Jack & Jill Politics

ok, this is getting too funny..it seems the Obamas are still on track for Martha's Vineyard... and I am still waiting to hear if the Black Elite will accept Michelle Obama? Oh geez...this is just too funny!

by the way, as a citizen who is not elite but just loves Martha's Vineyard...I have spent many beautiful days there..guess I won't get there any time soon if the Obama family visits. I won't be able to afford it.

Well Myth, Justice, Muzikal and Mallet here it is:

"The victim's sister, Soheyla Kazemi, told the Florida Times-Union in Jacksonville that the young woman had expected McNair to get a divorce. "She said they were planning to get married."

McNair had 4 sons, Mechelle was his wife of 12 years, two of the sons were theirs.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story?id=09000d5d811237...

That's what I thought. Men lie and cheat. Had it not been for the accident and everything coming to light, he would have continued to twist her mind for as long as she didnt find out. This is so sad. He had 4 boys and how is his wife gonna explain this to the 5 year old son, tell me? He was still in love with his wife and making love to her daily. She may or may not have known what was going on. Neither one of them thought that it would come to this though. That one unguarded moment can change a life forever.

Katharine Weymouth to WaPo Readers: F**k You
by Thomas C [Subscribe]
Share this on Twitter - Katharine Weymouth to WaPo Readers: F**k You Sun Jul 05, 2009 at 07:13:35 AM PDT
Katharine Weymouth, publisher of the Washington Post, issued a "Letter To Our Readers" mea culpa for the now infamous "pay to play" or "access of evil" invitation to lobbyists and powerbrokers at Ms. Weymouth's own home. Apparently someone in the Post's marketing department sent out this invitation with proper authorization -- what a cheeky fellow, offering the Publishers own home for parties without her knowledge! Of course, Ms. Weymouth never says she was unaware that the event would be held at her own home. Nor does she tell us she was unaware that the price for attending such soiree was $25,000 and up, a sum certain to assure the event would not be overrun with riffraff.

In fact, very little is clear in Ms. Weymouth's letter to her readers. The letter's studied, exquisitely crafted ambiguity is the hallmark of legal drafting (we lawyers don't "write", we "draft") and there can be no doubt that Ms. Weymouth's letter was the work of her lawyers. Of course, Ms. Weymouth is counting on the fact that newspaper readers will read this letter with a reader's eye, not a lawyer's eye.

Let me lend you one lawyer's eye, and give you a lawyer's takeaway on Ms. Weymouth's letter.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/7/5/8212/232...

the first family leaves for Russia

http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-07-06-voa2.cfm

http://www.bagnewsnotes.com/2009/07/palins-resi...

Palin.

Proud to be Trash.

did anyone else see Cynthia Tucker bitchslap Caribou Barbie on This Week?

ROTFLMBAO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELyTBXzfQJ8

the obamas leave for Russia

http://www.necn.com/Boston/Politics/2009/07/05/...

Nice. Thanks.

One of first black women to serve overseas in WWII dies

Gladys Schuster Carter may be remembered for her military career – she was one of the first black women to serve overseas in the Army during World War II. But to her close friends and family, friendliness was her most important trait.

“She would interact with people off the street and end up having a conversation with them,” said Carter’s oldest son, Oscar Carter. “She talked to any and everyone.”

Carter, a New York City native, died Tuesday at age 87.

When Pearl Harbor was attacked in 1941, she was attending Virginia State University.

At that time, Uncle Sam was looking for a few good black women to join the military in Europe.

She immediately enlisted.

Carter’s unit, the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, included 885 black Women’s Army Corps (WAC) members who were charged with clearing up a huge backlog of mail sent to military troops overseas.

The job was expected to take six months, but the unit, working round-the-clock in eight-hour shifts, finished the job in three.

The surviving members of that unit weren’t publicly recognized for their achievement – moving 7 million pieces of mail – until earlier this year.

“She didn’t hold any anger in her heart for the delayed recognition,” said Oscar Carter. “She felt they had nothing more to prove.”

After her two-year stint in the Army, she came back to Virginia to finish her education. She worked for the New York State Division for Youth and retired as principal after 25 years.

Carter moved back to Virginia over a decade ago and became active in veterans affairs, helping start the local chapter of the National Association of Black Military Women.

“She’s an extraordinary person,” said Fredda Bryan, a retired Navy senior chief and president of the local chapter. “When you talk to Gladys you feel like you’re walking through a history book.”

Carter would talk to the younger women about the racism her unit faced while in the Army, said Bryan.

“It’s a blessing to get a chance to be around a person whose shoulders you stand on,” said Bryan, who considered Carter a mentor.

“The road I’m on now is paved because of women like her,” said Bryan. “It’s a once in a lifetime blessing to meet someone like her, and I’m glad I got that chance.”

http://hamptonroads.com/2009/07/one-first-black...

Carter’s funeral service will be at 10 a.m. Friday at Episcopal Church of the Messiah, 816 Kempsville, Road, Chesapeake. The Washington Post contributed to this report.

As retailers cut back cities confront 'ghostboxes' - Communities confront 'ghostbox' buildings when big-box retailers leave ... As the recession takes its toll on big-box retailers, more communities across the country are having to confront not just the eyesore of giant empty stores, but also the loss of jobs and tax revenue that follow ... And with the recent spate of bankruptcies and store closures, including Circuit City and Linens 'N Things, more abandoned buildings will be added to a struggling commercial real estate market. There are already hundreds of empty "ghostboxes" around the country ... Wal-Mart sold the 50,000-square-foot building to the Carlinville Southern Baptist Church in 2007 - "Nothing against churches, but the city loses, the county loses and the school district loses sales tax and property tax as a source of revenue," the mayor said.

I love watching Karma work...

Funny....

Circuit City filed for bankruptcy last November after 5 failing quarters preceding their filing

and Linen n Things filed for bankruptcy in May 2008....so whose "karma" are you actually referring to since their demise preceded our current president

try to get some facts at least....at least to look halfway intelligent, if that's impossible.

I supposed you are going to blame this on President Obama too, eh?

Like big box stores haven't been closing for the last 5-6-7 years and leaving malls like ghost towns...

Watching this Jonestown special on MSNBC, I don't know why because it disturbs me, but it's just so. . . interesting and creepy. I don't see myself killing myself because some self-proclaimed prophet said I had to. Those people really had to be in a dark place personally. Especially those that kept drinking that poison after seeing that it WAS hurting people, and they weren't having a nice easy death. So sad.

What Did Rep. Conyers Know?
Wife's Bribery Plea Raises Questions About Michigan DemocratBy Carrie Johnson and Alice Crites
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, July 5, 2009

In the snow-covered parking lot of a McDonald's in Detroit two years ago, City Council member Monica Conyers met with a waste-management consultant who slipped her an envelope stuffed with as much as $3,000 in cash.

The under-the-table payment, made shortly after she cast the swing vote on a $1 billion city sludge deal, drove Conyers's guilty plea to a bribery charge that could send the Democratic politician to prison for up to five years. Conyers emerged for her court hearing late last week in the same building where her husband, John Conyers Jr. (D), who has served in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1965, maintains an office.

Federal prosecutors in Detroit took pains to say that they had "no suggestion" that John Conyers knew of or was involved in the two-year-long bribery investigation, which has shaken a city already struggling to recover from a sex scandal that forced its mayor out of office. Monica Conyers, 44, appeared on a local television station this week to resign as the council's second in command, apologize to Detroit residents and denounce a former aide about whom, she said, her husband had warned her.

Questions about what the 80-year-old congressman may have known about his spouse's supplements to their finances continue to swirl, as do inquiries about how closely federal investigators examined him about the issues.

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

Time to primary him....he can enjoy his pension

Who heads up Judiciary if Conyers goes?

July 5, 2009
'Lesbian' clinch more embarrassment for Berlusconi



John Follain
The photographs show Silvio Berlusconi grinning broadly as two young women kiss in front of him at his Sardinian estate. But the same photographs threaten to embarrass the Italian prime minister on the eve of the G8 summit of leading industrialised nations that he will host this week.

After two months of allegations about his private life, including a prostitute’s claim that she spent a night at Berlusconi’s residence in Rome, he is keen to put the sleaze behind him and make a new start as a “can do” statesman.

Several European publications are bidding for photographs by Antonello Zappadu, who took 5,000 pictures of Berlusconi’s guests at Villa Certosa in Sardinia in 2007 and 2008. An informed source said the aim was to publish them just before the summit begins on Wednesday “for maximum impact”.

The images show Berlusconi, who was leader of the opposition at the time, with five young women in a gazebo. Two of them are sitting on his lap. He grins approvingly as Angela Sozio, 36, a red-headed former Big Brother contestant, sits on the knees of another young woman and kisses her on the lips.

A man tries to fondle a blonde woman’s breast but she pushes him away. The group then walk through the Villa Certosa estate and Sozio stages a fake wedding ceremony.

She gives a bouquet of flowers to a young woman with whom Berlusconi has been holding hands. Sozio and the other two women intone a wedding march.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/eur...

BIDEN ACKNOWLEDGES ADMINISTRATION 'MIREAD' THE ECONOMY

With the stimulus money just now trickling in, just how far behind the eight ball are we? Does anyone know if there is a website that is tracking how much stimulus money is going to each state and what those monies are being used for?

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2009/07/05/...

Oh, and there is a website that tracks the stimulus you can go to www.recovery.gov

He said they underestimated how bad it really was, and they thought it was really bad before, so I don't know how any of us could have imagined it was really worse.

They underestimated for a couple of reasons. One, they are stupid. Two, they do not understand how the economy really works. Three, the advisors they choose put the interests of their masters, I am talking about Fredo and the Citicrew(Summers, Emanuel, Rubin, Biden, et al), over that of the larger commonwealth. Four, the Citicrew clearly has pushed Volker out of the way and Christina Rohmer only transmit the news as happy talk(she reminds me of Chris Rock's skit about fat black women going out on friday night). Five, see one.

I remember reading an interview with Volker and he said he wasn't consulted. In fact, his group hadn't even met by the time the stimulus was passed. He's the only one who has been through anything remotely like this recession and he wasn't consulted!? When I read that I lost a bit of confidence in the economic team. When you leave a resource like Volker out of the loop, you're either arrogant or stupid. Both make me shudder.

I don't think they are stupid, or that they don't know how the economy really works. I do think it's questionable to put the foxes in charge of the henhouse.

I think this is one of those times Biden should have kept his mouth shut until the Stimulus had a chance to work because now all sorts of people are going to try to be all "I told you so." The stimulus is supposed to be dolled out over an 18-month period, and apparently the money is just now really flowing. But there has been a lot of evidence that the stimulus is doing what it was supposed to do. I think if it's shown that this one is working then they will have an easier time getting another stim package through (which apparently is looking more and more likely).

I agree with much of what you say Muzkikal, cept..I think it is time for Biden to speak up.

It is time to say that Bush put us in a far deeper and bigger hole than they imagined.

These folks are already trying to hold Obama accountable for this economy after six months and it is time to start pushing back and saying WHOAH...we had no idea this situation was an economic FUBAR...we thought it was a snafu...but turns out it is FUBAR.

No one, not even the experts were as pessimistic as they needed to be, and we were wrong to have been so optimistic about how catastrophic the economic policies of GW Bush were.

No one foresaw that draconian measures would be necessary to bring this economy back.

I follow Roubini and Krugman so I know that the alarm was sounded by others, but I think they were a bit maligned. There were also a couple of other noted economist who seemed to have read the tea leaves just right.

I see a parallel in how these economist were treated and how the administration is trying to tamp down the voices of those that want the public option and are raising other questions about the administration's health care plan. I think I'll pay more attention this go around. Very concerned about group think at the WH.

I thought Obama was meeting with those people too? We have to remember that Obama has to work with this Congress, and when the stimulus was going through we didn't have 60 "Democrats" in the Senate, and he had to show that he was willing to try to work with Republicans. Who knows, we may have seen a very different stimulus package if we hadn't needed 2 GOP votes. I heard they had to cut out a LOT to get Collins' vote. Had we had Franken in the seat, we wouldn't have needed her vote.

I don't think the Obama administration should have wasted its time trying to work with Republicans. See JJP's resident Republican D comment below.

The issue is with the try of government we have. As I said many times before. Many people forget this is not a parliamentary government. Obama is part of the executive branch and not the legislative branch. He can't just slam through what he wants because of seperation of powers.

Remember he needed 60 votes whenever a bill increases the deficit, so he had to deal with the Republicans.

Well I know that, you know that, but do the pundits know it?

(obligatory conservative Obama Admin-slamming moment)

Well....duh.

(that's all I've got tonight. Long weekend)

They are showing the event again on CSPAN right now, and I think it's so great that you can hear Obama explaining to Malia why the band is playing certain songs and which branch of the military they are for. I don't think they realized the mics were picking all of that up. LOL

What's the name of the event so I can look it up on C-span and watch it.

The Obamas give off a vibe of connectedness and love that hits you in every photo.

I agree totally! The warmth those kids get from their parents should be a lesson every parent in the country should learn. The love is just amazing. I see so many kids today who don't get that kind of physical security from their parents and it makes you wonder why.

Here's a nice article about MJ as a father. Here's an excerpt

NEW YORK — When Rabbi Shmuley Boteach brought his children to play with Michael Jackson's kids at Neverland Ranch some eight years ago, the rabbi's youngsters naturally made a beeline for the fabulous rides _ the Ferris wheel, the roller coaster, the bumper cars.

But when Jackson's own kids asked to go on the rides, he gently reminded them of the family rules, according to Boteach: The rides were only for birthdays or special occasions. "He was very concerned that the kids grow up with the right values," says Boteach, Jackson's former friend and spiritual adviser.

They are the children of one of the most famous men to have walked the planet. But unlike other children of mega-celebrities, whose faces are recognizable around the world, those of Jackson's three kids _ 12-year-old Michael Joseph Jr., known as Prince Michael; 11-year-old Paris Michael Katherine; and 7-year-old Prince Michael II, known as Blanket _ are barely known.

Home-schooled and often isolated in mansions or hotels, the children have appeared only in rare paparazzi shots, their faces usually covered by scarves or brightly colored masks.

That fact alone _ that Jackson sought to hide his children's faces _ would seem to speak of a dark, strange life. But those who've witnessed the family up close paint a brighter picture: a trio of engaging, intelligent, well-adjusted youngsters who adored their father.

A father who, despite his eccentricities and the terrible controversy that surrounded him in later life, lived for his children and tried to make their lives as normal as _ well, as normal as Michael Jackson could.

"To the extent that Michael Jackson's kids COULD have a normal life, he wanted them to have it," says Boteach, who eventually fell out with Jackson.

"Listen, I'm not here to whitewash the sins of Michael Jackson _ he was accused of some abominable things," says the rabbi, referring to the pop star's trial and acquittal on molestation charges. "But when it came to being a father, there was much to admire."

Dr. Tohme Tohme, a close friend and adviser to Jackson over the last year of his life, said he had "never seen a better father."

is anyone else watching CSPAN? This is a really interesting discussion.

Men/Women who are married and cheat, why not just get a divorce? then you can have all of the "girlfriends/boyfriends" and extramarital sex you want, and no one can really complain. If you're that damn unhappy, get a divorce. A "separation" doesn't mean anything these days.

Remember, that alot of people are taught from day one what to believe in. What the so called "norms" are, what is acceptable by society, etc....this is all complex stuff and not, forgive the pun, a "black or white" issue.

What you know at 20 and feel at 20 won't be the same at 30, 40 , 50 or 60.....

I'm not so sure marriage means anything "these days". What is marriage for?

You can be a good parent without being married. You can have sex without being married. If folks don't want to be committed to each other, than what's the point of getting married? Especially if you have money to burn.

Is it just for show? What?

Marriage is about property, period.

Property and taxes.

If by property, you mean 'real estate' why share it. If you got it, and
the other person doesn't, what's the point? If by property, you mean
'owning' the person, that's just lame...

I meant what I said about property. That's pretty much what marriage in the legal sense is. There's a reason why you have to file your marriage with the government and it ain't about love. It's about money and property.

Well it isn't all about property in today's world. Marriage can be different things to different people. As usual, history has changed the meanings of certain social rites and it means you don't get an answer in a one second sound bite.

I think taking the tragedy of McNair's death to simplify marriage is just plain silly. To me the guy was a man with a human weakness and he had the unfortunate problem of connecting with with an unstable woman who decided he and she should die if she didn't get her way. He played the numbers and his luck ran out.

But you got a wife and four kids. Why take the chance? Ok, I get the human weakness. But it's ego that buys the chick an Escalade and puts her up in a condo. If you don't want to be with your wife, divorce her.

I know the belief nowadays is that it's just not simple, but in some ways I think it's very simple. People just don't want to deal with the consequences.

And in Steve McNair's case, it killed him.

Did McNair put her up in a condo?. I beleive,the condo was owned by him and McNeely. The woman had an apt. That was hers based on her salary.

Guess all I can say is this probably wasn't his first dalliance and this time he chose the wrong gal to play with. McNair might be one of those guys who never wanted to lose his wife and family and knew there were plenty of gals who like to play around who would not jeopordize his lifestyle. You know, some people can be bought off and maybe just maybe McNair banked on that scenario.

We'll never know, but, what McNair lived doesn't explain why people marry.

I somewhat agree with this based on his being known as a good father and spouse. He had a 'southern gentleman' reputation. Perhaps, his good manners and such, were his downfall. He didn't know how to pick a woman who would go for the okeydoke. He wound up with a woman whose cultural values did not allow her to be dismissed like she was his plaything.

People probably do it because it's "the right thing to do" if you are dating someone for so long and you want to have a family with them and neither of you are married, then you figure you should get married to each other. Or people think they are in love and fall out of love.

I agree. Some posters are trying to make it sound like there is something wrong with being married. Just like all things in life marriage is for some people and not for others.

I hear you....don't wanna be married, don't be married.

So pretty! They look like ballerinas! :-)

Okay,

Is it obvious that I'm watching video channels right now.

Anyway, here's another song I'm feeling: Ryan Leslie: Addiction

Watch the video. Check it out at the 1:30 mark. Guess what song it samples? It's prescient considering the big music news of this past 2 weeks.

Oh and Next Top Model fans check out ya girl Jasleen.

For a treat, check out Beyonce singing one of my fav MJ songs from which that Ryan Leslie song sampled: Beyonce: Michael Jackson Tribute

It's funny how people have sampled Michael Jackson.

Mariah Carey sampled "Off the Wall" for "I'm that Chick" and of course Kanye sampled "PYT" for "The Good Life."

Also:

Portrait's "Here we go" samples "I can't help it" and also De La Soul's "Breakadawn."

And folks really gonna be samplin' now. I just hope it's not just Sony who gets paid...

I LOOOOOOOOOOOOVE "I Can't Help It"! Beyonce's "Deja Vu" samples this.

I'm really feeling this song: Nas ft The Game: Make The World Go Round

Alert for those who don't want to hear anymore of Chris Brown, he sings the hook on this song

Okay,

So I'm really feeling Kayne West's Paranoid. The video is hot too. I'm not sure if I've ever seen Rihanna look more stunning. She's really something in black/white.

Eh, I agree with Jay Z, it's time for the death of the autotune.

But I do agree Rhianna is very pretty.

It will be interesting to see where she winds up in 10 years.

Co-sign. That girl is gorgeous!

Hey rikyrah,

How funny is it that Andrew Sullivan is now calling Sarah Palin Lady GaGa?

Lady GaGa Update II

Why is he insulting Lady GaGa like that?

Any Mos Def fans out there? Can ya'll recommend any songs from him?

I knew that he was a hip hop artist, but I know him more from his acting than his hip hop

Check out his work when he was in Black Star with Talib Kweli. I love "Thieves In The Night".

Not particularly, but I do like his acting, though. Plus, I think he's sexy in an edgy kinda way...

I love that HBO movie about the Black doctor who was the first to do I think it was open-heart surgery

Vivian Thomas, who was the first to perform palliative cardiac surgery on blue babies syndorme in the 1840s.

Daniel Hale Williams, was the first doctor to perform open heart surgery in the 1890s. He also happened to be black.

My favorite Mos Def song is "What Beef Is".

Seriously, how sad is it that LaToya Luckett is doing better as a solo artist than Kelly Rowland? Kelly shoulda been left Matthew Knowles. He only got eyes for Solange and Beyonce. You see that Michelle went Gospel before she tried her hand at Pop/R&B. That way Beyonce had no direct competition (not that Michelle woulda been any competition) but still.

I just think it's interesting. I like Latoya'' Luckett's new single.

Mathew must have the wonk eye when it comes to Solange because her albums stay going triple Doublemint wrapper.

triple Doublemint wrapper

you stooooopid. THAT.IS.ALL.

From Booker Rising:

Steve McNair’s Death: My Politically Incorrect Rant

Yesterday Steve McNair, the 36-year-old former NFL quarterback, was found dead of multiple gunshot wounds - including one to the head - in a condo in Nashville, Tennessee. Sahel Kazemi, a 20-year-old woman of Iranian ancestry who is not his wife and a Dave & Buster's waitress young enough to be his daughter, was also found dead nearby with a single gunshot to the head. Mechelle McNair, his black wife and childhood sweetheart, was in Mississippi and said she hadn't seen him for two days.

The signs seem to be pointing to a murder-suicide by Ms. Kazemi. It may be impolitic for me to point out some stuff in this sad tale, seeing how ol' boy unfortunately just died yesterday. However, I gotta tell it like it is: black men, black men, your lustful choice to chase tail - especially non-black tail - has been the downfall for too many of you. Jack Johnson, O.J. Simpson, Steve McNair, need I gone on? Especially when y'all get famous, y'all too often have these double standards where a black woman has to damn near perfect....but you'll trick with any ol' thing off the street - lack of quality, not bringing anything to the table, or mental state be damned - if she's non-black.

I see the media is calling Ms. Kazemi a “friend”, while the police "explore" what relationship they had. Puhleeze! Not much exploration needs to be done. Ms. Kazemi was his jumpoff. Mr. McNair does not visit a female "friend" at 1am and stay. He does not take vacations with a female "friend"...with his family nowhere in sight. Mr. McNair was chopping Ms. Kazemi down on the regular and taking away from his wife and kids to break her off. He set his jumpoff up in that condo. Oh yeah, and bought a black Cadillac Escalade for her…the same car where she got stopped for a DUI - while he was in the passenger seat – just three days ago). Apparently, they had some disagreement recently. Given her ex-boyfriend's statements, perhaps Ms. Kazemi was upset that he wouldn’t leave his wife and felt he was stringing her along.

Bottom line: had Negro been acting right and not cheating on his wife in the first place and been with his wife and four children - where he belonged on Independence Day - and not busy chasing tail, he’d still be alive. No, he didn’t deserve to die, but let’s acknowledge the poor judgment here. Little to no respect for his family is what unfortunately killed him.

Posted by Shay Riley at 7/05/2009


http://www.bookerrising.net/2009/07/steve-mcnai...

"Blown away for some coochie"

That was serious "coochie" if McNair blew off his wife and kids during the 4th of July weekend to hook up with girlfriend in Nashville.

She worked at Dave and Busters and drove an Escalade. And no one question how she afforded that damn SUV unless the customers at Dave and Busters were recession-proof.

The minute it was reported on ESPN that the gun was found underneath girlfriend's body and that she had a single gunshot wound to her head, while she emptied a clip into McNair, I already labeled this a murder-suicide.

At first I thought it was his wife who shot him. I stand corrected, but I had heard rumors of McNair's infidelity when he played in Baltimore a couple of years back. Not to see your husband for two days; the SOB didn't even call her to tell her where he was, or why he had to take off for that particular weekend, indicates to me that their marriage was, at best, a lil' shaky.

I feel sorrier for McNair's kids - they're going to find out how their daddy died and what the hell he was up to when he died. If kids are going to be left fatherless, at least leave them with some proud memories of their father.

Dayum....just DAYUM. Forget about what type of coochie he was chasing; the fact he was chasing any AT ALL outside his marriage has left him DEAD.

Oh,the waitress told everybody her BF gave her the vehicle. And the police said it was registered to her and McNair.

She wasn't young enough to be his daughter, unless he was having kids when he was 16. Now TMZ has pics of them on vacation a few months ago, that chick was more than "just a friend" But I agree with him, had he been with his family, he'd be alive today.

and he forgot Kobe Bryant, he cheated on his non-Black wife with another white chick. LOL. But he got away with it for the most part, all he seemed to have to do was buy her an expensive ass ring.

Someone said she was inDEED younger than his oldest son. I do not know how true that is, but if his wife was his childhood sweetheart, and he had kids real young...that explains a WHOLE lot.

Well...whew. I don't know much about McNair and his history, but I think it's jumping to conclusions to say that he was the type who chased after white women to the exclusion of black women...without any evidence of a track record of him doing that. I think some of you are projecting things onto this incident that may not be there.

It doesn't say they were chasing non-Black tail to the exclusion of Black tail.

If by "it, you mean Shay's post, then yes- that's what she's doing by lumping him with OJ Simpson and Jack Johnson.

Much truth. If we're gonna clown Mark Sanford for his infidelity we can't give McNair a pass when he does the same. Its just so tragic to get your head blown off for some coochie.

Well at least Sanford is still alive. I think McNair has more than paid for his sins.

It begs, BEGS, the question -- What is marriage for? I know women step
out also, but what do men think marriage is?

The famous are the ones we hear about (Clinton, Edwards, Gingrich, Sanford, Ensign, Jesse Jackson) but I'd guess everybody on here knows a married man who tipped out on his wife.

What's the point of marriage? Clearly, having sex with the one woman you married ain't part of the definition, so why bother?

I think for these men you mentioned marriage is used as a prop to obtain power.

what gets me is the comments on some other sites about how "men weren't meant to be monogamous" well if you think your ass can't be monogamous, don't get married at all!

Christian Right Revival?
Is the Christian Right retooling, regrouping or just rebranding?


Leaders of two dozen organizations announced this past week the latest alliteration iteration of concerned conservative Christians. They are calling it the Freedom Federation, a direct descendant of the Moral Majority, the Christian Coalition and Values Voters.


Founders say the new group will have a broader membership and a kinder, gentler, more nonpartisan approach than its ancestors. "The stereotypical media-exacerbated image of the angry white evangelical will be replaced by an evangelical movement that will reconcile uncompromised values of compassion, truth with mercy, and righteousness with justice," Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, told reporters last week.

We shall see. But what's most interesting about the Freedom Federation isn't who's participating.

It's the conspicuous absence of evangelical America's three most influential organizations -- Focus on the Family, the National Association of Evangelicals, and Rick Warren's Saddleback Church network, all of which seem to be making new and sincere efforts to take a more inclusive, less judgmental approach to social and political issues.


Jim Daly, the man who is following James Dobson as president of Focus on the Family, recently praised President Obama as a family man and said the pro-life movement needs to find "a kinder, gentler way to approach this topic and see if we can make abortion rare without, as pro-lifers, abandoning our desire to see it eliminated altogether."


Galen Carey, the NAE's new Washington lobbyist, says his organization will continue to push a broader evangelical agenda that includes "creation care" (the belief that evangelicals have a biblical responsibility to the environment), care for the poor, and immigration reform (care for the neighbor and the stranger).
And Rick Warren, the megachurch pastor who delivered the opening prayer at Obama's inauguration, is scheduled to speak Saturday evening at the annual convention of the Islamic Society of North America.
The Freedom Federation seems to be making an effort to broaden its white, evangelical Protestant base by adding the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference and Catholic Online to the mix. But the roster is filled with such culture war veterans as the American Family Association (Donald Wildmon), Eagle Forum (Phyllis Schlafly), the Family Research Council (Tony Perkins) and the Traditional Values Coalition (Lou Sheldon).

"We are not wed to a particular partisan candidate or party," said Mathew Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel (a product of Jerry Falwell's Liberty University) and one of the Freedom Federation founders. "We are wed to core shared values."

But those core shared values, found in the new group's Declaration of American Values, reads more like the Republican Party platform than the Sermon on the Mount. For example, it calls on Christians to oppose progressive tax systems and "to encourage economic opportunity, free enterprise, and free market competition."

It also includes opposition to abortion and homosexuality (emphasis on gay marriage) and support for the Second Amendment, the Ten Commandments ("the freedom to acknowledge God through our public institutions") and the U.S. military. The new grouping also seems to oppose health care reform and hate crime penalties.


The old New Christian Right survived the Clinton administration (with a lot of help from Newt Gingrich) and was revived during the most recent Bush administration. Is the Freedom Federation something new or is it just a revival?
"The Freedom Federation will stand as the first multi-ethnic transgenerational evangelical Christian federation in history," declared Rodriguez.
If you don't count the Church or its thousands of denominational iterations.

By David Waters | July 2, 2009; 5:26 PM ET

http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/unde...

Same fraud, different lipstick on the pig.

"Multi-ethnic."

Translation: "since black folk ain't exactly down with evangelical Christianity, we'll move on. Plus, Hispanics are about to be the largest minority, so we'd better get them while we can."

When Eddie and Creflo sign up, I'm down. Til then, the evangelicals are suspect in my book.

Sorry, D, but Eddie and Creflo won't sign up unless they're going to get fat paid.

They worship at the alter of the almighty dollar, yo.

I doubt they'd sign up anyway, as that would require some (probably not-so-)minor lifestyle changes.

Not to mention that, at least for right now, the Dems have cornered the market on tax problems. God knows we have enough issues on the right; we don't need that one too.

Though I'd trade a serial tax evader for Mark Sanford right about now...wanna make a deal?

I would say black folk are some of the MOST evangelical Christians out there.

Black folks aren't stupid and they know that oftentimes injustice is served to the blacks in the form of a Bible handed to them by a white evangelical.

Not in a James Dobson-kind of way.

At least, no one I know personally or have run into is (then again, I tend to avoid evangelicals unless work requires me not to).

Ummm, yeah, I'll STILL pass. But thanks for trying.

They're rebranding to recapture the white people who fled in the face of the crazy.

Grassley: If you want good Health Care "Just go work for the Federal government"
by Lefty Coaster [Subscribe]
Share this on Twitter - Grassley: If you want good Health Care "Just go work for the Federal government" Sat Jul 04, 2009 at 09:22:55 PM PDT
This story about Chuck Grassley's response to a constituent's pointed question comes by way of the Huffington Post:

After sharing his family's personal struggle with the burden of high health care costs, an audience member asked, "My question is... why is your insurance so much cheaper than my insurance and so better than my insurance?"

The question made Grassley cranky.

He responded, first, by suggesting the questioner "go work for John Deere," since they "don't pay anything" for their insurance plan.

When the questioner refused to let the senator wriggle out of answering the question, Grassley revealed how little he knew about his own insurance plan.

Another audience member had to help the senator out by describing the details of the plan. After she finished, the original questioner again asked, "Okay, so how come I can't have the same thing you have?"


Grassley's response: "You can. Just go work for the Federal government."

That solution might work for just how many Americans Mr. Grassley?
-------------------------

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/7/5/750083/-...



Fuck Senator Grassley

I say build up who ever his opponent and kick him out of office. through I'm not sure if members get to keep their insurance or not if they lose an election.

This is still part of 'blame the victim' pathology. You're out there working your ass, but it's YOUR fault your health insurance isn't as good as the senator's.

Pathology as ideology: A unified theory of GOP behavior
July 4, 2009, 8:01AM


Narcissism. Xenophobia. Superstition. Bigotry. Sadism. Cultism. Denial. Sexual predation. Arrested development. Delusion. Bullying. Dissociation. Paranoia. Repression. Obsession. Avarice. Egotism. Insecurity. Pathological lying. God complex. Megalomania. Misogyny. Sociopathy.



Do any of these words describe Republicans you know, either personally or as elected or appointed officials? Perhaps more than one term applies in any number of cases. I am not a psychiatrist, psychologist or sociologist. But I do have common sense and a long memory. I saw the seeds of many of these behaviors among Republican voters, commentators, candidates and office holders about the time Ronald Reagan came to power. Now, these behaviors dominate Republican discourse. They are mainstream.



Reasonable voices like Colin Powell and Charlie Crist are ostracized and subjected to ad hominem attacks from the "true" GOP, like Rush Limbaugh and Dick Cheney. Others, like Richard Lugar and Lawrence Wilkerson, openly disagree with their more radicalized fellows to such an extent that Reagan's 11th Commandment is officially dead. Still others that were arguably reasonable, like John McCain, have become increasingly shrill and strident. Arlen "RINO" Specter changed sides. The venerable Tom Davis just gave up.



Every month, lately every week, features the GOP in a new public relations disaster. Jindal. Cheney. Specter. Ensign. Sanford. Palin. Each new incident brings out the gymnast in the GOP apologists and spin-doctors. The latest and strangest occurrence was Sarah Palin's pouty and abrupt resignation as Alaska's governor. Her ill-considered public ramblings equated continuing with quitting, quitting with winning, and leading with being driven from office - up-is-down, wrong-is-right Bizarro politics at its finest.



A child would typically reject these absurd notions, but a swath of educated, credentialed and popular GOP role players have the temerity to call this move "shrewd." Partially, this is institutional damage control, but a survey of various conservative blogs indicates an amazing degree of support and acceptance among some members of the rank and file who still love their Sarah. Republican strategist Ed Rollins had the honesty to call it political suicide, but when Ed Rollins is the voice of sweet reason, something is seriously wrong in the clubhouse.



I have therefore been forced by events to come to a reluctant conclusion. I say "reluctant" because it's so improbable, but, as A. Conan Doyle wrote for Sherlock Holmes, "How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?" My conclusion is that the socio-pathologies listed above are not characteristics of Republicans, they are Republicans' characteristics. To avoid being accused of sweeping generalizations, let me reel it in a bit and say that these are the characteristics of too many Republicans for the party's own good.



Any organization is an expression of the humans that make it up. Leaders cannot lead and followers cannot gather in the absence of at least the perception of shared vision and values. The men and women who lead the Republican party reflect various tendencies of their constituencies; this is axiomatic in the fact that they are the leaders. And the remaining American men and women who self-identify as Republicans share characteristics of the leaders they have chosen; it's axiomatic in the fact that they are followers.



In the broadly construed organization of Republicanism, meaning elected officials, party members, operatives, commentators, contributors, and voters, some of these social pathologies have masqueraded as policy. There is a strong strain of covert and at times overt bigotry in Republican thought on social programs. On immigration reform, while Democrats have embraced the logical advantages of soliving a problem while expanding their base, xenophobia is a core aspect of the GOP's emotional and self-defeating reaction to the issue. Unbridled avarice drives much of the GOP opposition to progressive taxation. Other policies abound with emotionally unstable dynamics: paranoia is interchangeable with national security, denial is the handmaiden for global warming, and pathological lying passes for communication.



Other examples of emotional defects are found among some of the most visible Republicans in the country. Sen. James Inhofe, who was "outraged at the outrage" over institutionalized torture of prisoners, has a strong streak of sadism. Mark Foley was an archetype sexual predator; his fancy for young men could easily have been the substitute for a darker preference. In its most extreme expression, Evangelical Christianity is not what Jesus Christ taught, but tantamount to superstition; see Alan Keyes, who in his debate with State Senator Obama cited religious faith as a cure for our problems.



Cultism is in full bloom for Mike Huckabee and similar believers who despite unalterable proof in sciences from paleontology to physics peg the Earth's age at about 7,000 years (all probably displayed in an emotionally comforting time line at the Creationist Museum). On the other hand, they dismiss evolution as a "theory" incapable of scientific proof. Evidently, Huckabee and his fellows see no flaw in this contradiction, or in such a selective approach to applying their standards of proof to reinforce personal beliefs rejected by an overwhelming majority, including people of many faiths.



Repression: Larry Craig, a tortured soul who deserves pity. God complex: Rudy Giulianai. Egotism: Tom Delay. Narcissim: Gov. Mark Sanford. Delusion: Sen. Jim DeMint. Arrested development: Sarah Palin. Sexual obsession: Sen. David Vitter. Sociopath: George W. Bush. Megalomania: Too numerous to list. Paranoia, thy name is Cheney. Sen. Jim Bunning and Rep. Michelle Bachman are, well, just nuts. Yet every one of these miscreants boasts (or boasted) strong support in segments of the American electorate. Clearly their voters saw something they liked, and some still do.



Similarly, Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, Ann Coulter and their like are reprehensible humans, serial liars and media bullies who are loved by misguided millions. It all becomes a self-reinforcing feedback loop until one of the players cracks under the pressure (i.e., Craig, Palin) or is found out (i.e., Ensign, Sanford, Vitter). Then the sparks fly and veteran observers, Republicans and Democrats alike, just shake their heads in bemusement. Democrats have their own scoundrels, but they are far fewer in number, do not dominate policy, and of late are quickly ejected, not defended (Rod Blagojevich, Eliot Spitzer, William Jefferson). These are signs of an emotionally healthy organization.

I still am incredulous at this realization, but it potentially explains so very much. The GOP isn't in deep trouble because of Iraq or demographics or scandals or recession. These are contributing factors but they are all transitory. The GOP is in trouble because a significant portion of the party's base, the party's leaders, and the party's most vocal spokespeople are slaves to identifiable social and mental disabilities. They are not driven by ideology, but by pathology. It's been festering for years, culminating in an ongoing, spectacular collapse due to their inability to maintain the façade, accept the failure of their beliefs and cope with a changing world.

This is why so many Republicans are retreating to their comfort zone and preaching a "return" to core, conservative values even while the country as a whole is demanding the opposite and GOP leaders betray those values with stunning visibility. This call has nothing to do with embracing true conservative political thinking as a strategy- it's a call to return to the cult of dysfunctionality under the delusion that repeating with greater intensity the same behaviors that produced monumental failure will instead produce success. A belief that this approach will lead to national political prominence and the establishment of government doctrine is delusional in the highest degree. Bush may not have been a "true" conservative but he was a "true" Republican while Colin Powell is not, and therein lies the GOP's problem.



Scandals, outrageous remarks and ill-considered actions are not causes of the Republican downfall, but symptoms of deeper flaws. The symptoms will recur as long as the issues remain. This won't improve with new strategies - the GOP needs better, healthier people from top to bottom When that happens, the extremists will be pushed to the fringe, where they used to be. Until that happens, the Republican party will continue to be, at best, regionalized, marginalized, and comically disorganized, and, at worst, hateful and violent - their blogs seethe with venom and their farthest reaches include and condone political murderers and terrorists.



The political contest today is no longer just about policies, ideas and personalities. It's also about one side that proceeds from mental disorder versus one that doesn't. Rational individuals would drive the most visible and vocal Republicans out of their party, into the sea and start all over. Accepting these behaviors is dissociation from reality on a mass scale.



Eliminate the impossible and whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.


http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/blogs...

rikyrah
I thought reading this that the fireworks gave you clarity and you spent all night writing this(I haven't checked tpm to find out different yet). The clarity is stunning and so damn funny
ROTFLMBAO at this statement "The GOP is in trouble because a significant portion of the party's base, the party's leaders, and the party's most vocal spokespeople are slaves to identifiable social and mental disabilities." the truth hurts.
As Sun Ra would say, "Free yo mind and yo ass will follow"

no, RobM, I didn't write it. wish I had, because I was nodding in agreement from beginning to end, going AMEN!!

Spock, is that you? teehee...