Sunday, April 28, 2013

The Bush Library and Museum in Dallas

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source: facebook

There was a time in my life when I wasn't likely to be found in a library, much less found one.
~ President George W. Bush at the opening of his Library and Museum in Dallas, Texas

. . . the latest, grandest example of the eternal struggle of former presidents to rewrite history.
~ President Bill Clinton at the Library Opening

We've had enough Bushes.
~ George W. Bush's mother, Barbara Bush, on whether her son Jeb should run for President

Disasterpiece Theater . . . the Hard Rock Cafe of catastrophic policy decisions.
~ Jon Stewart on Comedy Central

What a bu!!sh*t rewriting of history. . . . They’re presidents. They’re not King Tut. Why do we have to build a mausoleum?
~ Bill Maher

The Bush Presidential Library is beautiful, and they have a huge section devoted to weapons of mass destruction, but nobody can find it.
~ David Letterman

In President Bush's high school yearbook, he was voted least likely to have a library named after him.
~ Jay Leno

Omission Accomplished
. . . “It looks like a theme park as much as it is a library,” according to Lou Dubose, co-author of “Bushwhacked: Life in George W. Bush’s America.” Dubose points out the library also includes freedom tower, a freedom plaza, a decision points library, the bullhorn Bush used to talk to first responders from ground zero, and even Saddam Hussein’s pistol.
“It’s kind of a parentheses around one of the greatest foreign policy blunders in our country’s history and they’re pretty shameless about it.”
. . . Dubose describes the “triumphalist narrative” on display at the library as “a neo-con rehash of all the terms that were used to lead the country into war.”
“One would expect a little bit of a modesty from a president who has presided over that sort of failure,” he said. “And from a president who’s competing in the bottom ten in terms of presidential rankings that are done by legitimate historians.”
~ Via MSNBC

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From Obama's Comedy Speech at White House
Correspondent's Dinner











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My Tweets:











The Daily Show with Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Library Accomplished - Disasterpiece Theater
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Wednesday, April 24, 2013

GOP Has Crazy Time Over Boston Bombing

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(picture via TN State Senator Stacey Campfield)

Here Comes Feinstein Again

~ Title of a blog post by Tennessee State Senator Stacey Campfield containing the above picture and implying that Senator Dianne Feinstein should ban pressure cookers along with assault rifles

Inappropriate? Me? Never!
I Just got a call from the media saying they had gotten a few calls (about a blog post I did) saying it was inappropriate after the Boston bombing.
Really?
If my post was inappropriate talking about "crock pot control" then where is the outrage from the left when they push for gun control after the Sandy Hook shooting? Im sorry if I exposed your double standard....
Well, not really.
~ Tenn. State Sen. Campfield responding to media questions about why he posted a tasteless picture of a pressure cooker on his previous blog post

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Deleted Tweets by Fox News Employee Eric Rush on Day of Boston Bombing
"Kill The Muslims"


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Note, due to throat injuries, the suspect is unable to speak, and can only write answers to interrogators. So no, waterboarding wouldn't help too much.







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Saudi Conspiracy Theory:


Background points:
Via The Blaze
  • A Saudi national originally identified as a “person of interest” in the Boston Marathon bombing was set to be deported under section 212 3B — “Security and related grounds” — “Terrorist activities” after the bombing
  • As the story gained traction, TheBlaze’s Chief Content Officer Joel Cheatwood received word that the government may not deport the Saudi national, originally identified as Abdul Rahman Ali Alharbi
  • Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano refused to answer questions on the subject when confronted by Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-SC) on Capitol Hill.
  • An ICE official said a different Saudi national is in custody, but is “in no way” connected to the bombings.
  • A congressional source, however, says that the file on Alharbi was created, that he was “linked” in some way to the Boston bombings (though it is unclear how), and that documents showing all this have been sent to Congress.

Glenn Beck on his Radio Show, via Right-Wing Watch, My Transcription
I believe this man in the hospital, his mission was to recruit fighters that are already in the country. That way they can't be tracked crossing international borders. Once he recruits, then he can fund and provide the go-order when the time came. These two that were captured and killed on Friday would have been easy targets for an Al Quaeda recruiter. Hailing from Chechnya, being Muslims themselves, they would have been sympathetic.
During the first Chechnyan War Al Qaeda set up several training camps in 1994. They were funded, what a surprise, by charities run by Saudi Arabia.
The Al Qaeda links are too much to ignore here. Alharbi would have jumped at it. Someone needs to find the connection between these three.
I would start maybe with the Mosques and the social media connections and the hang-out spots.
But I don't expect anybody outside of our audience and bloggers who want to tell the truth to actually take the time.
May I suggest before absolutely everything is wiped clean (if it isn't all ready) that we start looking at social media connections . . .
. . . What are the odds that a guy who has a 212-3b just happens to be at the finish line of the Boston Marathon cheering for his favorite Kenyan runner? And so excited, and then - just, oh, he was trying so hard to keep himself clean and BOOM! the bomb goes off! What an odd odd thing. And I can see why Janet Napolitano and this Administration would have a hard time explaining it.







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I don’t care if she knew about this. She ought to be in prison for wearing a hijab (veil).
. . . This immigration policy of us assimilating immigrants into our culture isn’t really working. They’re assimilating us into their culture. Did she get a clitorectomy too?

~ Ann Coulter on The Sean Hannity Show getting very personal about the American wife of Tamerlan Tsnarnaev, who probably has nothing to do with the Boston Bombing






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(Again - throat wound, can't speak anyway)






Sunday, April 21, 2013

Fox Fail ~ Caption Identifies Actress Zooey Deschanel as Boston Bomber

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E Online - Boston Manhunt Boo-Boo
Zooey Deschanel had nothing to do with the Boston Marathon bombings.

Not exactly breaking news, right?

Tell that to Peter Ogburn's television set, which, while the radio show producer and writer was watching the manhunt for a second suspect unfold on his local Fox station, misidentified the 19-year-old man police were looking for as...

Zooey Deschanel!

"Marathon bombing, he is 19-year-old Zooey Deschanel," read the errant caption, which flubbed the name of Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev, who was ultimately arrested Friday night after he was found hiding in a boat behind a home in Watertown, Mass.




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I knew she was trouble when I saw that Elf movie.
~ Tim779 on MSN

Can we blame this on an auto-correct fail? I mean everything else is!
~ seasonable on MSN

This comes from a news channel that thinks Mitt Romney is the president.
~ Darter22 on Huff Post

Wow I won the office pool. It was Zooey in the pantry with an ice pick.
~ Camurria on Huff Post

CNN = Bad
Fox = Mega Bad
~ mapleaforever on Huff Post

Fox news reports that Zooey Deschanel and the the janitor of the school that White Hat attended both happened to be seen driving past the same Popeyes Chicken store within the past 10 years. Fox is about to interview the brother of a one time customer of that store for his take on how this is related to Benghazi.
~ Angry Liberal Dude on Huff Post

Maybe Fox just got tired of blaming everything on Obama… Naaaa just joking! They will never get tired of that.
~ JK on Yahoo News

Well Zooey is a bombshell - so I can see how Fox got confused
~ David E. on Yahoo News












Thursday, April 18, 2013

Twitterstorm Over Media Chaos in Boston, Then FBI Smackdown

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Twitter Heads Exploded this afternoon when various media outlets such as AP, CNN and Fox reported an "imminent arrest" in the Boston Marathon Bombing. Actually no suspect was in custody. To make matters worse, John King on CNN kept insisting that police were searching for a "dark-skinned male" as if that was part of the crime, while CBS was reporting the search for a caucasion light-skinned subject. Derp.

From Business Insider
According to a source at CNN, the network was the first to report that a suspect had been identified. Anchor John King sent in a report around 1 p.m. that a source "briefed" on the investigation had told King a positive identification had been made. CNN Washington bureau chief Sam Feist approved that report, according to the source.

According to the source, who was reviewing internal email logs, Fran Townsend was the first at the network to say that an arrest had been made.
"As I think everyone knows, we really f—ed up. No way around it," the source said.
The source said that the network's email network went quiet for a 15-minute period shortly after the retraction — "so people [were] either being more cautious or getting yelled at."

Townsend's report came around the same time as other outlets, including the Associated Press and the Boston Globe, also reported an arrest, so it is not clear whether CNN was the first to make the mistake.

Special FBI Smackdown
Contrary to widespread reporting, no arrest has been made in connection with the Boston Marathon attack. Over the past day and a half, there have been a number of press reports based on information from unofficial sources that has been inaccurate. Since these stories often have unintended consequences, we ask the media, particularly at this early stage of the investigation, to exercise caution and attempt to verify information through appropriate official channels before reporting.

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Monday, April 15, 2013

North Korean Missile Threats Equal Comedy Gold

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Tensions continue to mount in this North Korea situation. The U.S. has moved a Navy warship off the coast of the Korean Peninsula. Is that going to scare the North Koreans? If you really want to scare them, don't send a warship. Send a Carnival cruise ship.
~ Jay Leno on The Tonight Show

Japan and South Korea are on high alert after North Korea successfully launched a long-range rocket. Both countries are surprised by North Korea's successful launch, but definitely not as surprised as North Korea.
~ Jimmy Fallon

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Why do I feel like this whole thing could be solved by sending Kim Jong Un a Disneyland pass?
~ Jimmy Kimmel

North Korea has the same ability to launch a nuclear strike against America as I do. It's like walking through a parking lot and getting barked at by a chihuahua locked in a car.
~ Bill Maher

In high school Kim Jong Un starred in a production of the musical 'Grease.' That's also where Kim met his first wife, Olivia Newton Jong.
~ Conan O'Brien

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Japan gave warnings too. They said if North Korea tests this new weapon, Japan will have no choice but to set up their own missile defense system. They're adorable little missiles with 'Hello Kitty' on them.
~ Craig Ferguson

Dealing with the North Koreans is very difficult. They have a history of making irrational decisions to divert the world's attention from the fact their system has totally collapsed. No wait, sorry. I was thinking of NBC.
~ Craig Ferguson


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Friday, April 12, 2013

"Accidental Racist" Song a Failure to Communicate

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Racism has been on my mind. Last year, we had some really powerful movies deal with it really well. We had Django [Unchained] and Lincoln, and the media deals with it all the time, and I thought maybe it would be an interesting conversation between country music and rap music to deal with this subject between two individuals in a loving and understanding way.
~ Country Singer Brad Paisley on NBC's Tonight Show with Jay Leno

The song wasn’t perfect. You can’t fit 300 or 400 years of history into a three or four minute song.
Ultimately, I can’t defend the song, but I can clarify my intentions. I in no way would ever compare the history of the Confederate flag with a do-rag. However, when you think about a kid like Trayvon Martin and you think about some of the things that happen in society based on clothing, when you put it in this proper context, it makes sense.
~ LL Cool J to Jay Leno







"Accidental Racist" Lyrics Via The Wrap

Paisley:

To the man that waited on me at the Starbucks down on Main, I hope you understand
When I put on that t-shirt, the only thing I meant to say is I'm a Skynyrd fan
The red flag on my chest somehow is like the elephant in the corner of the south
And I just walked him right in the room
Just a proud rebel son with an 'ol can of worms
Lookin' like I got a lot to learn but from my point of view

I'm just a white man comin' to you from the southland
Tryin' to understand what it's like not to be
I'm proud of where I'm from but not everything we've done
And it ain't like you and me can re-write history
Our generation didn't start this nation
We're still pickin' up the pieces, walkin' on eggshells, fightin' over yesterday
And caught between southern pride and southern blame

They called it Reconstruction, fixed the buildings, dried some tears
We're still siftin' through the rubble after a hundred-fifty years
I try to put myself in your shoes and that's a good place to begin
But it ain't like I can walk a mile in someone else's skin

'Cause I'm a white man livin' in the southland
Just like you I'm more than what you see
I'm proud of where I'm from but not everything we've done
And it ain't like you and me can re-write history
Our generation didn't start this nation
And we're still paying for the mistakes
That a bunch of folks made long before we came
And caught between southern pride and southern blame

Cool J:

Dear Mr. White Man, I wish you understood
What the world is really like when you're livin' in the hood
Just because my pants are saggin' doesn't mean I'm up to no good
You should try to get to know me, I really wish you would
Now my chains are gold but I'm still misunderstood
I wasn't there when Sherman's March turned the south into firewood
I want you to get paid but be a slave I never could
Feel like a new fangled Django, dodgin' invisible white hoods
So when I see that white cowboy hat, I'm thinkin' it's not all good
I guess we're both guilty of judgin' the cover not the book
I'd love to buy you a beer, conversate and clear the air
But I see that red flag and I think you wish I wasn't here

Paisley and Cool J (Cool J in parentheses):

I'm just a white man
(If you don't judge my do-rag)
Comin' to you from the southland
(I won't judge your red flag)
Tryin' to understand what it's like not to be
I'm proud of where I'm from
(If you don't judge my gold chains)
But not everything we've done
(I'll forget the iron chains)
It ain't like you and me can re-write history
(Can't re-write history baby)

Oh, Dixieland
(The relationship between the Mason-Dixon needs some fixin')
I hope you understand what this is all about
(Quite frankly I'm a black Yankee but I've been thinkin' about this lately)
I'm a son of the new south
(The past is the past, you feel me)
And I just want to make things right
(Let bygones be bygones)
Where all that's left is southern pride
(RIP Robert E. Lee but I've gotta thank Abraham Lincoln for freeing me, know what I mean)
It's real, it's real
It's truth

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The "Accidental Racist" we can work on. It's the "Intentional Racist" we need to eradicate.
~ Raptor2U on Huff Post

Those lyrics are impossible. I cannot believe this song actually exists!
Who the heck thought it was a good idea. . .complaining about how hard racism is. . .for white men? Ooof. I'm incredibly disappointed that LL Cool J chose to participate.
~ Horrible Pourable on Huff Post

They both get to wear the "I'm with stupid" t-shirt.
~ WinkandaNod on Huff Post

I think the purpose of this song is to get people talking. We don't talk to each other because of too much history and uncomfortable situations. We also don't want to listen...I appreciate Brad and LL for at least trying.
~ KimPeach on Huff Post

The performers call for racism to magically heal itself through major chords and willpower. It’s The Secret by way of Tinkerbell.
Paisley doesn’t want to talk to the coffeeshop guy about racism any more than LL wants to talk to white folks about mandatory minimums or systemic disparities in educational outcomes. They each want to know that ‘We’re cool, right bro?’ without actually engaging the ugly substance and legacy of American history. “Accidental Racist” deserves every ounce of clowning it gets...
~ Alan Pyke on Think Progress

Brad Paisley: “We’re still pickin’ up the pieces, walkin’ on eggshells, fightin’ over yesterday”
Nothing says “walkin’ on eggshells” quite like entering a Starbucks with a giant symbol of the institutionalized enslavement of human beings emblazoned on your chest. I wonder what he’d wear if he wasn’t so concerned with politeness!
~ Funny or Die, "The 11 Worst Lines from Accidental Racist"

As Dolly Parton once said (well, I heard her say it at a concert) "What do you get when you mix country and rap? CRAP!"
~ Simone F. on Think Progress

The members of Lynyrd Skynyrd were not racist. However, It was disappointing to learn that they decided to keep the confederate flag after their fans threw a fit.
~ Stacie B. on Think Progress

Whatever the reason, the song itself is a lyrical disgrace filled with awkward non-apologies and faux-pensiveness over the history of racism in the south.
~ Bobby Finger on Hairpin

My only objection to the song, and to the surrounding controversy, is that Brad Paisley says he is merely giving a the "Southern white man's point of view."
Mr. Paisley is from West Virginia, and as someone who was born and raised in Georgia, I resent that he considers himself Southern.
~ Class of '98, Atlanta on New York Times

To claim, as Paisley does, that wearing a confederate flag is actually about being a Lynard Skynyrd fan so we should ignore the dominant meaning, is silly. You can’t wear a swastika and say, “Oh don’t be upset–I’m thinking of the way the Chinese used it before it was appropriated by the Nazis.” That’s not how symbols work.
. . . I wonder if LL was drugged when he wrote and recorded the lyrics, “If you don’t judge my gold chains, I’ll forget the iron chain.” How could he have not recognized that as a possibly career-ending moment that would offend almost all of his fans to the core? He follows with other references to amnesia about a multi-century atrocity that still has a deep impact on America. Let bygones be bygones?
. . . I hope to never hear this horrible song again.
~ Touré on Time Magazine

But does this character exist? When people wear the Confederate flag, are they really surprised or concerned with who might be affected?
"They want to be able to carry the wounds of the Civil War but not the baggage," is how a source in the Nashville music industry described it to me. "They want to hold on to the trappings of the Confederacy but not be held responsible for everything they symbolize. And they're tired of having people make them feel bad for it I don't know if they are so much concerned about racism as they are about being seen as racist."
The lifelong Southerners I spoke to about this said that anyone wearing the flag as an adult in 2013 is fully aware of how it's viewed by others and has made the decision that they're okay with that.
~ Summer Anne Burton on BuzzFeed

The Confederate flag is a banner of hate, plain and simple. People need to do their research before they go around waving it around. And this is coming from a southern white male that was born and raised in Alabama.
~ Judd H. on BuzzFeed

I'm really upset with LL Cool J in this situation. Doesn't he realize what that flag represented to our ancestors? Pure hate. People in the south can be proud and display where they came from without this flag. This song is a cop out.
~ JoannaJ2 on BuzzFeed

. . . early in the song Paisley laments being judged for wearing a T-shirt that features a Confederate flag. He says he's not racist, he's just a "proud rebel son" and Lynyrd Skynyrd fan.
Here's what Paisley fails to realize - the very thing that is a symbol of pride for him is a symbol of oppression for others. The Confederate flag represents a movement that aimed to keep my ancestors in servitude. If that flag flew over our nation's capital today I wouldn't be allowed to read, let alone express myself in this column.
Do I think Paisley is racist? Not at all. But the symbol on his chest is. So yeah, I'm offended.
LL is just as offensive, reciting rhymes like this:
"If you don't judge my gold chains, I'll forget the iron chains," and "If you don't judge my do-rag, I won't judge your red flag."
In a song that hopes to erase stereotypes, LL is essentially glorifying them. Of all the metaphors he could have been used, why did LL go with gold chains and do-rags, the very images blacks have been trying to overcome for decades?
~ Edward Bowser on AL.com

David Graham on The Atlantic
But this is exactly how not to write a song about the Confederate flag. To see the right way, you've got to go back 20 years to the Bottle Rockets. They've got as much southern cred as Paisley -- the band is from Festus, Missouri, they're as likely to have steel guitar on their records as he is, and they write songs about trailer parks, $1000 cars, and Loretta Lynn. In other words, this isn't like Ontario-born Neil Young blasting backward racists in "Southern Man" (though he was right, too, no matter how it infuriated Lynyrd Skynyrd) -- it's a critique from within. Here's how songwriter Brian Henneman handled it in 1993:


Here's the first verse:
Look, here comes another one, 4-wheel drive
Look there in the window, man, sakes alive!
That good ol' boy's waving the stars and bars.
It's a red, white, and blue flag, but it ain't ours.
And the chorus:
Wave that flag high, wave it high,
Do you know what it means, do you know why?
Maybe bein' a rebel ain't no big deal
But if somebody owned your ass, how would you feel?

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Why the Dickens Does Stacey Campfield Want Tennessee Kids to Play Hunger Games? ~ UPDATE 2: Calls Child a "Prop" - UpDATE: Bill Withdrawn!

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This is Stacey Campfield's brilliant idea - to withhold welfare for poor families unless their kids make good grades. In effect, he wants to punish the entire family from babies to Grandma if just one of the kids is failing school, no matter what the reason. Can he spell I-D-I-O-T?

. . . if your kid is failing every single class because who knows what reason — unless you are a special needs child or something like that — we’re going to stop or cut back on the amount of straight cash payments you’re going to get.
Listen, I’m not expecting these kids to write the Magna Carta.
ABCs, 1-2-3s — I think any parent can just about do that.
We have classes for parents. We have after-school problems if kids are having problems. We have tutoring programs up the wazoo, we have everything you’d ever ask for except for parents that are engaged and involved.
~ Stacey Campfield on Fox News in January 2012

Personally, I want to see Stacey Campfield's Report Cards because I'm not sure he's qualified to participate in state government. Also he has no heart.

We’ve learned that on Monday a group of Nashville Reverends, Preachers, and Priests came to the office of each member of the Tennessee General Assembly to protest Sen. Campfield’s anti-poor agenda and the state's rejection of Obamacare. They dropped off two loafs of bread and 5 paper fish. Each fish had a different bible verse calling on the members to help the poor and fund health care. Nice work!
~ From a Facebook called "Recall TN State Senator Stacey Campfield"

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UpDATE 2 ~ Campfield withdrew his bill, thank God, but not before this happened:

"I love when people use children as Props." ~ Stacey Campfield while running from and 8-year-old girl, Aamira Fetuga, then calling a man with the child a "Union Thug"

From Think Progress
As Campfield walked to the Senate chambers, he was presented with a petition of more than 2500 signatures collected by Clergy for Justice to protest the bill. The deliverer of the petition was an 8-year-old girl, Aamira Fetuga, whose mother, Rasheedat Fetuga, is the founder of a local child advocacy group.
As Aamira prepared to explain to Campfield why she was worried about his bill, Campfield dismissed her as a “prop” and hurried away, repeating over and over again, “Using children as props is shameful” as Aamira and her mother tried to talk to him.

Watch it [courtesy of Eric Patton and Clergy For Justice]:





UPDATE: Stacey Campfield has Withdrawn his Bill!!!
State Sen. Stacey Campfield dropped his bill to tie welfare benefits to grades for the year after meeting resistance from fellow Republicans on the Senate floor.

Campfield asked for his bill to be sent to a summer study committee before a vote could be held on the measure, which would have reduced welfare payments to families whose children are failing school. The move came after it appeared that the bill would fall short of passing.

The decision ended debate on one of the most controversial pieces of legislation before the Tennessee legislature.

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A single mother with two children receives $185 dollars a month in TANF cash payments. That’s roughly $46 dollars a week, less than $7 a day. Your 30% reduction would cut that payment to just under $130 a month.
. . . Your legislation also ignores the very real educational impediments for students coming from impoverished households–like food and housing insecurity or financial and health care instability. And the truth is that poor people don’t hold the monopoly on bad parenting.
. . . And gentlemen–it’s your job as elected officials to encourage their achievement with policy that supports instead of shames.
~ Melissa Harris-Perry on MSNBC

"Study or Starve"
~ Martin Bashir on MSNBC



Let me see if I get this theory straight:
Little Billy is poor, and he’s not doing very well in school. I have an idea. What if we made him poorer and told his family it was his fault?
‘Last semester my grades were bad because I was hungry and cold, but this semester I am hungrier and colder and my family isn’t talking to me, so bring on the long division.’
Is Stacey Campfield a state senator senator or a villain from a Dickens novel?
But I gues when the State of Tennessee is handin' people up to 900000 bucks a month, they have some say.
(Fox News Reporter) "Right now the current average assistance is $189 a month."
Because $190 would spoil them.
Who is this Stacey Campfield who wants to turn Tennessee education into actual Hunger Games?
~ John Stewart on Comedy Central


White guys telling the poor and disadvantaged that it's all their fault and they're going to be punished. That's today's GOP.
~ Americans for Truth on Mediaite

This is sort of like the Rutgers Basketball Coach philosophy. belittle, threaten, belittle, threaten, belittle, incarcerate.
~ Jman on Crooks and Liars

Knowledgeable fetuses in Tennessee will just skirt this law by refusing to leave the womb.
~ MeSoHornish on The New Civil Rights Movement

This is child slavery.
~ traqair on Huff Post

Remember, Mr. "Christian" Senator, the words............"Bless the beasts and the children. For in this world they have no voice ---- they have no choice". This is a new low ----- and given many Republican remarks as of late, that's saying something!
~ Ann L. on Huff Post

So if you get good grades, we'll give you something to eat. Are these kids lab rats?
~ SOFOROBAMA on Huff Post

I think he's stupid! Can we take money away from his parents?
~ AmberWave on Huff Post

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Rand Paul Speaks at Howard University ~ Updated

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From Business Insider ~ Rand Paul at Howard University
"The Democrats promised equalizing outcomes through unlimited federal assistance while Republicans offered something that seemed less tangible-the promise of equalizing opportunity through free markets," Paul said. "Now Republicans face a daunting task. Several generations of black voters have never voted Republican and are not very open to even considering the option."

"The Democrat promise is tangible and puts food on the table, but too often doesn't lead to jobs or meaningful success," he continued, adding later, "I would argue that the objective evidence shows that big government is not a friend to African Americans."

. . . "I can recite books that have been written, or I can plunge into the arena and stumble and maybe fall but at least I will have striven," Paul said. "My hope is that you will hear me out, that you will see me for who I am, not the caricature sometimes presented by political opponents."

Echoing a popular conservative talking point, Paul repeatedly reminded the audience that Democrats passed Jim Crow laws in the south and that Abraham Lincoln was a Republican, as were the first black legislators and the founders of the NAACP.
“Would everyone know here they were all Republicans?” he said at one point, referring to the NAACP’s founders.
“Yes!” came the booming response from nearly the entire audience, who appeared offended Paul would even raise the question.
~ Talking Points Memo

Rand Paul Randsplains How Republicans Lost The Black Vote: Black People Just Don’t Understand
. . . The real star was his engagement in the fun-at-CPAC pastime of reminiscing about all of the great things Republicans did before 1964, and the concurrently crummy things Democrats did back then, but with the manner of a first-grade teacher explaining the alphabet. Believe it or not, Rand, lots of people already know about the shift that occurred in 1964.
~ Tommy Christopher on Mediaite

You can’t just yada yada yada the last 60 Republican years. A Republican freed the slaves, gave black people the vote, yada yada yada, and now all blacks vote Democratic, I mean, what the hell?
~ Jon Stewart


























































Fact Check:

Paul said the Civil Rights Act of 1964 shouldn't apply to private business owners:

Via Think Progress 5-19-2010
INTERVIEWER: Would you have voted for the Civil Rights Act of 1964?

PAUL: I like the Civil Rights Act in the sense that it ended discrimination in all public domains, and I’m all in favor of that.

INTERVIEWER: But?

PAUL: You had to ask me the “but.” I don’t like the idea of telling private business owners—I abhor racism. I think it’s a bad business decision to exclude anybody from your restaurant—but, at the same time, I do believe in private ownership. But I absolutely think there should be no discrimination in anything that gets any public funding, and that’s most of what I think the Civil Rights Act was about in my mind.



Transcript of Rachel Maddow via Washington Post May 19, 2010
PAUL: Well, the interesting thing is, you know, you look back to the 1950s and 1960s at the problems we faced. There were incredible problems. You know, the problems had to do with mostly voting, they had to do with schools, they had to do with public housing. And so, this is what the civil rights largely addressed, and all things that I largely agree with.

MADDOW: But what about private businesses? I mean, I hate to -- I don`t want to be badgering you on this, but I do want an answer.

PAUL: I'm not -- I'm not --

MADDOW: Do you think that a private business has the right to say we don't serve black people?

PAUL: Yes. I'm not in favor of any discrimination of any form. I would never belong to any club that excluded anybody for race. We still do have private clubs in America that can discriminate based on race.

But I think what's important about this debate is not written into any specific "gotcha" on this, but asking the question: what about freedom of speech? Should we limit speech from people we find abhorrent? Should we limit racists from speaking?

. . . MADDOW: -- for private businesses to be desegregated by the government. You're saying those people should have gone to different places? Left them segregated?

PAUL: People who commit -- people who commit violence on other individuals should go to prison and go to jail. And there's nothing we should ever do to condone violence on other individuals.

MADDOW: And should Woolworth lunch counter should have been allowed to stay segregated? Sir, just yes or no.

PAUL: What I think would happen -- what I'm saying is, is that I don't believe in any discrimination. I don't believe in any private property should discriminate either. And I wouldn't attend, wouldn't support, wouldn't go to.

But what you have to answer when you answer this point of view, which is an abstract, obscure conversation from 1964 that you want to bring up. But if you want to answer, you have to say then that you decide the rules for all restaurants and then you decide that you want to allow them to carry weapons into restaurants.

MADDOW: I can -- we could have a fight about the Second Amendment.

(CROSSTALK)

MADDOW: But I think wanting to allow private industry -- private businesses --

PAUL: It's the same fight. It's the same fight.


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