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...
Men
As a black American, I can understand the tumult over First Lady Jill Biden associating Latin culture with “bogades”(sic) and ‘breakfast tacos.” Talking in part before the UnidosUS annual conference, she said “ —as distinct as the bogades [bodegas] of the Bronx, as beautiful as the blossoms of Miami, and...
This is the sixth set of notes for a reading group on Marx’s Capital, and includes a Volume I refresher for further reading of Volume II. There are links to earlier posts and texts that may be useful. Marx is probably too taken with a kind of scientism by proposing...
Apparently, Rudy Giuliani just discovered video filters. Specifically, he found the Planet of the Apes Cornelius filter and added a stovepipe hat. Or maybe it’s Abraham Lincoln. I don’t know. The last thing I want to do is try to get into Rudy’s head. I imagine it’s a little like visiting a...
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...
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...
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...
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...
When I was a boy and strayed way, way past the rules of behavior set by my great-grandmother, she would say, “ enough is enough, and too much (sic) stinks.” Well, we reached that point in Afghanistan on Sunday. From the time then-National Security Director Zbigniew Brzezinski convinced then-President Carter,...
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....
The latest rabbit punch thrown by the Republican party in the culture bout was to deny Texas children the truth about women’s suffrage and that white supremacy is a bad thing. Besides the obvious moral failure of Texas Republicans, who voted in favor of this measure in the absence of...
Layaway, on-time, and paying-something-down-on-it have been very familiar phrases in black, brown, and poor neighborhoods for generations; credit was for the people who did not need it. Financial freedom because of race, religion, and status was prohibitive for countless numbers of Americans and immigrants. The constant pressure of having to...
Burned out at the end of the Joy-Ann Reid hour on MSNBC, I am ready for mindless tv. By that time, my intellectual palette is dulled by the talk of the continuous meal foisted on me of tasteless conservative ambrosia. A nice, seared steak of the NBA playoffs or a good...
In a 5-4 Supreme Court decision supported by conservative Justice Antonin Scalia, Justice William Brennan wrote in part: [Gregory Lee] “Johnson was convicted for engaging in expressive conduct. The State’s interest in preventing breaches of the peace does not support his conviction because Johnson’s conduct did not threaten to disturb...
For the past few weeks, I have heard from friends, colleagues, and enemies who say, ‘I never heard of ‘ Black Wall Street.’ Statements like that are why America needs Critical Race Theory in its’ school curriculum. I have spent my life, first as a child of public education and...
There is no doubt that the year 2020 has been tumultuous, to say the least. With a global pandemic, nationwide protests against police brutality, and a presidential election to top it all off, the year will definitely go down in history. But the history making did not end with 2020....
New Federal indictment of another group organizing actions at the 1/6 insurrection. “Police chief turned OC yoga guru turned capitol rioter/ III percenter.” Two of them, Alan Hostetter and Russell Taylor, were seen a day before the riot with Roger Stone. These charges are separate from the 16 members of...
Some day, when Donald Trump is made king of the MAGA States of America—a commonwealth of the kingdom of the mole people, where he will reign over the primeval subterranean realms for a millennium, or until a hunk of Cool Ranch snackin’ lard gets lodged in his aorta, whichever comes first—people...
If it were a perfect world, I would like to think that the most recent attacks on young black millionaires are just a coincidence. In a perfect world, the success of blacks would be applauded as a plus for the country. Unfortunately, American history is littered with incidents of racial...
Former President Trump ordered the Pentagon to release all of its information on “unidentified aerial phenomena” (UAP) within 18 days in his last coronavirus relief bill in December 2020. More inexplicable sightings of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) will be released for public scrutiny in June — including a UFO that broke...
The simplest explanation for lawyer Michael Godwin’s law is that the longer a debate or disagreement extends, it will eventually devolve into an unfounded comparison to Hitler and the Nazis. Godwin’s Law is a current topic because of Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA). Marjorie Taylor Greene may have decisively proved...
Let’s be clear. I don’t condone Rand Paul’s neighbor’s decision to beat the crap out of him, but I do condone (nay, applaud) everyone else’s decision to laugh at it. Rand Paul is a doctor … of sorts. He rather famously accredited himself through his own accrediting agency—an instance of self-gratifying...
Voter rights legislation is winding its way through Congress with the foregone conclusion that Senate Republicans will scuttle it. Equitable voting rights legislation for blacks in America has been a 400-year exercise in hypocrisy. One man, one vote has been turned on its head so often, Ringling Bros. should have...
MFP is neologisms that get sticky. Cheugy is the latest, being a term that Generation Z calls Millennials, perhaps it’s the revival of more postmodernism. Generation Z consumer-brand attacks on Millennials consumption habits may be all that Gheugy is about. Proud Boys and their golf polos may be Cheugy, if only...
It depresses me to acknowledge this, but the Republicans’ commitment to blatant and serial lying, and Orwellian “make believe” governing, pose a real threat by overwhelming the public debate and individual’s efforts to stay grounded. While a bit well-worn (and of uncertain provenance), this quote is fundamentally true: “A lie can travel halfway around...
Look, this is popcorn time. Orange man thinks he is so big and bad with a mouth that runs 90 miles a minute and filled with conspiracy and lies. Personally, I was always a bit leary of a quiet, soft spoken person. You never know what they are thinking and...
Because Hawley’s whines about Big Tech while promoting sales of his book on Amazon, the epitome of …. Big Tech. “Democrats are eyeing a comeback in Missouri, believing the Capitol riot hurt Republicans in the state, not least because of Josh Hawley’s prominent role.” “Don’t try to censor, cancel, and silence...
Have you ever asked yourself, why are so many GOP political theories race and gender-based? The latest is that voter ballots in Arizona were smuggled in from China. The GOP has decided the best way to expose this absurd idea is to exploit a silly stereotype and check the ballots...
I’m not a vindictive person. I’m really not. Certain things I’ve endured in my life I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy, such as depression, debilitating flu, and the Carrot Top Spa Day Experience in Vegas. Which is exactly what it sounds like. Not sure what I was thinking there. That...
Politico constructed an oral history of the bin Laden raid and it’s worth the read to get a sense as one can from on oral history, of the authenticity of the event, as well as some interesting details, the rosary held by Biden, and especially the trashing of previous guy...
Received this e-mail from Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley’s (D. OH) gubernatorial campaign: x We don't need some hedge fund millionaire like @JDVance1 claiming to speak for working families who are struggling to get by. In Dayton, we passed universal pre-k and the results have been incredible both for kids and...
Feebs are closing in. Rudy’s electronic devices have now been seized in a NYC raid on his Manhattan apartment (and a Park Avenue office location). Darn that Deep State down by the Four Seasons Lawn Center. The buried lede is that the warrant was blocked under the former guy, but Merrick Garland unblocked...
Peak cynicism has arrived. Tucker Carlson pimps a version of the nanny-state with more police confrontations because he thinks cops should stop children from wearing masks by enforcing child abuse laws. Apparently making a child wear a mask is like punching them in the face or the equivalent of exhibitionism....
Much like with the election of Barack Obama, after the Derek Chauvin conviction, America was quick to congratulate itself. The fallacy of a post-racial America turned out to be as foolish as the idea of a post-racial justice system. I can still see the self-congratulatory smiles from my white colleagues...
Stupidity adjacent, no Proud Boys or Oath Keepers threw themselves in front of Roger Stone as his office was near a styrofoam plant fire that featured an explosion. No Florida men were injured, but maybe Richard Nixon or Zippy was being targeted. x Roger Stone suggests gas explosion at Florida warehouse...
A new book suggests now the necessity of reexamining the historical materialist project of Walter Benjamin recognizing those moments of historical contact as acts of recognizing the constructed historical object. “Historicism tends to be hermeneutic because it values cautious, rigorous, and contextualized interpretation of information; or relativist, because it rejects notions of universal, fundamental...
I watched the celebration of former police officer Derek Michael Chauvin’s conviction of three various counts of murder yesterday, and my feelings were mixed. No, no, I felt no sorrow for the man who not only took George Floyd’s life away but broke the hearts of countless Americans, both black...
Fifteen years ago, black suspect, Neal Mack gasped for breath, using the all too familiar words “I can’t breathe.” Mr. Mack was handcuffed and having his life drained from his body by a chokehold applied by officer Greg Kwiatkowski before being pulled away. Mr. Mack’s life was saved by black...
Minnesota law enforcement, at its based level exhibits some intersectional issues often represented in fictional culture products like Fargo. Their police forces haven’t learned very much since the death of George Floyd. So many examples of bad faith below:
Structural change needs to happen, because in community policing, community should precede policing. The paramilitary trend should not be seen as a burgeoning conflict between armed militias, one more official than the other. We need a de-escalation whose goal is the diametric opposite of the 1/6 insurrection. The problem isn't...
The 2020 election showed how Trump was defeated by defections among white women but there remain a sizable number still wedded to supporting white male politicians regardless of their character. Why is it that white women in the United States have often wielded their collective power to support and amplify...
Weed o’clock struck early today. Not sure why. Something to do with daylight saving time, I think. Or the Maya calendar? Fuck if I know. It just felt like a day-tokin’ kinda day here in the Pacific Northwest. But this isn’t about me. Because there’s no way in hell I would...