The Death Penalty – Ta-Nehisi Coates:
” This is all a long way of saying that some conservatives don’t hate big government, they simply want big government to work strictly for them.”
(Via Ta-Nehisi Coates.)
A better way to say it might be, “Big Government to conservatives is any part of government that doesn’t work strictly for them.” How else do you justify a yearly, as in ongoing, DoD budget of $800B while decrying a temporary stimulus package of the same size? Utter discredit.
Highway robbery? Texas police seize black motorists’ cash, cars — chicagotribune.com:
“TENAHA, Texas— You can drive into this dusty fleck of a town near the Texas-Louisiana border if you’re African-American, but you might not be able to drive out of it—at least not with your car, your cash, your jewelry or other valuables.
That’s because the police here allegedly have found a way to strip motorists, many of them black, of their property without ever charging them with a crime. Instead they offer out-of-towners a grim choice: voluntarily sign over your belongings to the town, or face felony charges of money laundering or other serious crimes.”
(Via Chicago Tribure.)
Institutional racism at it’s startingly most blatant. This in the age of Obama is a good cautionary tale. You are responsible for Change, for Hope, not the President.
Black People, Culture And Poverty – Ta-Nehisi Coates:
“Culture attracts such protest from many blacks not because we think that the culture of poverty is a myth, but because the mass of us who, in the space of about 40 years, have made more progress than any group of blacks before us, don’t deserve to be told that our culture is making people poor. Seriously. Fried catfish and Outkast ain’t never disenfranchised nobody.”
(Via Ta-Nehisi Coates.)
True dat.
Stewart seen as winner in showdown with Cramer – CNN.com:
“‘People want to see a lot of the financial gurus on a shish kabob, being skewered,’ Seaman said. ‘It’s really important to hold people accountable, and as we saw last night, Jon Stewart is a bit of a wild card, so if you aren’t living up to expectations, he may call you out.'”
(Via CNN.)
Which is exactly why I watch the show. I need that “powerful tool of illumination.”
YouTube – Bill Maher’s Real Time | March 6, 2009 | Cory Booker and Erin Burnett 4:
(Via YouTube.)
Skip to 5:02. Preach, Cory, preach!
White House Watermelon Email From California Mayor Dean Grose Inspires Outrage:
“The mayor of Los Alamitos is coming under fire for an e-mail he sent out that depicts the White House lawn planted with watermelons, under the title ‘No Easter egg hunt this year.’…
Grose confirmed to the AP that he sent the e-mail to [local businesswoman and city volunteer Keyanus] Price and said he didn’t mean to offend her. He said he was unaware of the racial stereotype that black people like watermelons.”
(Via The Huffington Post.)
If Grose expects anyone to believe him, he’s even dumber than his joke. What exactly would have been the point if not for the stereotype?
The Source Of The Beef – Ta-Nehisi Coates:
“One last note. I’ve noticed something interesting about this blog–the complaints I hear from whites (‘Don’t lump as all together!’ We’re not a monolith!’) have an eerie familiarity. I don’t think it’s cool to simplify anyone, ever. But I would ask that we all take a moment and think about how it feels for this to be the conflict of your life, to constantly labor under the weight of idiots who you’ve never met. What if very few people ever cared to sort you out? What if the generalizations which raised your hackles in Henderson’s article weren’t a one-off–they were the media and really the world–as you’d always known it?”
(Via Ta-Nehisi Coates.)
Exactly. (Twice in one day. That’s why I love his blog.)
Some Off The Cuff Analysis – Ta-Nehisi Coates:
“I keep thinking about the big things that have always kept me from being a conservative–the knee-jerk worship of a past that branded me half a man, the elevation of the loud imbeciles who think science teachers should be using the Bible, the toleration and baiting of bigots who cloaked themselves in the garb of ‘States Rights,’ and now run under the garb of ‘protecting marriage.’ The common demonator here is an unreflective veneration of what was, a belief that tradition, no matter how backwards, can heal all.”
(Via Ta-Nehisi Coates.)
Exactly.
Blacks, whites hear Obama differently – Nia-Malika Henderson – POLITICO.com:
On his pre-inaugural visit to Ben’s Chili Bowl, a landmark for Washington’s African-American community, President Barack Obama was asked by a cashier if he wanted his change back.
“Nah, we straight,†Obama replied.
The phrase was so subtle some listeners missed it. The reporter on pool duty quoted Obama as saying, “No, we’re straight.â€
But many other listeners did not miss it. A video of the exchange became an Internet hit, and there was a clear moment of recognition among many blacks, who got a kick out of their Harvard-educated president sounding, as one commenter wrote on a hip-hop site, “mad cool.â€
(Via Politico.)
For real. For real.
Chimp-Stimulus Cartoon Raises Racism Concerns – City Room Blog – NYTimes.com:
(Via NY Times – City Room Blog.)
I’d say the Post belongs at the bottom of a bird cage, but that would mean you’d have to buy it first.
