#1619Gate Part Five
This feature is the latest installment of the chamblee54 report on the antics of Nikole Hannah-Jones. (One Two Three Four) Part Four is about a speech given on Monday by Mrs. Hannah-Jones, and will help the reader understand this segment. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress.
@nhannahjones “Y’all are really scraping the barrel on the Nikole Hannah-Jones beat. Pray anyone ever cares as much about what you do and say as y’all seem to care about me.” The tweet has a screen shot of a tweet from @campusreform, promoting an article: Hannah-Jones brags about tricking audience into thinking MLK quotes were her words. The Hannah-Jones tweet had the effect of directing people to more information about her MLK day speech. If she does not want people to care about the event, why does she keep tweeting about it?
The campus reform article links to another article, Hannah-Jones as MLK Day speaker sows dissention at Union League Club of Chicago This article is dated January 7, 2022. Why do google searches not readily show this article?
Chicago City Wire quotes two people who wrote emails questioning the appearance by Mrs. Hannah-Jones. Brian Daley focuses on historic issues with The 1619 Project. Chris Robling looks at the message presented by Mrs. Hannah-Jones. To him, this message is not consistent with the message of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Chambee54 will not consider the overall message of Dr. King, and whether this legacy is honored by Mrs. Hannah-Jones. The reader is invited to look at the article, the work of Mrs. Hannah-Jones, and the work of Dr. King. You can decide for yourself.
Mr. Robling makes another point. “I understand Ms. Hannah-Jones is being paid. Generally, the club does not pay speakers, so her fee is being met privately. But it is offensive to me, as a member, that other members may ‘rent’ the lectern for their viewpoint to be draped with the club’s stature, when club practice would otherwise preclude the event. It’s a noxious precedent.” The reported fee for a speech at UW-Madison is $55,000.00. This is a nice payday for someone who says “… The evils of capitalism are as real as the evils of militarism and racism …”
“When the speech was over, Father Pfleger, who had been been cheering me on from the crowd, whispered in my ear: That’s what you call the “You Gone Learn Today” speech and I 💀. Because, yeah.” Father Pfleger first came into the public eye after some obnoxious comments about Hillary Clinton. “I’m Bill’s wife I’m white and this is mine … and then out of nowhere came hey I’m Barack Obama and she said damn where did you come from I’m white I’m entitled … she wasn’t the only one crying there was a whole lotta white people crying.” The remarks … which really need to be seen to be fully appreciated … were made in a church. The congregation enjoyed them enormously.
War Letters
In the winter of 2003, it was obvious that America was going to war. Congress had voted approval, the modern version of a declaration of war. The troops, and supplies, were on the borders of Iraq, waiting for the order to go in.
PG felt the need to make a statement. There was no illusion that it would affect the overall decision to invade Iraq. However, PG wanted to go on record as being opposed to the folly to come.
It was a low risk act. In America, we have freedom of expression. This does not mean that the powers that be listen to the people. The only expression that matters is by people who pay the authorities. The people can say anything, but nobody in charge listens.
There were three representatives in Congress to contact. The two Senators were Saxby Chambliss and Zell Miller. The 4th district was represented in the House of Representatives by Denise Majette. She was new to Congress, having defeated Cynthia McKinney in the 2002 election.
The area that PG lives in is gerrymandered into different districts every ten years by the Georgia legislature. Today, PG is in the 6th district, represented by Democrat Lucy McBath.
The letters are lost in hard drive crash fog. It started out with the phrase “you were elected to represent me.” Apparently, this left Zell Miller out. He has been appointed to finish the term of Paul Coverdell. Democrat Zell Miller was appointed by Democrat Governor Roy Barnes to complete the term of Republican Paul Coverdell. After this, Zell Miller gave the keynote address at the 2004 Republican Convention. This is what Georgia has come to expect from Zig Zag Zell.
The anti war letter was not great writing. It basically said that the invasion of Iraq was not a good idea. The letter did not address the tax cut. In a bizarre move, Congress approved a tax cut, with an economically ruinous war on the horizon.
The responses to the letter are attached here. Denise Majette gave a thoughtful reply. She did not say “I agree with you” in so many words, but it is clear she is not gung ho about killing Iraqis. Miss Majette said, and PG agrees, that once the war begins, the debate should cease.
Saxby Chambliss sent two replies. Both talked about how well the war was going, and how wonderful it was to be killing people in Iraq. It is a good question whether his staff read the original letter from PG, which opposed the war.
In the 2004 election, Denise Majette ran for the Senate. Zell Miller chose to retire, and his seat was up for grabs. Republican Johnny Isakson won the Senate seat. Cynthia McKinney made a comeback, and won the fourth district House seat.
Saxby Chambliss was re-elected in 2008, and retired in 2014. The conflict in Iraq continues to this day. It is a disaster. The withdrawal of American combat troops did not end the civil war. Currently, Iraq is the scene for combat operations from the Islamic State military force.
The financial burden of the war has been immense. The military depends on contractors for many basic services, at increased cost to the Asian war financiers. The National debt has been increasing by a trillion dollars a year. Revenge for nine eleven, directed at a marginally responsible country, has been horribly expensive. Pictures for today’s entertainment message are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”. This is a repost.
#1619Gate Part Four
@nhannahjones “I was invited to give an MLK speech today and a small number of members of the group hosting me wrote and then leaked emails opposing my giving this speech, as it dishonored Dr. King for me to do so. They called me a “discredited activist” “unworthy of such association with King”” “So, I scrapped my original speech and spent the entire first half of it reading excerpts from a bunch of Dr. King’s speeches, but without telling anyone that I was doing so, leading the audience to think King’s words were mine. And, whew, chile, it was AMAZING.” … “Oh, the uncomfortable silence as I read Dr. King’s words at a commemoration of Dr. King’s life when people had no idea that these were his words. When I revealed that everything I said to that point was taken from his speeches between ’56 and 67… Can you say SHOOK!”
Nikole Hannah-Jones is up to her orange-haired mischief. A twitter thread details her latest adventure. The adoring media heaps uncritical praise on her antics.
At least one person did ask where the speech was given. @nhannahjones Replying to @BlueCrew2018 “NO! That’s next week. And I intentionally did not say whom because my hosts were very gracious.” The “next week” reference is probably Northwestern University. UPDATE: The MLK Day speech was given at Union League Club of Chicago.
Mrs. Hannah-Jones is also speaking at UW-Madison. “The speaker’s fee to bring Hannah-Jones to campus is $55,000, which is on par with past speakers for this event, McGlone said. Gift funds will be used to pay the speaker’s fee.” Another appearance will be at University of Colorado Boulder. Between speeches, Mrs. Hannah-Jones is a tenured professor at Howard University.
A search on youtube does not turn up the speech. This search did reveal two fun items. A robot voice describes Mrs. Hannah-Jones as the “author of the best selling book, the one thousand six hundred nineteen project.” Another video announces “Activist Ida B. Wells gets her own Barbie lookalike”.
Somebody needs to question this. Who, outside of nit-picky historians, is publicly calling Mrs. Hannah-Jones a “discredited activist”? Even if those leaked emails exist, how does that justify the cheap stunt Mrs. Hannah-Jones is boasting about? Presenting the words of Dr. King as your own, and then bragging about it on twitter, does not honor the legacy of the civil rights leader. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. More #1619Gate episodes are available. One Two Three Five
Examine Your Whiteness
Is the Owner of Popular Atlanta Drag Bar a Racist? This article started the current controversy. A “former employee” of Burkhart’s sent some screen shots to a local publication. The shots allegedly came from the facebook page of the bar’s owner, Palmer Marsh. The first post that you saw said “Obviously Vladimir Putin thinks that Barack Obama is a stupid (magic word). He just might be right.” The pearl clutching started immediately.
PG noted that the screen shot did not have a date or time. Three other shots were shown in the initial presentation. None of the other comments had a fraction of the offensive power of the Putin comment. The showpiece comment was suspect.
If you are going to have a public controversy about someone’s racial values, you need something strong to get people’s attention. Stories about poorly treated employees or customers will not do this. Facebook comments like “I used to think that NYC was the most intimidating place on Earth. Thanks to Mayor Rudy Giuliani … ” do not have the explosive power of the magic word. If you do not have the comment about Putin, you do not have a controversy. The ex-employee does not get their revenge.
For all the talk about institutional oppression, the public debate on racism remains very shallow. Style rules over substance any day. If you talk about economic equality, equal housing, or access to education, the audience will ignore you. Talk about police brutality, and mass incarceration, will get you a bit more attention. Palmergate is none of these things. It is about an old man, who owns a popular business, saying things on facebook that people do not like. The most spectacular of these comments is impossible to prove or disprove.
A few days later, there was another facebook thread about the comment. PG noted “Did anyone see the Obama/n-word post when it first appeared? What was the time and date? Is there a cached copy available? Do you realize how easy it would be to fake that screen shot? If an incendiary post like that appeared, why wasn’t it noticed at the time?” There was a vigorous reaction.
“this is racist apologist trash. there could be video of him typing the words in and y’all would still be like “that could be someone in prosthetics and a wig. you don’t know for sure!” ~ “Here’s a screenshot of a screenshot posted closer to the original occurrence. Is it so hard to believe that an older white man is racist?” ~ “This is on Palmer Marsh’s FB page now. You can go take a look yourself if you think I’m faking it. Doesn’t necessarily mention the racism, but is a good indicator:” ~ ‘This is also still on his FB wall. Go take a look yourself if you think someone is faking it:” ~ “And someone calling out his racism in 2013. Also on his wall. Go scroll down and look:” ~ “Do you need more? I’m happy to keep scrolling if you’re too lazy/afraid to confirm the truth yourself” ~ “alleged” I can’t with you. Look at my posts. I advise you do some research before making a public comment that makes you look like a racist apologist. I’m out.”
There are arguably racist comments on Mr. Marsh’s facebook page. (“Here in Brunswick, GA there is a billboard that reads, “Blue lives matter.” Indeed!”) Mr. Marsh went on a bit of a facebook binge sometime in 2015, and said all sorts of things. ( “I have been drinking so much liquor that I do not know what I have been saying. My apologies to those of whom I have offended. Now would probably be a good time to shut the blank up.”) However, none of these comments are evidence that he made the Putin post. They are not nearly as explosive, or overtly racist. They don’t have the same tone as the Putin comment. Also, how many people were talking about Vladimir Putin in 2015? It just does not add up.
It should be noted that there is a possibility that the Putin quote is legitimate. There are rumors that Mary Marsh, the wife of Palmer, “basically confirmed by making a status the other day saying Palmer was drunk and that she gave him hell at the time.” (PG has not seen this comment.) However, showing far less offensive posts, from the same account, is not convincing evidence.
“Do yourself and the POC in your life a favor and Examine. Your. Whiteness. Examine why its so hard to believe an old white man said the n word. Examine why you are so invested in defending a man who by all accounts was an outspoken racist. Examine why you are calling this so deeply into question.” Logic is not always a facebook friend.
After a while, PG took a break from the action. When he got back, he decided to look for cached copies. It seems that the Internet Wayback Machine does not have copies of this facebook account. The Putin post remains impossible to prove, or disprove.
Palmer Marsh on facebook is up. What has not been deleted is easy to look through. Some of the comments are still up. Some posts are arguably racist. (“If the South had won, we would be a hell of a lot better off.”) There are also some comments that contradict the racist narrative.
“Because of love, part of my heritage is West African. Some tings you cannot change. I treasure my heritage.” “I am from McIntosh County Georgia. The first dialect of English that I spoke was Gullah-Gitchee. It was a fantastic beginning as I have a perspective of the Third World that few Anglo-Americans understand. Now I feel more at home in the Bahamas than I feel at Home. I like turning back the clock.”
For those who are new here, Gullah-Gitchee is a dialect used mostly by African Americans. Does this sound like something a racist would say?
The truth is a bit more complicated. Palmer Marsh has posted some things that rub liberal fee fees the wrong way. A man from the Georgia coast, who has been around black people all his life, probably has some complicated feelings about this whole racism thing. Not everyone falls into the racist/woke binary. If we are going to have a public debate, on the statement Resolved: Palmer Marsh is a racist, the we should do a better job of examining the evidence. Don’t just accept a screen shot from a former employee. Maybe it is none of your business.
There have been some new developments in the Burkhart’s melodrama since Examine Your Whiteness was published. For those who are new here, a facebook screen shot appeared, showing the owner of a popular Atlanta bar saying the magic word. A community hissy fit followed. The drag queens who performed at the establishment quit. PG questioned the validity of the screen shot. Global warming got worse, Atlanta traffic slowed down, and Donald Trump got a haircut. It was a bad week.
Someone finally talked to Palmer Marsh, the bar owner with a facebook habit. Yes, he did say the magic word on facebook. He took the post down soon after, but not before a cunning employee got a screen shot. The evidence would prove handy.
Mr. Marsh made another noteworthy comment. “Marsh says his son-in-law is black, as are several of his own grandchildren.” This puts a new spin on the old saying… I can’t be racist, some of my best grandchildren are black. The people upset about the facebook post were not impressed. Don’t confuse me with the facts, the man is a racist, because I said so. The issue remains unresolved, as well as the issue of why anyone should care.
Racist is the one of worst things you can say about anyone. It is also tossed around casually, with no proof, or thought, required. Once accused, you are guilty until proven innocent. If you defend someone accused of racism, you are considered racist yourself.
Racism is not an either/or binary. Many people have conflicting feelings on the matter. While the facebook post is apparently valid, what is in Palmer Marsh’s heart remains a mystery to most observers. Maybe he is a racist, and maybe he is not.
Why does a person need to be politically correct to own a queer bar? Historically, bar owners have been shady characters, who settled disputes with contract killing, and convenient fires. The business revolves around selling alcohol, a deadly, addictive, legal drug. People often misbehave under the influence, and the bar will use brute force to resolve the issue. Enemies are made. It is a tough, dirty business. And now we are supposed to shun an bar owner, because he used the magic word one time on facebook. (Full disclosure: PG is a retired drunk. He has been sober since 1988.)
Anti racism can be highly superficial. Lip service is paid to high minded definitions of racism: “Rather, according to the newly uncovered formula, racism = prejudice + power (or “prejudice + privilege” in some trendier renditions). White people are the ones with all the power and privilege here, so, per the formula, they cannot possibly be the objects of racism.”
That is good in theory, but boring in practice. When there is a racism controversy these days, it is frequently because someone said the magic word. (One exception is when the police kill someone.) Honest to G-d oppression is boring, and will not get attention. Catching someone saying the magic word gets attention. The ex-employee, who leaked the screen shot, wanted attention.
The other development is the sale of the bar. Supposedly, a group was planning to buy Burkhart’s. This group included the General Manager, Don Hunnewell, who gave a statement soon after the original screen shot emerged. “Yesterday it took everything I had to soldier on and not terminate my employment agreement.” A few days later, he was part of a group trying to buy the bar.
You might ask, how does a complicated sale like that happen so quickly? The answer is, it doesn’t. The owner of The Jungle, a now closed cha cha palace, is said to have made an offer. The Jungle got in SJW trouble a few years ago for hosting a performance by Sharon Needles. For the foreseeable future, Palmer and Mary Marsh own Burkhart’s.
An ex-employee had a problem with the club. Ex-employee leaked the screen shot to the press, and the fun started. Now, there are three possible motives for the ex-employee. 1 – Someone was offended by racism at the club, and wanted to call attention to it. 2- Release of the screen shot is somehow connected to a sale of the bar. It is not known if the ex-employee was part of the group that was going to buy the club. 3 – The ex employee had a problem with the club, and wanted to get revenge. Number 3 is the most likely, although all are possible. All things are possible in a world without G-d.
Where does this put the performers who quit, and the pearl clutching public? If this is motivated by sincere concern for racism at Burkhart’s, then people are entitled to the self congratulation. OTOH, if this whole mudbath is just part of the proposed sale, or a shot at revenge by an embittered ex-employee, the the pearl clutchers are being played.
Pictures are from The Library of Congress. Part one and part two are reposts. Part three is boring.
Conversations I Am Tired Of Having
There was a post a while back, 10 Conversations On Racism I’m Sick Of Having With White People The original started at The Chronicle, but LiveJournal is kind of weird, so a mirror image will have to do. There are comments, at the sourced post, that illustrate some of the points covered today.
I got to thinking about “10 Conversations”, and a reply began to take shape. I started a list of conversations the I am tired of having, and before you could say toxic masculinity, there were a dozen items. Many of these incidents have involved people of color, or POC. Many others have not. Often, the ethnicity of the other person has little importance to the discussion. Therefore, the title of this feature will not be racially specific. This monolog will probably not go viral, or even bacterial. Washing your hands might be a good idea when you are finished reading.
Meetings where one person does all the talking The word conversation implies that more than one person says something. Often, this does not happen. One person will talk for a while. Before person two finishes a sentence, person one will interrupt them.
This does not work. When the other person is talking, listen. Don’t be thinking of your clever comeback, but pay attention to what the other person is saying. What the other person says is just as important as what you say.
Listening is not valued in our culture. It is seen as a loss of control, a sign of weakness. It is really a sign of strength. If you are weak, you don’t want to allow the other person to say anything. Have you ever heard anyone boast about the clever things that they say to someone? Of course you have, just like you never hear anyone talk highly about himself because he is a good listener.
My question is not an excuse to make a speech. Some people have an agenda. Whatever you say is an obstacle to the message they want to broadcast. When you ask a question, some people think you are handing them the talking stick, to do whatever they want. When your eyes glaze over, they plow on, in total disregard to your discomfort, and lack of comprehension. It is almost as if they are talking to hear the sound of their own voice.
I’m not talking to you. If you are screaming something, anyone with earshot can hear you. Do not get offended if there is a reaction to your words, especially if it is subtly directed at the person you are not talking to. This applies to the internet as well, where all of humanity is *privy* to your innermost thoughts. Keep the farmyard meaning of *privy* in mind when sharing your innermost product.
Conversations should be with people. If you are a business, and you want to tell me something, send me a written message. Please refrain from using robocall machines. I feel very foolish talking to a machine, especially one that doesn’t understand southern english.
You don’t have to shout. The amount of truth in a statement is not increased by the volume of expression. If you are standing next to me, the odds are I can hear you in a normal tone of voice. If you are across the room, come stand next to me, rather than shout across the room. If your normal tone of voice is shouting, then you have a problem.
The same principle goes to controlling your temper. When you choose not to control your temper, you show disrespect to yourself, and the person you are talking to. There is no situation that cannot be made worse by angry speech.
Privilege Racial polemic is getting more subtle these days. We are not quite post racial, although there are rumors of a PostRacial apartment community. The phrase that pays these days is Privilege. This is always something owned by the group you do not belong to. Last summer, I heard this quote in a discussion, and nearly fell out of my chair.
This is getting longer than the attention span of many readers. It might be continued at a later date. This is a repost. Pictures are from The Library of Congress.
New Law About Voting
Democrats have proposed a new law about voting access. Grandpa Brandon thinks denouncing “voter suppression” is the way to build support. Unfortunately, the debate has centered around toxic, race-pandering rhetoric. Almost nobody is talking about what the proposed new law would do. A bit of googling turned up a document from Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law. If you get tired of the chamblee54 version, you can go to the original source. Pictures are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library.”
Most of the proposals are the federal government telling states how to run elections. The IANAL masses might wonder if this is constitutional. Another feature of this bill is that the instructions are given to the states. In Georgia, the elections are mostly run by the counties. This did not stop Democrats, or Donald J. Trump, from blaming the Secretary of State for inconvenient election results.
Lets take a look at some of the specific proposals. With regards to early voting, the bill requires the states to offer early voting for a specified time period. No-excuse absentee ballots are subject to a national standard, along with other regulations concerning mail-in voting.
Election Day holiday: “The bill would make Election Day a legal public holiday…” This sounds good in theory, but may be troublesome to many employers. One thing that might help here is to move ED to Monday. Voting on Tuesday is a holdover from days when farmers went to the county seat on a horse. Voting on Monday would make things a bit simpler.
“Voter validation: The bill would promote a national standard for states that have an identification requirement for in-person voting, allowing for the use of a wide range of forms of identification (including electronic copies) and alternative options for voter validation. States that do not impose an identification requirement would not be required to have one.” Voter ID is widely denounced as being racist. If this passage is any indication, Voter ID is here to stay. (In the controversy over Georgia’s SB202, the ID requirement was widely seen as a feature of Jim Crow on steroids. It turns out that SB202 calls for the voter writing their driver’s license/ID number on an absentee ballot application.)
“Cracking down on deceptive and intimidating practices: … It would also establish federal criminal penalties for deceiving voters…” If it was a federal crime to deceive voters, every politician in America would be in prison.
“Voting rights restoration: The bill restores federal voting rights to formerly incarcerated citizens upon their release … removing the vestiges of restrictions born out of Jim Crow.” Kentucky had a law disenfranchising felons in 1792. This was a hundred years before the Jim Crow laws were passed. There are arguments to be made on both sides of this issue. It should not be addressed with misleading racial arguments.
“Countering long lines and related discriminatory practices: The bill creates protections for individuals subjected to excessive lines on Election Day — most often Black and Latino voters — by requiring states to ensure that lines last no longer than 30 minutes …” This is more gratuitous race baiting. While the idea of lines less than 30 minutes is appealing, one wonders exactly how the feds are going to enforce this requirement. Also, since the elections are usually administered by the counties, what are the states supposed to do?
“Requiring paper records and other election infrastructure improvements: The bill requires states to replace old, paperless electronic voting machines with voting systems that provide voter-verified paper records and provides grants for states to purchase more secure voting systems.” Georgia is going to a system with a backup paper ballot. When you cast your vote, a laser printer prints out a sheet of paper with your vote, represented by a QR code. This paper is then fed through a roller into a receptacle. To this uninformed voter, that seems like a lot of moving parts. While the new system MIGHT work in a high volume election, there is a high potential for screw ups. These are Georgia elections we are talking about here.
There are sections of the bill devoted to Campaign Finance Reform, and Gerrymandering. You can look at the Brennan Center document for more information. While the new bill has good intentions, the suspicion here is that the proposals will make things worse. God is in the details.
“The bill would require strong, uniform rules for congressional redistricting, including a ban on partisan gerrymandering and strengthened protections for communities of color.” Gerrymandering is like the weather … everyone has opinions, but relatively few know what they are talking about. If you create a black district, then the districts surrounding it are going to get whiter. If you tinker with the districts to favor one group, another group is going to be unfairly affected. The bill has good intentions, that might not be well thought out. God is in the details.
“Automatic voter registration: The bill would make automatic voter registration (AVR), which 19 states and the District of Columbia have already adopted, the national standard.” In Georgia, when you get a drivers license, you are automatically registered to vote. This eliminates any of the “exact match” issues that Democrats made so much noise about in 2018. The DMV is an exact match operation. Also, paperwork at the DMV is typed. Illegible paper applications were a major reason that registration applications were thrown out in previous elections. Illegible applications were also a problem with the New Georgia Project, a voting registration program directed by Stacey Abrams.
“Same day voter registration: The bill requires states to offer same day voter registration … SDR permits eligible voters to register to vote and cast a ballot in federal elections on the same day.” The sense here is that this is not a good idea. What happens when you move, and want to vote in another precinct? Will your old registration be cancelled? How do the states/counties keep up with all this? Is there a national database, that tells Georgia to cancel your Atlanta registration because you have moved to Alabama? And how are we going to process all of this while people are waiting in line behind you to vote? Once again, SDR might be a good idea, but there are a lot of details to work out.
“Protections against unlawful voter purges: The bill provides safeguards to prevent unlawful, faulty, error-prone methods for purging voter rolls … Further, states would be required to notify within 48 hours any individual removed from the list of eligible voters of their removal, the reasons for their removal, and how they can contest the removal.” In 2018, before voters were removed from the rolls, they were sent a post-card, and asked to reply. If they did not reply, they were removed. Now, if the state could not get in touch with them before, how are they going to reach these voters now? The feds do not always think these things through.
The Narco State Rag
This feature was written July 13, 2010. In the past year, the United States has withdrawn from Afghanistan. Like most of that war, the withdrawal did not go smoothly.
Across the frontier from Afghanistan, the Russian bear is dealing with a heroin epidemic. Some say the United States suckered the Soviet Union into invading Afghanistan in 1979. The disastrous war that followed led to the fall of the Soviet Union. We are still dealing with the karma.
Tom Dispatch has an audio feature about Afghanistan, and the many unanswered questions about our war there. We invaded Afghanistan to get revenge for 911, and looked for a reason later.
At the 3:06 mark on the tape, when Tom makes a comment Afghanistan being a narco state. PG had a flash of understanding about the reason behind this war. This may even have been powerful enough to ignore the reports about a terror strike in September 2001, and let 911 happen.
The rumors of CIA involvement in drug trafficking are wide spread and long term. When planes went to Central America in the eighties to bring arms to the contras, they came back to the United States loaded with cocaine. There are stories of collusion with the government in Cuba. There are many, many more stories about connections between the US government and the drug trade.
When the Taliban took over Afghanistan, they cracked down on the poppy farmers. Much of the raw opium for heroin/morphine/opium is grown in Afghanistan. This was not a pleasing for the CIA.
Could it be that the real reason for our involvement in Afghanistan is to ensure the flow of narcotics into the hungry world? This would be a big cash cow for the CIA, although not enough to justify the amounts of money being spent on the conflict.
Pictures are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library.” TomDispatch is still operating in 2022. @TomDispatch is the twitter version.
Ta-Nehisi Coates On WTF Podcast
Episode 878 of Marc David Maron’s WTF podcast features Ta-Nehisi Paul Coates. Chamblee54 once wrote about a video featuring Mr. Coates. This seems like a good day to listen to the show, and take notes. This is a repost from 2018.
The show starts with TPC and MDM (Is Ta-Nehisi two words?) discussing the business of writing books. The word black is not heard until 28:33 of the show. At 31 minutes in TPC is talking about when he moved to New York, and struggled. He mentions that when you lie to other people, you begin to accept yourself as a liar.
At 53 minutes, TPC is talking about sexual harassment, and how he… a man … could never know what a woman experiences. MDM says that he … a white man … could never know what a black man feels, and how books by TPC made MDM realize this. You get the sense that this is what MDM wanted to talk about all along, and that TPC is tired of talking about race. MDM had the prominent black intellectual on the show, and MDM was going to talk about race, whether PBI wanted to, or not.
At 1:02 pm est, the show is over. PG has more respect for TPC now. Most of the show was about fatherhood, writing, and the struggle to succeed. The expressions whiteness, and white supremacy, were not heard. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. Many of them were edited while listening to this show. The depression was a different era.
More Monroe And Boulevard
A recent facebook discussion covers that old crowd pleaser, why does Monroe Drive turn into Boulevard? The story is that the street name changed because White people live North of Ponce De Leon Avenue, and Black people live south. Chamblee54 has covered this topic before. The information today will be a bit dry. If you want to skip over the text, you can always enjoy the pictures, from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library.”
“The name changes were intentional and rooted directly in racism.” This judgment from Atlanta magazine is a popular opinion. Unfortunately, there are some street name changes that apparently are not racial. In discussions like this, once racism is blamed, the conversation shuts down. Asking any questions, or exploring the possibility of nuance, is considered racist.
The Atlanta magazine article does not really address Monroe/Boulevard. A 1913 measure, the Ashley Ordinance, is brought up, as well as some of the skirmishing in SW Atlanta over integration. None of those items were in play in the Monroe/Boulevard matter.
The opinion of chamblee54 has not changed. It is entirely possible that Monroe/Boulevard was racially motivated. That sounds like something a Georgia government, of a certain era, would do. However, it does not address the other streets. When were the names changed, and by what government? The answers to the last two questions have been elusive. If anyone reading this has any answers, please leave a comment.
In the space between I-85 and Dekalb County, there are four streets that change names when they cross Ponce De Leon Avenue. These are Juniper/Courtland, Charles Allen/Parkway, Monroe/Boulevard, and Briarcliff/Moreland. Several streets cross Ponce without changing names, including Spring, Peachtree, Piedmont, and North Highland. A wikipedia page, List of former Atlanta street names, has some information about the name changes. More information was found in a collection of maps at the GSU library.
It turns out that Juniper/Courtland change names at North Avenue, one block south of Ponce. As early as 1895, those streets have the same names. On old maps, Juniper ends at North, and Courtand starts a quarter-block west. Wikipedia adds this about Courtland: “North Collins Street (for pioneer James Collins — renamed because of South Collins Street’s reputation as a red light district)”
Briarcliff/Moreland has always been a problem for the racism hypothesis. The race change has traditionally been at the railroad tracks, a half mile south of Ponce. Moreland Avenue was originally County Line Road. It was renamed in honor of a Confederate officer, Major Asbury Fletcher Moreland. “He owned quite a bit of land between County Line Road and Pike Road, which is now Euclid Avenue, some of which is now part of the city’s Bass Recreation Center. Ever the businessman, Moreland built rental homes and a park, which featured a pond and animals — appropriately called Moreland Park — that became a summer getaway for city dwellers.”
Briarcliff was originally known as Williams Mill Road. It changed to Briarcliff after Asa Griggs “Buddy” Candler Jr. built a palace at 1260 Briarcliff Road. The house still stands, barely, and served as the GMHI facility for many years. In 1911 and 1917, Briarcliff is known as Williams Mill, before changing into Moreland. In 1925, and maps issued after 1925, the road is shown as Briarcliff.
Charles Allen/Parkway, one block west of Monroe/Boulevard, was originally known as Jackson Street. The road is still known as Jackson Street, south of Highland Avenue. The earliest map to show Jackson is 1895. By 1930 it has been changed to Parkway, ending at Piedmont Park. Charles Allen Drive does not appear until 1959. Charles Allen was the pastor at Grace United Methodist Church.
Wikipedia has this on Boulevard: “Jefferson Street (marked in 1878 map from North Ave. to Foster St. (now Edgewood Ave.) in today’s Old Fourth Ward) – Rolling Mill Street (north of the railroad) from the late 1860s to about 1880, for the Confederate Rolling Mill, which the retreating Confederate army inadvertently destroyed in 1864.”
Wikipedia has a surprise “Monroe Drive (to honor the Monroe Landscaping Company which did extensive plantings in the area)[17]” The footnote links to a Morningside neighborhood newsletter. There is no mention of Monroe Drive in the cited newsletter.
Before going further with Monroe, we should look at a controversy involving the landscaper William Lott Monroe. “1941 (Jan. 25) Monroe’s Landscape & Nursery Co. is removed from Fulton County’s payroll: “…[D]rawn more than $17,000 from the county in the last year and one-half… The company was drawing $500 a month for supervising landscaping of county parks, which was in addition to flowers, shrubs and blueprints sold by it to the county.” (“Nursery Company Is Cut Off Pay Roll.” Atlanta Constitution, Jan. 25, 1941)” In 1941, Mr. Monroe was working on North Fulton Park, later known as Chastain Park. This park was annexed into the City of Atlanta on January 1, 1952.
The first time Boulevard is mentioned on maps is 1895. The first mention of Monroe Drive is 1951, when Monroe starts at Montgomery Ferry. (Before the Northeast Expressway was built, the road ended at Plasters Avenue, north of the present I 85.) It is not until 1959 that Monroe appears immediately north of Ponce De Leon.
These maps were used in researching this feature. 1878 1895 1911 1917 1921 1925 1930 1930 1931 1934 1935 1939 1946 1951 1952 1952 1954 1959 1967
Democrats Do Not Respect The Law
Georgia Democrats do not believe in the orderly rule of law. Three high profile incidents demonstrate this lack of orderly governance. While none of these incidents are on the same level as the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, they all show the same contempt for basic law and order.
In August 2017, progressives held a convention in Atlanta. Democratic candidates for Governor spoke. While Stacey Evans spoke, actors in the crowd disrupted her speech, chanting “trust Black women.” As “author and zen priest” Angel Kyodo Williams says, “This is what democracy looks like.”
Later, the candidate who was allowed to speak, Stacey Abrams, defended shouting down her opponent. “I do not believe that you silence those who feel they are voiceless, because the minute we do that we are no better than those who tell people they can’t kneel in protest.” The DSA, who staged the disruption, is far from voiceless.
As many of you know, Ms. Abrams won the Democratic primary, and came very close to winning the general election. The central issue of the Abrams campaign was voter suppression. While the votes were being counted, some actors decided to have a rally inside the state capitol. State law clearly prohibits disruptive protest inside the capitol. (O.C.G.A. 16-11-34.1 (g)) Like a church, or a court of law, some activity is not acceptable inside the state capitol.
State Sen. Nikema Williams chose to violate this law, and was arrested. She was widely praised for this action, and later elected to the U.S. Congress. Almost no Democrats condemned this illegal protest by Sen. Williams. Many of these same actors routinely call on Republicans to disavow support from anyone deemed unworthy.
Two years later, the legislature passed SB 202. This law regards voting access, and is loudly denounced by Democrats. Many observers see SB 202 as being a mild bill. One provision calls for voters to write their drivers license/state id number on absentee ballot applications. SB 202 has turned into a political disaster, with the racism-happy POTUS calling SB 202 “Jim Crow on steroids.”
The March 25, 2021, bill signing, for SB 202, was a bi-partisan embarrassment. Governor Brian Kemp held the signing at the Capitol, immediately after the bill was passed. This was possibly done to provoke Democrats, who seldom need a reason to behave badly.
State Representative Park Elizabeth Cannon took the bait, and got arrested. She made a scene outside the bill-signing. Rep. Cannon tried to get arrested February 26, but the State Patrol did not comply. Once again, this disruption was widely praised by state Democrats.
Democrats have made great gains in Georgia, and may possibly win the Governor’s office next November. They will face many problems, not least of which is declining respect for law and order. When you look at the lack of respect that Democrats show for Georgia law, you wonder how they are going create respect-for-order in the general population. Pictures today are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library.”
Did The KKK Endorse Donald Trump?
In the last days of the 2016 election, people began to say that Donald Trump was endorsed by the KKK. @DefiantLionUK Don’t forget President-elect Donald #Trump is a hate-filled, #KKK endorsed, #racist & that simply can’t be tolerated #TrumpProtest. @Eti_Verde Vote! American democracy in action! Stop Trump & his white nationalist KKKlan!
The consensus was that DJT was endorsed by the KKK, and that DJT is a racist. Therefore, if you support DJT, you support the KKK, and you are a racist. There is a name for this type of logical fallacy. The net result is the election of DJT.
It is tough to say how much impact this KKK talk had on the election. By November 8, America had been hit over the head with political talk for two years. The various factions tend to live in echo chambers, where they only hear information that reinforces what they already think. People say what sounds good to them. If someone does not agree, then they are a racist. People seem to assume that their neighbor will agree with them, if only you insult them enough.
Google “kkk endorses donald trump.” The top result is in the Washington Post, KKK’s official newspaper supports Donald Trump for president. “It is called the Crusader — and it is one of the most prominent newspapers of the Ku Klux Klan. Under the banner “Make America Great Again,” the entire front page of the paper’s current issue is devoted to a lengthy defense of Trump’s message — an embrace some have labeled a de facto endorsement.”
There is no link to the endorsement. If you google the Crusader, you find this. The Crusader is a tacky little newspaper, headquartered in Harrison, Arkansas. It is “The official Newspaper of The Knights Party.” You get “4 Big Quarterly Issues” for $20. “The Charge on your Credit Card Statement will show up as Christian Books and Things”
The truth is that the Ku Klux Klan is an obsolete movement. There are a few dozen chapters, who often do not get along. The hand wringing by “liberals” empowers the Klan. If people would ignore the Klan, they would go away.
“The KKK is split into many smaller subdivisions, explained (KKK Imperial Wizard Frank) Ancona, and often times, banished members of a larger branch will attempt to start their own. Ancona believes this is the case with Murray, who is not even known to the Traditionalist American Knights. “He basically made up his own name,” Ancona said, explaining that Murray may not even be on his birth certificate…. Half of them don’t have the rituals for our ceremonies.” Frank Ancona died in 2017.
Despite it’s fierce reputation as a “racist terrorist” organization, the KKK is in bad shape. It has less credibility than the Westboro Baptist Church. The custom of wearing bedsheets makes them the easy target for jokes. The Anti-Defamation League and Southern Poverty Law Center say the membership of the KKK is dwindling.
A good argument could be made that anonymous publicity is helping the KKK. It makes bedsheets look dangerous. While the three digital stooges of anonymous/facebook/twitter are focused on bedsheets, more dangerous white (and other color) hate groups are operating in darkness. With people fascinated with who is under the bedsheets, people that can do damage are buying ammunition, and buying elections.
Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. These men were Union soldiers, in the War Between the States. They did not post on facebook. This is a repost from 2016.
Are My Racial Attitudes Your Business?
PG was living his life when see saw something on facebook: “And another thing: if you are going to claim NOT to be racist, I feel like you should familiarize yourself with some contemporary writings and definitions of racism, not just what Mirriam Webster says.” The first reaction was to ignore this. If you reply to a comment about racism on facebook, you are asking for trouble. Life is too short to be wasting time on such unpleasantness.
But the thought engine had been kickstarted, and continued to idle in the background. When PG pulled into the Kroger parking lot, the idea hit full force. Maybe it is none of your business.
Some people say that a PWOC is not affected by racism. If this is the case, then why should the racial attitudes of a PWOC affect another PWOC? If a person treats you fairly, do you really need to know this person’s attitudes about race?
The fbf ex-fbf does not say what the context of this claim is. Did anyone ask you whether or not you were a racist? If not, are you assuming that they are interested? Maybe someone assumed the listener was interested. Maybe the proper response to look bored, and say TMI.
The comment mentioned “contemporary writings and definitions of racism.” Who are the people who set themselves up as arbiters about what we should think about race? What are the qualifications? Who asked them what they thought? How do we know that these people are dependable?.
Maybe the answer is to show compassion and kindness to your neighbor, and don’t worry about their racial attitudes. If you are proud of your racial attitudes, please refrain from boasting. Not everyone is interested. This is a repost. Pictures are from The Library of Congress.
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