Loosing our Freedom:   Part 4

The Gerrymandering of Florida Political Districts or
"How collusion and payouts..... can dictate a state political map"

Here in Florida, the elections are over and things are well, if not back to “normal”, ---- they are at least “ Normal Florida Politics” as “usual”.

From the Washington Free Beacon:

“The top state and national party leaders, including Florida congressmen Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Ted Deutsch, and Alcee Hastings, signed off on the gerrymandered maps, according to the emails released during court discovery in Romo v. Scott, a legal challenge to redistricting maps that the GOP-controlled state legislature approved in 2012.”

Might I add that anything entered into with Alcee Hastings is bound to have a tincture or more of “vice” and “dirty”.

So emails were discovered that somehow connect the DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz colluding with Mike Haridopolos and the Teamsters ---- what a threesome to the “gerrymandering” of maps that among other things:

Democratic consultant Brad Wieneke described the gerrymander in one email chain on Florida’s 23rd Congressional District, which Slate has called the 23rd one of “the most gerrymandered congressional districts” in the country and which Wasserman Schultz represents in Congress.

1)“They want to scoop as many Jews out of Tamarac and Sunrise as they can,” Wieneke wrote.

Redistricting maps produced by Democratic consulting firm NCEC Services were shared with attorneys at Perkins Coie, general counsel for the DNC, the emails show.

Those maps were then vetted by Smith, the DCCC, and Reps. Wasserman Schultz, Hastings, and Deutsch.


(My question here is: Where they supposed to be the “vetting” team?)

2)“Will speak with DWS tomorrow morning to clear it with her,” Charles Kelly, the DCCC’s southern regional political director, wrote in a March 2012 email. “Will make necessary calls tomorrow AM and DWS sign-off and we should be good!”

The maps were drawn up by party strategists to maximize Democratic performance in the state while hewing to recently passed amendments in Florida that prohibit gerrymandering.

3)“The attached includes statistics for a congressional map that creates twelve 50 percent + Democratic districts while limiting the number of times counties are split between multiple districts,” says a January 2012 email from NCEC Services’ Eric Hawkins to Florida Democratic Party executive director Scott Arcenaux.

4)“The plan is an attempt to strike a balance between a clean map and one that is far more favorable to Democrats. A more Democratic map is possible but will require more splitting of counties and towns.”

Democrats also attempted to fundraise off the maps. Florida Democratic Party chairman Smith solicited six-figure donations from allied groups, asking them to support the party’s lawsuit against the state GOP’s redistricting map.

5)“At stake is the potential balance of power in the third most populous state,” Smith wrote in his email to the Teamsters. “If we remain successful we will pick up 2-5 state Senate seats and 3-6 congressional seats.”

6)“The problem is we need the funds to compete with the Republicans enormous advantage in funding this litigation,” Smith continued. “I have asked the Teamsters for $100,000 to help the FDP win a map that creates the fair districts that Floridians favor.

I guess this is what was meant in a very cryptic email I received at work from the Haidopolus clan.....some months ago after a strange afternoon meal.....

 

Read the full story here:

http://shark-tank.net/2013/04/08/democrats-get-caught-fixing-redistricting-maps-in-florida/

Losing Our Freedom: Part 3 Fred Karger and the Bully Pulpit for Gay Marriage

 

 

 

Fred S. Karger (born January 31, 1950) is an American political consultant, gay rights activist and watchdog, former actor, and former candidate for the Republican nomination for the 2012 US Presidential election. Although he has not held elected or public office, Karger has worked on nine presidential campaigns and served as a senior consultant to the campaigns of Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush and Gerald Ford.

His running for the Republican nomination for president made him the first openly gay presidential candidate from a major political party in American history.

In 2006 Karger founded Save the Boom!!! a grassroots campaign to save the oldest gay bar in the Western United States, the landmark Boom Boom Room and Coast Inn in Laguna Beach, California. This got Fred active in LGBTQ politics, and was the natural precursor to his starting Californians Against Hate - now Rights Equal Rights

Karger sent out a press release Monday that said after hanging up his career in politics, he’s looking to get into… punditry. “I think there is a need for a moderate and very bipartisan Republican voice in the discussions taking place on news shows today,” he said in the release (his emphasis).

Why should you even care about this?  Because Fred Karger has a bigger agenda. 

He states:

“On one side, social conservatives are clamoring to maintain power amid a cultural climate which increasingly counters their views. On another side, libertarians are making strides in blending social liberalism with virtually unregulated free market capitalism. On yet another side, traditionalists are seeking a return to what might be described as the Eisenhower Era; utilizing various philosophies to achieve this end.  According to him, the Republican Party is “in transition”.    Washington Times

In other words , as he states in an earlier piece:

“One of the major reasons for the GOP's potential demise is that it has been hijacked by dangerous, bigoted and self-serving organizations like the Family Research Council, the National Organization for Marriage and the American Family Association. These are all "hate groups" who seem hell-bent on cleansing the Republican Party of minorities, moderates, women and anyone who supports full equality for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans.”

I don’t know how many of you will actually read this piece and keep this in mind, but what he is espousing is the “my way or the highway” approach to your existence.  If you don’t accept whatever he is forwarding --- then you can leave the Party.

The last time I checked the composition of the Republican Party, the percentage that belonged in the category of “moderate” or “establishment” --- the group tending to be more “liberal” on social issues are quite the minority. 

 

 

People, I keep hearing you say “I’m tired”; “I can’t make a difference”; “I don’t want to get involved”.

That type of  “stinkin’ thinkin’” should not be allowed to permeate your psyche.  Your very existence depends upon it. 

Most of us have never cared one way or the other about issues such as “gay marriage”.  Some care very deeply.  It is your RIGHT to care about the things that matter to you. 

We have turned into a country so deeply divided that the bully pulpit that controls the thought process uses RIDICULE in order to KEEP ORDER.  Be careful with quick acquiescence, though, because once a bully is not able to get compliance by coercion, they will use “whatever means necessary”.  Because at the end of the day, the you might end up being the piece that  Karger wishes to “saw off”.

 

 

 

 

Wake Up, Stand Up....

The White Liberal Assault on Black Republicans…. and Blacks in General….

“They need to shut me up, they need to get rid of me,” Dr. Carson said, as reported in Newsmax. “They can’t find anything else to delegitimize me so they take my words, misinterpret them and try to make it seem that I’m a bigot.”

Ben Carson

Last night I got home just in time to catch the news about one more thing that came out of the mouth of Chris Matthews regarding race.  You see Matthews is the arbiter of all things that might be considered “racial”, including “dog whistles” and  other things of such a sensitive nature.  As you know he also is famous for a number of accomplishments including the famous statement:  “I have to tell you, you know, it’s part of reporting this case, this election, the feeling most people get when they hear Barack Obama’s speech. My, I felt this thrill going up my leg. I mean, I don’t have that too often.” 

Well, now the loathsome Chris Matthews , newsman , has redefined the concept of a racist by saying:  “Only Whites Can Be Racists.”

 

 

 OK , he might well be speaking of WHITE DEMOCRATS with his “slip of the tongue” as is evidenced here:

>Bill Maher: Herman Cain ‘Likes Working With Fox Team, Particularly Some Of Them Fine-Ass White Women’

>Lyndon B. Johnson to two governors on Air Force One according Ronald Kessler’s Book, “Inside The White House” “I’ll have those n*ggers voting Democratic for the next 200 years.”

>Fritz Hollings (D, S.C.) Blacks and Hispanics are “too busy eating watermelons and tacos” to learn how to read and write.” — Mike Wallace, CBS News. Source: Newsmax “You’d find these potentates from down in Africa, you know, rather than eating each other, they’d just come up and get a good square meal in Geneva.”

>Senate majority leader Harry Reid said Obama had a chance of winning because he  was both “light-skinned” and didn’t speak with a “negro dialect.”

>Left-wing radio host Neil Rogers “Is you their black-haired answer-mammy who be smart? Does they like how you shine their shoes, Condoleezza? Or the way you wash and park the whitey’s cars?”

>Roger Clinton, the President’s brother on audiotape Some junior high n*gger kicked Steve’s ass while he was trying to help his brothers out; junior high or sophomore in high school. Whatever it was, Steve had the n*gger down. However it was, it was Steve’s fault. He had the n*gger down, he let him up. The n*gger blindsided him.”

>While in front of a mostly black crowd,  Joe Biden evoked the memory of slavery in an attempt to scare black voters into voting for Barack Obama when he stated that Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan wanted to put “y’all back in chains.” Clearly a racially insensitive remark and despite the spin put on the comment by Barack Obama this was not simply a gaffe or “Joe being Joe,” this was a deliberate attempt to paint the Romney ticket as racist.

>The liberal media expressed no outrage and not one word of condemnation was uttered by any Democrat after SEIU (Service Employees International Union) thugs attacked Kenneth Gladney, a black man.  Gladney was beaten, kicked and called a racist name while working as a vendor at a health care reform town hall meeting in St. Louis on August 6, 2009 called by U.S. Rep. Democrat Russ Carnahan.   

>The assault was called  a calculated attempt to intimidate and silence Tea Party protestors and town hall activists.  On the morning of the Gladney attack, the White House presented to Senate Democrats a “battle plan” to quell the protests.  The advice given to the Democrats by the White House was to "punch back twice as hard", and the first casualty was Kenneth Gladney.  In the emergency room of the St. John's Mercy Medical Center, Gladney was treated for injuries to his knee, back, elbow, shoulder and face suffered in the attack.   

>On the left-wing Internet website called "The News Blog," Democrats posted a doctored photograph of RNC Chairman Michael Steele while he was the Lt. Governor of Maryland and running for a Senate seat. Democrats depicted Steele as a "Simple Sambo" with a blackened minstrel-style face, nappy hair and big, think red lips. The cartoon caption read: "Simple Sambo wants to move to the big house". This contemptible racist stereotype is the same one Democrats used to demean black men during the era of slavery and segregation.

So, if the definition of a “racist” is a “person with a prejudiced belief that one race is superior to others.”  Yep, I agree with Chris Matthews, white liberals ARE  racists and he is the leader of the group.

 

 

 

 

The Adoption Frontier

Madonna did it. Angelina Jolie did it. So did Emma Thompson and Mary-Louise Parker. And in a society where celebrities are seen as cultural leaders, a lot of their fans are doing it too.  But this trend has nothing to do with hair-styles, name brands or fashion statements. Each of these famous women has adopted a child from Africa.  And if the newspapers are correct, the latest to join the group will be Chelsea Clinton.

Not to trivialize the situation, despite ongoing development, sub-Saharan Africa is a dangerous place in which to be born.  Children under 5, whose vital organs have not reached maturity, are most susceptible to malnutrition and malaria, two of the region's most common afflictions according to the World Health Organization. 

African children are also most likely to be double-orphaned than children in any other region on earth.  Ethiopia in particular has become one of the most popular sources for adopted children, ranking second worldwide behind China.

The story is that after nearly three years of unsuccessfully trying to get pregnant and facing some pressure from Bill Clinton, who wants to be a grandfather, 33-year-old Chelsea Clinton and her husband, 35-year-old Marc Mezvinsky, have decided upon adoption. No big deal -- except instead of finding an unwanted white American baby or child, they're considering adopting a designer African baby. Chelsea reportedly warmed up to the idea during a recent trip to Africa.

Although popular with celebrities, adoption from countries within Africa tends to be expensive and complicated for your average citizen.  Africa seems to be ill-equipped in law, policy and practice, to provide its children with enough safeguards when they are adopted internationally.  In addition there are many children of color, if that is your choice available in the United States.

 

Families being torn apart by drug use, poverty, homelessness and even death. At any given moment there are 500,000 children in foster care across the United States with 26% being African American according to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2010 statistics.

 

Read more at http://madamenoire.com/68838/unraveling-the-black-adoption-myths-in-america/#48g220lRWbBBqRsU.99

Here are some numbers culled by Love Isn’t Enough that represent online profiles of adoptive families and what races they are open to adopting:

88% would ‘accept’ a White baby

33% would ‘accept’ a South American or Hispanic baby
28% would ‘accept’ an Asian baby
14% would ‘accept’ a Black baby

This is true of international adoption as well. Only 7% of internationally adopting parents adopt black children, with most prospective adoptive parents preferring to adopt a child of Asian or Eastern European descent.

 

 

Anyone who is seriously considering adoption will likely be informed that waiting for a white infant will take 2+ years, because there are so many prospective adoptive parents unwilling to adoptive a child of color. On the other hand, in most states there are black children waiting for families.

 

For a healthy US-born Black or bi-racial (Caucasian/African-American) infant the estimated wait is approximately 2 to 6 months in some places.

The Rockefeller Republicans

Rockefeller Republican (often termed "moderate Republican") refers to a faction of the United States Republican Party who hold moderate to liberal views on some issues similar to those of Nelson Rockefeller. The term largely fell out of use by the end of the twentieth century, and has been replaced by the terms "moderate Republican"[citation needed] and, pejoratively, "RINO" (Republican In Name Only). 

Modern Rockefeller Republicans are typically center-right, reject far-right policies, and are often, but not necessarily, culturally liberal. Many espouse government and private investments in environmentalism, healthcare and higher education as necessities for the nation's growth, in the tradition of Nelson Rockefeller, Alexander Hamilton and Theodore Roosevelt.

Romney is the son of George Romney, a liberal, Rockefeller-style Republican and Michigan governor who in 1968 posed a serious threat to Richard Nixon's quest for the Republican presidential nomination until Romney famously said that the reason he'd initially supported the war in Vietnam (by then he opposed it) was that he'd allowed American generals to "brainwash" him.  The rueful "brainwash" crack finished George Romney off.  

Mitt Romney, while appearing to be conservative, was really a classic Rockefeller Republican.  It was assumed that most of the demographics he lost --- female, young, Hispanic, Asian, Black, low income etc. was because he was too conservative.  The reality is that he lost the traditional conservatives as well.  A lot of them stayed home.  Romney actually got fewer votes than McCain(!) 
 http://www.newrepublic.com/blog/timothy-noah/98542/rockys-ghost#

It is said that Rockefeller Republicans despise conservative Republicans. They never wanted either Goldwater or Reagan to win the nomination. They backed Bush(41) and forced Reagan to make him his VP in a compromise before they’d support him. 

Rockefeller Republicans would like nothing better than to oust evangelicals, tea party, conservatives, etc from the GOP. But they can’t. Because without those groups they would not  have enough votes to get their politicians elected.

Support for the Republican Party is down, but the number of people who call themselves conservative is holding steady. They face the same old choice-not-an-echo battle: grassroots conservative Republicans versus the liberal, globalist establishment RINOs (Republicans in Name Only).  

Chairman Reince Priebus's 97-page political opus an "autopsy," was written primarily by party establishment with little or no input from conservatives or the Tea Party.  The truth is, they thought they won the last election by a "land-slide" as Dick Morris was fond of saying.  

The outreach now, according to the autopsy is for Hispanics.  Unfortunately, we lost every sector of the Hispanic vote last time around and in a BIG way.  Yep, you got it --- the goal will be to attract Hispanic voters who might break for the Democrats.  

So, why not look closer to home and harvest the conservative vote?  
Might not be "Rockefeller" but a vote is a vote and this one might be easier to get!

The Easter Sermon at St. John's Episcopal Church

“Luis Leon of St. John’s Episcopal Church, across the street from the White House, began his sermon by quoting from John 20:1-8, noting that when Jesus rose from the dead, He told Mary Magadalene not to hold onto Him. He then made the comparison to the religious right, stating that it is wrongfully holding onto old ways of thinking regarding homosexuality, women’s equality and racial issues.

“It drives me crazy when the captains of the religious right are always calling us back . . . for blacks to be back in the back of the bus . . . for women to be back in the kitchen . . . for immigrants to be back on their side of the border,” Leon declared to those gathered.” Washington Post

So now Jesus rose from the dead for homosexuality, women's issues and racial issues. And to rebuke “religious” right. This is a new one on me. And not to mention He rose from the dead to prevent Luis Leon from going crazy. Not only that, Leon was also obliged to re-write Mary Magadalene's role in the whole story. Talk about “loose” interpretation ---- this interpretation is ”loooooooooooose”.

I can almost hear Mary saying “where did you get that?”

So, where did Luis Leon get this story? John 20:17 is a verse in the Gospel of John in the New Testament. It contains Jesus' response to Mary Magdalene right after he confronts her just outside his tomb after his resurrection. According to the longer ending of Mark's Gospel (Mark 16:9) Mary Magdalene is the first person to whom Jesus shows himself alive after his resurrection.

In the King James Version of the Bible the text reads:

Jesus saith to her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended

to my Father; but go to my brethren, and say to them,

I ascend to my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God.

The World English Bible translates the passage as:

Jesus said to her, "Don't hold me, for I haven't yet ascended

to my Father; but go to my brothers, and tell them, 'I am

ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'"

An important issue is why Jesus prevents Mary from touching or holding him. In Latin this phrase is translated as noli me tangere . Wikipedia

Theologists are still debating on what he meant exactly. Perhaps, He doesn't want her to hold onto the flesh, or sins of the flesh. Perhaps He is alluding to something higher, something much more everlasting than sins, gratification of the flesh and the physical or impermanent world. Perhaps you can give me your thoughts on this matter.

I am not a theologist, in fact I left the Episcopalian church some years ago for reasons that I will keep to myself. My first confirmation was performed in the Episcopalian church and I remember something quite different than this angry, divisive, inaccurate and ugly message. It was certainly not an uplifting message of hope and renewal – and confirmed my correct decision, if this is the new representation of the denomination.

So, as in Matthew 7:15

“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.

What do you think?

Our American Culture

The "Elite Uncle Tom" Club

This morning I opened up my email to discover that Dr. Ben Carson was now officially a member of the elite "Uncle Tom's Club".  My, my, my ...... the more things change, the more they stay the same.  Any person of color growing up in the United States or anywhere, for that matter knows what the negative term "Uncle Tom" means.  Simply that you have "sold out".  So Dr.  Carson who went from being a poor student to receiving honors and he eventually attended medical school. As a doctor, he became the Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital at age 33, and became famous for his ground-breaking work separating conjoined twins, among so many other accomplishments is being referred to as a "sell out".

So, step back for a moment, remove all emotion and take a look at this rationally.  Precisely what did he "sell out"?  Here are the facts and statistics:

As the chart above shows. the unemployment rate  for blacks remains consistently higher than unemployment for whites.  I might add that this is consistent against Hispanics and Asians as well. 
This trend is not a new one, as the black unemployment rate has been roughly double that of whites since the government started tracking the figures in 1972. (Money Magazine)

Further:

When we look at the graduation rate from high school published in 2013:  Among racial/ethnic groups, Asian/Pacific Islander students had the highest graduation rate at 93.5 percent. The rates for other groups were 83.0 percent for White students, 71.4 percent for Hispanic students, 69.1 percent for American Indian/Alaska Native students, and 66.1 percent for Black Students.
 http://politic365.com/2013/01/29/report-black-high-school-graduation-rates-lowest-in-country/

Further:

The incarceration rate for American-Americans is so high that young black men without a high school diploma are more likely to go to jail than to find a job, thereby causing the breakup of families and instilling further poverty upon them.

The incarceration rate for African-Americans is about 3,074 per 100,000 residents, which is more than six times as high as the national average. Black men in their 20s and early 30s without a high school diploma are particularly vulnerable: with an incarceration rate of 40 percent, they are more likely to end up behind bars than in the workforce, Pew Charitable Trusts reports.  Roughly 25 percent of African-Americans who grew up in the past three decades have had at least one parent locked up during their childhood, according to Project Muse.
http://rt.com/usa/incarceration-african-black-prison-606/

And Still Further:

Today, 72 percent of black children, 53 percent of Hispanic children and 36 percent of white children are born outside of marriage. The decline in marriage and the rise in illegitimacy are prime factors in crime, poverty and social decay.   There are many reasons for the high percentage of black children either born into a single parent household or growing up without a father figure:  Black women significantly outperform black men in high school and college. As a result, the black middle class is disproportionately female and the black poor are disproportionately male, and the gap is widening.

 Extraordinary rates of incarceration for black men, and the long-term effects of a prison record on employment, exacerbate this situation. Banks refers to studies indicating that “in evaluating potential mates, economic stability still matters more for African-Americans than for other groups.” Yet they may never find that security, and therefore never marry.  http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/18/books/review/is-marriage-for-white-people-by-ralph-richard-banks-book-review.html?pagewanted=all

This small article could not possibly cover all of the issues at large in the Black community, however, I am sure you get the picture.  Aspirational figures within the Black community are constantly having to fight off their de-legitimization by other races  as well as our own people.

In a video clip from The Cycle on MSNBC, show host Touré, who is black, ripped into Dr. Carson for playing the GOP's new black friend last weekend and noted that he was only being used by the party to assuage their guilt.
"When you're publicly admitting that your party doesn't care enough about black America, then it's time for a new black friend. Enter Dr. Ben Carson whose been embraced recently because he is smart and helpful in assuaging their guilt," said Touré.

Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/im-no-uncle-tom-says-dr-benjamin-carson-92753/#36wHJaTGwpABi5m3.99

The real loser in the whole ball of wax will be Black young men.  Think of a bright young Black boy starting school, working hard and digesting the story line that if you happen to become a successful neurosurgeon, financially sound, married and committed to the one wife as well as your children --- who themselves are successful --- you will be a "sell out".  "That life" is too good for you, it is BETTER to be "legit" (if you can't play ball, sing, or dance) by falling into one of the more inferior categories set out for you.....  And by the way, while you are at it, NEVER  be a conservative....  Then you will be one of the "good" --- not the bad old "Uncle Tom".  The shackles are still tight. 

Never has so little been expected of one race of people.