40-hour workweek, women's suffrage, the Civil Rights Movement, interracial marriage, US involvement in World Wars I and II, the environment, meat inspection laws...Shall I continue?

You conservatives will also lose on gay rights, universal health care and campaign finance reform.

But back to the originally scheduled post.

If conservatism is as superior as you peeps claim it is to liberalism, why would you spend so much time hatin' on liberals? Why do you always go negative in your campaigns and use vote suppression tactics if your conservative ideas are supposedly superior election winning ones? Why is it necessary for you to use Orwellian weasel words and deception to articulate and implement your policies? Why do you come up with bogus theories, excuses and spin to hide your policy failures?

With such a losing track record and a political philosophy that has more in common with communism in terms of stifling freedoms and individual rights, I can see why you'd attempt to falsely attempt to claim our progressive icons as your own. If I had folks like Richard M. Nixon and George W. Bush as shining examples of conservative leadership I wouldn't claim them either.

Oh well, at least y'all have Ronald Reagan.

Why Should I 'Come Home' To the GOP?

Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman has been on a campaign to increase African-American membership in the Republican Party. He has rhetorically called for African-Americans to come “back home” to the GOP.

Why should I?

Mehlman and other GOP offcials keep pointing to MD Lt. Governor Michael Steele US senate seat run, Ken Blackwell's run for governor of Ohio and Lynn Swann's run for Pennsylvania governor as evidence the Republicans are serious about competing for African-American votes.

Over the years many of the African-Americans that the GOP anointed as candidates for office have proven time and time again their willingness to sell out their own people for personal gain or how out of touch their views are with mainstream African-Americans. Those candidates end up having zero credibility with many of us.

In Ken Blackwell's case, I guess Mehlman thought we'd forgotten about how Kenny Boy sold us out during the 2004 presidential election. He was more concerned about being the point negro of the 2004 Bush campaign committee than his role as Secretary of State.

It's also still fresh in our memories the less than speedy response to Hurricane Katrina's devastating New Orleans landfall. When our brothers and sisters needed help last summer it was slow in coming. The only silence more defeaning than President Bush's was the sellout Black megachurch ministers who support y'all.

But back to Ken Blackwell and the other GOP Blacks y'all have running this fall. Their success is predicated on clearing a historically high hurdle for Black politicians: Winning white voters.

That's proving to be difficult in Ohio because Blackwell has at this writing only 35% support in his Ohio race despite sounding like a caramel colored clone of Pat Robertson. Lynn Swann is trailing incumbent PA Governor Ed Rendell 50%-40%

In recent US history only Douglas Wilder of Virginia has been elected governor in the United States and by the way, he was a Democrat. Tom Bradley couldn't get elected to the governor's chair in California in 1982 and 1986 despite having served as mayor of Los Angeles since 1973. Deval Patrick is attempting to make history by running for governor of Massachusetts this fall.

Voter pattern analysis between 1982 and 2000 reveals that Black and White voter turnout increases up to 3 percentage points with each African-American Democratic Party candidate on the ballot. When the candidate is a black Republican voting turnout does not show a significant increase.

*Whites of both the Republican and Democratic parties are less likely to vote for their parties' candidate when he or she is black, regardless of the politician.

So y'all can stop perpetrating about Condoleezza Rice's chances of winning the 2008 presidential nomination. They're about as good as Condi showing up at a White House gala with a weave down to her behind.

*Nationally, white Republicans are 25 percent more likely on average to vote for a Democratic senatorial candidate when the GOP candidate is black.

I saw an example of that in November 1994. In my hometown there were two African-Americans running for Harris County judgeships as Republicans during the 'Angry White Male' midterm elections. Guess who were the only Republican challengers to lose their races to incumbent Democratic judges?

*Whites who identify themselves as politically independent are more inclined to vote for a white Democrat than a black Republican.
*In races for the US House of Representatives, white Democrats are 38 percent less likely to vote for their party's candidate if that candidate is black.

That applies to US Senate races, too. Harvey Gantt lost twice in North Carolina to Jesse Helms, although Jesse had to pull the GOP race-baiting card to stave off defeat. Ron Kirk lost the 2002 US Senate race in Texas to John Cornyn despite serving two successful terms as mayor of Dallas. I'm interested in seeing if that plays out again if Harold Ford gets the Democratic nomination for senate in Tennessee.

I'll call the Dems out later about that. Right now I'm focused on the GOP.

Explain to me why I should 'come home' to a party that's homophobic, anti-science, anti-intellectual and racist? You GOPers can protest all you want, but until you repudiate the 'Southern Strategy' and stop spending millions to suppress our votes, I'll continue to support Democratic Party candidates.

Until the GOP gets serious about doing something about the problems that vex African-Americans besides cutting off funding to programs that help end those problems, moralizing sermons, actively opposing issues the African-American community considers vital to its progress or demonizing poor people, the GOP will have as much credibility in Black America as Vanilla Ice at a gangsta rap reunion.

The Religious Right Ten Commandments

1-Thou shalt exalt wealth and power before me.

2-Thou shalt make unto thee graven political images to bash Democrats with

3-Thou shalt not take the name of George W. Bush in vain

4-Remember the holy Sabbath day is great for pitching GOP policies and talking points

5-Honor the Republican Party and the conservative movement above thy mother and father

6-Thou shalt not kill unless it is a death row prisoner

7-Thou shalt not commit adultery unless you are a GOP legislator or a conservative defender of 'family values'

8-Thou shalt not steal unless it is an election or you’re working for a company that supports GOP candidates

9-Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor unless you work for Fox News or are a right wing talk show host

10-Thou shalt not covet anything that is thy neighbor’s unless it is their oil reserves or other valuable natural resources

Join the GOP? No Thank You

TransGriot Note: I wrote this as a rebuttal to an African-American Republican

As a life long African-American Democrat I was amused by Felicia Benamon’s GOP talking point filled essay that completely misses the mark on why 90% of African-Americans are committed members of the Democratic Party.

I have to wonder what alternate universe Ms. Benamon lives in when she states that the GOP is a party of inclusion. Yes, it surely is. It includes rich white men, poor white men, gay white men, bigoted white men, conservative white men, fundamentalist Christian white men...Well, you get the picture. The only Black people I see flocking to the GOP are ministers who are rushing to get their faith based hush money so they can build bigger church sanctuaries, opportunistic party-switching sellouts like J. Kenneth Blackwell and radical out of touch people like Clarence Thomas and Janice Rogers Brown.

I’m reminded of the quote of a longtime Democratic county chair from Oklahoma, the late Julius Caesar Watts, Sr. (the father of former GOP Rep JC Watts)

"Black people voting for Republicans is like a chicken voting for Colonel Sanders."

The GOP hasn't done jack to earn my vote and won't even compete for it. They spend more time and money trying to suppress my vote instead of making the fundamental policy changes that it will take to get me to support its candidates.

Far from ignoring our community, the Democratic Party embraces it. African-Americans are involved in every level of the party from the grassroots to the DNC. In addition an African-American named Ronald H. Brown ran my party from 1989-1993 before he became commerce secretary under President Clinton. By the way, under Ron Brown’s leadership the Democratic Party captured the White House and majorities in the House and Senate. So when is an African-American gonna run your party?

I’m tired of bait-and-switch GOP election tactics in which they say one thing and do the radically opposite once they are elected. They write Orwellian legislation that does the exact opposite of what its lofty titles promise. The Patriot Act curtails civil liberties. Leave No Child Behind attacks public education and underfunds it. The Help America Vote Act adds more ways to disenfranchise Americans from their precious right to vote. They coddle corporate America at the expense of working class America.

If Republicans (and conservatives by extension) value working people and wants to help you achieve your dreams, then why has the GOP consistently voted against and killed raises in the minimum wage? Why have they made it HARDER for people to sue when a corporation’s shoddy products or discriminatory practices ruin lives in the name of 'tort reform'? Why have they cut taxes for the wealthy, which increases the tax burden on the working class? Why have they made it harder for people to form and join unions? Seems that the only values the GOP appreciates is rising stock prices that put money in their pockets at the expense of working class people.


Felicia, since you went there on Affirmative Action, let me state that it is unrealistic to assume that 40 years of this policy (which by the way started under the Nixon administration) magically wiped out the debilitating effects of 246 years of slavery and another 100 years of Jim Crow segregation. While merit is a wonderful concept and a goal we should all strive for, the reality is that white people control the HR departments of many corporations and some of them disproportionately hire people that look like them without considering whether that person is qualified or not. They also had a 400 year head start in terms of accumulating the wealth that they enjoy today at the expense of the suffering of our ancestors.

Felicia, the thing that binds us is our shared values as Americans. They are not the private property of the GOP. Democrats love our flag, revere our Constitution and our country just as much as you conservatives. Then again you conservatives respect for the Constitution is debatable. It's more like contempt for it.

I have a problem with the GOP definition of values. Disenfranchising gay people because you don’t like them is not an American value. Selfishness is not an American value. Suppressing dissent is not an American value. As African-Americans who have fought our own long and bitter struggle just to get OUR constitutional rights respected, we shouldn’t be standing shoulder to shoulder with the same bigots that opposed us in the 60’s (and still do) when we were the ones marching in the streets

So GW Bush increased his share of the African-American vote from 8% to 12%. You can be very proud of the fact that you bamboozled, frightened, supressed votes and used hatred of gay people to get that 4% increase. Congratulations.

The only thing that has been dragging our country into a pit as you put it is the mean spirited way that conservatives have imposed their views on the country. You don’t want dialogue; you want a monologue a la FOX News.

As far as you hating the term African-American, I love it. It reminds others and myself that I am an American of African descent and I'm proud of my African roots. You can’t put that in small letters to marginalize me as you do if I call myself Black. If Polish-Americans, Irish-Americans, Latinos and Asians can celebrate their cultural heritage, then why can’t we? Or are you black GOP conservatives ashamed of your African ancestry?

I am reminded of a 1978 comment from Adlai Stevenson Jr. concerning the GOP:

‘I have been tempted to make a proposal to our Republican friends that if they stop telling lies about us, we would stop telling the truth about them.’

To quote the word of your late hero Ronald Reagan, "there you go again" in terms of pushing the fiction that the Bush administration is the most diverse in history.

The most diverse administration in US history was the previous one run by William Jefferson Clinton. Brother Bill appointed more African-Americans to his cabinet than Nixon, Ford, Reagan, Daddy Bush, and GW combined. The previous record holder was another Democratic president, James Earl Carter. By the way Felicia, a president APPOINTS people to his cabinet and his administration, not elects them.

So, you mean to tell me that Alexis Herman, Rodney Slater, Hazel O’Leary, Dr. Joycelyn Elders, Dr. David Satcher, Togo West, Eric Holder and Jesse Brown didn’t work hard to get their positions? Or is hard work only the province of negro conservatives?

So where are these emerging black conservatives? Oh yeah, they’re standing in line at GOP headquarters receiving their cash handouts to run for public office (Maryland Lt. Governor Michael Steele) or getting paid $250K to shill on national TV for Bush administration policies like Armstrong Williams.

Just as you made the decision to support the GOP, I’m a thoughtful person who’s analyzed both sides and made the conscious decision to support the Democratic Party. It just so happens that 90% of African-Americans reached the same conclusion about which party to support.

I am a Democrat because I had quality people like Barbara Jordan and Mickey Leland representing me in Congress when I was growing up in Houston. It was Democrats at the local, county, state and federal levels who looked out for the issues I deeply care about such as the environment, civil rights, education and creating a fair society. It was my Democratic state legislator Ron Wilson who fought for my right to vote in the 1984 presidential election when a white GOP poll watcher tried to deny it to me in my home precinct and Dems who consistently fought for it.

All I ever see from conservatives is consistent opposition to those policies that I know help build a prosperous African-American middle class. I see from many conservative blacks who are GOP members selfish materialism, mind-numbing rhetoric devoid of logic, arrogance, denial of their heritage, and support of racist policies that seek to eliminate or roll back everything that our people have worked hard to implement.

Join the GOP? No thank you