Louisiana: Where Progress Comes to Die

This is a map from the NY Times showing the shift in voting between 2004 & 2008. The redder the county, the greater the gain in Republican votes between 2004 & 2008. As usual, we here in LA insist on being 5 minutes and 500 years behind the rest of the nation. Here, things like progressive thought and a greater concern for making sure one's own kids graduate high school as opposed to worrying about whether Joe the Plumber and Joe Six Pack should be allowed to marry are viewed as tools of the liberal elites and Hollywood to destroy America. Funny, I was under the belief that it was the Republicans who slashed levee funding and who rendered FEMA ineffective by placing it within the bureaucratic black hole of the Department of Homeland Security who literally destroyed this part of America. And isn't it still the case that nearly a billion dollars of your Road Home money is going to the Bush administration buddies over at IFC, whilst you remain relegated to a life of toxic trailer trash? And isn't it true that the people most disgusted by "the gays" probably spend the most time thinking about disgusting gay sex? (Tip: If you don't think about it, it won't disgust you! Why ARE you thinking about it so much anyway?)

But I doth digresseth.

A few days ago, some local bloggers were bouncing around idears for turning LA more blue. Not to piss in anyone's cornflakes, but Louisianians haven't been progressive and open to change, even change that benefits us, since France ran this show. An educated populace would help, but that's not a short-term strategy unless you absolutely blitz them with media about particular issues in any given election (e.g., None of your broke asses will ever make $250,000 so chill out with the Obama will raise my taxes hysteria...[or something to that effect]). Judging from the map, it's not just LA. Most of the south, Appalachia, and the midwest are dying to remain about 20 years behind "big city coastal elites." The us-versus-them schema has been so drilled into people's psyche that cultural issues and fear tactics will drive regional politics for several years to come. Democrat strategists yearning for change would be trying to change the minds of people that still will not vote for a Landrieu because Moon hired blacks to work in N.O. City Hall in the 1970s and who have voted Republican (except for Clinton & Carter - two Southern white men) since LBJ signed the Civil Rights Act and forced them to integrate. Umm...yah, good luck with that one.

This One's For You

I cannot imagine how difficult it must be for Barack Obama to have lost his rock, his Grandma "Toot" hours before possibly becoming President. It was comforting, however, to hear that she was able to cast her vote for him before passing away. I really cannot fathom how even the most ardent Republican supporter could begrudge him his need to suspend his campaign to go see her, or how any human could turn this enormously personal, painful trial into an ugly political talking point. But they have [see minute 0:00 to 1:00 of this video].



And it didn't stop with this heartless bastard. Friday, I heard Rush Limbaugh, who suspected something sinister and secretive lay underneath Obama's emergency flight to Hawaii from the very beginning, say the following [Go to minute 4:45], basically that the ill grandmother story was all a ruse, concocted so that he could go back and have his birth records sealed. (You see, he's stuck on this debunked myth that Obama is not an American citizen.)

Let me tell Mr. Limbaugh something about real American grandparents and how much they mean to so many of us real Americans. I am fortunate to have 3 of my grandparents still on this Earth with me, not just because they are the most loving and amazing humans I know, but because I am blessed to see them witness this day. Born in rural Louisiana before electricity, TV, indoor plumbing, and having the right to vote, today they all cast a ballot in favor of another black person for President of the United States.

My father's mother, who turned 85 two days ago, after not being allowed to go to the front of the early voting line in her wheelchair, simply went back today to cast her vote. My mother's 83 and 89 year-old parents arrived at their polling place at 5:55AM to patiently wait, a cane and a walker between the two of them, for an hour to cast their votes. I also never heard my grandfather utter one syllable of regret about having to fight in World War II only to return to a country where he had to stand in the back of the bus and drink from dirty water fountains. His wife, who could have passed for white, did not hesitate to correct white people who told her she didn't have to wait in the colored waiting rooms. She was black she would tell them. My other grandmother never complained about working as a housekeeper for white families until the age of 75, well after she began suffering the pain of osteoarthritis. And during all this, these great Americans nurtured and supported and helped raised their grandchildren and great-grandchildren after raising 19 children (between the four of them) and sending those children on to college and law school and graduate school even though they themselves had little money and not a one attended school beyond the 8th grade.

Because of them, I have never been so happy to stand in line to vote. Without them, I would never have been so happy -- period. So today is for you Toot. Today is for you Ernest (rest in peace) and Audrey. Today is no one's but yours, Eddie and Marina.

Extra, Extra!! White Lady Plays Race Card!

I'll tell you what; white folks is mad!! The Republican ones are, that is. Monday morning, the day after Gen. Colin Powell endorsed Obama for President, I was listening to Castner & Walensky on "Rush Radio" 99.5fm when Walensky went off. She emphatically insisted that there is NO WAY that Powell's endorsement had nothing to do with race, because both men are black. They then went on to bash Powell as never having been a "real" Republican anyway, despite his putting his own reputation on the line with his United Nations speech about Iraq having WMDs. Even after conceeding that yes, Powell was the odd man out in this Bush administration and pushed to the side, Walensky insisted race played a major part in his decision.

AS IF race has nothing to do with her support of McCain-Palin, or that of the other white people who constitute perhaps 80% of their supporters -- and that's a conservative estimate (no pun intended). As if they are above being influenced by the dynamics of race. As if SHE wasn't playing "the race card."

Liebermann broke ranks to endorse McCain, but apparently only white people can do that without race coming into play. Nobody questioned whether Liebermann's decision had to do with race. I'd be curious to know if Walensky and those who think like her have questioned whether the slew of Obama endorsements from white Republicans has to do with race. After all, Obama is as white as he is black.

Now, honestly tell me whites and blacks are not judged by different standards, so I can tell you to go sit your ass down somewhere.

Wassup 2008

OMG! Obama Said "Spread the Wealth"!

Yes, at first I cringed too when Obama told Joe the Plumber he intends to "spread the wealth." However, by using my brain [dammit, I already lost 1/3 of the Republicans reading this], I realized that my reaction was nothing more than the knee-jerk response Americans have been indoctrinated to have towards anything remotely socialist-sounding. After a few more minutes of thinking, and without the help of Limbaugh or Hannity, I realized that spreading the wealth is as American as...well, as Obama.

In case you missed the last couple of weeks trying to decipher the transcript of Sarah Palin's interview with Katie Couric, you may have heard tidbits about some sort of $700 billion bail out for Wall Street. You see, that's where the American people's wealth was spread to billion-dollar corporations who fell short of their original goal of spreading our personal wealth to themselves using bad mortgages as their drive-thru-bank-cannister-vacuum-chute-like-thingy vehicle of choice. My fellow Americans, you may have also noticed that you've been spreading a bit more of your wealth to oil companies and then to credit card companies in the form of higher interest rates & late charges when you couldn't afford to pay them on account of having spent your bill money on gas for your automobile.

If you live along the coast, you'll definitely recall spreading pretty much all of your wealth to insurance companies that were already quite wealthy:

When insurers sharply boost premiums on the coasts, increase deductibles, refuse to renew policies or otherwise cut back coverage, policymakers often accept these steps as necessary to help the property/casualty insurance business meet the huge challenges it faces in a risky world filled with dangers that it cannot adequately measure...

...The financial reality of the property/casualty insurance industry couldn’t be more different than the carefully cultivated perception fostered by insurers. Insurers are paying out lower claims, charging higher premiums, reaping greater profits, and are more financially solid than at almost any time in history.

[p. 3, Property/Casualty Insurance in 2007: Overpriced Insurance, Underpaid Claims, Declining Losses and Unjustified Profits]

And remember when you made the decision to allocate your wealth for the worthy, moral cause of helping your countrymen and countrywomen rebuild their hurricane shattered lives? Well, our Republican leaders faithfully doled your wealth out in a heartily fashion -- to their already superwealthy pals.

So you see, America is all about spreading the wealth! I mean we love us some fuckin' wealth distribution!! Politicians love to talk about "sharing in the American dream." Remember to remind them -- and most importantly, remind yourselves -- that sharing in that dream requires sharing some of your own damn wealth back to you.

The McCain Economic Plan: Hoping Your Memory Is Failing Too

If you're wondering where I get my sharp, analytical eye, I must admit it's genetic. In this special Guest Blogger edition, I feature none other than Aunt Nee-Nee! Take it away:


McCains economic advisor is an executive at Swiss bank (in the US). The headlines say it all- McCain's man got paid to push an agenda. The world's worst president Bush at least waited until he was president before he said bend over.

1. $30BB to bail out Bear Sterns. Jacks$%t for the people losing their homes.

2. The Glass-Stegal Act was put in place when the collapse of Wall Street brought about the Great Depression. In 1999 McCain's economic advisor did away with that regulation, leading to the sub-prime mortgage debacle.

3. "McCain is counting on people having very short memories. and not being able to connect the dots." Sorry honey, we are in a failing economy. I'm reminded of this everyday. My memory would have to be gone, comatose like, not just short.


Well said, Nee Nee.

I'll only add that her timing in emailing this was quite uncanny because only days after receiving this, I was reading a book called Elite Deviance which mentioned McCain as one of a group of senators (one of whom was censured by Congress) who were instrumental in crafting a government bailout of the architects of the S&L Scandal, a.k.a. the costliest crime in the history of the United States. And I'm not being all hysterical in calling it a "crime"; people were sent to prison over this. Anyway, McCain's at it again, which is good news for those of you who miss the crime-ridden, high inflation / stagnation, jobless days of Reagan's era that McCain is very clear about his intention to recreate via his proposed policies.

But please know this: if you so much as even entertain buying a 50-cent McCain '08 bumper sticker, and I hear you complain about the price of gas or food, I will bitchslap the shit out of you.

Praise Jesus.

A Peculiar Thing, Race

Why is Barack Obama hardly ever described as "biracial"? We all know he is, but you rarely HEAR or READ that word in stories about him. (Mentioning that his father is black and his mother is white doesn't count because those attributions speak to his parents and not to him.)

And if he's as white as he is black, why is he never called "white"?

TPMtv: McCain Can't Quit John Hagee

For some strange reason, Sean Hannity didn't tell me about this whole McCain-Hagee scandal! I came across it on other blogs. The number of comparisons and contrasts that could be made to the Obama-Wright affair could very well blow a thinking person's brain circuitry.

Unless of course, you are able to exercise white privilege and deem all this race and unfair treatment hoopla irrelevant or just another Jesse Jackson/Al Sharpton race-card-playing production. You could even go the extra mile like this self-proclaimed conservative blogger and come up with all kinds of creative "facts" for why McCain's association with Rev. Hagee is TOOOOOOOOOTALLY and fundamentally different than Obama's association with his pastor Rev. Wright.

Tell the Whole Story FOX! Barack Obama's pastor Wright

Barack Obama's "Race Speech"

I haven't posted much in quite some time, so believe you me, I MUST say this. I've spent the afternoon listening to snippets of peoples' responses to Obama's speech today, on talk radio and the news networks.

I am disheartened by the pundits who continue to dissect the timelines, the reasons, the whys regarding where Obama decides to attend church and what his pastor (who ain't runnin' for anything) said. I'm frustrated by the (mostly) white callers into talk shows who complained that he ignored the plight of their disadvantaged brethren from Appalachia.

What Barack Obama said today was as real and frank and true as it gets about the modern state of race relations and about the causes and effects of our race problem. As a black person who has studied and understands racial dynamics more than most people of any race, he added something to my understanding of why many whites react to racial issues the way they do. What I admired most was the Senator's ability to so eloquently illustrate the ties that bind all Americans together without glossing over the pain and the ugliness that resides in us individually and within our collective racial groups.

But that's not what I really needed to say. What I need to say is this: If you are still focusing on his pastor or still dissecting his speech or complaining he left out white people, you just plain missed the boat. When it comes to understanding race relations in modern America, if you listened to Obama's entire speech and you still don't "get it," you truly just don't get it; and you very likely never ever will.

I'm A Born Loser...But You Should Still Listen to Me

According to this poll, which matches you with the presidential candidate closest to your ideology, my guy is...[DRUMROLLLLLLLL]...

Dennis Kucinich!


Dennis frickin' Kucinich? what the --?

Sadly, it reflects my abysmal performance in the voting booth in this last election. Only one of the candidates I voted for made it into the runoff. The others all lost. (I'm not including the Lt. Gov.'s race in these stats; that'd be like including flood insurance claim payouts in the federal figure of hurricane aid sent down here).

Just goes to show, this country continues to be screwed up because people can't make sensible choices like I can! Seriously though, there's not a chance in Hades I'll be endorsing Kucin --
-- wait a sec.

Maybe "not a chance in Hades" was a bit over the top.

WASHINGTON, Oct 30 (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich on Tuesday mockingly questioned President George W. Bush's mental health for saying Iran's nuclear ambitions might trigger World War III.

"I seriously believe we have to start asking questions about his mental health," Kucinich, a quirky, long-shot candidate in the race for his party's presidential nomination in the November, 2008 election. "There's something wrong. He does not seem to understand his words have real impact."

Kucinich spoke to the editorial board of The Philadelphia Inquirer ahead of a Democratic debate in Philadelphia.

Bush told a news conference two weeks ago: "I've told people that if you're interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interes4ed in preventing them (Iran) from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon."

Kucinich, a member of the U.S. Congress from Ohio, has tried in the past to convince his colleagues to impeach both Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, to no avail.

He told The Inquirer he did not believe his remarks about Bush's mental stability were irresponsible.

"You cannot be a president of the United States who's wanton in his expression of violence," Kucinich said. "There's a lot of people who need care. He might be one of them. If there isn't something wrong with him, then there's something wrong with us. This, to me, is a very serious question."

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