Jack & Jill Politics

Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius Accepts Nomination to HHS Secretary

By Michael A. Fletcher and Ceci Connolly
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, February 28, 2009; 7:18 PM

Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius this afternoon accepted President Obama's request to become his Health and Human Services secretary, stepping into a central role in the new administration's ambitious effort to overhaul the nation's health care system.

Sebelius's nomination comes just days before the White House is scheduled to convene a summit on health reform, an early step in the president's ambitious plan to vastly expand the reach of the nation's health care system. A formal announcement of her nomination will come on Monday.

The summit, which is expected to be the first in a series of open meetings around the country, is intended to spotlight the challenges spawned by the nation's balkanized health care system -- including soaring costs and gaping holes in coverage. It is also aimed at rallying public support for an overhaul certain to draw ideological and industry opposition. Similar to last week's "fiscal responsibility" summit, the health session will open with remarks by Obama and then divide into working groups run by administration officials.

In his budget proposal unveiled last week, Obama set aside $634 billion for a new health reform reserve fund that over the next decade would serve as a substantial downpayment on the cost of moving the country closer to universal health coverage. Currently, about 46 million Americans lack health care coverage, a number likely to grow as the economic downturn throws more people out of work.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/ar...

PBSs - Stevie Wonder Gershwin Prize for Popular Song Winner ..... full video

Did anyone happen to catch McWhorter (John or Jon, I can never remember which) on Bill Moyers 'Journal' last night?

AFTERNOON THREAD IS UP!!

Obamas Healthy Eating
http://www.usnews.com/blogs/washington-whispers...

What about you? I am about to plant my first ever veggie garden. It is a health and economic decision. Drives me crazy to pay $4/pd for tomatoes.

Totally off topic. Does anyone else JJP occasionally come up in Spanish? Sometimes the notes after each person's name that say "18 minutes ago" shows up with Asian language characters or Spanish.

Right now it's Spanish. .Hace 24 minutos Hace 2 horas

JJP, how'd you know I needed to brush up on my espanol? LOLOL

Yeah, it's come up in Spanish and French a couple of times. Now, Chinese I'd like to see.

Haven't seen Spanish. Have seen Chinese( I think)

Yep...at first i thought i needed to start taking some ginkgo biloba, but then others said it was happening to them too. LOL

Yes, it has happened to me before.

Yes, I've seen the Spanish "minutos" before.

If a teacher told a black student to go back to Africa, what would be fair punishment?

The state Department of Education is recommending a one-year suspension of a teaching certificate in just such a case, involving a Pinellas middle school teacher.

According to this administrative complaint, Mark Krieger, a health teacher at Oak Grove Middle, reportedly became angry in September 2006 when a student failed to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. Krieger told the student he was in a free country and should respect it, and that if the student didn’t he should go back to Africa, the complaint alleges.

The district suspended Krieger for 10 days without pay. In a proposed settlement, Krieger agrees to the one-year suspension, along with two years on probation and a requirement that he take a college-level course on cultural diversity. The settlement says Krieger neither admits nor denies the allegations. The Education Practices Commission, which sanctions Florida teachers for misconduct, will consider the settlement tomorrow.

I think it is fair. Brings back memories for me when my high school English teacher said that to me -- then she added ' you people need to get back on that banana boat and go back to your country".

Needless to say -- that was the LAST time she said that to anyone at the school until I graduated. It wasn't pretty ya'll. it wasn't pretty.

Yall are tough! But I don't think it is okay under any circumstance to tell someone to go back to X Y or Z. I am glad you set that teacher straight though. Also, as one of the commenters at that link pointed out, florida ruled it unconstitutional to make students stand during the pledge. Making her comment, IMO, even more ridiculous. You can't help but chuckle!

Nothing good EVER follows the words "you people"...and sounds like your teacher needed a nice slap for THAT comment...DANG!...and why is it the High School English Teachers? Mine would tell us that we were going to go to "those second rate schools"...which was her code for HBCUs.

Ya know, I really didn't know what I thought on this...I asked my dad who taught for 32 years and he said that was fair so I'll agree.

JJP, check out this police beating of a teen-aged girl in the Seattle, WA area. it occurred back on Nov. 29, 2008, the tape was released recently.

I'm speechless.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/401779_sche...

I live in this area and this is the first time I've learned of this incident--probably because I don't watch the local news. This is absolutely beyond the pale of police misconduct! One of the commenters on the article mentioned domestic violence ... this man looks like a classic spousal abuser, especially if he'd slam a 15 year old girl in the face like that. He went after her like he was brawling with a man, and over something like her kicking off her shoes?! What kind of craziness is that.

He needs to be fired and then charged with assault.

What was he looking for when he come back in the room? -- to see if she bled against the wall? Damn.

You could just tell by her body posture that she was probably poppin' off at the mouth, and of course, kicking her shoe wasn't the right thing to do either,

but but BUT BUT....

Nothing, nothing, NOTHING she did prompted him to slam the child on the hard concrete. And the punches to the head and face were just brutal. These cops are just losing their damn minds. DAMN.

At the least, he should be removed from that police force. At most, he needs to do some time.

misdemeanor assault HE NEEDS TO BE FIRED. There is no reason for him to manhandle ANYONE like that. Look at that girls size compared to the two of them. She kicked her foot/shoe or whatever the hell she did. It did not take that much control the little girl. This man should've been fired after he shot that mentally ill man. This is wrong on SO many levels and all he could get is UP TO a year in jail? This is why I strongly believe that officers of the law need to pass psychological tests. He clearly is unfit to be carrying a gun if he can get set off by a damn shoe.

But I Thought It Was Just Pork?

http://www.balloon-juice.com/wp-content/uploads...

The picture is reason enough to read the article. The Repubs need to uncross their wires and figure out what the hell is goings on.

Finally, some MSM coverage regarding LILY-WHITE LateNight SHows from the NYT.

What we discovered is that Santelli’s “rant” was not at all spontaneous as his alleged fans claim, but rather it was a carefully-planned trigger for the anti-Obama campaign. In PR terms, his February 19th call for a “Chicago Tea Party” was the launch event of a carefully organized and sophisticated PR campaign, one in which Santelli served as a frontman, using the CNBC airwaves for publicity, for the some of the craziest and sleaziest rightwing oligarch clans this country has ever produced. Namely, the Koch family, the multibilllionaire owners of the largest private corporation in America, and funders of scores of rightwing thinktanks and advocacy groups, from the Cato Institute and Reason Magazine to FreedomWorks. The scion of the Koch family, Fred Koch, was a co-founder of the notorious extremist-rightwing John Birch Society.

Full story: http://www.playboy.com/blog/2009/02/backstabber...

this is a great piece of investigative work. Thank you so much for finding this. I would suggest everyone here send it to the Cnbc website: http://www.nbcuni.com/About_NBC_Universal/Conta...
or address letters to Jeff Immelt to protest this.
Santelli's career should be finished w/ CNBC. You usually can not represent another news organization w/o approval.

Now that you mention sending it....I think it needs to go to other sites as well....I think he and those backing this need to be completely exposed. These shadow puppets need to be put out there on front street for all the world to see.

Thanks for the link

The Republicans behavior has beeen so self destructive in the last few days. I finally figured out wha it reminded me of; Aladdin(cartoon)

Aladdin (Obama)is trapped by Jabbar(Bunning/Republican party) as Jasmine(American public) is trapped in a hourglass filling w/ sand. Aladdin tells Genie to grant him his third wish and make Jabbar the most powerful genie in the world. Jabbar screams yes and the Genie grimaces and grants the wish.

Do you remember what happens next?











Jabbar ends up in the lamp and spends the next 10,000 years in the cave of wonders.

Well, DUH......of course he didn't act alone.

Madoff's Victims Believe He Didn't Act Alone
http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/personal-finan...

rikyrah: RAT KuKluKlanan: Ummmmmm -er -ummmmmm - - -


Contessa Brewer Pushes Pat Buchanan On Who'll Lead The GOP (VIDEO)

The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) kicked off its three-day agenda Thursday morning in Washington, DC. The overwhelming question about the conference centers around whom conservatives will pick as their leader. The agenda features many a ghost of this campaign season: Joe the Plumber spoke Thursday; Sarah Palin's purported "media assassination" is a big theme; and Michelle Bachmann was Master of Ceremonies of the Presidential Banquet even though she called Obama "very anti-American" during the campaign.


MSNBC's Contessa Brewer put former Nixon staffer and analyst for the network Pat Buchanan on the spot to name the next conservative leader. Buchanan refused to name names, but he did make a strong pitch that conservatives have a real opportunity to turn their lemons into lemonade.

WATCH IT:

GO CONTESSA!! :>) :>)

Mugabe Hosts Lavish Party Despite National Crisis

CHINHOYI, Zimbabwe (CNN) -- Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe was celebrating his 85th birthday with a lavish all-day party Saturday despite the fact that the country is gripped by an economic and health crisis.
Mugabe's ZANU-PF party said it raised at least $250,000 to hold the party in Mugabe's hometown of Chinhoyi, about 150 kilometers (93 miles) outside of the capital, Harare.

Critics of the president say the country is desperate for that amount of money to be spent instead on its citizens, who are suffering from a cholera outbreak, food shortages, and spiraling hyperinflation. On Friday, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai visited a hospital's closed intensive care unit that he said needed $30,000 to resume operating.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/africa/02/28/zimb...

If anyone wants to know about whats going, this video is about the cholera issue. Doesn't even touch on the jacked economy.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/feb/26/zim...

This country is in so much debt. This man is a tyrannical egomaniac and he needs to be removed by the UN or something. We busted all up in Iraq but what about Zimbabwe? They bleed the same red blood but they don't walk on black oil. shaking my head!

That's why I don't take these "we're spreading democracy!" bullshit claims that rightwingers love to spout. They don't give a DAMN about democracy or what citizens of other countries suffer (hell, they don't give a damn about people here, why the hell would they give a rat's azz about people elsewhere?). Its all about the benjamins and nothing else. Iraq had something we wanted, plain and simple.

Nobody cares about the blacks in Sudan or Zimbabwe. Sad, but true.

People are asking but you are not hearing the answers. There will be a measured response by the Obama Administration based on the situation at the time.

To answer the second part first the only people villified will be Bush and the Republicans for getting us in this mess. D I do not understand why you do not understand that the reason for the invasion is a Republican party policy decision to create a situation to perpetuate. a republican meme; Democrats are soft on threats to America. Your party does not give a good god damn about you D, your service and blood and that of all of your fellow sailors. We now have an open ended obligation to a country that is not a natural nation state. and you are simply grist for the mill. Most Americans want this to end and if it means to hell w/ the Iraqi's

How does Iraq flare up becomes the answer to the first question? Only then can you deal w/ the consequences.

Is it an attempt by the Kurds to start their own nation state? If so does Turkey get involved to suppress Kurdish nationalism and grab a energy source in the name of protecting the Turkomen population?
Does religious sectarianism take over splitting the country? Do the Iranians overtly act to create a rump Shia state? Or does Iranian attempts lead to a ArabPersian war? do you remember that Iraqi shia fought vehemently against the Iranians after Hussein invaded Iran in the 80's?

Because, sitting on my ship in the middle of the Gulf, that's not what I lived. I didn't live some vague Republican plot to throw the Democrats under the bus, or to steal oil from the Iraqis.

Our mission was to liberate the people of Iraq, and to remove a threat to our nation. And I will go to my grave believing that, while we made mistakes along the way, what we've done in Iraq was both right AND necessary.

Now....

I think that if the government can't hold, either the Kurds break or (and?) the country splits again along sectarian lines. A nucler-armed Iran muscles in and sets up a puppet state that challenges Saudi Arabia and threatens Israel.

If Iraq completely tanks, the fourth world war (or the conclusion of it, depending on what you believe) will be fought in/over the Middle East. And, regardless of what people think, we'll be heavily involved in it.

You are beyond delusional if you believe this tripe. When you were "sitting on your ship in the middle of the Gulf" you obviously never considered the possibility that you were only being spoon fed the information the government wanted you to know without allowing you access to anything resembling a counterpoint. In other words, you were in a "cone of silence": a protective bubble where you only got to hear what your superiors WANTED you to hear, while the rest of us at home had access to what was really going on. You fool yourself if you think you can absolve BushCo of their corruption and dishonesty with your "while we made mistakes along the way" caveat. There WAS NO threat to our nation until Bush destroyed Iraq and destabilized the entire region. With your help and your blessing.

So I guess Saddam's military was trying to shoot down our aircraft for sport. "No threat," right?

I saw the world protest our actions in Iraq. I had arguments with people I served with over whether what we were doing was right (hell, I still do; one of my best friends from Gitmo is just as much against the war as y'all are).

I've weighed the cost of what we did in Iraq against what I believe would have been the ultimate cost of our inaction.

And my belief stands that what we did was right. Whatever "blame" you attempt to lay on me does not change that.

So, you basically believe that the lies that were told to get us into this war were necessary lies, right?

Iraq will have to sort out its own problems and IMO there will be a civil war of some kind and we should not try to stop it.The Kurds will go on their own and the flash point will be Kirkuk.Now the little problem with that is what will Turkey do?The Sunnis and Shia will continue to fight for control which Saudi Arabia and Iran will be pulling the strings.All in all Bush and neo cons have open up pandora's box and their is no right answer but trying to keep that faux country together is not worth American life.

I don't expect civil war. The Kurds splitting off is more likely, but that's only if the government can't hold them...which they have been so far.

If Iraq does descend into civil war, we're still stuck until '11. And what if the Iraqis ask us to stay past then?

Have the Iraqis, even the "leaders" we installed, been asking us to stay? Weren't they asking us to leave even when they were going through through the conditions that spurred the surge?

'And if Iraq does take a turn, will President Obama be vilified as much as President Bush was for declaring "Mission Accomplished?"'

No, because he's not declaring "Mission Accomplished". He believes the "mission" should not have been undertaken in the first place. Remember?

Some did publicly call for our withdrawal. Others questioned our continued presence, but recognized they couldn't hold the country together on their own.

When did they start urging Bush to come up with a timetable, and when did they start coming up with their own timetables?

You don't think there will be a civil war, but then go on to speculate on what will happen if Iraq "tanks". Stop trying to be slick, and just say that you think we should stay there for the forseeable future, if not longer.

Last summer-ish. That's what drove the security agreement we have now.

This may have happen without the war. What the war did was to speed up trends that were occurring in Iraq.

rikyrah: I believe that HE'S sayin' - - - -"BRING IT!":

Obama 'gearing up for a fight' [ VIDEO]

President Barack Obama is beginning the salesmanship of his far-reaching $3.6 trillion budget with a populist blast at powerful interests he says will fight it – all but challenging his opponents to bring it on.

“I know these steps won’t sit well with the special interests and lobbyists who are invested in the old way of doing business, and I know they’re gearing up for a fight as we speak,” Obama said in his weekly radio address Saturday.

“My message to them is this: So am I.”

It’s a return to the sort of rhetoric he deployed in his anti-status-quo presidential campaign, and it reflects the pivot Obama has made since spending his first few weeks in office reaching for bipartisan consensus.

Having faced almost unanimous Republican opposition to his stimulus plan, the president is now embracing confrontation over conciliation. Republicans already are tagging him with the “tax and spend” label, for his proposed $1.3 trillion in higher taxes over 10 years and broad expansion of a government role in health care and other areas.

But Obama made clear he doesn’t consider it merely a partisan fight, taking on some of the capital’s most politically muscular groups in some of his most pugilistic rhetoric, a preview of battles ahead.

“I know that the insurance industry won’t like the idea that they’ll have to bid competitively to continue offering Medicare coverage, but that’s how we’ll help preserve and protect Medicare and lower health care costs for American families,” he said.

“I know that banks and big student lenders won’t like the idea that we’re ending their huge taxpayer subsidies, but that’s how we’ll save taxpayers nearly $50 billion and make college more affordable. I know that oil and gas companies won’t like us ending nearly $30 billion in tax breaks, but that’s how we’ll help fund a renewable energy economy that will create new jobs and new industries.”

It’s a strategy undergirded by the poll-reinforced assumption that Americans are inclined to side with the popular new president over not only the weakened GOP but also entrenched interest groups.

As if to remind people he believes he won a mandate last year, Obama told listeners on the broadcast that his proposals represent “the change I promised as a candidate for president.

THERE IS MORE. :>)

LISTEN TO HIS VIDEO. - - - [WEEKLY REPORT]

LEADERSHIP!! God Bless PRESIDENT OBAMA!! :>)

NOW - -- 2 the BLACK HISTORY MONTH PARADE!! :>)

WHITNEY NEEDS TO HOLLA AT RHIANNA

UNBELIEVABLE BUT PREDICTABLE THAT SHE WOULD BE A DOORMAT!!
MAYBE THE WOMEN HERE AT JJP SHOULD START A MOVEMENT DEMANDING THAT CHARGES BE FILED AGAINST CHRIS BROWN.

What is she thinking?! Does someone have the link to the pictures where he slapped the shyt out of her. He DID NOT go to anger management and she HAS NOT gone to self esteem counseling. SAD...SAD...SAD

Chris Brown AIN"T shooting no gold!!

The story just broke on People.com and TMZ has confirmed, the couple has reconciled and they are "together." According to the report, the two are hanging at one of Diddy's homes.

The L.A. County D.A. is expected to get the case from cops soon and then decide whether to charge Brown for the alleged beating earlier this month.

BREAKING NEWS>
Chris didn'r mean to hurt me...He luv me

Chris Brown is going to jail unless the DA doesn't have the authority to press charges based on her condition. The photos and her complaint name Chris Brown. the DA does not need her testimony to convict. This standard is if there is visible harm the assaulter is arrested.
rikyrah
i think she should say: "I was wrong and I must take responsiblity for my actions. My relationship w/ Mr Brown is over. I am pressing charges."

WHEN he beats her ass again, she better not say shit.

The dead cannot speak.

Myth: U SPEAK TA - RUTH!!

Is it because she thinks she can't get anybody else? Does she really think that they can have the Beyonce/Jay-Z life? He told her that he would not hurt her again and she believes him and nobdy can convince her otherwise. He is doing what it takes to keep her from filing charges or testifying against her. Diddy/Sean/P-Diddy or whatever he calls himself today, needs to be called on ENABLING.

Maybe she isn't sick and tired of being sick and tired.. YET

nickwah22: HE WILL DO THIS AGAIN!!

SHE WILL CONTINUE 2 B A DOORMAT!!

Y'ALL HAVE A HAPPY LIFE!! - - UNDER THESE CONDITIONS!!

Uh! Uh! Uh! ***SHAKIN' MY HEAD - - - HARD!***

Women are their own worst enemies.

--My West indian grandfather.

He was a sexist tool, but he's got a point...

And can we trust our young women (and men) to not follow this lead? I doubt it.

chris, unfortunately a lot of them see this crap in their own households. It is an epidimic of epidimic proportions.

Jim Bunning Threatens To Resign From Senate To Hurt GOP

The Louisville Courier-Journal has another bombshell about Sen. Jim Bunning, the embattled Republican who is increasingly going rogue in an effort to hold onto his seat.
In recent weeks, Senate Republican leaders have walked right up to the edge of declaring open war on Bunning. Minority Leader (and fellow Kentucky senator) Mitch McConnell and others reportedly believe Bunning is likely to lose his reelection race in 2010, and so are trying to nudge him into retirement by sending signals that the party establishment will not back him.

Bunning has responded aggressively, threatening to sue the Senate Republicans' campaign arm if it doesn't fully back his reelection.
And now the latest: Bunning "reportedly said privately that if he is hindered in raising money for his re-election campaign he is ready with a response that would be politically devastating for Senate Republicans: his resignation."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/27/jim-bu...

There is no loyalty with them folks. Its all about self.

Go ahead.....Gingrich..wink...I see you. go ahead and orchestrate.

Do IITTTTTT!!!!

In house fighting! Yippee!!!!!!!!!!

Barney Frank is a master propagandist:

The 2008 Budget which was crossed the $2,000 billion threshold for the first time in history was called an example of RECKLESS SPENDING.

The 2009 Proposed Budget which is $3,600 billion with an option of $750 billion more

Barney Frank is a liar:
Iraq War Spending $850 billion OVER 7 YEARS

In 9 months we have spent:
* $750 on TARP
* $850 on Stimulus


Do you see how you all are so easily manipulated? He knows that you all don't like Bush, Republicans or the Iraq War. He justifies this new spending "Because the Republicans did the same"

This is about the FISCAL INTEGRITY OF THE UNITED STATES.

Don't worry - when we find out that the Treasury Bonds needed to pay for this added debt must be sold at a premium in the interest rates.

The US Debt:

http://mwhodges.home.att.net/nat-debt/debt-nat.htm

Get with the program. We're all socialists now--thanks to the GOP. How ironic.

http://money.cnn.com/2009/02/27/news/companies/...

Chris Chambers:

Your ability to justify reckless spending because of past reckless spending will soon run aground.

The only way that people can believe Barnie Frank's outrageous claims is if you believe that GOVERNMENT TAX POLICY is what makes or breaks the economy.

I recall during the Internet boom a record number of my friends and associates started INVESTMENT CLUBS. People who previously believed that a "stock" was something that goes into soup now gathered together to invest a few hundred dollars a month collectively. If you believe Barnie Frank - all of this happened because of GOVERNMENT TAX POLICY and REGULATION!!

In truth that time saw massive amounts of VENTURE CAPITAL being injected into the market and it created jobs and employment..........as long as the MONEY WAS AVAILABLE. The term "Burn Rate" was introduced. This was the amount of time a company had to burn through their start up money before the money ran out. Some never made a dime of profit.

Some of you CLEARLY don't understand economics. All of this deficit spending must be backed by TREASURY BONDS. With the rest of the world in a bad situation - THEY ARE SELLING THEIR BONDS AS WELL.

The key question is: What is going to make an investor purchase US TREASURIES to pay for this new debt rather than debt from other nations?
ANSWER: The USA is going to have to RAISE INTEREST PAYMENTS in order to make our debt more attractive than the other bond releases around the world.

It is my opinion that many of you are SUPPORTING OBAMA and YOUR IDEOLOGY more than you actually know the delicate balance our FIAT CURRENCY IS.

You keep pointing to Evil Bush's Iraq Spending ($800 billion over 7 years), Tax Cuts For The Rich ($1.8 trillion in lost revenue over 10 years)

BUT YOU FAIL TO MAKE NOTE OF:

* Bailout spending in the last 9 months: $750 billion and $850 billion
* In 2008 the Federal Government added $2.5 TRILLION to the national debt in order to true up the expenses on SOCIAL SECURITY, MEDICARE, MEDICAID.

Barack Obama proposes to DOUBLE THE FEDERAL BUDGET!!!! We are going from $2,000 billion in 2008 to $3,600 billion + an option for another $785 billion to be spent in a supplemental stimulus package for 2009.

It is my opinion that this is all Monopoly money in the view of many of you.
It will take some PERSONAL IMPACT upon you before you realize that with our FIAT currency - what is otherwise paper with green ink needs to be seen as CREDIBLE by OTHER PEOPLE in order for it to retain its value.

There is no debating some of you. We will have to watch as it all plays out.

Illinois Democratic Elected official proposes a "Poll Tax"-like measure to suppress 2nd Amendment Rights in his state.

http://withintheblackcommunity.blogspot.com/200...

For some of you the thought of how hate filled racists of the past came around to implement "Black Codes", "Poll Taxes", "Grandfather clauses" and other suppressive legislative instruments to carry out their agenda is blunted by the belief that those White folks had "horns" on their head.

Today a Black Democrat named Dunkin seeks to follow in the footsteps of his Democratic brothern of the past and suppress 2nd Amendment gun ownership RIGHTS by demanding that all gun owners have $1 million in liability insurance BEFORE they are allowed to express their CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS.

The prima facia argument for "poll taxes" was that they were needed to fund the operations of elections and thus the voters who wanted to participated had to pay. Rep Dunkin has a similar insidious goal in mind. He seeks to strip people of their second amendment CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS by putting forth a high hurdle for gun ownership.

It doesn't matter that cars prove far more deadly than do guns, as the report indicates. What does logic and facts matter to a bigot who has his mind fixed on carrying out his agenda?

Likewise I wonder what the poor Black homeowner who has a gun for the protection of his household and family from marauding thugs who DON'T GIVE A DAMN about insurance or the law is going to do now to defend himself? Wait for the police to come to the murder scene?

I hope that some of you will seek to defend the constitution EVEN IF you don't agree with gun rights. Certainly plenty of otherwise racist Whites saw the gross violations that the Poll Taxes were. They chose to pursue their hatred of Blacks rather than the integrity of the document.

Dunkin's argument is to raise the issue of firearms violence in communities where durg dealing on the street level is the only way to make a living. Unfortunately that violence occurs in the AfricanAmerican community. Dunkin is trying to deal w/ an intractable situtation that can only be solved by legalizing drugs.

Legalizing takes the money out of it. With the money gone the incentive to kill for territory disappears. With the money gone the market for illegal guns diminishes. with drugs legal coruption in the police and courts disappears. With legalization money from users will be available to help those whom want it. With legalization the cost of going to the hospital will go down because the cost of saving a gunshot victim is expensive and not recouped by the hospital. with legalization you can make people responsible for violating a real law harming others i.e. drunk driving laws.

RobM:

1) Dunkin's argument is an INFRINGEMENT UPON CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS!!

2) Do you REALLY think that after the "Corporatification" of the Drug Trade where MBA marketing gurus work up plans to legally sell Crack and Meth into Black communities, stringing our people out that PEOPLE LIKE YOU who seek to legalize these drugs for the tax benefits will NOT TAKE TO THE STREETS IN PROTEST over how your community is being TARGETED?

3) What will the now unemployed "Drug Thugs" start doing after their street corner pharmacies are closed down? I know that you think that Barack Obama's magical gravitational pull has the ability to motivate Black males into seeking to become president. I rather doubt that he has the ability to transform a Black Drug Thug who will shoot you in the back if he had to, transforming him into a productive citizen ALL BECAUSE DRUGS ARE NOW LEGAL.

It is rather ironic that during Reconstruction Racist White Democrats in the South sought to keep Blacks from owning guns so that they could come through in the middle of the night and terrorize our communities. AME Bishop Henry McNeal Turner started making sure that all Black households had GUNS. Even if they got it from "illegal means".

Today we have Democrats once against seeking to take guns away from Black people so that terrorist thugs can come in the middle of the night and have their way with us.

Sadly today - the people seeking to kill us and people seeking to take away our guns, thus violating the 2nd amendment are Black.

Bulls visit with Obama at the White House. Report, photos, roster of attendees

http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2009/02/bulls_v...

This has nothing to do with politics and it is quite superficial but . . . where is Barney Frank's teeth? Somebody give this man some teeth. It is hard listening to him.

LMAO......I hate to say it, but he talks like my late great-uncle when he would be talking while dipping snuff (I know.....EWWWWWW!!)

LOL! He reminds me of Sylvester the Cat.

The new MSM meme: If it weren't for Bush's surge, PBO wouldn't be able to withdraw the troops.

Right. If it were'nt for George W. Bush sending our troops in to invade IRAQ, there wouldn't be any need for PBO to withdraw the troops.

The MSM can to straignt to HELL. The MSM sat back and never challenged the BUSHWHACK administation. So they can go drink a HOT, HEAPING CUP of STFU!

why are we still talking about the surge? it is done and over with it. no point in arguing over spilled milk. lets just fix the problem. that is what is really important, not about whether or not the surge from back when got PBO to where he is today (which is Bs). -- smh

There's some truth to that:

The goal of the surge was to give the Iraqis space and time to build up their government and security forces so that they could stand on their own. Now that they've done that, we're able to leave a-relatively-stable country in their hands.

I give some success to the troop buildup, but that is only one factor.

The media loves to gloss over the fact that we began to pay the insurgents for peace...and money did make the difference in a country who has seen staggering unemployment due to our invasion. That is one reason why so many Iraqis are angry...their life and livelihood have been changd for years, many do not earn wages anymore..

And that's why I say American media does us all a disservice by being so simplistic...they never give the complete story.

Anybody ever ask what happened to the priceless artifacts, artwork and sculptures that were in the palaces and museums in Iraq?

the museum recently reopened. The real thefts took place out in country side where the sites weren't protected.
http://www.ask.com/bar?q=baghdad+museum+artifac...

http://www.ask.com/bar?q=baghad+museum+artifact...

I just mentioned this topic to my friends. We were talking about the destruction of their artwork and the simple brush off that was given by Rumsfield at the time..."These things are messy" sometime. SHAME.

either smashed to smithereens, or in somebody's "private" collection.

Somebody's "private" collection!

I'm going with B) in somebody's "private" collection.

Final answer? FINAL.ANSWER.

Now Miranda, you know that ain't nobody from American MSM is going to ask that question.

We're talking hundreds of MILLIONS of dollars worth of stuff. Priceless artifacts there since the days of the Old Testament..just GONE...and nobody asking where did it go?

I just found an article from April 2003, almost a month after the invasion.

http://www.usatoday.com/life/world/iraq/2003-04...


The carelessness the GWBush administration in protecting these artifacts is nothing new.....the apple really does not fall too far from the tree.

"This has happened before. After the 1991 Gulf War, scores of Iraqi regional museums were looted. "They got away with it in 1991, when 5,000 objects were stolen and many of those appeared on the market in the West — and nothing was done about it," Bahrani says

Before this war, archaeologists and art historians sought to head off a repeat. The initial fear was that archaeological sites and museums would be damaged by U.S. or British bombs, but that turned out not to be the case. Iraq art experts say, however, they repeatedly warned the Pentagon that looting should be expected and prevented.

"I can't tell you how shocked and outraged I am at the level of incompetence of this administration," says Bahrani, who helped organize meetings with military and diplomatic officials before the war. "We gave (the Pentagon) a list of things to protect; we gave them maps and the coordinates of sites and museums; we gave them a list of cultural-heritage priorities to protect the minute they got into the country; and at the top of the list we said, 'Place guards at the museums.' "

Waldbaum says: "It was completely predictable, and we did predict it. We begged authorities to watch out for this in the aftermath of actual fighting. All it would have taken was a tank parked at the gate."

Exactly Miranda. But because many in this nation have made being a xenophobe a new sport and a rallying cry of "patriotism", they don't realize that these artifacts have as much importance in early Christianity-era as any other historical/ religious importance. They figure, oh it was in an Iraqi museum...it can't be that important.

It was indeed a travesty.

Sometimes I just ask myself..."what have we done?" The magnitude of it all is mindnumbing.

I don't disagree.

The surge, Awakening movements, and the paying of insurgents all contributed to Iraq being where it is today.

I can tell you why the payments, though, aren't as publicly acknowledged....

Give me your perspective please....

also, did some GOP members get under your skin yesterday? Do you care to divulge.....you know what we've been telling you about those folks.

I'm not going to throw them under the bus...but there's attitudes and perceptions of some Republicans that I can't change on my own, and that no ones cares to change. So for me, I believe I can do more good by going back to being an independent. I'm no less conservative...but I can't run with them anymore.

What was the other question?

Well, I think that's good that you've come to that conclusion.

And if remaining involved with politics is your choice, there is plenty you can still do as an independent, with your conservative leanings as well.

Regardless of political affiliation, I think bringing the conversation to the inner-city or urban areas is still paramount.....and it could make a great difference.

Honestly, if you ever run for office, you'll probably have more traction and success running as an Independent, especially among Black people. The GOP is still too far out there for most Black people's tastes.

What really killed thing for me is the general "go along to get along" attitude of a lot of black Republicans. They present that attitude publicly...but privately they want things to change.

Not my style. So it's better to back off.

this should be real troubling if only in the most superficial sense - consider the elite educational backgrounds that many in this "go along" crowd have, from private schools to ivy league. does it not ever hurt their integrity to hear such gross anti-intellectualism from your party's major mouthpieces, coulter, limb, hannity, and crowley (even specialer than the others with her brand of intellect).

if i were them, I'd see a clear avenue for a black person to own the party's only principled and reasoned stance on the american stage. a dangerous move this would be because it would begin to sway some black folks in ways that steele's fat gold chain ever could.

privately wanting things to change is not just punk, but also, it seems, an overestimation of the damage the white folks in the party will do to them if they stand on, of all things, principle.

It's the self-preservation gene.

The minute I swung the conversation to urban conservatism-same post I put here-they got quiet. So now I'm like, well, why expend myself?

I don't understand how any non-white, non-male or non-Christian could associate themselves with the GOP. The toxic hatred for anyone who isn't a white male evangelical Christian is palpable.

The ONLY non-white Republican who will be allowed to advance and flourish is George P. Bush. And ONLY because his last name is BUSH. If he were George P. Salinas he would be sat down in the same corner with Michael Steele, Bobby Jindal, Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin and Eric Cantor.

Just ask JC Watts.

Cantor might have designs on advancing higher within the GOP but those are just pipe dreams because if the GOP couldn't stand Romney because he wasn't the right kind of Christian, they damn sure won't be able to stomach Cantor, a JEW.

The only reason they tolerate Palin and Jindal is because they are evangelicals and good for fund raising purposes. But they can go sit down too b/c when it's all said and done the '12 GOP candidate will be a white male evangelical Christian who will rail against the muslim, godless, welfare food stamp and fried chicken Obama.

Think back to 1993 in VA...who was the GOP candidate? A racist white dude who stood up for white rights and against the welfare Democrats...George Allen.

The GOP can't change its' spots. I'm sorry but if you're not a white evangelical Christian male you basically have no chance of advancing your agenda in the GOP.

Unfortunately, I have to agree with you.

shame. i think some young whipasnapa will go renegade republican just to house that move, stash the cash and get rich while grooming the next gen for the republican Obama in 2016.

the shame being that "renegade = public, principled thought"

But isn't "backing off" the same as "Go along to get along" ?

Or do you mean 'back off" as in be less involved and doing your own thing?

Just curious...

Being completely uninvolved and doing my own thing.

Things progressed to the point of where it felt like I was fighting everyone to get a couple of narrow goals accomplished.

Besides, I'm getting there's a general vibe in the GOP of just wanting to win elections. That's fine, but it's also shortsighted.

oh, i see. the back off and do my own is the same idea i just wondered about with the "renegade young black republican" also known as "the new independent"

thx d, ison

Might be....

What the Repugs and the MSM leaves out is the Sunni Awakening that was far more instrumental in security gains in Iraq.

The surge's big intrument was yeah--paying Shiite thugs to do the dirty work and keep their folk in check. Perhaps that's a recipe for stopping the crime and killing in our cities--give Pookie and Lil' D uniforms and turn them into ghetto militia, on salary? I'll email Holder...

Far more....I'd give them equal importance.

D, keep clicking the heeel of those ruby red slippers together and singing that mantra: "There's no place like the Surge, there's no place like the surge.'

spirit: LOL!!! :>) :>) :>)

Just providing the VISUAL:

"There's No Place Like - - - -the SURGE" :>) :>)

LOL.

I know that y'all aren't going to give any success to the surge. That would mean that Pres. Bush actually did something right.

D
I almost fell of my seat w/ your recent conversion to independent.

The reason the Surge doesn't receive an acknowledgement of success is that the media meme of the Surge is the additional ground troops for combat. As you have seen here knowledgable people recognize the Surge was a successful strategy. The stratgey relied on multiple factors such as the Awakening, suppresion of Sadr, the Iraqi public being fed up w/ violence, politcal stabilty in the iraqi government., et al

LOL. I expect you-and certain others here-to check me on that.

And don't worry, I know who's saying what and why.

If we want to group everything under one umbrella, the surge, the payments, and even some aspects of the Awakening movements all fit into the overall counterinsurgency strategy that was developed (that manual was a long, hard read).

D: BUT - - - HE DI 'N'T!!!

THERE R LIVES & DEATHS THAT CAN TESTIFY - - EACH in their OWN WAY!!!

LISTEN 2 the EVIDENCE!!

Unfortunately, if the test has ten questions, and you only got one right, that is 10 percent.

rorysmomma: TEACH! TEACHA! :>) :>)

hey, my sweet momma used to say

"Even a broken clock is right twice a day"

I give him credit for fing up and then turning around and trying to rectify the situation. He may not say he was wrong, but he did try to fix his shit.

"..a relatively stable country in their hands."

What exactly accounts for Iraqi stability? Infrastructure? Security? Financial viability? What absolute bullshit?

For me, it's the state of their government and their military/security forces....which are showing themselves capable of providing leadership and protection for their citizens.

Their government and their military/security forces? So fuck infrastructure, jobs, and all that other stuff. As long as 'military/security forces are functioning so is the government'? We've done a great job of destroying Iraqi's infrastructure and their society. Leadership? Pfft. And their military? Security forces - ya mean, the police? Double pfftt!

I'm certain there's metrics you can use to prove the point you'd like to try and make.

And I'm sure you can't AND you haven't

You'd be wrong.

And just as an FYI, Iraq's security forces encompass more than the police. If you're interested, I can send you what comprises them.

Oh no - this is turning into 'is too' vs 'is not' things.

I know what comprises Iraq's security forces, thanks.

Not everyone does.

Here's the problem with what you want to suggest: the stability of the government drives the (re)establishment of infrastructure, a viable educational system and commerce (which leads to jobs).

Now, most people know it's hard for a government to govern when there are external and internal forces that seek to use violence against the government and citizens to advance their agendas. That's where the state of the military and security forces come into play, because if there's no one to keep the country safe, who would want to participate in the reconstruction process?

So where should we be invading next to ensure X country's stability?

The United States given the way the Republicans are acting.

There you go, following through with logical questions. Damn.

You know Pres Bush's answer would have been to look for the next vulnerable country on the list with the biggest oil reserves.