Putting The N Back In Twitter
@JoshuaPHilll “Elon Musk: I love free speech!! The free speech:” “Use of N-word on Twitter jumped by almost 500% after Elon Musk’s takeover as trolls test limits on free speech, report says” This message was dutifully retweeted, and showed up in my feed. The bs detector will not quit buzzing. The Washington Post is the source for Business Insider.
WaPo relies on a tweet by Network Contagion Research Institute. @ncri_io “Evidence suggests that bad actors are trying to test the limits on @Twitter. Several posts on 4chan encourage users to amplify derogatory slurs. For example, over the last 12 hours, the use of the n-word has increased nearly 500% from the previous average.” The only documentation offered is a bar graph.
What to make of this? We don’t know who is using the magic word. It might be #BlackTwitter, which is permitted to use America’s favorite naughty word. Does The Washington Post see twitter as competition for ad revenue? Other people might have a motive for bashing Mr. Musk.
@kevinhoff Replying to @BusinessInsider “I bet anything it is manufactured. Tune the bots to post the word over and over and over again. Write a post about it. Blame @elonmusk Continue to turn a blind eye on all diverse communities. Rinse and repeat. I will also bet this will all change once everyone gets verified.” There are plenty of possibilities to consider.
Who is the NCRI? It appears to be a well funded operation, with plenty of A-list clients. Two of the displayed studies deal with COVID: “Russian disinformation campaigns are trying to sow distrust of COVID vaccines, study finds” (Paywall) “QAnon’s corrosive impact on the U.S.” The CBS article has a header ad for Pfizer. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress.
Pass The Popcorn
This is a repost from 2014. PG was editing pictures from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”. Some of these images decorate this post. He had been working on a batch of pictures. It was time to blow through the remaining 200 images, and get them out of the way. Focus on what you are doing, and ignore the distractions.
Sometimes, the old fashioned interruptions intrude. At one point, the telephone rang. The recorded voice of Pat Boone (?) urged PG to vote for David Perdue in the coming election. Did you know that Obamacare is causing cutbacks in Social Security? Did you know that the Republicans think you are a total idiot for believing this nonsense?.
One status provoked 139 comments. PG ran out of popcorn. “White queers should really check themselves when you think it’s okay to show up to a party in blackface. Whether or not you think it’s artsy there is a history of racial oppression that goes with blackface. You’re not being cool, you look foolish, you should edit yourself and check your fucking privilege.”
Someone in New York had a Rocky Horror Show party. A person paid homage to the opening number, which features a pair of lips against a black background. This detail did not come out until 45 comments had hit the innertubes.
It was a lively discussion. PG is a known caucasian. He does not know what it is like to live as a POC. PG does suspect that some incidents do not merit high octane rhetoric. In this virtual town hall meeting, an party costume became a chance to opine about “the relationship between systemic racism and oppression.” So many big words, so little time.
“… epic insensitivity to the experiences People of Color face in our white supremacist society, which is totally uncool, and an example of implicit racism. The fact that Cher would not even consider that painting her face and body could be offensive is blatant proof of her privilege. … To dismiss someone’s comments and to challenge the fact that Cher’s look resembles blackface and could offend someone is the exactly a page from the playbook of white supremacy. The very act of saying this isn’t racist is you forcing your asinine opinion on people. … We can only move forward with open dialogue and not by dismissing people’s feelings.”. … “I mean for real. No shade let’s talk about trauma and white supremacy. … The reality that white supremacy is a constant trauma white folks can choose to pay attention to is real. The fact that “lifetime minority status” for people of color shortens the lifespan is fact. Any ou going to tell my home girl that she is out of line for developing community, decolonizing and coping strategies smash that system girl it’s tired and dying out anyways. I’ll be dat black supremacist for you any day of the week.”
“We can only move forward with open dialogue and not by dismissing people’s feelings.” Holy hypocrisy, Batman. Have you ever tried to offer a non-compliant opinion? Unless you are an emotional masochist, or have very thick skin, *stay in your lane*.
Eventually, PG ran out of steam, and went to sleep. The next morning saw the end of the pictures, while listening to Peggy Caserta talk about Jania Joplin. Miss Caserta wrote a book, Going Down With Janis The opening line: “I was stark naked, stoned out of my mind on heroin, and between my legs giving me head was Janis Joplin.”
UPDATE: This is a repost from October 28, 2014. This whimsical post serves as a time capsule to a simpler, more innocent time. Many of the traumas that have obsessed us in the last eight years … The Trump Presidency, COVID … would have been dismissed as bad fiction in 2014. Meanwhile, seven time zones away, the Euromaidan revolution was going on. It was little noticed in the United States, which was more interested in racist halloween costumes. Ukraine has had severe complications for the world, and might lead to nuclear disaster. Cher’s halloween costume will not be very important when the nuclear fallout falls, or any of the other looming disasters hit.
Stacey Abrams And Raphael Warnock
While not as toxic as the last three major elections, there is plenty of nastiness in 2022. Stacey Abrams (D) will probably lose to Incumbent Governor Brian Kemp (R.) Incumbent Senator Raphael Warnock (D) is favored against Herschel Walker (R.) There is a connection between Abrams and Warnock, dating back to 2014.
In 2014, Ms. Abrams was an ambitious state representative. She led the New Georgia Project, an effort to register minority voters. NGP had some serious issues, and failed to deliver results.
“Interviews with more than a dozen Democratic lawmakers, strategists, staffers, and voter registration activists suggest that something isn’t right with the numbers and the narrative behind the initiative’s massive efforts. … numerous sources, some requesting anonymity due to employment concerns, question how many of NGP’s allegedly missing voter registration applications actually existed. If the applications existed, Abrams raised millions from donors but failed to register 120,000 minority residents as she had pledged. If the unprocessed applications never existed, then Abrams, perhaps in an attempt to distract from her group’s failures, sued an official with a reputation for voter suppression, potentially knowing the case was unlikely to be won …”
“At Abrams’ behest, NGP staffers first met with (Secretary of State Brian) Kemp’s office in early June. During the meeting SOS chief investigator, Chris Harvey, suggested NGP could improve its protocols. … Formal NGP complaints subsided for two months. Around the last month of NGP’s voter registration drive, which ended Sept. 15, six different election registrars filed complaints relating to 29 applications. Kemp’s office received reports detailing forgeries and canvassers telling residents about voter re-registration requirements — both of which are illegal and can artificially inflate new registrant figures. Fulton County Registration Chief Shauna Dozier, whose office didn’t file an NGP complaint, found forms with missing names, missing signatures, and illegible handwriting. … On Aug. 22, NGP leaders briefly met again with the secretary of state’s office, but complaints continued to trickle in from across the state. …”
“Harvey says something had changed, however. He wasn’t just seeing isolated problems in different counties. Multiple reports were emerging out of the same election offices — a sign of a larger problem. “It reached a tipping point in my mind. We got enough complaints from enough counties of confirmed forgeries. This was something that we needed to look at on a much larger level.”
”Rev. Dr. Raphael Warnock, the senior pastor at First Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta and a spokesperson for NGP, said that many people of color in Georgia saw the tactics as part of a long history of voter suppression. “This narrative of voter suppression is one that communities of color understand and understand deeply, and it will backfire on those trying to suppress votes.”
“But there is an aggressive subpoena that, Abrams says, “essentially demands every document we have ever produced.” She calls it a “fishing expedition” meant to “suppress our efforts.” A spokesperson for the New Georgia Project, the Rev. Dr. Raphael Warnock of Ebenezer Baptist Church, was a little more explicit. “I see this move by the secretary of state as the latest effort in voter suppression in the state of Georgia.”
This was eight years ago. Ms. Abrams made Voter Suppression® the central issue of her 2018 run for Governor. Four years later, she is making another bid for Governor, in a different political environment. The unpopular POTUS is a Democrat. Many voters do not believe the rhetoric about Voter Suppression®. The polls are not looking good for Stacey Abrams.
Raphael Warnock is another story. He has been blessed with some of the weakest opposition anyone running for the senate has encountered. In 2020, with an Anti-Christ POTUS, he defeated Kelly Loeffler, aka Senator Barbie. In 2022, Rev. Warnock faces Herschel Walker, in a squalid mudslinging exhibition. This election cannot be over soon enough.
The New Georgia Problem was written in 2015, and is a key source today. This article has many details missing from this post. Pictures today are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library.” The spell check suggestion for Warnock is Warlock.
Expensify
The story was getting attention, not all of it good. “Expensify urges millions of users to vote for Biden in email blast” The company “is the world’s leading application for expense management, receipt scanning, and business travel.” This is a repost from 2020.
@expensify “Yes, we emailed all users.” Apparently, the company has upwards of 10m email addresses on file. The message in question urged users, in very strong terms, to vote for Joe Biden.
“… the only way to ensure a peaceful transition of power is to ensure this election is an overwhelming, undeniable landslide in favor of Biden. Any excuse to question the election is an opportunity for Trump to refuse to leave the White House, plunging this country into a Constitutional crisis bordering on civil war. No matter how slight that risk might be, the consequences of it happening would be so catastrophic to society and the economy, we need to do all we can to prevent it.”
Not everyone is pleased with this email blast. PG felt alienated from the Biden campaign after hearing about this clumsiness. He feels that this message is going to have the effect of turning undecided voters to President Trump. PG has already voted, and is unlikely to be persuaded by this type of nonsense. Others might react differently.
@papawhit210 “Calling on all CEO’s to cancel their subscriptions to @expensify for a serious breach of business ethics by using secure business emails for a personal political agenda. #Expensify” Mixing business and politics has long been frowned upon. This email blast involves the use of email addresses used for business communications. Many see this message as being a violation of trust.
@CSteckroth “I guess the CEO is exempt from abiding by the guidelines set in Expensify’s EULA. This is not integrity, this is abuse of customer data.” This tweet has a photo selection from the Terms of Service. “As part of your use of the Expensify Service, you agree not to do any of the following: … Send any unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, promotional materials, email, junk mail or junk messages, spam, chain letters or other form of solicitation …”
“A vote for Trump is to endorse voter suppression, it really is very basic. This isn’t about party politics: if Biden were advocating for half of the voter suppression that Trump is actively doing, then I’d be fighting against Biden, too. This is bigger than politics as usual: this is about the very foundation of our nation.” Voter suppression is presented as the number one reason to vote against President Trump. This tactic worked very well for Stacey Abrams.
The truth is that elections are locally governed. In Georgia, the majority of election administration is done by the counties. Other states may be different. The federal government has very little impact on the way elections are conducted. President Trump could not suppress the vote, even if he wanted to.
While the email did not mention race, we should note that racism is a key part of voter suppression culture. Calling President Trump a racist is a proud tradition with Democrats. Is warning about civil war a dog whistle, saying that President Trump is a racist?
@KathyGrosskurth “I deleted it without reading. Guess I need to read it to see what all the fuss is about! #Expensify” It is tough to say how much the #ExpensifyEmail will influence the election. Many people have already voted. Many, many more have their mind made up. Pictures today are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”.
UPDATE Expensify is still in business. A google search for Expensify politics does not have any matches for the last week. The Expensify stock price appears to be falling.
Israel And Syria
This is a repost from 2013. There was a feature in the Washington Post, 9 questions about Syria you were too embarrassed to ask. The WP is corporate media. The 9 questions had very little to say about Israel. This is curious. Israel is a powerful country that Syria is, technically, at war with. As conspiracy happy as the Middle East is, you would think there is something to say.
PG decided to do a test. The text of the article was copied into a word document. A search was done for Israel. Out of 2900 words in the article, Israel comes up twice.
The Cold War is long over, and most of the region long ago made peace with Israel and the United States; the Assad regime’s once-solid ideological and geopolitical identity is hopelessly outdated. But Bashar al-Assad, who took power in 2000 when his father died, never bothered to update it.
Iran’s thinking in supporting Assad is more straightforward. It perceives Israel and the United States as existential threats and uses Syria to protect itself, shipping arms through Syria to the Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah and the Gaza-based militant group Hamas.
As is often the case online, the comments are more revealing than the main article.
“You also left out the threat that Iran has made about using nuclear arms against Israel if the US intervenes in Syria. Israel is being used as a pawn in this stupid game of chess.”
“Regarding the chemical weapon attack, only two options appear to be being considered – that it was the Syrian Regime or the Opposition forces that discharged the weapon. What about the third alternative – that an outside force such as Mossad (Israel) or the Iranians discharged these weapons … to provoke the United Sates into retaliation and involvement.”
“… the rebels opposing Assad are not all civilians who took up arms; … most of them are former Syrian soldiers who deserted to join the rebels. And seriously, if you think that “most of the region long ago made peace with Israel and the United States”, you lose all credibility in writing about “the region” – you’re blinded by your love for Israel and don’t understand anything about the Arabs ….
Pictures are from “The Special Collections and Archives,Georgia State University Library”.
Jock Protest
This is a repost from 2016 … In 2014, the St. Louis Rams ran onto the field with their hands over their heads. For an official, it means touchdown. With the Rams, it meant “hands up don’t shoot.”
When Mike Brown was killed in Ferguson MO, witnesses said he had his hands up. Later investigations indicate that “Brown never surrendered with his hands up.” While controversy over Mr. Brown’s death continues, very few people maintain that he had his hands up when he died.
A little over a year later, the St. Louis Rams announced a move to Los Angeles. There are various reasons for the move. It basically comes down to money. The NFL wants a team in Los Angeles. The Rams want to make more money. The hands up gesture became a hands out.
Athletes have traditionally been role models. Their opinions are solicited on a wide range of subjects. Some people question whether the ability to play a game qualifies someone to render these judgements. While football players are entitled to have opinions, the question remains: why should we care? Social justice is not a product endorsement.
Recently Cam Newton gave an interview to GQ magazine. Mr. Newton modeled some clothes, with apparent enthusiasm. Mr. Newton said “I don’t want this to be about race, because it’s not. It’s not. Like, we’re beyond that. As a nation.” It was the social media sensation of the day.
As you may have guessed, this brings us to Colin Kaepernick. He is certainly entitled to his opinion. @Kaepernick7 is a second string quarterback, who has asked to be traded. With his nine figure salary, there is a chance he will be cut from the team. Why is Colin Kaepernick suddenly taken seriously as an authority on race relations?
Most reports on Mr. Kaepernick have a 59 word summary of the comments to NFL media. You have to do a bit of digging to see the full transcript. Google is not a perfect tool. Perhaps someone does not want people to see the complete interview.
Number seven makes a few interesting comments. There are few specific solutions offered. The problem of citizen on citizen killing is not mentioned. Mr. Kaepernick does not come across as a deep thinker. When he is asked how teammates feel about his protest, number seven replies “I hope they stand with me.” Is he sitting down, or standing up?
NFL Media “In your mind have you been pulled over unjustly or had bad experiences?” CK: “Yes, multiple times. I’ve had times where one of my roommates was moving out of the house in college and because we were the only black people in that neighborhood the cops got called and we had guns drawn on us. Came in the house, without knocking, guns drawn on my teammates and roommates. So I have experienced this. People close to me have experienced this. This isn’t something that’s a one-off case here or a one-off case there. This has become habitual. This has become a habit. So this is something that needs to be addressed.”…
NM: “Does the election year have anything to do with timing? CK: It wasn’t a timing thing, it wasn’t something that was planned. But I think the two presidential candidates that we currently have also represent the issues that we have in this country right now.
NM:Do you want to expand on that? CK: You have Hillary who has called black teens or black kids super predators, you have Donald Trump who’s openly racist. We have a presidential candidate who has deleted emails and done things illegally … That doesn’t make sense to me because if that was any other person you’d be in prison. So, what is this country really standing for?
NM: It is a country that has elected a black president twice CK: It has elected a black president but there are also a lot of things that haven’t changed. There are a lot of issues that still haven’t been addressed and that’s something over an eight-year term there’s a lot of those things are hard to change and there’s a lot of those things that he doesn’t necessarily have complete control over.
NM: What would be a success? CK: That’s a tough question because there’s a lot of things that need to change, a lot of different issues that need to be addressed. That’s something that it’s really hard to lock down one specific thing that needs to change currently.”
A Volleyball Controversy
I didn’t pay attention to the latest n-word controversy. Somebody screaming the magic word, at a women’s volleyball match in Utah, did not strike me as important. Why would a North Carolina school send a non-revenue producing team to Utah? Duke spent some major bucks on this match, at a time of rising college costs. That money could be better spent elsewhere.
A few days later, YouTube directed me to a video by Brandon Tatum. Officer Tatum posited the thought that Rachel Richardson … the star of this latest drama … was a liar. This sent me down a rabbit hole, which I am slowly emerging from.
The narrative is well known by now. Andre’ Hutchens put together a thread, which details/documents many of the scenes in this drama. The short version: Rachel Richardson says that she heard someone shouting the magic word. BYU, the home team, sent four ushers into the student section, and had a policeman stand in front of the crowd. None of these people heard the magic word.
After the match, a young man went up to the Duke players, and said something. The Duke team said this was the person who was shouting the magic word. The accused n-word shouter was escorted off the premises, and banned from attending BYU events in the future.
At some point after the match, Miss Richardson made some phone calls. She called her father, who has told his story many times. Somebody … we don’t know if it is father or daughter … called Lesa Pamplin, Miss Richardson’s godmother. In this story, we will call her the devilmother.
“My Goddaughter is the only Black starter for Dukes volleyball team, While playing yesterday, she was called a n****r every time she served. She was threatened by a white male that told her to watch her back going to the team bus. A police officer had to be put by their bench.”
The tweet by devilmother got a lot of national attention. Why did a tweet from a Texas politician get this much attention? Who knows. What is certain is that devilmother does not like white people … she thinks it is clever to say “whypipoe.”
Why did this need to be a national scandal anyway? Lets say it was true. You find the culprit, punish him, and finish playing your match. It does not need to be a toxic sensation. A Utah volleyball fan shouting the magic word is not going to affect economic security, police brutality, or equitable access to housing and education. All it is going to do is get people upset.
“She was threatened by a white male that told her to watch her back going to the team bus.” This part of the drama which has received little scrutiny. The “white male” claimed that he knew some BYU players, and confused the Duke team for the BYU team. Who did he approach? Was it she white or black? What exactly did he say? How did “the Duke team” identify the “white male” as the person shouting the magic word? This part of the story does not add up.
Deseret News obtained a copy of the police report. “BYU Police Det. Sgt. Richard Laursen stood throughout the fourth set next to the man now indefinitely banned from BYU events after Duke players said he used racist language, according to a police report Laursen filed that night. … The officer said the man did not use any negative language toward the Duke players during the fourth set. Laursen also said he didn’t hear any racist language used by any fan during that set, when Duke player Rachel Richardson said the racist slurs intensified. … That’s when he met the young man … the man asked why the officer was there and if there was a problem. … “I told him I was there listening for inappropriate comments toward the Duke players and the fan told me that he hadn’t heard any inappropriate comments. He said he told the players that they shouldn’t hit the ball into the net, but that was the only comment he made to the Duke players.” … The fan, who Laursen said was wearing a dark yellow or almost tan shirt and jeans, said he was friends with four of the BYU players. “He seemed to be more interested in talking to me than cheering for BYU. It was evident based on the individual’s comments, stuttered speech and mannerisms that he has special needs. … he may have (A)sperger syndrome or could have autism. The individual was articulate, but socially awkward. The individual kept scrolling through his phone and didn’t seem too involved in the game.” … “I was told the Duke players and coaches were very upset with what happened during the game and that the racial comments toward the Duke players was still happening during the fourth set that that (sic) I didn’t do anything about the comments being made,” … “I told the (BYU) Athletic staff that I never heard one racial comment being made.”
So the story goes. It is already fading from view. Soon, there will be another “teaching moment.” If you google Rachet Rachel Richardson, you see @mikefreemanNFL doubling down, in an ad hominem spectacular. Corporate media players, eager to report the original accusation, have been silent during the “Jussie phase” of this story. While it is easy to criticize right wing media on most issues, they are getting this story right. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress.
How Donald Trump Could Win
“Michael Moore is afraid and is convinced that Trump will win. Prove him wrong!” The comment supplied a link, Michael Moore Gives 5 Scary Reasons Why Trump Will Win. Against his better judgment, PG made a comment. There was a reply. This is a repost from 2016.
I can offer four more. A Health crisis for Hillary Clinton. Alienating white voters by screaming racist too often. Choosing an idiot as Vice President. An economic meltdown. ~ Number 2 on your list explains everything that is wrong with the US – a singular refusal by white people to admit they’re racists, especially the really racist ones. ~ You just gave me an idea for a blog post.
This post will focus on scary reasons one, three, four, and offer number five. Number two is a bunch of number two. The national obsession with OPRAH (other people’s racial attitudes hello) produces more heat than light. It is summertime. More heat is not needed.
HRC is 68 years old. She has been married, to a notoriously unfaithful man, for 41 years. If you google “Hillary Health,” you get replies from the likes of Brietbart and RedState.
There is at least one plausible story, Secretary of state faints, sustains concussion. Dec. 15, 2012 WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who skipped an overseas trip this past week because of a stomach virus, sustained a concussion after fainting, the State Department said Saturday. … The State Department said Clinton was dehydrated because of the virus, fainted and sustained a concussion. She will continue to work from home in the week ahead and looks forward to returning to the office “soon,” the statement said.
In the next few days, HRC will announce the VPOTUS candidate. This is an important decision. The past few elections have run the gamut, from safe politicians (Al Gore, Joe Biden) to blithering idiots (Dan Quayle, Sarah Palin.) (A google spell check on Quyale produced the search suggestion “dan quayle once said “i am not a potted plant.”) A third category might be secret boss in waiting, or Dick Cheney. So far, HRC has run a smart campaign. It will probably continue, at least for VPOTUS.
In September 2008, the economy went to hell. We are still recovering. When the stock market lost 800 points in one day, the election of BHO was all but assured. Hopefully, and probably, this will not happen this year. However, in an election as goofy as this one, anything is possible.
Reason five is war, terrorism, natural disaster, oil spillage, or anything else that kills a lot of people. There is no telling what the Illuminati has planned for this fall. Whatever it is, we might not know the truth until after November 8, when it is too late. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress.
Rachel Maddow Strikes Again
As you may have heard, President Trump had a press conference yesterday. He said some things that have people upset. This has been going on for a while, and will continue. In a predictable development, Rachel Maddow took to the airwaves with a barrage of Russia-did-it details. If you listen to the video, you can hear it all. The story of post-Soviet dirty deeds is well documented, with some amusing court cases on the horizon. This is a repost.
Ms. Madcow Maddow says that she was talking about the collusion story for some time. Since PG does not watch cable TV, he does not know whether this is true, or not. What PG does remember is what he heard on facebook, twitter, and word of mouth. The 2016 word of the day was racist. Donald J. Trump is a racist. If you vote for Mr. Trump, then you are a racist. It is as if someone thought that the best way to elect Hillary Clinton was to call Mr. Trump a racist. This was to be said as often, and as loudly, as possible. The Democratic Brain Trust assumed that everyone was just as horrified by racism as they were. This DBT thought that people would be terrified of people thinking they were racist, and would vote for Hillary, to prove that they were not racist. Unfortunately for the DBT, and the USA, this strategy did not work. Mr. Trump got more electoral votes than Mrs. Clinton.
One obnoxious canard was the notion that the KKK endorsed Donald J.Trump. A tiny Arkansas newspaper, connected to a klan community, printed an article favorable to Mr. Trump. The Washington Post said KKK’s official newspaper supports Donald Trump for president. Ms. Maddow repeated this story. It is not known whether WAPO or MSNBC ever said, in so many words, that the KKK endorsed Mr. Trump. However, when the story got out into the public, that is the way it was reported. People said, often and loudly, that the KKK endorsed Mr. Trump. This was supposed to help Mrs. Clinton get elected. It did not work.
Even if the KKK did endorse Mr. Trump, why should the talking heads mention it? The KKK is an obsolete clown show. 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.
PG got into a related twitterspat yesterday. Since other tweeter has blocked PG, their name will not be mentioned. They will be known as @045. Their reaction is another example of how your words can be twisted. If you want to skip ahead, and look at the pictures, you will not miss anything. The pictures today are from The Library of Congress.
@chamblee54 I have done research on this, and the key was the people voting for Johnson and Stein. HRC spent 3% in Michigan that she spent in Ohio. HRC lost michigan by >1%, lost ohio by 8%. Maybe the more of HRC voters saw, the less they liked her.
@045 Or maybe Russia tampered with the vote totals or Russian assets Jill Stein and Bernie Sanders siphoned off votes from the left, which they were paid to do?
@chamblee54 This is why you need to avoid insulting voters that you need. An election is not a teaching moment. It is about electing a flawed person instead of a much more flawed person. Call out racism AFTER you elect your candidate.
@045 So you’re saying Hillary/Democratic Party need racist voters to win?
@chamblee54 yes This is politics. You need the support of people you think are horrible. Could the democrats win without prejudiced black people?
@045 So you believe black people are prejudiced?
@chamblee54 duh There is a semantic game here. People say black people can’t be racist, but can be prejudiced. tomayto tomahto Until we pay the same attention to black prejudice that we pay to white racism, we will never get anywhere.
You are blocked from following @045 and viewing @045‘s Tweets. Learn more
@045 We ain’t got no more to say. You and Bernie want politics centered on white people. Hillary hurt your fee fees You believe black people not voting for Bernie means they are racist. You brought us Trump. Live it, love it and you’re BLOCKED!
@045 More If you come running up in my mentions defending racism and saying Democrats NEED to pander to racists in order to win, you’ve let me know you’ll sell my black ass off to the highest bidder for your comforts and YOU GETS BLOCKED!
Worst Vice Presidents Of The United States
PG wrote a post yesterday. One of the topics was the “Siamese Twins”, James Buchanan and William Rufus King. (The article is reposted below.) While researching the feature, PG googled his way to a Time magazine article about the Worst Vice Presidents in American History. PG is well known for his negative attitude, and writing about the worst things in life always appeals to him. This is a repost, with pictures from The Library of Congress
The first name on the list is Aaron Burr. He had a problem with Alexander Hamilton, and shot him dead in a duel. Elbridge Gerry (the namesake of Gerrymandering) served under James Madison for twenty months, and died. John C. Calhoun served under John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson, and managed to get Mr. Jackson so upset that Mr. Calhoun was fired.
Richard M. Johnson served under Martin Van Buren, and was bad at PR. “Johnson scandalized his colleagues by taking one of his slaves as his common-law wife; as a result, he barely garnered enough support to serve in Martin van Buren’s administration. While in office, he proposed an expedition to the North Pole so Americans could drill to the center of the Earth, believing the planet was hollow (his resolution was defeated). Evidently van Buren’s experience with Johnson soured him on vice presidents altogether — when he ran for re-election he dropped Johnson from his ticket and didn’t bother replacing him. Instead, he ran alone.”
William Rufus King was VP under Franklin Pierce a mere six weeks before he died. There is no word on the status of his relationship with James Buchanan at the time. The Time magazine article has a picture of Fernando Wood , which was mistakenly thought to be of Mr. King. (Wikipedia uses the same picture to illustrate an article about Mr. King.)
The VP under James Buchanan (there is no word on who was top or bottom in the Buchanan-King household) was John Breckinridge. During the War Between the States, he left the Union to fight for the Confederacy. Mr. Breckinridge was charged with treason after the war. “The town of Breckenridge, Colorado is named in his honor — although it altered the spelling of its name after the Civil War, so as not to be associated with a traitor.”
Andrew Johnson did not make the list, but maybe should have. He was drunk at his inauguration, and made a fool of himself. Mr. Lincoln had nothing to do with him, until a meeting on April 14. This was Good Friday. Mr. Lincoln went to the theater that night.
Johnson had been marked for death by the conspiracy, but Wilkes Booth had little confidence in the man assigned to kill Mr. Johnson. The afternoon of the assassination, Mr. Booth was at the Kirkwood House, where Mr. Johnson stayed. Mr. Booth left a note for Mr. Johnson at the desk of the hotel… “Don’t wish to disturb you. Are you at home. J. Wilkes Booth”. The idea was for the police to find the note, and implicate Mr. Johnson in the killing of Mr. Lincoln. This mini plot was spoiled by the secretary for the Vice President, who collected the mail that afternoon. He took the card with him. The secretary had met Mr. Booth a few years earlier, and thought the note was for him.
The other three Vice Presidents who took office after the boss was murdered… Chester Arthur, Theodore Roosevelt, and Lyndon Johnson… were not mentioned in the Time article. All three are mentioned in conspiracy theories about the killings that promoted them into office.
When Theodore Roosevelt was elected to a full term as President, his VP was Charles Fairbanks. “Teddy once ordered a noisy and distracting crystal chandelier removed from his office because it disturbed him. He ordered it to be installed in the office of the Vice President to keep him awake.”
Getting back to Time’s honor roll, Hannibal Hamlin was Lincoln’s first VP. Thomas A. Hendricks survived nine months under Grover Cleveland, before passing away. Thomas Marshall served two terms with Woodrow Wilson, and refused to take over the office when Mr. Wilson had a stroke. Calvin Coolidge did little while waiting for Warren Harding to die. Henry Wallace was, and will be, the only third term VP in our history. He acquired a few enemies, and was replaced by Harry Truman.
Richard Nixon was ok once he got elected, but almost managed to blow that. There were charges of financial shenanigans, and some thought he should be kicked off the ticket. After the Checkers Speech he was on his way to stardom. (After Mr. Nixon died, PG saw a large flag flying at half staff. The flag belonged to a hamburger chain called Checkers.) When Mr. Nixon became President, his VP was Spiro Agnew. Once again, there were charges of financial shenanigans, and much, much more. While the nation wallowed in Watergate, Mr. Nixon needed a diversion. It was suddenly discovered that Mr. Agnew had taken bribes. He was pressured into resigning.
Dan Quayle was VP for George H.W. Bush. He was widely regarded as an idiot, although his damage as VP was minimal. The last VPOTUS on the list is Dick Chaney. For some reason, he was regarded as having more power than the President, George W. Bush. Mr. Chaney was said to be one of the major promoters of the wars which have damaged America so much during the last ten years.
2020 UPDATE: Joe Biden said the F word at a press conference. He is currently running for President. The jury is still out on Mike Pence. 2022 UPDATE: Sleepy Joe is reported to have won the 2020 election. In the post-election confusion, Mike Pence asked Dan Quayle for advice. Current VPOTUS Kamala Harris looks good when she wears a mask.
Fun loving Dick Yarbrough is up to his old tricks. The neighbor newspaper nabbler penned a post about California education. It seems there is a new law, in the falling into the ocean state, “that will require schools to teach at all grade levels about the historical contributions of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.” Our buddy does not think this is a good idea.
The story goes on to say “Our children will find out that President James Buchanan and Vice President William R. King were more than, shall we say, good friends,” she said coyly. I didn’t want to tell Gay that the first thing the teachers need to do is tell the students who James Buchanan is before they talk about what he did. Not many people have ever heard of him. That is because he didn’t do anything while president.” Holy historic revisionism.
To start off, The Vice Prez under Mr. Buchanan was John C. Breckinridge. Mr. King was elected to back up Franklin Pierce. Mr. King died after six weeks in office. If a President has ever bumped gooberheads with his Vice President, the walls of the White House have kept quiet about it. Those rumors about John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson are too gruesome to contemplate.
Mr. King and Mr. Buchanan lived together for a number of years. Neither was married to a female, although Mr. Buchanan had been engaged. (There is speculation that his fiance’, Ann Caroline Coleman, died of an overdose of laudanum.) There are numerous indications that Mr. King and Mr. Buchanan were *good buddies*.
Mr. Buchanan was the last President before the War Between the States. It is possible that he could not have done much to prevent that unpleasantness. Historians are not kind when talking about the man, and rank him as one of the worst Presidents. Perhaps Mr. King could have helped.
The newspaper that Mr. Yarbrough opines for is delivered, free of charge, on Wednesday. (This weeks edition has not arrived. Any connection between this late delivery and the opinions of Mr. Yarbrough, is uncertain.) Some of these free papers are not taken inside by the resident. Often, a driveway will have several weeks of free adrags left behind. Soon, the rain soaks these newsprint droppings. Some are washed into the street and run over. The result is an ugly mess.
Chamblee54 had a previous discussion with Dick Yarbrough. Mr. Yarbrough is still publishing columns in 2020. Pictures are from The Library of Congress.
Jon Ossoff Pep Rally
Jon Ossoff held a campaign event Monday at Congregation Bet Haverim. Mr. Ossoff is running for Congress, from Georgia’s 6th district. PG lives in the 6th district. CBH is located south of the 6th district, at 2074 Lavista Road, Atlanta, GA 30329. The event was on facebook live, in three parts: part one, part two, and part three. Parts one and two had the camera set at a ninety degree angle, which made for uncomfortable viewing. Part one was some performers, accompanied by a front row of dancing democrats. Part two was the candidate’s remarks. By part three, the camera was set at a conventional angle. The candidate took questions from the crowd.
PG learned during part two that the event was held at CBH. He wondered, is this facility in the 6th district? Mr. Google helped to find a website for CBH, and a map of the 6th district. PG realizes that other people are concerned about the outcome of this election. However, they do not get to vote. Outsiders can, and do, send money. Lots of money. The 6th district is the most expensive congressional race in history. FWIW, Mr. Ossoff does not live in the 6th district.
Most of the advertising financed by this outside money is obnoxious and misleading. Both Mr. Ossoff and his opponent, Karen Handel are guilty. It is poignant to hear Mr. Ossoff say in part two, at 3:51, that the election is not democrat versus republican, but sense versus nonsense. Both sides are spewing nonsense…like the campaign ads accusing Mrs. Handel of using taxpayer money to pay for a “luxury SUV.” The Secretary of State job had an auto allowance. Big deal.
After confirming that CBH is outside the district, PG wanted to make a comment.
Luther Mckinnon – Is CBH in the sixth district? I looked at a district map, and CBH does not appear to be in the 6th district. Is it appropriate to have a campaign rally outside the district, for people who do not live in the district? Mr. Ossoff does not live in the district he wants to represent.
Cenate Pruitt · Luther: I have it on good authority that CBH has congregants who live in that district. Is there a problem with CBH hosting an event as a central location for those congregants to meet with the candidate?
LM – This is a touchy issue. There is a very serious problem with outside money flooding into this election. I, a resident of this district, am sick and tired of the outside attention this race is receiving. I guess if you support Mr. Ossoff you won’t mind, and if you are tired of his dishonest campaign you will mind. The optics of this are very bad.
CP – I don’t live in the Sixth myself. Am I not allowed to have an opinion on the matter?
LM – An opinion yes. A vote no. You might consider that 6th district people might not appreciate your telling them how to vote.
CP – I’ve told nobody how to do anything, nor has CBH as an organization. As far as “out of district money” I politely encourage you to both look up how much out-of-district money has been spent on Handel (those attack ads ain’t free) and take up your concerns with the Supreme Court re: campaign spending.
LM – The optics of this are bad. As far as your “polite encouragement” I have done some research.
Joshua Lesser · Luther Mckinnon, thanks for your question. Let me share with you how and why this meet and greet happened. A. You’re correct CBH is not in the 6th district. B. Many of our members live in the 6th district. C. The campaign asked if we would hold a meet and greet open to the entire Jewish community. D. There was a significant effort to target invitations to people who live in the district. E. This was explicitly not a fundraising event nor an endorsement. F. If Handel’s campaign had asked, I would have advocated that we extend her the same courtesy. I hope that puts some of your alarmed concern to rest.
LM – It was not “alarmed concern” as much as annoyance. This campaign is long and noisy. I am working on a blog post as we speak. I will link to it here.
JL – I understand the annoyance. When you use terms like bad optics, that sounds more like alarm to me. What I didnt say is that there has been vigorous debate in the Jewish press about whether Jon is a good choice. I felt like CBH was doing a community service to allow Jewish voters to hear directly from the candidate. I hope youre not too annoyed that a Jewish candidate might want at least one meet and greet with his community.
At the end of the q&a, a lady made an announcement. There was going to be a group of “Jews for Ossoff” canvassing for the candidate. There were going to be many opportunities for volunteer work. “On sunday, we’re all gonna go canvassing together. WHOOHOO!”
“This was explicitly not a fundraising event nor an endorsement.” No, it was a pep rally. People were encouraged to be fired up for Jon Ossoff. If you want to split hairs, you can say this is not an endorsement. Are we supposed to believe that CBH would have staged an event like this for Karen Handel, if her “campaign had asked”?
The phrase “bad optics” has been used. To PG, this is when something looks bad. The thing with “b.o.” may, or may not, have any real effect on the situation, but it looks bad to outsiders. The first time PG heard this phrase serves as an illustration. It was during the debate on whether to build a new stadium for the Atlanta Falcons. The powers that be want to spend over a billion dollars for a football stadium. Schools don’t have enough money. Roads need repairs and expansion. The sewer system is a disaster. And yet, somehow we want a billion dollars to build a football stadium. Technically, the hotel-motel tax used had been dedicated to financing the Georgia Dome. On one level, it was proper to use this money to build the “Blank Bowl.” However, the schools still don’t have enough money. The overall priorities of our society are questioned. The optics are bad.
How does this apply to a Jon Ossoff pep rally, held outside the 6th district? People outside the district have a right to an opinion. And people inside the district have a right to be annoyed. Whose right is more important? Which group will have a vote in the election? Maybe, just maybe, the campaign by outsiders will annoy the voting population. The voting population might not understand that the enlightened, and wealthy, people outside the district have their best interests at heart. This perceived disrespect might not have the intended effect. Pictures are from The Library of Congress.
UPDATE: Karen Handel defeated Jon Ossoff in the runoff election. In the 2018 election, Mrs. Handel was defeated by Lucy McBath.
In the 2020 elections, Jon Ossoff was elected to the US Senate. After the 2020 elections, the Congressional districts in Georgia were redistricted. The 6th District is now dramatically different.
After this post was published, this message appeared on facebook. “Wed 10:27pm I am really disappointed in you and your unfair portrayal. I feel you abused my goodwill and undetstanding. I dont mind disagreement, but you misrepresented me. Good luck and take care.” When PG tried to reply, he learned that Joshua Lesser had unfriended and blocked him.
PG sent Rabbi Lesser a letter. “My initial comment was to question whether this is appropriate. Cenate Pruitt replied to this, and I replied to Cenate Pruitt. There was one ridiculous comment:”As far as “out of district money” I politely encourage you to both look up how much out-of-district money has been spent on Handel (those attack ads ain’t free) and take up your concerns with the Supreme Court re: campaign spending.” This attitude does not speak well for Mr. Ossoff or CBH.
I don’t see how I misrepresented you, when I quoted you directly. You are entitled to have a pep rally for Jon Ossoff. You misrepresented yourself to say “This was explicitly not a fundraising event nor an endorsement.” I should note that Mr. Ossoff, with all of his problems, is the better choice in this election. I would hope that you have not offended any other 6th district voter with your outside interference or haughty attitude.That is one of my concerns over this event. If something bothers me, it is probably bothering someone else. Luther Mckinnon”
He Lied
There is a discussion at Bloggingheadstv about the recent events in Baltimore MD. The featured speakers, Glenn Loury and John McWhorter, have been heard from before. This is a thought provoking discussion. If you are multi tasking, you might not get much done. The temptation to stop and take notes will be great. This is a repost.
At BHTV, you can create a sound bite, known as a dinglelink, when something gets your attention. This chat produced three dinglelinks. These serve to illustrate the points that are going to be made. There are other things that could be said, but most people have a limited attention span.
At 23:19, the men are discussing one of the witnesses to the Micheal Brown shooting. Dr. Loury starts to talk loud, and says “he lied.” This is a problem.
During the Ferguson fiasco, America was hit over the head with a lot of talk, often at top volume. There was the spectacle of a crowd of people walking into a funeral with their hands in the air. A great deal of the shouting was based on lies. If you question these lies, you can expect to be called a racist. The little boy said he saw a wolf.
If you think Dr. Loury gets worked up in the first clip, wait until he talks about the #Baltimoreuprising. Dr. Loury does not like the expression. He might have a point. The disturbance was a reaction from a population in pain. It was not the first step in a revolution.
One of the popular memes of this “conversation about race” is complaining about “media double standards.” Complaints about profit motivated media are popular with both liberals and conservatives. In the Baltimore banter, videos of white people misbehaving after sporting events are shown, and the stern voiced commenter wonders why the media does not treat these people as harshly as the Baltimore crowd.
With the #Baltimoreuprising hashtag, this media commentary goes up a notch. When drunken white sports fans act out, it is a riot. When poor urban people loot stores, it is the #Baltimoreuprising. There is no telling where this will end up.
The last clip shows Dr. McWhorter asking if poor people are going to demand, of their neighborhoods, “no more thugs.” It is apparent that Dr. McWhorter does not read the same people on facebook that others do. The word “thug” is now considered a racist slur. Instead of attacking the problem, twitter nation is attacking the word that describes the problem. Pictures today are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”.
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