Jack & Jill Politics

West Wing Week:

Good Afternoon.

Drop those links. Engage in debate. Give us trivia and gossip too.

And continue to have a peaceful day.

—-Pete Souza

Reprinted with permission of zizi2

THE TEABAGGERS’ RACE CONUNDRUM

I have been mulling the stark difference between Wingnuts attitude towards Obama the Presidential candidate, versus Obama the duly elected President who has to govern. What sharply turned on their hate switch? Why was he tolerable enough to be elected but needs to be delegitimized when he starts to govern?

The racial conundrum lies in the fact that wingnuts actually thought that the be all and end all of President Obama’s run was to fulfill the symbolic racial goal of “being the first African American President.” They thought that candidate Obama’s ultimate goal was realized on election night.

In fact during that much ballyhooed dinner at George Will’s house just before the inauguration, Krauthammer, Kristol, Peggy Noonan all came away claiming to have been impressed by Obama’s “deep thought and eloquence.” See, they were still thinking of him as an anthropological specimen/curiosity that had exhibited signs of intelligence. They believed he would be content to maintain the token favored negro status.

But if they had listened to him during the campaign they would have realized he had no such intention. When Steve Kroft asked candidate Obama about the racial significance of his nomination the day after the Denver DNC convention, Obama quipped that he was sure African Americans “understood” the significance, but he himself did not see a need to fixate on it, and neither was that his mission. He intended to do things. These folks should have listened then, and there is nothing that he has been doing since he entered the White House that he did not spelled out clearly before hand.

So now from neo-cons down to teabaggers are “shocked! shocked!” that Pres. Obama intends to enact his agenda that he shouted out to us over and over during a two-year campaign? What is he saying and doing now that he did not say back in January 2009 to garner 83% national approval ratings? What did he do on the day he signed the Health Insurance Law on March 23, 2010 to bring him down into the mid-forties approval that he did not say he intended in May 2009 to garner 65% approval for healthcare reform?

Certainly the vitriol we see now began with Palin’s rallies, and increasingly the corporate media by not pushing back, enabled the public to become numb to the hate. When I compare today’s “meh” shrug of the media to the pundits amplifying the public outcry over Palin’s statements that candidate Obama was “someone who sees America not as you and I do” and who “pals around with terrorists,” a great deal has changed in the public square.

So ironically, the wingnut apoplexy is precisely over the fact that Pres. Obama refuses to be tragically bound by “race.” He is usurping the default normative sense of legitimacy of a “white” president. How dare he? As someone simply put it Obama is guilty of thinking he is President or something. Strange indeed!

Read the rest of this entry »

In case you don’t know, Goldman Sachs was actually charged by the SEC for illegal wrongdoing. A breakdown of the case.

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

Good Morning.

As you begin a new week, don’t forget JJP.

Drop those links. Engage in debate. Give us trivia and gossip too.

And always, have a peaceful day.

U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama holds a piece of chard given to her by Khadiga Musame, a refugee from Somalia, during her visit to the New Roots Community Farm in San Diego, California April 15, 2010. The First Lady made the stop on her return trip from Mexico City in support of her “Let’s Move” campaign to end childhood obesity within a generation.
—–REUTERS/Mike Blake

Good Afternoon.

Drop those links. Engage in debate. Give us trivia and gossip too.

And continue to have a peaceful day.

Good Morning.

As you go through your weekend with family and friends, don’t forget JJP.

Drop those links. Engage in debate. Give us trivia and gossip too.

And always, have a peaceful day.

The President has an opening on the Supreme Court. There are more than a few qualified African Americans that could take that spot.

First possible nominee is Leah Ward Sears.

W.E.E. See You did an absolutely fabulous profile of Judge Sears.

Leah Ward Sears (born June 13, 1955) is an American jurist and former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the U.S. state of Georgia. Sears was the first African-American female Chief Justice in the United States. When she was first appointed as justice in 1992 by then-Governor Zell Miller, she became the first woman and youngest person to sit on the Supreme Court of Georgia.

Early life and education

Leah Ward Sears was born in Heidelberg, Germany to United States Army Colonel Thomas E. Sears and Onnye Jean Sears. The family eventually settled in Savannah, Georgia, where she attended and graduated from high school.

Sears received a Bachelor of Science from Cornell University in 1976, her Juris Doctor from Emory University School of Law in 1980, and a Master of Laws from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1995. At Cornell, Sears was a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated[1] and the Quill and Dagger society. She holds honorary degrees from Morehouse College, Clark-Atlanta University, LaGrange College, Piedmont College, and Spelman College.

Read the rest of this entry »

US President Barack Obama (R) arrives with his daughter Malia (L) to watch her soccer game at a school in Washington, April 17, 2010.
—–REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

Good Afternoon.

Drop those links. Engage in debate. Give us trivia and gossip too.

And continue to have a peaceful day.

Read the rest of this entry »

President Obama lists Wall Street reforms, challenges Republican opposition

In this week’s address, President Obama gave a list of policy changes that are anticipated under the pending Wall Street reform legislation. He also criticized Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) whom he accused of standing with big banks to block meaningful reform.

The President explained what reform legislation would do:

“First, it would enact the strongest consumer financial protections ever. It would put consumers back in the driver’s seat by forcing big banks and credit card companies to provide clear, understandable information so that Americans can make financial decisions that work best for them. Next, these reforms would bring new transparency to financial dealings. . . . [T]hrough reform we’d help ensure that these kind of complicated financial transactions take place on an open market.”

The President continued,

“We’d also close loopholes to stop the kind of recklessness and irresponsibility that we’ve seen. It’s these loopholes that allowed executives to take risks that not only endangered their companies, but also our entire economy. And we’re going to put in place new rules so that big banks and financial institutions will pay for the bad decisions they make – not taxpayers. Simply put, this means no more taxpayer bailouts. Never again will taxpayers be on the hook because a financial company is deemed ‘too big to fail.’ Finally, these reforms hold Wall Street accountable by giving shareholders new power in the financial system. They’ll get a say on pay: a vote on the salaries and bonuses awarded to top executives. And the SEC will ensure that shareholders have more power in corporate elections, so that investors and pension holders have a stronger voice in determining what happens with their life savings.”

Republicans are opposed to the current bill. Mitch McConnell has claimed that the legislation would result in more bailouts. He and the rest of the Senate Republicans have stated that they are prepared to present procedural obstacles to the legislation.

President Obama characterized this opposition as another attempt to maintain the status quo by killing or weakening reform legislation:

“Just the other day, in fact, the Leader of the Senate Republicans and the Chair of the Republican Senate campaign committee met with two dozen top Wall Street executives to talk about how to block progress on this issue. Lo and behold, when he returned to Washington, the Senate Republican Leader came out against common-sense reforms that we’ve proposed. In doing so, he made the cynical and deceptive assertion that reform would somehow enable future bailouts – when he knows that it would do exactly the opposite.”

Here is President Obama’s Weekly Address:

hat tip-W.E.E. See You

President Obama’s Message To Teabaggers: “Ya’ll Need To Say ‘Thank You’!”

Good Morning.

As you go through your weekend with family and friends, don’t forget JJP.

Drop those links. Engage in debate. Give us trivia and gossip too.

And always, have a peaceful day.

Paul Krugman discusses the doublespeak of the Republicans when it comes to financial reform.

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

Good Afternoon.

Drop those links. Engage in debate. Give us trivia and gossip too.

And continue to have a peaceful day.

Read the rest of this entry »

GLEE is crazy..

Sue Sylvester does ‘VOGUE’….

LMAO

Good Morning.

TGIF and spend some of it at JJP.

Drop those links. Engage in debate. Give us trivia and gossip too.

And always, have a peaceful day.

I didn’t make this up.  Honest.  I just did a “Google” Search for “Code Words” and This is what Came UP

I thought I’ve been hearing a lot of “code” language, especially from the Teabagger, er, Tea Party Gang, which is really another way for Bigots to get their Racism on.

An informed individual is an EDUCATED individual.  So, I think there’s enough lingo for us to decipher, especially for our teaparty bretheren of ethnicity.  Just in case they think putting a hangman’s noose around one’s neck is nothing more than SPORT, Fun & Games.

“I Want My Country Back” -

Translation: I want the period back when POCs knew their place, women were barefoot and pregnant, Bo rode the back of the bus, and if you were anything other than a white man, you had to do what the white man said.

“Obama is Arrogant, Socialist, Celebrity” 

Translation: Obama is an Uppity Negro who don’t know his place.

Teaparty Members 

Translation: Second Coming of Aryan Nation & the Brotherhood does NOT include Black people fool enough to admit their association with this group.

“Some of my best friends are (Black/Latino/Asian/fill in the blank)”

Translation: “I’m not really a bigot; I just like being able to say bigoted things and not have to get called on it.”

“Confederate Pride is Cultural and We Should be able to fly the Rebel Jack Flag at the State Capitol of Southern States”

Translation: “My culture included the terrorizing of Black People on a daily basis without legal ramification.  I should be able to celebrate that part of my history.”

“I’m sorry if I offended anyone by what I said.”

Translation: “I’m sorry I got caught saying bigoted, racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic things, and I hope it doesn’t mess me up come election time, or I hope I can keep my TV show…” (Dog the Bounty Hunter).

“If you keep saying ‘No more funding for the War’, you’re saying you don’t support the Troops.”

Translation: “If you say anything against the Bush Administration, you’re unpatriotic; we’re throwing you out of public forums, or throw you in jail for exercising your right to Free Speech.”

“I can call anyone a Nigger, Spic, Chink, Jap, Spic, Fag.  If I’m not allowed to do so, you’re impinging upon my right to Freedom of Speech.”  

Translation: “I want to be able to be a bigot and hide behind the 1st Amendment to do so.”

When a child calls someone a racial epithet and the parents protest “We’re not racist; we didn’t teach him/her that…” 

 Translation: “We didn’t think our child would repeat what he/she hears us say at home, and we got caught.”

Fox News: “Fair & Balanced; “We Report; You DECIDE.”

Translation: The FCC gave me (Rupert Murdoch) a license to be a bigoted propagandist, and all my employees are equally bigoted propagandists – it’s a JOB REQUIREMENT.”

When the police go to a hotel, wake up a United States Congressman and say they mistakenly served the warrant for someone else’s arrest, and threaten the Hotel Desk Manager with jail for attempting to maintain the security of the hotel’s guests, the police say they’re “Doing their jobs.” 

We say: “Harassing, disrespecting and dehumanizing an elected official because the elected official is a person of color.”

Feel free to add your own “code word/translation”.

hat tip-Monie, who is right, this doesn’t pass the smell test.

From The Hill:

In mix-up, lawmaker gets wake-up call from Richmond police
By Lauren Victoria Burke – 04/14/10 09:33 PM ET

Richmond police officers on Sunday attempted to serve an arrest warrant to a Virginia lawmaker, but they had the wrong guy.

The bizarre sequence of events started Saturday night after Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.) delivered a speech at the Virginia 5th District Annual Dinner in Lynchburg, Va. Instead of completing the more than three-hour drive to his home in Newport News, Scott checked into a Holiday Inn Central hotel in Richmond around midnight.

Nine hours later, two members of the Richmond Police Department were knocking on his second-floor hotel room door, Scott told The Hill.

Scott, who described himself as “dead asleep” at the time, awakened, opened the door and spoke with the officers.

They asked him if his name was Robert Scott and he replied yes. The officers informed him they had an outstanding arrest warrant for a “Robert Scott” and requested two forms of photo identification. Scott said he gave the officers his driver’s license and his congressional voting card.

Though his voting card states, “Robert C Scott, U.S. House of Representatives, Member of Congress” on the front side along with his photo as well as the seal of the U.S. House of Representatives on the backside, the police were more interested in his driver’s license to ascertain his date of birth.

Scott, who is the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee crime, terrorism and homeland security subcommittee, was questioned about where he lived. The conversation ended shortly thereafter, according to Scott.

Scott, who will turn 63 on April 30, did not suggest that the police acted improperly, but is perplexed as to how the police knew that a Robert Scott was at the hotel at that particular time. He is also wondering if the officers had a specific description of the suspect they were looking for.

…………………………………….

“At a hotel there is an expectation of privacy. They will connect you to a room if you call, but they will not tell you a room number,” Scott said.

DeQuan Smith, who was the manager on duty at the Holiday Inn Central when the police arrived Sunday morning, said he informed the Richmond Police he would not disclose any information on a guest staying at the hotel.

Smith said he asked the police officers for more information, but instead was told he would be arrested if he did not tell the officers which room Scott was in.

Repeated calls to hotel General Manager Rasik Kotadia were not returned.

OK, Questions People:
1. How the hell did they know Scott was AT A HOTEL. They didn’t go to his HOME…they sought him out at a HOTEL.
2. Yes, I believe Mr. Smith, when he says they THREATENED HIM WITH ARREST for breaking the privacy of a patron.

Something is rotten with the Richmond, VA Police Department.

And, NO, I don’t even have to ASK what the police officers look like, because I’ve been Black in America longer than 3 days.