Seems nobody really gives a shit about Democracy in this supposed Democracy. When Genocide Joe said, when running in 2019 that, “Nothing will fundamentally change”— he meant it. All you need do is look at your lives now, versus then, despite what Dr. Jill and The View sycophants have to say:
(From YouTube)
I’m tired of the duopoly, Fam — and you should be too. We’ve NEVER taken advantage of the opportunity to kick their asses to the curb and try something new. But I really believe we have that chance with Jill Stein and Ajamu Baraka. Please take a listen:
All of you “Uncommitted” voters should consider how much change you can make (you’ve already seen how much you’ve rocked the Democrats in their certainty). Take a chance onsomething different and new. I’m right there with you.
"sheridf…What a wonderful piece of “follow-the-money,” investigative writing! I have to admit, when I saw the title on my emailed subscription, I said, “Argh!, more Romney-Bain sh*it! Does it really matter when he left (besides the fact he may have lied; I mean, Hell, all politicians lie about their money and what they do to get it, if they can get away with it — ALL of them!)?
But this sh*t right here?? This, is the kind of information the MSM and the Changeling’s campaign folk (full disclosure: I’m no fan of his, or them, either!) should be putting out there! Particularly given it’s horribly, negative contributions to the “framing” of our children’s, parents’ and families’ lives (which, as I think about it, speaks to yet another way the current residents of the “Big House,” continue to ignore, “big picture” issues affecting the Black community — I mean, Obesity is/has been his wife’s “signature” issue! Brava my young sister! Thank you for this work…"
Please do take a moment to tune out the MSM's dog-whistles and read this important and very relevant-to-the-Black-community piece of investigativejournalism (cuz Lord knows you won't get it from either campaign's talking heads!).
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Glenn Greenwald's got some interesting links in #2 of his "Various Matters" post. It appears there's at least ONE MSM journalist willing to confront this administration on their undying fealty to Israel. Glenn has the transcript, but if a picture's worth a 1000 words, then a video is -- priceless! Check it out:
The NAACP had hoped that President Obama would speak during its six-day confab, as he did when campaigning in 2008 and again in 2009. In 2010 Michelle Obama addressed the convention...On Tuesday an NAACP spokesman said the group was reserving a Thursday speaking spot for the president. (emphasis mine)
I think I can safely say that his tenure in the Big House, has effectively put Blacks in an untenable position. We've not demanded, nor gotten anything from him! Who's really going to take us seriously after we've sat back and let him get away with ignoring us for four (maybe eight years) with hardly a collective peep? Come on family, ain't y'all tired of asking:
**UPDATE:**Obama Administration Creating African American Education Office. Well, family, he finally threw out one of his "executive order" crumbs. Oh, go ahead -- I can just imagine all the, "See! I toldyou he cared!" happy-dancin' going on right now!
But wait a minute! Is it just me? Or did it take over three and a half years AND three months before the election to even spit in this direction? Seems to me, if it looks like a shut-the-hell-up duck, and quacks like a shut-the-hell-up duck -- it's a damned shut-the-hell-up duck! Just sayin'...
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The Julian Assange Show on RT News continues to offer up some interesting conversation that again, we need not look to the MSM to provide:
Occupy movements notwithstanding -- there appears to be little, if any, danger of popular forces creating practical, functioning, new and significant "models" here, Noam!
Arab Israelis make up about 20 per cent of Israel’s population. While they have not traditionally been conscripted by the government, many of them choose to serve willingly, either in the army or community service, thereby becoming eligible for the same social benefits that Jewish Israelis enjoy after serving.
However, the new law would make the above service mandatory for the Arab population, raising questions among a community torn between their loyalty to the Jewish state and their heritage as Palestinians. (emphasis mine)
Man! All I can say is -- that is some re-e-ally sad, split-mind shit right there.
Like many minorities here, the Druze have been trying to be "patriotic" and serve "their country" (even though the Zionists, much like "real Americans" here, see it as their country). And if they do, they get a shot at a somewhat equal and decidedly "better life" -- at least materially. But when one considers that the Druze must fight and/or kill, other Palestinians, that whole "material" thing seems a bit hollow (the Civil War springs to mind). But that's just me.
Shaul Mofaz, chairman of parliament's largest party, Kadima, told reporters Netanyahu "crassly" violated their coalition agreement on Monday when he disbanded the panel, which proposed ending sweeping exemptions for ultra-Orthodox men and penalizing them if they dodge the draft. Many Israelis deplore the privileges that the ultra-Orthodox receive, but Netanyahu is reluctant to alienate what are traditional supporters by adopting proposals they vehemently oppose...The draft privileges for the religious date back six decades, when Israel's founders granted exemptions to 400 exemplary seminary students to help rebuild great schools of Jewish learning destroyed in the Holocaust. The numbers of exemptions have steadily ballooned over the years, and today, an estimated 60,000 religious men of military age are exempted. The pattern of studying instead of serving continues long past draft age, with ultra-Orthodox men commonly spending their lives in religious study instead of working, while collecting welfare. (emphasis mine)
Sounds a lot like those "exemptions" enjoyed by many of the well-connected, college-bound in this country, no? -- like this, one of many: Starting as a freshman at Stanford University in 1966, Romney received a series of deferments, including one for his role as a “minister of religion or divinity student,” that kept him out of Vietnam (read that here).
So if I'm reading these pieces correctly, mandatory for most Arab-Israelis -- exemptions for all ultra-Orthodox Israelis/Zionists. Hell, I'd be more than a little ticked off my-damned-self!
I had one more, but it's way too long to insert as a mere rumination. Hope to post it soon.
I didn't think Sen. Clinton should have taken the Secretary of State position when the Changeling offered it. It just didn't feel right. It still doesn't. Unless she did some serious wheeling and dealing during that "private meeting"in Washington last June (all those ex-Clintonistas in the Changeling's cabinet maybe?) - complete with Obama signing his name in blood - I just don't understand why she accepted the Changeling's offer.
The sexism and misogyny of the Obama campaign was palpable and it didn't just disappear because their guy won. Remember Obama speechwriter, Jon Favreau and this little grown-up display of manhood (pic courtesy of Kitty at AROO)? Do you think this kind of thing just goes away? It doesn't. Especially when their guy wins.
Personally, I think the Boys Club played her. Signs of the patriarchy are all over this move, "Senator Biden's trip raises concerns."
And not unexpectedly (since patriarchy is patriarchy no matter the race or party), the Bush Administration knew about this before it happened. The article states:
Biden first ran the South Asia trip idea by Bush administration officials several weeks ago, said Bush spokesman Gordon Johndroe. “We discussed the trip and reviewed it in advance with them,” Johndroe said. “We are facilitating the trip administratively where necessary.”
Wonder if they gave the presumptive Secretary of State a heads-up?
This is the reason he took so long to resign his seat - so his trip could seem "legitimate" as the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. This swill insults the intelligence of both the people and Sen. Clinton - not that I believe they care about that. With this act, "the guys" have signaled to the cadre of other testosterone-filled world leaders, who the "bosses" really are and sets Sen. Clinton up for an inevitable fall.
In hindsight, this exchange, from the Democratic debate in Philadelphia last April, is very telling:
MR. STEPHANOPOULOS: So you would extend our deterrent to Israel?
SENATOR OBAMA: As I've said before, I think it is very important that Iran understands that an attack on Israel is an attack on our strongest ally in the region, one that we -- one whose security we consider paramount, and that -- that would be
an act of aggression that we -- that I would -- that I would consider an attack that is unacceptable, and the United States would take appropriate action.
MR. STEPHANOPOULOS: Senator Clinton, would you?
SENATOR CLINTON: Well, in fact, George, I think that we should be looking to create an umbrella of deterrence that goes much further than just Israel. Of course I would make it clear to the Iranians that an attack on Israel would incur massive retaliation from the United States, but I would do the same with other countries in the region.
His stuttering blather about defending Israel notwithstanding, I believe he means to go the diplomacy route (why else send Biden?). And should she get confirmed, I'm sure these words, so forcefully spoken by a woman jockeying to be America's first female president, will be used against her as Secretary of State when they advise her she will no longer be serving - at the pleasure of the President.
Believe it or not, I appreciated Sen. Biden's faux pas because no matter the spin, it speaks to that huge institutionalized elephant in the corner called racism that a lot of people White AND Black still refuse to address.
While I expect them to continue saying to Black America, "Get over it, racism doesn't exist anymore," I am continually surprised that as more and more of us "make it" financially in America, we too have bought into white America's mantra that the problem in America is more one of classism than racism.
While classism is, in fact, a problem for members of ALL races who find themselves in less-than-powerful positions, it is not the only, nor is it the biggest problem for Blacks in America. Slavery, Black Codes and Jim Crow made certain of that.
Sen. Biden's slip of the lip illustrates what many whites, STILL think about us as a people. It is the stereotype they've passed down to their children and continue to perpetuate on a daily basis in all walks of life. It's a way of thinking about us that they've even passed on to other races, oftentimes forcing a wedge between Blacks and other minorities. Divide and conquer still seems to work very well in America.
Not until we, as a people, understand that whites in America are not the "Deciders" of what is good, right and "mainstream" in this country, will things change. Not until we no longer have this great need, either consciously or subconsciously, to be approved of or accepted by them, will things change. When I see either of the above - and I often do - I'm reminded of a quote from Harriett Tubman which is one of my favorites, "I freed a thousand slaves. I could've freed a thousand more if only they knew they were slaves."
There's room at the table for everybody if everybody's prepared to take a seat. And being prepared by no means suggests being totally absorbed into a culture at the expense of who we are and from where we've come.
I find it insulting and pretty funny when white people tell me, "Oh, when I talk to you, I don't see color!" What the hell does that mean???
It's insulting because not seeing me as a Black woman diminishes who I am in this country today by negating all those who've come before me and the sacrifices they made. It suggests that in order to see me or treat what I say and do as valid, one has to take color out of the equation. I'm more of a tossed salad kind of girl myself. That melting pot thing totally erases the unique flavor we bring to the table.
It's funny because our very existence in this country springs from IT NEVER HAVING BEEN COLORBLIND. When they didn't have to worry about being sued or our color affecting their bottom lines, bloodlines or election outcomes, they could've cared less about this colorblind society they now so vociferously tout.
I'm convinced that had it not been for the heroic efforts of Blacks AND some whites who were not afraid to lay down their lives to speak truth to power which forced a change in the way we were treated in this country, we'd still be living in the lily-white society that denied us basic human rights, visiting some of the most horrific acts of torture and death on an entire race of people for hundreds of years. Slobodan Milosevic and Saddam Hussein had nothing on this country in the area of ethnic-cleansing if we are honest. But by all means, let's just forgive AND forget our history in this country.
If I thought they'd really learned from history, I'd probably have a more conciliatory tone. But given Diallo, Louima, James Byrd, Hurricane Katrina and the lack of response to this day in New Orleans, Michael Richards, Vidor Texas 2006, Sean Bell, etc., etc, etc., I don't see too much learning going on. But I shouldn't be leery of that awful history repeating itself right?
Please, don't tell me this is about my seeing the glass as half-empty vs. half-full. It's about seeing the glass. Windex anyone???
