For Whom the Bells Toll

Ok.  So today I am feeling a little apocalyptic.  I have already been told (affectionately) that that is no new occurrence but rather that I am always like that…maybe so…but I have reason to feel this way today.  I know I tend to be partisan…I kind of grew up that way.  You think I am a rabid Democrat…you should have seen me as a Republican several years ago!  I have been really working hard at being “statesman” like.  I have worked hard at trying to see the gray in the world around but to be honest I suck at that.  I grew up in a world of black and white.  While I do see shades of gray sometimes it really comes down to black and white for me.  It is a failure of mine.  One I try to change.

The situation I am living in is one that encourages me to seek that balance and to seek out the gray.  Mandy, her mom and brother are all adept at that.  For them the world is all gray and there are very few (and I do mean VERY few) things that are simple black and white.  It is a trait I attempt to emulate but I fail miserably sometimes.  Today is one of those days for me.  I look at the election and to me I see the beginning of the end.  Mandy just smiles, shakes her head and I think mentally pats me on the head! Lol  I am passionate about some things.  And my utter despite that I have for the current crop of tea party right wing nut job Republicans is one of those things I am passionate about.

Now I know that this will just get tossed into the pile of ridiculous partisan bullshit and ignored.  That is fine.  Given my past writings I can’t say I blame you.  But I do want to clarify that my problem is not with the actual party of the GOP/Republicans.  My problem is with the current crop of Republicans.  The rabid homophobic, xenophobic, God Fearing, gay bashing, religious purists, racial profiling, civil rights allergic tea party Republicans are, at least to me, a terrifying group of people.  I am terrified that at the end of today, the Sarah Palins, Glen Becks, Rush Limbaughs and Jim DeMints will be fist pumping in elated victory.

So yes, I am feeling VERY apocalyptic.  Today I hear the voice of the American people.  And make no mistake; it is the voice of the American people.  That is something I understand.  It doesn’t matter that they were lied to.  It doesn’t matter that they were incited by the basest and ugliest of human emotions.  None of that matters.  The voice that spoke the loudest spoke at the polls.  Because THAT (Mr Boehner), in the voting booths across this nation, is where the voice of the American people is heard.  Not rallies, not polls and not threatening riots and filibusters, but rather at the polls.  That is where the American people spoke in 2008 when the PRESIDENT of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA , (not enemy of the state number one) was voted into office by a resounding voice.  So today the voice that spoke the loudest was heard, and in it I see the beginning of the end for us all.  See?  I warned you I am feeling apocalyptic.

 So for whom do the bells toll?

 (1)       For human rights

The current crop of GOP politicians are a group of righteously indignant radicals.  They attack the rights of gays, of Muslims, of Latinos among others targets with impunity and without remorse.  Human rights mean nothing to these people.  The tea party has demonstrated time and time again that they are racist, that they have channeled their anger into a movement that is giving them what they want an outlet for their hate and their fears and their homophobia and xenophobia.  When they rally around the Confederate Flag in backwoods Georgia, people, I lived there; they are not rallying around “history”.  There is a reason people of color and other races don’t dare show up at these rallies; and that reason is simple…WE DON’T FEEL WELCOME.  For the first time in my life I am afraid of what my Hispanic name can cause.  Now for those that judge me for how I feel, for how passionate I am about these things take into consideration this question…when is the last time you went into someplace, called someplace, went into a bar or in any other situation felt the need to refer to yourself by your initials rather than your given name?

The GOP attempted to make much of the President referring to them as the enemies of the Latinos in this country.  Well news flash…I am an atheist, I am Hispanic, I support gay rights…guess what?  They treat me as the enemy.  Not only THEIR enemy but they treat me as an infiltrator, a hater of this great country and a traitor.  To them, my defending my rights from being racially profiled, my defending my right to NOT worship their God makes me an America hater, a traitor.  I have felt targeted by the Republican party, I have felt intimidated and bullied by the “angry white man” that the GOP has stirred up to win this election.  Whether you agree or not, you cannot change how some of us feel.

(2)   For Civil Rights

The bells toll for civil rights.  Do you understand how this group of people actually feel about civil rights?  Do you understand that Rand Paul believes parts of it should be repealed?  Do you understand that helping our fellow man in a tough time is considered a crime, is considered socialism, is considered a destructive force in this country.  Do you understand that these people are against equal opportunity employment?  Do you understand that they are calling for the changes to these bedrocks of our country?  Do you understand that the Republicans are running against each other, trying to make laws intended to curb the immigration problem, a problem they are blowing out of proportion so as to excite the fears of the voter, laws that blatantly disregard the dangers of racial profiling?

(3)   For our economy

All I can say is I hope I get on full time where I work before the “euphoria” of the Wall Street fat cats wears off and the economy takes its double dip into the recession…going even further into a full out depression.  Look.  I don’t agree with Republicans and Tea Party radicals.  That much is obvious.  Studies show a decade of trending where the income gap favors the wealthiest 5% of this country.  Their income is going up and for the rest of us it is going down.  They make more, on the backs of the hard working Americans, and thanks to a conservative activist Supreme Court can influence the idiots that slave away making them richer.  All the while, as they get richer, we are told over and over how we have to give them more money, they should have to pay less, because THEY are the job makers in this country.  Really?  At almost 10% unemployment you want to talk about the job makers???  I quit believing in the trickle down myth a long time ago.  Well, now the fat cats on Wall Street and in the Insurance industry can get back to business as usual, because they have people watching their back and the rest of us be damned.

Furthermore, the downfall of this economy is necessary for Republican aspirations.  Make no mistake, 2010 was merely a stepping stone.  They want 2012, they want the White House.  Call me cynical but a successful economy means they lose the White House in 2012.  They won’t take that risk.  You and I must fail for them to succeed.  And that is all that matters to them.

(4)   For Religious freedom and rights

The Republicans of today are religious purists.  There is only one faith that has any rights…their own.  If you are a Muslim then you are an enemy of the state.  If you are an atheist, then you are an enemy of the American way.  These are no grays for these people.  It is black and white for them and if we give them the power then the world will be the world they legislate into place.  There is no room for backing down from them anymore.  Make no mistake, they have made it clear where they stand.  A recent communication to the tea party faithful singled out a congressman for no other reason than he was Muslim.  Do you not understand the danger these religious purists present.  The distance from them to Milosevic is access to mustard gas and freedom to eliminate and chase out those of a different faith.  That may sound extreme, but that is the thing people are not getting…These people ARE extremists.  We are talking of people who have no problem talking about mine fields at the American-Mexican border.  We are talking of people who have talked about armed uprising and civil war with the carelessness of a child talking about the weather.  These people ARE violent.  These people ARE extremists.

I am not saying that all Republicans or people that claim to be Tea Party members are violent and hate filled.  I simply mean that the voices that are being heard, the people that are being voted into office…the people that will be making the rules are the ones that are talking this craziness.  We are NOTHING to them.  We are the enemy.  They are true Americans and patriots…we are traitors.  

(5)   For we the People

I hate that people I love and respect will read this, and will just shake their head and think I am going over board, that I am an alarmist or that I am maybe a little crazy.  I guess only time will prove the point…sadly.  This is history repeating itself.  We will not always be the great super power we are people.  Like it or no, history is scattered with the ashes and ruins of the Roman Empire , The Babylonians, The British Empire, and many many other super powers.  Our economy is our strength in this world right now.  China is working hard at catching up.  If our economy falters again we may never recover.  Already this afternoon the world looks at us and is afraid at how the republicans and their policies will affect the global markets.  Sure our markets jump with glee, the Wall Street fat cats got what they wanted.  But abroad, the people we owe money to, those people are losing faith in us, and it is already expected the dollar will weaken.  Don’t believe me? Read it here on yahoo. 

Remember, remember the 2^nd of November…(and yes I know it is a misquote and is supposed to be the 5^th but hey…I am adapting it…it fits my mood…)

P.S. I wrote this yesterday, November 2^nd and am posting it today.  Since then I found out that my job is being eliminated and replaced by a computer program.  So let’s see if ANY of these idiots…asses AND elephants can do something…because while they are manipulating the system, while they are building empires and plotting take overs…we are hungry.

Americans and the Boogeyman

As the mid term elections approach I am struck with the knowledge of something I never understood or recognized before.  It is a truth that is beginning to sink in...and affect my views of American politics.  As I watch (don't gag) Hardball with Chris Matthews, The Ed Show with Ed Sholtz (even I can't stomach him half the time) and the nightly Countdown with Keith Olberman I find the truth to become more and more evident...and very sad as well...

American politics revolves around the Boogeyman.

Now before you start yelping in defense I want to make a couple of points about the concept of a Boogeyman:

1. Rarely is a Boogeyman real, especially in the sense it is created by the story teller
2. The Boogeyman is an abstract concept hid in shadows and short on details
3. Rarely is there a clear cut solution to the Boogeyman

Having said that I want to also make clear that in American politics the Boogeyman has different names and different faces depending on your point of view and ideology.  Make no mistake...both sides of the political spectrum make use of the Boogeyman...liberals and conservatives, Democrats and Tea Party Republicans, right and left alike. 

Politicians feed on the baser nature of their voters.  Simple as that.  Fear, hate, elitism, class warfare, extermism, prejudice, pride, anger and just plain out ego and selfishness.  These are the emotions the put politicians in office.  The current surge against incumbants is not some lofty aspiration...it is politicians feeding on the baser of the human emotions.

Politicians deal in superlatives.  They are the BEST option set against the backdrop of the WORST President, Senator or Congressman EVER!  These superlatives are useless, meaningless and insulting...yet we the voters award them by cheering for them, donating to them and voting for them.   Our own anger at not getting what we want when we want leads us to look beyond reason and seek the quick answer...that never really is as quick as we expected and rarely is the answer at all...instead, more often than not, it is just more of the same.

Another fact that plays into this Boogeyman fuel in American politics is the ego of Politicians.  Politicians want to save us.  Simple as that.  Politicians have to have something to fix, or there is no need for them and most certainly no need to replace them.  If there is NOT a problem with our society, economy, culture, etc.  Than there is no need for elections.  It has to be a problem that only they can fix and that preferrably the person they want to replace had a part in creating. So by necessity, in order to get into office there has to be a Boogeyman.

Take the Tea Party Republicans for example.  The success of the Tea Party GOP is not that they have new ideas....their ideas are ones being rehashed and have been rehashed by the extremists in this country over and over.  Their success is not that they are so bright and intellignet...please...O'Donnel, Miller, Palin and Angle...these people are not exactly intellectual giants.  No.  Their success is built on some very distinct and basic human emotions: hate, selfishness, ego, fear and racism.  Their lack of leadership provides a wide array of behaviour and misbehaviour that leaves NOBODY accountable.  So people like Palin and Beck can ride the surge, take advantage of the opportunity, advance their own personal political and religious agenda without having to take responsiblity for the actions of their own people.  Fear of government, religious theocratic views, fear of the Brown Man, the Black Man...and for that matter anybody that is not white...all these baser urges and instincts have fueled the Tea Party GOP.

There are those that want to fight the tie of the Tea Party to the GOP.  Those that want to say the Tea Party is both Democrats and Republicans.  I point to one simple truth...not one Tea Party candidate in any race accross this country has challenged a Democrat in the primaries...the only seats they have contested are Republican seats because they ARE Republicans and the ONLY seats they CAN fill are Republicans.

But enough of that...let's look at the Boogeyman. Each party has its own Boogeyman...so let's look at it.

Republicans prefer a Boogeyman that appeals to patriotism.  Right now in our country their three preferred Boogeymen are: Islam, Barrack HUSSEIN Obama and illegal immigrants.  I could go into all kinds of talk about this but frankly I am so disgusted with them and so tired of hearing their hate filled rhetoric that I would rather not get into it.  Islamophobia fueled by good old fashion hate and racism and religious extremism has spread like wild fire threatening the very values that have made us great. Tack onto that the homophobia of the right and their resurging thocratic views and Boogeymen abound.

Democrats favorite Boogeymen are rich people and big business.  I tend to defend some of these views because of my own liberal leanings but that does not change the fact that the same ploy is used by liberals on the left.

The point is that American politics will always be ugly because there will always be some horrible Boogeyman out to destroy us.  Until this changes our system will continue to degenerate and there is no Pledge to America that can stop it.  Our system is becoming more and more useless the more we cater and reward the demagoguery.  It is sad the point we have sunk to in our country...the talk about "Restoring Honor" sounds nice...but is in and of itself just more of the same.  The Boogeyman is gonna get you if you don't vote for us....and in the end...we all lose...

A Banner Week for Bigotry and Hate...

So it is Sunday night and I look back over this week at some of the news this week and suffice it to say that this week was one where the media pandered to the hate and bigotry of the Republicans and to the radical religious right that has taken over the GOP.   And as if the GOP and it nutcase teabaggers were not enough the cowardice of the Democrat Party Leaders was in all its glory as Harry Reid and a few of the others did not hesitate to side with the religious right (in regards to the ‘Mosque’ in NYC but we will get to that eventually).  So just a quick recap…

California…so let us start in the land of fun and sunshine.  Prop 8 was declared unconstitutional and since a gay judge ruled that made him biased, nevermind the fact that he made solid arguments all the way around on why it was not constitutional he was an “activist” judge…because obviously being a heterosexual judge would have made him unbiased!  

Prop 8 defenders, however, stay on message that the gays and lesbians are destroying the family institution as seen by the 50%+ divorce rate and soaring teen pregnancy.  Just as an ironic side note, teen pregnancy is highest in the more rural, less educated but more religious “Bible Belt” South.  Despite the fact that they have no economic, social, psychological, physical, logical or even practical reason other than the superstitious, bigoted, malevolent, archaic and religious nonsense they insist on spewing and regurgitating they have managed to discriminate against the rights of a minority group in our great lan of freedom and liberty and justice for all.

The right insists that this is a matter for “the people” to decide…but is it?  Consider the following two questions:

1.      

Is   Is marriage a civil or religious matter?

This question is significant because if it is a religious, dictated by the religious realm, then other issues can ostensibly become a part of the regulation process (i.e. adultery, fornication, divorce, etc.) and a much more stringent rule would be applicable. If marriage is, however, a civil matter than to important issues become a part of the consideration:

a.       Legality.  If this is a civil matter then it an issue that is affected by law not the mob.  What these nut cases don’t understand is that today you are voting on somebody else’s rights and fifty years from now they will be voting on yours.  It is at moments like this that these people prove they miss the message of “Do unto others as you want them to do unto you.”  I was just discussing this last night with a good friend and he was saying that marriage should not be a state sanctioned thing then it would not be an issue.  On the surface I would agree with this. BUT, as I was thinking about it afterwards I was thinking, where would we be today if the state had not ordered desegregation?  Sure eventually it would have happened but we would be years, even decades, behind where we are now.  If you left this marriage issue to people it would never happen.  People are too deeply entrenched in their superstitions, phobias and irrational bigotry to have made this change or even accepted this change with anything less than a fight.

b.      Civil rights.  If marriage is a civil matter then, as in all things civil, civil rights apply.  There was a time when a black person could not marry a white person.  Heck, not too long ago, like last year, a judge was forced to retire because he refused to perform a mixed race marriage.  Marriage is a civil union between partners committed to a lifetime of mutual dedication and as is the case in all other civil matters, that right cannot be infringed upon due to race, religion, age or gender.  The Constitution does not define marriage, neither implicitly nor by implication.  Now there are those that would argue that the founding fathers would have clarified it if they had felt it necessary and if they had seen where we would be today.  And they may be right, but like it or not they did NOT define it and that fact does not leave it open for the right to speak for the Founding Fathers and define it for the rest of the country.  The religious right, who seem to think they are the Elite of Americans and the only true Patriots, were not given some divine right, passed on by George Washington to dictate to the rest of the country what the Founding Fathers “meant” to say.  Where there is no definition outlined in the Constitution it falls under the individual freedoms of the citizen, a freedom that no other citizen has the right to infringe upon.

2.       Is this a theocracy or a Democratic Constitutional Republic?

Are we run by the law of God or the laws of Man?  And if the answer is by the laws of God then, which God?  This may come across as sarcastic but the theocratic Republican Teabagger Sarah Palin is so fond of pointing at the now defunct Soviet Union and nod sagely an remind us that socialism does not work.  Ok.  Allow me to point at Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Kuwait and a slew of other countries as examples of the simple fact that theocracy does not work either.  These people are not interested in the rights and freedoms of the American people.  These people are only interested in their own rights and liberties and then in forcing the rest of us to line up with their twisted, distorted and bigoted view of the world, adhering to their ideals and beliefs.  We are free country governed by the laws of society, laws made by men to govern men. (And by “men” I am referring to the human race.)  I do not acknowledge the right of you or your God telling me or my family or my friends how we can live our lives.

Now let us take a cross country ride to the other center of bigotry, hate, racism and idiocy…

New York City…The last place I would have thought to have been a bedrock of conservatism, NYC is now the place of the most heated controversy.  A couple of city blocks away from Ground Zero in Manhattan there are plans to build an Islamic cultural center and this has started an uproar that is being played by the political leaders, eager to drum up anything they can to get the base livid enough to get out and vote in November so they can be back in power .  I would blame this on the Republicans if it weren’t for the eager whimpy ass Democrats lining up to sell our freedoms and liberty for their preservation of power. 

It has been ten years since the horrible disaster that claimed so many lives and even now, despite the fact that, between Afghanistan and Iraq, we have exacted more than our share of bloodshed and revenge we still show fear, we still show cowardice and hate in the face of a religious system that at worst is just as violent, oppressive, bigoted, divisive, hate filled and archaic as the one this country espouses.  Christians often point at the Koran and select passages that speak of violence as proof that it is a religion of violent control unworthy to exist in our great country while ignoring the Book of Joshua where their God ordered the complete genocide of an entire region including women, children an even the animals of people whose only crime was worshiping a different God and happen to make the mistake of living on a piece of real estate they wanted!

The point is that we have, as a nation, allowed a group of extremists make every religious movement a political movement.  At what point did we allow our fear of a religion dictate our freedoms and liberties?  At what point did the First Ammendment get assigned a “no fly” zone?  At what point did ANY acreage, any real estate fall under an exemption to the freedom of religion?  At what point did we decide that the Constitution only protects certain religions?  At what point did we say it is ok to put a chapel on sacred ground where the Christian God could be worshipped but a Mosque (which this is NOT a Mosque but so what if it were?) would not be allowed for people to worship Allah? 

Somebody called the radio station here and made a comment stating that building a Mosque near Ground Zero would be like the Catholic church building a church near a playground!  Truth is that there is no room for this kind of foolishness in our country.  There was a time we would have defended this basic right.  But it became ok to be a bigoted, hated filled  and ignorant fool as long as you could hide behind patriotism.  Make no mistake, there is not a damn thing patriotic in standing against the rights of your fellow Americans. 

And now the call is going out to “denounce” the President as a Muslim.  And so what if he were?   John F. Kennedy was a Catholic and they swore he could NOT be President because he would be a slave to the Pope.  Our Constitution very clearly states in Article VI that religion is irrelevant when it comes to holding office.   Why are we so ready to sell off our rights, freedoms and liberties to these fear mongering idiots in the name of National Security, Patriotism and propriety?  Why are our leaders Republican and Democrat so ready to betray all we revere and love about this country in order to pander to a group of people that are nothing more than the squeaky wheel that the media seems to insist on giving too much air time to?  Have we come that far that we have forgotten what it truly means to be America? I shudder to think what these right wing nut jobs will do once they have the votes in November…

Somebody throw South Carolina (and the GOP) a climbing rig...

So today is the runoff in South Carolina and it is one I have been watching with some interest. Partly because South Carolina politics will be my politics in a couple of months and partly because South Carolina politics, in many ways, represents EVERYTHING I hate about the Republican Party, everywhere, but particularly in the south.

I have argued before that the GOP is the party of faith and racism. If you are a Republican, I am sorry for the generalization. I am aware that not ALL Republicans are religious bigots and racists. However, enough of them are to elect some real idiots in to a variety of offices across the nation and in particular in the south and in the Midwest. Nor am I implying that ALL Republican elected officials are religious and racist bigots...just enough that the national Republican agenda has become one of defending big business, harassing minorities and making it un-American and wrong to be of any religious persuasion other than Christian. Once again, South Carolina is a perfect example of this...and hell...it is among their own candidates (since a Democrat in South Carolina is like...an albino squirrel...not quite extinct but definitely a rarity.)

In this case in particular we have Nikki Haley against most of the GOP Establishment in South Carolina. Now she is leading in the polls and will win the GOP nomination for Governor, which in South Carolina means she will more than likely win the election. Her winning is hopefully a sign that enough of the population of the Palmetto State is tired of the "good 'ol boys" and their strangle hold on the state. I was reading an article (please read it here)and it defines the "Southern Test" Mrs. Nikki Haley has been forced to take over and over...

(1) Faith

Let's get this straight, Article VI of the Constitution of the United States makes a statement that is both plain and definitive:

but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.

Simply put no elected official in this Country can legally be put through a religious test. No elected official can or should be elected based on what religious faith they have. In short, for those idiots that can't quite get it...IT IS NEITHER LEGAL OR ETHICAL TO DEMAND THAT YOUR ELECTED OFFICIAL BE OF A SPECIFIC FAITH OR RELIGION! In other words, my religious beliefs or the religious beliefs and affiliation of any candidate should not even be questioned.

Yet...that is all you hear in South Carolina when it comes to Candidate Mrs. Nimrata Nikki Randhawa Haley. The South Carolina GOP bigotry club has dissected her conversion, chronologically cataloging her rise in politics with her conversion to Christianity from Sikh. Because, clearly, the only thing that is important to these ignorant buffoons is that she be of the right faith. Because, we ALL know that good Christian men like Mark Sanford, are sooo much better, are more in tune with the needs of the Christian Southerner, and more apt to promote and protect true Christian family values and the American way. All though...I am not sure if that was BEFORE or AFTER the affair...details, details, details. The point is that while I am in no way a supporter of the Sarah Palin Pageant Queen Winner of the Election Cycle in South Carolina the way she has been put through the ringer and forced to defend her level of commitment to her faith is absolutely wrong, un American and unconstitutional.

(Note: And before I get the snide remarks about how sexist the Sarah Palin Pageant Queen Winner sounds, it was not intended as a snide remark at Haley's being a woman but more of a snide remark at Sarah Palin who has traipsed through this country's elections treating her endorsements like it is some stupid pageant. And the reference to Palin and her pageant attitude has less to do with her being a woman and more with her trying to play on her being a woman and acting like a Barbie doll girl in a Barbie doll world.)

(2) Race

So the media and the establishment that opposes Haley have started using Nimrata Nikki Randhawa Haley in reference to the candidate. Sound familiar? As in Barrack Hussein Obama? She is lucky she is just running for governor! If she were running for President she would have to produce a birth certificate and even then some idiots would be claiming it was falsified and invalid. The fact that her race has even come up is an embarrassment to this country. But hey, this is the south and some things never change.

(3) Gender

This has not been as big of an issue and is really a non issue in the news. But the fact remains that if she wins the Governorship she will be the first woman to sit in the Governor's office. And while it is not a big deal in the news, the consensus of most of the people I know say that it is generally considered to be the public secret, the good 'ol boy establishment is not thrilled at having a woman at the top spot.

(4) The Civil War

This one irritates me. Seriously? The Civil War? The good people of South Carolina do not want to elect somebody that will not swallow hook line and sinker the southern myths about the Civil War. Look. For years I repeated the same horse shit, the Civil War was about state rights and not about slavery, well hell, slavery wasn't even that big of an issue and most of the people that fought in the Civil War didn't even have slaves. This all sounds good but is full of half truths...so let me just say this:

(a) The Civil War was not about slavery, it was about state rights.

Yeah...just like the Civil Rights movement was not about segregation but about the right of people to be ignorant hate mongering rude Neanderthal morons to minorities. The very same people that were in favor of slavery were in favor of segregation, their children were in favor of keeping the black man in his place. And his place was one of servitude to the white man. So spare me the bullshit! The Civil War was about whether or not this country should allow its states to legalize the traffic in human lives. THAT was the right the states of the south were defending. There are some things that are just morally and ethically wrong and should not be tolerated under any condition and should not be delegated to the states to decide. The truth of history is that the Southern States wanted the right to choose whether or not they could have slaves, and the American People elsewhere felt that it was a moral sore that needed to be removed...and it was...on the backs and blood of hundreds of thousands of American men and women.

(b) Most of the people that fought and died in the Civil war did not have slaves.

This is absolutely true. Most of the people that fought and died in the Civil War did not have slaves...only the rich plantation owners could even afford slaves. So as usual, the middle class and the poor of our country pay the price of blood, sweat and life while the rich reap the benefits and play the victim. Sound familiar? Like BP? It is the hard working people of Gulf States that are struggling while BP owners go to yacht events and Republican law makers defend BP's actions, defend the off shore drilling that irresponsibly led to it and apologize to BP for the President doing something about making BP pay up to those very hard working people. And while the GOP have their plates full defending and protecting poor BP, they are attacking the President for "not doing anything".

Now many would disagree with this statement but I will say it anyway. BP did the GOP a favor. With this mess in the Gulf it makes it difficult for lawmakers and the President to even do their job. And as long as the Republicans can keep the President and Congressional Democrats and the nation focused on a problem their own policies caused, the more they can use it and use the lack of other business getting done to win in November. And you know what? Once the Rethugs take over in November...it is over. Then they can get back to the business of handing the country back over to big business, big banks and big oil. Oh...and guess who will be Chairman of the Committee that regulates the oil business? Why that would be Barton, the guy that apologized to BP...fascinating huh?

For now...today I will be watching the run off in South Carolina...and hoping I get the pleasure of watching the "good 'ole boys" wring their hands in anguish. And as for the Mrs. Brabham said, "She grew up here. . . . Come on! I thought we had climbed this mountain." Apparently not...

"Gotcha" ya idiot...

So there is a fad going around with the new crack pots of the tea party patriots. The candidates the media love to promote and love to interview because the gems of idiocy these people give up as offerings to the media are really just too good to be true! Of course it is NOT the fault of the candidate being interviewed...it is the fault of the one doing the interview. So let us for a moment look at a few things about this....

1). Their Terminology

I find the way they refer to the media humorous. They have several terms when referring to any media that is not radio talk show hosts and Faux Noise (FOX News)that are quite funny...and curious. For instance the reference to the Media as "Big Media" (as opposed to big business and big oil?) the Elite Media (as opposed to crude, rude and fear mongering right wing nut jobs like Rush Limbaugh and Hannity) "Gotcha Journalism" (as opposed to their patsy on the radio waves that actually agree with their radical ideas and cover for them.) These cracked tea pots cater to the hate and the fear mongering of the racist, neo nazi, theocratic extreme right wing that seem to fail to understand that freedom of speech is also accompanied by freedom of the press...which means if you say something stupid on Sunday...you can bet the whole country will hear of it by Monday.

2). Their Ideology

Here's what gets me. Where does personal responsibility come in? Think about it for a minute; the media is SUPPOSED to ask tough questions. How do you think Watergate came out? How do you think the right got all of their ammunition for Monicagate? How do you think these things happen? The media is SUPPOSED to ask tough questions. It is their job. And the conservatives were not talking about "gotcha journalism" when THAT was all going down. The media asks their questions and the politician answers them. So who, in fact, is responsible for the answers? I agree that taking statements out of context is wrong...like when the radical right was going around saying that President Obama was saying that "America is not a Christian nation" (which is of course the truth but that is another blog post) when in reality what he said is that America is no longer a Christian nation-only...it is also a Muslim, Jewish, and a nation of non believers. But the wording made it convenient to cut off the only and everything that followed. THAT is "gotcha journalism". But asking a question, even a tough question, that elicits a stupid, radical and unpopular answer from an obtuse moron is not the fault of the person asking the question but rather of the person giving the answer.

The point is that for a group of people that want to talk about personal responsibility and accountability, they have a very hard time being personally responsible and accountable for their answers and their idiocy. They solve this dilemma by avoiding the media, shutting them out, only allowing their right wing nut job buddies in, people that won't ask them the questions that show they are out of touch with the majority of Americans and will reveal their looney policy ideas. They answer the criticisms with pouting, whining and accusations. It boils down to this...like it or not...regardless of WHAT the political leanings of the reporter...if you can't answer the question of an insignificant peon from CNN or the Washington Times...then what makes you think you can answer the questions of the President of France, the President of Russia or the leaders of Iran, Iraq and a dozen of other nations that hate us and are always trying to trap us in some moral dilemma that will put us in trouble with the rest of the world. What will they do when they walk down the steps of the Capitol and the media is waiting for them? Or when they are in the Rose Garden?

3). The Cracked Tea Pots

SO just a couple of comments on the poster children of the crack tea pots.

Sarah Palin...Seriously...the queen of idiocy...the half term governor that would be queen. She seems to still be under the delusion that she can win the presidency. The woman who made even Bill O'Reilly roll his eyes at her stupidity and empty headed dribble manages to keep herself in the news...all the while bashing the Elite Media. FOX News, the fair and balanced idiots and pawns of the movement they created, just sucks on the crotch of this woman's panties! I mean excuse the vulgarity, but seriously...Fox makes no attempt at fair and balanced when it comes to Palin and her crackpot ideas. They just nod their heads all intellectual looking like, like she really makes sense, and why can't ALL of America see the absolute brilliance of this nut job that can't even finish a full term as governor of a half empty state but thinks she can be the leader of the free world.

Sarah Palin's run ins with the media are well documented. Ever since that fateful interview with Katie Couric, in which the Elite Media were out to get her by asking her questions...gosh durn it...how dare they ask her questions!!!!! Since then she has waged a war with the media...and the funny thing is she really thinks she can win. Sure there is a level of distrust from the American people when it come to the media, but can you imagine what George W. Bush would have been able to do if the media was not watching him like a hawk? Hell...look at what he DID get away with!




Michelle Bachmann....this woman has the intelligence of Palin with the charisma of Perot. She really is a scary sight to see. This woman is the personification of Forest Gump's motto...Stupid is Stupid does. This is the woman that accused "libruls" and President Obama of "celebrating" 9/11 because he referred to the "anniversary" of that infamous day. If she thinks that the word "anniversary" necessarily means a celebration...then she must have never been married! This woman has appeared beside Palin so many times that even Hannity, bless his limited intelligence, referred to a Palin-Bachmann team...of course...the only question is who gets to be on top!















Rand Paul...The boy who would be king. This guy has managed to give us the picture of the future of America under the rule of the Tea Party. An America where the White Supremacists rule, the Civil Rights Act is removed, handicapped people are back to being a bother to society and not treated with decency and respect. A world where God is ruler, the Bible is the law book and bigoted Christians determine who can be married, who can be leaders and who has any right to control their bodies. An America where our elderly can be treated with indecency and lack of respect, back at the mercy of family that don't want to pay or are incapable of paying for proper care and medication and the government takes the money that they have given and invest it in war and bloodshed. A world where big business and big oil run everything under some pretense of free market. A world like the one we already live in...only worse.






Sharron Angle...Harry Reid's opponent in Nevada is another perfect example of the idiocy and the totally out of touch lunacy that seems to be such a huge part of the tea party. A woman that advocates doing away with Social Security, advocates the USA walking away from the UN and also said that the purpose of the Second Amendment is to arm the citizens so they could throw down out of control government and then added the words, "if Congress keeps going the way it is going..." as though it would justify an insurrection in our country.







The funny thing is...The Republican Party and FOX News, created a monster they can't control. The media is biased be it for the right or for the left. They purposely ask questions to corner the opposing candidate. It is what happens in politics. It dates back through our entire history. It is only "gotcha" journalism when you they "getcha" or get your your opponent. In the mean time, if you do not want to be in the fish bowl, do not want to be asked the hard questions and do want to trouble yourself with facts, logic and reality...then stay the hell home.

So how DO we fix the illegal immigration problem?

So I have done the ranting and raving at the new Arizona "show me your papers" Law. I have ranted at the racists and the bigots and neo nazis. I have cussed screamed and seethed. But the truth of the matter is....there really IS a problem that must be dealt with. It is a problem that must be dealt with at a Federal level because it is a security issue which clearly falls under the constitutional responsibility of the federal government. The reason, however, is not only constitutional but is also practical. If you have every state making its own laws you will have some that are more lenient and others that are hate filled racists.

Having said that, what SHOULD be done? The problem is not an easy one to solve. First, let's make clear what will NOT solve it. With respect to neo nazi republican J.T. Ready and his tea bagger friends...a mine field is not the answer neither is a division of marines. The marines are not the answer for two reasons. First, their president George W. Bush sent them off to defend his oil interests and OUR president lacks the nuts to pull them back. Of course at this point we are in so deep that just issuing orders cannot be done without leaving a bigger mess in its wake. The second reason is simple; do you KNOW any marines? My brother is a former marine and tact and gentleness and consciousness of political and civil right consequences is NOT in their play book or way of thinking. Can you IMAGINE thousands of these people with guns and hand grenades and missile launchers on our border? It would only be a matter of time before we have the Second Mexican War on our hands!!!

Obviously the law in Arizona, the infamous SB1070, is not the answer. Let's make this clear. There are two distinct problems in Arizona, and the REAL problem is NOT going to be solved by SB1070. The rancher that was killed that was used as the driving force to get this law passed turns out was killed by drug smugglers and the police actually believe it was a white man...not an illegal Mexican. The dirty truth that Arizona GOP do not want to realize or admit to is that the Drug Smuggling and the illegal immigrant problem are two separate problems that are not even related. Solving the illegal immigrant problem will not solve their REAL problem...the drug related crimes and the drug smuggling. The law in Arizona is merely a statement. And it is an ugly statement at that. There are states like Minnesota that do not even HAVE a real immigration problem, but in their racism and anti federal government attitude are wanting a similar law. They want to be part of the statement.

Before we can do anything that is truly effective in fixing this problem we need to fix our attitudes about it. Latinos AND whites. First, Latinos need to fix their attitude of entitlement. Just because you are a minority does not mean you are entitled to special treatment. The law is the law. It must be followed. I am against racism but I am also against people that defend the illegal actions of others. Forgery of papers, purchase of forged documents and other crimes committed can NOT be defended. Defending the actions of illegal activity is not right, regardless of race or color. There is a process, and that process must be followed. While I agree that the process needs to be fixed, that process still exists.

I will, however, repeat...I am against racism and hate. I am against constitutional rights being abrogated in any manner that includes race and color. I am against being stopped on the street and forced to show my birth certificate to some Texas Ranger wannabe that wouldn't know if my birth certificate is legit or not. Here is a scenario I have SEEN happen. I lost my birth certificate and order a new one. I get the new one. I am 33 years old so my birth certificate should show wear and tear because I am 33 years old. I get stopped and am required to show my brand new birth certificate that I just got in the mail from the State of California. Because it is new...it must be fake. I have seen this happen. The truth is that that kind of thing happens many times. The truth is undeniable....these same people that have made the illegal immigration their problem or their mission in life to fix are the same people or children of the same people that fifty years ago were seeing the black man as the menace to society and wanted to keep him segregated like an animal. The attitude has not changed. I have been on the other end of it. If you want legitimacy in this issue then people with level heads and honest concern, rather than hate, must be in charge and at the forefront leading the change.

Once the attitude is fixed there are some changes that must be made to fix it. And busing them all south of the border is not the answer. I know these neo nazi hate mongers think that that is the answer but our economy cannot afford for such a huge percentage of the people pumping money into it to be suddenly gone. The small town I live in would be a ghost town, would go under, if the dumb rednecks get their way. No change must come in a different way. Here is my opinion on how...

(1) Secure the Border.

Internal change cannot happen and last unless the valve is closed. This is not about more manpower, it is about being smarter. A fence is only a mild deterrent more like a snag in the crossing. They have to cut it, jump it...sure...but it does have some sense in slowing their entry. The other half of this is technology. You mean to tell me they can take a picture of you in your back yard from a satellite but cannot patrol our borders with that kind of technology and dispatch units check out movement? I don't know all the ins and outs of it but surely we have technology that we can use and not have to resort to explosives like J.T. and his buddies want to because any life that is not white is not really life is it? We have satellites for everything else...why not?

(2) Fix the current system

If you have never been involved in the system then you really don't understand how totally screwed up it is. The immigration system is too often run by incompetent, lazy and inconsistent personnel. I have seen one person that did not deserve approval sail through and a good, honest and hard working man with a family get rejected for no reason at all. I currently know a situation where a man and his wife and children live here. He went through the process and when his interview came up he was deported because the judge felt that there was no evidence that his wife and children would suffer from his absence. His family is already losing their home. Why should these people follow a system that is inconsistent and lets the dead beats stay and the hard working people that would be a positive addition to our community be deported?

Another problem is that states have different rules and enforce the rules with different levels of dedication. Even different counties in the same state have different rules and different levels of dedication. In one county an offender may be released to the street and then in the next deported. The immigration laws and system has to be made consistent across the country on a federal level.

(3) Zero Tolerance

Simply put we need to enact and enforce it. We have laws. You break the law you don't belong here. I don't know how many times I have seen somebody that has committed a misdemeanor or even in some cases a felony and is released on probation. Why? We are looking for people that will be an honest and positive addition to our community. People that drink ad drive, do drugs, steal, beat their wives and commit a myriad of other crimes should not be allowed to remain in this country. There is no bail. There is not parole. There is no probation. They are gone. If they commit a violent crime, or another crime (such as drug related) let them serve their time, pay their debt and have a nice bus trip (of the State conducted type) to the border, handed over to border officials and sent packing back to where they belong.

(4) Streamline the process for the current illegals here.

I know. Amnesty pisses white people off. (not all so don't get on me Mandy lol) When you argue amnesty you get a whole bunch of people all up in arms cussing and swearing that that just rewards a bunch of *expletive* wetbacks and sets it up for a whole new crop of them to come in. And this is true if you do not fix the border and fix the system. But if you fix these two issues then it is a matter of sifting through this mess and getting the ones that are a good addition to our community legalized and move on. Simply put, the reality is this. Our economy cannot afford to send these people home. These people work and they spend their money here. If you bus them all home that will leave a huge void in our economy that we cannot recover from. So we sift through them, and the dead beats, the losers, the criminals (zero tolerance) we ship out. The rest? we get legal and move on.

In conclusion, let us remember one thing. We are all immigrants and descendants of immigrants. English, Welsh, Irish, Scottish, Russian, Asian, African, Spanish, Mexican, South American, Japanese, Middle Eastern, Indian....all of us. Unless you are Native American...TRULY Native American...not just some...well my granddaddy married a Native American...I mean true blue Native American...you are descendant of an immigrant. Mandy's ex, in defense of SB1070 said that he was ok with it...so what...HIS descendants are from here...sorry buddy...just not the case. My family is descended from Jews, fleeing the Inquisition in Spain. We are all from somewhere else. I am not saying we should let every sorry loser in. I am definitely in favor of making sure we are getting healthy people physically, mentally and morally (and by morally I am not referring to some form of forcing your moral values on somebody else I mean in legal matters, DUI, drugs, violence...etc.) I am not talking about carte blanche. Something needs to be done. Arizona's SB1070 is NOT the answer. Fix the border, fix the system and fix the current illegals. It is a simple formula and a simple plan for success that ALL Americans can live with...unless you are just some racist neo nazi pig...and in that case...I say we just give them their own little country...with it's Capitol in...shall we say..Tucson?

National Day of Prayer...easy as the First Amendment

So tomorrow (or today by the time you read this) is the National Day of Prayer. A day that has been recently ruled as un Constitutional by a court of law and will be appealed by the current Administration which is kind of disappointing considering that as a Constitutional Lawyer this President should know better. But in all fairness his Presidency has given rise to more kooks, nut cases, radical and hate groups than any President before him. The accusations of him not being a national born American by the birthers, a Muslim God hater by the right, a socialist Nazi Marxist Kenyan by the Tea Party and a N*&$^% by dumbass rednecks abound and fill our media, our internet, magazines and newspapers...oh and don't forget our radio waves. So given the political environment in which the President is operating I cant say I blame him...but am still disappointed in him.

First, this has NOTHING to do with me being an atheist. While I personally have no use for faith I do respect it and respect people's right to it. This goes way beyond personal beliefs and faith. This has to do with freedom and has to do with the Constitution and has to do with the fact that one law is for the whole nation. This is a nation based on equality and freedom of speech and freedom of religion. We have a wall of separation of church and state for a reason. Because our fore fathers came to this great nation from a world that was dominated by Catholicism in some places and Protestantism in others...the Church of England to be specific in their case. Religion dictated state affairs in these countries in Europe, and our fore fathers had the common sense to know that this could not be the case in this new nation they were founding.

I have several problems with the National Day of Prayer that have absolutely NOTHING to do with faith or with being an atheist. Consider these:

(1) The First Amendment

Simply put here are the facts. On April 17, 1952 President Harry S Truman signed a law that had been passed by Congress declaring that every President that followed MUST set aside an annual Day of Prayer. I want to emphasize the fact that it was a law passed by Congress.The First Amendment of the Constitution reads...

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;

Simply put...Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion...Congress made a law that establishes predominance to religion in general and a certain type of religion to be specific. Make no mistake this is a law that specifically singles out the Judeo-Christan system of belief and grants it a special place above others. So it boils down to the Constitution, Congress shall make no law...Congress has made a law...it is that straight forward.

(2) The fact that the very proponents of the National Day of Prayer are the very ones that PERSECUTE other faiths.

Consider this for a moment: The very ones that are attacking the President on the bogus charge that he is trying to do away with the National Day of Prayer are the very ones that are also attacking him because they claim he is a Muslim, though he has been Church of Christ for 20+ years. Why should this be a problem? If we are talking about Freedom of Religion that is. But we are not really talking about Freedom of Religion. We are talking about Freedom of THEIR Religion...and not just freedom; we are talking about a favored place for their religious views, a recognition that their religious views have priority. Would these same radical nut jobs be in favor of a National Day that recognizes Ramadan? These very people would be foaming at the mouth. Once again it proves the point...the Constitution is meaningless to these people, the Bill of Rights is merely parchment for them to wipe their ass with UNTIL THEY wants something....then it is all about freedom and law and rights.

This nation has a history of Christian Privilege. This nation has a history giving priority to those of faith treating people of a different faith or of no faith as second class citizens. The National Day of Prayer excludes every citizen that is not Judeo-Christian. It excludes pagans, Native Americans, Buddhists, Muslims, Atheists, Agnostics and a whole slew of people from different walks of life and faiths and views. It violates our Constitution and it tears down the wall of separation of church and state.

Sarah Palin and her fellow wackos like James Dobson and Billy and Franklin Graham try to tell us that there should be no separation of church and state and that they are losing their rights (give me a fucking break and cry me a river of tears so I can piss in it!). And my response to them is that just as they like to scream socialism and how it has been tried and failed and we don't need that here, well theocracy has been tried in countries like Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Afghanistan, Pakistan and others like it and you know what? It doesn't work and we don't want it or need it here.

The New Anti Latino Agenda of the Republican Party...GOP goes Anti-Brown

Much has been made of the new Arizona immigration bill. I for one have ranted plenty on the subject. There have been significant calls for boycotting the state for the clearly racist legislation. The calls mostly are coming from minorities and people that are on the "hippy tree hugging" liberal crowd. While FAUX Noise traipses a long parade of old white guys through Prime Time explaining why this racist law, ISN'T racist and why we should be THANKFUL for this law...the Republicans defend it by saying the Government (which they controlled for eight years)has ignored the problem for YEARS (years they were in control mind you) and how it is ALL the Obama Administration's fault. Well what did you expect?

Talk is already circulating how this will drive a wedge between the GOP and the rapidly growing Hispanic population. Of course, some in the GOP are already blaming the Democrat's for doing this because...well..it couldn't be their own damn fault right? (Read Article here) Or could it? Consider the following...FACTS...

(1) New Gallup Poll indicates that 51% of the country is in favor of the new Arizona Nazi "carry your documents" law. But if you go deeper into the numbers you will find an interesting fact...of those that said they had heard a great deal about the bill 75% Republicans were in favor of it as opposed to 34% Democrats. The Party of No is apparantly the Party of YES to racial profiling and oppression of people that are beneath them...basically that don't speak English and are not white...

(2) In Keeping with the "Say no to Brown" theme, Congressmen Duncan Hunter (R-CA) is now proposing and supporting deporting American citizens that are born to illegal immigrants. This may seem like a good idea on the surface but it would require a change to our Constitution, one that can lead to serious repercussions....



(3) GOP Candidate Pat Bertroche seems to think that if microchipping is good for his dogs then it should be good for illegal immigrants.

(4) When Congress voted this week to give Puerto Ricans the chance to vote on becoming a state, FAUX Noise had an interesting statement that has been mostly overlooked by most people..."Republicans attempted to add provisions to the legislation that would have made English the official language of a potential Puerto Rican state." Are you out of your MIND???? Now, let's get this straight...Puerto Rico is and always HAS been a bilingual territory, it is just bilingual in reverse of, let's say, Georgia. There Spanish is the primary language and English is secondary. That is the culture of the island and always has been. I lived in Puerto Rico for ten years and it was there I actually learned Spanish. There is a rich culture that makes it a beautiful place to visit and vacation. But to have the audacity to force cultural changes on them just so they can belong...it shows..at least in my book...how far these racist White supremecists will go...

(5) Republican candidate for Alabama (no surprise here for sure) Tim James is running on a platform that is actually against federal law. It sounds good to the people that will vote for him...but it is against federal law...and he is lying to his voting base..but that is ok...he is showing that he is right there with them and understands their fears...and it is not his fault the nasty ol' feds won't back him up...of course..what would you expect with a nazi-Socialist-Marxist-Kenyan in the White House right?



(5) There is a very clear neo nazi connection influencing the law in Arizona and self proclaimed Republicans like Jason J.T. Ready who are openly members of neo nazi racist group. Ol' J.T. apparantly is in favor of minefields on the border and Marines defending his xenophobic ideology. J.T. is actually listed on the Southern Poverty Law Center a watch group that reports and keeps an eye on hate groups around the country.

(6) GOP Candidates and lawmakers all around the country are watching Arizona and waiting to see how far this country will let them go with their racial profiling and hate environment. States like Texas, Ohio and South Carolina are anxious to follow.

I will give a nod of appreciation and recognition, however, to the Republican Governor of Texas Rick Perry, Former President George W. Bush and Former Republican Governor of Florida Jeb Bush in opposing these measures. The truth remains, however, that the Republican party is making it more and more clear that there is not a place for Latinos in a party that demographically would have a home naturally in their midst. I am a liberal, but a vast majority of Hispanics tend to be conservatives and would fit in the GOP...if the Rethuglicans would stop insisting this pursuit of a xenophobic, racist and intolerant agenda that makes it clear to us that the only way we belong is if we become just like them...which is impossible.

"How is Arizona wrong exactly?"

This was the question I was asked on Twitter when I was on my rant about Arizona and this ridiculous hate law that they signed and is being touted and the "strongest immigration law" in the country. Make no mistake this law is horrendous and is one of the worst laws I have seen passed in this country in a very long time. It is a violation of civil rights, it promotes racism and harassment of American citizens and violates some basic tenants of our society and of the Constitution. I would go so far as to say this is the biggest violation of basic civil and constitutional rights since the Patriot Act from the Bush Regime.

Before I continue let me get the emotional crap out of the way because I won't lie I am severely worked up, insulted and over all ashamed that these ass wipes have the temerity to even call themselves Americans. I do not acknowledge these racist pigs as my Brothers and I spit on them and their very existence...pure and simple. So just a few "emotional" points to be made BEFORE I get into the meat of my blog.

(1) This is the exact type of BULLSHIT, swine vomit and weasel piss I would expect from a state held hostage by the fucking teabaggers. This is a law that puts personal interest of racist white supremacist above the interests of Americans. The Constitution means nothing to Tea Party "Patriots". The American Flag means nothing to them. I will go as far (in my anger) to say that these racists pigs have turned the American Flag into their own Swastika. They use it as their symbol of racism, because REAL Americans are just like them...or they don't belong here. I would expect this law from people that protest holding card board signs that say "This sign is the brownest thing on this entire block".

(2) The Tea Party ass wipes want to complain about the power of government and an intrusive government but are willing to support, even demand the GOP Governor of Arizona to sign a law that pushes Arizona closer to a police state than any law since the Patriot Act. They are hypocritical, they are full of hate and racism and they full of fucking horse shit.

(3) I am an American. Don't you dare read this article and say, "Oh you must be a greaser wetback." First, I am Puerto Rican, not Mexican (not that I have a problem with Mexicans. I simply despise people's attitude that we are all the same.) Second, I am a proud American Citizen, born American from American parents. I just happen to be Hispanic by the luck of the draw, not something I am ashamed of or bothered by, but nonetheless it is who and what I am. My family is a military family. My Dad served in the US Army. My brother served in the USMC with distinction. A decorated and injured in combat veteran, he served this country with honor and distinction. I tried to join the military but due to health problems was rejected. What I am saying is don't you fucking question my loyalty to my Country! I love this country.

(4) I firmly believe that SOMETHING needs to be done about the illegal immigration problem. I believe some of the sacks of shits coming from ALL OVER THE WORLD need to be culled and shipped back to their country of origins. 9/11 is a perfect example of us allowing the wrong people in this country (for the record, if you think this law is good becuase of 9/11 I would remind you the perpertrators of 9/11 came from accross the OTHER border...Canada NOT Mexico!). Studies of crime rates indicate a percentage of crimes that simply would not be happening without these unwanted aliens here. I firmly believe much of this stupid law is about trying to force the government's hand to do something about immigration, but what the hell? What do they think will be accomplished? Right now the GOP is on a personal vendetta to end and obstruct any legislation that the President might put forth or that Democrats are remotely in favor of. The Party of No is nothing but a bunch of sacks of shit that couldn't care about what happens in this country as long as they keep every single legislation from happening. Congress taking up immigration reform right now would be a waste of time since the Rethuglicans would have to block it just to keep up with their party's legislative agenda.

Now...having said all that I will try to answer more specifically, the title question of this blog post...How is Arizona Exactly Wrong?

(1) This is an "illegal Mexican" not "illegal immigrant" law

Let's face it...This law is NOT about illegal immigrants. This law is about illegal Mexicans. In one breath they talk about the police stopping anybody they "suspect" of being illegal and in the next talk about the Mexico-Arizona border and then they try to convince us that this is all about the safety of our country and is NOT going to be about race. I cry BULLSHIT! This law is specifically designed to deal with the very real problem of illegal immigrants from South American countries, specifically of HISPANIC/LATINO decent. That being said it is equally self evident that this law is specifically designed for a specific racial decent. As such it is inherently designed and inescapably structured to allow and even promote racial profiling. There is no escaping this fact, no matter how the GOP wants to label this pile of horse shit.

(2) This is a racial profiling hell in the making

You may read this and shake your head and say that I am just playing the race card. That is very easy for you to say if you have never been mistreated for being Hispanic. I have lived for many years in the State of Georgia. A State where we do NOT have ridiculous laws such as this blatant insult that Arizona has just passed and I have REPEATEDLY been racially profiled by people and by law enforcement in this state. I have had my citizenship questioned for no other reason than my name is Julio and my skin is darker than theirs. So until you have been there you cannot and will not understand what I am talking about and your opinion means less than pigeon shit to me!

By passing a law that is unequivocally directed at a race of people, they have set this country back in time in regards to civil rights. Simply put, there is an ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION problem, but it is not just Latino immigrants. How will they have "reasonable suspicion" of a Canadian that is here illegally? Australian? Russian? British? Without a little Spanish and dark skin and obvious Latino features, how will they have "reasonable suspicion"? The answer? They won't! Simple as that. That is because you cannot just look at an individual and magically have a "feeling" that they are here illegally. The weak argument that this law prohibits it be based on nationality is bullshit. The simple truth is that there is no other way to "suspect" somebody that has not committed a crime or misdemeanor of some sort without basing that suspicion on race and/or language and culture.

(3) This law makes Americans of Hispanic descent feel unsafe in their own country

I will not cross the state line in to Arizona or any other State that passes this law. Simple as that. I do not feel safe in a state where just because I am standing on the street corner talking in Spanish I might become a "suspect" that would justify some Barney Fife to harass me based solely on my race and language. YES. I do speak English fluently. I speak English without even a trace of a Spanish accent. I also speak Spanish fluently. I am privileged to be bilingual. We are fast reaching a point where a group of white supremacist racist asswipes can, since they cannot outlaw me speaking Spanish, will make it to where I am afraid to do so for fear that a gun toting punk with a badge can harass me for daring to be different. If this law continues to spread to other States, and reaches the State in which I reside, I fear that the law enforcement will merely become an arm of the INS and my safety, and the safety of my property and of my family will suffer as a result.

(4) This puts judicial power in the hands of idiots

The Arizona lawmakers are naive. They state that they trust their law enforcement officers to be responsible and to follow what they consider the "spirit" of this law and not use it based on race. In my immediate family of four, my brother and my parents and myself, each of us can give at least two detailed stories of police harassment and racial profiling in the last 15 years. That is 8 cases in just one family. And THAT is in a state where the police officers are not protected by nebulous law that does not define any parameters at all other than a very vague provision that it cannot be based solely on race or nationality. You mean to tell me some tobacco chewing dumbass redneck that hates "damn wetbacks" and suddenly got his badge and gun and thinks he is the poster boy for the Texas Rangers with express blessing of the Patron Saint of the Texas Rangers, Chuck Norris, is going to have the intelligence and responsibility to be able to follow the "spirit" of this law? I would argue that indeed they WILL follow the "spirit" of this law...a spirit of hate, racism and divisive prejudice.

(5) This begins the deterioration of Arizona (and any states that follow) into a police state.

When a police officer pulls me over for speeding he is within his right and responsibility to ask for three things: Driver's License, Vehicle Registration and Proof of Insurance (in a State that requires car insurance). These are tools related to the infraction...my citizenship status has absolutely NOTHING to do with my speeding or trying to get by that yellow light. Up until now, documents such as birth certificate (which I have misplaced long ago), passport and other sensitive documents most people keep in a safe deposit box, have not been necessary. How will a police officer determine if a person's social security card is valid? How will he determine if a person that comes from, let's say Tennessee where you do not have to be a citizen or legal resident to get a driver's license, is here legally or not? What documentation would I have to show to some jack ass, that typically I would have to show only in a court of law, to prove what I should NEVER have to prove in the first place...that I am a proud citizen of the United States of America?

You may ask...well what is the big deal if you have to prove you are a citizen? Simply put this, I am a citizen of the United States of America. I enjoy the EXACT same rights you do as WHITE American citizen. You enjoy the right, one you deserve, to not be unduly harassed or inconvenienced by law enforcement. You have the right to a court of law, and certain issues (such as your citizenship, which would not be questioned because you "look and sound" American, whatever that means) are specifically challenged and proven in a court of law. These are rights YOU have as a WHITE American citizen. Up until this last Friday I, as an American citizen that just happens to be Hispanic, had them as well.

P.S. I would recommend you read on the Gestapo tactics in Nazi Germany. Where Jews were required to carry their documents with them. Just food for thought. And how long before we have to start sewing gold corn burritos or a big H on our jackets to better identify ourselves in the police state these asswipes are promoting. And to my WHITE American brethern consider this...you think this is a good idea...what will yo uthink when the offcers are not responding to calls for roberries, murders and car wrecks because they are too busy playing INS?

I have rarely ever straight up asked for comments, but this blog is VERY emotional for me..your opinion would be interesting and I would invite debate. I also NEVER ask for people to pass this on...but I do ask...if you agree with me...please pass this on...I want people to know there are American Citizens that feel endangered by this law and by the facts that other states are considering it as well. Thank you!

Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum(b) in 2012!!!

There was a time, I am ashamed to admit, when I thought of Palin as a frontrunner for the 2012 Presidential Campaign. I saw her popularity among the radical right and feared that the Rethuglicans might see her as a potential candidate and might push her as the next president of the United States. I actually went so far as to predict that she would win. My Friend John argued a lot with me on this subject and I am forced to admit that I agree with his views on this now. I also agree that living in a state that is a deeply red state (Georgia) and the environment I deal with as a progressive on a daily basis had much to do with my outlook on the issue and so now, on my blog, I concede the argument to him.

Lately, however, these two women have irritated the PISS out of me. Sarah Palin (who has been a frequent target of mine on this blog) and Michelle Bachman are an amazing accumulation of idiocy, ignorance and malevolent bigotry, stupidity and just plain out venom. Now before you start with your bullshit, it has absofreakinglutely nothing to do with them being women...they just happen to be women...it is incidental not reflective of the fairer sex in anyway. I have no problem with a woman as President of the United States and judge them based on the same basis I would use on a man...have some freaken common sense.

So as a not so funny joke let us consider the idea that Sean Hannity (the Czar of Stupidity) proposed of a Palin-Bachman ticket in 2012...



(Hey I painted that one myself so if it looks bad just laugh at it if you think it makes the point pass it on with my permission lol)

Presidential Candidate...Sarah Palin

First, let's consider the Presidential Candidate, Sarah Palin. I really will not waste much more time with this douchebag. I have spoken enough of her idiocy on this blog that to give her more time almost seems like a crime to an intelligent person's patience and intellect. Here is a brief montage of some of Palin's finer moments during her campaign to invade the White House.



During that campaign she did her best to spread her bigotry and venom, often referring to the "real americans" as only those that would vote for her and Senator McCain. Her idea of experience was being Governor of Alaska, a job she couldn't even complete. She is an opponent of separation of church and state and promotes a theocracy that would make Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei very proud, as well as the Taliban of Afghanistan. But enough about that...let's look at the VP candidate of this duo...

Vice Predient Candidate...Michelle Bachmann

Bachmann recently grabbed my attnetion for her inmense propensity for saying really stupid things. There is also the fact that she, along with Palin, are the darlings of the Tea Party movement, and has been one of the promoters of the "hate the government" attitude that is permeating the country right now. As Mandy told me the other night, Bachmann almost makes Palin look smart! Here are a couple of expamples of this woman's massive intelligence (or lack thereof)...

"Anniversary" means "celebrate"...



Nobody is "celebrating" the OK city bombing you bimbo! And to add "only the democrats would say something like this"? WoW! Only a Rethuglican would be so desperate!

Congress should be investigated for Anti-Americans...



And as we learned from her future running mate during the 2008 campaign the real Americans vote Republican.

The Census used to "round up" Americans and put them in camps?



The list goes on and on...of this woman's complete and total lack of a grasp on reality.

Oh...and just incase that isn't enough...let us consider for the Cabinet Position of the Department of Health and Human Services, Republican Senator Candidate Sue Lowden who is wanting to replace Senator Harry Reid with her revolutionary health reform plan...



Of course, Jay Leno has a great question...



And what is scary? That they have so many people that shout them on, that support them and actually think they have great ideas. I will not be so foolish as to say that every hair brained scheme coming out of D.C. is a great idea..but seriously...is this the best they can offer? I can only hope Hannity is right...so we can witness one of the greatest political meltdowns in American history as these two bimbos compete to see who can show their ignorance more.

An open response to Mr. Pritchett....

The following letter is an open letter from a man named Lou Pritchett. Mr. Pritchett is one of the 2% of Americans that did NOT get a tax cut this year. He wrote this letter and it has, of course, caught on like wild fire amongst the conservative fear mongerers that spend their time screaming "Nazi-Socialist-Marxist-Kenyan" at our President seeking to villify and demonize anybody that does not agree with their extremist and sometimes radical views. I wish to reply to each point in this letter, but not only to Mr. Pritchett, but also to his intended audience. Make no mistake, this letter was never intended for President Obama. This letter was never intended for people like myself that really couldn't give a rat's ass what this man has to say. His letter is intended for the conservative right whom he and others like him are trying to fire up to get them to take back the government so that they can go back to the business of making money by exploiting the hard work of those that actually make the money for them. Mr. Pritchett's points will be in bold and mine will follow in italics.

AN OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA

Dear President Obama:

You are the thirteenth President under whom I have lived and unlike any of the others, you truly scare me.

You are a mature man that has seen thirteen presidents. The last thirteen presidents would be (in reverse order from current): Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George H. W. Bush, Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford, Richard Nixon, Lyndon B. Johnson, John F. Kennedy, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Harry S. Truman and Franklin D. Roosevelt. Of these presidents we had some that were completely incompetent (Jimmy Carter or Dwight D. Eisenhower), some that were rumored to have illegal ties to unsavory groups and nations (John F. Kennedy and Bill Clinton), some that went to incredible strides to destroy our economy (Ronald Reagan) and some that were down right despicable (Richard Nixon...Watergate ring a bell?). You truly scare me because despite the short comings of all these men, you choose a man that is actually attempting to fulfill his campaign promises, whether you agree with those policies or not.

You scare me because after months of exposure, I know nothing about you.

You scare me because you either do not have the sense to see the information that is before your eyes or you have the character of a weasel and refuse to acknowledge that information so you may use your imagined "lack of information" to create a villian you can use to manipulate the American people to do your bidding. There is plenty of information as to the President's background, his religion (Church of Christ not Muslim) and a myraid of other information out there that you refuse to acknowledge. You scare me because you claim to be ignorant of facts that a simple search of the White House website or even Wikipedia (shudder the thought) would give you. Therefore if you are ignorant, you are willfully ignorant, and that is scary because of the amount of people who are listening to you.

You scare me because I do not know how you paid for your expensive Ivy League education and your upscale lifestyle and housing with no visible signs of support.

You scare me because while you claim that the liberals and the democrats are fighting a class warfare it is evident that you see the classes as they "should" be and anybody that does not fit your mold should not be in your class. The underpriviledged should remain so, and anybody that gets a hand up does not deserve it. That you willfully ignore the sacrifices made by a man's family to see to it that he gets the best education possible and that in your own effort to keep people "in their place" you disregard the hard work and efforts made by an individual and his family.

You scare me because you did not spend the formative years of youth growing up in America and culturally you are not an American.

You scare me because you seem ignorant of the fact that Hawaii is actually one of the fifty states in the Union, and growing up in Hawaii does not mean one is not culturally American. If by culturally American you mean that he is not one of the "good 'ol WHITE boys" like George Dubya and Jeb Bush, then yes he is not culturally American. If you mean that he is not part of the smelting pot that is American culture, then you are wrong. That you willfully ignore these facts and feed the misinformation and prejudice floating among the right wing conservatives, scares me, Mr. Pritchett.

You scare me because you have never run a company or met a payroll.

You scare me because you make this seem as though this is a requirement for a president. Where was the experience in running a company of President Ronald Reagan. It scares me that you think that only business owners can be president, and that failure to have had this experience disqualifies them. It scares me that this mentality would put the American people more at the mercy of big business and their reckless and selfish abuse than they are already.

You scare me because you have never had military experience, thus don't understand it at its core.

You scare me because you think that only a military man can be president despite the fact that President Dwight D. Eisenhower had been a General and a war hero and proved to be one of the most incompetent president's of our time. You ignore the fact that President George W. Bush, the darling of the radical right, had experience that was limited to national Guard and managed to, because of his family, avoid having to face the risk that the other men and women in uniform faced during the Vietnam era. While President Bill Clinton was a draft dodger (and he was, and there is no excuse for it), President Bush was equally a coward (if you want to go by your standards) for hiding behind his family name to shirk his duty. Furthermore, to think that only a military man can be president is to make our nation a militaristic culture, which scares me even more.

You scare me because you lack humility and 'class', always blaming others.

You scare me because the concepts of humility and 'class' escape your mere intellect. After a President that was an embarassment every time he got behind a microphone and in front of a camera; a president who's "Bushisms" made a country mock their leader and the world shake their head in confusion, how can you speak of 'class'. As for humility, how can you speak of it when you and those that are of the minority in our governing bodies dare to make their will more important than the will of the majority that voted in the current administration and his agenda. We voted. We won. Yet our will means nothing because in your pride you can only see your will.

You scare me because for over half your life you have aligned yourself with radical extremists who hate America and you refuse to publicly denounce these radicals who wish to see America fail.

You scare me because your faction of the American public has gone to great lengths to distort and to twist at will the facts of these connections. You claim he has not publicly denounced them. He has distanced himself from the ones that he should and has publicly disagreed with the ones he disagreed. Your party has managed to connect him to every enemy this country has fought which makes me wonder if we even have an intelligence system left in this country that could possibly detect how this "Kenyan" terrorist that is a Communist and Nazi (which is ideologically impossible) has managed to become President! It scares me that you think the American people so stupid that we would believe your sack of lies and insinuations. It scares me that you have so little respect for the deductive powers of the people of the greatest nation in the world.

You scare me because you are a cheerleader for the 'blame America' crowd and deliver this message abroad.

It scares me that you and your ilk are completely blind to the fact that our greatness does not abrogate our guilt. We make mistakes too. Like training and making Osama Bin Laden in the first place. Like invading and attacking a country (Iraq) on completely fabricated information. We are not innocent. We can spit in the eye of the international community only so long before the chickens come home to roost. We can abuse our power only so long before we have to pay the consequences. President Obama has not "blamed" America for anything we are not guilty of and has shown the world we actually do have some "class" and are not all cowboys. This is a great nation that has done great things for the world, and it scares me that apparantly you miss the speeches in which he has stated this and defended our decisions. It also scares me that you defend war criminals like Dick Cheney, and think because of our greatness we should give them a pass.

You scare me because you want to change America to a European style country where the government sector dominates instead of the private sector.

You scare me because your own history, with your ties to Wal Mart one of the greatest destroyers of the American small buisness, shows what you think of the private sector. It is a place for people like you to abuse and use the consumer. Coerce and manipulate the public. Your idea of private sector is big business sucking every dime out of the American public and then telling them to go to hell when they have a need.

You scare me because you want to replace our health care system with a government controlled one.

You scare me because you ignore the facts of the legislation that was passed. You want to take the health of the American people and put it in the hands of the same scum buckets that gave us Enron, gave us Wal Mart and gave us the car industry bailouts. You and your ilk manipulate the opinion of the American people for your own gain and then want to throw our lives and the lives of our children on the altar of your greed. I for one am terrified of health decisions being made by the snakes that run the private sector and the pirates that run the insurance industry. You fail to acknowledge that the president did not replace our health care system but rather the insurance moguls that play loose and fancy with the lives of Americans and with their children's lives and the best hoax of it all is that you have tricked the very people whose lives are actually on the line, the hard working middle class of this country to protest in favor of the moguls that do not give two shits about the existence of the sheep that are protesting.

You scare me because you prefer 'wind mills' to responsibly capitalizing on our own vast oil, coal and shale reserves.

You scare me because you do not care about the planet in which our children will live as long as you and yours can turn a profit. You do not care to even try to find cleaner ways to provide energy. You scare me because the very people that are proponents of digging are proponents of digging elsewhere except for a dim witted half term governor that does not mind selling her state down the drain. But other than the barbie doll girl in a barbie doll world you will find the Governor of California saying he is in favor of off shore drilling as long as it is not off shore of California. You will find the East Coast people in favor of off shore drilling...as long as it is not off of their shore...if it is such a great idea then why are the "Drill, baby Drill" people so eager to drill off of everybody else's shore except their own. You scare me because you are so closed minded you will not even give clean energy a chance...and the rest of us have to wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that your "good 'ol boys" would have a hell of a lot to lose if we did find a form of clean energy.

You scare me because you want to kill the American capitalist goose that lays the golden egg which provides the highest standard of living in the world.

This is repeat of things you have already said, just reworded to drive an extra stake of fear in the hearts of your willing victims..err..audience...so I am not going to repeat the spiel about you and your "capitalist" buddies.

You scare me because you have begun to use 'extortion' tactics against certain banks and corporations.

You call extortion what others call regulation. Your buddies on Wall Street got their money on the backs of the American taxpayer. You scare me because it was YOUR President (Bush) that gave them that money, and you have somehow managed to twist the American public into thinking it was President Obama that got a bill passed before he was even President. You have managed to get the protestors to somehow place the blame of all of the government's decisions on the curent administration when he has actually been working to fix the mess. When he speaks of financial reform your buddies twist what he proposes so as to make it seem he is trying to further provide bailouts when nothing is further from the truth. And it scares me that the sheep you have conditioned so well follow your bidding like blind fools without realizing that your Wall Street buddies care nothing for the people on Main Street that are so vocally fighting for them.

You scare me because your own political party shrinks from challenging you on your wild and irresponsible spending proposals.

You scare me because your party promotes violence and fear mongering, openly hoping for the failure of America by openly hoping that the President fails, not realizing that our fate is closely tied to his. When our leaders fail then our nation fails. In your party's desire to take power they would wish that America fails. The last thing your party wants is for Americans to get jobs, for the economy to recover and for the American people to be happy. It is in the discontent of the American people that your party rejoices, it is in the failures and losses of the American people that your party thrives. You would encourage the nutjobs to take up arms and violence, pointing at the opposition as though it were their fault when it is your own rhetoric, placing our leaders on an equivalent status as our (historically) most hated enemies. You want your party back in power and in order for that to happen the President must fail, and the American people must suffer more than we already have. You scare me because you point at the "irresponsible" spending proposals of a President that at least does so with a heart to help the American people, but did not sputter a word of protest at a president that spent even more on bombing and killing innocent people abroad, people that we only know as collateral damage. You scare me because you would build an empire on the bones of children cemented by the blood of their mothers..and for that you would spend trillions...and would find it "irresponsible" to take that same money to see to the health and wellfare of the American people.

You scare me because you will not openly listen to or even consider opposing points of view from intelligent people.

You scare me because of the people that you find intelligent. The Sarah Palins and the Michelle Bachmans. People that are beyond ignorant, yet you somehow see them as intelligent. You scare me because you don't have the good sense to even recognize who is intelligent. Furthermore, you scare me because the way you see it is that the President is not only supposed to listen and consider but he must prove it by implementing. I am terrified because I spent eight years under a president that was a cowboy that did not listen to anybody...our people, our allies, the world...yet his actions were acceptable in your eyes. This president has made a huge point of trying to pull in people that were totally uninterested in bipartisanship or compromise, yet somehow it is his fault because he would not bend to their will. Yet you do not hold them responsible for their actions and attitudes.

You scare me because you falsely believe that you are both omnipotent and omniscient.

Really?? This one is so laughable that it does not even deserve a response.

You scare me because the media gives you a free pass on everything you do.

You scare me because you do not realize that the media is exactly that...media. They are in a constant struggle for the ear of the public and both sides use the machine for their benefit. You are ignorant that your own party has their own arm of the media and they wave it at will and defended the previous President, hailing him as a hero and defending his every act. You scare me because you do not see when the media is critical of the President and choose to ignore it and use your fear mongering to better establish your empire.

You scare me because you demonize and want to silence the Limbaughs, Hannitys, O'Relllys and Becks who offer opposing, conservative points of view.

I don't even know where to start here. Limbaugh? Hannity? O'Reilly? Beck? Are you serious? These are men that do nothing but excite the greatest fears of the American people and feed off of negativity. You scare me more than ever because you find these men to have a viable voice in the political landscape of this country with their constant hate and rhetoric. You Sir, scare the hell out of me if for no other point than this one.

You scare me because you prefer controlling over governing.

You scare me because we just came out of an era of a President that trampled the laws of our country. Willfully removed the rights of habeas corpus, the rights to be protected from the government having to go through due process to invade our privacy and many other basic human and civil rights...yet you speak of control instead of governing. You scare me because you have no idea what you are talking about yet so many are willing to listen. You scare me because your President violated every human right in the book yet you somehow think he was "governing" instead of controlling.

Finally, you scare me because if you serve a second term I will probably not feel safe in writing a similar letter in 8 years.

Finally you scare me because you feed the fears of the American people. You goad the ignorant and the irresponsible to action. You prey on the easily influenced and manipulate them to protect you and the other idiots that care more about their own wealth and well being then they do about the American people. You incite the American people to violence like this woman...



This is the America you promote. This is the violence you incite. You Sir scare the hell out of me because we will have another terrorist act, but it will not be an Islamic attack. It will be a home grown nut job that you have incited to action against the government with your rhetoric. You do not care about the voice or the well being of the American people. You root for our failure. Because our failure is your success.

Lou Pritchett

Julio Caceres