When George W. Bush stood in the rubble of the World Trade Center in 2001, a plurality of Republicans and to be fair a large number of Democrats cheered him. George W. Bush rallied America in the midst of its 9/11 sorrow, in response to firefighter Rocco Chierichella yelling, “We can’t hear you!” Bush said,…
Category: Race
‘What I thought was right’
In a meeting with a group of children and their parents, held more than nine years ago, a little girl asked Congressman John Lewis what he remembered about protesters' first attempt [Bloody Sunday] to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge, in Selma, Alabama. After describing his harrowing experience to the ten-year-old, one that almost cost him…
John Lewis Rest in Power
“Civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) died on Friday at the age of 80 after battling with pancreatic cancer, per multiple reports, including NBC News and Politico. Why it matters: Lewis, one of the organizers and speakers for the infamous 1963 March on Washington and led the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches, served in…
“What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” socialist conference 2020
< p class=”AlignCenter”>You may not be interested in the State, but the State is interested in you. Socialism is on the rise in America, specifically Democratic socialism. 43% of Americans now say that some form of socialism is good for the country, compared to just 25% in 1942. President Donald Trump has already started to capitalize on the ideological…
The 4th or the 19th?
President Donald Trump said a few days ago that in a mask, he believes he looks like the “Lone Ranger.” Setting aside, that even the simplest of comparisons escape him—the Lone Ranger wore his mask over his eyes, the irony of his Lone Ranger analogy is far beyond his comprehension. According to TV lore, the…
replace your divots: Trump wants more street violence to gas, so Albert Pike will get re-erected
Made to order for whenever the national guard(s) and whatever federal riot squads are ready in DC to trash BLM demonstrators. Heck, the RWNJs could recruit anti-freemasonists to take this sculpture down, once the NPS puts it back up. Even the RCP has led a street demo against this sculpture. This resurrection is Trump’s virtue…
Our Lives Matter
I could go into a long pedagogical dissertation about allostatic loads or adverse childhood experiences but why complicate a simple premise. I will let the fear of a little girl speak for me: The above incident took place in upstate New York, in an area I lived near for three years in the early part…
It's not about defunding or defending the cops, it's about redefining emergency services
Since the latest media frame “defend/defund the police” is self-limiting, the discourse should move to redefining emergency services much as “first-responders” has expanded to include those on the “front-line”. Trumpists just don’t get it, but they will seize on the latest frame much like some celebrities (and IMPOTUS*) can confuse kneeling to signify police brutality…
South Carolina's Hypocrisy On Matters of Sex: Strom Thurmond and Lindsey Graham Peas in a Pod.
Will possibly outting Lindsey Graham hurt his reelection chances this year? My extremely jaded, cynical view says “No.” It seems to be an open secret that Graham is gay, or so we are told from some who live in SC. Therefore, if most SC voters know but keep voting for Graham, it must not matter…
Should Drew Brees Just Shut Up and Hand-off?
Fox News’ Laura Ingraham, on the heels of the Colin Kaepernick kneeling episode, commented in 2018 on the opinions of basketball players, LeBron James, and Kevin Durant. Both Durant and James commented harshly and profanely about the leadership of President Trump, to which Ingraham famously said, “ shut up and dribble.” Two years later on…
My first experience with Police Brutality on a POC and it affected me. I was 16.
There are many people angry and hurt and I get that greatly ! I have been angry for a long long time about Police brutality. I have witnessed it for years in different situations but the first one affected me so much that I fought back and was only 16. I was working at the…
curfews begin, as does paramilitarism
I’m posting this to put up some of the local tweets considering the number of major city curfews. I’ll be updating this for the next few hours. Please feel free to share your own info in the comments. The report that Trump fled to the bunker sounds like disinformation. x To the white allies and…
Irrational Service; and Protection?
I watched the movies Kill Bill 1&2 for the umpteenth time last night. I endured the blood and guts, the pulpy glamorizing of violence, and the catchy soundtrack, most of which I have committed to memory. Sorting it out is sometimes a tough task, with Quentin Tarantino’s use of overlapping storylines and flashbacks; did Vivica…
White Space weaponized: Karenism(sic) and dueling cellphones
Much of this narrative still has to play out, but birding, animal cruelty, privilege, Central Park, class, culture, all are part of this bit of meme. COVID-19 has wound everyone up in the hotspots. Which Fox News pundit will take the lead on this. Imagine the counternarrative (he was trying to poison my dog!), and…
Sons and Brotherly Love
I have written a little sporadically over the past few weeks, which is not my norm. I love to read but writing gives me pleasure. It has been my dream to build a following of readers and thinkers who would look forward to my printed thoughts and perspectives, not only on current events but how…
Is Hate Ever Appropriate?
No, no we do not hate anybody—we have heard that from our parents, our teachers, and our clergy since we have been able to decipher words. From the first time, you said to a sibling, ‘I hate you’ after they kicked over your blocks or for a new generation, disconnected your Legos, you have seen…
Things really important to me
First an apology. My post yesterday on my decision to vote for Warren (which I did at about 9:45 AM) and to contribute to her campaign ($100 online) was my first posting here in more than a month. Some may remember that in mid-November I suffered a stroke, later had surgery to relieve the stenosis…
Trump to evangelicals…
Seeing what you want to see to the exclusion of all else is not only to deny facts, it is dangerous. Proof of that is when Susan Collins and other Republicans said he [Trump] has learned his lesson. It is like when you turn to glare in the backseat of your car to stop your…
Good Hair?
The recent case of DeAndre Arnold, a black Texas teen of Trinidadian extraction, who is not being allowed to walk the stage to celebrate his graduation because of a hairstyle is not as unique as you might think. I have a personal stake in this argument because my grandson’s Mom and Dad [my son] have…
Black Community, Raise Your Hands
In the Republican Party’s continued plunge into racism, former U.N. Ambassador and South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley tethered herself to white nationalism and bungee jumped into the valley. Speaking to erstwhile Fox News gabber Glenn Beck last Friday, Haley said, “We don’t have hateful people in South Carolina. There’s a small minority that’s going to…
