Pain Knight Slayer of Shai' tan الافتتاحية من الفتاحات Majordomo of Hell and Terra Order of the Black Rose of the Empire Ayatollah of Rham and its Shadow Fair Judge Executioner of Souls Quarterer's Order of the Descending Aorta, 1st Class, with diamonds, rubies, platinum concertina, golden concertina, gilded pancreas, emerald gall bladder, mesentery and lymph nodes Lord Gaoler of Dis Womb of Empires Order of the Superior Vena Cava 先生 立石 上様 Fifth Sea Lord of Hell Chair, Hellac Consumer Products Safety Commission Oracle of Elections Order of the Obsidian Heart [Mot. Pict. Arts & Sci.] Order of the Obsidian Heart [Tort] Order of the Obsidian Heart [Fluid Dyn.] Chair, Hellac Commission on Sentient Being Rights Lord High Justice of the Court of Acts & Merits Knight Commander of the Hellac Gordian Knot of Silver Keeper of the Keys of all the Gates of Hell Qadi of Hades Chamberlain Imperial of the Necropontiff of the Universal Fatean Church Order of the Quartz Heart [Eng.] Order of the Quartz Heart [Jur.] Order of the Quartz Heart [Metaphys.] Order of the Quartz Heart [Philos.] Count-Palatine of Sheol Marquis di Gehenna Emperor Consort White Rod President Pro tempore Bax Culdnu 40 2 Leviathan 2 AS
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NO ONE COMPLAINED ABOUT IGNORING THE DEAD TROOPS WHEN RONALD REAGAN WAS BEING FUNERALIZED
"I'm not a Michael Jackson hater. I liked his music, partly because it was part of my life as a young man. And I never judge people and their morals. Unless convicted by a court of law, it's really between them, the truth -- whatever that might be -- and their maker.
But as thousands of people filled a huge arena in Los Angeles this week, and millions more were glued to their television sets; as accolades unlimited were spoken about the late 'King of Pop,' my mind was on how seven other Americans might be honored. You see, on July 6, seven American troops were killed in Afghanistan, making it the deadliest day for our military there in nearly a year."—Matt Towery, TownHall.com, 9 June 2009 [ 40 2 leviathan 2 as]
There is no greater icon for conservatism than the nostalgic memory of President Ronald Wilson Reagan. Ronald Reagan died on June 5, 2009 and on that date his death dominated the news. With a war raging in Iraq despite major combat being declared concluded by President George W Bush, the death of the touchstone of American conservatism in the late 20th Century pushed aside the war for a few days. As the nation's conservatives mourned however, the fallen on the battlefield continued to return to the United States unseen because of a blackout that was designed to shield families from undue use as political pawns by war dissenters enacted by George HW Bush and kept by William Jefferson Clinton. In June of 2004 no one on the political right felt anyone has any right to watch as the flag draped coffins returned to the United States bearing the lifeless remains of the dead soldiers. Anyone who wanted to see this it was said was seeking only to exploit the troops.
This past week a cultural icon for Americans of all political stripes, entertainer Michael Jackson died in Los Angeles, California setting off a frenzy of remembrance and sorrow not seen since the death of Lady Diana Spencer and Elvis Presley. The Right Wing blogosphere represented in this case by TownHall.com's Matt Towery who feels that the coverage given The "King of Pop" would have been better utilized focusing on the seven deceased members of the United States Armed Forces who returned from Iraq and Afghanistan. This is in stark contrast to how the right wing felt and comment on blogs, like these from Newsbusters.org, in the years prior to the Pentagon lifting of the ban.
I recall getting into a debate here on NB a couple months ago with a liberal (possibly J Frank Wilson - I donot [sic] recall exactly) who was incensed that the US would not allow photos of flag draped coffins of US troops returning to the US atDover [sic] AFB Delaware.
When I showed him the Army Times link that each week shows a flag draped coffin at a funeral service somewhere across the country usually being bourn to the gravesite by an honor guard pall bearer team, he informed me that it was not enough, they needed the photo of the coffin at the AFB or on the airplane coming back from Iraq.
I asked if a single coffin in the hold a C-17 being unloaded at Dover by an honor guard would be enough, he seemed confounded, rather began talking about the message of coffins returning needing to be larger.
That is when it dawned on me, showing a single coffin returning is not enough to the liberals, they need entire fields of coffins so they can show a message they have been virtually dying to communicate. That being "Massive Casualties" regardless of the lack of them.
Regardless of the nonsense the liberals preach, they do not seek to treat people as individuals, rather - groups. The more aggreived [sic] the group the better.
They do not seek to honor the fallen through these photos, rather use them against the warriors themselves.
In 2005 after the death of Reagan and his day of mourning on June 11, 2004 there was the Inauguration of President George W Bush to his second term in office. The Free Republic's chapter co-leader in Washington DC Kristinn Taylor was invited to a chat forum at the Washington Post. This is Ms Taylor's response to a question about the coffins:
Elmira, N.Y.: Dear Ms. Taylor, Does your group feel that the military has been correctly over-extended under this Administration? How do you feel about the ban on photographing coffins returning from Iraq? Would you at least agree that the Administration rushed into this war and alienated potential allies for the rebuilding of Iraq?
Thank you.
Kristinn Taylor: The Pentagon leadership is comfortable with our troop levels. We made a choice in the 90s to slash Defense funding in the name of the long wished for 'peace dividend.'
All these things going on now were thought of as prudent defense and fiscal policy awhile back. If it causes to much stress, I hope those decisons [sic] would be revisited.
Lefists [sic] love flag-draped coffins. Especially one's with the American flag, so they can use the photos to wear down morale. The families of servicemen killed in action have the ultimate decision [sic] as to whether their loved one's caket [sic] is photographed after it has been released to the family.
The leftist ghouls want pictures of rows and rows of coffins.
The 'allies' like France alienated themselves.
During the period of the Reagan laying in state in the Capitol rotunda and his funeral—a patriotic theocrat propagandist's dream of dreams—event fit for a dead Christian Caesar, a zenith was reached by the political right in the United States. The power consolidated out of the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 aircraft bombings in Washington and New York had crystallized into a GOP majority in the House and the Senate. There were already whispers that the nation had turned the corner—conservatism may reap a permanent majority in Congress and not relinquish the White house for two generations.
The President talked regularly on the phone in the morning with the leaders of the Theocracy in America, Dr James Dobson, the Reverend Ted Haggard head of the National Association of Evangelicals and the Reverend Jerry Falwell, pastor of the Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Virginia and founder of the Moral Majority. The blood frenzied theocrats has their wars against the brown heathens who were not of their Bible. It was all going so smoothly that those that died in those two wars didn't even have to be seen by the public in their silent repose at Dover AFB. This was would not be like the war in Vietnam where the bodies could be used as pawns for Liberal, read anti-war thus anti-American causes.
Instead there was Cindy Sheehan wanting to see the president and talk to him about her son Casey who was killed in Iraq. George Bush steadfastly refused. Now there is this article in Townhall and the other complaints about too much coverage of Michael Jackson, his death circumstances and the memorial service that was held Tuesday at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Matt Towery goes the distance for the right wing in this piece as far as he is allowed to go without jeopardizing himself as Rep Pete King did in his scathing attack video. Neither of these men has an ounce of credibility on the issue of media coverage because both have advocated using the 3 000 dead in New York and the military members dead in Iraq and Afghanistan as puppets to be paraded for the exhortation of violence against other nation states, mistrust of ethnic minorities and in the final analysis of denying rights to members of GLBTQ community whop serve their nation with honor, pride and courage.
According to USA Today these are the men and women that died in the service of the United States between June 6—11, 2004 while Reagan was feted as the hero of conservatism and the great dead leader of the political right ascendant:
June 8: Army Capt. Humayun Khan, 27, Bristow, Va.; died in Baqouba after a vehicle packed with explosives drove into the gate of his compound; Headquarters, Headquarters Company, 201st Forward Support Battalion, 1st Infantry Division, Vilseck, Germany.
June 7: Army Sgt. Jamie Gray, 29, Montpelier, Vt.; died in Scania when his military vehicle hit a roadside bomb; Army National Guards Headquarters, Headquarters Battery, 1st Battalion, 86th Field Artillery, Williston, Vt.
• Marine Lance Cpl. Jeremy Bohlman, 21, Sioux Falls, S.D.; died from hostile action in Anbar province; 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.
June 6: Army Pfc. Melissa Hobart, 22, Ladson, S.C.; collapsed while on guard duty and died in Baghdad; Company E, 215th Forward Support Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas.
• Army Sgt. Melvin Mora, 27, Columbia, Mo.; killed in Taji when his camp was hit by a mortar attack; Army Reserve's 245th Maintenance Company, St. Louis.
None of these soldiers had their arrival celebrated as Reagan was. None of the families of these fallen were allowed to speak to cameras or have them see that their loved ones had made the ultimate sacrifice. Yet they need not even a flag above their coffins to symbolize their bravery and their commitment to Freedom; all, like their buried brothers and sisters before them, are heroes to me. None of them have died in vain.
If Mr Towery wants to change the use of the dead as political football I suggest he start with the man in the mirror.
OFFICIAL PROMO FOR TONIGHT'S RAW DAWG BUFFALO RADIO SHOW 9/7/09:IS SOUTH KOREA PULLING OBAMA'S PLAYER CARD?
FROM LOVEBABZ:IN CASE ANYONE'S WONDERING WHY WE'RE NOT ON THE AIR NOW IT'S BECAUSE OUR EXECUTIVE PRODUCER'S IN LOVE AND SPACED-OUT AND PUT IN A STARTING TIME OF 11:30 PM EDT, INSTEAD OF 11
IS SOUTH KOREA PULLING OBAMA'S PLAYER CARD?
YES! Of course we are going to be all OVER the globe talking about issues nobody else will touch! Hondorus, Liberia, China, . You know how we get down... REAL...RUDE...RAW!
I am assuming by now that the Ghosts-In-Tbe-Machine [AKA 4-Way-Tie-For-Last President BushBaManuel Cheney, if you will] are familiar to everyone.
Don't forget your devilishly handsome co-hosts, though.
This is a SNUG FIT, Kittens. One of Kelso's better ones. Straight outta Memphis, Torrance, si o no? But "Donny, you're out of your element. Dude, Michelle MalKKKin's not the ISSUE, here." KITTENS? Here's your homework. South Korea. China. North Korea. Honduras. UBS. TIEA. And this little gem by PNAC-ZIONIST Man Jack Goldsmith which suggests first of all that Torrance, BuelahMan, and I are absolutely RIGHT and everybody else is absolutely WRONG. Look at the title of Goldsmith's pro-War pro-Obama piece and that opening video shot. Doesn't the joke just write itself?
How's this look? Yo creo que me voy volando, pue'-- si o huevo puta no?
"I, President Kelso Hussein Obama, on this Thursday, July 9, Year-Of-Our-Lord 2009, do hereby proclaim ALL COMBAT OPERATIONS in Iraq and South Central Asia to be OVER. Furthermore, I have suspened all aid to Israel, Colombia, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Peru. Plan Colombia and Plan Mexico have been terminated effective immediately. The United States Of America recognizes the full rights and privileges including but not limited to marriage for all Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered and Sexually-Questioning Americans. All victims of the Concentration Camps at GITMO, Baghram, Leavenworth, Fort Benning, plus those in any and all 'black-ops' sites are hereby released and given full US citizenship and a stipend of $100,000 should they elect to become US residents or citizens. In late but sincere recognition of a Black/Latin/Slavic/PoorWhite American Holocaust, I have signed an executive order re-nationalizing all privatized prisons and law enforcement functions. All non-violent drug offenders' sentences are hereby commuted and all are free citizens or residents of the USA as of this moment. I have also re-federalized AFDC, cut all subsidies to the Archer-Daniels-Midland Corporation and the Cargill Corporation. It gives me great pleasure to announce that all foreign US military bases are to be closed and all military personnel not assigned to embassy security are welcome home to their friends and families. It gives Michelle and me great pleasure to announce that as of Noon today Rahm Emmanuel will no longer serve as my Chief Of Staff. He has chosen to seek employment in the private sector. My good friend Eric Holder will assume regular duties as Chief-Of-Staff immediately and it gives me great pleasure to introduce my new Attorney General nominee, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of the great state of Rhode Island. How does it feel to be back at Justice, Shelly? Also, as of Noon today, Robert Gates will retire as Secretary Of Defense to be replaced, I am hopeful, by my good friend, Admiral William J "Fox" Fallon. I have so many good friends. What have I been doing with all this fighting?
I have elected NOT to sign any environmental legislation that includes monetizing death in the form of CO2 emissions and particulate matter. I am making good on my promise to offer every American the same low-cost full-coverage public insurance plan all members of Congress and all senior citizens get. To pay for this, I have rescinded all War Supplementals and have cancelled the upcoming $700 BN bank bailout. It was bad policy to begin with. I'm sorry. I goofed there. But as Fiorello LaGuardia, exemplary Mayor Of The Big Apple famously said, 'I don't make many mistakes, but when I make one, boy, is it a BEAUT.'
Thank you. Bless you. Your country loves each and every one of you. And may whichever entity you believe in or choose not to believe in bless the United States Of America. Thank you very much."
AMERICAN TRAITOR WATCH: ADMIRAL WILLIAM J "FOX" FALLON
ADMIRAL WILLIAM J "FOX FALLON, MR-"PEACE"-WHERE-ARE-COHN-AND-SCHEIN-WHEN-"WE"-NEED-THEM-MOST?-TRAITOR What the FUCK happened to THIS guy? A great traitor like this at least deserves a show-trial, si o no?
FIND FALLON AND MAKE AN EXAMPLE OF HIM AGAIN, PLEASE, FOR THE SAKE OF CHANGE WE CAN ALL BELIEVE IN! THE LEADER AND HIS TRUSTED SECRETARY OF WAR DESERVE NOTHING LESS. El Espiritu De La Escalera: Geography And Political Violence Edition
Does anyone want to take a look at the maps [Sorry, I thought I'd downloaded the largest ones!] and then take account of the destabilization of the Colom government of Guatemala, the overthrow of the Zelaya government of Honduras, Plan Mexico, Plan Colombia, the perpetual client state status of Costa Rica, and President Obama's insistence that President Martinelli of Panama agree to Obama's coercive and invasive TIEA (Tax Information Exchange Agreement), Secretary Of War Robert Gates,Special Advisor General Colin "El Chorillo" Powell, the NEVER ENDING "OVERSEAS CONTINGENCY OPERATIONS ON NARCO-TERRORISM" and a certain "treatment for insecurity" that comes from leaves that only grow on and around ONE mountain range in the world and then explain what's going on here?
Here's a hint. The TIEA does not authorize President Martinelli to examine any US bank records. It merely cedes effective control of the Panamanian economy to the Obama government. It is certainly POSSIBLE that all of a sudden during the highly-popular Obama Administration, Planes Mexico and Colombia were supersized, Colom lost control of the Guatemalan government and Zelaya was overthrown in a coup BY RANDOM CHANCE. Sure, it's POSSIBLE. It's also POSSIBLE that Big Sammy is not a FRIENDLY FASCIST state.
Not getting it yet? Here's a clue:
Here's another brain-teaser. What's this all about?
Hmm. It sure reminds me of off-shore sportsbooks and the UIGEA during the horrid Bush Administration, but that's just me. Maybe, I'm retarded. I just know that tax conspiracy on behalf of some employees of one Swiss bank does not make Barack Obama the President of Switzerland nor does it make the U.S. Department of the Treasury nor the Federal Reserve the owners of the Union Bank Of Switzerland. The President and Finance Director of the democratic government of Switzerland is Hans-Rudolf Merz. Once again, for the "differently-abled" children in the back, the President Of the Republic of Panama is not Barack Obama. It is Ricardo Martinelli.
If this is about taxes, let the Obama Administration use fiscal policy to do something about their budget themselves. In Obama, Geithner and Summers they do have the three most able men on Earth at the ready. If it's about making the Federal Reserve the GLOBAL FINANCE SUPERCOP, that's a non-starter. If it's about one particular way to get "the cure for insecurity" into the USA, that's a non-starter also. The American people have endorsed all of these coercive measures at home by a 60%-33%-7% undecided count and that's fine for them. None of this is fine for the people of Central and South America nor is it fine for the Swiss. American culture is American culture. Fine. I get it. You are all very proud of your president as you should be. He just doesn't happen to be MY president, nor am I his subject for the next 10 years. He doesn't happen to be former Avalanche goaltender David Aebischer's president either. Martinelli and Merz would be the correct answers once again, respectively.
Then again, it could be that Amy Goodman, Glenn Greenwald and I are part of the International Zionist Conspiracy To Subjugate Proud African-Americans While Advancing The Interests Of The Moneyed Classes And Preparing Our Passover Matzoh With Christian Childrens' Blood. It's possible. You never know, do you? Except that Amy Goodman, Glenn Greenwald and I have made our opposition to Zionism clear at every opportunity. We still might be Avaricious Racist Jews Bent On Humiliating The Heroes Of Black America, but we're sure as shit not Zionists. And all three of us recognize Barack Obama as the absolute legitimate 44th President Of The United States Of America without doubt or question because of imagined birthplaces or skin color rules. There are other rules, though. Which do apply.
Does everybody understand why people outside America get confused from time to time? Does everybody understand why I'm starting to feel like the ONLY free country left on Earth is the one immediately due East of Colombia, the one with one of the world's larger proportions of productive capacity in government hands? Don't worry. I know who is the WEAK, Ringo! (tm)
VOTE KUCINICH-PAUL IN 2010+2 AND 'RACK OBAMA BEFORE HE RACKS YOU...Every day, more and more reasons.
Here's a prediction. This post will garner exactly ZERO COMMENTS. A pure Murray's Bagels poppy-seed bagel. I have no intention, however, of ceasing this line of opinion in prose. When I'm given a good reason, then I'll stop. For now, let's just be polite and say "Johnny Thunders."
"Same rules apply." I quote the anti-hero of the novel whose cover adorns the top of this post.
THE DEMON ECONOMIST OF MAIDA VALE; THE VILLAGERS ARE AFTER DR FRANKENSTEIN'S MONSTER AGAIN!
They are seeking to ban me from B4V again. This time for expressing an opinion on Palestine:
The Israelis are doing the same thing to the Palestinians that the Nazi did to them in Warsaw prior to the Final Solution. Hopefully Israel will get a Liberal government before that happens and the two states can come to a violence proof two state solution with Jerusalem as Palestine’s capital.
A chap calling himself farthertotheright is leading the charge:
Silent Cal, Excuse me for “breaking in on your conversation” with Carol, but I want to say this. I think leadeconomist should be banned from this sight for exactly what you’re talking about. There is a comment policy or at least you can be banned at the discretion of the host. If you like you can contact the host via the “contact” button at the top of the page.
What a nice help he is! Silent Cal who says he is a "lib" took offense that I treat Israel like any other member of the United Nations and any other signatory to any number of the treaties and international laws both applicable at sea and on land. Silent Cal writes:
Carol, I meant to tell you this before, I am a progressive; what you might call a “lib.” I am appalled at what passes for progressive debate on this site; with leadeconomist the most embarrassing. Some of the loud ignorant and, frankly gauche commenter’s are simply caricatures and not deserving of debate.
If there is a comment policy, judging by the crassness of the commenter’s there isn’t, I would think that hate speech comparing anyone, much less the Jews, to perpetrating another Holocaust would top the list.
Gauche? If this bounder knew a whit's worth of information about Israeli politics he would know that "the Jews" and Israel's government "Israel" are two completely different and often disagreeing entities. I have far better things to do than to roll that boulder up the hill at B4V. These people are in the tank for Sarah Palin for the love of sawdust! One idiot tried to exorcize me. Balderdash!
Ban me I can spend my free time in a pub. Or even better writing articles about the American caused global financial crisis that appears to have found a bottom, finally if certain data can be trusted. As for the b4V crowd: They can all queue up and suck my dick.
Pain Knight Slayer of Shai' tan الافتتاحية من الفتاحات Majordomo of Hell and Terra Order of the Black Rose of the Empire Ayatollah of Rham and its Shadow Fair Judge Executioner of Souls Quarterer's Order of the Descending Aorta, 1st Class, with diamonds, rubies, platinum concertina, golden concertina, gilded pancreas, emerald gall bladder, mesentery and lymph nodes Lord Gaoler of Dis Womb of Empires Order of the Superior Vena Cava 先生 立石 上様 Fifth Sea Lord of Hell Chair, Hellac Consumer Products Safety Commission Oracle of Elections Order of the Obsidian Heart [Mot. Pict. Arts & Sci.] Order of the Obsidian Heart [Tort] Order of the Obsidian Heart [Fluid Dyn.] Chair, Hellac Commission on Sentient Being Rights Lord High Justice of the Court of Acts & Merits Knight Commander of the Hellac Gordian Knot of Silver Keeper of the Keys of all the Gates of Hell Qadi of Hades Chamberlain Imperial of the Necropontiff of the Universal Fatean Church Order of the Quartz Heart [Eng.] Order of the Quartz Heart [Jur.] Order of the Quartz Heart [Metaphys.] Order of the Quartz Heart [Philos.] Count-Palatine of Sheol Marquis di Gehenna Emperor Consort White Rod President Pro tempore Bax Culdnu 39 2 Leviathan 2 AS
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Cavalor and Carl Epthith of the 24th arrondissment of Dis, the capital of Hell and the permanent home of the Obsidian Throne and the Crown Fiery are proud to announce the arrival by natural birth of Gretchen Lavrouth Diane Epthith weighing 8 pounds and 2 ounces this date at 11h 20m Hellac Darklight Time. We here at The Dis Brimstone Daily Pitchfork wish the Epthiths much joy in this time of growth and prosperity.
MASS AG COAKLEY SUES UNITED STATES TO OVERTURN 1996 DEFENSE OF MARRIAGE ACT
Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley has filed a suit in the United States District Court in Boston against the United States over the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act of 1996 [Public Law No. 104-199, 110 Stat. 2419; 1 U.S.C. § 7 and 28 U.S.C. § 1738C ]. The chief complaint about DOMA is that it create a secondary class of relationships and denies constitutional full faith and credit to gay couples in states where they can legally marry. Currently, gay marriage is recognized only in Iowa, Connecticut and Massachusetts with legality imminent in New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine.
Coakley is fighting this law as a States' Rights issue citing that the benefits that married couples enjoy should be for all couples who marry not just heterosexual couples. The Massachusetts Attorney general is quoted in the Boston Globe, "Our families, our communities, and even our economy have seen the many important benefits that have come from recognizing equal marriage rights and, frankly, no downside." The District of Columbia is currently the only place in the United States where marriages of gay and lesbian couples are recognized, legally, in a jurisdiction where gay marriages are not licensed.
IT'S GETTING TO BE THAT TIME AGAIN: TOM CAMPBELL FOR CALIFORNIA REPUBLICAN GUBERNATORIAL NOMINEE AND FOR A FULL FIELD OF THREE (AT LEAST)
My early instincts on these things have been pretty good. My preferences for President in 2008 were in order: Kucinich, Paul, Clinton. I was ready to be four square for Obama following Clinton's suspension but was put off by some of the lurches right by Obama in place of a dedication to economic study with Warren Buffett and Paul Voelcker, so I wrote up a preference in June 2008 for Cynthia McKinney (Green Party). That's looking genius right now. My abandonment of McKinney for Obama in these pages was not my greatest profile in courage to say the least.
I've been quick to be a fan of the DraftPaulKucinich2012 campus movement (albeit from far away, no ability to vote, and prevented from any financial participation -- something I never did in the US, anyway). I bring up candidates and issues I like. The ultimate decisions rest with the senior editorial staff.
This from Chris Cillizza's "The Fix": "Whitman Hires Pompeii: Former eBay president Meg Whitman (R) continues to scoop up well-regarded operatives for her 2010 California gubernatorial bid with Sarah Pompeii, currently press secretary for Sen. Mike Johanns (R-Neb.), the latest to join the team. Pompeii, who served as deputy press secretary for former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney's 2008 presidential campaign before joining Johanns's campaign, will serve as press secretary for Whitman. Pompeii is returning home -- she is a native of Orange County -- to help Whitman in her primary fight against former Rep. Tom Campbell and state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner."
So, it's on. I've been opposed to the Obama Administration's taking control of the Democratic National Committee via Chairman Tim Kaine. In so many important Senate 2010 races, this twinning of President and Party have been choosing or trying to choose the Democratic nominee without a contest and Rahm Emanuel's behavior in this regard has also been "anti-democratic" to say the least: Gillibrand, Madigan, Meek, Specter are merely the ones the public knows about, though I would encourage Joe Sestak and Carolyn Maloney to make runs at PA and NY if they want. It can only add to democracy.
I like the democratic-republican system of government, all forms of self-government really, and in the absence of a multiplicity of parties plus instant-runoff voting, contested primaries seem to add the best hope for some form of democracy. In a FRIENDLY FASCIST state, of course!
So, first off, let's hope the Republican contest is contested and not snowballed by the House Leadership and RNC Chair Michael Steele for Meg Whitman. Tom Campbell and Steve Poizner are and should continue to be in this, too. Alphabetically:
I believe Tom Campbell to be far and away the best choice of the three for California Republicans for a variety of reasons, the most important being -- aside from his experience, talent and different Republican look that what Big Sammy has mostly seen -- his unabashed pro-Choice and pro-LGBTQ rights positions. Quite apart from those being my own views, a Republican candidate with such position, and the intellectual weight Campbell brings, pretty much guarantees a general election campaign based upon economic and social policy issues free of most of the character assassination that has been a Republican hallmark.
Tom Campbell's being a flexible libertarian sure doesn't hurt and promises an interesting and different debate against any of the declared or A.B.D. Democratic candidates Jerry Brown, John Garamendi, and Gavin Newsom. Or Xavier Becerra.
El Espiritu De La Escalera
Let's stay with this positive, eclectic, vibe just a bit longer. Enjoy a really nice post from BuelahMan about his recent high school reunion. You'll hear him say his signature phrase and know that he's the real thing.
I just posted a quick one over at The Red-State Revolt on the subject of MOTHER JONES once again showing it's true color: brown as in Brown-Shirt. Here's the re-cross:
Pain Knight Slayer of Shai' tan الافتتاحية من الفتاحات Majordomo of Hell and Terra Order of the Black Rose of the Empire Ayatollah of Rham and its Shadow Fair Judge Executioner of Souls Quarterer's Order of the Descending Aorta, 1st Class, with diamonds, rubies, platinum concertina, golden concertina, gilded pancreas, emerald gall bladder, mesentery and lymph nodes Lord Gaoler of Dis Womb of Empires Order of the Superior Vena Cava 先生 立石 上様 Fifth Sea Lord of Hell Chair, Hellac Consumer Products Safety Commission Oracle of Elections Order of the Obsidian Heart [Mot. Pict. Arts & Sci.] Order of the Obsidian Heart [Tort] Order of the Obsidian Heart [Fluid Dyn.] Chair, Hellac Commission on Sentient Being Rights Lord High Justice of the Court of Acts & Merits Knight Commander of the Hellac Gordian Knot of Silver Keeper of the Keys of all the Gates of Hell Qadi of Hades Chamberlain Imperial of the Necropontiff of the Universal Fatean Church Order of the Quartz Heart [Eng.] Order of the Quartz Heart [Jur.] Order of the Quartz Heart [Metaphys.] Order of the Quartz Heart [Philos.] Count-Palatine of Sheol Marquis di Gehenna Emperor Consort White Rod President Pro tempore Bax Culdnu 39 2 Leviathan 2 AS
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TALES FROM EVIL TAX HAVENIA: POLITICS AND POKER, CUT THE DECK, TAKE OUT THE JOKER
Let's start out with the poker part first and check in with 2009 David "Chip" Reese Trophy holder, David "The Gunslinger" Bach on his first day of the main event, the WSOP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP OF NHLE. This is another very fine write-up, instructive, I think, for players of all skill levels.
Wow, Amazing table draw. We wound up with over 6400 players. A staggering 8.5 Million to 1st place.
We had 12 different players at my table today.. 9 of them were winning professional poker players. How does that happen in this huge field?? I was in the 5 seat. I had a very active, tricky, and agressive player two seats to my left handcuffing me..
I had Jason Strasser on my right stealing through me. Seat 1 was a professional PLO player. Seat 2 a rich amatuer lady, went broke after dinner, replaced by a tight player. Seat 3 Bart Hansen, high limit host at the Bicycle Casino. Seat 4 Jason Strasser, an excellent pro who I battled with in the 2007 LAPC. Seat 6 a young Asian online pro. Seat 7 an excellent pro. Seat 8 an online pro. Seat 9 a New Yorker, kinda weak tight.
Level 1 50-100. 30K in starting chips, a HUGE improvement from last year. Two hour levels. I played AdKd, 59, TJ, QdTd, As2s, AcTc, QsTs, AQ, Ad6d, 67, Kd9d, and QcTc. I won exactly ZERO of those hands, ending with 13750.
If I had hindsight, I would have played a few less hands considering the difficulty of the table.
Level 2 100-200. I won my first pot, flopped a full house with 44. I won a little one with 78.
Key Hand: I raise to 525 with KK. Seat 6 makes it 1700. I reraise and we get it all-in, he has me easily covered. He has AK. I dodge the ace and double up to 31K.
I lose little ones with 9hTh and KhTh, then win a little one with 6h8h.
Key Hand: I'm in big blind. Lady raises to 650. Button flat calls. Jason raises to 2300 ( looks a lot like a squeeze play). I have AhKd. I think this is a mandatory reriase. If the \raises had come from different positions, then a fold is possible. My thinking is a shove all in gives my hand away, so I just make it 7750. The lady INSTANTLY shoves. The others fold.
I get the chip[ count and the price is 14K to win 30K. I know she is strong, She could have AA, KK, AK, QQ, and mabye JJ or TT. I have to call.
She has QQ. Jason says he folded other AK. Flop was 3h4hTd. Turn is Jh. I now have 15 outs. River 2s. I am hurt severely down to 8k.
I win a decent pot with AsJs flopping broadway. I end with 10600.
Level 3 150-300. Nothing major. Small wins with 8c9c, 66, JJ, and AT Small losses with Jd4d, AQ, 4c6c, and 78. I end with 10775.
Level 4 150-300 25$ ante. This is the first ante, but not a big one. My big picture plan is tight this level, and looser at the 200-400 50$ ante. I have two sucessful resteals of an agressive player with 77 and 88. I lose a little one with 89. I am forced to fold 66, 77, and 44 to legit raises. My stack is not big enough to take flops for sets, a shame. I win one with AhJh and end with 14900.
Level 5 200-400 50$ ante. I get a little more active, stealing occasionly on the blinds of seats 2, 3, and 9. I win pots with QhJh, KJ, 89, 78, and A6. I have to fold 33 and AT for similar stack size reasons. I lose little ones with A2, 69, and Ah3h.
Key Hand: I make a little speech about how I have missed out on two sets by folding preflop. The next hand I pick up KK. Perfect.
I know the reverse psychology of saying I am tight could work in my favor here. I raise to 1125. Seat 6 ,makes it 3300. No option but an all-in. He has a big stack and calls. He has 66. I dodge the bullets, and double up.
I ended the night with 26350. I am thrilled. A brutal table. I showed a TON of patience. My first day 2 in the Main Event. Day off tomorrow ( I am going to do some reading on NLH, I think I could be a little sharper) I resume on Wednesday at noon. Thanks for all the support.
Long Days and Pleasant Nights, David
Now for some politics. Here are all the links you need to get up to date on UIGEA, live cash and online poker in Big Sammy, the players' lobbyists, the sympathetic ears in Congress, the not so sympathetic ears, the downright repulsive actions of the Holder Justice Department, which has gone far beyond Ashcroft, Gonzales or Mukasey, and lots of other good stuff. For the interested student, of course.
My pet peeve with all of this is that it's all talk-talk and bullshit-bullshit. No one has addressed the issues of US defiance of the WTO sanctions and ever-accumulating fines going back to 1997. No one has addressed the frivolous prosecution of Jay Cohen and the Federal Court of Appeals 3-0 ruling in support of his conviction despite having no criminal record in his home country of Antigua where all of his business was conducted. The write-up of the decision by the appeals court was worse even than the 3-0 decision. It would make anybody supporting himself or herself by betting on cards, sports or horses, a US felon.
Furthermore, none of the legislation anywhere, save the very first draft of the Frank-Paul Bill of 2009, which did tangentially seem to solve the USA v Cohen problem, addresses the problem of USA PATRIOT 2, and the DoJ's continued blind faith in FBI director Robert Mueller's testimony before the Goodlatte sub-committee hearings to the effect that there was a direct link between all forms of gambling, inclusive of thoroughbred racing and brick-and-mortar casinos, and al-Qaida.
So, while the weak, castrated version of Frank-Paul, whatever the fuck it's called now, has no shot of getting a Senate debate because of the politics involved and because of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's own views and own intensities in all of this. The interested student will note that the U.S. Attorney under Clinton, Mary Jo White, who brought the original charge against Mr Cohen and sought and got a custodial sentence in a case of clear international state sovereignty, had been and may again be a partner at Debevoise & Plimpton which also represents the major sports leagues.
I think it's kind of rich that the Poker Players' Alliance is so willing to throw sports and horse bettors under the bus along with the many foreign nations which are sports-and-horse-and-poker-betting friendly. I admire how young and earnest and believing of the system the big names of poker appear to be in their ads, but "sending a letter to president Obama" is not going to cut it for Americans who want to be able to enjoy online and live poker as either a career or hobby. Forget sports and horses. Those are drifting steadily into drug territory in Big Sammy.
Old School Past-Masters like Chip Reese were always gambling and finance polymaths. If it could be figured out with math and you could get an edge you went for it. There used to be an automatic kinship in the community in Big Sammy. Online poker brought millions of new players into the world of poker which is great, but not having learned the ins-and-outs of other forms of gambling as well, has kind of left the weight of the American poker community indifferent to sports and horse bettors. A great book that shows the absolute identity of all higher mathematics, gambling and finance is Fortune's Formula, William Poundstone, Book - Barnes & Noble
The first time a cleft between self-righteous poker punks and Old-School polymaths opened up, we of the latter group were not terribly kind. There were lots and lots of jokes about college kids blowing their parents' money and their school loans and then having to blow dick to pay for basic necessities and to feed their gambling additction. We always felt like we were a community and that everyone was part of it even if they were competitors or had unpleaasant personalities or whatever.
I don't want to cause any guilt by association for a great champion like The Gunslinger. He's my younger brother and I'd always have his back. But one of the reasons I found his remarks following his H.O.R.S.E. Championship victory so on-the-money and inspiring was his respect for Chip and that he, too, is a (young) OLD-SCHOOL player. In your effort to capture the HORSE-MAIN EVENT DOUBLE, David, I say 4 words. GO. ON. MY. SON.
To the "Poker-Blog-Geeks," as a good Panamanian friend of David's and mine -- a young, top-class, online player calls them. To those who would throw your brothers and sisters away, some advice from me and Shane MacGowan:
The meaning of marriage and family and observations on the changes in society in America over the last two centuries from a remnant of the Religious Right.
Click the picture to see what Polish actress extraordinaire Anna Mucha of Schindler's List fame is up to these days.
Beauty, is in the eye of the beholder and in the Soul of the beheld.
A healthy dose of snark fro the Hartford Courant's Colin McEnroe. WARNING: We are not responsible for damage to your computer if you are drinking while reading this.
Four years ago the London Metro was bombed and the DHS looks back.
Jonathan Schell of The Nation recalls Robert McNamara. [Robin Green's two part interview with McNamara will run in this space on this coming Friday and Saturday]
Pain Knight Slayer of Shai' tan الافتتاحية من الفتاحات Majordomo of Hell and Terra Order of the Black Rose of the Empire Ayatollah of Rham and its Shadow Fair Judge Executioner of Souls Quarterer's Order of the Descending Aorta, 1st Class, with diamonds, rubies, platinum concertina, golden concertina, gilded pancreas, emerald gall bladder, mesentery and lymph nodes Lord Gaoler of Dis Womb of Empires Order of the Superior Vena Cava 先生 立石 上様 Fifth Sea Lord of Hell Chair, Hellac Consumer Products Safety Commission Oracle of Elections Order of the Obsidian Heart [Mot. Pict. Arts & Sci.] Order of the Obsidian Heart [Tort] Order of the Obsidian Heart [Fluid Dyn.] Chair, Hellac Commission on Sentient Being Rights Lord High Justice of the Court of Acts & Merits Knight Commander of the Hellac Gordian Knot of Silver Keeper of the Keys of all the Gates of Hell Qadi of Hades Chamberlain Imperial of the Necropontiff of the Universal Fatean Church Order of the Quartz Heart [Eng.] Order of the Quartz Heart [Jur.] Order of the Quartz Heart [Metaphys.] Order of the Quartz Heart [Philos.] Count-Palatine of Sheol Marquis di Gehenna Emperor Consort White Rod President Pro tempore Bax Culdnu 38 2 Leviathan 2 AS
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For those of you who don't know I was the point of much concern in the Consiliul last week. A woman was upset about the murder of Alice Morrin and the fact that I wrote what I saw here in Hell. The local paper and television named not only Ms Morrin and her husband but the two minor children as well. I saw no point in naming them. I do remain solidly behind my reportage despite the surprise that there are people on Terra who think Hell is a final destination for only those they hate not those they knew or loved. It's time to wake up and smell the metjuizy people. I welcome the new Ombudsman and look forward to working with him.
Susan Clemmer, Santa Clarita, California a detective of the LAPD Gang & Narcotics Division killed herself in the Santa Clarita Sherrif's Department station late Monday night with a gunshot to the head. Clemmer gained notariety for testifying in the Rodney King beating trial.
Sean Marshall of McMinneville, Oregon shot his father and then himself. No word yet on motive. Curiously the paper of record the Statesman-Journal noted that Sean was "an avid skateboarder." I wonder if the editor was trying to convey that slackers do murder suicide as well as the more straight edged?
Eddie Heard of Fort Gaines, Georgia ran his wife Angela Sands down with his vehicle and then shot her three times before killing himself with the handgun. Sands was filing paperwork with the county to keep Heard off her property. There was a history of domestic violence between the couple.
WE DON'T HAVE TO MAKE THIS SHIT UP; 38 2 LEVIATHAN 2 AS
For about twenty years, conservative talk radio had dominated the public consciousness politically in America. There was nothing like it in Liberal World; then came the Internet. Then came blogging and the Liberal blogosphere that can actually mobilize people so effectively that it would make Richard Viguerie blush.
There was Rules for Radicals but the vast majority of the people at dailyKos or Firedoglake didn't read this book before they started doing their thing. There wasn't any time. Now the Right seeing this common sense connection with Rules and the Left Bloggers a sort of untouching synchronicity that they want what we have excpet theirs will be broken and religious and bigoted.
And so the word went out, from that time and place: Eviscerate Sarah Palin like one of her field-dressed moose. Turn her life upside down. Attack her politics, her background, her educational history. Attack her family. Make fun of her husband, her children. Unleash the noted gynecologist Andrew Sullivan to prove that Palin’s fifth child was really her grandchild. Hit her with everything we have: Maureen Dowd of the New York Times, taking a beer-run break from her quixotic search for Mr. Right to drip venom on Sister Sarah; post-funny comic David Letterman, to joke about her and her daughters on national television; Katie Couric, the anchor nobody watches, to give this Alaskan interloper a taste of life in the big leagues; former New York Times hack Todd “Mr. Dee Dee Myers” Purdum, to act as an instrument of Graydon Carter’s wrath at Vanity Fair. Heck, we even burned her church down. Even after the teleological triumph of The One, the assault had to continue, each blow delivered with our Lefty SneerTM (viz.: Donny Deutsch yesterday on Morning Joe), until Sarah was finished.
You know what? It worked! McCain finally succumbed to his long-standing case of Stockholm Syndrome (“My friends, you have nothing to fear from an Obama presidency”), Tina Fey turned Palin into a see-Russia-from-my-house joke, “conservative” useful idiots like Peggy Noonan and Kathleen Parker hatched her, and finally Sarah cried No más and walked away. If we could, we’d cut off her head and mount it on a wall at Tammany Hall, except there is no more Tammany Hall unless you count Obama’s Tony Rezko–financed home in Chicago. And it took only eight months — heck, Sarah couldn't even have another kid in the time it took us to destroy her. That’s the Chicago way!
Should we tell them that what we do only works if it is used to create not to destroy?
At least now you get to see some of the cost of your bloated lifestyle. Your air con year round fruit and overconsumption of meat. The need to drive ever larger ever more petrol guzzling vehicles causes, fighting off ledger wars of choice and bankrolling drug for the rich and taxes for the Middle Class, this sort of feeling of guilt but it will only last until the next advert on the television that shows you something else being marketed for the ejaculation of your insatiable WANT glands.
"Taste this," I said to Sergei Kirov as he plopped himself down on the chair across from my post in the cooking station. The Empress is having guests for breakfast in two hours and the Imperial Kitchen was abuzz. I slid a platter across the white marble and his eyes closed and he took a deep chest filling breath.
"I don't care what that is," Kirov said in heavily Russian accented English, "it smells so good it could be some alien stomach and I wouldn't care. Give me a fork, please." He dug in.
"What do you taste?" I asked. Then, "How does it feel?"
"Holy shit, that's good," he mumbled chewing. I offered him tea but he refused. "No I want you to tell me now what this is. I know it's cherries but cherries and what else?"
"It's baked Sarah Palin. Cherries soaked in Cointreau and brown sugar baked in the oven in my own razor wheat pastry layered with fresh Alaska salmon and a hint of fresh garlic."
"This is the best thing you've ever made! You can't stop eating it!" Kirov had nearly devoured the whole slice when he began to frown, "Please tell me comrade that there is a whole pie somewhere?" I nodded.
"We're serving slices of this and a good strong Colombian coffee for the breakfast this morning. I think some of the people in the meeting will get a kick out of what it's called.
"I'm sure Kennedy won't mind eating Sarah Palin," Kirov said wiping his mouth and checking his uniform for crumbs. We both got a snicker out of that while I poured the Earl Grey.
The video speaks for itself. As Sarah Palin looms as the next "Theodore Roosevelt Reagan Falwell" to become the de facto head of the Bull Moose Party in 2010 you can expect more of this from the endangered species that is the Northeastern Republican. King is in a safe district that is like a little speck of Orange County ion New York. It is heavily GOP and will remain that way for at least the next 6 election cycles as the demographics shift toward younger more female and Latina population by 2022. We, Ourselves, of the Collective, understand that King is trying to hang on to the success that he planted in the corpses after 9/11 but that is a waste to go all postal on Michael Jackson who was a great entertainer and was never conhvicted of molesting any child.
Two "perverts", one each pedophile, low-life and child molester. You cannot slander the Dead. We are sure the TPL bidding for Pete King's ass just went up. We do not see how this rant can be of a benefit to Rep King. This is another embarrassment for the GOP. So this marks the first time We have gone back a day in time to award the Nigger of the Week which will become a feature in Our sidebar later today. Representative Peter King R-NY 3 you are the Nigger of the Week for 36 2 leviathan 2 as!
Pain Knight Slayer of Shai' tan الافتتاحية من الفتاحات Majordomo of Hell and Terra Order of the Black Rose of the Empire Ayatollah of Rham and its Shadow Fair Judge Executioner of Souls Quarterer's Order of the Descending Aorta, 1st Class, with diamonds, rubies, platinum concertina, golden concertina, gilded pancreas, emerald gall bladder, mesentery and lymph nodes Lord Gaoler of Dis Womb of Empires Order of the Superior Vena Cava 先生 立石 上様 Fifth Sea Lord of Hell Chair, Hellac Consumer Products Safety Commission Oracle of Elections Order of the Obsidian Heart [Mot. Pict. Arts & Sci.] Order of the Obsidian Heart [Tort] Order of the Obsidian Heart [Fluid Dyn.] Chair, Hellac Commission on Sentient Being Rights Lord High Justice of the Court of Acts & Merits Knight Commander of the Hellac Gordian Knot of Silver Keeper of the Keys of all the Gates of Hell Qadi of Hades Chamberlain Imperial of the Necropontiff of the Universal Fatean Church Order of the Quartz Heart [Eng.] Order of the Quartz Heart [Jur.] Order of the Quartz Heart [Metaphys.] Order of the Quartz Heart [Philos.] Count-Palatine of Sheol Marquis di Gehenna Emperor Consort White Rod President Pro tempore Bax Culdnu 37 2 Leviathan 2 AS
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VAN FLEIN AND PALIN CAN SHOVE THEIR "DEFAMATION" THREATS UP THEIR ASSES
The good news about Michael Jackson over saturation in the MSM means that there isn't yet Sarah Palin oversaturation. There must have been at least a dozen stories in the last week that were obscured from view by the arc welding bright light caused by Jacko's untimely death. Palin's resignation is still a bombshell even if millions of Americans are weeping over a pop culture mega-icon. At least their have been Jackson related suicides; Palin's political career has a gun loaded to its head and it is about to fire it any day now.
That gun was picked up by Palin's future political career on Friday when she rambled through the most detached political speech since Mark Sanford's affair admission only days before. It was loaded by the gaffes and indifference toward preparation since she was chosen by John McCain to be his Vice Presidential candidate in the 2008 election. No McCain doesn't have Alzheimer's disease it was just a stupid play for a bloc of voters—white bigots—that McCain thought was more deep than shallow.
Palin's legal counsel Thomas Van Flein is now threatening lawsuits against anyone that "defames" the soon to be leaving Governor of Alaska. This man who represents Palin in legal matters is going after journalists and bloggers who report on what they hear and have shown no intent to harm. They are in a tizzy about the Wasilla Sports Complex and allegations that Palin and her husband may have embezzled more than 250 000 USD from the project. I have not seen or heard any proof of this but the threat in the form of that four page letter from Clapp, Petersen, Van Flein, Tiemessen and Thorsness gushing with Right Wing invective and phrases like "power abhors a vacuum" has forced my hand.
I ordered 18 research persons from the main office here in Dis to Anchorage, Alaska, Wasilla, Alaska and Juneau, Alaska to sit in diners and stroll the aisles of big box stores to both help the local economy by purchasing "stuff" and chatting up locals who may be able to clear up this whole Wasilla Sports Complex embezzlement story. The story is out there and Palin and her attorney are afraid more of the digging than the finding. The chase is on.
"I do not give an ashhauler's damn about where this man went to school he practices law in Alaska for the love of sulfur there is a Jovian difference between Portland and Alaska, Diane. I know you can get this story. Keep me posted."—Cavalor Epþiþ, Esquire
And yes Mr. Van Flein it is a story and if I find that Sarah Palin stole one red cent of the taxpayer's money not only are we going to write and print that story we are going to demand you give the editor in chief of the Anchorage Daily News and Shannyn Moore a public apology and one of those good chocolate dipped fruit baskets. Otherwise I will spend every aureus I have to see that you never practice law again anywhere outside of the most remote parts of Africa and I know you won't like that.
And just something for the smart kids in the class to chew on. If President Obama hasn't civilly sued anyone over the ridiculous claims that he is not a "natural born" American why are the Palins so mortified that someone might look into whther their house was build by contractors for the Wasilla Sports Complex? I'm not a lawyer so I'll let those with shingles hanging and JD [or JF as it applies] after their names tackle that one.
[Ed Note: Thanks to Gavlae Reudo Maxric our intrepid Copy Editor for running down an RSS icon caricature of me. Very realistic proportions! I love it and so does Veronica; even The Boss gave it two claws up.]
NO JUSTICE NO PEACE; YOUR DAILY HEAD EXPLODER 37 2 LEVIATHAN 2 AS
The first video is crossover adult film/ music video superstar Lisa Ann giving an interview. The second is Sarah Plain's resignation speech. The Third is a scene from Hustler's "Naylin Paylin. The last image speaks for itself.
This video may not be suitable for conservatives.
Okay boys and girls your assignment is to honestly tell me who looks more presidential? I swear it's not a trick question. There's extra credit if you want.
Is the following video a verbatim parody of Sarah Plain by [the lovely and talented] Tina Fey?
BIGOT WATCH; AUDRA SHAY WAVES HER CONFEDERATE FREAK FLAG IN A HURRICANE
Here's what was drowned out by the tsunami of Sarah Palin quitting as Alaska Governor on Friday afternoon.
Bigot Watch today is short and sweet. There are always reminders at Right Wing web site that the Democratic Party was the Party of slavery during the Civil War, the Party of the Klan after the Reconstruction and the Party of Jim Crow for the first 65 years of the 20th Century. That all is true. Most Southern conservatives and segregationists during those times were Democrats. After Lyndon Baines Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act conservative Democrats from the South began to migrate to the new look GOP.
Nowadays it isn't fashionable to say something bigoted in public where it can be recorded and this tends to trouble the mostly white male and Christian GOP quite a bit. They still think this is a "Christian nation" and that their race of people is somehow "exceptional" or even "Divinely chosen." Such hubris is how Audra Shay vice President of the Young Republicans stumbled into laughing about a racial slur directed at the President of the United States.
John Avlon writing at The Daily Beast, points out the joke and the reaction of others as well as Shay's response:
On Wednesday, Shay—a 38-year old army veteran, mother and event planner from Louisiana who has been endorsed by her governor, Bobby Jindal—was holding court on her Facebook page, initiating a political conversation by posting that “WalMart just signed a death warrant” by “endorsing Obama’s healthcare plan.” At 1:52, a friend named listed as Eric S. Piker, but whose personal page says his actual name is Eric Pike, wrote “It’s the government making us commies… can’t even smoke in my damn car… whats next they going to issue toilet paper once a month… tell us how to wipe our asses…”
Two minutes later, Piker posted again saying “Obama Bin Lauden [sic] is the new terrorist… Muslim is on there side [sic]… need to take this country back from all of these mad coons… and illegals.”
Eight minutes after that, at 2:02, Shay weighed in on Piker’s comments: “You tell em Eric! lol.” Shay now claims that she was only responding to Piker’s first comments, not having noticed the second. The eight-minute gap between the second post and her response strains the credibility of this defense.
It didn’t take long for other posters on Shay’s page to do the math. First, Derek Moss wrote “What’s disheartening is the use of the word “coon” in 2009. Wow… I’m usually out-numbered about 500-to-1 on Audra’s threads so go ahead, lemme have it, I deserve it.” He apparently expected to be criticized as among this crowd for calling out the racist comment.
Cassie Wallender, a national committeewoman from the Washington Young Republican Federation, then wrote: “Someone please help a naïve Seattle girl out, is Eric’s comment a racist slur?” She answered her own question one minute later: “Okay, why is this okay? I just looked it up. ‘It comes from a term baracoons (a cage) where they used to place Africans who were waiting to be sent to America to be slaves.’ THIS IS NOT OKAY AND IT’S NOT FUNNY.”
This was followed soon after by the Chairman of the D.C. Young Republicans, Sean L. Conner, who wrote “I’m really saddened that you would support this type of racial language. ..wow! Thanks Cassie for standing up…”
Shay was silent on this exchange, but soon word started spreading throughout the Young Republican circuit, open to GOP members under 40. Significantly, Shay then “de-friended” Wallender [and] Conner—in the world of Facebook, that means cutting off relations—after calling her out, but kept Piker as a “friend” (subsequently, it appears their profiles are no longer linked).
“If Audra really did find these remarks to be "outright disgusting," then why was her response to immediately de-friend those who made statements against Eric's blatant racism?” Wallender wrote yesterday in a letter to the Young Republican National Committee. “I was blocked for stating that Eric's racist comment was "NOT OKAY. And it is not funny." Please take a moment look at the entire screenshot linked above, and ask yourself: which comment would lead you to de-friend someone, mine, or Eric's?”
There's more to this story, however. Shay is running for the presidency of the Young Republicans at the age of 38. The age limit for the group is 40. This comes admits the glowing support Shay received this morning from Jillian Bandes at Townhall.com:
Audra Shay of Louisiana has been touring the country for seven months, drumming up support for her campaign to become chairwoman of the Young Republican National Federation, an organization that consists of 10,000 members nationwide.
“The country wasn’t going where I think it should be going,” she said, so she entered the race to try and get YRNF, which limits its membership to Republicans aged 18-40, “back to its original platform.” For her, that means a renewed adherence to the principles of national defense, school choice, limited government, lower taxes, and conservative social values.
I guess the "original platform" Shay means, after letting her bigot mask slip, is the one the Klan used and the Confederacy fought for—one of bigotry, injustice, intolerance and white privilege over all else. School choice? Has that been an issue since the 1980s? Why doesn't Shay just go and stand in front of her local high school to bar the entry of all the emo kids and sceneys? They might be gay you know? This type of gaffe makes Audra Shay an embarrassment to the people of Louisiana, but a perfect fit for the Young Republicans. Shay's actions can be a chance for those who share the ideas that she and Pike appear to rise up and wave their Stars and Bars proudly. We all know in the end what all this anger is about and it isn't deficits unless you mean a deficit of melanin in the epidermis on the Right Wing and a surplus on the elected man in the White House.
Pain Knight Slayer of Shai' tan الافتتاحية من الفتاحات Majordomo of Hell and Terra Order of the Black Rose of the Empire Ayatollah of Rham and its Shadow Fair Judge Executioner of Souls Quarterer's Order of the Descending Aorta, 1st Class, with diamonds, rubies, platinum concertina, golden concertina, gilded pancreas, emerald gall bladder, mesentery and lymph nodes Lord Gaoler of Dis Womb of Empires Order of the Superior Vena Cava 先生 立石 上様 Fifth Sea Lord of Hell Chair, Hellac Consumer Products Safety Commission Oracle of Elections Order of the Obsidian Heart [Mot. Pict. Arts & Sci.] Order of the Obsidian Heart [Tort] Order of the Obsidian Heart [Fluid Dyn.] Chair, Hellac Commission on Sentient Being Rights Lord High Justice of the Court of Acts & Merits Knight Commander of the Hellac Gordian Knot of Silver Keeper of the Keys of all the Gates of Hell Qadi of Hades Chamberlain Imperial of the Necropontiff of the Universal Fatean Church Order of the Quartz Heart [Eng.] Order of the Quartz Heart [Jur.] Order of the Quartz Heart [Metaphys.] Order of the Quartz Heart [Philos.] Count-Palatine of Sheol Marquis di Gehenna Emperor Consort White Rod President Pro tempore Bax Culdnu 37 2 Leviathan 2 AS
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