Author: luimbe

George McGovern (b. 1922 – d. 2012)

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McGovern was a liberal standard bearer.

lessons learned or ignored during McGovern’s race against Nixon have profoundly shaped our political environment. Hillary and Bill Clinton worked for him. Believing he was a more virtuous, dutiful public servant than Nixon and then seeing him lose to Nixon and then being proven right probably had a profound effect on how they operated politically.

Stacey Dash isn’t your problem

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In calling Stacey Dash bullshit as opposed to calling her views bullshit, people are engaging in misogyny (directly by berating her on twitter) and inward hatred of black autonomy. Not acknowledging that a black person can come to a different point of view, cultural orientation and political ethic than the majority of black folks is part and parcel of denying the existence of black humanity and in feeling free to berate her, engaging in ugly misogyny.Do those intent on calling Stacey Dash a “house nigger” think there aren’t any “niggers” being slung at Oprah Winfrey or Kerry Washington by snail mail, e-mail or twitter for outwardly supporting President Obama? Well, they are in the same boat as those folks. Props to folks like Russell Simmons for putting that in basic terms:

He [Russell Simmons] disagrees with her but as he continues, “Here’s my point: Being angry Progressives is equally as bad as being angry Conservatives. And I don’t support it. In fact, I admire her courage and I support her right to use her voice, even if I personally think her opinions are misguided and “bullshit.”

source: Russell Simmons Defends Stacey Dash’s Romney Endorsement…Sorta.

To me, being angry that Dash supports Romney is really the work of cowards. Being a performer, she probably lives in a state that Obama will win handily.

The political failure in outwardly assailing Dash’s views is that she has no constituency. There’s no value in it for the rest of us.

No one follows Dash or sees her as any kind of political thought leader. At least, no one of consequence to the black diaspora in America. Mega Church preachers with thousands in the pews and thousands more listening online who stomp around and say gay marriage destroys manhood, (because some gay dude getting married somewhere sets off some kind of chaotic butterfly effect of homosexuality across the universe) have constituency they can move to not support liberals like President Obama and Vice President Biden who support gay marriage and marriage equality. If they even shame some of their constituents from rounding up their family and making them go to the polls, than they may be impacting Obama in North Carolina or Virginia, two Obama 2008 states that the President may not win in 2012.

Remember, fear of marriage equality was a 2004 wedge issue that gave Bush a larger share of the black vote than his platform should have garnered. These black preachers used currency afforded them by strong ties to civil rights movement to make religious people of all colors feel more comfortable about excluding gays from the legacy of the ever expanding civil rights movement. (Like when Romney went to the NAACP or black charter schools in West Philly, it wasn’t for the black people it was to show suburban whites any dog whistle politics was just our imaginations because he is tots comfortable around the folks).

George W. Bush used that 2nd term to throw more of our black men and women in uniform into Iraq and under-staff the ones who were serving in Afghanistan, ratchet up the privatization of schools with NCLB, let the banks continue to run wild serving sub-prime mortgages to our black and brown neighbors and to appoint a FEMA director that knew nothing about disaster abatement or emergency measures so 5 years into this still new century, we had such advanced technology to be able to see and hear the super dome while our fellow black Americans starved and drowned in New Orleans. Bush also appointed some awesome Supreme court justices in that second term, namely a very conservative John Roberts and ultra conservative Sam Alito! (man 2005 sucked). But at least gays aren’t getting married!

If you really believe you are being sold out, who even has the voting constituency to sell out? Your anti-marriage equality preacher with sermons heard by full pews and online viewers? Or Stacey Dash? Who deserves the talking to, and how should you talk to them? I don’t think “house nigger” really does anything to protect our homes. Neither does assailing Dash. If we believe in the value of President Obama’s candidacy, then we’ve got to understand the most valuable ways to advocate for that candidacy. Stacey Dash’s politics are perplexing, but not poisonous to us. I can say directly opposite of black preachers saying that we straight christian blacks should be bigoted against LGBT Americans.

Voter Forms thrown in dumpster in Va, connection to Republicans exists

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Yes, because people without a driver’s license commit all the voter fraud:

His office began investigating after the manager at a Tuesday Morning store in Harrisonburg, Va., allegedly spotted a man on Monday afternoon throwing eight voter registration forms into a dumpster behind the shopping center where he works.source: Virginia Sheriff Investigating GOP Tie To Trashed Voter Forms | TPMMuckraker.

they don’t want people to vote so they can win.

On Juan Castillo, ex-eagles coordinator…

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Juan Castillo, who was put in an impossible situation by Andy Reid has been fired by the Eagles organization:

“My job was to bring a championship and I didn’t get it done.

I feel bad for coach Reid, that I didn’t get it done for him, for the city, and for Mr. Lurie.”

You said once, you’d take a bullet for him.

“I’d still do that right now. All we ask in life is an opportunity. And I had an opportunity. And what hurts is you got to take advantage of opportunity, that’s life. That’s what you have to do, and I did not take advantage of opportunity. It hurts my family, it hurts coach Reid, it hurts Mr. Lurie, it hurts the city.”

source: For Some Strange Reason, Juan Castillo Says He Would Still Take a Bullet for Andy Reid, Who F$%@ed Him – Crossing Broad via Castillo: I’d Still Take a Bullet for Reid | NBC 10 Philadelphia.

Barring a miraculous comeback, Andy Reid is done. The last time we made the playoffs and won a game: McNabb was our starter and Kurt Warner, Chad Pennington, Jake Delhomme and Tavaris Jackson were QBs starting for playoff teams. We went to the Super Bowl in the 2004/05 season.

Castillo has been in Philly for years (since 1995). A bit longer than Reid actually, so this is a big big move. I believed from the beginning of the season, the Eagles would be 7-9. This doesn’t give me confidence to reach even 7 wins.

Binders full of women

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First off, Romney lied about how he got the “binders”. 2nd: how did he not know about women who were eligible to be in charge?

“Please proceed Governor” – politely letting Romney walk the plank

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This is when Romney thought he had the debate in hand:

OBAMA: Secretary Clinton has done an extraordinary job. But she works for me. I’m the president and I’m always responsible, and that’s why nobody’s more interested in finding out exactly what happened than I do.

The day after the attack, governor, I stood in the Rose Garden and I told the American people in the world that we are going to find out exactly what happened. That this was an act of terror and I also said that we’re going to hunt down those who committed this crime.

And then a few days later, I was there greeting the caskets coming into Andrews Air Force Base and grieving with the families.

And the suggestion that anybody in my team, whether the Secretary of State, our U.N. Ambassador, anybody on my team would play politics or mislead when we’ve lost four of our own, governor, is offensive. That’s not what we do. That’s not what I do as president, that’s not what I do as Commander in Chief.

Romney aggressively, moved in for what he thought would be the kill, and Obama implored him: “Please proceed Governor”….

Romney, walked right into a trap he built for himself:

CROWLEY: Governor, if you want to…

ROMNEY: Yes, I — I…

CROWLEY: … quickly to this please.

ROMNEY: I — I think interesting the president just said something which — which is that on the day after the attack he went into the Rose Garden and said that this was an act of terror.

OBAMA: That’s what I said.

ROMNEY: You said in the Rose Garden the day after the attack, it was an act of terror.

It was not a spontaneous demonstration, is that what you’re saying?

OBAMA: Please proceed governor.

ROMNEY: I want to make sure we get that for the record because it took the president 14 days before he called the attack in Benghazi an act of terror.

OBAMA: Get the transcript.

CROWLEY: It — it — it — he did in fact, sir. So let me — let me call it an act of terror…

OBAMA: Can you say that a little louder, Candy?

CROWLEY: He — he did call it an act of terror. It did as well take — it did as well take two weeks or so for the whole idea there being a riot out there about this tape to come out. You are correct about that.

ROMNEY: This — the administration — the administration indicated this was a reaction to a video and was a spontaneous reaction.

CROWLEY: It did.

ROMNEY: It took them a long time to say this was a terrorist act by a terrorist group. And to suggest — am I incorrect in that regard, on Sunday, the — your secretary —

OBAMA: Candy?

Romney’s response was a product of his party’s own cultivation of warped perceptions, not the truth. Let me explain: while President Obama was busy dealing with the September 11th 2012 attacks on US Embassies Romney was busy turning Libya into political point scoring opportunity to appease his base. This strategy was made evident in the less popular parts of the 47% tape:

Questioner: I think it had to do with the fact that the Iranians perceived Reagan… That’s why I’m suggesting that something that you say over the next few months gets the Iranians to understand that their pursuit of the bomb is something that you would prevent. And I think that’s something that could possibly resonate very well with the American public.

Romney: I appreciate the idea. One of the things that’s frustrating to me is that in a typical day like this, when I do three or four events like this, the number of foreign policy questions I get are between zero and one. And the American people are not concentrated at all on China, on Russia, Iran, Iraq. This President’s failure to put in place a status of forces agreement allowing ten to twenty thousand troops to stay in Iraq- unthinkable! And yet, in that election, in the Jimmy Carter election, the fact that we had hostages in Iran, I mean, that was all we talked about. And we had the two helicopters crash in the desert, I mean, that was the focus, and so him solving that made all the difference in the world. I’m afraid today that if you simply got Iran to agree to stand down on nuclear weapons, they’d go, “Now hold on. It’s really a-” I mean, if something of that nature presents itself I will work to find a way to take advantage of the opportunity.

Instead of actually paying attention to what the president said the day after the attack on September 12th in the Rose Garden during his Presidential Address and at a campaign stop September 13th the next day he was using his own campaigns lazy opposition research, Fox News, the manufactured outrage of politicians like Darrell Issa (who voted for funding for cuts to State Department security funding) and Drudge and Limbaugh pumped theories as primary sources about the President’s response to Libya. The right will forever hate Candy Crowley because she dared pipe up with the truth that contradicted Romney’s foolish attack. They should harbor resentment Mitt Romney for not being careful enough.

Note: I appreciate Martha Raddatz and Candy Crowley ignoring these inane rules negotiated by the campaigns. Not that I consider Jim Lehrer a bad a calamity like everyone else, but the point of a debate is to get the candidates answering questions, making assertions and challenging each other. Raddatz and Crowley got a lot of it from the Vice Presidential and Presidential candidates.

Where you’ll always find them

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Always telegraphing their own infidelities when they accuse others of being awful people because of unmarried sexy-time:
Dinesh D’Souza is facing some tough questions from his fellow Christians over a night spent in a hotel room with a woman he introduced as a his fiancée – despite still having a wife..

 

Where you’ll always find them: scurrying around hotel rooms, rest stops and airport bathrooms violating the same sacred morals they use to judge everyone else as godless heathens who are ruining the world.

Free to say it not, not free from consequence: Reddit Troll Edition

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Free to say it not, not free from consequence: Reddit Troll Violentacrez Exposed by Gawker’s Adrien Chen

“It’s amazing how much you can sweat in a 60 degree office,” he said with a nervous laugh.

Judging from his internet footprint, Brutsch, 49, has a lot to sweat over. If you are capable of being offended, Brutsch has almost certainly done something that would offend you, then did his best to rub your face in it. His speciality is distributing images of scantily-clad underage girls, but as Violentacrez he also issued an unending fountain of racism, porn, gore, misogyny, incest, and exotic abominations yet unnamed, all on the sprawling online community Reddit. At the time I called Brutsch, his latest project was moderating a new section of Reddit where users posted covert photos they had taken of women in public, usually close-ups of their asses or breasts, for a voyeuristic sexual thrill. It was called “Creepshots.” Now Brutsch was the one feeling exposed and it didn’t suit him very well.

But Michael Brutsch is more than a monster. Online, Violentacrez has been one of Reddit’s most reviled characters but also one of its most beloved users. The self-described “creepy uncle of Reddit” has played a little-known but crucial role in Reddit’s development into the online juggernaut it is today. In real life, Brutsch is a military father and cat-lover. He lives with his wife in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. There are many sides to Violentacrez, and now that I had Michael Brutsch on the phone I hoped to find out where the troll ended and the real person began.

[…]

And with Jailbait, Violentacrez decided to create a safe space for people sexually attracted to underage girls to share their photo stashes. I would call these people pedophiles; the Jailbait subreddit called them “ephebophiles.” Jailbait was the online equivalent of systematized street harassment. Users posted snapshots of tween and teenage girls, often in bikinis and skirts. Many of these were lifted from their Facebook accounts and thrown in front of Jailbait’s 20,000 horny subscribers.

[…]

Some of the sections Violentacrez created or moderated were called:

  • Chokeabitch
  • Niggerjailbait
  • Rapebait
  • Hitler
  • Jewmerica
  • Misogyny
  • Incest

You can look those up on Reddit and visit them if you’d like to ruin your day, but the content is self-explanatory.

[…]

“My wife is disabled. I got a home and a mortgage, and if this hits the fan, I believe this will affect negatively on my employment,” he said. “I do my job, go home watch TV, and go on the internet. I just like riling people up in my spare time.”

source: Unmasking Reddit’s Violentacrez, The Biggest Troll on the Web.

He gains enjoyment and status by being a racist, sexist, lecherous creep. He was legend among redditors. Nothing illegal about that, but there is something wrong with him not expecting there to be any cost for it. This is why people say they have some begrudging respect for overt bigots. They are proud to face the people they hate and embrace the cultural fallout and isolation that comes with his stance. Although fouled by ignorance, there is a willingness to accept the consequences of their belief that people can appreciate. He had not even that courage.

Note: Just like racism, the whole family is complicit. It’s a micro-cultural thing. It’s not a “it’s just dad’s b.s. thing” it’s a “it’s dad and the whole family is fine with dad’s b.s.” thing.

On “Taking the Fall”

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President Barack Obama stands with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton during the transfer of remains ceremony at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Sept. 14, 2012, marking the return to the United States of the remains of J. Christopher Stevens, U.S. Ambassador to Libya; Sean Smith, Information Management Officer; and Security Personnel Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods, who were killed in the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

4 people under Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s civilian command died. It’s not taking the fall.. It’s reminding a press rabid for points to be able to score and track in a presidential election that the State Department is a huge bureaucracy inside of the executive branch of the federal government. Hillary Clinton is in charge of that bureaucracy with a high degree of operational autonomy and in balancing embassy security requests with perceived need, they got it right at all the other US Embassies except that one. Period.

All this talk about bucks stopping places is for children and movies. This was a security request that wasn’t properly taken care of, the Secretary of State and her deputies are the people who handle these issues. In the end, issues may have with the placement of an embassy in Benghazi. Who knows. It’s just not something that I think is the most important question.

Underage laboring at Foxconn is not an “internship”

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Interns?

Electronics manufacturer Foxconn said Tuesday it found underage interns as young as 14 working at one of its factories in China.

Foxconn Technology Group said the interns were found by a company investigation at its factory in the eastern city of Yantai and were sent back to their schools. China’s minimum legal working age is 16.

source: Foxconn Says Underage Interns Found Working – ABC News.

Doesn’t sound like an internship to me.

Nets jump to New York illustrate The Perils of Mortgaging your city for a Sports Stadium

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Looking past all the excitement that millionaire Jay-Z took the subway.

Newark leased the Newark Airport and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey for $200m. All of this money was used to build the Prudential Center for the New Jersey Nets and the New Jersey Devils. Now the Nets have up and bolted to Brooklyn.(Prudential kicked in 100m for naming rights for two decades)

Newark is left with a stadium that will be utilized much less and collecting less revenue than expected and a 100m dollar sized hole in their budget.

Only so much ESPN you can trust

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“No one at ESPN will tell us what happened. Certainly the NBA office isn’t going to tell us what happened. One of the quotes from ESPN in there – we had discussions, but couldn’t agree on a role … as is usual, that’s a bunch of BS from ESPN.

source: Stan Van Gundy rips ESPN in interview | SI Tracking Blog – Tracking MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL, and NCAA On Twitter.

ESPN wants to pretend that their news and broadcasting organizations have some sort of inborn integrity, they don’t. They need to broadcast games and by that they will bend to a leagues wishes. But we knew this from the time ESPN took Playmakers off tv because the show hurt the NFL’s feelings.

The next debate

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The reason Romney could pretend he was a moderate is because what the base wants Romney to do is to berate, disrespect Obama and he did that with his I debate my 5 boys line. Remember, the Republican base loved the Eastwood/Chair conversation. They love Joe Wilson, Michelle Bachmann and the like. Orrin Hatch is fighting for his life. The Republican primary were full of contempt for Obama, not his policies (his policies were never presented in anything approximating good faith). It always goes back to:

“Nigger, nigger, nigger.” By 1968 you can’t say “nigger” — that hurts you. Backfires. So you say stuff like forced busing, states’ rights and all that stuff. You’re getting so abstract now [that] you’re talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you’re talking about are totally economic things and a byproduct of them is [that] blacks get hurt worse than whites. And subconsciously maybe that is part of it. I’m not saying that. But I’m saying that if it is getting that abstract, and that coded, that we are doing away with the racial problem one way or the other. You follow me — because obviously sitting around saying, “We want to cut this,” is much more abstract than even the busing thing, and a hell of a lot more abstract than “Nigger, nigger.”

The people in Obama’s inner circle may not get that, but that is what Republicans want their candidate to do.

Obama doesn’t need to throw back “liar” he needs to hit Romney on Bain/Let Detroit go Bankrupt/47% all debate and contrast that with his record. Reporting on Bain owned Sensata in the NY Time helps to bolster that:

It is often difficult to determine precisely how much Mr. Romney benefits from specific investments by Bain funds, since his money goes into a pool used to buy stakes in companies. In the case of Sensata, however, it is clearer because he reported a charitable donation of $405,000 in Sensata stock that he received as “partnership distributions” in 2010 and 2011, according to his tax returns.

Jiangsu Province, where most of the Freeport jobs are moving, is one of China’s designated “export bases” for auto parts. Asimco, the other auto parts manufacturer in Bain’s portfolio, also has factories in Jiangsu Province and three other regions designated as export bases.

The Chinese government incentives offered to companies in those “bases” set off a complaint from the United States to the World Trade Organization last month. The United States asserted that in 2011, China spent $1 billion on grants, tax preferences, lowered interest rates and other subsidies to increase exports of auto parts in violation of fair trade rules.

Mr. Romney has been critical of these types of Chinese incentives to bolster exports.

That complaint: set off by the Obama administration.

7.8% unemployment helps. Romney wanting to repeal medicare helps. Romney/Ryan tax cuts for rich while taking away deductions that many middle and low income Americans use helps. Stock market as high as it is help. Flip Flopping/lying allegations should be a supporting argument, not the main argument. Obama bet on American people, Romney bet against them. That’s the message. Period. No matter what he says, it’s what he will do that matters. The news media wants a confrontation, Obama needs to discredit Romney by crediting his record. Lead people to accept he is a liar.

Here are the Romneys calling Obama a child one way or another.

Mitt Romney:

Ann Romney:

Josh Romney: