Jack & Jill Politics

Goodbye, GM by Michael Moore

Goodbye, GM
by Michael Moore
June 1, 2009

I write this on the morning of the end of the once-mighty General Motors. By high noon, the President of the United States will have made it official: General Motors, as we know it, has been totaled.

As I sit here in GM's birthplace, Flint, Michigan, I am surrounded by friends and family who are filled with anxiety about what will happen to them and to the town. Forty percent of the homes and businesses in the city have been abandoned. Imagine what it would be like if you lived in a city where almost every other house is empty. What would be your state of mind?

It is with sad irony that the company which invented "planned obsolescence" -- the decision to build cars that would fall apart after a few years so that the customer would then have to buy a new one -- has now made itself obsolete. It refused to build automobiles that the public wanted, cars that got great gas mileage, were as safe as they could be, and were exceedingly comfortable to drive. Oh -- and that wouldn't start falling apart after two years. GM stubbornly fought environmental and safety regulations. Its executives arrogantly ignored the "inferior" Japanese and German cars, cars which would become the gold standard for automobile buyers. And it was hell-bent on punishing its unionized workforce, lopping off thousands of workers for no good reason other than to "improve" the short-term bottom line of the corporation. Beginning in the 1980s, when GM was posting record profits, it moved countless jobs to Mexico and elsewhere, thus destroying the lives of tens of thousands of hard-working Americans. The glaring stupidity of this policy was that, when they eliminated the income of so many middle class families, who did they think was going to be able to afford to buy their cars? History will record this blunder in the same way it now writes about the French building the Maginot Line or how the Romans cluelessly poisoned their own water system with lethal lead in its pipes.

So here we are at the deathbed of General Motors. The company's body not yet cold, and I find myself filled with -- dare I say it -- joy. It is not the joy of revenge against a corporation that ruined my hometown and brought misery, divorce, alcoholism, homelessness, physical and mental debilitation, and drug addiction to the people I grew up with. Nor do I, obviously, claim any joy in knowing that 21,000 more GM workers will be told that they, too, are without a job.
But you and I and the rest of America now own a car company! I know, I know -- who on earth wants to run a car company? Who among us wants $50 billion of our tax dollars thrown down the rat hole of still trying to save GM? Let's be clear about this: The only way to save GM is to kill GM. Saving our precious industrial infrastructure, though, is another matter and must be a top priority. If we allow the shutting down and tearing down of our auto plants, we will sorely wish we still had them when we realize that those factories could have built the alternative energy systems we now desperately need. And when we realize that the best way to transport ourselves is on light rail and bullet trains and cleaner buses, how will we do this if we've allowed our industrial capacity and its skilled workforce to disappear?

Thus, as GM is "reorganized" by the federal government and the bankruptcy court, here is the plan I am asking President Obama to implement for the good of the workers, the GM communities, and the nation as a whole. Twenty years ago when I made "Roger & Me," I tried to warn people about what was ahead for General Motors. Had the power structure and the punditocracy listened, maybe much of this could have been avoided. Based on my track record, I request an honest and sincere consideration of the following suggestions:

1. Just as President Roosevelt did after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the President must tell the nation that we are at war and we must immediately convert our auto factories to factories that build mass transit vehicles and alternative energy devices. Within months in Flint in 1942, GM halted all car production and immediately used the assembly lines to build planes, tanks and machine guns. The conversion took no time at all. Everyone pitched in. The fascists were defeated.

We are now in a different kind of war -- a war that we have conducted against the ecosystem and has been conducted by our very own corporate leaders. This current war has two fronts. One is headquartered in Detroit. The products built in the factories of GM, Ford and Chrysler are some of the greatest weapons of mass destruction responsible for global warming and the melting of our polar icecaps. The things we call "cars" may have been fun to drive, but they are like a million daggers into the heart of Mother Nature. To continue to build them would only lead to the ruin of our species and much of the planet.

The other front in this war is being waged by the oil companies against you and me. They are committed to fleecing us whenever they can, and they have been reckless stewards of the finite amount of oil that is located under the surface of the earth. They know they are sucking it bone dry. And like the lumber tycoons of the early 20th century who didn't give a damn about future generations as they tore down every forest they could get their hands on, these oil barons are not telling the public what they know to be true -- that there are only a few more decades of useable oil on this planet. And as the end days of oil approach us, get ready for some very desperate people willing to kill and be killed just to get their hands on a gallon can of gasoline.

President Obama, now that he has taken control of GM, needs to convert the factories to new and needed uses immediately.

2. Don't put another $30 billion into the coffers of GM to build cars. Instead, use that money to keep the current workforce -- and most of those who have been laid off -- employed so that they can build the new modes of 21st century transportation. Let them start the conversion work now.

3. Announce that we will have bullet trains criss-crossing this country in the next five years. Japan is celebrating the 45th anniversary of its first bullet train this year. Now they have dozens of them. Average speed: 165 mph. Average time a train is late: under 30 seconds. They have had these high speed trains for nearly five decades -- and we don't even have one! The fact that the technology already exists for us to go from New York to L.A. in 17 hours by train, and that we haven't used it, is criminal. Let's hire the unemployed to build the new high speed lines all over the country. Chicago to Detroit in less than two hours. Miami to DC in under 7 hours. Denver to Dallas in five and a half. This can be done and done now.

4. Initiate a program to put light rail mass transit lines in all our large and medium-sized cities. Build those trains in the GM factories. And hire local people everywhere to install and run this system.

5. For people in rural areas not served by the train lines, have the GM plants produce energy efficient clean buses.

6. For the time being, have some factories build hybrid or all-electric cars (and batteries). It will take a few years for people to get used to the new ways to transport ourselves, so if we're going to have automobiles, let's have kinder, gentler ones. We can be building these next month (do not believe anyone who tells you it will take years to retool the factories -- that simply isn't true).

7. Transform some of the empty GM factories to facilities that build windmills, solar panels and other means of alternate forms of energy. We need tens of millions of solar panels right now. And there is an eager and skilled workforce who can build them.

8. Provide tax incentives for those who travel by hybrid car or bus or train. Also, credits for those who convert their home to alternative energy.

9. To help pay for this, impose a two-dollar tax on every gallon of gasoline. This will get people to switch to more energy saving cars or to use the new rail lines and rail cars the former autoworkers have built for them.

Well, that's a start. Please, please, please don't save GM so that a smaller version of it will simply do nothing more than build Chevys or Cadillacs. This is not a long-term solution. Don't throw bad money into a company whose tailpipe is malfunctioning, causing a strange odor to fill the car.

100 years ago this year, the founders of General Motors convinced the world to give up their horses and saddles and buggy whips to try a new form of transportation. Now it is time for us to say goodbye to the internal combustion engine. It seemed to serve us well for so long. We enjoyed the car hops at the A&W. We made out in the front -- and the back -- seat. We watched movies on large outdoor screens, went to the races at NASCAR tracks across the country, and saw the Pacific Ocean for the first time through the window down Hwy. 1. And now it's over. It's a new day and a new century. The President -- and the UAW -- must seize this moment and create a big batch of lemonade from this very sour and sad lemon.

Yesterday, the last surviving person from the Titanic disaster passed away. She escaped certain death that night and went on to live another 97 years.

So can we survive our own Titanic in all the Flint Michigans of this country. 60% of GM is ours. I think we can do a better job.

Yours,
Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com

Let me apologize in advance...it's beyond corny, and I tried to resist, but I just can't help it:

“As President Obama prepares to wing into Manhattan’s theater district on Air Force One to take in a Broadway show, GM is preparing to file bankruptcy and families across America continue to struggle to pay their bills,” RNC spokeswoman Gail Gitcho said in an email this afternoon.
That’s not all from Gitcho. She then added a snitty, “Have a great Saturday evening — even if you’re not jetting off somewhere at taxpayer expense.”

Gitcho ass outta here!

Sorry.

LOL!

I hear ya!

Jealous because a man takes his wife on a date.... She can kick rocks!

My weekly Award of Shame is for all the white men with a "conservative" agenda who are pissed off right now!

http://actsoffaithinloveandlife.blogspot.com/20...

A commenter over at Baloon Juice discusses a personal encounter with Dr Tiller:

Commenter deekaa6 on his experiences with Dr. George Tiller:

In 1994 my wife and I found out that she was pregnant. The pregnancy was difficult and unusually uncomfortable but her doctor repeatedly told her things were fine. Sometime early in the 8th month my wife, an RN who at the time was working in an infertility clinic asked the Dr. she was working for what he thought of her discomfort. He examined her and said that he couldn’t be certain but thought that she might be having twins. We were thrilled and couldn’t wait to get a new sonogram that hopefully would confirm his thoughts. Two days later our joy was turned to unspeakable sadness when the new sonogram showed conjoined twins. Conjoined twins alone is not what was so difficult but the way they were joined meant that at best only one child would survive the surgery to separate them and the survivor would more than likely live a brief and painful life filled with surgery and organ transplants. We were advised that our options were to deliver into the world a child who’s life would be filled with horrible pain and suffering or fly out to Wichita Kansas and to terminate the pregnancy under the direction of Dr. George Tiller.

We made an informed decision to go to Kansas. One can only imagine the pain borne by a woman who happily carries a child for 8 months only to find out near the end of term that the children were not to be and that she had to make the decision to terminate the pregnancy and go against everything she had been taught to believe was right. This was what my wife had to do. Dr. Tiller is a true American hero. The nightmare of our decision and the aftermath was only made bearable by the warmth and compassion of Dr. Tiller and his remarkable staff. Dr. Tiller understood that this decision was the most difficult thing that a woman could ever decide and he took the time to educate us and guide us along with the other two couples who at the time were being forced to make the same decision after discovering that they too were carrying children impacted by horrible fetal anomalies. I could describe in great detail the procedures and the pain and suffering that everyone is subjected to in these situations. However, that is not the point of the post. We can all imagine that this is not something that we would wish on anyone. The point is that the pain and suffering were only mitigated by the compassion and competence of Dr. George Tiller and his staff. We are all diminished today for a host of reasons but most of all because a man of great compassion and courage has been lost to the world.

fyi new article on Valerie Jarrett and her very close relationship with the First Family

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

"Valerie Jarrett is not simply the highest-ranking woman serving in the White House these days. She has the kind of power that comes with long history and deep friendship, a voice in the room that confidently reflects her 20-year Chicago-based relationship with Barack and Michelle Obama. The Obamas ate their first family dinner outside of the White House at Jarrett's Georgetown apartment, and there are ample photos of Jarrett's own daughter, Laura, a student at Harvard law School, with the president in her office...."

I'm probably the only one here who didn't know this, but I just noticed the bust of Dr. King in the oval office. I was looking at a recent photo of the President meeting with the new head of NASA in the Oval and spotted the familiar face behind them. Its new home actually makes history. It's the first time the image of an African American has been on display in the Oval. Clinton was the first President to display it in the White House (in the Library). A few months ago Chris Matthews was griping about the bust of Churchill being removed from the Oval and returned to Britain. I guess someone told him to shut the fuck up when the busts of Dr. King and Lincoln arrived.

If you can find a pic of it, you know I'll post it. :)

I can't figure out to cut and paste on this phone. If you go the
official whitehouse photos on fliker, you'll see it at the top.

thanks for the info...

The President played golf today and at the end of this article you will see this. "But a White House aide pointed out that by this time in his presidency, George W. Bush had visited his ranch in Crawford, Texas, for weekends of relaxation several times. God those GOP people are wearisome!!!


May 31, 2009, 3:44 pm
Sunday Tee Time for President Obama
By Jeff Zeleny

Pool photo by Kevin Dietsch

President Obama talked to the golf course general manager, Mike Thomas, before playing a round on Sunday.
It’s 80 degrees and sunny at the White House, with an overnight rainstorm long gone, which means there’s an afternoon tee time for President Obama.

For the second time in six days, Mr. Obama and a contingent arrived at the Fort Belvoir Golf Club on the outskirts of Washington. The Army base in Virginia is known to have one of the premiere golf courses in the military system, where the commander-in-chief played on Memorial Day for about four and a half hours.

It’s become a practically a weekly outing, with Mr. Obama also golfing at Fort Belvoir on May 16.

The president’s golfing companions on Sunday were not immediately known. Why? The pool reporter – the newspaper scribe designated to travel along whenever the president leaves the building – was left behind by White House aides when the motorcade left.

The golfing on Sunday marked the end of a bustling weekend of activity for Mr. Obama, who on Saturday morning watched his daughter’s soccer game and flew to New York City for dinner and a night at the theatre with his wife, Michelle Obama.

His work schedule resumes Monday, when Mr. Obama is set to deliver an address at 11:30 a.m. on the bankruptcy of General Motors. The Republican National Committee has sought to use the president’s weekend extracurricular activities – and the impending bankruptcy of G.M. – to portray him as out-of-touch with struggling Americans.

But a White House aide pointed out that by this time in his presidency, George W. Bush had visited his ranch in Crawford, Texas, for weekends of relaxation several times."

The world has gone apeshyt crazy!!

Did yall see this...officer trying to arrest paramedic in back of truck, on the way to hospital with a patient...he wasn't even driving...and he doesn't attempt to arrest the driver. Guess what color each of them were?

What I do not get is why the police are bothering emergency vehicles!!

www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/05/31/highway-patro...

I saw this Friday....this was absolutely sickening. When have the cops ever STOPPED an ambulance?? It was complete and utter bullshit. What broke my heart was watching that black man have to stifle all his anger and be treated like that - to hear that poor woman who was ill and on a STRETCHER not knowing whats going on and all of a sudden seeing the paramedic being handled like that, her son is trying to keep her calm...those bastard police officers need to have had their badges and guns turned in yesterday. That shit is so damn ridiculous.

I hope that they had a relaxing date night. Lord knows that they're enough on the president's plate these days.

Has anyone seen any info about events at the White House or on the Mall for July 4 other than the customary fireworks?

I think "Joe Turner's Come and Gone" ends June 14. Maybe with the POTUS visit it will get extended so more people can see it now. Anybody heard?


And, for people asking about the t-shirt...it csme out of Million Man March vendors. Old, worn and tattered. They are still appropo for us "victims" in light of all the Obama drama. Someone probably needs to remake them:

I'm tired. I've been black all day.
- T-shirt at the Million Man March

Why do some white folks think that citing Brown v Board is an appropriate retort to Judge Sotomayor's statement (in isolation)? Every time I hear one of them say Brown proves her wrong, I'm reminded of Chris Rick's immortal words, "motherfucker, you don't get credit for doing what your supposed to do!". Brown v Board was some 90 years after the passage of the 14th Amendment. This country willfully violated the Constitution for 90 years, but some white folks want to use this as evidence that white men are as capable of rendering fair and impartial judgements on matters of race and gender as minorities and women? Clearly, 'justice delayed is justice denied' is not a motto that these folks subscribe to. That is part of the point that the Judge was trying to make.

Well, MLK was good and all but it took a president (LBJ) to get it done. [/hillaryclinton]

Likewise, people may have marched and lost their lives and protested, but it took 9 white guys to get it done!

The same white folks who denied blacks the rights in the first damn place.

And this is how niggas repay us, after we give'em a little taste of freedom.; ingrates!

It's called White Saviourism. Of course the heroes of Brown v Board are the justices themselves. Thurgood who???

The (hi)story must always have a hollywood ending with white male hero(s). Here are just a few examples...

In Trent Lott's Mind, the white saviour is Strom Thurmond,
"When Strom Thurmond ran for president, we voted for him. We’re proud of it. And if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn't have had all these problems over the years, either."

Oh, this shyt ain't limited to Repulican's either...

In Hillary Clinton's Mind during the primaries,
"I would point to the fact that that Dr. King’s dream began to be realized when President Johnson passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, when he was able to get through Congress something that President Kennedy was hopeful to do, the President before had not even tried, but it took a [white] president to get it done. That dream became a reality, the power of that dream became real in people’s lives because we had a president who said we are going to do it, and actually got it accomplished."

And of course, Spielberg's Amistad where the heroes are NOT the slaves themselves who overthrew their slave captors...Spielberg's heroes are Matthew McConaghey and Anthony Hopkins.

Ummm, hmmm...I need a drink...I don't know about y'all, but my ancestors SUFFERED ONE INDIGNITY TOO MANY for me to cry Saviour to any Cot-Dayum Cracka!

CO-SIGN!

"I don't know about y'all but my ancestors SUFFERED ONE INDIGNITY TOO MANY for me cry Saviour to any Cot-Dayum Cracka!

And Newt Gingrich quoting Marlin Luther King in his email fuckery
From the Desk of Newt Gingrich
"I have a dream: that my four little children will one day live
in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their
skin, but by the content of their character."

- Dr. Martin Luther King

Can you imagine if the President of the United States nominated a judge to the U.S. Supreme Court who said this:

"My experience as a white man will make me a better judge than a Latina woman would be."

Or could you imagine if that same judge ruled from the bench to deny 18 African-American firefighters a promotion just because of their skin color?"

These muthafuckers literally and figuratively have no SOUL.

It comes back to their thinking that BLACKS should be grateful for whatever freedoms we have. Don't cha know, we let you have this much, and look at how you repay us.

You get an education and good jobs and a nice house........ Aint that enough, why you want to be up in the WHITE HOUSE AND THE SUPREME COURT.

The wheels of justice grind slowly, but now that Blacks and other POC have arrived at the destinations of Ultimate POWER, we aint grateful.

It's guilt, and fear that the very same rights and priviledges they denied us will be denied them.

Fuck'em . A shit load of our people died to obtain these rights, and now they want to recite passages from MLK and other cases to justify the self-righteous, sexist and racist behavior; FUCK THEM.

As King said and Obama quoted...the moral arc of the universe bends, but slowly for justice.

One of my all time favorite quotes by Obama that fits this moment, and we need to heed. We need to represent at these Senate confirmation hearings. We need to be in the audience, white, black, latino,asian and all POC telling these folks they will not steal OUR MOMENT.

THIS IS OUR MOMENT

"America we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. Tonight, let us ask ourselves- if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughers should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?

This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment.

This is our time, to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for ourkids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth - that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope and where we are met with cynicism and doubt, and those who tell us that we can't we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: YES, WE CAN."

THIS IS OUR MOMENT.

It is time for all POC to rise up and push all the hate and bigotry back down their throats, even as they sit in the corridors of power.

This is OUR country and WE must hold them accountable. We must make them rise up to the CREED.

YES, WE CAN.

I don't know about some white folks, NMP, but that goddamned Pat Buchanan did - repeatedly. AND each time I ask the same question - what the fuck does Brown vs Board of Education HAVE TO DO with Judge Sotomayor?

I don't knwo the point, but this is an interesting side note: Brown v. Board of Education was not the first challenge to school segregation. As early as 1849, African Americans filed suit against an educational system that mandated racial segregation, in the case of Roberts v. City of Boston.

What gets on my nerves with white liberals (just one of many things) is how they allow high minded principles to be hijacked by conservatives and turned into something bad. Case in point judicial activism. Brown v Board is the most demonstrative case of judicial activism AND judicial empathy. Why can't liberals ever make that point? Why don't they force conservatives to argue against Brown?!

You'll just have to know you're asking the wrong person 'cuz I bring all kinds of shit to my "arsenal."

By "white liberals" if you mean the bullshit talking heads on TV, the bullshit legislators that have been there for freakin' decades - I flat out think it's because they're afraid of recrimination being seeing as - liberals. This country has swung soo far to the right it's closer to fascism than democracy. Consequently it's about fear.

No, they are not afraid of recrimination of being seen as liberals. They are afraid of the recrimination of JUSTICE. JUSTICE they long denied others, and the belief that they would not give justice, so how then will we NOT renounce them the same. That is their fear, retribution.

Like Huckabee told it about Wright, he said if he had had to endure the hate, and humiliation of going in back doors, being hosed, then he TOO would be angry. So, he understood WHY and more tellingly he acknowledged that he would strike out.

That is their FEAR.

Power concedes nothing. Why should people who have raped and plundered the globe and fought unjust wars believe that they will receive justice, when they know they themselves would DENY it?

That is their FEAR. That they WILL be treated as they have treated others. The brutality and pervasivness of their own hate is what they FEAR.

Because the only judicial activism many white liberals care about is Roe v. Wade.

Precisely. It's the same problem that white female "feminists" have. Most could give a shit about the activism that affects the daily lives of most people of color. Yes, I think abortion should be safe and legal, but I also think black and brown and all people of color should not be systemically discriminated against --- in work environments, education opportunities, public amenities, transportation, restaurants, mortgage rates, land use, etc. etc.

White folks want it all. Nothing for NOBODY ELSE. And sometimes the white liberals are the biggest racists.

KEEP.SAYING.THAT.!

You know it's true.

Why do you think that?

I don't get the phrase judicial activism. A judge has to rule within the confines of the law unless those presenting the case have compelling argument(s) that "fit" within that confine.

Here's my take.

Roe vs Wade involves a woman's right to choose abortion. or not. This includes ALL WOMEN.

Brown vs the Board of Education involved overturning school segregation thereby allowing BLACK children their RIGHTS to EQUAL education.

So white women liberals are interested in judicial acivism because it involves their ovaries and fallopian tubes, their choice are threatened.

Education: Whites have always had the right of choice in where and how they are educated.

Well, in all fairness, white women haven't always been treated fairly in the work place even if they had the same level of education, experience. I know plenty of white women who held the same kind of jobs the men did and got paid alot less.

Why you gonna tell the truth like that?

Hey ya'll

Ya gotta see this video of Gwen Ifill laying it down for Stephanopolous and George Will about why people are defending Sotomayor.

IFILL MAKES IT PLAIN.... Gwen Ifill made a good point this morning on ABC's "This Week" that we don't often see on major network news shows

"I've spent the last year talking to a lot of people who got elected -- black elected officials -- for a book, and all of them talked about 'identity politics,'" Ifill explained. "They defined it as being part of what you are, but not all of what you are. And I think that's what the defenders of Sonia Sotomayor are trying to say. Which is that her point was, yes, what she is, and what we all are, shapes us. But it's not all that shapes you.

"I always try to take arguments like this and turn them on their heads. And I never hear people say that for a white male that it's identity politics if he is shaped by his white maleness, and by the things that affected his life, and whether privilege affected his life. That's never considered to be a negative.

"It's only considered to be a negative when ethnicity is involved, or race is involved, or gender is involved."

Gwen lays it all out in her book, "The Breakthrough: Politics and Race In The Age of Obama."

Great post from Al over at the field on this morning ASSASSINATION of Dr Tiller in kansas:

Terrorism and the State: A Lesson, Again, for Right and Left

...That today’s atrocity occurs not under the helm of an embattled liberal president, but of one that enjoys 67 percent support, still, from the American people, will have even more devastating consequences for the cultural and political right that has placed abortion at the center of its agenda. There is no need to demonize them with a broad brush for it. The first immediate consequence of the assassination of Dr. Tiller will be that it virtually removes the political points to be scored by those who planned to wage an anti-choice argument against US Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor...

Dr. George Tiller spent much of his 68 years on earth working for an ideal – every woman’s right to safe reproductive freedom – for which he was long persecuted and today he paid the ultimate price. I do believe that if the good doctor could watch what happens next, he would not at all feel the sorrow that comes from dying in vain or after a life without meaning. His was a life that did not end in death, but lives on with even greater purpose and reason than it already had deservedly accrued. As we say South of the Border, where we have many martyrs - old and new - for human freedom: George Tiller, presente.

So will this morning's shooting be enought for O'Really to maybe think twice when they incite people to extreme emotions, it's like handing them the loaded gun.

I know they still don't get the internet and that their hypocritical crap is out there for everyone to see. Tancredo & Buchanan trying to dis Sotomayor.....check this out. This is the link for the entire article.

http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/33785_P...

"Pat Buchanan's Executive Director to Be Sentenced for Violent Hate Crime
US News | Thu, May 28, 2009 at 8:43:29 pm PDT

This just in: Marcus Epstein, executive director of Pat Buchanan’s “The American Cause” and Tom Tancredo’s Team America PAC, and founder of “Youth for Western Civilization,” is going to be sentenced on July 8th for verbally and physically assaulting a black woman in Washington DC in 2007.

According to documents obtained from District of Columbia’s Superior Court, Epstein, 25, must appear before Judge Wendell P. Gardner on July 8 for sentencing after pleading guilty to simple assault charges stemming from an incident during the early evening hours of July 7, 2007. The documents state that Epstein was walking down the street making offensive remarks when he encountered the victim, called her the “N-word” and struck her in her head. He was briefly detained by the woman’s husband, but was able to escape, only to be arrested minutes later by a Secret Service officer who witnessed the attack. According to the officer’s statement, a friend of Epstein’s informed him that he had been drinking.

A restraining order to stay away from the couple has been imposed on Epstein. He currently faces a maximum punishment of 180 days in jail and $1000 fine and also had to continue mental health treatment, complete an alcohol treatment program, write a letter of apology to the victim and donate $1000 to the United Negro College Fund prior to sentencing.....

The scary thing about this is that he is 25.

Yeah, as I said before, to be so young with all these "connections" and within a high level of GOPers. I still don't get how Michael Steele can say with a straight face they will "grow" the party unless he is saying they mean to enrol every last POC hater they can get their hands on. How many are still out there???

What? Pat Buchanan's executive director?

Wasn't his first time with THE LAW either:

From that DailyKos Diary on him:

Apparently Epstein (11+ / 0-)
Recommended by:karlpk, AlyoshaKaramazov, mrblifil, bustacap, InsultComicDog, Matt Z, malharden, James Kresnik, sherijr, Loose Fur, wanton peace
is a repeat offender:

CRIMINAL OFFENSE 1
Offense Date:
Case Number: 830GC0400168200
Offense Type: Trespassing
Offense Code: 18.2-119
Offense Description: TRESPASSING
Date Reported: 08/31/2004
Disposition: GUILTY
Sentence Details: COURT COSTS

CRIMINAL OFFENSE 2
Offense Date:
Case Number: 059GT0607878900
Offense Type: Traffic/Other
Offense Code: C.46.2-862
Offense Description: 075/55 RECKLESS
Date Reported: 04/06/2006
Disposition: GUILTY
Disposition Date: 06/05/2006
Sentence Details: COURT FINE & COSTS

CRIMINAL OFFENSE 3
Offense Date: 02/18/2007
Case Number: 013GC0700061400
Offense Type: Alcohol
Offense Code: 17-7
Offense Description: DRUNK IN PUBLIC
Date Reported: 02/20/2007
Disposition: GUILTY IN ABSENTIA
Disposition Date: 09/25/2007
Sentence Details: COURT FINE & COSTS

CRIMINAL OFFENSE 4
Offense Date:
Case Number: 830GC0400168300
Offense Type: Alcohol
Offense Code: 18.2-388
Offense Description: PUBLIC SWEARING/INTOXICATION
Date Reported: 08/31/2004
Disposition: NOLLE PROSEQUI
Disposition Date: 10/28/2004

CRIMINAL OFFENSE 5
Offense Date:
Case Number: 830GC0400168100
Offense Type: Larceny
Offense Code: 18.2-96
Offense Description: PETIT LARCENY
Date Reported: 08/31/2004
Disposition: NOLLE PROSEQUI
Disposition Date: 10/28/2004

CRIMINAL OFFENSE 6
Offense Date:
Case Number: 830GC0400168000
Offense Type: Assault
Offense Code: 18.2-57
Offense Description: ASSAULT & BATTERY
Date Reported: 08/31/2004
Disposition: NOLLE PROSEQUI
Disposition Date: 10/28/2004

Obviously Buchanan and Tancredo don't do background checks, or if they do, they don't care as long as who they hire are racist enough to carry out their agendas.

Epstein's a straight up fucking GANGSTA.

Damn......Epstein has a rap sheet longer (and scarier) than Adam "Pacman" Jones but guess which one is the "monster".

Say it aint, Pacman! Say it aint so!

Well, well, well. Dude's part of Pat the RAT Buchklannan's KLAN.

Epstein get to act out the racist hateful rants on Blacks and BuchKlanan gets MSM media platform to spew it. Yep, they really do have their BASES covered.

Whitey is becoming more unhinged everyday.

We all know what would have happened if the victims husband had of bashed Epstien's fucking head in for attacking his wife....

In all likelyhood that bastard will not serve any jail time.

He just...hit her in the head? Just like that, just because he felt like hitting a black person at that moment, and she just happened to come along, walking down the street?

Yep....and no doubt, the husband wanted to beat the brakes off that POS - which I would have hoped for. But there's more to this...y'all know this azzwipe is at UVA in law school.

"According to the biography on his website, he has been admitted to the University of Virginia School of Law and will begin taking classes in August 2009. "I will more or less suspend my political activities," Epstein wrote."

So why is UVA not on the line, it's reputation and prestige, for what this white bigot did?

Huh? Yet, let black men engage in a fight in public and because they are students at Morehouse, then Morehouse is to be held accountable?

This is what I mean about how they protect their institutions.

The media is helping their institutions too. Obviously his criminal record didn't hurt his acceptance to law school and won't interfere with his being able to sit for the bar.....ain't America grand?

America is GRANDY DANDY!

I just read that too about UVA, also see that the Southern Poverty Law Center has written about this guy, quite young to have accomplished so many hate connections. Oh boy, The Future of the Republican Party, I can see it now! If a Secret Service guy hadn't seen what happened, this guy probably would have gotten away with the assault.

"The Taft Club is led by Marcus Epstein (right), who serves as the executive director of both white nationalist Pat Buchanan’s The American Cause and the Team America PAC, which is run by Buchanan’s sister, Bay Buchanan. Epstein writes for the anti-immigrant hate site vdare.com and he advocates for white supremacist organizations. He is especially fond of American Renaissance — a white supremacist journal that has suggested that blacks have “psychopathic personalities” — and attends the journal’s biannual conferences. In 2006, Epstein invited the head of American Renaissance’s parent organization, Jared Taylor, to speak to the Taft Club on the issue of “Race and Conservatism.”

apparently the Epstein virus also wrote an article titled

Myths of Martin Luther King

including such tidbits as these:

Despite his constant invocations of the Declaration of Independence, King did not have much pride in America’s founding. He believed "our nation was born in genocide," and claimed that the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were meaningless for blacks because they were written by slave owners.


And this

OK, even most of the neocons won’t deny this, but it is still worth bringing up, because they all ignore it. King started plagiarizing as an undergraduate. When Boston University founded a commission to look into it, they found that that 45 percent of the first part and 21 percent of the second part of his dissertation was stolen, but they insisted that "no thought should be given to revocation of Dr. King’s doctoral degree." In addition to his dissertation many of his major speeches, such as "I Have a Dream," were plagiarized, as were many of his books and writings. For more information on King’s plagiarism, The Martin Luther King Plagiarism Page and Theodore Pappas’ Plagiarism and the Culture War are excellent resources.

Here's a link to this psycobabble:

http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig/epstein9.html

Epstein?

EPSTEIN?

REALLY???

Yeah, I hit that yesterday. Racism is some twisted shit.

About as bad as Tancredo being the child of Italian immigrants.

Stupid is as stupid does...

He's worse than Michelle Malkin when it comes to self-hatred. She would set herself on fire, but this clown would do like that nun in "The Omen"...make sure the rope is tightly secured, declare his love for his masters and take the plunge...yelling "its all for you!!!" on the way down.

Jewish.

I bet he would beat you up if you called him that.

LOL! He'd DIE trying.

yes, I guess he is part Korean also. You have to go see the dkos article on him.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/5/30/736974/...)

"Actually, what he did was, he karate-chopped her on the head whilst she was walking down the street with her husband. That's right, she was a complete stranger to him."

He is a violent threat and menace to society and the entire reason there is a HATE crime law.

Don't forget he is PAT BUCHANAN'S DIRECTOR; Pat must be so PROUD of him.

Betcha won't hear a peak out of the MSNBC crew about this shit.

I'll bet also you won't hear a thing!

Let it had been someone in connection with Rev Wright, it would be blasted 24/7!

Not a freaking peak will you hear. I'd be shocked, Justice.

Check him out tomorrow. See if Morning Joke, Ms. Andrea Greedyspan, Mr. Ed, Tweety Bird, K.O. or Rachel Madwoman will mention it or ask uncle Pat what up with that CRIMINAL director of yours?

Uh-hum....doncha mean - "a freaking peep?" I swear I've been staring at that wondering if it's MY eyes!

Rachel Madwoman.....

You know it won't surely be mentioned by the Greenspan Klan, or Morning I-killed-an-intern Joe; we'll see if anyone else has the balls.

Peep, PEEP! LOL!

Here's the court documents:

http://www.onepeoplesproject.com/images/Epstein...

Now, inquiring minds want to know.....Epstein was retained by Secret Service officers......so the question is what profile did this person he hit have in order for SS to get involved.....their job is not relegated to just policing D.C's streets.....or am I thinking too deep on this one?

The Secret Service person was off duty and happened to see the crime.

I think the SS just happened to be there, I don't think they were tracking him or anything.

I don't know, maybe due to his criminal history, he is the profile of suspects that commit hate crimes, and was therefore indeed on a watch list.

The Secret Service dude is law enforcement; he can detain a criminal and even if it isn't in his jurisdiction react to an assault.

I am sure Cheney's friend must be thinking the same thing

UVA....oh hells naw. Let me stop right now before I get in trouble

Well, such racially enlighted people like Sen. George "Macaca" Allen graduated from there, didntja know?

and apparently the mofo also went to William and Mary.

damn..you gotta point there.

I know how you feel, Monie.

Thats what I got out of it, a total stranger to him.

Unfortunately, he probably won't get any jail time.

Buffalo Soldier being laid to rest

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/05/29/missing.soldie...

This is what it looks like currently
http://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/keeble/images/...
You do not earn this medal for half steppin'

Forgive me.....

I'm at work today - and the parade of folks I've seen this morning hasn't helped my mood. The final "straw" came with one gentleman with ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis = Lou Gehrig disease).

You know what PISSES ME OFF about these messes in the past week. The fucking ReThugs have absolutely NOTHING to bring to the table but their hatefulness and whining. Empathy? Fuccckkkk! If they had it we'd be free of many of the disease I see daily because we would've had stem cell research LONG AGO. And as for this doctor that was killed this morning. These motherfuckers don't give a SHIT about what happens to children once they're past the cute cuddly age or can we used as props.

Time for money guns and lawyers. The shit has hit the fan.

Holy SHIT! starting here: Just because George and Laura sat in the White House watching "Little House on the Prairie" reruns night after night because he was too scared of war protestors to come out doesn't mean that this AA President is scared too (and he's got a lot more on his plate than Dubbya).

and ending here: This won't work...frustrated old men jealous of a POTUS having sex with his wife in the people's house and THEM not having sex with his wife in the servant's house - DON'T BE "J".

WHY ALL OF A SUDDEN ARE THE GOPPERS WORRIED ABOUT TAXPAYER'S MONEY??

When George & Laura, along with the entire goddamned cabinet were jetting back & forth to Crawford, TEXAS - were they calling out for taking it easy on the taxpayer's dime. FUCK, NO! We're in a goddamned war because they didn't give a check about "checks & balances" - about "responsible spending" - about "transparency & honesty." Gimme a fucking break!

There just like children. They say the darndest things, you just gotta laugh...in fact, how come there's no "the Gop Says the Darndest things" show??

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2198466...

Holy SHIT! starting here: Just because George and Laura sat in the White House watching "Little House on the Prairie" reruns night after night because he was too scared of war protestors to come out doesn't mean that this AA President is scared too (and he's got a lot more on his plate than Dubbya).


you know i can imagine that LOL

The Obamas are off to the Middle East and Europe next week, with stops in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Germany and France.


Next week should be an interesting one for Michelle watchers. Let's see what fashion trends will be set. Can't wait.

I know she's going to France, not sure about Germany but I think he's the only one going to Saudi Arabia and Eygpt. I guess its round 2 with Carla.

Saudia Arabia = you have to be invited. Seriously. Of course, I don't know how that works for heads of state. Michelle would be required to wear some semblance of garment(s) denoting the status of women in the kingdom.

Sascha and Malia are going to be going to France as well, I can't remember were I read that but I know it's going to be the first time the First Family travels together.

I read that in a British paper online but I'm not sure how true it is considering that the girls are in school. The Obamas are going to Ghana in July, them taking the girls then, is more believable.

You're probably right, lol. I figured schools would be out but I guess not.

yall need to check out first lady back muscles
our first lady works out LOL

I agree, I was like damm when I saw her back. She is seriously toned but still very feminine and sexy. Its also an added bonus that she has really great skin as well. I'm sure its all well appreciated by the prez.

LOL! FLOTUS gives a whole new meaning to the phrase, "Baby got Back."

true dat :) though in her case it refers to both above and below the waist, so maybe its 'additional' meaning instead of 'new'.

Yes indeed it's "additional." :-)

Do y'all think that the NYC PO-Lice who shot a black man last night was mad cause he had to protect the POTUS with his black woman earlier in the day. Just asking about the "white sheet" issue? Al Sharpton is looking betta thank the Lord.

So sad, he had babies and had just married and was only 25 starting his dreams. A good man doing the right thing and working to protect his community; and one of his "brothers" in blue does him in.

These people don't care about black or brown life. It's nothing to them and just like they can watch a black city flood with no response for a week they'll go through the motions here.

Was this the young cop who was killed?

yes.

You go, Mr. President, taking your beautiful wife on a date!

Thanks for showing the world how you treat your lovely wife!

For real, Justice. Barack knows that a woman's love, his wife's love only strenghtens him, and by his strength, he can be a better husband, father, and president for all Americans.

Slave masters knew this and that is why they systematically dismantled black families. seperating the men from their women, and later sneaking into the slave quarters to rape and abuse black women. Black men could only watch in horror and grief, their manhod threatened because they couldn't defend their woman, lest they be killed.

Today we see how whites are trying to get to President Obama by attacking Michelle. But, it aint gonna happen, not today.

What do you think happened to black men and boys in the slave quarters....sexually speaking?

The Miss Anne's were free to have their way with "Mandingo." And of course they dare not tell massa, lest they be killed.

Some of the black men were brutally castrated.

Some of the black men were forced into mass breeding for the sole purpose of providing more physical labor for the plantations.

And while I don't have written proof, I suspect some black men and women engaged in homosexuality.

Yes...on that last one.

That is the unspoken thing. Black men and boys were molested - sexually assaulted, by white men.

All of these acts happened and the last one, men and boys being sexually molested and assaulted has been spoken of Now.

One of the things I admire about the President is that he treats his wife as a woman who has wants, needs, and desires. She is not just the mother of his children. He freely gives her his time, energy, attention and love.

In many ways she is both his greatest strength and his greatest weakness. He is so very protective of her and attacks on her get to him. The day before the election in an interview on CBS, he said it was the attacks on his wife were the one thing that bothered him during the campaign. But she is now an even bigger asset than before.

I like how she has become almost as big a personality as he is to the rest of the world. I was reading an article where a woman in Iran was being framed as "Iran's Michelle Obama" and I thought damm girl Michelle you've arrived indeed.

Here's a ABC clip. He called it the attacks from the GOP "LOW CLASS."
And Barack warned them to LAY OFF HIS WIFE.

May 19, 2008

http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4883537

Cute kitten heels...but maybe the First Hairstylist was off last night.

I've noticed she wears her hair up when she is off the clock/ on their date nights. I think it's her sexy look. Plus, I would wager she would like a break from the pomp and circumstance of the hair person considering her looks before the campaign and election.

The helicopter did mess up the hair somewhat but I think the hair wrapped is a way to show off her gorgeous neck.

Starting the afternoon off repeating my sentiments:

Ima little late chiming in on this topic, but the Grand OLD&Obsolete Party needs to get a life. Since they don't seem to want the POTUS to have one, they come across looking like not just the party of angry old men, but to add to that the party of FRUSTRATED old men. How dare they criticize the POTUS for being human and wanting to court his wife. Just because George and Laura sat in the White House watching "Little House on the Prairie" reruns night after night because he was too scared of war protestors to come out doesn't mean that this AA President is scared too (and he's got a lot more on his plate than Dubbya). How dare they dictate his goings and comings JUST because GM screwed up. What the hell kinda logic is that? GMs not making relevant product resulting in their on failure is GMs fault and was inherited by this POTUS. The Grand OLD*Obsolete Party needs to come into the era of CHANGE where a POTUS who is young, gifted and black dares to be FOR REAL. Their times are gone, hopefully to never return to the land of the free, home of the brave again. NO Weapons formed against this POTUS will prosper especially this spirit of jealousy. Who the f*ck do they think they represent? The White Sheet Men have all died out and gone to Hell so who are they really trying to re-invigorate, This won't work...frustrated old men jealous of a POTUS having sex with his wife in the people's house and THEM not having sex with his wife in the servant's house - DON'T BE "J". Just because their pretentious and fake marriages didn't excite people, don't blame a man and a woman in love who inherited a job that came with significant risks to stop living large. And a black Broadway Play too!!! It's not Michelle's fault that her husband, her husband, her husband happens to be the most powerful man on the planet worthy of protection. Don't begrudge her of having a life just because mass attention came along with the package. Somebody oughta POLL this one and see what the American people like about using tax payers money to be human, I'll betcha the heart wins out every time. Grand OLD&Obsolete Party of Angry Old Men, DO NOT PASS GO on this pettiness, go to HELL!!! Change has come to America and we gonna keep it up. See ya next date night GOP.

GOP = Grand OLD & Obsolete Party of Angry/Jealous/FRUSTRATED Old Men

Ya forgot impotent, Myth....