Don't call me Ni&&er, Whitey

Georgia Republican Rep. Lynn Westmoreland used the racially-tinged term "uppity" to describe Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama Thursday.

Westmoreland was discussing vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin's speech with reporters outside the House chamber and was asked to compare her with Michelle Obama.

"Just from what little I’ve seen of her and Mr. Obama, Sen. Obama, they're a member of an elitist-class individual that thinks that they're uppity," Westmoreland said.

Asked to clarify that he used the word “uppity,” Westmoreland said, “Uppity, yeah.”

And while confirming his statement he said

I’ve never heard that term used in a racially derogatory sense. It is important to note that the dictionary definition of ‘uppity’ is ‘affecting an air of inflated self-esteem -- snobbish.’ That’s what we meant by uppity when we used it in the mill village where I grew up.

Yep, I'm sure that little GEORGIA town that he grew up in during the 1950's only used the Oxford dictionary definition. Yeah, I heard that same word phrase when I lived in the North and traveled thru the South in the 60's.

Well there you have it. I want to think McCain & Co have seriously miscalculated the pitch of this dog whistle, but maybe it's just as calculated as it is shameless. e.g. where are all the calls for McCain and the RNC to denounce Westmoreland!?

...crickets ... crickets ... crickets.

As much as the WATB scream sexism about Palin, they're the ones who want to make women, GLBT's and people of color second class citizens.

Bastards. Cracker bastards. (And by 'cracker' I mean "1. a thin, crispy whitebread biscuit."




Cross posted at VidiotSpeak

From one who knows Palin

She lists the defects and lies:

McCain is the oldest person to ever run for President; Sarah will be a heartbeat away from being President.

There has to be literally millions of Americans who are more knowledgeable and experienced than she.

However, there’s a lot of people who have underestimated her and are regretting it.

Claim versus Fact:

* “Hockey mom”: true for a few years
* “PTA mom”: true years ago when her first-born was in elementary school, not since
* “NRA supporter”: absolutely true
* Social conservative: mixed. Opposes gay marriage, BUT vetoed a bill that would have denied benefits to employees in same-sex relationships (said she did this because it was unconstitutional).
* Pro-creationism: mixed. Supports it, BUT did nothing as Governor to promote it.
* “Pro-life”: mixed. Knowingly gave birth to a Down’s syndrome baby BUT declined to call a special legislative session on some pro-life legislation
* “Experienced”: Some high schools have more students than Wasilla has residents. Many cities have more residents than the state of Alaska. No legislative experience other than City Council. Little hands-on supervisory or managerial experience; needed help of a city administrator to run town of about 5,000.
* Political maverick: not at all
* Gutsy: absolutely!
* Open & transparent: ??? Good at keeping secrets. Not good at explaining actions.
* Has a developed philosophy of public policy: no
* A “Greenie”: no. Turned Wasilla into a wasteland of big box stores and disconnected parking lots. Is pro-drilling off-shore and in ANWR.
* Fiscal conservative: not by my definition!
* Pro-infrastructure: No. Promoted a sports complex and park in a city without a sewage treatment plant or storm drainage system. Built streets to early 20th century standards.
* Pro-tax relief: Lowered taxes for businesses, increased tax burden on residents
* Pro-small government: No. Oversaw greatest expansion of city government in Wasilla’s history.
* Pro-labor/pro-union. No. Just because her husband works union doesn’t make her pro-labor. I have seen nothing to support any claim that she is pro-labor/pro-union.

Update: For those who want more information, here is an excellent run down at the Huffington Post.


crossposted at Rants from the Rookery

"Mavericks!"

And now it's gone, it doesn't matter anymore

(Fleetwood Mac-Sara)

Want to know everything about Sarah "Baked Alaska" Palin? It only takes knowing 2 things:

1. Rigidly anti-Choice,
2. pro-Creationism.

That's all. From those 2 things, all else follows.

Biblically, there are 2 parts to Salvation: Grace (being saved), and Works (doing Christian deeds). Most Catholics and old-school Protestants relied on both, Grace, of course, but with a healthy dose of Works because it was the right thing to do.

Modern Evangelicals put all their eggs in the Grace basket. And sadly, in my observation, many of them completely fail the Works test.

Palin is a prime example of this. Seeking self-aggrandizement and satisfaction, punishing and belittling others who don't do her wishes, lack of concern about real-world issues including her job duties, but it's all OK because she's Saved.

While some Evangelicals seem to truly exhibit the traits mentioned in the Sermon On The Mount, many I have known, and I have known many, don't. I don't mean the Epic Fails of Jimmy Swaggart, Ted Haggard, etc., I mean the failure to live in a way that reflects one's supposed belief:

• Drive a gas-guzzler when you're admonished to be a good steward? But I'm saved.
• Cheat on taxes when you're told to render unto Caesar what is Caesar's? But I'm saved.

While these are typical hypocrisies, they may or may not apply to Palin. But . . .

Evangelicals condemn Moral Relativism, yet Palin doesn't seem to be the "help-meet" to her husband that Evangelicals believe the Bible requires.

Evangelicals condemn Situational Ethics, yet Palin's callous increasing of Wasilla's debt doesn't seem to bother her sense of Stewardship.

Evangelicals tout the 10 Commandments, yet Palin's continuous lying doesn't seem to bother her conscience. She keeps telling the jet/ebay story, now thoroughly debunked.

But that's OK, because she is saved.

Watch Closely Now

If the real thing don't do the trick, you'd better make up something quick

(Heart [Ann & Nancy Wilson] with Fergie)

Republicans, especially around campaign season, have a long history of stealing. The party of personal responsibility, law & order, and property rights, seems to always forget that intellectual property matters too. Perhaps because they have no intellectual property of their own.

So last night and tonight, to celebrate the blood-thirsty cheerleader Sarah Palin, they used the song "Barracuda", by Heart:

Blasting through the Republican convention hall is the 1977 hit "Barracuda" by rock band Heart.

It's a shout-out to Sarah Palin. When she played basketball in high school, the soon-to-be Republican vice presidential nominee earned the nickname "Sarah barracuda" for her fierce competitiveness.

Some of her opponents revived the "Sarah barracuda" nickname after she became mayor of her hometown, Wasilla, in 1996, defeating a three-term incumbent.

Yeah. See, her fierce competitiveness won her 616 votes in a town of 6000. That's 10% of the vote. I got your mandate right here.

But as usual, the Right wants to use anyone's property in the pursuit of their own goals. Jackson Browne, Bruce Springsteen, John Hall, and John Mellencamp have all protested. Had they been asked, they still would have said no, because the above musicians vote Democratic.

But they were never asked, the songs were just used, as if they belonged to everyone. So how did the women of Heart respond?

This afternoon, Heart emailed out a statement regarding vice-presidential candidate Sarah "Barracuda" Palin's use of their similarly monikered song at the Republican National Convention: "The Republican campaign did not ask for permission to use the song, nor would they have been granted that permission," it read. "We have asked the Republican campaign publicly not to use our music. We hope our wishes will be honored."

But after McCain finished his speech accepting the GOP's presidential nomination tonight, Palin joined him on stage, and the song was used again: Heart's "Barracuda" played as balloons fell. With that elephant in the room, Heart's Nancy Wilson felt compelled to personally respond. "I think it's completely unfair to be so misrepresented," she said in a phone call to EW.com after the speech. "I feel completely f---ed over." She and sister Ann Wilson then emailed the following exclusive statement:

"Sarah Palin's views and values in NO WAY represent us as American women. We ask that our song 'Barracuda' no longer be used to promote her image. The song 'Barracuda' was written in the late 70s as a scathing rant against the soulless, corporate nature of the music business, particularly for women. (The 'barracuda' represented the business.) While Heart did not and would not authorize the use of their song at the RNC, there's irony in Republican strategists' choice to make use of it there."

And so the soulless, corporate, thieving nature of the Republican Party continues to steal, plunder, and pillage anything they want.

Bastards.

And Sarah? Your snotty, entitled, pep rally act will have little staying power. People tire of the cheap, and shallow. Except on soap operas, where we expect such drama.

The Gramm Stain

Phil Gramm Says McCain Supporters Aren't `Whiners'

Phil Gramm excluded John McCain supporters from his description of Americans as ``a nation of whiners,'' the characterization that forced his exit from the Republican presidential candidate's campaign in July.

``If you're sitting here today, you're not economically illiterate and you're not a whiner, so I'm not worried about who you're going to vote for,'' the former Texas senator told attendees at a Financial Services Roundtable event in Minneapolis on the sidelines of the Republican National Convention.
[...]
Many of those who attended the event came from the financial community, including representatives of Minneapolis-based U.S. Bancorp and the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America.

Two things immediately spring to mind:

1) So anyone who doesn't support McCain is a 'whiner.'

Yeah, all those bank failures, our jobs being sent overseas, our homes being foreclosed, $40k buys less than $30k did 7 years ago, the fact that when oilyman Bush came in office gas was $1.34 and now it's $3.97 is just because we're whiners. (OK, I'm done 'whining' now.)

2) John McCain said

Phil Gramm doesn't speak for me.

But apparently the Gramm stain was positive because, and I quote:

At today's event, Gramm also defended McCain's selection of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to be his vice presidential running mate.

``We went through a process of vetting all possible candidates,'' narrowing it down to three before choosing Palin, he said.

So Phil Gramm doesn't speak for McCain, he was fired from McCain's campaign, but he was involved in the vetting process of McCain's VP candidate!?

Heckuva job Phil!

Cross posted at VidiotSpeak

Into the valley of Death, Rode the six five hundred.

500th U.S. service member dies in Afghanistan

[...]
Twenty-two U.S. service members were killed in Afghanistan in August, part of a recent increase in American deaths there. In June, 28 U.S. service members died in Afghanistan -- the United States' highest one-month total in that country.

Including deaths from the United States' coalition partners, 46 service members were killed in August, equaling the coalition total for June. Forty-six is the highest one-month total for coalition forces.

But that's just 'us', what about 'them'?

UN backs Afghan civilian deaths claims

The US-led coalition has acknowledged that five civilians - two women and three children - were killed in the air strikes in Herat.

An Afghan investigation has already found that the strikes killed 90 civilians.

Now the human rights team with the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan says it has found convincing evidence that 90 civilians were killed in the attack, including 60 children.

It shouldn't need repeating, but as I've said before, if you use air strikes in a civilian populated area to kill alleged extremists ... let's just say the cure is worse than the disease.

Here's a math question: How many lives of innocent civilians are worth the life of a 'terrorist?' Follow up: How many 'terrorists' are created from their surviving family members when you kill innocent people?
Your time is up, put down your pencils. (Note to Bushco; next time show work.)

While Americans, and our media, are distracted by the dog & pony donkey & elephant show this is a reminder of the blood that's shed for their bread & circuses.



Cross posted at VidiotSpeak

Do unto others what has been done to me

One of the best and earliest indicators (to a public not completely sunk in a miasma of their own stupidity) that George Bush and Karl Rove were craven opportunists capable of any act was their willingness to use base personal calumnies in the form of innuendos, not against an opponent themselves, but instead their families.

The racist attacks levied against then-candidate John McCain's adopted daughter in 2000 as a dog-whistle stratagem for electoral success were most effective, achieving the desired result of push-polling low-information voters in a conservative, race-sensitive environment to a negative conclusion regarding McCain, who at the time appeared to be a popular choice based on his national service records and public perceptions of character.

At the end of the day just another 'mission accomplished' for a crew of larcenous scumbags bent on looting the national exchequer upon taking office - A pattern which, if one bothers to glance at the Bush family history with a critical eye, might lead to the conclusion that this shows a genetic predisposition to crime.

Now, let us move forward to today - 2008, where we read that the Republican Presidential candidate, John McCain, the man whose daughter was so callously slandered by opponents seeking an easy win to commence their depredations, has engaged the services of one of the individuals who slandered him almost a decade ago in an attempt to bolster his standings.

I refuse to acknowledge the necessity of this act, saying as strongly as it does that there is no moral center remaining within McCain, no polluted Rubicon left to cross when a man who appears so desperate to be perceived as a 'family values' candidate will engage the services of those who used the innocents within his charge as an element of a calculatedly racist smear campaign.

"At long last, have you left no sense of decency?"

I Ain't Got No Body