Bad Ass Veep!

Here's Vice President Joe Biden kicking some serious ass in his speech to the 103rd NAACP Conference today.

Romney: Free Stuff? Vote for the 'Other' Guy

Despite Mitt Romney's less than stellar showing at the NAACP Conference yesterday, and his being jeered for saying he'd repeal the Affordable Care Act, he called it "Obamacare" as is the want of Republicans to call it (you know, because "Affordable Care Act" sounds like something positive), I was willing to give him a little credit for making the appearance. But soon afterward, things began to happen that has given me pause.

Bringing up unpopular position stances in specific policy issues when you're standing in front of a crowd that disagrees with you, is usually avoided by politicians, by and large. That of course unless you're looking for that confrontation to wear as a badge of honor and show it of to your base.

Soon after the NAACP speech, Romney was interviewed by Fox News Neil Cavuto and said this:



"I think we expected that, of course."

And since they expected it, it was a perfect opportunity to show the right wing base who their man was. "See? I provoked the NAACP into booing me. I'm your guy!"

Now, you may think this is a cynical take, but I didn't come to this conclusion until Romney came up with this jewel while speaking at a fundraiser in Hamilton, Montana. Romney told his donors of the NAACP convention attendees, "Remind them of this: if they want more stuff from government, tell them to go vote for the other guy -- more free stuff. But don't forget, nothing is really free."

So in front of a black civil rights group he says he knows what the African-American community needs better than President Obama, but when speaking in front of his base in Montana the same day, he points to all those black people wanting something for nothing. "Free stuff." "Vote for the other guy."

Yes, Mitt Romney, we understand who you truly are in your heart, and you really have made it possible to fully communicate what you believe. And we don't like what we see.

Romney Booed at NAACP... Surprised?

Well, you have to give Mitt Romney credit for going into the lion's den, knowing he was going to have a hard time trying to win the crowd over, and sticking to his message.

That being said, you and your campaign make a huge mistake speaking in front of the NAACP and telling them you know what they need better than your opponent... who just happens to be black.

“If you want a president who will make things better in the African American community, you are looking at him. You take a look!”

Oh, and we know you're dead set on repealing Obamacare (some would call it Romneycare for All). You don't have to mention it in front of a group of people for whom it would most help. My guess is it won't be well received. Video, please:




Dude... SERIOUSLY?

I Hope He Loses His Shirt

Shirley Sherrod has filed a lawsuit against Andrew Breitbart over a video released by the conservative personality that lead to her ouster as an official at the USDA.

...The video first gained widespread public attention when it was posted on Breitbart's BigGovernment.com. The two-minute, 38-second clip was widely received as an admission by Sherrod, who is African American, that she had discriminated against a white farmer. Under immediate pressure from the Obama administration, Sherrod resigned from her position as the USDA's director of rural development in Georgia.

When a full 43-minute copy of the video surfaced, additional context turned the story into one of reconciliation. Sherrod had actually saved the man's farm and started a lifelong friendship.

Breitbart is going to attempt hiding behind the First Amendment, saying that he "categorically rejects the transparent effort to chill his constitutionally protected free speech and, to reiterate, looks forward to exercising his full and broad discovery rights."
Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I don't think slander and libel are protected by the Constitution.

Let's not forget that the Obama administration and the NAACP were quick to judge Sherrod as well, their sole basis being the edited video on Breitbart's website. But if Breitbart were actually a journalist and looked deeper into the matter instead of a vainglorious nutbag, he wouldn't be claiming he was duped. He knew exactly was he was doing and didn't care about the consequences - the rubes only get to know the first half of any tainted story before pulling out their pitchforks and torches.

Quote of the Day

"What does it say about America now, and where it is heading, that a racial provocateur, wielding a deceptively edited video, could not only smear an innocent woman but make every national institution that touched the story look bad? The White House, the N.A.A.C.P. and the news media were all soiled by this episode. Meanwhile, the majority of Americans, who believe in fundamental fairness for all, grapple with the poisonous residue left behind by the many powerful people of all stripes who served as accessories to a high-tech lynching."

~ Frank Rich

Shirley Sherrod

POSTED BY JHW22

I am livid. So livid I can't possibly formulate a proper post. So instead I will write free-form and hope it all makes sense when I am finished -- even to me.

Breitbart uses film editing as his weapon.
Fox News uses distortion as their weapon.

The left-wing media like the Huffington Post and groups like the NAACP see the weapon and throw their hands up.
The Department of Agriculture and the White House throw their hands up.

We are at the mercy of the right-wing media when they can use their constant hate, lies and fear-mongering to extort the citizens, the media and the government to do dance as if bullets are being fired at our feet.

Shirley Sherrod is the personal victim of the right-wing's lies and the left-wing's capitulation.
We are all victims of the aftermath.

I want Shirley Sherrod reinstated by President Obama and apologized to by ANYONE who perpetuated the lie about her. Yet, even when the truth is out, people will believe the lie and think the truth is the lie. It will be too late. And the people who will hold on to the lie are dangerous people. They are the ones who thrive on right-wing weaponry and chaos.

Now Fox is acting as if they had nothing to do with this and are going to pull the wool over their own viewers' eyes. And people will believe that lie, too.

Part of me keeps saying, please let this be a Rosa Parks moment. Please tell me that we will all learn from this and stop the cycle of destructive rhetoric and fear-based reaction. Please tell me that this honorable woman will be an example of how we should ALL learn from our personal struggles and see people as people. Let the destruction of her reputation result in a phoenix moment for her. Let her rise from the damage as the person we refer to when we say, "I beat back my personal '-isms' and rose above them." Let Shirley Sherrod be the person who forces us to beat back the cowardice and discuss racism in America.

And let's beg of our friends and family to THINK before they allow thirty-eight seconds to define a person or a story.

Here's Shirley Sherrod's entire speech.
Here is Rachel Maddow's thorough take on the chaos.
Here is the story unfolding on CNN.


EDITOR'S UPDATE (7/21/10, 2:45pm): ColorOfChange.org is petitioning President Obama to reinstate Shirley Sherrod. It only takes a minute to fill out a form and do the right thing.

Mark Williams Booted From National Tea Party Federation

They're a "federation" now?  What am I, watching an old Star Trek repeat?

‘We, in the last 24 hours, have expelled Tea Party Express and Mark Williams from the National Tea Party Federation because of the letter that he wrote,’ [federation spokesman David] Webb said of the blog post by Williams that satirized a fictional letter from what he called ‘Colored People’ to President Abraham Lincoln.

Webb called the blog post ‘clearly offensive.’

And as Oliver Willis notes, they'd have a lot more credibility on this matter had they expelled Williams over the last few months of hate speech bullshit spewing from this guy's mouth. Did it really necessitate a sick letter as a final nail in the coffin?

Also, if there is no room in the Tea Party for the likes of a Mark Williams, why are conservatives and Tea Party folk going apeshit over the NAACP's resolution to denounce any form of racism in their group? Seems like a no-brainer, and yet those with no brain are doing the "I'm offended" dance.

Portrait of a Racist

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