Sunday, July 14, 2013
I Stand My Ground!
Clearly, I am disappointed by the verdict of not guilty in the Zimmerman case. I again post what I iterated BEFORE we knew the not guilty moment. Yes, I stand my ground and WHY Democrats MUST be elected not only in the Congressional House but throughout state legislatures as well!
The media has hyped the Zimmerman trial to the apex of Everest and, yes, I have fallen prey to watching much of it. No one in this nation arrives at their own personal verdict of acquittal or guilt of George Zimmerman without the animus of race being a pertinent part of one's conclusion. No one comes into this life in this country as a tabula raza that is a clean slate on the subject of race. Most have probably reached a conclusion based in part on the trial’s racial component.
When polled after the O.J. Simpson trial the opinion of the American public broke on the lines of race. Whites in large numbers thought O.J. guilty and persons of color either thought he was innocent or loved the miscarriage of justice acquitting him. Whites, mostly, were incensed that a black man got off for a murder he most likely committed. I remember rationalizing this as I saw it miscarriage of justice as payback to whites for the eons of eras in US history people of African descent have gotten the jackboot of justice crushing their necks. They have, I thought, had long standing grievances against this nation which prides itself on its egalitarian ethos. It has as, Martin Luther King said, written a check to African Americans returned to them marked insufficient funds.
The violence perpetrated in this country against people of African descent since the first slave ship arrived on the continent is well documented. For over 350 years white violence against African Americans by their white masters has been legion; translated over time it has been incomprehensible. Even though I disagreed with the verdict on the evidence in the OJ case I justified it as long overdue payback for the many egregious perpetrations of injustice this besieged group of humanity had to and still does experience in this land. Finally, it was not the business-as-usual white man getting away with literally murders of many innocent black men and women.
How many whites supremacists have historically gotten off for the murder and rape of Africans? How much violence over that period has been perpetrated unjustly against the black man even to this day? Our history is clear no matter how fervent the white denial. The KKK and other white nationalist groups planted their many flaming crosses to ensure the black man would never escape slavery, live in fear and when freed would never hold power. We KNOW this to be true in our own era.
The black man need only walk out his door to know he will be judged more harshly, more unjustly and treated more inequitably because he is black and for no other reason. The history of white malevolent behavior against blacks is ever so long, the rectification of this injustice moves ever so slowly and the arc of justice is shorter than it should be. Indeed, there at times seems to be a reversal of fortune for the black man as the right wing perpetrated regression to another era has begun in our time. Racism in this nation is on a slow burn; it simmers on a seemingly eternal boil waxing and waning depending on the historical moment.
We see it now everywhere even in those states not part of the old Confederacy. It stretches into every corner of our culture from the courts to the voting booth. There is a systematic attempt by most especially those in the Republican Party to insidiously subtract the black vote rather than to inclusively add to it. A Supreme Court has by one stroke of a rancid decision nullified the most important paragraph of the 1965 Voting Rights Act with the hutzpah (nerve) to say there is no longer racism in the south and other states of the nation. Tell that to minorities who had to wait for hours to vote. Tell that to African American males who are jailed twice as much as whites for crimes which are perpetrated by whites at twice the rate. No wonder African Americans are angry. I am angry too.
The State of Florida v. George Zimmerman is saturated with our historical racist animus. Here is what I think occurred: George Zimmerman wanted to be a cop. He wanted it so much he reported many times the threat of crime in that predominantly white gated community where he neighborhood watched. He carried a gun and felt secure he was protected. His profanity laced 911 calls show in clear decibel tones the extent of his anger and determination to get the alleged criminal. He saw Travon Martin, riding a bike with “something in his hand” wearing a hoodie. That something in Travon’s hand turned out to be as lethal as package of Skittles can be. The man he followed instead of returning to his car as directed by the police turned out to be a teenager on a bike who had every right to be where he was riding to his father’s residence. George Zimmerman has lied not once but many times when he retold his story of what occurred that fateful night. He was caught in a whopper on the right wing station, Fox News. He was on friendly turf and he lied, showed no emotion, said he would do everything all over again if he had the chance and OF COURSE attributed it to God’s plan! The malevolence of the man Zimmerman, the mendaciousness of the man Zimmerman, the utter gall of the man Zimmerman to think that he could shoot Trayvon in the heart, kill him and get away with it simply by claiming self-defense. Zimmerman carried the gun and was loaded for bear. The defense counsel’s final argument was theater of the absurd ridiculous carrying around a block of cement dusting off his pants thinking that argument would resonate. Like Lady Macbeth he could not wash the blood and the dust as metaphor all off.
Zimmerman was simmering that night. He was testosterone infused and dedicated to taking someone down. Travon Martin was a picture perfect fit for that desire and after all it was God’s plan. God’s plan? I think NOT. George Zimmerman, in my opinion, will get the justice he never gave Trayvon. A teenager is dead and George Zimmerman killed him.
If our country has a shred of decency left GUILTY OF MANSLAUGHTER will be the final verdict for George Zimmerman and as John Guy counsel for the prosecution, said in his brilliant and impassioned closing argument, Travon Benjamin Martin will get the truth the dead so rightfully deserve. That is one truth that cannot be erased.
Saturday, July 13, 2013
Zimmerman Verdict
Shocking but not totally surprising given an ALL white jury in very conservative Sanford!!
The Simmering Zimmerman
The media has hyped the Zimmerman trial to the apex of Everest and, yes, I have fallen prey to watching much of it. No one in this nation arrives at their own personal verdict of acquittal or guilt of George Zimmerman without the animus of race being a pertinent part of one's conclusion. No one comes into this life in this country as a tabula raza that is a clean slate on the subject of race. Most have probably reached a conclusion based in part on the trial’s racial component.
When polled after the O.J. Simpson trial the opinion of the American public broke on the lines of race. Whites in large numbers thought O.J. guilty and persons of color either thought he was innocent or loved the miscarriage of justice acquitting him. Whites, mostly, were incensed that a black man got off for a murder he most likely committed. I remember rationalizing this as I saw this miscarriage of justice as payback to whites for the eons of eras in US history people of African descent have gotten the jackboot of justice crushing their necks. They have, I thought, had long standing grievances against this nation which prides itself on its egalitarian ethos. It has as, Martin Luther King said, written a check to African Americans returned to them marked insufficient funds.
The violence perpetrated in this country against people of African descent since the first slave ship arrived on the continent is well documented. For over 350 years white violence against African Americans by their white masters has been legion; translated over time it has been incomprehensible. Even though I disagreed with the verdict on the evidence in the OJ case I justified it as long overdue payback for the many egregious perpetrations of injustice this besieged group of humanity had to and still does experience in this land. Finally, it was not the business-as-usual white man getting away with literally murders of many innocent black men and women.
How many whites supremacists have historically gotten off for the murder and rape of Africans? How much violence over that period has been perpetrated unjustly against the black man even to this day? Our history is clear no matter how fervent the white denial. The KKK and other white nationalist groups planted their many flaming crosses to ensure the black man would never escape slavery, live in fear and when freed would never hold power. We KNOW this to be true in our own era.
The black man need only walk out his door to know he will be judged more harshly, more unjustly and treated more inequitably because he is black and for no other reason. The history of white malevolent behavior against blacks is ever so long, the rectification of this injustice moves ever so slowly and the arc of justice is shorter than it should be. Indeed, there at times seems to be a reversal of fortune for the black man as the right wing perpetrated regression to another era has begun in our time. Racism in this nation is on a slow burn; it simmers on a seemingly eternal boil waxing and waning depending on the historical moment.
We see it now everywhere even in those states not part of the old Confederacy. It stretches into every corner of our culture from the courts to the voting booth. There is a systematic attempt by most especially those in the Republican Party to insidiously subtract the black vote rather than to inclusively add to it. A Supreme Court has by one stroke of a rancid decision nullified the most important paragraph of the 1965 Voting Rights Act with the hutzpah (nerve) to say there is no longer racism in the south and other states of the nation. Tell that to minorities who had to wait for hours to vote. Tell that to African American males who are jailed twice as much as whites for crimes which are perpetrated by whites at twice the rate. No wonder African Americans are angry. I am angry too.
The State of Florida v. George Zimmerman is saturated with our historical racist animus. Here is what I think occurred: George Zimmerman wanted to be a cop. He wanted it so much he reported many times the threat of crime in that predominantly white gated community where he neighborhood watched. He carried a gun and felt secure he was protected. His profanity laced 911 calls show in clear decibel tones the extent of his anger and determination to get the alleged criminal. He saw Travon Martin, riding a bike with “something in his hand” wearing a hoodie. That something in Travon’s hand turned out to be as lethal as package of Skittles can be. The man he followed instead of returning to his car as directed by the police turned out to be a teenager on a bike who had every right to be where he was riding to his father’s residence. George Zimmerman has lied not once but many times when he retold his story of what occurred that fateful night. He was caught in a whopper on the right wing station, Fox News. He was on friendly turf and he lied, showed no emotion, said he would do everything all over again if he had the chance and OF COURSE attributed it to God’s plan! The malevolence of the man Zimmerman, the mendaciousness of the man Zimmerman, the utter gall of the man Zimmerman to think that he could shoot Trayvon in the heart, kill him and get away with it simply by claiming self-defense. Zimmerman carried the gun and was loaded for bear. The defense counsel’s final argument was theater of the absurd ridiculous carrying around a block of cement dusting off his pants thinking that argument would resonate. Like Lady Macbeth he could not wash the blood and the dust as metaphor all off.
Zimmerman was simmering that night. He was testosterone infused and dedicated to taking someone down. Travon Martin was a picture perfect fit for that desire and after all it was God’s plan. God’s plan? I think NOT. George Zimmerman, in my opinion, will get the justice he never gave Trayvon. A teenager is dead and George Zimmerman killed him.
If our country has a shred of decency left GUILTY OF MANSLAUGHTER will be the final verdict for George Zimmerman and as John Guy counsel for the prosecution, said in his brilliant and impassioned closing argument, Travon Benjamin Martin will get the truth the dead so rightfully deserve. That is one truth that cannot be erased.
When polled after the O.J. Simpson trial the opinion of the American public broke on the lines of race. Whites in large numbers thought O.J. guilty and persons of color either thought he was innocent or loved the miscarriage of justice acquitting him. Whites, mostly, were incensed that a black man got off for a murder he most likely committed. I remember rationalizing this as I saw this miscarriage of justice as payback to whites for the eons of eras in US history people of African descent have gotten the jackboot of justice crushing their necks. They have, I thought, had long standing grievances against this nation which prides itself on its egalitarian ethos. It has as, Martin Luther King said, written a check to African Americans returned to them marked insufficient funds.
The violence perpetrated in this country against people of African descent since the first slave ship arrived on the continent is well documented. For over 350 years white violence against African Americans by their white masters has been legion; translated over time it has been incomprehensible. Even though I disagreed with the verdict on the evidence in the OJ case I justified it as long overdue payback for the many egregious perpetrations of injustice this besieged group of humanity had to and still does experience in this land. Finally, it was not the business-as-usual white man getting away with literally murders of many innocent black men and women.
How many whites supremacists have historically gotten off for the murder and rape of Africans? How much violence over that period has been perpetrated unjustly against the black man even to this day? Our history is clear no matter how fervent the white denial. The KKK and other white nationalist groups planted their many flaming crosses to ensure the black man would never escape slavery, live in fear and when freed would never hold power. We KNOW this to be true in our own era.
The black man need only walk out his door to know he will be judged more harshly, more unjustly and treated more inequitably because he is black and for no other reason. The history of white malevolent behavior against blacks is ever so long, the rectification of this injustice moves ever so slowly and the arc of justice is shorter than it should be. Indeed, there at times seems to be a reversal of fortune for the black man as the right wing perpetrated regression to another era has begun in our time. Racism in this nation is on a slow burn; it simmers on a seemingly eternal boil waxing and waning depending on the historical moment.
We see it now everywhere even in those states not part of the old Confederacy. It stretches into every corner of our culture from the courts to the voting booth. There is a systematic attempt by most especially those in the Republican Party to insidiously subtract the black vote rather than to inclusively add to it. A Supreme Court has by one stroke of a rancid decision nullified the most important paragraph of the 1965 Voting Rights Act with the hutzpah (nerve) to say there is no longer racism in the south and other states of the nation. Tell that to minorities who had to wait for hours to vote. Tell that to African American males who are jailed twice as much as whites for crimes which are perpetrated by whites at twice the rate. No wonder African Americans are angry. I am angry too.
The State of Florida v. George Zimmerman is saturated with our historical racist animus. Here is what I think occurred: George Zimmerman wanted to be a cop. He wanted it so much he reported many times the threat of crime in that predominantly white gated community where he neighborhood watched. He carried a gun and felt secure he was protected. His profanity laced 911 calls show in clear decibel tones the extent of his anger and determination to get the alleged criminal. He saw Travon Martin, riding a bike with “something in his hand” wearing a hoodie. That something in Travon’s hand turned out to be as lethal as package of Skittles can be. The man he followed instead of returning to his car as directed by the police turned out to be a teenager on a bike who had every right to be where he was riding to his father’s residence. George Zimmerman has lied not once but many times when he retold his story of what occurred that fateful night. He was caught in a whopper on the right wing station, Fox News. He was on friendly turf and he lied, showed no emotion, said he would do everything all over again if he had the chance and OF COURSE attributed it to God’s plan! The malevolence of the man Zimmerman, the mendaciousness of the man Zimmerman, the utter gall of the man Zimmerman to think that he could shoot Trayvon in the heart, kill him and get away with it simply by claiming self-defense. Zimmerman carried the gun and was loaded for bear. The defense counsel’s final argument was theater of the absurd ridiculous carrying around a block of cement dusting off his pants thinking that argument would resonate. Like Lady Macbeth he could not wash the blood and the dust as metaphor all off.
Zimmerman was simmering that night. He was testosterone infused and dedicated to taking someone down. Travon Martin was a picture perfect fit for that desire and after all it was God’s plan. God’s plan? I think NOT. George Zimmerman, in my opinion, will get the justice he never gave Trayvon. A teenager is dead and George Zimmerman killed him.
If our country has a shred of decency left GUILTY OF MANSLAUGHTER will be the final verdict for George Zimmerman and as John Guy counsel for the prosecution, said in his brilliant and impassioned closing argument, Travon Benjamin Martin will get the truth the dead so rightfully deserve. That is one truth that cannot be erased.
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
The Brain
I put this site here or below for your enjoyment.
I DID notice this was put on by the AEI which is a conservative forum and right wing think tank. Obviously, I am NOT an AEI fan. BUT sometimes there are discussions that may be apolitical. I listened to the introduction and thought this an interesting topic. Admittedly, I do not know what the hour program is like. The moderator, David Brooks, is NOT one of my favorites although at times he utters an intelligent thought.
He began by asking a question as it relates to God so he lost me BUT the man answering the question I know not who he is makes for what SEEMS a very interesting discussion to those of us who are fascinated by the brain's construct.
http://fora.tv/2013/06/17/Brainwashed_The_Seductive_Appeal_of_Mindless_Neuroscience/What_Does_the_Mind_Have_That_the_Brain_Doesnt
He began by asking a question as it relates to God so he lost me BUT the man answering the question I know not who he is makes for what SEEMS a very interesting discussion to those of us who are fascinated by the brain's construct.
http://fora.tv/2013/06/17/Brainwashed_The_Seductive_Appeal_of_Mindless_Neuroscience/What_Does_the_Mind_Have_That_the_Brain_Doesnt
Tuesday, July 09, 2013
Headline: Fukushima Groundwater Shows Record Radiation Levels--NUCLEAR POWER IS UNSAFE AT ANY SPEED
I wish I could get paid every time I predict a current event accurately!! Here is a copy of the Fukushima article entitled:
"Fukushima Groundwater Shows Record Radiation Levels"
The article says "Tepco also announced that the plant's manager at the height of the crisis, when three reactors underwent meltdowns, died on Tuesday of esophageal cancer - unrelated to his duties."
Right, unrelated to his duties? I suspect that is a lie!
Monday, July 08, 2013
GAS LAND PART 2 -- A MUST VIEW
 |
Dear Natalie Long before there was fracking, the natural gas industry was lavishing campaign contributions on elected officials as part of its efforts to get America to frack first, ask questions about fracking's dangers later. Tonight on HBO, see the nationwide premiere of Gasland 2, the new documentary film by Josh Fox, which cites Common Cause's ground-breaking research showing how the natural gas industry has gained extraordinary access and influence with lawmakers in Congress and many state capitols. Through hundreds of millions spent on lobbying and campaign contributions, and through model legislation advanced by the American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC, the natural gas industry has fought to keep secret the chemicals used in fracking. Find out what fracking means for your community and state -- tune into HBO at 9 p.m. Eastern tonight! Thanks for all you do. James Browning and the rest of the team at Common Cause P.S. You can also see a preview of Gasland 2, and an interview with Director Josh Fox, in this clip from "The Daily Show." |
Saturday, July 06, 2013
Haywire or Full Faith and Credit
The article "Independence Day Blues" by Philip Giraldo of Opednews posted here or below makes some startling points to ponder concerning the eradication of the nation's civil liberties and due process hallmarks of our nation. I agree with some of the author's points but not all. I believe part of our past 9/11 constitutionally eviscerating legislation a necessary evil but will spare you a dig deep into the weeds to illuminate that point.
Suffice it to say there are those who internationally and nationally want to do us great harm and, worse, nuclear, chemical or biological materials disseminated in guerrilla-like fashion could be in the mix.
As usual, though, whether it is the relaxation of social mores of the late 1960's or the electorate's free pass given to power after 9/11, our people and our government have gone, in my opinion, haywire. The government with electoral acquiescence is in some cases compromising and/or eliminating the First, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Eighth Constitutional Amendments. It can do so, now, if it wanted, with impunity even to us.
I especially hope, however, at the end of the article when the author calls the president an "empty suit" he is especially NOT correct. That would be my greatest noir moment because I have given my full faith and credit to the 2008 and 2012 election of him!
Thursday, July 04, 2013
“Should Republicans Just Focus on White Voters?” -- Whites on the Right
The Title of the NYT article “Should Republicans Just Focus on White Voters” see link here or below, caught my eye. Much had to do with the oft talked about changing demographics of the nation as it becomes less white and the apoplectic stroke the Republican Party is having as well as the hand-wringing it is doing to obviate this fact to win power. There are different opinions, of course, among Republican strategists as to what the Republican Party needs to do. Some “conservatives” think the Republican Party should not change its message at all but should simply mount an effort to corral whites which Republican Utopians think will amass millions more votes for them since they believe more whites will flock to the polls if the Republican Party reaches out to snag them. I think otherwise.
The Republican Party has many more problems than simply demographic numbers. It has become, as some have said, the party of stupid. That is, as I see it, its major problem. Thankfully, there are significant numbers of smart whites in our electorate who would not vote Republican as it ideologically stands now even if someone paid them off at the polls to do it. The Party’s moronic anti-science stand on a host of issues makes it impossible for many whites of cerebral substance to support it. The Republican Party stands now for the advancement of its mythology and its – usually Fundamentalist Christian – religious belief system. They want to mix their religion with things political. That is just what most of our Founding Fathers did NOT want as they clearly and thankfully embedded the all-important separation of church state Constitutional clause within our founding document. Nothing can kill a nation faster than dogmatic uncompromising religion in extremis. Religion tied to politics is the oil and water mix of our time.
One cannot deny evolution, one cannot deny the warming of the climate with its plethora of catastrophic weather events, and one cannot deny sexuality has a DNA genetic component Republican know nothings say it does not. They say one can change the gay by praying it away. Praying away the gay does not work. The Fundamentalist attempt of the Exodus movement realized it did not work nor help those coming to terms with what nature bestowed; to the contrary, this insipid movement did significant damage including contributing to suicide of those who could not change no matter how hard they prayed.
Moreover, when this party of stupid promotes its anti-choice stances and says things like a woman’s body shuts down pregnancy when she is raped or that god intended a pregnancy to exist through incest, or a woman becomes less fertile when she receives a legal abortion one staggers away from such idiocy unable to accept the Republican Party once known for its Goldwater intellectual rigor. Within what fantasy world does the Republican Party now live that allows them to think this kind of irrational and mendacious Republican Party will win high office? It will not.
More whites than any other group may have voted for Mitt Romney but many more whites stayed home. Whites I know would NEVER vote for anyone in the Republican Party of dumb. If one denies learning and the science that comes through it sooner or later one will lose the evolutionary game of life. Science always rules. Until the Republican Party changes its social message, ultimately, it will lose smart whites too!
Wednesday, July 03, 2013
The Way is Clear
I am not telling Democrats or those who support progressive and humane causes anything we do not already know. The issues are CLEAR. Whether it is denying minorities the right to vote, whether it is denying women the right to choose their own medical decisions, whether it is denying many the right to marry whom they choose, whether it is denying planet annihilating climate change or whether it is overtaking communities ridding them of minority representation the Republican Extremist Party will do anything, even if judged ultimately illegal, to attain power. The Democratic Party MUST MUST organize to elect Democrats -- EVERYWHERE.
Our inaction and turning our back on issues we thought resolved have resulted in the most HORRIFIC abuse of power by the Republican extreme ever to have appeared on the American scene. Republicans will take it all and they will take it from YOU if we do NOT stop them. PAY ATTENTION to elections. They matter!
The results of not paying attention are crystal clear. This is what happens when we do NOT know what is happening under our noses and worse do not care. We get extremist profane Republican Governor LePages of Maine, we get the Kasichs of Ohio, we get the Walkers of Wisconsin, we get the Scotts of Florida, we get the Governor McDonnells and the Ken Cuchinellis of the nation. They are ruinous to the people's health but manage to stuff their own pockets with the cash of corporations and the wealthy quid pro quo donors who love them. They DUPE voters who do not take the time to understand what Republican politics around them is all about.
ORGANIZE, ORGANIZE, ORGANIZE! GET PEOPLE SIGNED UP TO VOTE AND GET THEM TO THE POLLS NO MATTER WHAT ILLEGAL LEGISLATION THESE REPUBLICAN MENDACIOUS VIPERS AND RELIGIOUS FANATICS ENACT.
Reality check: We live in a two party system! The key is to beat them at their own game. Explain to voters WHAT Republican politics is doing to them AND WHY THEY MUST VOTE FOR DEMOCRATS. It behooves ALL of us to do this or Republicans will take away, IF they assume power, the gains for which we as a nation have, for over centuries, fought.
Whether it is voting rights, civil rights, women's rights or labor rights they will return this nation to a 19th century world where poverty reigned, people died of diseases they should not die of today and the poor, the sick, the elderly and the disabled were protected from NOTHING. Republicans will DUPE and then ditch the American working and middle class taking big bucks from the corporations and the wealthy who give these Republican gargantuan cash and let unregulated Wall Street run wild.
The issues are life and death ones. ELECTIONS MATTER. Simply look to Republican installed Supreme Court Justices Scalia, Alito, and Thomas. Republicans put these monsters in robes they do not deserve to wear and they gave birth to horrific case law like Citizens United and all but demolished the 1965 Voting Rights Act making it harder for minorities i.e. Democrats to vote. WE ALL MUST ACT!
Getting out the vote for Democrats is of the first order. Our politics are paralyzed and polarized by mostly racist, misogynist, white, extremist elements in the Republican Party. We MUST defeat them everywhere they exist. The way is CLEAR, the path is known and the time is NOW!
Monday, July 01, 2013
Upon Whose Shoulders We Stand
"After the Landmark Court Ruling, opponents of gay marriage ruling ready for national battle." Story linked here or belowDid anyone of us who enthusiastically supported the end of DOMA and Prop. 8 ever think the haters and obstructionists would simply go away, quietly, into the night? Who of us did not know the fight would continue long after the SCOTUS verdict was rendered?
The demand for minorities’ civil rights is a long -- very long -- fight for justice. Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott and many others who fought for the right of women to even vote never lived to see the epic results of their momentous efforts.
Some on the front lines of civil rights for African Americans never lived to see the fruits of their efforts. MLK, Malcolm X, Rosa Parks, Bobbie Kennedy, Frederick Douglas, Harriet Tubman, William Lloyd Garrison, Sojourner Truth and too many others to mention here never lived to see the changes for which they dedicated their lives. Neither did the slain civil rights workers in 1964 -- James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner -- or the the four young girls killed in the bombing of the Birmingham 16th Street Baptist Church -- Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson and Denise McNair -- live to see the passage of the 1965 Civil Rights Act. The struggle for civil rights in our day goes on as malevolent Republican mostly white obstructionists continue to nefariously try to block the minority vote.
Harry Hay, Harvey Milk, James Baldwin, Will Geer, Del Martin and many more gay rights activists never lived to see the day when men and women regardless of sexual orientation could marry whom they chose to love.
One must resign oneself in our age at this time that the struggle continues loudly into the day so that future generations can and will breathe freer. We must go onward, heads held high and figurative swords drawn to continue the fight against those who would repressively return us to the days of ignorance and oppression. The baton of justice will be passed to the generations succeeding the giants who paved the way for us and upon whose shoulders they will and all of us now do stand!
Thursday, June 27, 2013
DOMA STRUCK DOWN!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was so excited yesterday and could not devote my time to a lengthy opinion about SCOTUS DOMA Prop. 8 decision.
Suffice it to say my comment was a simple
WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
What God Giveth
What God has given us with the landmark decision today overturning the repressive DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act) and the negating of California Prop 8 can be taken away as the overturning yesterday by the US Supreme Court of the legendary Civil Rights Act of 1965 shows. We thought that momentous 1965 Civil Rights Act was carved in stone until we elected Republican presidents who put right wing extremists on the Court. Their goal was to neuter that law.
Legislation and SCOTUS decisions are only as good as the ability for progressives to win the day in elections federally and on the state and gubernatorial level. As our politics has shaken out, all those things that a civilized society thinks humane and reflected in law are being promulgated and defended solely by Democrats through the Democratic Party.
Republicans have become the party of reactionary regression to a 19th century world. It is the Party of interposition and nullification of the Civil War era. The Republican Party, far from the Party of Lincoln, is sown from the Confederacy of the Old South sprinkled with a few token blacks as icing on its poisonous cake. The Tea Party Republican wing has been co-opted by big money contributions which the US Supreme Court’s rancid decision of Citizen's United made possible. It has made that party dedicated to the 1% richest of the nation subliminally under the nose of the duped and in the disguise of populist politics.
Moreover, the Republican Party is the party, as the Republican 2012 "debates" showed, that does not care if the poor, or anyone for that matter, live or die. Republicans simply do not care about human rights but they do care about shoving their religious belief system into the uteri of women and they do care about government not caring about what nefarious tactics Wall Street uses to make trillions. While Democrats are not perfect Republicans are catastrophic to one's health and the whole nation's economic security. I urge you, therefore, to elect solely Democrats to positions of power throughout the land.
Republicans try as they might could not stop minorities in 2012 from voting even with Republicans’ election evil attempts to suppress the minority vote. They MUST NOT be allowed to stop us EVER! WE WILL SIGN EVERY DEMOCRAT UP TO VOTE, OBTAIN VOTER ID'S IF NECESSARY AND GET OUT THE VOTE EVEN WHEN THEY CHANGE VOTING TIMES OR PLACES. WE WILL BEAT THEM AT THEIR OWN ODIOUS GAME BY COMPLYING WITH THEIR SUBVERSIVE LAWS IF NECESSARY UNTIL SUCH TIME AS THIS COUNTRY RETURNS TO A STATE OF FAIRNESS IT ONCE WAS AND WHAT DR. KING ENVISIONED WHEN LYNDON JOHNSON SIGNED THE 1965 CIVIL RIGHTS ACT RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM!
Onward to 2014 and help Democrats win it all!
Victory, yes, BUT MY Mistake in my email
I was not thinking correctly so late in the evening and a fellow Markey supporter informed me of my mistake so I will pass on my corrected response. Send it to anyone you choose.
ON TO 2014 TO TAKE BACK THE HOUSE (and increase Dem's majority in the Senate.) The Voting Rights Act debacle of the Supreme Court yesterday has utterly infuriated me so that my brain filled with anger is not synaptically firing correctly. Of course he was right the 2014takeover of the House is what is needed so that the president can FINALLY get a Congress with whom he can work. So many elections and so little time.
I also had forgotten that soon-to-be Senator Markey has to run again in two years and Senator elect Markey's Fifth Congressional House seat must be filled with a Democrat. His victory last night was for the special election to fill John Kerry's senate seat leaving the Massachusetts's 5th congressional House seat open. A Democrat WILL fill it but we must make it happen. Also, changing each state's Republican and gubernatorial control so that the gerrymandering fix of districts in favor of Republicans stops.
We must NOT NOT NOT NOT become election weary. These are our lives about which we are talking, it is about Republicons returning us to the 1880's and it is about relegating persons of color to the back of the bus yet again. Once we gain majorities in the House keeping or increasing Democratic control of the Senate than a fix of this DASTARDLY Shelby SCOTUS decision could attempt to be rectified helped too by ONE more progressive member of the Supreme Court to ultimately do it.
Until then our legal community and ALL progressive groups must be dedicated to trying BY ANY LEGAL MEANS necessary to subvert yet another SCOTUS rancid decision. This decision goes into a place of hell reserved for Dred Scott and Citizen's United, two of the absolute WORST decisions rendered by "conservatives" in the most activist right wing radical high Court EVER!
This is the Republicon's attempt to yet again steal elections by putting up road blocks to keep minorities and people of color from voting and gaining power. We must NOT let this happen. We must fight this state by state, policy by policy with as much Dept. of Justice help now as we can get to crush this perversion of our democracy. Democrats and everyone who is for fairness must act. We must mobilize as we did in the 1960's. We need people power from all sectors of our electorate to subvert this Supreme Court monstrosity and all the malodorous decisions that have been enacted by this Court crippling those of us who are not among the privileged 1%!
Thank you to my political ally for the necessary and important clarification!
Onward to 2014 and let's win then!
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Villainous Voting Rights Decision by the UNCONSCIONABLE FIVE.
Supreme Court strikes down part of Voting Rights Act
Read the decision for yourself linked here and above.
We as progressives KNOW what we MUST do and that is REGISTER, REGISTER, REGISTER Democrats minority and non minority alike. There WILL be a voter registration push like never before. We will cross every T and dot every i and make SURE registration is CORRECT and play the rancid game that the five so called "conservatives" on the Court have played. This will mean NOTHING when all is said and done because Progressive Democrats and Independents WILL conform to the letter of the law! WE WILL NOT TURN BACK TO 1865!! EVER. Make NOTE Republicrats ruination of our democracy. Make note.
This game has just begun!
Monday, June 24, 2013
The talking head pundits like Joe Scarborough and Chuck Todd are saying the Mass. turnout for this important Senate election will be VERY LOW perhaps the lowest! PROVE THEM WRONG. SAY NO TO THAT AND GET OUT THE VOTE AND GET OUT TO VOTE FOR ED MARKEY -- THE ONLY CHOICE!! When you vote obstructionist Republicans in to office do not scream and cry if government is stagnant.
This president WOULD do it all IF he were not so railroaded and blocked by the rotten 60 vote obstructionist Republican know nothings in the House. The Senate is important. Democrats MUST keep it. SEND A MESSAGE that elections matter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Get out THE vote and get out TO vote tomorrow June 25, for Ed Markey.
It will be one of the best things you ever did.
Sunday, June 23, 2013
NO KIDDING AROUND!
Our Senate race is TWO -- let me say that number again -- TWO days away. IF you want a Congress that is about our 99% majority, IF you want your Social Security and Medicare to remain in tact, if you want the sick, the elderly, the disabled and ALL people who need it to have access to healthcare, IF you want this so obvious-it-bites-you-in-the nose climate catastrophes that have occurred and are occurring as we speak because of man's contribution to global warming to be addressed, IF you truly want jobs, IF you want repair of our dangerous and sagging infrastructure, IF you want a woman to have her rights preserved and NOT be determined by government invasion, IF you believe in equal rights for ALL people irrespective or race or assigned-by-nature sexuality, IF you believe in compassion and care for those Americans who, through no fault of their own, need help, IF you want help for our injured returning vets THEN
You MUST MUST MUST show up at the polls and get EVERYONE you know to vote for Ed Markey on June 25. If you have to give them a ride do so, if you have to pay for a plane ticket please try to do so, if they need transportation of any kind help to arrange it, heck, IF you have to carry them to the polls to VOTE FOR THE DEMOCRAT ED MARKEY DO SO.
Make NO mistake this is a VERY important election. Do not let Republicans steal this as they have stolen others -- GOTV -- GET OUT TO VOTE AND GET OUT THE VOTE FOR ED MARKEY.
THERE IS NO KIDDING AROUND EDWARD MARKEY IS THE ONLY CHOICE FOR THE US SENATE SEAT NEXT TO THE GREAT ELIZABETH WARREN. NEVER FORGET ALWAYS REMEMBER WHAT THE OBSTRUCTIONIST REPUBLICAN KNOW NOTHINGS HAVE DONE TO YOU AND TO OUR COUNTRY. VOTE THEEXPERIENCED ED MARKEY ON JUNE 25. YOU, YOUR CHILDREN AND YOUR CHILDREN'S CHILDREN WILL BE GLAD YOU DID!!!
Forward this to anyone you choose!
Saturday, June 22, 2013
The Polio Price Coming to a Village Near You
The MSNBC article posted here or below is entitled "Pakistan aid workers pay the ultimate price for the killing of Osama bin Laden." It is chilling as it describes efforts by Pakistani officials to carve out areas which will NOT allow health workers to administer the polio vaccine. The politics of this are stunning and one can read the extremist rationales behind it in the article.
Those most impacted and to whom my heart goes out are the children who know no politics. Those nations that have been polio free often do not realize the life sentence that will be handed out when a nation state allows and even demands children go unvaccinated. The innocent are the true tragedy of the Middle East mayhem. The innocent get slaughtered. War does that doncha know.
As one who knows polio first hand I know it is a disease monstrosity. Polio as a child ruins or severely impacts the entirety of one's life. It is brutal in its scope. Most of those unvaccinated will suffer the often secondary severe orthopedic wrath of its impact. The ramifications of viral infection are, to say the least, devastating and if one acquires bulbar polio which affects nerves cells that control breathing and the brain stem one will most likely die as there probably are no sophisticated iron lungs or complex technological equipment in underdeveloped nations to keep the afflicted alive.
It is a brutal price the innocent have to pay for adult folly and it will mean decades of unnecessary suffering for them. The disease requires the necessity of a variety orthopedic equipment and even surgeries (if they can get surgery) to be administered when young so that the paralyzed limbs and young bone structures, attendant maladies of the nerve-cell-attacking virus, grow correctly. Some, if they acquire the virus in third world countries, will have their legs amputated or be relegated to moving wooden sleds close to the ground. It will be and in some areas is a pitiful sight. Even with the best medical advancement the deformities can be and often are gruesome. And it is expensive. There is no cure and the paralysis that ensues cannot be medically reversed. There is only life saving vaccination prevention. Whatever nation's objections to anything any other nation may have done, I implore that they NOT take it out on the children with lack of immunization against polio.
Polio is a killer of the functioning of bodies and it is a killer of the spirit as it wreaks its psychological havoc too, even more so in nations poisoned by superstition and the dogmas of irrational belief.
It is a virus not to be ignored and it is an equal opportunity employer. In 1921 it affected US President Roosevelt as it affected the poorest of the poor. Polio is an equal opportunity employer as it does NOT discriminate and it can strike anyone who is unvaccinated in a town, a city or a village near you.
http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/06/22/19043539-pakistan-aid-workers-pay-the-ultimate-price-for-the-killing-of-osama-bin-laden?threadId=3751522&commentId=77044334#c77044334
Those most impacted and to whom my heart goes out are the children who know no politics. Those nations that have been polio free often do not realize the life sentence that will be handed out when a nation state allows and even demands children go unvaccinated. The innocent are the true tragedy of the Middle East mayhem. The innocent get slaughtered. War does that doncha know.
As one who knows polio first hand I know it is a disease monstrosity. Polio as a child ruins or severely impacts the entirety of one's life. It is brutal in its scope. Most of those unvaccinated will suffer the often secondary severe orthopedic wrath of its impact. The ramifications of viral infection are, to say the least, devastating and if one acquires bulbar polio which affects nerves cells that control breathing and the brain stem one will most likely die as there probably are no sophisticated iron lungs or complex technological equipment in underdeveloped nations to keep the afflicted alive.
It is a brutal price the innocent have to pay for adult folly and it will mean decades of unnecessary suffering for them. The disease requires the necessity of a variety orthopedic equipment and even surgeries (if they can get surgery) to be administered when young so that the paralyzed limbs and young bone structures, attendant maladies of the nerve-cell-attacking virus, grow correctly. Some, if they acquire the virus in third world countries, will have their legs amputated or be relegated to moving wooden sleds close to the ground. It will be and in some areas is a pitiful sight. Even with the best medical advancement the deformities can be and often are gruesome. And it is expensive. There is no cure and the paralysis that ensues cannot be medically reversed. There is only life saving vaccination prevention. Whatever nation's objections to anything any other nation may have done, I implore that they NOT take it out on the children with lack of immunization against polio.
Polio is a killer of the functioning of bodies and it is a killer of the spirit as it wreaks its psychological havoc too, even more so in nations poisoned by superstition and the dogmas of irrational belief.
It is a virus not to be ignored and it is an equal opportunity employer. In 1921 it affected US President Roosevelt as it affected the poorest of the poor. Polio is an equal opportunity employer as it does NOT discriminate and it can strike anyone who is unvaccinated in a town, a city or a village near you.
http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/06/22/19043539-pakistan-aid-workers-pay-the-ultimate-price-for-the-killing-of-osama-bin-laden?threadId=3751522&commentId=77044334#c77044334
Friday, June 21, 2013
A FABULOUS BOOK
The NYT statistician (do not fear) genius Nate Silver's book: "The Signal and the Noise. Why So Many Predictions Fail — but Some Don't" is a fabulous book and an easy read to boot! I cannot put it down. Here or below.
Can get it on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/The-Signal-Noise-Many-Predictions/dp/159420411X
Can get it on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/The-Signal-Noise-Many-Predictions/dp/159420411X
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Sites of Inspiration
For all of you on my personal list who are in Mass and inclined to vote for the Democrat Ed Markey for US Senate on June 25th or if you are undecided you may be interested in the following email I received from Norma Shulman (a worker extraordinaire) of Markey headquarters with videos of President Clinton's appearance for Markey with Elizabeth Warren and others accompanying them in Worcester last week.
Also enclosed is a video by the comic Jimmy Tingle -- I entitle it Canvassing can be Fun!
Please if you are not interested in any of the itemized things below and if you do nothing else but VOTE casting one for Ed Markey on June 25 we are grateful for your efforts which will, I think you will agree, be worth it.
A Republican, should for most of you, be out of the question. Remember Republicans are NOT about most of you. Do not be duped. Republicans are about the top 1% of wealth.
Vote for the advocate for the 99%, ED MARKEY, ON JUNE 25, 2013 to sit in the US Senate seat next to the historic and great Elizabeth Warren!
Best,
Natalie
-----Original Message-----
From: Norma Shulman
Sent: Tue, Jun 18, 2013 9:17 am
Subject: Final debate tonight and videos to inspire you!
Election Day is Tuesday, June 25th - just SEVEN days away!
Please remember to vote and remind your family and friends.
If you've thought about getting involved but you're not sure you're ready to come canvassing with us, check out this video from comedian Jimmy Tingle who shows how canvassing can be easy & FUN!
http://bit.ly/16uvbWS
If you could not get to Worcester for the rally with President Clinton, we brought the rally to you. See Mayor Joe Petty, Congressman Jim McGovern, Senator Elizabeth Warren, and President Bill Clinton supporting Ed Markey!
http://youtu.be/HASsFZj-AUk
The last debate is tonight at 7 PM on channels 5 and 7.
Remember, next Tuesday, June 25th! Just a few days to make a difference. Even an hour from each person reading this email would make a huge contribution to the results.
Let Wade know by email or phone (see the office contact information below my signature):
What day(s) you are available (June 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, and/or Election Day June 25).
Indicate if you are interesting in canvassing, hanging door signs reminding people to vote, poll checking (observing), phoning, or other ways to help. Note that we can train you to make calls from home.
Do you have a cell phone that can access the internet?
Do you have a laptop?
Norma
--
We’re Ready for the Special Senate Election! Are you?
Norma Shulman
****************
Markey Regional Campaign Office
303 Worcester Rd, Framingham
781-690-3809
wade@edmarkey.org
Please if you are not interested in any of the itemized things below and if you do nothing else but VOTE casting one for Ed Markey on June 25 we are grateful for your efforts which will, I think you will agree, be worth it.
A Republican, should for most of you, be out of the question. Remember Republicans are NOT about most of you. Do not be duped. Republicans are about the top 1% of wealth.
Vote for the advocate for the 99%, ED MARKEY, ON JUNE 25, 2013 to sit in the US Senate seat next to the historic and great Elizabeth Warren!
Best,
Natalie
-----Original Message-----
From: Norma Shulman
Sent: Tue, Jun 18, 2013 9:17 am
Subject: Final debate tonight and videos to inspire you!
Election Day is Tuesday, June 25th - just SEVEN days away!
Please remember to vote and remind your family and friends.
If you've thought about getting involved but you're not sure you're ready to come canvassing with us, check out this video from comedian Jimmy Tingle who shows how canvassing can be easy & FUN!
http://bit.ly/16uvbWS
If you could not get to Worcester for the rally with President Clinton, we brought the rally to you. See Mayor Joe Petty, Congressman Jim McGovern, Senator Elizabeth Warren, and President Bill Clinton supporting Ed Markey!
http://youtu.be/HASsFZj-AUk
The last debate is tonight at 7 PM on channels 5 and 7.
Remember, next Tuesday, June 25th! Just a few days to make a difference. Even an hour from each person reading this email would make a huge contribution to the results.
Let Wade know by email or phone (see the office contact information below my signature):
What day(s) you are available (June 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, and/or Election Day June 25).
Indicate if you are interesting in canvassing, hanging door signs reminding people to vote, poll checking (observing), phoning, or other ways to help. Note that we can train you to make calls from home.
Do you have a cell phone that can access the internet?
Do you have a laptop?
Norma
--
We’re Ready for the Special Senate Election! Are you?
Norma Shulman
****************
Markey Regional Campaign Office
303 Worcester Rd, Framingham
781-690-3809
wade@edmarkey.org
Sunday, June 16, 2013
GOTV MATTERS MORE THAN ENCOURAGING POLLS
I am thrilled about the polling news I see (Globe article linked below) BUT we must NEVER forget that that will mean nothing without significant GOTV (Get Out the Vote) efforts. We must get all those who will vote for the Democrat Ed Markey on June 25, 2013 out to vote; we must get Independents who will vote for Ed Markey out to vote; and most of all we must get the still undecided out to vote for Ed Markey on June 25.
We who know and love Ed Markey understand his positions are INFINITELY superior to the Republican candidate. We who know and love him understand the following:
1. Ed Markey takes on the NRA;
2. Ed Markey Protects Social Security and Medicare;
3. Ed Markey is pro choice;
4. Ed Markey has and will continue to act for the environment and against climate change.
We MUST translate what we know to those who may know Ed Markey less well. I believe we WILL do that but we can only do that if we GOTV! Spread the message to every village and farm that Ed Markey is for the 99% and that his Republican opponent will vote as he will be instructed to vote by the Republican Party of obstructionism and that is for the 1% wealthiest American. The Republican Party is NOT about most of you.
WHY IT IS IMPERATIVE TO GOTV FOR DEMOCRAT ED MARKEY FOR US SENATE ON JUNE 25TH AND TO IN 2014 ELECT DEMOCRATS EVERYWHERE ELSE. THE REPUBLICAN PARTY OF OBSTRUCTIONISM IS NOT ABOUT MOST OF YOU NO MATTER WHERE YOU LIVE. VOTE DEMOCRATIC PARTY ACROSS THE NATION TO SAVE YOUR LIFE, YOUR CHILDREN'S LIFE, THE NATION'S LIFE AND THE PLANET ITSELF! FORWARD THIS TO WHOMEVER YOU CHOOSE.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/06/15/markey-leads-gomez-double-digits-new-poll/i6NM7vs5fPIS07fj9s1tRO/comments.html?ia=18334925
We who know and love Ed Markey understand his positions are INFINITELY superior to the Republican candidate. We who know and love him understand the following:
1. Ed Markey takes on the NRA;
2. Ed Markey Protects Social Security and Medicare;
3. Ed Markey is pro choice;
4. Ed Markey has and will continue to act for the environment and against climate change.
We MUST translate what we know to those who may know Ed Markey less well. I believe we WILL do that but we can only do that if we GOTV! Spread the message to every village and farm that Ed Markey is for the 99% and that his Republican opponent will vote as he will be instructed to vote by the Republican Party of obstructionism and that is for the 1% wealthiest American. The Republican Party is NOT about most of you.
WHY IT IS IMPERATIVE TO GOTV FOR DEMOCRAT ED MARKEY FOR US SENATE ON JUNE 25TH AND TO IN 2014 ELECT DEMOCRATS EVERYWHERE ELSE. THE REPUBLICAN PARTY OF OBSTRUCTIONISM IS NOT ABOUT MOST OF YOU NO MATTER WHERE YOU LIVE. VOTE DEMOCRATIC PARTY ACROSS THE NATION TO SAVE YOUR LIFE, YOUR CHILDREN'S LIFE, THE NATION'S LIFE AND THE PLANET ITSELF! FORWARD THIS TO WHOMEVER YOU CHOOSE.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/06/15/markey-leads-gomez-double-digits-new-poll/i6NM7vs5fPIS07fj9s1tRO/comments.html?ia=18334925
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