Afternoon Open Thread

18 Aug 2010 Author: rikyrah

Keith Olbermann outlines a series of attacks on Muslims in this country by ‘ real Americans’.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Good Afternoon.

As you go through the rest of your day, don’t forget JJP.

Drop those links. Engage in debate. Give us trivia and gossip too.

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Shazza
Check these out- http://imvotingteaparty.com/
RobM
When I read things like this, I think of Richard Pryors skit Hard Times. “Times was so bad they didn't have a name for 'em. They just called it Hard Times.”
Sex for rent extortion case
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/ar…
Yes they are!
twg
Your average JJP poster could make much better t-shirt quotes than that. Those are pretty tame and lame.
djchefron
LMAO They posted everything but his driver's license pic.
http://christdesert.org/ Clear&PresentDanger
Haiti election: Struggle over Wyclef Jean's eligibility could spark crisis
The Haiti election commission postponed its ruling on who is eligible to run for president. Critics charge that the commission opposes Wyclef Jean's candidacy.
Political crisis brewing?
“The delay is obviously about Wyclef,” says political blogger Mr. Joseph, adding that the musician has a lot of weaknesses as a candidate, but that eliminating him from the race for political reasons risks stoking tensions.
“If the law is on his side, they should let him pass and then fight him during the campaign,” Joseph argues. “If they are unjust to him, Haiti will face a political crisis in the months ahead.”
But Port-au-Prince carried on as usual on Tuesday, in spite of the unrest many anticipated if the CEP ruled against Wyclef. Security had been heightened around the homes of CEP members and foreign NGO workers.
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/2010/08…
djchefron
Excrement like this is reason #1 why this site shouldnt be censored because of language
Angle strove religiously against black jerseys
http://pvtimes.com/opinion/angle-strove-religio…
djchefron
Herman Leonard
No one captured the passion and spontaneity of jazz like the late photographer.
http://www.slate.com/id/2264119/
http://christdesert.org/ Clear&PresentDanger
How to Win the Clash of Civilizations

The key advantage of Huntington's famous model is that it describes the world as it is—not as we wish it to be.
By AYAAN HIRSI ALI
What do the controversies around the proposed mosque near Ground Zero, the eviction of American missionaries from Morocco earlier this year, the minaret ban in Switzerland last year, and the recent burka ban in France have in common? All four are framed in the Western media as issues of religious tolerance. But that is not their essence. Fundamentally, they are all symptoms of what the late Harvard political scientist Samuel Huntington called the “Clash of Civilizations,” particularly the clash between Islam and the West.
Huntington's argument is worth summarizing briefly for those who now only remember his striking title. The essential building block of the post-Cold War world, he wrote, are seven or eight historical civilizations of which the Western, the Muslim and the Confucian are the most important.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB100014240527487…
djchefron
US Combat Troops pull out of Iraq (Live on MSNBC)
http://ilemi.com/channels/watch-msnbc.html
http://themidnightsolution.blogspot.com LTMidnight
Promise kept.
mon_dieu_ishmael
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/…
LA Times attacks the Obama administration: ” this administration has pursued a quiet but malicious campaign against the news media and their sources, more aggressively attacking those who ferret out confidential information than even the George W. Bush administration did.”
? is the LA Times a conservative paper?
mon_dieu_ishmael
http://www.newyorker.com/talk/financial/2010/08…
there’s a yawning chasm between the professional and the plutocratic classes, and the tax system should reflect that. A better tax system would have more brackets, so that the super-rich pay higher rates. (The most obvious bracket to add would be a higher rate at a million dollars a year, but there’s no reason to stop there.) This would make the system fairer, since it would reflect the real stratification among high-income earners. A few extra brackets at the top could also bring in tens of billions of dollars in additional revenue.
***************************
interesting article about taxes and the super rich (those making at least a million $$ a year.
SouthernGirl2
God bless our troops & God bless our President!
Bring The Boys Home
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71Wma74yVfY&feat…
http://christdesert.org/ Clear&PresentDanger
Rachel Maddow – 'How big and menacing are those big and menacing military vehicles'.
rikyrah
9/11 Widower Ted Olson: Obama Was Right On Cordoba House (VIDEO)
President Obama's position in support of the right of a Muslim organization to build a community center near Ground Zero in New York is now picking up the endorsement of a very prominent 9/11 widower: Former Bush administration Solicitor General Ted Olson.
Olson's wife, the late conservative author and activist Barbara Olson, was a passenger aboard the plane that was hijacked and flown into the Pentagon. This afternoon, Olson appeared on Andrea Mitchell's MSNBC show to discuss his current high-profile legal work on behalf of gay marriage. Mitchell then also asked Olson for his opinion about the Cordoba House issue.
“Well it may not make me hap– popular with some people, but I think probably the president was right about this,” Olson responded. “I do believe that people of all religions have a right to build edifices, or structures, or places of religious worship or study, where the community allows them to do it under zoning laws and that sort of thing, and that we don't want to turn an act of hate against us by extremists into an act of intolerance for people of religious faith. And I don't think it should be a political issue. It shouldn't be a Republican or Democratic issue, either. I believe Gov. Christie from New Jersey said it well — that this should not be in that political, partisan marketplace.”
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/08/911-…
djchefron
I believe its still own by the Tribune a republican paper who has never endorsed a Democrat.Now they are not batshit crazy and when they do the news more times than not you get the facts,so yes they are conservative.
rikyrah
look who's running…..
Blackwater founder moves to Abu Dhabi, court papers say
By Bill Sizemore
The Virginian-Pilot
© August 18, 2010
By Bill Sizemore
The Virginian-Pilot
© August 18, 2010
Erik Prince, whose security company once known as Blackwater has spawned a series of criminal and civil court cases, has left the United States and moved with his family to Abu Dhabi, according to court documents.
Abu Dhabi is the capital of the United Arab Emirates, which has no extradition treaty with the United States.
Prince does not face any criminal charges. But five former executives of the Moyock, N.C.-based company now known as Xe have been indicted on federal firearms charges, and two ex-Blackwater contractors are on trial in Norfolk, accused of murdering two civilians in Afghanistan.
Prince’s company also faces several civil lawsuits, including one brought by two former employees in federal court in Alexandria alleging that the company has defrauded the U.S. goverment.
In a declaration filed in that case earlier this month, Prince said he was relocating with his family to Abu Dhabi last week so that his children could begin school there Sunday.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs in the Alexandria case had sought to obtain a deposition from Prince before he left the country, speculating that he might not return to the United States “if he is indicted on weapons smuggling charges or other matters.”
Prince’s attorneys responded: “There is no basis for such speculation.”
The judge in the case has ordered Prince to appear for the deposition Monday in Abu Dhabi.
Xe has earned more than $1 billion doing security work for the U.S. government in Iraq and Afghanistan. Prince put the company up for sale in June.
http://hamptonroads.com/2010/08/blackwater-foun…
rikyrah
Russell Simmons is making sense on Larry King.
rikyrah
WOW ! Dick Morris Email Reveals Republican Secret Game Plan to Force States Into BANKRUPTCY- Breaking ALL Union Agreements !
By Greg Jones
Blacks4Barack
National Director
I frequently listen to the opposition, from Fox News to Rush, because I have always felt it very important to stay abreast of just how they're thinking. They don't know it, but I'm also on the email list to receive some of the right-wing emails/messages they send to their fellow Repubs. I received one today from Dick Morris, the guy who talks out of the side of his mouth as a regular pundit on Fox News. Morris, a former Democrat, was part of the Clinton administration and has re-devoted his life to Dem/Obama bashing.
Today I received Morris' latest email stating what he feels the Republican strategy should be if they were to regain control…his 'answer' to solving the economic problems created by the Bush Regime. To my amazement (I don't know why I'm so surprised), based on Morris, the Republican strategy is to literally block much needed financial aid to struggling states with the ultimate goal being to force all of the states INTO BANKRUPTCY ! They also plan to break ALL union agreements including wages, rules, pensions and more ! Not only does this explain why Repubs are voting against everything that could be helpful to The Recovery, but this email is absolutely, incredibly revealing and spells out exactly what we can expect should we allow the Repubs to regain power. Below are excerpts from the Morris email/newsletter. Truly dangerous stuff. Here's what Morris wrote:
*As Congress reconvenes next week to pass a $26 billion bailout of state and local governments entombed in their own deficits, we witness a foretaste of the crisis that will be the central event of the first half of next year: the collapse of state governments.
*As long as the Democrats control Congress, they will continue to rubber-stamp Obama's requests for bailouts of profligate states. But when the Republicans take control, they will be less than forthcoming. Republicans will ask the central question: Why should taxpayers from states that have cut their budgets and observed spending restraint, pay for the extravagances of the other states? Why should forty-seven states have to pay for California, New York, and Michigan?
http://blacks4barack.blogspot.com/2010/08/wow-d…
djchefron
At least MSNBC is covering it.Fox and CNN think the most important story is white people's ignorance of the constitution and outright bigotry
rikyrah
White House says Afghan pullout deadline 'non-negotiable'
The White House was quizzed about a seeming disconnect between the two after General David Petraeus said in an interview aired Sunday that he could seek a delay in the troop drawdown if conditions on the ground required it.
* AFP
* Published: 01:07 August 17, 2010
Milwaukee, Wisconsin: The White House said Monday that July 2011 was a “non-negotiable” deadline for starting a US withdrawal from Afghanistan, while insisting that President Barack Obama and his top general in Kabul were on the same page.
The White House was quizzed about a seeming disconnect between the two after General David Petraeus said in an interview aired Sunday that he could seek a delay in the troop drawdown if conditions on the ground required it.
“I think the president has been quite clear in explaining that it's a process, not an event, and that it's conditions-based,” he told NBC television's “Meet the Press” program.
“The president and I sat down in the Oval Office and he expressed very clearly that what he wants from me is my best professional military advice.”
But White House spokesman Bill Burton, speaking to reporters traveling on Obama's plane to Milwaukee, said the general's remarks had been taken out of context.
“I think that that is a very thinly sliced parsing of what he had to say. He said very specifically that that deadline stands and there is no daylight between the president or his commanders on the ground when it comes to July 2011,” Burton said.
“As you saw with Iraq, when the president makes a commitment, he keeps it. And he intends to do that here as well,” he said.
“Obviously the scope and rate of withdrawal will be conditions-based, but the date is not negotiable,” Burton added.
US Defense Secretary Robert Gates told the Los Angeles Times in an interview, “There is no question in anybody's mind that we are going to begin drawing down troops in July of 2011.”
The deadline has come under fire from some Republicans who say it emboldens the Taliban by sending a message that the United States is not in the fight in Afghanistan for the long-term.
But others defend the deadline, which Obama coupled with a 30,000 troop surge, as needed to press Afghan leaders to move more quickly to assume responsibility for security in the country.
http://gulfnews.com/news/world/afghanistan/whit…
rikyrah
Courage and Lower Manhattan
By Joe Conason
August 17, 2010 | 6:26 p.m
Courage and Lower Manhattan
+Enlarge
Nothing tests a president like standing up against a wave of fear and prejudice, even at potentially great cost to his own party and prospects. That is what Lyndon Baines Johnson did when he signed the civil rights acts he knew would forfeit the South to the Republicans for a generation or more.
And that is what Barack Obama has done by defending the right of American Muslims to build a community center and mosque in Lower Manhattan.
Politicians assume risk reluctantly and sometimes hesitantly. Often they must be forced by events to choose principle over expediency. Contemporary commentators carp and nitpick, but history rewards such choices-and punishes those who make them necessary
http://www.observer.com/2010/opinion/courage-an…
rikyrah
With Friends Like These, Who Needs Glenn Beck? Racism and White Privilege on the Liberal-Left
by tim wise
Wed Aug 18, 2010 at 07:06:57 AM PDT
This is the second part of a two-part series on racism on the right and left of the United States’ political/ideological spectrum. Part one, which can be found at the link just below the jump, provided the reader with a working definition of racism, and then explored how racism at both the ideological and institutional levels is connected to and enhanced by American conservatism. In this essay, I will explore the other side of the equation: namely, how even liberals, progressives and leftists, despite our advocacy for equity and stated commitment to racial justice, still manage to manifest and further racism — whether deliberately or not — in our activism, messages and policy prescriptions.
I apologize in advance for the length of this piece, but due to the way that we are often defensive about accusations of liberal-left racism, I felt the need to be as thorough and explanatory as possible. This is meant more as a think piece for long term strategizing rather than as a quickly digestable blog or diary. But please take your time with it, and give it some real thought and consideration. Thanks in advance…
* tim wise's diary :: ::
*
(Part One of this two part series, in which I explore racism and conservatism, can be found here, on my website, or here, on dKos
His words rang out with an unmistakable certitude.
“This is the most racist place I've ever lived,” said the man sitting across from me, a black writer and poet whose acquaintance I had only made earlier that day.
His expression made it clear that this was no mere hyperbole spat out so as to get a reaction. He meant every word and proceeded in about twenty minutes to lay out the case for why indeed this place where we were talking — San Francisco — was far more racist, in his estimation than any of several places he had lived in the South.
Worse than Birmingham.
Worse than Jackson, Mississippi.
Worse than Dallas.
San Francisco. Yes, that San Francisco.
From police harassment to profiling to housing discrimination to a persistent invisibility he'd felt since first arriving, there was no doubt that the ostensibly liberal enclave was head and shoulders above the rest.
And it wasn't his opinion alone. I have heard similar feelings expressed about the Bay Area by peoples of color many times since, as well as about Seattle, Portland, and any number of other supposedly progressive paradises where various “alternative” types (of white folks at least) seem to feel at home. Even those who wouldn't rank a place like San Francisco as the most racist city in which they'd lived, are often quick to insist that its racism is comparable to what they've experienced elsewhere, which is to say, no less a problem.
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/8/18/894…
djchefron
Give that man a donut.Ted Olsen like or hate him do stand for the constitution.
rikyrah
I'm sorry about your cousin, SG2.
rikyrah
Watching the withdrawal, and I have tears listening to the soldier on MSNBC.
SouthernGirl2
Thanks, Rikyrah.
lamh32
Haven't posted here, in a while, but I just wanted to share my own personal story on the withdrawal tonight.
I'm watching the coverage now on MSNBC about last combat troop leaving Iraq (other than 50,000 “non-combat” troops).
This is hitting me hard ya'll. My couz is in Iraq. I'm trying to find out now, if he's one of the 50,000 staying or part of the troop leaving.
TO ALL,,
When my cousin last went back to Iraq, we were under the impression that he wasn't gonna be home until Thanksgiving!!
But I just talked to my aunt, and she said that he will be home in 2 WEEKS!!!! That's how long it's gonna be for “everything to be in order”. So I may have in fact been watching him in one of the vehicles driving over the border into Kuwait.
Like I said, now we just gotta see if he “re-ups” for Afghanistan. Ya'll better believe that I'm gonna be on him “like white on rice” to make sure he makes an informed decision.
Looks like I'm gonna be booking a trip to NOLA soon…!
http://christdesert.org/ Clear&PresentDanger
Both the Times and the Trib (1st (D) ever) endorsed Obama in the 2008 election. The Times, at least, endorsed him in the primaries as well.
The LA Times is speaking from a 1st Amendment / business POV here; they tend to take the point on the big FOIA cases, and have to fight off government attempts to force disclosure of sources.
rikyrah
wonderful news for you and your family
rikyrah
Why Dr. Laura can't say whatever she wants
The radio host's resignation shows that some people still don't get it: In America, some words are off-limits Video
White people saying “nigger.” That's always pleasant, right?
White people saying “nigger” while minimalizing the feelings of racism? Even more pleasant. Like a massage. A really racist massage.
The drama that has been this past week's news cycle due to someone simply expressing her right to free speech (if you go by Dr. Laura's resignation interview on CNN) has once again brought race to the forefront of American media. The popular memes of “blacks can say it, why can't whites?” and “No one should use the word!” are running rampant throughout the blogosphere. The underlying uncomfortableness of the discussion of “nigger” being in the everyday American vernacular comes from the underlying uncomfortableness of blacks being in everyday America.
The reason why whites can't say “nigger” is because they (past tense they, relax) used this word when black people were enslaved, beaten and raped for hundreds of years. Then, when blacks were free, whites continued to use the word to highlight that we were not one of them and to clearly articulate the fact that many considered us to be less than human. Just a “nigger.”
So when the discussion of “nigger” usage rears its head, as it does every few years, we always get to have an interesting game of amnesia where some folks try to pretend they forget why the word is bad for Caucasian usage.
“I didn't own slaves. Why should I be punished for what happened in the past?”
That's one of my favorite lines. Apparently not being able to use the word “nigger” is some sort of punishment. This argument is used any time the legacy of slavery and oppression is discussed in America. “I didn't do it” is looked at as some sort of impenetrable force field of righteousness. And let's be honest: They're right. “They” didn't do it.
But America did.
http://www.salon.com/life/this_week_in_blacknes…
rikyrah
The Rise of Shrieking Bigot Pamela Geller
Aug 18 2010, 12:52 PM ET
There is a very depressing story today in The Washington Post about the lunatic racist Pamela Geller, who has been leading the crusade against the so-called Ground Zero mosque. This is a woman who once called me a “Jewicidal Jihadi” for advocating for peace and compromise in the Middle East. It's a clever phrase, true, but, moi? In other dank corners of the Interwebs, I'm thought of as a blood-and-soil Jewish nationalist. I didn't really address her charges at the time, because it was my impression that Geller was a marginal nutbag, but it seems as if she's setting the national agenda now on matters related to Islam and religious freedom. To which I say, Jesus H. Christ.
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/201…
http://christdesert.org/ Clear&PresentDanger
Glad to hear that your cousin is coming home, LH!
SouthernGirl2
Secret Service Connects Sarah Palin to Death Threat Increase Against President Obama
http://rollingout.com/newsapolitics/politics/10…
In this so-called post-racial America, we have seen the number of death threats made against the sitting president, Barack Obama, increase exponentially. This has made the job of protecting the commander in chief even more difficult. The threats are coming from both fanatics and the so-called respected participants on the right of America's political discourse. In most cases the language is vehemently inflammatory, untrue and flat-out ridiculous.
The United States Secret Service has just released information that shows a strong correlation between a rise in potential and actual death threats against the president and remarks made by Sarah Palin, John McCain’s former vice presidential running mate.
Palin's attacks on President Obama, including specific comments regarding his patriotism, led to an increase in threats against Obama during the last weeks of his presidential campaign, when Palin accused him of “palling around with terrorists.”
rikyrah
not.a.shock.
rikyrah
Aug
In Soviet America, hippie punches you
by DougJ
In the political crowd I used to run with, people would say things like “I think Eric Massa is the second coming, Howard Dean was the first” (that is close to a verbatim quote). A lot of these people were really pissed when Obama didn’t give Dean a key position in the cabinet (they wanted him as head of HHS).
I like Howard Dean a lot better than I like Eric Massa, at this point, but they’re both hot heads who have their own agenda. And they’re both back-stabbers.
I thought Dean’s comments that “Bush would have had the health care bill done a long time ago” were beyond stupid for a number of reasons. First, because Bush would never have tried to get something like health care through. Second, because Bush’s two big pushes for difficult domestic legislation (Social Security privatization, immigration reform) failed. Third, because what is the point of saying things like that? If you cared about health care reform, wouldn’t you support some kind of actual legislation instead of whining about what you think Bush would have done?
And the same thing here, of course: what’s the point of Dean making these remarks? Has he thought about the issue to the point where he feels strongly this way? If so, he’s an idiot. If not, he’s an opportunist.
Once and for all, can everyone stop holding up Dean up as a TRUE PROGRESSIVE that Obama shits on?
http://www.balloon-juice.com/2010/08/18/in-sovi…
SouthernGirl2
Palin Supports Dr. Laura Via Twitter
'don't retreat … reload!'
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/18/sarah-…
Sarah Palin is offering words of encouragement to Dr. Laura Schlessinger through her Twitter account.
Dr. Laura, as she's known on her radio program, has come under fire in the past week for using the N-word eleven times while on the air with a caller to her show. She quickly apologized and then announced that she would end the program once her contract expires later this year.
Palin, once the governor of Alaska and Republican nominee for vice president in 2008, has used social media to push her messages in recent months. Her latest offering comes out in support of Dr. Laura. Her first of two tweets on Wednesday night read:
Dr.Laura:don't retreat…reload! (Steps aside bc her 1st Amend.rights ceased 2exist thx 2activists trying 2silence”isn't American,not fair”)
Palin's an uneducated, empty head, nothing in the skull but empty fluid, hate monger!
http://themidnightsolution.blogspot.com LTMidnight
The funny part is the person she's defending had this to say about her in 2008:
“….I’m stunned – couldn’t the Republican Party find one competent female with adult children to run for Vice President with McCain? I realize his advisors probably didn’t want a “mature” woman, as the Democrats keep harping on his age. But really, what kind of role model is a woman whose fifth child was recently born with a serious issue, Down Syndrome, and then goes back to the job of Governor within days of the birth?….”
http://www.drlaurablog.com/2008/09/02/sarah-pal…
msmartin
Can't wait to see what the idiot tweets about this.
http://mrefrem615.livejournal.com/ chris_i_am
MY BABY IS BACK…….WELCOME HOME SG2!!! YIPPEE YAHOO!
SouthernGirl2
Hey Chris! :)
http://www.shannondale.org/forum/images/smilies…

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Cheryl Contee aka "Jill Tubman", Baratunde Thurston aka "Jack Turner", rikyrah, Leutisha Stills aka "The Christian Progressive Liberal", B-Serious, Casey Gane-McCalla, Jonathan Pitts-Wiley aka "Marcus Toussaint," Fredric Mitchell, Keith Owens, Anson Asaka, Barbara Moore, Deborah Small, Lisa Coffman, Michael Patton

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