Archive for the Race Category

Gettin’ It Right (June 4, 2012)

Posted in Abortion, Capital Punishment, China, Death Penalty, Global Climate Change, Global Warming, Race, Society on June 4, 2012 by e-commentary.org

. . .

R          “We need to continue segregation and maintain the policy of ‘massive resistance’ to integration.”

R          “We need to continue to enforce miscegenation laws.”

R          “We need to continue not to recognize Red China.”

R          “We need to continue sending troops to Vietnam.”

R          “We need to continue sending citizens to the gallows.”

R          “We need to continue our control of the Panama Canal.”1 

R          “We need to continue treating women as second class citizens.”

R          “We need to continue a man’s right to decree that a woman does not have the right to choose.”

R          “We need to continue mistreating those who are gay, lesbian, and transgender.”

R          “We need to continue disregarding overwhelming evidence that we are abusing Mother Nature.”

R          “We need to continue . . . .”

. . .

1          “After all, we stole it fair and square.”

[See the “e-ssay” titled “I Am A Republican (February 7, 2011).”]

Bumper stickers of the week:

When you are trying to measure someone’s credibility, take a gander at his or her track record.

Will the Chinese finance America’s invasion of China? 

Trayvon Zimmerman (April 16, 2012)

Posted in Courts, Pogo Plight, Race on April 16, 2012 by e-commentary.org

. . .

_        “No one knows the facts; everyone is an expert.”

. . .

[See the “e-ssays” titled “Outrages Du Jour (April 16, 2007),” “BB Alliance (April 20, 2009) and Racing Backwards; Moving Forward? (July 27, 2009).”

(Titanic – April 14, 1912)

Bumper sticker of the week:

He knows everything and thus has nothing to teach me

The Great National Dissolution: Resolving The Great Civil War (April 18, 2011)

Posted in Immanentizing The Eschaton, Political Parties, Politics, Race on April 18, 2011 by e-commentary.org

. . .

A         “Last Tuesday marked one hundred and fifty years since the outbreak of the Civil War.”

E         “And it started with a terrorist assault by a state on Ft. Sumter, an outlying Union outpost.  4/12 was 9/11.”

A         “The Great National Dissolution springs from the realization that divorce and dissolution are among the most important and necessary institutions developed by humankind.”

E         “The fundamental issue today really is exactly the same as the fundamental issue in 1860.  Slavery disguised and marketed as States Rights.  America still is divided into the Slave States and the Free States.  It’s that fundamental.”

A         “The division reflects tension between the human desire to be free oneself and the human urge to enslave others.  The first stage of the Civil War was followed by the Great Hundred Year War of Terror.  From the signing of the terms of surrender in 1865 to the signing of the Civil Rights Act (CRA) of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act (VRA) of 1965, there was a sustained campaign of terrorism against Blacks.  Blacks rode the Underground Railroad from the Slave States to the Non-Slave States as political and economic refuges fleeing from domestic terrorists.  When the CRA and VRA were signed, most of the overt terrorism against Blacks in America went underground, yet many Blacks are still railroaded.”

E         “Dissolution may be an option, but you confront the proposition that the right of a state to leave the Union was settled at Appomattox in 1865.  There are some guys who proclaim: ‘Lee surrendered, I didn’t’.”

A         “Act on that sentiment and the Feds will issue ‘three hots and a cot.’  However, the proposal avoids the problem of unilateral and illegal state action.  Congress itself must enact the Great National Dissolution.”

E         “When the Civil War broke out, some guys who had studied Jomini, drank Jack Walker and went on panty raids together at West Point went South while the others went North particularly many of the small cadre that were deployed at the time out West.  Robert Lee, who graduated a few years earlier and higher in the class than most of his home boys, took sides with Virginia and the insurgents.  Others stayed with their then-current employer, Tio Sam.  So you say that everyone should be afforded an opportunity to make that decision today?”

A         “Exactly.  The Great National Migration.  Very clean, very elegant.”

E         “I suspect that the District of Columbia would elect to go with the Free States.”

A         “Probably.  DC could also attain statehood immediately.  Again, very clean, very elegant.”

E         “The battle lines in America are clear, although the specific boundary lines are cloudy.  The resource extraction states would go with the Slave States; the states with exploitable natural resources do not need human resources.  The entire state of Oklahoma would, of course, go with the Slave States.  A state like Minnesota would be torn, like the Virginia of old, possibly in twain.  M. Bachman and her ilk would go with the Slave States, K. Ellison and his followers would go with the Free States.”

A         “And then there is Wisconsin.”

E         “By the way, you’re hosed.”

A         “Not to worry.  A friend and I agree that each of us will be forced to leave or will be driven from our respective states.  We agreed to swap houses.  A Section 1031 exchange is possible.  The possibilities are endless.  There is no downside.  Neither side would need to compromise its principles.  The Great National Dissolution is one of the most, if not the most, clean, elegant, practical, and principled resolutions of an intractable problem in the history of humankind.”

E         “I’ll concede that the solution is Pareto Optimal.”

A         “And allows all of us everywhere to . . . immanentize the eschaton.”

. . .

[See the “e-ssay” dated January 3, 2005 titled “Boycott Red America (January 3, 2005).”]   

Bumper stickers of the week:

Lee Surrendered, I Didn’t

Better Dead Than Red

Better Red Than Read

The Great National Dissolution:  Coming To A State Near You

Only those who have already immanenetized the eschaton warn against immanentizing the eschaton.

In The Land Of Fury And The Home Of The Fearful (November 1, 2010)

Posted in Elections, Politics, Race, Society, Tea Party on November 1, 2010 by e-commentary.org

. . .

J          “So much unfocused rage and undigested anger is raging across the countryside.”

K         “And Anger Mongering (AM) radio and Fox tv are the primary mouthpieces for the furor.  Follow the money.  A staggering amount of money is being amassed marketing hate and fear to the masses, one of the last growth industries in America.  Those inciting the masses are doing so for their own very narrow self-interest.  The cunning and the cynical are playing some voters for chumps and stooges.  Stun and cripple a person with fear and take his vote and his money.  Yet there is a perception that something is wrong grounded in the fact that something is wrong.  The frustration is magnified because it cannot be articulated.”

J          “And an articulate, informed and serene Black President who displays upper class sensibilities and syntax reminds Americans of the two underlying schisms and fissures in America – race and class.  Race is not an acknowledged issue, but race is an issue in most of the political races this year.”

K         “Confidence even devoid of arrogance and pretense threatens the insecure.  Look at the numbers.  Forty-five percent of the electorate responds to fear.  Market and exploit fear and appeal to another five percent and then get just one more vote.  Political victory.  That arithmetic really explains politics in America.  The real kicker is that the problems are far worse than all but the most informed realize and are far less likely to be resolved by current thinking.”

J          “It is all about jobs.  Ironic that some in France are rioting because they are to be given the opportunity to work an additional two years, albeit delaying their retirement, and Americans may riot to be given the opportunity to work.  When there are job openings, Americans are there hustling to get them.”

K         “True, yet Americans have not experienced any real hardship in recent decades and simply do not have the emotional software to deal with adversity with any perspective or dignity.”

J          “When the present and the future are so bleak, the past is strained through a filter to make it look far more idyllic than it ever was.”

K         “It is so much easier to hate and fear without reflection.”

. . .

Bumper stickers (signs) of the week:

45% + 5% + 1 = Victory

“The trouble with the world is the stupid are cocksure, and the intelligent are full of doubt.”                      Bertrand Russell

At the Stewart/Colbert Rally on October 30 on the National Mall:

I don’t want my country back, I want my country forward.

Those who work for the government should want the government to work.

God hates hate.

God fears fear.

God fears hate.

God hates fear.

Use your indoor voice

Although I don’t agree with you, I don’t think you’re Hitler

April 19 (April 19, 2010)

Posted in Civil Rights/Civil Liberties, Guns, Oath Keepers, Race on April 19, 2010 by e-commentary.org

. . .

C          “April 19 is joining July 4, September 11 and December 7 among the freighted dates in our national experience.  The first shots of the Revolutionary War fired at Lexington and Concord in 1775 echo today and have taken on almost religious significance.”

D          “You have got to love it.  Rallying in the Commonwealth of Virginia and in the Federal City on the fifteenth anniversary of McVeigh’s bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building and the seventeenth anniversary of the end of the FBI/ATF siege at Waco could not be more felicitous.  And telling.”

C          “The Oath Keepers also celebrated their first year on the national scene.  Reaffirming one’s oath to protect and defend the Constitution seems harmless.  When a person takes the oath, however, there is no term limit.  There is no swear to protect and defend ‘till death do us part’ limitation.”

D          “They almost seem like they might have an idea with a hint of merit if the message did not get hijacked and distorted so easily by the nut cases.”

C          “What is unsettling is that the message is laced with both racism and hints of violence, at least among some of the members.”

D          “Their sense of timing is not impeccable.  Our civil rights and civil liberties were threatened far more in the first eight years of this century than they are today.”

C          “The founder of Oath Keepers, Stewart Rhodes, is an engaging advocate.  He wrote a few pieces in opposition to some of the Cheney/Bush transgressions years ago; these things called blogs leave a readily accessible record.  He also observed that a guy who is part Hispanic and Native American is not a poster child for white supremacy.  And he worked for two years as a public defender which is a career move that too few members of the Supreme Court pursued, to our detriment.  But listen to the discussions of others when the cameras and microphones are off.”

D          “It is there in black and white.  Nothing in the Constitution states or suggests that the legal pronouncements of an African-American President are unconstitutional because he is part Black.  For too many, that is the animating fear.”

C          “That is the heart of my misgiving.  It was a balmy almost warm DC day, yet there are clouds on the horizon.”

. . .

C          “And the Park Police, paid with tax dollars, kept everyone cool.”

. . .

Bumper stickers of the week:

Hate – The Only Growth Industry In America

O’Bama – Giving Back America To Americans

Celebrate Virginia’s “Celebrate Slavery Month” (April 12, 2010)

Posted in Boycott Series, Civil Rights/Civil Liberties, Less Government Regulation Series, Race on April 12, 2010 by e-commentary.org

. . .

“Virginia declared April to be ‘Celebrate Slavery Month.’  What a concept.  Thirty days dedicated to the celebration of the degradation and subjugation of one’s fellow human beings.  They plan to burn crosses, made in China, in all major cities.  They are sneaky because they manage to celebrate it without mentioning it.”

“Leave it to Virginia.  Aren’t they the ones with the official state motto:  ‘Virginia Is For Haters.’”

“Leave Virginia.  Boycott the place.  Boycott everything tied to Virginia in April.  Conventions should cancel any events currently scheduled in Virginia during April and not book any events in April in the future.”

“Why does the government get involved in this foolishness?  Tax money funded this folly.”

“Individual action in response to inane government action is the way to go.  That is the virtue of a boycott.  And yet, three years ago, they looked like they were on track with the dignified apology.”

“There is not much common sense in the Commonwealth.”

“Leaves you wondering whether it is in the water, in the air or in their genes?”

“Hey, . . . wait . . . did they announce it on April 1?”

. . .

[See the “e-ssay” dated Feb. 26, 2007 titled “Looking Back.  With Regret.  With Respect,” the “e-ssay” dated Nov. 12, 2007 titled “Vet’s Day; Slavery And Due Process” and the “e-ssay” dated Mar. 14, 2005 titled “’Strict Construction’ Strictly Construed.”]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Virginia:  Celebrate Slavery Month

Virginia Is For Haters

Take A Slave To Work Day in Virginia

Boycott Virginia In April

Tea Party Patriots? (Dec. 21, 2009)

Posted in Bailout/Bribe, Bush, Debt/Deficits, O'Bama, Race, Solstice, Tea Party, USA PATRIOT Act on December 21, 2009 by e-commentary.org

. . .

“Are the Tea Party Patriots really veiled members of the Klan (Ku Klux Klan) running around in their civvies?  Is ‘Nazi’ the code word for the ‘n-word’?”

“They certainly ‘drank the Kool-Aid’ for eight years of reckless Republican (and Democratic) spending without a rally or a ruckus before they drank the tea.”

“They are a little late to the party.  The Tea Party types never railed against the USA PATRIOT Act when it was parsed and passed.  The Tea Party types never demonstrated against the TARP imposed by Bush and Paulson.  Their anger, fright and frustration are legitimate, yet they seem at core really angry, frightened and frustrated that an African-Irish-American is in the White House.”

“There is a lot of undigested anger percolating out there.  Our futures are not promising and those of the kids are even bleaker.  The public senses that America in so many ways is in decline even if they can’t articulate why.”

“I don’t care if he, or she for that matter, is chartreuse, I want competence.  Ronnie Reagan’s statement that ‘Deficits don’t matter’ is one of the ten greatest lies in the history of the American Republic.”

“And the line was repeated repeatedly by former President Cheney and former Vice-President Bush.”

“They made deficit spending the national sport.  At least O’Bama recognizes that long-term deficits represent a threat to the financial integrity and security of the country.  His spending does trouble those few of us left in America who believe in fiscal responsibility.  O’Bama is making and taking a huge gamble.”

“O’Bama also represents a threat to some members of the public because of class differences and what passes for education in America.”

“The anti-intellectualism leaves me as an intellectual in the cold, although those who pass for the intellectuals in America are often charlatans and con artists.  The Tea Types don’t even realize that they should be railing against their rousers.  I would like to see just one of them carrying a sign that proclaims:  ‘It all started under Reagan.’  When the Tea Types start carrying caricatures of McConnell and Boehner and their clan, I will pay them some heed.  Until then, most of them seem to be little more than contemporary Klansmen in coveralls.  However there may be some unaffiliated iconoclasts who march with them because they have no other drummer to inspire them.”

. . .

[See the “e-ssay” dated June 1, 2009 titled “The Humongous Gamble” discussing the great gamble pursued by O’Bama and the risk to the future of America, dated January 19, 2009 titled “The TARP Is A Trap,” dated Oct. 6, 2008 titled “A Bleak Day: The Trillion Dollar Tragedy,” dated Sept. 29, 2008 titled “Futile Efforts” and dated April 4, 2005 titled “USA PATRIOT Act.”]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Fiscal responsibility:  Good; Racism Veiled as Fiscal Responsibility:  Bad

It’s evening in America.

It’s always darkest on the Winter Solstice.

Nonetheless, there is much to celebrate in this good country

As a political compromise, Alaska was admitted as a “Democratic” state (49th) and Hawaii as a “Republican” state (50th).  Alaska gave us Sarah Plain/Palin; Hawaii gave us Barack O’Bama.

Racing Backwards; Moving Forward? (July 27, 2009)

Posted in Race on July 27, 2009 by e-commentary.org

Using the word “stupid” often seems stupid.  O’Bama’s use of the phrase “acted stupidly” to describe the actions of the Cambridge police was neither smart nor appropriate.  However, he rebounded well and is turning the experience into something positive.

However, there is nothing black and white about it.  Blacks (and Hispanics and kids and the underclass) get harassed and detained and arrested far, far more often proportionately than Whites.  Harassment, detention and arrest are rites of passage.  When the light bar ignites on the black and white (the Crown Victoria Police Interceptor), it does not usually light up one’s life if you happen that day to be Black, Hispanic, young or an underclassman.

What really went on in Cambridge is difficult to determine.  When you lose your house keys and decide to break into a home, one hopes that a concerned neighbor will call the police and report an individual trying to break into a home.  A neighbor apparently did call.  Seems that everyone overreacted.  Many words were exchanged, few of them poetic.  Early unconfirmed reports suggest an overdose of testosterone.

We as a country handcuff and lock up far too many people.

A summit conference at the White House with a few cold beers may allow everyone to chill out.  They should discuss ways to reduce the use of handcuffs and lock up.

Bumper sticker of the week:

Silence is silver

BB Alliance (April 20, 2009)

Posted in Press/Media, Race on April 20, 2009 by e-commentary.org

Some years ago, Paul Rodriguez, usually described as a comedian, was a guest on Arsenio Hall’s talk show.  He shook Hall’s hand in one of those funky hand shakes and spoke directly to the audience about the need for Brothers and Browns to get along the way the two of them visibly got along.  He and Hall pitched peace and unity to Blacks and Browns.  The country needs to create a private sector “BB Alliance,” the Black/Brown Alliance or the Brown/Black Alliance, and introduce positive role models into the ghettoes and barrios.

Tavis Smiley and Ray Suarez, both with public broadcasting, could inaugurate the endeavor.  Each could then spin off and team up with another person from a different enterprise or walk of life and spread the message.

(See the “e-ssay” dated February 18, 2008 entitled “Brown Is The New Black.”)

[This project requires some initiative, tenacity and luck.  Tavis Smiley and Ray Suarez must respond and deliver.]

Bumper sticker of the week:

Black can stay around;

Brown can stay around.

Brown Is The New Black (February 18, 2008)

Posted in Immigration, Race, Society on February 18, 2008 by e-commentary.org

Almost all societies despise or at least resent one or two domestic groups and one or more foreign groups.  In America, the groups to hate and resent included Blacks and also the most recent immigrants to depart the ship (Germans, Irish, Scots, Poles, Italians, Jews, Tongans, etc.).  Look at the celebrated boxers across time (John L. Sullivan, Rocky Marciano, Mohammed Ali, Oscar de la Hoya).  They tend to be drawn from the group that was feared, despised, resented and oppressed at the time.

Polite society is careful about using the “n-word” today, although derivative and derisive words such as “denigrate” (defame; belittle) and “niggardly” (stingy) are still used without reflection.  The quiet unrelenting campaign to imprison Blacks continues with one percent of the population in the pokey.  There are still “Jena 6s” and the resurgence of the Noose as a tool of domestic terrorism.  Today’s KKK members dangle the Noose Knot (not a Sheet Bend Knot or a Carrick Bend Knot) and then assert that they don’t know what it means.  Their admission that they are ignorant is not disputed, yet they knew and know exactly what they are doing.  The calls for “hate crimes” legislation to address the matter collide with First Amendment considerations.  The solution is easy; those who claim that they do not know what the Noose means should be afforded an opportunity to make the statement under oath to someone with a badge; they will hang themselves; prosecuting them for and proving perjury and obstruction of justice is so easy it can be delegated to a summer legal intern.  The Confederate flag has become America’s swastika.  The current scene is not all pretty.  Nonetheless, there is less overt prejudice against Blacks today than in the past.  An African-Saxon is running for President.  America has made and is making progress.

However, Brown has become the new Black.  Many otherwise decent Whites are threatened by Browns far beyond any plausible threat posed by them.  A few well-educated White boys agree to frequent a company that directs callers to touch “1” on the telephone dial to hear the message in English rather than the competing company that directs callers to touch “2” to hear the message in English.  “We are number 1.”  Fear and insecurity are ugly and ever-present and timeless.

The Browns are doing the work that others do not want to do.  They put the family into family values.  They are learning the English language despite the unfounded accusations of the nativists to the contrary.  A recent e-mail message denigrating Browns was written in what can only be described as “white trash” English syntax; the authors were not even bright enough to recognize the irony of their own incompetence.  Browns serve this Republic in the military in greater percentages than others.  They are the ones admittedly using more social services.  They will also be the ones most likely to pay off some of the massive Debt accumulated by the Whites.  [See the e-ssay dated March 28, 2005 entitled “Black, White, Brown, Red and Green:  An E-ssayer on Immigration.”]

Bumper sticker of the week:

Fear is Debilitating