Jack & Jill Politics

EVENING OPEN THREAD IS UP

With all the teapartiers going teabagging who wouldve thunk it
Q-Poll: Republicans "Take A Pounding" Over Health Care
by DemFromCT
Share this on Twitter - Q-Poll: Republicans "Take A Pounding" Over Health Care Thu Oct 08, 2009 at 01:40:04 PM PDT
From Bloomberg:

Months of Republican attacks on President Barack Obama’s health-care proposals appear to have hurt the party, according to a Quinnipiac University poll.

And on the Republican measure of failure, directly from the Q-poll:

But Republicans get their lowest grades since Obama was elected on several measures:

* Voters disapprove 64 - 25 percent of the way Republicans in Congress are doing their job, with 42 percent of Republican voters disapproving;
* Only 29 percent think Republicans on Capitol Hill are acting in good faith;
* Voters trust Obama more than Republicans 47 - 31 percent to handle health care;
* Voters 53 - 25 percent have an unfavorable opinion of the Republican Party.

On bipartisanship here's a variation of the polling choice of words noted by Greg Sargent:

What the pollsters refuse to do, though, is ask voters whether they want a bipartisan bill if getting GOP support results in actual policy consequences they don’t like. Here’s the latest framing of the question from Quinnipiac:


Do you agree or disagree with the following: Congress should approve a health care overhaul plan even if only Democrats support it.

Agree 37%


Disagree 57%


Not surprising. But when Research 2000 recently posed the question in a policy context, asking whether people prefer a Dem-only bill with a public option versus a bipartisan bill without one, the numbers shifted dramatically, with a majority, 52%, wanting the partisan bill.

Brian Beutler notes that when the question is asked this way, “the public is perfectly fine with partisanship.” True, but it’s actually more than that: The public wants the partisan bill when it contains policy specifics they like, and cares more about the public option than about bipartisanship for its own sake.

People aren't stupid. They can tell who is trying to produce reform and who is stalling. The only bipartisanship people care about is the kind exhibited by former Congressional Republicans when they suggested getting on board with health reform before the train pulls away without them.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is not 1993. Health reform will happen. The only question is what it will look like in the end. And there's simply no way this is going to help Republicans (though without some substantial benefit before 2013, it might not help Democrats in the short term.) You can't simply say no and then claim you were looking out for the American people. But there are some Congressional Republicans who are going to learn that the hard way.
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/10/8/791...

Okay,

does anyone else find Cornel West's way of calling President Obama Brother Barack kinda condescending?

Something about it, just doesn't sit well with me. It just doesnt' seem like he says it outta respect at all. It just seems snide to me...anyway.

Btw, this article is about West and Larry Summers, it just made me think of why I never felt Brother West.
West, disillusioned

Actually, he calls black men "Brother" all the time. He calls Tavis, Brother Tavis.
It's simply a generational thing.

Two congressmen with opposing political viewpoints but similar populist streaks have joined together to ask the Senate to delay confirming Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke for a second term, questioning whether he is "fit to serve."

Representatives Ron Paul (R-Tex.) and Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) sent a letter Wednesday to Senate Banking Committee Chair Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) asking first for the release of documents "that will allow the public and the Senate to have a full understanding of the commitments that the Federal Reserve has made on our behalf," the letter says.

Alan Grayson, Ron Paul Question if Bernanke is "Fit to Serve"

When the Fed is put under congressional oversight, expect a mass exodus of employees who played a role in FUBAR the American Economy, starting with Bernanke, cause he picked up the mantle from Andrea Mitchell's husband.

DNC Rips Politico Story Tying Polanski To Obama: “Silly,” “Amateur Hour”


In another sign of the Obama operation’s zeal for playing rough with the media, the Democratic National Committee is taking an unusually hard shot at Politico for posting a much-criticized story today linking Roman Polanski with Obama and the DNC.

“This story is just lowbrow, and it’s amateur hour,” DNC spokesman Brad Woodhouse told me. “It’s one of the silliest stories that I’ve ever seen.”

DNC Rips Politico Story Tying Polanski To Obama: “Silly,” “Amateur Hour”

this is a stretch that I can't even force the link. ..POLITICO SUCKS

The Democrats are moving quickly to those places occupied by the Republicans when they were in power. In time that arrogance will produce a voter backlash that will sweep the Republicans back into power.

Politico is the blog of reference for Morning Joke.

Enough said.

Democrats do not have to use tortured logic to make a link to Republicans sex offenders http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/du...

I think Obama said there were two press media he never pays attention to

1. Politico
2. mark halperin

Politico is drudge-lite... the press wow

Matt Drudge is Drudge-Lite...and I'm paying a compliment here. /snark

I was so excited to watch this

The Michael Vick Project: Vick gets Reality Docu-Series

until I read the rest of the sentence

On BET.

Come on. Vick deserves VH1, E, TV One or at the very least ESPN 2. But BET? Like the man needs to be exploited more then he has been exploited. Pass.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/08/the-mi...

BET - "WE LIKE SHOWING IGNORANT SHYT TELEVISION."

Courtesy of ElonJames White and "This Week In Blackness."

Oh lawdy!!!

Tweety bout to do a segment on Michelle Obama's ancestry.

I'm prepared to be insulted...

I'm sure he will get all choked up about how far we have come. He will need a hug. And a tissue.

stop it... lol

After losing several high-profile members over its climate policy, the US Chamber of Commerce spent much of this week attempting to convince the public that it does believe global warming is a serious concern that Congress should act upon. But in comments recently submitted by the group to the Environmental Protection Agency, the group advanced a very different view. In its submission, the Chamber questioned the science behind the phenomenon of climate change, suggested that humans are now less vulnerable to rising temperatures because of the growing use of air conditioners—and theorized that even if the planet is getting warmer, that might be a good thing.

Chamber: Global Warming is Good for You

Stephanie Streeter, the acting chief executive of the United States Olympic Committee, whose rocky seven-month tenure culminated in Chicago’s failure to win the 2016 Olympic Games, announced Wednesday that she would step down after the close of the Paralympics in Vancouver next March.

U.S.O.C.’s Embattled Chief Says She’ll Step Down

Like most Americans, members of the House are expected to report promptly — no excuses — when summoned by their bosses for the start of another workweek. One difference: For lawmakers, starting time doesn’t come until about 6:30 Tuesday evening.

After taking control of the House in 2006 — and again when President Barack Obama was elected president in 2008 — Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) boasted that lawmakers would work four or five days a week to bring change to America.

But midway through Obama’s first year in office, Hoyer’s House has settled into a more leisurely routine. Members usually arrive for the first vote of the week as the sun sets on Tuesdays, and they’re usually headed back home before it goes down again on Thursdays.

Since the House returned for its fall session on Sept. 8, it has stuck around to vote on a Friday just once: to approve a 5.8 percent increase in Congress’s own budget.

...

Two-and-a-half-day workweeks are not exactly what Hoyer had planned.

In December 2006, as he prepared to take the reins as majority leader, Hoyer said lawmakers should expect to be on duty in the House from 6:30 p.m. on Mondays to around 2 p.m. on Fridays.

When Hoyer released his 2009 legislative calendar last December, he said: “The American people voted decisively for change this November, and we will work hard to make that change a reality.”

According to that calendar — no longer on Hoyer’s website but cached through Google — the House was to have been in session 120 days by now. In fact, it’s been in session for 113 days — and many of those have been brief.

House: Working hard or hardly working?

A polling distraction, from the paper that brought you Thesisgate:

McDonnell 53, Deeds 44

Since CPL mentioned issues, voters trust McDonnell more to handle the economy, education, health care, transportation, gun control, taxes, and the state budget (question #7).

Deeds is wnning the race for a more negative campaign, though.

Fortunately, if Virginians value keeping their guns over universal health care, then they deserve what they get if they elect McDonnell.

I wonder where you Black supporters will fit in in Richmond if he gets the office.

Bet he will forget he even KNEW Sheila Johnson.

And since Virginia only allows their Governors to serve one term. if McDonnell gets in, he only has four YEARS to FUBAR, but by then, a Democrat will be primed and ready to succeed him.

Furthermore, I'm willing to bet that poll was taken in Tidewater/Hampton Roads/Jamestown, and does not reflect or include Northern Virginia at all.

It's very unlikely that I would go to Richmond, even if asked.

According to the demographics, Deeds wins the People's Republic 51%-46%. McDonnell carries the rest of the Commonwealth 56%-41%.

And McDonnell carries independents 59%-38%

The rumor mill's already mentioning Ken Cuccinelli in '13.....

Well then that just shows how silly they are because conservative ideas are pretty much failed ones but as I always said this race is for McDonnell to lose.

Hiphop, Homecoming and Hoes:How HBCU's Fund Gangta Rap.
Paul Scott

It's Autumn. A time when HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) across the country celebrate homecomings. It's a season of football games, marching bands and step shows. It's also a time when universities pay major dollars to rappers who act like they have never seen the inside of a classroom.

Recently, students at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical University protested the inclusion of Gucci Mane in their annual homecoming concert. The students felt that with the spilling over of gang violence onto college campuses, to roll out the red carpet for one of the major purveyors of all that is wrong with Hip Hop would not be a good look.

Although the Gucci guy is still scheduled to roll into Greensboro Halloween night, because of the student protests, the university's administrators decided to take the school's name off of the marquee.

I don't know why the "Aggies" are singling out Gucci Mane since there is nothing, even remotely, unique about his Dirty South swagga and "trap tales." But I really don't care why they put Gucci on blast. The revolution against this foolishness has to start somewhere and I can think of no better place than a predominately black institute of higher learning and I can think of no better time than now.

This is not the first time that college students have taken a stand against the violence and misoginy in most commercial Hip Hop. Back in 2004, the sisters of Spelman put heat on Nelly in response to his Tip Drill video that featured a black woman's derriere being used as a credit card swiper.

But it has not happened nearly enough. While many people have looked to the teeny bopper "106 and Park " crowd to be the vanguard responsible for stopping "gangsta rap" the real responsibility lies at the feet of college students.

It is a well known fact that most entertainers don't make their money selling cds, especially in the age of youtube and Limewire but they make their spending cash via concert tours. Many of theses concerts are held in conjunction with college activities such as homecomings and spring break events.

So, in essence, it can be said that HBCU's bankroll much of the music that promotes black on black violence and the disrespect of black women.
Although, some my argue that college coeds are old enough to know the difference between the fantasy world of Hip Hop and real life, their little brothers and sisters are not. By supporting artists that promote negativity the students are helping to fund the destruction of the generation coming up behind them.

Despite the fact that some of these colleges have Hip Hop classes and frequently sponsor Hip Hop conferences that bemoan the current state of Hip Hop, unfortunately, these initiatives have not helped the students develop a workable strategy that would force Hip hop artists to produce the type of music that many college educated students profess to want.

This is not to say that white colleges are bastions of morality, by any means , as the keg parties and "girls gone wild" scenarios are things that legends are made of. So, the question that some may ask is whether black institutions should be held to higher standards.

Of course they should.

Our ancestors did not sacrifice their lives so that black students today can listen to "tha Gooch " rap about gettin' wasted.

More than that, they owe it to the future generation who should be looking to them as the ones who will finally end centuries of perpetual black misery.

Black colleges across the country should ban together and place a moratorium on the minstrelsy so prevalent in much of today's Hip Hop. The study body presidents at HBCU's should draft a "manifesto against the madness" and vow not to spend student funds to bring rappers that shame the black community to their campuses. Instead they must seek out those artists that seek to encourage young black children to strive for college yards instead of prison yards.

So, intelligent brothers and sisters of HBCU's, the choice is yours. Are you going to raise your voices against Gucci gangsta-ism or are you going to be at the next concert singin' "Freaky Gurl " at the top of your lungs? "


Paul Scott writes for No Warning Shots Fired.com. He can be reached at info@nowarningshots fired.com or (919) 451-8283 For more information on the Intelligence Over Ignorance Campaign go to http://www.ioimovem ent.com

"So, in essence, it can be said that HBCU's bankroll much of the music that promotes black on black violence and the disrespect of black women."

---

Tsk, tsk, tsk. A little research would reveal:

"... radio airplay is now driven by attracting a particular listening and consuming demographic, White male suburban youth—the main purchasers of Gangsta Rap and the consumer products heavily endorsed in such lyrics"

I wouldn't know what gets played on the radio since I dont listen to it.But I do know before radio consolidation gangsta rap wasn't played much on the radio.But hey its a free country and if you want to support it then more power to you.I just thought it was an interesting read.

Should have been clearer, my comment wasn't directed towards you, it was for Mr. Scott.

Be sure to send that to Mr. Scott please.

The majority of rap music has been consumed by white youth since the early 90s. Why do you think Tipper Gore & Co. got the EXPLICIT stickers on the albums? It wasn't because RayRay in the hoods of Memphis & Dc were listening to rap, it was because Lil' Al Gore was listening to it.

HalleujiahYER!!!

bout time

I just applied to this new apartment complex I'm trying to move in. I really like it, so hope I get it. It's always wishy washy now-a-days when people do credit checks. I know I make more than enough money (more than 4X the rent), but thanks to my completely frivilous college years, my credit ain't that good, not that bad, but not that good

Write the three major credit companies and ask for your free report. After you have it check for anything questionable and point it out to them. If you have a common name make sure its your record.once you have that record straight find out if heir is an ACORN office where you live and ask to see their credit counselors. If they do not do it they should be able to give you a source to help you imporve your credit. Avoid the pay companies as most only want your upfront money

Um, did you miss the accountability statement about 'frivolous' college years?

I do not know how long ago lamh 32 was in college nor am I going to ask. My response was to help with general advice.

Everyone can over come credit scores with time and an establishment of a postive payment record. If lamh 32 is close to the time frame it would be in lamh 32's interest to establish a more positive history.

It is harder now. People with very good credit have recently been fucked by credit card companies when they unilaterally closed cards from lack of use in the name of reducing the companies exposure. They are fucked because closing a card is negative on your report. You could even argue conspiracy because it benefits all the companies bottom line if you have to pay more in interest or other fees. so I will add anyone whom has a card closed by a company scream blue bloody murder and have that card reestablished. Once reestablished charge something periodically and then pay it off immediately.

thanks for the advice

You're welcome.

Nancy Pelosi: I am in my place, so F-You

Bad language from the NRCC, but I know where they were going with that.

Nancy Pelosi is third in the line of sucession right...she "knows her place

Sarah Palin is an ex-governor/vice presidential candidate, yet she goes on her facebook account and tells President Obama how to handle Afghanistan.

Do you and the NRCC think Sarah Palin needs to be put "her place" yet???

Let me guess the answer.

Second.

As Speaker of the House, she has no operational or administrative control over the military.

Which puts her above Palin. I guess that's worth something.

please my left foot is above Palin.

Oh...wait you werent' talking about intillectual ability.

Anyway, D whatcha gonna do when Palin is ya'll nominee for Prez? Pawlenty ain't got a chance.

Obama '12.

At the risk of any personal and professional credibility I may have.

And I mean it, this time.

I knew you were too smart to be in the GOP...just go independent if you can't come all the way to the right side of politics and be a member of the Democratic party

Besides you didn't answer my question.

Doesn't Sarah Palin also need to know her place?

Damn Obama made an off hand comment about lipstick and a pig, and some of you're Palin-ites went ballistic.

the NRCC says that the "most powerful woman" in government today needs to "know her place" and the NRCC stands by that. WTF!!!


No offense D, but the GOP just seemed to have a problem with women in power who are not GOP. It shouldn't matter if you like or don't like the woman's politics. As a father, husband, brother, cousin, whatever respect should be the same.

Of course you do

Ok, I deserved that. LOL.

Someone needs to explain the Constitution to the chicken hawk redumblicans.We are not a military led banana republic.The military is under civilian control not the other way around.

Yeah, but that control doesn't extend to the Speaker of the House.

Did you ever take a civics class? And I quote
Section. 8.

Clause 12: To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;
Now she is the leader of congress,third in line and Congress controls the purse.Now do you want to rephrase your answe.

No.

My answer stands. The Speaker does not exercise control of the military. She does not give orders, and is not responsible for equipping, maintaining, or training the military.

Were that not so, we wouldn't need a civilian SecDef.

And I know you know that. The chain of command is one of the first things you learn in the military.

She as leader of congress approriate money.That is control.Now I have been searching for your post where you told McCain,boner and Lidsney to STFU on military matters.Guess what?There is none.

I don't have a problem with Sens. McCain or Graham speaking on military matters. Or Democratic vets in Congress who do the same, even if I disagree with them.

But Pelosi?

I know kids in JROTC with a better understanding of the military than she has. And I say that having met her.

They are not in the chain of command but you have no problem with them speaking out even though they have been wrong from day one.This has nothing to do with congress speaking out but everything to do with because she is a women and we know what your party thinks about women.

I think McCain's earned the right to have an opinion.

Don't you?

Well if crashing 5 planes and being wrong from Iraq to Afghanistan counts.Then, I guess you right.Being a POW does not make you an expert on anything other than being a prisoner.

From the DUH files:

WASHINGTON — In 1850, the elderly master of a South Carolina estate took pen in hand and painstakingly divided up his possessions. Among the spinning wheels, scythes, tablecloths and cattle that he bequeathed to his far-flung heirs was a 6-year-old slave girl valued soon afterward at $475.

In his will, she is described simply as the “negro girl Melvinia.” After his death, she was torn away from the people and places she knew and shipped to Georgia. While she was still a teenager, a white man would father her first-born son under circumstances lost in the passage of time.

In the annals of American slavery, this painful story would be utterly unremarkable, save for one reason: This union, consummated some two years before the Civil War, represents the origins of a family line that would extend from rural Georgia, to Birmingham, Ala., to Chicago and, finally, to the White House.

Melvinia Shields, the enslaved and illiterate young girl, and the unknown white man who impregnated her are the great-great-great-grandparents of Michelle Obama, the first lady.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/08/us/politics/0...

I'd wager ALL Black People whose families didn't migrate here from Africa voluntarily have some "white forebears". Raping slaves/Black women was pretty commonplace.

The article in an interesting read, but the "shock" that Michelle has a white slave owner ancestor isn't a surprise to anyone who knows history.

not a bit of surprise to anyone Black in America.

An ACORN Amendment for Pfizer
In the wake of the Congressional witch hunt against the community organization ACORN, initiated by Republican minority leader John Boehner and supported by all but seventy-five Democrats in the House and ten in the Senate (Independent Bernie Sanders also voted no), a small number of Democratic lawmakers are pushing back. Last week, in response to the Defund ACORN Act, which seeks to prohibit federal funds to the community group, Minnesota Democrat Betty McCollum, a member of the House Appropriations Committee, introduced an ACORN act of her own. It is titled the "Against Corporations Organizing to Rip-off the Nation Act of 2009," also referred to simply as the ACORN Act. HR 3679 seeks to "prohibit the Federal Government from awarding contracts, grants, or other agreements to, providing any other Federal funds to, or engaging in activities that promote certain corporations or companies guilty of certain felony convictions."
Read More
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20091019/scahill?r...

Let's hope they are successful in turning back this deliberate attack on ACORN.
here is how ACORN is surviving in Philadelphia.

So, apparently Howard Dean says he would vote for the Opt-out Public Option if he was a senator.....according to Ben Stein over at Huffington Post.

Interesting....especially considering that Dean is one of the more progressive voices that the Left likes to herald in the healthcare debate, even having been applauded for his previous stances here at JJP.

According to the article:

"If I were a member of the U.S Senate I wouldn't vote for the [Senate Finance Committee] bill but I would vote for this," Dean said, "not because it is necessarily the right thing to do but because it gets us to a better conversation about what we need to do."

In a brief telephone interview, Dean stressed repeatedly that his preference remained, far and away, a national public option that was available to anyone -- regardless of state -- from the day of its conception. But in a wholly political context, he acknowledged, adding the opt-out option to the bill might be the best and only way to get something through the Senate.

"I would like to see that come out of the Senate because it is a real public plan," he said of the opt-out compromise. "Then they can negotiate it [with the House] in conference committee... And if this passes I won't say it is not reform because it is reform."

"If this is what it takes to get 60 votes I say go for it," said Dean



Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/08/dean-i...

Any thoughts JJP......is Dean's stance also "selling out" or smart politics?

I believe it's a SELLOUT and have no qualms in saying so.

If this is what Dean said, then I think he sold out to a political deal, rather than selling out for the vast majority of the American people. Dean, like almost every other progressive, knows that there are certain states that will absolutely opt-out of a public option regardless of how it would benefit the citizens.

Will the majority of states opt in? No. And that's not going to serve Black and Brown citizens of states with Conservative governors. They will be stuck with the same old monopolies and the same lack of affordable coverage.

Dean is politically savvy...this is a brilliant tactic, and most folks who have good political acumen can see that.

Sign a bill with a national public option and FORCE the states to take it away. This is absolutely masterful downright machiavellian.

It may be a savvy tactic, but it's bad policy. Why? Because the states you mention will do just that -- take the option away. If it means sticking it to that uppity "boy" in the White House, those governors and legislatures will screw over their residents without batting an eyelash.

At the end of the day, people want to be able to get health care. They could give a damn about cheerleading for good politics.

I highly doubt that any governor would crucify their constituents on their own ideology. It didn't happen with highway transportation money, it didn't happen with the stimulus. Or when raising the drinking age to 21.

No matter how much Texas Governor Rick "Shiny Hair" Perry bitched and whined about not accepting stimulus money, he ending up begging for and returning back any of it. Same thing with Governor Mark Sanford, he hasn't returned it either.

But of course the devil is in the details. Of course, you have to make sure that the cost of opting-out is extremely obvious and onerous. That's why we have to see the details.

Then it's on the Congress to recognize that some could do that, and make provisions for them to opt back in at some other time.

This is the first health care proposal that I'm actually a fan of, if it's done correctly.

That is the right of those states to deny their constituents. Let those states pay sky rocket high premiums if they choose. No skin off my nose.

At the end of the day, I want to pass a healthcare reform package with a national public option...and this gets it done!

Concur with everything up to "healthcare reform package."

;)

lol

Hate to say it, but it smells like he's selling out, and the words "sell out" and "Howard Dean"... I never thought I'd use them in the same sentence.

Most times, Dean is on point, and I won't take away from what's been said about him already. Except for this blip, he's still more progressive than what's passing for Dems on the Hill these days...and Obama owes the very fact that he got the White House because Axelrod adopted Dean's "50 state strategy" for Obama's campaign.

Chaos in Detroit as 50,000 show up at Cobo Hall for free stuff.
http://www.freep.com/article/20091007/NEWS01/91...

Some people thought that the feds were giving away $3,000 in stimulus money to individuals.

It's unfortunate that the situation turned to fear for these people whom needed the help offered. I hope Gov Granholmn saw this and is screaming for more help.

wow. that is one intense story. thank you for the info.

Maybe it is already here, if not i'll like to read what you think about this piece:
'SNL' Obama sketch marks end of honeymoon

Mr Obama is now the STATUS QUO, the POTUS, He who must be mocked. SNL always mocks the POTUS - its what they do.

As i wrote above it is not about the sketch, but the journalist and her guests comment.

Well they couldn't have been too in love with Obama or maybe they would have hired a black guy or somebody in the tan family to portray him.

The sketch miss the mark or wilfully ignores: Polifact.

I did not meant the sketch but the journalist "panel".

I am missing something, "panel" where? Is this about the article's take on the media types commenting about themselves?

With "panel" i meant - people brought together to discuss the sketch.

I wanted to "hear" yr. take on what the journalist tries to suggest or extract from the guests.

"It was a powerful combination -- and after 34 years, the combination of "SNL" and politics can still strike sparks among political observers."

An effort to give weigh to SNL.

"Jonathan Capehart, "When your 'friends' start talking about you like this -- and friends with a huge megaphone and a feel for the national mood -- the White House should listen."

Polls show PBO's public approval is increasing and who suggested SNL was his friend?

"Humor with some truth in it is always dangerous. Make no mistake, a drumbeat of belittlement can damage a president," added CNN political contributor Ed Rollins in a column.""

What truth? Author uses a known opponent to say "truth" was in the sketch.

And, then I stopped.

The author thrashes about wasting a lot of space and readers' time failing to meet objective, to prove "honeymoon was over".

What truth? Author uses a known opponent to say "truth" was in the sketch.


Precisely!
Intriguing was how she wanted her guest to confirm what she wanted to convey as being fact(s), and how most of them just did not say; Hey you are stretching a bit, don't you?

I mean closing Gitmo, is it january yet?
Iraq and winning in Afghanistan?

I am still looking for a reasonable criticism of Obama.
I have some, regarding Zimbabwe, he was elected to defend USA interests which in this case conflicts with those by Zimbabweans, at least those without land.

WTF@ this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cz8Q81FygVs

Damn, I didn't know Black women were THAT damn bad. This guy is an asshole, and the longer I listen to it, the more pissed off I get. The man in that video claims that Black women don't take responsibility for anything but it sounds to me like he's mad because Black women aren't taking responsibility for everything even when it's not their fault. Where the hell is the blame for the Black MEN? And there are LOTS of White Women who have Babies out of wedlock with BLACK MEN, just because they aren't famous like the people he keeps showing pictures of, doesn't mean they aren't there.

I checked on area code 318. Its NATCHITOCHES County, LA. Given what happened w/ ACORN and no references I would speculate this is not a site that has anything more than a token front black man.

Just watched the video.

Ouch.

IT'S OFFICIAL.

BLACK WOMEN HAVE TO VALUE THEMSELVES AND STOP WAITING FOR VALIDATION FROM OTHER SOURCES BECAUSE WE WON'T GET IT.

This, ahem, "man" is an ANAL-RETENTIVE BASTARD OF THE HIGHEST ORDER and if he had any got damned sense, he would know Black Women are so busy assuming responsibility for EVERY OTHER DAMNED PERSON that we have nothing left for ourselves except to acknowledge our own VALUE.

I'm willing to bet my last dollar that if I saw this bastard in public and I was with someone outside the Black Race, that mofo would have something to say to me, and I'd have to respond with twelve packs of industrial-strength whip-ass.

That's it and that's all.

Ben Ali, local DC and now national figure with his Ben's Chili Bowl on U street NW, died Wednesday night.

RIP Ben Ali.

RIP Ben Ali. Great eatery.

So I've decided I'm going to let the perm go and I'm going to blog my progress as I go. Check out the first post: http://muzikalthoughts.blogspot.com/2009/10/im-...

Some of the judges deciding a woman's harassment claim against her employer for allowing lewd sex talk in the office resorted to code in Tuesday's oral argument, debating with lawyers whether "the b-word," "the c-word" and "the f-word" could amount to discrimination. But other judges did not mind being more explicit, and the full court argument at the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was hardly dull.

At issue was whether the law allowed the woman, who was a transportation sales representative in Alabama, to bring her case even if the objectionable language wasn't necessarily directed at her but was about women in general.

The question led to some unusual comments for the courtroom.

Plaintiff argues that workplace use of gender-based slurs is discrimination

---

Ladies?

Agree with plantiff...listening to language that is derogatory and demeaning to females, even if not about you...creates a very hostile and chauvinistic environment. It makes the woman KNOW they objectify her, as she sits there, simply because she is a female!!

All you have to do is ask yourself, if you listened to your co-workers use terms demeaning to black folks, but not directed at you...how would you feel?

You responded to this. ROTFLMBAO!!!!!!!

Maybe you should rethink your gender assessment?

"Benevolence and compassion" have no place when it comes to setting foreclosure sales, a Florida state appellate court ruled in a stern order.

The 3rd District Court of Appeal judges said they "thoroughly disapprove" of a decision by Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Valerie Manno Schurr to give an extra month to a couple trying to sell their home before a foreclosure sale, Senior Judge Alan R. Schwartz wrote for the panel last week.

Manno Schurr declined to comment on the decision, citing judicial rules that prohibit her from talking about specific cases. But in court, she made her position clear.

"People are having a hard time now. They are having a difficult time. Everybody knows it. Businesses are failing. People are losing money in the stock market. You know, unemployment is high," Manno Schurr said. "Everybody knows that we are in a bad time right now, and I hate to see anybody lose their home."

The appellate court found her reasoning flawed and said her decision granting extra time was "an abuse of discretion in the most basic sense of that term" because the bank had a right to the sale.

Several attorneys expressed outrage over the opinion but declined to go on the record, saying it could potentially be detrimental to them to openly criticize the judge or the court.

Fla. Appeals Court Takes Judge to Task for 'Benevolence'

The appeals court is right.

Is this more appealing?

A recent Ohio federal court decision could change the way foreclosure cases are handled in the United States. Judge Christopher Boyko ruled that 14 cases in which creditors failed to produce proof of ownership of the properties in foreclosure could not be argued, and so threw the cases out.

With the Kansas state court case ruling against MERS being allowed to foreclose on a property and now this the securitized mortgage bond market is going to tank. I am afraid the we are going to see some very strange friends of the court briefs coming out of Washington. The FED is holding a ton of these bonds in order to have banks lend. In addition the government is running the TALF program to guarantee private investors whom buy these types of bonds from the financial instituitons. This is going to become very ugly.

Wonderful!

That makes sense to me.

If the law says you're supposed to provide proof of ownership as part of a foreclosure, and you can't do that, then you have no case. Plain and simple.

I would argue that every act of "benevolence and compassion" that is congressionally or judicially afforded to banks, can be afforded to individuals.

And I'm surprised that more individuals aren't suing the federal government on equal protection grounds.

Of course you would.

What merits "benevolence and compassion" here?

I think preventing someone from becoming homeless reeks of benevolence and compassion.

Sometimes, D, you'd get us better if you quit repeating ReThug talking points. They have no problem with putting families in the streets and overloading banks with houses they can't sell because of the economy the banks themselves HELPED TO CREATE, courtesy of your hero Alan Greenspan and all the years he spent lying about the economy when he ran the Federal Reserve.

That's not a talking point, that's my personal opinion. You've given a lot more talking points in your response.

I don't know the reasons behind their foreclosure; that wasn't mentioned anywhere in the article. But I don't see a reason for a judge to be compassionate towards them. People lose their houses every day...what makes their situation different?