Reince Gets Reamed

This was a thing of beauty.

Chris Matthews chomped down on RNC Chairman Reince Priebus' head like a crocodile this morning on Morning Joke™, calling out Mitt Romney for his birth certificate comment, which Mitt later characterized as a "joke," and the rest of the GOP and their dog whistles. Watch and be amazed.




Priebus was a deer caught in the headlights, having no clue he was about to get his ass reamed by Matthews, probably because he expected to be in friendly confines on Joe Scarborough's sorry excuse for show.

Just a few things.

Notice how Scarborough tried to come to Reince's rescue, failing miserably I might add, by throwing himself into Matthews' barrage and challenging his claims that the welfare lie and the birth certificate "joke" was not racially tinged.

And a big fuck you to Mika Brzezinski attempting to play the mommy role to two grown men when things get a little heated. And an even bigger fuck you to Tom "I'm Making Shitloads of Money with the Greatest Generation Enterprise" Brokaw for even suggesting the "both sides" meme. Give me the examples, Tom! Don't give example after example of GOP racist shenanigans, come up with nothing from the other side and then say, "but both sides do it" you fucking hack.

Regardless of these asides, it's awfully nice to see someone finally take Priebus down and call him out as the not ready for prime time douchebag that he is. Watching him stammer and sweat and meekly try to take the high road when he saw that he was backed into a corner with no way out warmed the cockles of my heart.  Yeah, that's right, I said cockles, baby!

(Cross-posted on ABLC)

Definition of Batshit Crazy Wingnuts

What you are about to see is a video of Congressional Rep. Jean Schmidt, Republican from Ohio, when she (as Fox News and CNN did) initially thought that the individual mandate on the Affordable Care Act was struck down by the Supreme Court. Hold on to your seats.

 

This is an elected representative acting like a spoiled child with Tourette Syndrome in public based on what she thought was a decision in favor of her ideology. I wish (and I hope someone has video out there) that we could have seen her reaction when she found out she was wrong. Did she run down the street tearing her hair out? Did she repeatedly slam her head against a wall? Did she self-immolate?

And she wasn't the only one. It seems that other Republican and conservative politicians, talking heads, pundits, bloggers and tweeters were apoplectic and hyperbole doesn't even begin to describe their reaction.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has vowed to "repeal Obamacare on Day One" of his presidency, as has Republican House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Radio host Michael Savage blamed Chief Justice Roberts' decision on his epilepsy medication.

Rush Limbaugh claimed "a giant, total fraud was perpetrated on this country." I don't remember such a reaction to Citizens United.

Indiana  Congressman Mike Pence compared the expansion of health care coverage to millions of Americans to the biggest terrorist attack on American soil. Yes, 9/11. Seriously.

Breitbart editor Ben Shapiro likened the ruling to the Dred Scott decision. You know, the 1850s ruling that stated people of African descent were property whether or not they were slaves. And he ended his tweet (yes, he tweeted that) with "This is the end of America as we know it. No exaggeration." Nope. No exaggeration there!

And you have your usual, standard fare racist tweets; a self avowed Christian asking why they should pay for some "dumb nigger['s]" insurance, and one gem blaming "that nigger Coonance Thomas" for the Supreme Court's decision, even though Thomas was one of four who dissented. Classy.

This is what we find not only from fringe wingnuts, but actual mainstream and in some cases duly elected wingnuts. Is mental health covered under Obamacare?

Welcome to Post-Racial America...

...in the world of Obama, because now that we have a black president, we don't have to worry about racism, right?

While Joel Ward's series-winning overtime goal in Game 7 had Capitals fans celebrating in D.C., it sparked a backlash of racist reactions on Twitter... . 

..a small but vulgar group vented its anger on Twitter, using the N-word to refer to the Caps' hero.

And this is just sports. Can you imagine what they think of our country's leader? But it's just us overdramatic liberals making mountains out of molehills and playing the race card at every turn. ...Yeah. Sure it is.

Poor, Oppressed White America

Yesterday, I received probably one of the most ridiculous emails I've ever gotten. Words cannot explain the stupidity someone would have to agree with, and forward, something like this. My friend sent it to me because he knew I'd respond in kind. My usual M.O. in these situations is not only to respond to the sender, but to every single address it was sent to, if they've chosen to forward the email without editing out the previous addresses.

Here's the body of the email:

Subject: Fw: Why haven't we heard of this atrocity? 

This is a difficult “read.” 

Another example of how "WE" do not count in New America!!!!! 

Why hasn’t this gotten even a CRUMB as much publicity as the Trayvon Martin case. The text description is horrific. As horrible as this is, it needs to be widely circulated. The animals below car-jacked then raped Christopher Newsom, cut off his penis, set him on fire and shot him to death while they forced his girlfriend, Channon Christian, to watch. An even more cruel fate awaited her. She was beaten and gang-raped in many ways for four days by all of them, while they took turns urinating on her. They then cut off her breasts and put chemicals in her mouth... and murdered her. 

VICTIMS: 

  

PERPS: 

 

Knoxville (WVLT) - The District Attorney General of Knox County announced the list of charges facing now five suspects in the double murder of Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom. 

The District Attorney General, Randy Nichols, is not saying whether or not he will seek the death penalty, but he does say the State will seek conviction for all charges filed in a 24-page indictment from the Knox County Grand Jury. 

Lemaricus Davidson, 25 , faces a total of 46 charges. Letalvis Cobbins, 24 , faces a total of 46 charges. George Thomas, 24 , faces 46 charges. Vanessa Coleman, 18 , faces 40 Tennessee state charges. Eric Boyd, 24, arrested in connection with the fatal car jacking, only faces federal charges as an accessory after the fact. 

So . . . where is Al Sharpton, President Obama and Jesse Jackson? Are they providing counsel and help to the families of the victims? 

No - the victims were white 

Why hasn't this received national coverage like the "Duke rape case"? Oh, that's right - the victims were white 

Why hasn't the NAACP, ACLU, New York Times, etc., called for an investigation? 

The victims were white. 

Why hasn't the FBI been called in to investigate this as a hate crime? 

Because the victims were white. 

When a white radio shock jock uses the phrase 'Nappy-headed Ho', it got 2 weeks of constant news coverage and cost the announcer his job. But when a white couple is tortured, raped and murdered by a black gang, it gets barely a passing blip on the local news -- and NO MENTION AT ALL on the national evening news. 

Pass this around, and maybe it will land in the hands of someone in the media or politics who has the guts to stand up and recognize the unfairness of this Racism.

My response:

Well, now I've seen it all. 

Do you know why you haven't heard about the Christopher Newsom murder on the news? Because it happened in 2007. If you were paying attention, you would have heard about it. All the suspects we're arrested, convicted and are serving multiple sentences for this horrific crime. 

The FBI didn't investigate this as a hate crime because there was no proof it was racially motivated. No, Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson didn't show up to protest because the perpetrators were caught, but do you know who did? Around 30 white supremacists led by Alex Linder rallied in downtown Knoxville on May 27, 2007. 

I wonder if George W. Bush "provided counsel to help the families of the victims." After all, he was President at the time. 

Complaining about the Trayvon Martin coverage has got to be the silliest thing I've heard in a long time. The reason it's news is because unless there was an outcry from activists, there would have been no charges filed, and George Zimmerman would still be "patrolling" the streets thinking he has every right to "Stand His Ground." But I suppose Trayvon Martin didn't have the right to stand his? 

And we never heard of Natalie Halloway, or Etan Patz, or JonBenet Ramsey, or Stacy Peterson because they're white, right? Oh, wait. WE DID HEAR about those cases. 

But maybe you're right. I mean, history has shown that white Americans have been SOOOO oppressed in this country. What is this "New America" you speak of? The one that's supposedly post-racial because we have a black president? Doesn't show by these types of emails. Or perhaps you think you have it so bad, you'd rather trade places with a black person. 

 

It's Okay, White People, We Can Admit The Truth.

POSTED BY JHW22

When the Trayvon Martin news became a big social media event, I was on vacation in the beautiful woods of Oklahoma - yes they exist. I went to two Walmarts for groceries and was nervous as hell for my car with the Obama sunrise O sitting out in the parking lot. My hope was no one knew what that was. It was creepy. I was surrounded by hunters and obvious Tea Partiers. I felt like I'd walked into the wrong universe.

I am a white woman, so I guess there was no real way to identify me as an outsider -- although, I do look like Rachel Maddow's twin, so it's possible someone could have assumed I was a lesbian liberal Yankee and I'd have been in trouble. I'm not a lesbian but I am a liberal and was raised in New Hampshire, so I was shaky.

But I was lucky. No one sniffed me out. For that period of time, I felt vulnerable. It was my own brain doing that to me, though. No one else.

I read about Trayvon one of the days on that vacation when I hopped online for a few minutes. My immediate thought was, "I can't read that, it's gonna hurt too much". I knew there was nothing good in a story about a dead, beautiful kid. I couldn't bring myself to know what happened because I don't handle grief so well anymore.

After several losses of loved ones in the last six years, and after becoming a mom, I can't watch movies or read books that even touch on a child's death, a parent's death -- or anything sentimental for that matter.

Then we got home and unpacked and I read. I spent the next two days reading and crying and thinking about Trayvon. Thinking I'd had days where I could choose to avoid the grief. His parents had had weeks of nothing but facing theirs. And I got mad. I got mad at a law that allows police to be lackluster, to take the word of a a living man against the silence of a dead kid. I got mad at the man who stalked a child then claimed self-defense.

And now I am mad at the people who haven't uttered a peep. I am mad at apologists trying to make self-defense apply to one person but not another.

And now I am awake.

For years I have read about black men being imprisoned at higher rates than white men. I have read about more black men being falsely incarcerated and later exonerated, than white men. I have read that more black communities suffer from hunger, lack of safe housing, weaker education, slower police response times, and on and on. I've known the data. I was a Sociology minor. I'm a Democrat. I know all of the data.

But until Trayvon Martin was killed and I had to face the sadness and read and listen, I never woke up to the life. The life that is lived by a person who has lived with a system set against him in ways he never knew. In a way society still whispers in our ears but never wants to address.

I have been accused of being a Becky, or of saying the wrong thing when my intent was clearly something benign. I have been stupid and at times in my life, extremely naive. I imagine most of us have thought or said ignorant or fearful things. But we can't play tit for tat or argue over a person's past statements and deeds in lieu of listening and watching current motivation. We can't treat this time as a moment of race-baiting or PC-idealism. And that being said, we HAVE to talk about the fact that Trayvon Martin was killed because he was black. It's okay to actually say it and not feel like backs need to hunch or defensive retorts need to be spit. It's not anti-white people to say it. We can all acknowledge the truth. We, as white people can say, "I don't like that a kid died because he was black". No spite is needed. There's no need to defend Zimmerman's actions because white people are on trial for perpetuating racism by not ever wanting to admit racism. We don't need to find lame excuses or ways to blame a dead kid. It's okay to admit that the President is not being divisive when he says that if he had a son, "He'd look like Trayvon". We don't need to play stupid and act like that wasn't profound as hell. It's alright, white America, to say, "A kid died because he was black and he matters to me".

The Martin family can't hide from the loss and we can't hide from the truth. We can move forward by admitting we are sad and angry and awake.

And yes, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, and every vile white person posting at Fox.com, I'm talking to you.

Another Example of Post Racial America

Yeah... right.

A photograph of a bumper sticker that features racist, anti-Obama language has gone viral on Facebook and other social networks.

The sticker reads "Don't Re-Nig In 2012," in large white type, above smaller text that reads: "Stop repeat offenders. Don't re-elect Obama!"

Other offensive stickers from the company selling this one include a picture of a chimp that reads "Obama 2012."

We've come so far as a post racial society since electing a man of color to the Presidency, haven't we?

Seriously, Dude?!

U.S. District Judge Richard F. Cebull, Montana's chief federal judge, sent an e-mail to some old buddies with a joke that implied President Obama was the offspring of his mother and a dog...

The message's subject line was "A Mother's Memory."

The Great Falls Tribune, which obtained the forwarded message, published it in its entirety:

"Normally I don't send or forward a lot of these, but even by my standards, it was a bit touching. I want all of my friends to feel what I felt when I read this. Hope it touches your heart like it did mine.

"A little boy said to his mother; 'Mommy, how come I'm black and you're white?'

"His mother replied, 'Don't even go there Barack! From what I can remember about that party, you're lucky you don't bark!'"

This is a US Federal judge. But hey, it's okay right? We're in a post-racial nation now that we have a black man as president! How can you claim there's ANY racism in this country when we have a black president?!!

Mac n' Cheese: It's A Black Thing, You Wouldn't Understand

Pat Robertson. Oy...



And who is this dumb bitch saying, "Yeah! It's a black thing!" Jesus Christ!

Rick Perry and "Niggerhead"

Is Rick Perry a racist? He doesn't seem to be from what those who know him are saying. Was he a little more than insensitive in this situation? Absolutely, especially for a public servant.

WaPo: "In the early years of his political career, Rick Perry began hosting fellow lawmakers, friends and supporters at his family’s secluded West Texas hunting camp, a place known by the name painted in block letters across a large, flat rock standing upright at its gated entrance.

'Niggerhead,' it read."

Here's the insensitivity:

"...the name of this particular parcel did not change for years after it became associated with Rick Perry, first as a private citizen, then as a state official and finally as Texas governor. Some locals still call it that. As recently as this summer, the slablike rock — lying flat, the name still faintly visible beneath a coat of white paint — remained by the gated entrance to the camp."

Perry has a record showing he is not a racist, naming African-American justices and staff members during his tenure as Governor, but in trying to avoid the subject because it's not politically convenient at the current time shows he's more interested in damage control than having the courage to address this issue head on.

Hey CNN, WTF?!

Holy crap!



ADDING... The more I think about this, the more I realize that this was inherently racist. Accidentally playing the wrong music track for bumper music is one thing, but you have to realize that they were looking for some kind of rap music. Because what else would a 103 year old woman who drives a two-tone 1979 Cadillac Coupe DeVille, and happens to be black, listen to while she's cruising down the block?

Whoever decided that rap music would be the proper choice of music for this clip should be dismissed.

Sound The Dog Whistles!

Obama has a "ghetto behavior" problem, is crass and lacks grace says Michael Meyers.



I don't know if Michael Meyers knows what those words mean. By the way, who the fuck is Michael Meyers? Notice how Fox News looks for these types of crackpots to throw incendiary racist bombs who just happen to be black? Way to cover your ass, Sean Hannity.

Pat Buchanan's White Oppression!

This must stop. For far too long, the white race as been at a disadvantage. Just take a look at affirmative action and see the result; qualified white males being passed over for a job that an equally qualified minority can do. Don't believe me? Just ask Pat Buchanan. Here he is on the Laura Ingraham Radio Show.

Buchanan: "Now, these folks [meaning minorities], these appear to be inordinately overrepresented of one group. And I've gone through for my new book and you find out that the federal civil service has affirmative action basically for women, for Hispanics, and for African-Americans, but none for white males who are diminishing dramatically. So what you're going, is you're going back to pre-Chester Arthur as I wrote in my column, going back to the federal service as a huge patronage thing that the party in power rewards its friends, rewards the voters that put it into office, and the problem is that Republicans do zero about it."

Yes! That's the problem! Republicans do nothing about repealing affirmative action. They're too busy defunding Medicaid, restricting Planned Parenthood family planning services, and railroading organizations like ACORN. How much time can they possibly have left for asserting the rights of white males?

Of course, Pat Buchanan is completely full of shit. Here's a handy little chart of the "dramatic diminishment" of white males in civil service employment:



See? White males hold 56.1% of the federal civilian workforce and whites overall (including women) hold 67.7% of the jobs. Shouldn't they have more? That 17.6% for blacks is just too much, don't you think? But if Pat Buchanan is so dependent on the numbers, perhaps he should explain why with a current unemployment rate of 9.1%, unemployment among Whites is 8.1% while it is 15.9% for African-Americans. Maybe he thinks it's laziness? Or maybe as he believes that the federal civil employment ratio is disproportionate in favor of blacks as he infers in his column, he should explain why the US prison population of non-Hispanic blacks is 39.4% when the total population of blacks in America is 12.6%. Are they just born criminals?

Yeah, those white males really have it hard to not be included in affirmative action.



(H/T Bob Cesca)

It's Time For MSNBC to Fire Pat Buchanan

David Shuster was suspended from MNSBC for expressing Hillary Clinton's use of her daughter during her presidential campaign as "pimping out" Chelsea. He was suspended again for tweeting about that yellow faux journalist douchebag James O'Keefe. He was suspended yet again and eventually fired by MSNBC for filming a pilot for CNN. Keith Olbermann was suspended by MSNBC for making campaign donations to politicians without first asking permission. His continual conflicts with his bosses eventually led to his release.

So what will MSNBC do with conservative pundit Pat Buchanan for referring to President Barack Obama as "boy" not once, but three times? Will they suspend him or fire him for his racist code words?

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Calling the African-American President of the United States "boy" three times is three times too many. Time for Pat to go.

(H/T GottaLaff)

Congressional Rule No. 1

When speaking in any context, whether radio or television interview, the written word, on the floor of the House or Senate, well, anywhere really, it's best not to use the name of the first African American President of the United States and "tar baby" in the same sentence.

Appearing on the Caplis and Silverman radio show last Friday, Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO) said, “Now I don’t even want to have to be associated with [Obama], it’s like touching a tar baby and you’re stuck, you’re part of the problem now. You can’t get away.”

Indeed, the term has such a derogatory history that the Oxford American dictionary revamped its definition to reflect the word’s racial undertones.

Any questions?

Equal Opportunity Offender

Fox News has put a bullseye on the back of Jon Stewart, ever since he exposed the FNC hackery in the Chris Wallace interview, by calling Stewart racist for making fun on Herman Cain's idea of not having bills larger than three pages long... you know, so they're... readable? Yes. Racist. The same company that hosts Eric Bolling on a daily basis is calling Stewart racist. So Stewart did what any comedian with a brain would do. He "mocked" himself while proving the point that he goes after everyone, not just black pizza franchise owners running for president who think reading 2,700 pages is too hard.

The Daily Show - Oh, for Fox Sake - Stewart Eviscerates Stewart
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

Too Little, Too Late

“One editorial note. On Friday, we did a story about the President meeting with the President of Gabon. We got a little bit fast and loose with the language, and we know it’s been interpreted as being disrespectful, and for that, I’m sorry. We did go a bit too far.”

~Eric Bolling's apology for his "hoods in the hizzouse" commentary last week.

Sorry, Eric. Too little, too late. You showed your true colors with the "chugging 40s" line weeks ago. Just own up to being an Obama basher because he's black. At least then you'll be an honest racist.

But It's Not About Race (The "Hoodlum in the Hizzouse" Edition)

It would just be easier for everyone involved to admit that Fox Business News' Eric Bolling is a racist. If it looks like a piece of shit racist, and it talks like a piece of shit racist, and it smells like a piece of shit racist...

During the opening of Fox Business' Follow the Money on Friday, Eric Bolling teased a segment about the White House hosting the president of Gabon by saying, "Guess who's coming to dinner? A dictator. Mr. Obama shares a laugh with one of Africa's kleptocrats. It's not first time he's had a hoodlum in the hizzouse."

When he used the term "chugging 40s" to describe President Obama having a Guinness on his trip to Ireland, he denied it was a racist thing to say, even though we knew better. And now he's using phrases like "hoodlums in the hizzouse" and "So what's with all the hoods in the hizzy?" Oh my! Fox Business News' Grand Cyclops Eric Bolling could barely tolerate one black man in the White House, but allowing another one in for a meeting?! That's outrageous!

And check out the chyron:



It's not even thinly veiled racism. They don't even try to disguise it anymore. It's just out in the open for all to see and it's fucking vile.

But It's Not About Racism (The "Chugging 40s" Edition)

I had a feeling someone would say this the second I saw the President with a pint of beer in his hand. It took no more than a day. Good going, Eric Bolling, you miserable piece of shit.



For those of you who disagree that this is a racist thing to say, you're just fooling yourselves.

If Bolling wanted to wrongly smear Obama for going on his scheduled trip to Europe while a tornado hit Joplin, Missouri, he could have tweeted "Obama chugs a beer while..." or "Obama drinks while tornado kills." As if the President could put on his cape and take off to Joplin, grab the tornado by the tail and whip it into space. But he didn't. He went directly for the dog whistle with the "40s" reference.

Throughout the late 80s and 90s, 40 oz malt liquor was rolled out with “aggressive marketing campaigns aimed at minority drinkers,” which often portrayed black actors and rappers in stereotypical or exploitative fashions. There is a fairly large body of academic literature exploring the relationship between malt liquor and African Americans, and 40 oz stereotypes were even mocked in the 2009 parody of “blacksploitation” films, “Black Dynamite.”

And as soon as he was called on it, Bolling backtracks and tweets "stop.. I drank 40's growing up in Chicago... I am NOT racist". Really? Eric Bolling drank 40's growing up in Chicago? I'd like to see evidence. Any photos of that? And I'd also like to see equal outrage in Bolling's past when President Bush was playing a guitar or singing happy birthday to John McCain during the Katrina disaster. It's got to be documented, right?

Eric, you brought it up. At least be a man and own up to it, you coward. Embrace your racism. That's what your fans are waiting for.

But It's Not About Racism (The "Blacks Are Lazy" Edition)

Excuse me while I pick up the shattered remains of my jaw off the floor.

"We have a high percentage of blacks in prison, and that's tragic," Kern said, "but are they in prison just because they are black or because they don't want to study as hard in school?

"I've taught school," she added, "and I saw a lot of people of color who didn't study hard because they said the government would take care of them."

Wow. That's Oklahoma State Republican Rep. Sally Kern's explanation for why she supports an amendment to eliminate Affirmative Action in the state government. But not to worry, Kern is not just anti-black, she's an all-around bigot.

Kern has a long history of bringing controversy to the Oklahoma House. She has introduced a bill to ban Sharia law in the state, and another that would allow teachers to question evolution. Kern also claimed that "gays are infiltrating city councils" and gay people are "the biggest threat our nation has, even more so than terrorism or Islam, which I think is a big threat."

(H/T Bob Cesca)

Why It Matters

After President Obama released his long form birth certificate yesterday, in an impossible attempt to quell the crazy birther conspiracy that has been bubbling up for the last three years, fueled by wingnuts and fear mongers and stoked by mealy-mouthed Republican politicians, I wrote a post out of anger and posted it to Facebook.

Soon enough a friend commented on Facebook, and thought that this issue wasn't serious, it was technically a rule in the Constitution, but so what? Would it really be such a big deal if President Obama weren't a citizen? Don't we have bigger problems in the country than to waste time dealing with this nonsense? Of course, the answer is yes. But when nearly half of the country's Republican voters doubt the legitimacy of the person holding the office of the President of the United States, and there is tacit approval by their party's leaders by not denouncing it, and it's being poked and prodded like a scab by a complicit media, something else is going on.

Here was my response:

We care because since the very beginning, those that are afraid of "the other" have been trying to delegitimize this president. They're even passing laws in states specifically for the purpose of omitting Obama's name from the ballot.

You may not consider it technically important and I understand that there are much more important things to worry about, but there are a lot of people out there who will do or say anything to undermine the leader of the free world. Let that sink in for a minute.

And now the very same people that have clamored about wanting to see the long form birth certificate are claiming is a forgery, it isn't good enough, he was adopted, and even asking for his school records now. When is enough enough? Is Donald Trump going to release his tax returns now as he promised to do? If we see Obama's school records, do we now get to see George W. Bush's Texas Air National Guard records?

And don't dismiss that this is all ultimately about race. While Obama's birth certificate proved that he is an American citizen born in the United States, it also proved that he's still not white, so the fight will live on.

Yes, it's not about a Constitutional violation, it's about race. Always has been. Otherwise, the issue would have been settled with his long form release. But it's only caused the freaks to double down on the crazy. You don't have to look far for examples so I won't innumerate them here.

But this video of Baratunde Thurston's reaction to yesterday's news and the despicable actions of Donald Trump taking credit for it is why this story is important and why it matters.