Scintilla Of Political Acumen
There was a link on facebook to a story about T-SPLOST, To avoid campaign blame game, regional transportation sales tax proponents need another miracle. (The spell check suggestions for T-SPLOST: T-LOST, SPLOSH) The story, and the reaction, was typical of much of this debate.
Some people say that the intown people are being taken for granted. Others say that the money is not going to be divided up properly. This translates as, my people did not get what we told them that they want. Some say MARTA is shown favoritism, while others say MARTA is left out. And the OTP crowd yawns, and wonders what everyone is talking about.
The truth is, the proposal is badly flawed It tries to make everyone happy, and fails. It is sausage factory politics at it’s most rancid. The product was not refrigerated, and will be rotten long before the expiration date.
The people working for Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed did not like the “blame” article. They asked to write a reply, and the bloglady gave them some space. Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed’s team disagrees with Saporta’s column was the result. If this is the best the pro T-SPLOST people can do, then the measure should be defeated.
Mayor Reed began working on the transportation referendum initiative as a state senator and then continued tirelessly advocating for passage of House Bill 277 during his first year in office. Anyone with a scintilla of political acumen knows that achieving enough bipartisan support in the Georgia General Assembly to pass the measure was a Herculean task.
Over the next two years, he served as the chairman of the Regional Transit Committee of the Atlanta Regional Commission and worked hard to sustain a minimum of 50 percent of funding for rail. The elected leaders put aside partisan politics, whittled down a $23 billion project wish list to $6 billion, and then unanimously approved it – a signature moment for the region.
Yet, for weeks, we have read stories that tear apart the work and the effort that went into getting the metropolitan Atlanta region to this point around the transportation initiative. Ms. Saporta’s column is simply the latest attempt to throw stones at an effort that would create jobs, keep our region competitive and safeguard Atlanta’s position as the leading city in the Southeast.
I am confident our voters will continue to educate themselves, not be misled by deliberately negative stories and go to the polls on July 31.
The phrase that caught PG’s eye was “scintilla of political acumen”. This campaign is not going to be decided by policy wonks. It will be decided by the brothers in Lithonia, and the bubbas in Cumming. (The spell check suggestion for bubbas is Barabbas.) When you throw phrases like “scintilla of political acumen” at this crowd, they think you are talking over their heads. And they are correct. Both OTP and ITP feel they are being taken advantage of by this proposal.
Then there is this sentence: “Ms. Saporta’s column is simply the latest attempt to throw stones at an effort that would create jobs, keep our region competitive and safeguard Atlanta’s position as the leading city in the Southeast.” Yea, kill the messenger. When someone tells the uncomfortable truth, complain about the truth teller.
PG is the type of person who would ordinarily support a proposal like T-SPLOST. He began to turn against it the day he received a phone call from a supporter. The lady read from a script, throwing out claims about how many jobs would be created by T-SPLOST. The BS detector started to buzz, and gets louder every day.
The transportation needs of the region are immense. This proposal is poorly conceived. The well funded marketing campaign has been arrogant and tone deaf. If Coca Cola had been sold like this, we would all drink Pepsi today. One wonders if the same idiots who are running the ad campaign, in support of T-SPLOST, are the same people who created the project list. T-SPLOST is in trouble, and not even a miracle might be able to help. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress.
Dark Skinned Appreciation Day
PG was trying to recycle some old blonde jokes into a post, and was over it. A trip to twitter was made, and the joke pickins were slim. A look at the Trending Topics revealed something called #DarkSkinnedAppreciationDay. Text to separate the pictures just gets sketchier every day. The pictures today are from The Library of Congress.
The current POTUS, BHO, has dark skin. The temptation to label him as black ignores the fact that the late Ann Dunham, the mother POTUS, was Caucasian. As his political career developed, BHO decided that a “black identity” would be to his advantage. The Kansas/Kenya background has “colored” his presidency. Dark skinned is a good phrase to describe BHO.
Another popular phrase in progressive circles is people of color, or POC. The head facilitating this post rests on a red neck. While red is usually considered a color, people with red necks are routinely labelled white, or the absense of color. Labels for people can be confusing.
A gentleman in New Jersey is claiming responsibility for DSAD. I WIPE MY OWN ASS!!! @EugeneTattedUp Yes, and it’s going very well lol RT @BougieK15: @EugeneTattedUp lol did you make up #darkskinnedappreciationday. His profile reads:I Only Eat Chicken, That’s the Motto, Nigga, Pollo … FYI, I’m Deaf. And so it is Dark Skinned Appreciation Day in Twitterland. Lets take a look at what those thumbs are punching into smartphones.
@natiby_nature #DarkSkinnedAppreciationDay cause the lord wanted to cook some of us properly
@ChrisDeGirolamo For #DarkSkinnedAppreciationDay , I won’t say anything racist all day.
@GreenEyedHeffa_ Ayee #DarkSkinnedAppreciationDay We Don’t Like Them Redbones
@xx_chicary_lola What ? Since when has there been a #DarkSkinnedAppreciationDay ??
@YOOShesDOPE_ #DarkSkinnedAppreciationDay… Yall are true idiots for this -_-”
@TarikTheCreator #DarkSkinnedAppreciationDay I prefer to call myself a mocha/caramel color
@MorganW_ #DarkSkinnedAppreciationDay? Seriously who comes up with these things…
@_Blac_Chiyna #DarkSkinnedAppreciationDay O Koo I Got My Own Day :D!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@YESitsRachael #DarkSkinnedAppreciationDay .. ignorance .
@_ThaReal2HT #DarkSkinnedAppreciationDay We Worked Hard For This Day ! Pshh Yah Lightskins Better Go Catch A Tan !
@EugeneTattedUp We celebrate our advanced amount of Melanin on #DarkSkinnedAppreciationDay !!!
@LaBeauteNoire3 *throws Hersheys kisses down TL and twerks* #DarkSkinnedAppreciationDay
@KrownRoyaleNY #DarkSkinnedAppreciationDay ?? ight ima log of twitter till this shit passes…
@breexxbunnie #DarkSkinnedAppreciationDay only applies to those with moisturized, even skin tones….not you dry ashy blue looking motherfuckers.
@Legacy_Theory Bet y’all wish y’all was out in them fields now huh??
@So_True_Rae I see #DarkSkinnedAppreciationDay … It’s a first time for everything huh? Lol
@Legacy_Theory The great thing about #DarkSkinnedAppreciationDay is it moves to a different day each year when the sun isn’t out… Praise Black Jesus
@EugeneTattedUp I decided to found #DarkSkinnedAppreciationDay today because it’s cloudy and we’re winning … Let’s pray for clouds in the future…
@Titts_N_Giggles this will not prosper RT @EugeneTattedUp #DarkSkinnedAppreciationDay #DarkSkinnedAppreciationDay
@EugeneTattedUp Happy Birthday & #DarkSkinnedAppreciationDay RT @JNelly_S: Happy 22nd birthday to my baby mama @_ReneDarling_ love you boop. Enjoy your day
@CallMeiBigPapa That #DarkSkinnedAppreciationDay thing is sad. At the end of the day we all black no matter wat shade you are.
Collateral Damage
This post was originally published four years ago. In the intervening forty eight months, many women and children have been killed in crossfire. The United States will send a roboplane to bomb a village, and then send another roboplane to kill the rescuers, and a third roboplane to attack the funeral. Isreal killed hundreds of children in Gaza, most of whom were too young to fire missiles. Closer to home, people who choose not to denounce a drag queen are labelled racists. It is a funny world. Pictures are from ” The Special Collections and Archives,Georgia State University Library”.
Back a war or two ago, a phrase entered the vocabulary. The expression was collateral damage. This referred to civilians killed in a combat action. It sounds a lot nicer than dead women and children. To hear the war supporters tell it, the enemy was causing this. The terrorists would move women and children into areas they knew were going to be attacked, so they could be killed. To the war supporters, it was a cost of doing business.
The past few days, there has been discussion at this facility about speaking out when you hear something you don’t like. People say it is bigotry and hate, which sounds a lot worse than something you don’t like. Just like collateral damage sounds nicer than dead children.
When people put on their warpaint about to fight bigotry, there is frequently collateral damage. There was an incident that illustrates my point. This was when I was at Redo Blue, working with the Bully for Jesus. I will use the initials BFJ. One day BFJ heard someone make a comment using the phrase “your daddy said”. This comment was made by a white person, referring to another white person. BFJ is a black person, and the comment offended him.
BFJ decided to vent his feelings about this comment. This happened all the time, BFJ had a nasty mouth, which would run off at the slightest provocation. Since he was working on a rush job across the room from the white person, he made his comments in a loud voice. This way the white person across the room could hear what he said, and BFJ could work on his rush job.
Towards the end of his speech, BFJ made the comment “when your mother and your father forsake you, you still have your father in heaven” This is supposed to be in the Bible. BFJ was staring at me and shouting when he said this. Later, he said he had not been talking to me. This was very common at redo blue. People would stand in front of you screaming offensive things. If you looked at them, they would go off, screaming “I’m not talking to you”.
There is a bit of backstory here. Three weeks after my mother died, I went to the bathroom. I started to realize how much I missed her, and felt very sad. When I came out of the bathroom, a woman was praying for entertainment on the BFJ’s radio. I was offended. When I asked the BFJ to turn down his radio, he declared war. This poisoned our working relationship the entire time I was at redo blue.
This comment pushed me past my limits. BFJ conducted a ministry on company time, and had a nasty temper. I had to say something. Sometimes, you need to stand up to a bully. And you best be prepared for a fight, which is exactly what the bully wants. You should never wrestle with a pig. You will only get dirty, and the pig will enjoy it.
I left a note on his desk saying that ”My mother and father have not forsaken me.” We had a closed door meeting. He argued with everything I said, admitted no wrongdoing, and chewed me out repeatedly for what the other white person had said. When I was at the point where I thought he was the lowest scum on the planet, BFJ said “Jesus made me what I am today”.
We continued to work closely together for another three years or so. I witnessed a few hundred more hours of his ministry. One day the manager called me into the office, and told me not to come back.
The point of this story is, when you “Stand Up” against “bigoted comments”, you might need to be prepared to mud wrestle with someone who thinks he is building his faith. You should learn the difference between bigotry and being too sensitive. It is best to keep things between you and the person who offended you, and not cause collateral damage.
Sharon Needles
PG got in one night, and found a summer storm brewing on facebook. “Dear white people who still love Sharon Needles. Before you begin to defend her or justify this as art or whatever, please keep in mind that THERE IS AN ENTIRE POPULATION OF PEOPLE AFFECTED BY RACISM WHO THINK THIS IS FUCKED UP. Can you respect that, or will you continue to tell people of color what does and does not oppress them?” The first question is, who is Sharon Needles?
A baby boy was born in Newton IA on November 28, 1981. His parents named him Aaron Coady. He did not fit in, and moved to Pittsburgh PA in 2004. His stage name was Sharon Needles. As the years went by, he developed a “personality”. There was a tv show, Ru Paul’s Drag Race. Miss Needles won season four. The Pittsburgh City Council honored her. Meanwhile, some people did not like her act.
There was a link on facebook, Dragged into Debate: Reality-TV fame puts spotlight on Sharon Needles’ controversial act. PG looked at the article, and found a video of a performance by Miss Needles. The show was in a noisy bar, with some drinking jokes. The makeup and costumes were flawless. (flawful might be better, if it wasn’t the name for hummus hushpuppies) The act was what one might expect of a button pushing drag queen. It is tough to be outrageous these days, but Sharon Needles is giving it the old college try.
Later, the matter got a bit more personal. “Sharon Needles recently performed in Nashville. I went to the performance. One of my friends got her autograph after the show. Sharon Needles wrote a note in the autograph in which she called my friend a n****r. Several of my white friends continue to loudly and publicly worship and promote Sharon Needles, despite having been at the show and knowing about the autograph (nevermind having heard other discussion about Needles’ unapologetic racism). Just thought y’all should know that supporting and promoting someone who is unapologetically perpetuating racism and refusing to be held accountable for it, is racist!
The fuss was a bit puzzling to PG. We can begin by breaking down the opening post. “THERE IS AN ENTIRE POPULATION OF PEOPLE AFFECTED BY RACISM WHO THINK THIS IS FUCKED UP.” Does this include Ru Paul? What about the millions of People of Color (POC) who had no idea who Sharon Needles was?
“Can you respect that, or will you continue to tell people of color what does and does not oppress them?” Are those the only two options here? To “respect” the notion that a nightclub performer in Pennsylvania is oppressing 35 million Americans? Or, if you don’t “respect” this highly questionable concept, you “you continue to tell people of color what does and does not oppress them.” Are these the only two choices? What if you ignore the peroxide poster girl, and treat your neighbor with respect?
There is also the $64 question, is Sharon Needles racist? (Winning a tv contest hosted by RuPaul should be remembered.) The tumblr Fuck Yea Sharon Needles has a picture of the performer in blackface. She is singing the opening number of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show”, which all good fans know was a pair of lips against a black background. PG did not hear anything racist in the video he endured. But then, PG is a white person, and as such is not qualified to decide what is, or is not, racist.
Facebook is a magnet for people who enjoy a digital quarrel. Evidently, that sometimes includes PG. He made a comment: “There was a line in an article about Miss Needles that gave me a good laugh…”If Needles “were a straight person” engaging in this behavior, he adds, “people would feel more comfortable” criticizing it.”… I had never heard of this person before this conversation, and can’t say that I really enjoy her persona. It is like Charlie Brown after a four day speed binge. She is on the edge, which is where gay performers have traditionally been. I saw a video of her, and did not hear any racist comments… not that I doubt they exist. I found her act tough to enjoy, for reasons that have nothing to do with racism. Just ignore her, and find something more important to whine about. “
The notion that only a POC can offer opinions about racism is, well, racist. Anti white racism is a serious problem. It affects white people differently than it does POC, but can be every bit as hurtful. Do white people enjoy going downtown, and seeing the hate in the eyes of the POC multitudes? The fact is that when you hate someone, you hurt yourself worse than you hate that person. If POC would take a look at themselves, they might see a race of people repeating the mistakes of white people.
There was a second comment, which PG cut from the comment box. “Isn’t the concept that only “people of color” can judge racism a racist concept? What about anti white racism, which is very real and hurtful to a lot of people. If we are ever going to have a meaningful dialog about race in this country, then we need to consider the hatred against white people. Just because it takes different forms than anti black racism does not mean it does not exist.” And making noise about a drunken Iowa boy is not going to do much good for anyone, except for giving Miss Needles more publicity.
There was a reply. “Hey Luther, I don’t know how you meant for that to come off, but it’s not your job to tell us to ignore someone who is contributing to our oppression. Also, when you say, “find something more important to whine about,” I feel disappointed and dismayed because it sounds to me like you don’t understand that A) this is important to some of us, especially to those of us who are people of color, and it can be a very dehumanizing experience to be constantly confronted with people’s apathy around something that impacts our lives so intimately; and B) calling out racism in our community and “whining” are not the same thing, and, again, it’s really dehumanizing when we try to talk about something so important to us and people in the mostly-white communities around us dismiss our conversations as “whining” because they think our concerns or experiences are trivial, particularly when they personally, as white people, do not experience racism with the same intensity that people of color do. Obviously this is important to us and we have thought about it a lot. I stated that this has been going on (in my personal experience) for over a year and the autograph posted was signed months ago. It has actually taken us a long time to decide to say something so publicly about it, but I personally said something because THIS IS IMPORTANT AND PEOPLE NEED TO STOP IGNORING IT.
This person does not know very much about PG. This person does not know about the time PG asked a professional Jesus worshiper to turn his radio down, and nearly lost his job. This person does not know about the time PG was robbed at gunpoint. All this person knows is that PG does not take a Pennsylvania drag queen seriously as an agent of oppression.
There is a lot of noise about racism. It is very one sided. Anti white racism is ignored or excused. The constant whining gets in the way of constructive action. There needs to be compassion and kindness for both people of color and white people. To focus this kind of attention on a PBR swilling loser says more about the complainer than it does the performer.
Pictures are from The Library of Congress. They are Union Soldiers, from 1861-1865. The spell check suggestions for POC are Cop and Pox.
Labelism
Chamblee54 had a post recently about conservatives and liberals. A lot of people see things in those terms. There are other pigeon holes that people get stuffed into. Not only politics, but religion, fashion, and sexual activity are classified, usually by someone who disapproves. Maybe the true religion of our culture is Labelism.
A trip to google city had lots of results. The top result (possibly paid for) is a company called Labelism. You can create personalized labels, usually for an alcohol product. “Welcome to Labelism. The personalised Wine, Whisky, Champagne and Beer gift service where you become the designer & create your own label.”
The always helpful Urban Dictionary calls labelism “The act of judging people by the labels of their clothes. Here are a few examples of labelism: 1(in Abercrombie): I’m so classy. 2 (in Hollister): Me, too. 3 (in American Eagle): Don’t forget me. 1: We all rock! 4 (in Aeropostale): Hey, I’m classy, too! 1: You wish, you wannabe! 2: Yeah, Loser! 5 (in Wal-Mart clothes): I’m pretty classy myself. 1: Eww Get away! You’re poor! 2,3, and 4: Gross! White Trash! Nasty! 5: Whatever, you label whores!”
Ablogspot facility called Quadrilateral Thoughts gets a bit closer to the original concept of this post. “labelism: The tendency to skew diverse particular ideas, events, people, and so forth by grouping them under overly generalized labels in the service of argument.” A few examples are given. “All these statements are logically fallacious, even though they are the stuff of common rhetoric. They take diverse realia and oversimplify them because the human mind has difficulty processing complexity.”
A playground called Young Americans for Liberty comes out as an Anti-Labelist. “If we refuse to be objective in this way, but rather use smear terms and labels, then it is no surprise that more anti-labelites are produced. We become part of the problem rather than part of the solution.”
Labelism dot org is another take. “Labelism- There Must Be For There To Be/Create Create/ Leaving Assupmtion To The Act/Support Support/ Do Good To Be Good/ Look Passed Word Act-RE-Reality=Option/True”
In 2008, MacKenzie Kern was bothered by people labelling each other. “For Stroudsburg Middle School seventh-grader MacKenzie Kern and others her age, words, particularly labels, can harm the emotionally vulnerable. Someone wearing black clothes and dressing in dark makeup is a “goth.” Someone wearing brand name clothes such as American Eagle or Aeropostale is a “prep.” Someone wearing bright, flamboyant colors is a “scene.” And then there are the “skaters,” who ride skateboards, the “jocks,” or athletes, the “nerds” and the “emos,” or emotionally troubled.”
“You’re stereotyping people just because they dress, act or look a certain way or listen to certain kinds of music,” says Kern, who has been called a “hippie” for wearing a T-shirt with a peace symbol. “People have labeled me and I’ve labeled others, which is something I’m not proud of.”
That’s why Kern has taken a stand against “labelism” and is trying to convince others her age to do the same. Every day since March 27, she has worn a white belt around her waist in school and out in public. From one end of that belt to the other are signatures, almost all of which have been put there by children ages 12 to 16 who support her stance. “I feel it’s important to focus mainly on kids in my age group,” she says. “If this generation of kids can set an example by stopping labelism, then maybe future generations can do the same. So far, I have only one signature from an adult, a teacher who told me she believes in what I’m doing and said she’s glad I’m doing it.”
At one point, Kern had 105 signatures on her belt. But for each person who agrees with ending labelism, there’s one or more who say Kern is wasting her time. “I’ve had both students and teachers tell me I’ll never really change anything because most people will go on labeling,” she says. “I’ve even had students who signed my belt tell me they want their signatures removed because they changed their minds. So, I scrubbed off five signatures, which took me back down to 100.” But that won’t stop Kern from trying to raise awareness among others her age.
This post was a good idea that turned out to be boring. The spell check suggestion for labelism is Isabella. Pictures are from The Library of Congress.
______ Telling _____ What Is Racist
Womanist Musings recently republished the internet classic 10 Conversations On Racism I’m Sick Of Having With White People. PG turned off his BS detector, and read. In addition to the ten convos of the title, there are five chats that the author would like to have. Apparently, the author likes to talk. Listening might be something else.
PG learned a long time ago that conversations about race are dangerous. If you say the wrong thing, you might wind up in the hospital. It is much easier to hold your piece, and live another day. The bottom line is, PG cannot remember ever discussing any of these matters, especially with a person of color (POC). He decided to leave a comment, and the fun started.
chamblee54 I am a person of non color. I have never had any of these fifteen conversations.
womanistmusings Do you want a cookie?
RVCBard Here’s a cookie you can make at home!
Siah WTF is a person of non-color? Transparent are ya?
miga Perhaps why ze’s never had that conversation before? No one notices hir?
PG felt it was important to make his ethnicity known. The image illustrating the comment has a brown paper bag over a head. You cannot tell if it is a white person (WP), or POC. When talking about race, this is an important distinction.
Person of non-color might be a silly label. But then, what about POC? It is a mystery why “colored people” is offensive, but POC is PC. The skin on PG’s neck might be red, but red is a color.
And so it goes. People love to talk about race in America. The problem is finding someone who will listen. Before ending the text, and moving on to the pictures (courtesy of The Library of Congress), we are going to share something from facebook. This message has been edited. WP and POC have been replaced by blank spaces.
This is what I have seen a lot of recently: _____ telling _____ what is racist and what is not. Trust me, _____ of the world, _____ have been thinking about this for a LONG time, and it would be a good idea to LISTEN to what they say — I think that, most of the time, they’re probably right and you’re probably wrong about racism.
Maybe even do some reading and research, so the _____ don’t bear the burden of actively taking the time to educate you about racism in only face-to-face interactions and only when they’re calling you out for saying or doing something racist.
Can we just start with the assumption that you, _______ , are racist? That your actions, most likely, perpetuate or benefit from racism? Maybe that’s not true — I’m sure you’re a good person, but maybe you’re also racist. I don’t want you to feel guilty about it, but just live with it for a little bit as if it were true. Accept, for a moment, that, unless you are actively engaged in something that is ANTI-racist, you’re being racist. Now there’s nowhere to go but up! Now you can feel EXCELLENT about every anti-racist thing you do!
And you’ve been doing a lot of those anti-racist things recently, right?
Hate Crime Laws And Double Jeopardy
The first mistake was reading more about George Zimmerman. PG went ahead, and read REPORT: FBI May Charge George Zimmerman With Hate Crime, Could Face Death Penalty. PG thought this was a bit weird, and did some research.
The FBI has a list of Federal Civil Rights Statutes. On several of these laws, the phrase “may be sentenced to death” appears. This expression does not appear in the description of “Title 18, U.S.C., Section 249 Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr., Hate Crimes Prevention Act.” This is the most recent expansion of the Federal Hate Crimes legislation. It expands the definition of hate crimes to include LGTB cases. (This possibility that Trayvon Martin was killed for being gay has not been mentioned.) The Matthew Shepard Act was added onto a defense spending bill, and signed into law October 28, 2009.
PG is not a lawyer. Reading legislation and court opinions makes his head hurt. He is not sure which of the hate crime laws would apply to George Zimmerman. The idea of Mr. Zimmerman being poisoned by the Federal government is unlikely.
There is another aspect of application of hate crime law to this case that is troubling. If you believe that Mr. Zimmerman is an icky person, who deserves whatever happens to him, this might not bother you. The trouble with crazy laws, meant for icky people, is that they might be applied to you some day. Mobs demanding vengeance are not known for careful thinking.
Does federal hate crime prosecution constitute double jeopardy? The idea is that if you are acquited of a crime, you should not be tried again for the same offense. What appears to be happening is the federal government supervising the state government, and if the verdict is not satisfactory, bringing more charges.
Other people are asking the same question. National Review Online posted Hate Crimes, Thought Crimes, Double Jeopardy. This article was written while the Matthew Shepard Act was in Congress. It was before the skittles shooting. “Among other things, the bill permits the U.S. Attorney General to initiate federal hate-crime prosecution in cases where “the verdict or sentence obtained pursuant to State charges left demonstratively unvindicated the Federal interest in eradicating bias-motivated violence.” In other words, if the Feds don’t like the state verdict, they will bring their own charges.
Another commenter notes “The bill would allow people who have been found innocent of a hate crime in state court to be reprosecuted in federal court. Many supporters of the federal hate crimes bill want to allow people who have been found innocent of a hate crime in state court to be reprosecuted in federal court. As one supporter put it, “the federal hate crimes bill serves as a vital safety valve in case a state hate-crimes prosecution fails.” The claim that the justice system has “failed” when a jury returns a not-guilty verdict is truly scary and contrary to the constitutional presumption of innocence and the right to trial by jury.
But it is a view widely shared among supporters of the hate-crimes bill. Syndicated columnist Jacob Sullum pointed out in 1998 that Janet Reno, Clinton’s Attorney General, backed the bill as a way of providing a federal “forum” for prosecution if prosecutors fail to obtain a conviction “in the state court.” Similarly, The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights wants to reprosecute teenagers who were found innocent of a hate crime against an illegal alien in a Pennsylvania state court.
As Sullum noted, the federal hate crimes bill exploits a loophole in constitutional protections against double jeopardy, known as the “dual sovereignty” doctrine. The Supreme Court created this loophole in its 5-to-4 Bartkus decision. (The original post has several links that provide more information.)
Pictures are from the ” Special Collections and Archives,Georgia State University Library”
Racism Is Obsolete
01– The title of this feature is strictly about language. It is the R word that is obsolete. The modest proposal here is to replace it with a series of acronyms. ABR is anti black racism. AWR is anti white racism. AHR is anti hispanic racism. And so on and so forth. This will not affect the overall concept of racism, but might add a touch of clarity to discussions.
02– Talk about ABR is the national pastime. People LOVE to talk about ABR, usually in a very loud voice. The only problem is, very few are listening.
03– If you don’t like me, then I don’t like you. I don’t care what your reasons are. I don’t how many protected categories are involved, be they race, religion, language spoken, sexual life history, intelligence, food preferences, musical taste, hair color, national origin, political opinions, favorite sports team, criminal background, degree of recovery, clothing choice, halitosis, or anything else.
04– Am I a AB/AW racist? It depends of who is doing the judging.
05– This feature partially a reaction to A Complete Guide to ‘Hipster Racism’. Here is a sample: “Modern racism lives in entrenched de facto inequalities, in coded language about “work ethic” and “states’ rights,” in silent negative spaces like absence and invisibility, and in Newt Gingrich’s hair.” So “work ethic” is a coded ABR insult. How interesting.
06– Many people don’t think AWR exists. This might be a function of ABR/AWR manifesting in different ways.
07– Chamblee54 has posted on The N Word before.
08– I am not a policeman. I do not drive a taxi. I do not carry a purse, and therefore cannot hold it tighter. Look somewhere else to get your revenge.
09– I never thought that having a half white man elected POTUS would end ABR/AWR. There is going to be resistance. There are going to be people looking for revenge. I thought that ABR/AWR was going to get worse.
10– There is a difference between not liking “black music” and ABR.
11– The race card = black privilege.
12– The most obnoxious form of privilege in America is christian privilege.
13- We will have ABR/AWR in America as long as people find it to their advantage to promote it.
14- A lot of the old cliches apply to ABR/AWR. What goes around comes around. To every action, there is an equal but opposite reaction. Two wrongs don’t make a right. If you can’t say anything nice about a person, don’t say anything at all. When you point a finger, three fingers point back at you. He who excuses himself accuses himself. We are all G-d’s children.
15- There is a difference between having respect for a person and not using forbidden words.
16- A visit to Google city was made for the phrase “racism is obsolete”. The first usuable result was on yahoo, Will racism ever be obsolete? This was at the bottom of the page: Discover Questions in Other – Cultures & Groups Why do black men LOVE drinking gatorade before going to the beach? is it to be cool for us ladies? Why do people waste time worrying what black people do? Why do people take me so serious sometime,don’t you know im a blockhead?
17- A well meaning Christian website presents The Pollution of Racism: What White People Can Do About Racism. There were other people talking, in the Google results, about what white people can do about racism. You seldom hear anyone talking about what black people can do about racism.
18- There was a comment about Joseph Kony that should be repeated here. “(It) is not about justice. It is about having a big emotional experience that validates privilege.” This applies to much of the overheated rhetoric about ABR/AWR.
19- When talking about ABR/AWR, it is very common to be a hypocrite. This feature is included.
20- Someone started Racismobsoleteweaponofwar’s Blog. This person only wrote three posts. Someone in England has a blog, Obsolete. Dyspeptic, incredulous leftist fashion blogging from someone somewhere. || “Technological progress has merely provided us with more efficient means of going backwards.” — Aldous Huxley || “I take a particularly strong pride in the fact that we have never pushed our commercial interests in our newspapers.” — Rupert Murdoch
21- If you want to see a society without ABR/AWR, worry about yourself. Don’t point fingers at what other people are doing. Worry about what you are doing. It all starts with you.
22- Pictures are from “The Special Collections and Archives,Georgia State University Library”.
The N Word
The good thing about not having a big audience is the freedom to discuss touchy subjects. I can say more or less anything I want, and since very few are reading, there is no problem.
With that in mind, I approach the subject for today’s lesson…the “N word”. It doesn’t get much touchier. We all know what that word is. It has six letters, rhymes with trigger, and makes the brains of some people turn into jello. It is a derogatory phrase for people of African origin.
I try to avoid using this term. There are four main reasons for this. If I ever get paid for doing this I will come up with a top ten list.
1- The “N word” hurts people’s feelings. I have known many fine Black people, and my life is much richer as a result. I do not want to say anything that will hurt these people. As for the not so fine Black People that I have known, they are G-d’s children, just like me. My fellow human beings do not deserve to be insulted just for who they are.
2- Being heard saying the “N word” can cause all sorts of problems. This can include physical retribution, loss of employment, lawsuits, and having to listen to enough loud angry words to make you wish you had never learned how to talk.
3- It is not a fair fight. There is no equivalent phrase for a Black Person to say to a white person. I do not wish to give that power to another group of people… to turn me into a mass of incoherent rage, just for hearing a six letter word.
The closest thing to this is “Cracker”, which I only recently found out was an insult. This is odd, because when I was a boy, we had a minor league baseball team called the Atlanta Crackers.
4- The use of the “N word” demeans the user. When you say an insulting word about another human being, you make yourself look bad. When you hate someone, you hurt yourself worse than the person you hate. And frankly, a lot of these people are not worth it.
This feature was originally posted at my original blog, and copied three years ago. I wrote in first person shamelessly. Pictures are from The Library of Congress
Since I originally posted this, a Kansas/Kenya man, with dark skin, has been elected President. The playing field is having a fruit basket turnover. No one is really certain what is what anymore, except things are different. Or maybe they are the same. It is 2012.
I would like to further comment on is the reality of black people using the “N word”. It is a word that degrades the person who uses it. For a person of color, it degrades them as the object, as well as the speaker. I cannot help but wonder why a person would want to do that to them self, their family and their community. I realize that, as a white person, this is none of my business.
It is like smoking cigarettes. Yes, it is legal, and you have the right to pull toxic chemicals into your body. But why on earth would you want to?
Chamblee54 
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