One can only live in fear if one listens to Republicans and watches their campaign ads. Republicans consistently decouple gun control from crime. Criminality is a real problem, but Willie Horton is not waiting around every corner. I have lived in Philadelphia for over 16 years and have not been...
Black
Saturday, October 8, 2022, not 1952, Alabama Senator and former football coach Tommy Tuberville tossed the hood of racism into the fray with cynical jabs at people he described with the pronoun “they.” According to Tuberville, “They are not soft on crime. They’re pro-crime. They want crime. They want crime...
For over a year, teachers and school boards have fought the myth of Critical Race Theory (CRT) being a bludgeon to batter white kids’ delicate psyche(s). Christopher Rufo, a conservative activist and senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, has long been an advocate of school choice and privatization and glommed...
I have been a registered Democrat since 1976. Over the years, I have had many verbal—but respectable—battles with Republicans, Libertarians, and the Green Party. Throughout all those sometimes contentious disagreements, the only group that consistently and derisively refers to me as a socialist has been Republicans. I bring that point...
Remember when kids online were swallowing spoonfuls of cinnamon and setting their genitals on fire for likes and clicks? Adults like me would shake their heads, sigh, and be thankful to be a boomer because we just licked frogs and ran naked through mud-filled parks on acid trips. Those terror-filled...
Growing up in black America and old enough to remember, pridefully watching many blacks do something for the first time embeds possibilities in one’s historical eye. Two of the icons of my youth passed away over the weekend, William Felton Russell and Grace Dell Nichols. They are better known as...
The GOP keeps dropping their theocratic pants, and America gets mooned. Despite having no platform beyond trolling the Democratic party, and self-serving religious attacks disguised as culture clashes, America is sliding to the bottom of that shining city on the hill Republicans are so fond of talking about. Democrats have...
Speculation has flourished for more than a year about whether Donald Trump wanted to escort the mob that descended on the Capitol in January of 2021, or was it just more of his empty bravado and bluster. In the latest January 6, Committee hearing, Cassidy Hutchinson, former advisor to Donald...
Shortly after the slap heard ‘round the world last night, I feared my phone would catch fire from the tweets, messages, and calls. I am notorious for avoiding self-congratulatory award shows, and my friends know it. So they felt compelled to give me the news of Will Smith slapping the taste...
The military situation is not without progress as bombardment continues with little appreciable changes in position. Unfortunately civilians remain in the line of fire. Politics continues to be extended by war, and unfortunately, Putin is no Yuri Andropov, one of many who facilitated the violent suppressions in Hungary and Czechoslovakia. Russia’s advances...
The situation has become fraught with increases in attacks on civilians, amid charges and counter charges. Bombardment continues and a few Ukrainian counter attacks are offset by brutality in places like Mariupol. Russia appears to be trying to achieve the capture of the land bridge from Moldova to Donbas. Ukraine...
We haven’t yet reached that point where the losses to the Russians are sustainable. Replacements may be on their way to the front. They likely will not see the same troops who have until now resisted any new advances. There have been some Ukrainian counter-attacks. The Russians now settle for longer range...
The war continues with Russian troops hiding among hospital facilities in the south using staff as cover or shields. They exhibit slow progress toward Kiev even as talks continue and the PR offensive remains solid with Zelensky speaking to the Canadian Parliament and the Prime Ministers of Czechia, Poland, and Slovenia....
Ah, “stand your ground” laws—otherwise known as, “Hey, no witnesses! I can shoot this dude in the face and ink a lucrative media deal with Fox News in 30 days or less” laws. The Bible rather quaintly admonishes us not to kill, but apparently we missed the fine print in...
Terrell Jermaine Starr, a foreign affairs journalist in Kyiv, Ukraine, gives the most detailed story about the Ukraine/Russia conflict. Terrell Jermaine Starr from Kyiv, Ukraine. x x YouTube Video Watch Politics Done Right T.V. here. I watched Tifanny Cross’ Cross Connection today. I was pleasantly surprised to hear independent foreign...
The moment you mention racial discrimination in this country, some recoil in horror. First, come the denials—because the people accused are not carrying a noose or wearing a hood. Next, the attempt to shut down the discussion with the two-word phrase ‘race card’ which has been replaced with the word...
Yesterday was the LVI (56th) Super Bowl. Some “over-officious jerk(s)” (thank you, Marv Levy) spoiled a spirited game at the end, but for me, the real action took place before the kickoff and at halftime. A lot of black America is still reeling from the blackballing of Colin Kaepernick. The...
Even with all the evidence of voter suppression, flouting of the laws, and a failed coup, why the reluctance to use the word Fascism? The Republican party is openly advancing Fascism, and America is quietly going along. Ignoring the warnings, we accepted the USA/Patriot Act, which unfettered can trample...
It was predictable that the Republicans would drive down racist-trope avenue to disparage a mythical black woman. President Biden pledged to pick a black woman for the Supreme Court, and the GOP is using familiar adjectives. What seems to be most at odds with Senator(s)Ted Cruz, Roger Wicker, and Susan Collins, to name...
I may be a little late to the Covid-Party but for the past several days, pundits, activists, and healthcare workers have condemned the words of award-winning author/columnist Bari Weiss, in effect giving them more credence than deserved. Since Weiss escaped the bowels of the Wall Street Journal’s editorial page, she...
Republicans who threw a truth tampering tantrum that manifested into an insurrection are destroying this country. A famous and heated argument between Archie Bunker and Edith’s cousin Maude Findlay is a prophetic example. The discussion led to a disagreement over the wives of President(s) Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Richard “E”(sic)...
[Poor white men] “ate Jim Crow, a psychological bird that told him that no matter how bad off he was, at least he was a white man, better than the black man. And he ate Jim Crow.” ~Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. King wanted the crowd to understand...
I had a couple of conversations over the holidays, the first with Superlib and next Conserva-wing. Superlib was introspective, offered me half his plant-based burger, and suggested I wash it down with a Kale smoothie. Me: What do you think of the Biden presidency so far? Superlib: Well, except for...
My great-grandmother, we called her Ma, died at the age of 79, about eleven years after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. She was a broad-chested woman with hips just as complete, and I remember her broad smile and big hugs. She was most relaxed in loose-fitting clothing...
In the seventies, one of my best childhood friends and I decided to see a movie one evening. My friend Keith was a big guy, over six feet tall and well over 200 lbs. He was not a football player like many inner-city kids his size, but he was a...
We Shall Overcome, Black Power, No Justice-No Peace, Say Her Name, I Run with Ahmaud and Daddy Changed the World. The preceding words are just a few chants, pleas, memes, and cries for help from black mothers, fathers, sisters, and brothers over the years. I have chanted some of those...
Watermelon Man is a movie released in 1970, written by Summer of ’42 author Herman Raucher and directed by the late Melvin Van Peebles; for those younger than me, the elder Peebles is the father of Mario. About a year later, he released a low-budget cult classic entitled Sweet Sweetback’s...
I wonder what happens this coming February; you know, Black History Month. Will the contingent of book banners and people who fear the delicate little psyches of white children will be permanently marred by black history prevail. Since the first enslaved Africans stepped out of the bowels of slave ships...
In nineteen seventy-four, I reached three milestones in my life. In March of that year, I turned eighteen; ten days later, I registered with selective service—conscription ended in 1973, and naively I registered as an independent voter. I remember the sense of power I felt. I could join the military...
I was recently asked; what do you think about the Dave Chappelle controversy? Without explanation, I knew the questioner was referring to his recent Netflix comedy special “The Closer.” I must first confess that I am a big fan of Mr. Chappelle. His now-defunct late-night sketch comedy show, his stand-up,...
With roughly a third of Americans who identify themselves as Republicans, the party bombards us with the term American People at every utterance. With almost 60% of the country fully vaccinated, Republicans say the American People have doubts. Yesterday, Mitch McConnell, in response to questions about the insurrection, said the...
Nothing is more sacred to right-wing Christian conservatives than their guns. You could tell most conservatives that Jesus was crucified in gold lamé Hammer pants and sang like a Big Mouth Billy Bass the entire time he hung on the cross, and they wouldn’t be nearly as offended as if you casually...
I share an important date with former basketball coach the late Don Haskins, March 14, our birthday. Haskins led the then Texas Western Basketball team to the 1966 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) basketball championship against the vaunted and famed Kentucky Wildcats, led by legendary coach Adolph Rupp. Coach Rupp...
Either the political acumen of the voter is in dire need of reeducation, or Democrats need lessons in exploiting a golden opportunity. Republicans publicly pull off political tricks without recrimination. They manipulate the public with chicanery, walk away, and brag about it later. At the beginning of the Biden administration,...
Senator Lindsey Graham once again exposed Republicans as heartless, racist, xenophobes, bent on winning at all costs. He tried injecting heroism into the actions of border patrol agents who, literally, rode herd on desperate Haitian refugees. Despite the scenes of crying, terrified children grasping for the comfort of their mother’s...
Hours and hours of television was dedicated to a sermon delivered by former Obama preacher Reverend Jeremiah Wright. The public was subjected to months and months, of the media’s fixation on Hillary Clinton’s emails. The revealing upshot of which was that she loved her grandchild and that John Podesta has...
Asking a rhetorical question; Is there an ongoing social experiment in this country that has continually pigeon-holed Black people and left the cage open for white men? If you ask a black man or woman—of mature age, we can point out the historical and verbal gymnastics that subtly brainwash our...
“He's crazy. You know he's crazy,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. “He's crazy and what he did yesterday [Jan. 6] is further evidence of his craziness,” Her words were reportedly transcribed from a phone call between her and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs (JC) of Staff General Mark Milley....
If you were old enough and curious enough, most of us can remember where we were when tragedy struck. Historically sad events have a way of freezing that point in time like it is suspended in dry ice; only thawed by the heat of another heartbreak. Again, if you are...
The right-wing has spent the last few weeks gnashing and grinding their teeth to the gum line, trying hard to compare the Afghan evacuation to Ho Chi Minh City, (Saigon). President Biden extricated America from a black hole of war that sucked the very lives, resources, and emotions out of...
Paraphrasing Pvt. Sam Watkins, 1st Tennessee, Co. H. ‘America has no north, no south, no east, no west,’ those words could apply to the pandemic. Watkins was lamenting brother against brother killing each other in the American Civil War. All of America is watching the unvaccinated kill each other and...
…suppressing your opposition with power; strong regimentation of society and economy, and dictatorial power- Fascism In the collegial setting, politics is taught as a science. It is meant to be an apolitical study based upon history or comparison, its global effects i.e. international implications, and accepted theory. Although modern fascism...
Not since, Tuco, Blondie, and Angel Eyes formed a triangle, within a circle, has greed, corruption, and self-interest intersected so destructively. Politics in America, for nearly 250 years has boiled down to money, policy, and humanitarianism in that order. Now it is strictly a good, bad, or ugly proposition. In...
I tried sitting through FOX News’ commentary/critique yesterday, following Joe Biden’s report on the status of the nation, and in particular the American troop withdrawal from Afghanistan. After a few minutes, and when one of the conservative panelists had the temerity and amnesia to call Joe Biden a liar, I...
It’s football season again in Pittsburgh. Wild Fight In The Stands During Steelers – Lions Game As Woman Slaps Man, Then The Man Knocks Out Her Husband: Another week of pre-season football, another fight in the stands. A verbal altercation turned violent in the stands during the Steelers – Lions...
Republicans swing the word freedom over the heads of their voters like the Sword of Damocles. It has become a meaningless mantra, cutting away real freedoms like affordable housing, healthcare, pay equity, and a clean environment. Freedom for a majority of Republicans has translated into the freedom to kill their...
Women and people of color had a unique experience that ended yesterday in Tokyo, Japan. The controversial Summer Olympics closed with America at the top of the medal leader board despite some members of the team having barbs and sticks hurled at them from the right-wing. Lots of conservatives and...
I took a moment, in the interest of “fair and balanced” reporting, to tune into Fox News’ coverage of the opening of the 1/6 Committee hearing, last week. Of course, the scrolling chyron across the bottom of the screen calling it the Pelosi Committee was an obvious attempt to prejudice...
Democrats, since the time of Franklin Roosevelt, have fought the accusation of wanting a Nanny State; equal access to housing, healthcare, fair wages, and education have been guiding tenets of the Democrats since the New Deal, the War on Poverty through the Covid Recovery Act—not always successful—but good principles, nonetheless....