Tuesday, December 30, 2014

The KKK Past of Steve Scalise

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Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana) is the House Majority Whip starting in January, but he is already drawing fire for a speech he made back in 2002 to a group founded by ex-KKK Grand Dragon, David Duke. When first asked about this, Scalise said he "didn't know" of a connection between Duke and the KKK. Yeah right. And he's been scrambling ever since.

The hashtag #SteveScaliseExcuses has trended several times.

From Washington Post
Scalise's people said that he had no idea about the group's ideology. They are essentially blaming poor planning and lack of research for how Scalise ended up speaking before a group of white nationalists. (Erick Erikson asks a good question over at RedState: How do you show up at a David Duke event and not know what it is?) This excuse, while perhaps a valid one, doesn't change the fact that this is a very bad thing for Scalise, who is the third-ranking member of the House, and for the GOP as they attempt rebranding with minority voters.





In retaliation, David Duke issued his own ultimatum to critics of Scalise in Congress:

Via Raw Story
Duke said that he is shocked at the “insane” amount of attention he and Scalise are getting.

“Why is Scalise being singled out? I don’t know,” he said. “He was just going [to the EURO conference], obviously, to tell voters about some of his initiatives on some tax matters. That’s what it’s all about. And I think it’s insane, this whole process.”

He issued a warning to Democrats and Republicans who might try to ruin his friend’s career.
“If Scalise is going to be crucified — if Republicans want to throw Steve Scalise to the woods, then a lot of them better be looking over their shoulders,” Duke warned, intimating that he would reveal his ties to any politicians who attack Scalise.


































Thursday, December 18, 2014

Obama Liberates Cuba and Senator Rubio's Head Explodes Like a Water Balloon

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Previous Related Posts:
Stay Thirsty, My Friend: Senator Rubio and Water-Bottle-Gate
Tea Party Tantrum When Obama Shakes Hands with a Castro
CPAC 2013 Day One: Rat Heads in a Coke Bottle
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yesterday, President Obama announced that the U.S. will be normalizing relations with Cuba after years of isolating that country with an embargo. Since politicians are never supposed to change anything or do anything worthwhile to change the world, this was met with immediate criticism from the GOP. And even though His Holiness, Pope Francis, helped in negotiations with Cuba from a humanitarian point of view, Senator Marco Rubio, R-Florida, immediately criticized the plan because his knee jerked towards the White House; then he had a long, cool drink of water while rightwing heads exploded all over the country. This is really the moment that Rubio has been waiting for - a rush to the bully pulpit on the way to his own presidential bid. But GOP and Rubio may be on the wrong side of history again, as they are on the immigration issue.



From the White House Fact Sheet on Cuba:
FACT SHEET: Charting a New Course on Cuba

Today, the United States is taking historic steps to chart a new course in our relations with Cuba and to further engage and empower the Cuban people. We are separated by 90 miles of water, but brought together through the relationships between the two million Cubans and Americans of Cuban descent that live in the United States, and the 11 million Cubans who share similar hopes for a more positive future for Cuba.

It is clear that decades of U.S. isolation of Cuba have failed to accomplish our enduring objective of promoting the emergence of a democratic, prosperous, and stable Cuba. At times, longstanding U.S. policy towards Cuba has isolated the United States from regional and international partners, constrained our ability to influence outcomes throughout the Western Hemisphere, and impaired the use of the full range of tools available to the United States to promote positive change in Cuba. Though this policy has been rooted in the best of intentions, it has had little effect – today, as in 1961, Cuba is governed by the Castros and the Communist party.

We cannot keep doing the same thing and expect a different result. It does not serve America’s interests, or the Cuban people, to try to push Cuba toward collapse. We know from hard-learned experience that it is better to encourage and support reform than to impose policies that will render a country a failed state. With our actions today, we are calling on Cuba to unleash the potential of 11 million Cubans by ending unnecessary restrictions on their political, social, and economic activities. In that spirit, we should not allow U.S. sanctions to add to the burden of Cuban citizens we seek to help.

Today, we are renewing our leadership in the Americas. We are choosing to cut loose the anchor of the past, because it is entirely necessary to reach a better future – for our national interests, for the American people, and for the Cuban people.





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Senator Rubio criticizes Evil Tyrant Obama, via Tampa Bay Times
"This president is the single worst negotiator we have had in the White House in my lifetime," Rubio said, contending Obama "has basically given the Cuban government everything it asked for and received no assurances of any advances of democracy and freedom."
Rubio deemed it a victory for the "oppressive Cuban government" and "another concession to a tyranny" by the Obama administration. The president, he said, let the Cuban people down. He used words like "absurd" and "disgraceful and "outrageous." He vowed to do whatever possible to block the moves.
"This Congress is not going to lift the embargo," said Rubio, who will chair the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere when Congress reconvenes in January.



Rubio also blamed Pope Francis for his role in negotiations, which proves once again that no good deed goes unpunished:
Via Politicus USA
“My understanding is that the influence that His Holiness had was on the release of Mr. [Alan] Gross, which I’ve not criticized. As I said, I’m happy that he’s with the Cuban people [sic]. I would also ask His Holiness to take up the cause of freedom and democracy, which is critical for a free people — for a people to truly be free. I think the people of Cuba deserve the same chances to have democracy as the people of Argentina have had, where he comes from; as the people of Italy have, where he now lives. Obviously the Vatican’s its own state, but very nearby. My point is I hope that people with that sort of prestige on the world stage will take up the cause of freedom and democracy. The Cuban people are the only people in this hemisphere that have not been able to elect a leader in more than 55 or 60 years. That’s outrageous.”















Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Ferguson Witness 40 is a Lying Racist - and McCulloch Knew It

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Previous Related Post:
The Travesty of Witness 40 in the Ferguson Case

More stuff is coming out daily about Witness 40, who in spite of a dubious story and no proof she was even there, was allowed to testify to the Ferguson Grand Jury in the shooting death of Michael Brown. Smoking Gun reveals that Witness 40's real name is Sandra McElroy, and they rightly refer to her as a "fabulist" whose testimony was illegal perjury. She has untreated bipolar syndrome and lives in an alternate reality of her own making.



From Smoking Gun
Though prosecutors have sought to cloak the identity of grand jury witnesses, a TSG investigation has identified McElroy as “Witness 40.” A careful analysis of information contained in the unredacted portions of “Witness 40”’s grand jury testimony helped reporters identify McElroy and then conclusively match up details of her life with those of “Witness 40.”
TSG examined criminal, civil, matrimonial, and bankruptcy court records, as well as online postings and comments to unmask McElroy as “Witness 40,” the fabulist whose grand jury testimony and law enforcement interviews are deserving of multi-count perjury indictments.
. . . When asked what she was doing in Ferguson--which is about 30 miles north of her home--McElroy explained that she was planning to “pop in” on a former high school classmate she had not seen in 26 years. Saddled with an incorrect address and no cell phone, McElroy claimed that she pulled over to smoke a cigarette and seek directions from a black man standing under a tree. In short order, the violent confrontation between Brown and Wilson purportedly played out in front of McElroy.
Despite an abundance of red flags, state prosecutors put McElroy in front of the Ferguson grand jury the day after her meeting with the federal officials. After the 12-member panel listened to a tape of her interview conducted at the FBI office, McElroy appeared and, under oath, regaled the jurors with her eyewitness claims.

Not only is she lying about her whereabouts that day, but she had fabricated a story years earlier in order to cast doubt on a police matter, and Prosecutor Bob McCulloch must have know that. She got involved in the kidnapping of a boy named Shawn Hornbeck. So she was known by police and prosecutors to be a known liar way before the murder of Mike Brown. She should never have been allowed near a Grand Jury.
. . . (Ms. McElroy) fabricated a bizarre story in the wake of the rescue of Shawn Hornbeck, a St. Louis boy who had been held captive for more than four years by Michael Devlin, a resident of Kirkwood, a city just outside St. Louis.
McElroy, who also lived in Kirkwood, told KMOV-TV that she had known Devlin (seen at left) for 20 years. She also claimed to have gone to the police months after the child’s October 2002 disappearance to report that she had seen Devlin with Hornbeck. The police, McElroy said, checked out her tip and determined that the boy with Devlin was not Hornbeck.
In the face of McElroy’s allegations, the Kirkwood Police Department fired back at her. Cops reported that they investigated her claim and determined that “we have no record of any contact with Mrs. McElroy in regards to Shawn Hornbeck.” The police statement concluded, “We have found that this story is a complete fabrication.”


She's also a blinkin' racist, and her claim that she was trying to stop using the N-word is a lie. Smoking Gun's reporting continues with this analysis of her YouTube page:

An examination of McElroy’s YouTube page, which she apparently shares with one of her daughters, reveals other evidence of racial animus. Next to a clip about the disappearance of a white woman who had a baby with a black man is the comment, “see what happens when you bed down with a monkey have ape babies and party with them.” A clip about the sentencing of two black women for murder is captioned, “put them monkeys in a cage.”
McElroy’s YouTube page is also filled with a variety of anti-Barack Obama videos, including a clip purporting to show Michelle Obama admitting that the president was born in Kenya. Over the past year, McElroy has subscribed to three channels devoted to mystery and real crime shows, as well as a “We Are Darren Wilson” video channel.












Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Clueless Ted Cruz Helps President Obama

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Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, still doesn't understand how the Senate works. He only knows that every "patriot" and Tea Party member needs to hate Obama, and they need to keep throwing down the gauntlet to the old-style GOP members who aren't extreme enough for his liking. What he'd love is another big government shutdown that puts the spotlight on his favorite Senator, himself. But Mitch McConnell has already put the kibosh on that idea since it was a big turn-off for the rest of the country last year.

And now it's hilarious to watch Cruz pitch a tantrum and try to get Mitch McConnell to do his bidding. Old Mitch would rather strike deals with lame-duck Majority Leader Harry Reid than let Ted "Anointed One" Cruz have more power over the Senate. And that's exactly what happened - the GOP turned against Ted Cruz, mainly because he is never a team player.



This time it really backfired on Cruz, LOL. He and his toady, Mike Lee R-Utah, insisted that the Senate work through the weekend so they could have a vote on whether the President's Executive Order on Immigration was Constitutional. The vote didn't go as expected, with many GOP Senators voting the opposite from Cruz, and on top of that the President suddenly got the green light for some of his languishing nominations since they were in session anyway.

And then today the Senate stood up to the NRA lobby and passed through the nomination of Vivek Murthy as Surgeon General.

Thanks, Ted Cruz, you idiot! Merry Christmas!

From Talking Points Memo
It began on Friday evening, when Reid and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) were close to securing an agreement to quickly vote on the $1.1 trillion "CRomnibus" spending bill to avert a government shutdown. Cruz, along with Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), blindsided Republican leaders by objecting and dragging out the process as they demanded a vote to defund Obama's executive actions on immigration.
What Cruz didn't count on was Reid instead seizing on the occasion — which forced the Senate to stay in session for procedural votes — to move forward with starting the confirmation vote clock on a whopping 24 Obama nominations that otherwise might have been jettisoned. The Texan's tactic angered numerous Republican colleagues.
"I think most Republicans think that Christmas came early for Democrats," Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said, according to Roll Call, blaming Cruz. "I haven't seen Harry smile this much in years, and I didn't particularly like it."










Disturbing Dick Cheney Defends Torture

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Dick Cheney appeared on NBC's Meet the Press with Chuck Todd on Sunday and defended the torture of prisoners of war, even though it led nowhere and degraded the collective soul of the United States. The interview came after the release of the "CIA Torture Report" that unveiled the gruesome and inhuman details of what our own country did under the cover of "national security."

From Time
. . . former Vice President Dick Cheney took the defense of the Bush administration’s policies to the next level in a Meet the Press appearance on Sunday. Declaring that he would “do it again in a minute,” Cheney insisted that he had “no problem as long as we achieve our objective.”



From Mashable
(Chuck) Todd repeatedly asked Cheney to define torture, but he avoided answering the questions multiple times.
“Torture to me, Chuck, is an American citizen on a cell phone making a last call to his four young daughters shortly before he burns to death in the World Trade Center on 9/11," the former vice-president said.



Earlier in the week, Cheney appeared on Fox News:

Via CNN
Washington (CNN) -- Former Vice President Dick Cheney called a Senate panel's report on U.S. interrogation tactics during George W. Bush's administration is "deeply flawed" and a "terrible piece of work."
"The report's full of crap," he said in an interview with Fox News on Wednesday evening.













Shades of Selma ~ A New Generation Marches for Justice

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The Eyes of Eric Garner During New York Protest

On Saturday December 13, 2014, there was a March for Justice in Washington DC, and another in New York City, that drew thousands to the streets, while millions watched on TV and computers worldwide. And the marching will continue all over the country because there needs to be Justice for Mike Brown, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, Trayvon Martin - the list is apparently endless. Society has to change. The Police need to police themselves. The scales of justice have to balance again so our country can survive.




















Wednesday, December 10, 2014

The Travesty of Witness 40 in the Ferguson Case

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One witness allowed to testify to the Ferguson Grand Jury on the death of Mike Brown was a self-avowed racist who had raised money to help shooter Darren Wilson. She also seems to have fabricated a "journal" in which she describes Mike Brown as "running at the cop like a football player, head down." But there's a problem - she can't prove she was even there that day, and the FBI can't find video of her car anywhere near Florissant Avenue that day.

Also, she testified that she was there after waking up that morning and deciding to "cure" her habit of saying the "N-Word" by driving through the black part of town.

Is that believable? I don't think so. No one thinks so.

Yet Bob McCulloch, the Ferguson Prosecutor, allowed her crazy-ass, obviously false testimony into the record, and even showed the Grand Jury a nutty interview she did with FBI agents in which she can't remember much and admits to being racist anyway. Then McCulloch didn't bother to question the reality of her statements, or give the jurors any sense of direction. It was admitted as if it was all factual.

This witness should be investigated and charged with perjury, or at the least needs some type of psychological intervention.

McCulloch should be disbarred and a Federal Prosecutor should cut through this crap immediately - not next week, not next month. This is a travesty of justice.

Of course, the Fox Racist News is running with Witness 40 as "proof" that Darren Wilson was in fear of his life from "linebacker" Mike Brown. Sean Hannity is using that line as often as possible - he loved George Zimmerman who killed unarmed Trayvon Martin, and now he loves Darren Wilson who shot down unarmed Mike Brown in the street. See a pattern there? Oh, but not racist, right?


Witness 40 Journal Entry Here


The FBI warned this person not to lie, but she then told them a completely garbled story, and she's probably lying about not having cable TV too. And probably everything else!
FBI Interview Transcript Here
We have to let you know that, we tell this
to everybody, if you lie to a federal agent, and
you, (inaudible) it is a crime. You are better off
not saying a word and just not talking to us if you
plan on lying and sitting in here and telling us
lies.

. . .

Transcript Via CascadianX1 on Gawker

August 9th - Saturday

8AM

Well Im gonna take my random drive to Alousant (sp. Florissant). Need to understand the Black was better so I stop calling Blacks N*****s and start calling them People. Like dad always said you cant fear an hate an entire race cause of what one man did 40 yrs ago.

4PM

OMFG it was crazy I dont even know where I was I ask Q.T. guy for directions but went wrong way. I just wanted to take drive. I ended up in Some Apartment Complex & asked directions again. Real nice kid in wife beater he had no idea he asked guy in green Shirt & Jeans that guy was realy sweet. Then I heard a weird noise caught my attention this cop was backing up saying [?]

I couldnt hear but they was some kids I almost hit with car. A big one & a skinny one. The Cop tried getting out & the big one hit the door the cop looked pissed & tryed opening door again. The big kid hit the door with his gut & the little one punched the mirror someth gold fell on the ground. The big one is half in the window/door cant Remember. I swear the little one had the cops leg. I heard a noise not sure what the guy in the green shirt was yelling stop the big kid pulled his pants up they was tan shorts & he started running the skinny one took off on opp direct the cop got out left hand on face right hand on gun. The cop scream but I could not understand . Every one was screaming. I heard 'lay yo stupid ass down' I think it was a lady next to me. The cop was wobbling the big kid turned around had his arms out with attitude. The cop just stood there dang if that kid didnt start running right at the cop like a football player head down. I heard 3 bangs but the big kid wouldn't stop. I heard cop say something but not sure what or if he was just making noise. Cop took a couple steps forward then backwards and the gun went off 2 more times. The last one the top of the kids head. OMG the blood. The green shirt man grabbed my arm and said get your ass out of here. I got in car & drove into into neighborhood some how[?] I went through parking lot across the street & back to Main Rd. Not sure how long but police were every place with Police tape. There was other cops there I seen one pull his gun but he didnt fire. Dont even remember when he got there. There was lady in parking lot of QT I just pulled up and asked for the close highway. She points & I left. Then to top shit off I got on highway going the wrong way. Had to ask for direct again. Real nice old man helped me out. Home has no cable so not sure whats on news.

9PM

Talked to [REDACTED] without telling him everything. He told me 1st I was nuts to taking drive up there and 2nd keep my mouth shut. He's prols right noone will believe me anyway.














Sunday, December 7, 2014

Protests Continue over Killer Cops

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Hey, Hey, Ho, Ho,
These Killer Cops
Have Got to Go"
~ Chant During Washington D.C. Die-In
Screencap Via Reuters Video

Protests are continuing night after night over the Eric Garner decision in New York, as well as the cumulative numbers of police shootings that continue each day.






New Video Shows a Lack of Medical Response
And NO CPR
For Eric Garner
According to CBS News, Two EMTs were Suspended



People are Blaming Everyone EXCEPT the Cops
























Thursday, December 4, 2014

Joe Scarborough Goes Nuts Over Cop Shootings

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Previous Related Posts:
Fake Prayer and Guns: Racism and the White Descendents of Harper Lee's Bob Ewell
Angry Nation Ponders Eric Garner Decision
Rudy Giuliani Blames Black People for Ferguson
Ferguson Grand Jury Part Three: Misled by Prosecutors

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Right Wing Nut Jobs can't wait to white-splain and justify the murders of Mike Brown in Ferguson, Tamir Rice in Cleveland, and Eric Garner in New York City.

Morning Joe has been on a rampage this week. I wonder when Scarborough will figure out that the racist vitriol he spews is probably one of the reasons his show is tanking in the ratings along with all the shows on MSNBC.



#FireJoe is trending every day. But Joe can't stop himself.

From Yahoo News
"If you're a black cop and you see me walking down the street, and you see an 18-year-old black guy walking down the street in the south Bronx, and you're told to stop and frisk, your job is to stop crime based on data," Scarborough said, "What do you do as a black cop? Do you go, 'I'm going to go across the street and frisk the white dude who looks like he lives in Connecticut?'"
. . . “A cop is not out on the street going, ‘You know what I’m going to do today? I’m going to move our society forward,’” Scarborough screamed. “A cop on the street has one job: to protect the people in that neighborhood. It is not to make a statement that makes prime-time people on MSNBC feel better about America.”

And he really hates that whole "hands up, don't shoot" protest thing:

The St. Louis Rams think it's cool to suggest St. Louis cops shoot young black men with their hands up in the air when we know that was a lie?" Scarborough asked. "It's a lie.

Chris Hayes of All In, also on MSNBC, disputed that it is a "lie."





From Mediaite
“Someone needs to tell me why Michael Brown has been chosen as the face of black oppression,” Scarborough said, arguing the left’s martyrdom of Brown mirrored the right’s lionization of George Zimmerman.
“There are so many great people to embrace as heroes in the black community, that deciding you’re going to embrace a guy who knocked over a convenience store and then according to a Grand Jury testimony acted in ways that would get my children shot? …That’s your hero? That’s the reason you want to burn down black businesses?…Really? This is your mission in life?”

Which led Lisa Bloom to retort:






As if all that wasn't enough, Scarborough went off on Tamir Rice, the child who had a toy - yes a toy - gun, and police shot him down without even investigating. Morning Joe says it wasn't a toy after all. Wow, for a man obsessed with the "lies" of the Left about Mike Brown, he doesn't much care about spreading Right Wing lies about Tamir Rice.

From PoliticusUSA
Scarborough: There’s another story in Cleveland where a young boy was shot dead. Police officers got a 911 call he was waving a gun scaring the blank out of everybody in this public park. Police officers came up and shot the young boy. He was 12 years old. They had taken off the markings to make it look like a toy gun. It was an actual gun. Do you know what The New York Times put in the caption of the video? ‘Police officers shoot child with toy.’ I don’t know exactly who puts those, attaches those, we are doing such a grave disservice to police officers in this country...

It really was a toy, Joe. A. Toy.

























Fake-Prayer and Guns: Racism the Descendents of Harper Lee's Bob Ewell - Edited and Expanded

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I'm ashamed of white people, and I'm one of them. Sitting in a place of privilege for 300 years in this land we now call the United States, we have taken our place in society for granted. I'm a southerner, but my ancestors never owned slaves - too poor, and merely subsistance farmers who never saw a cotton bale. When people talk about black food, that's what my ancestors grew up eating too - pinto beans with bacon, collards, cornbread, and sweet potato pie.

The reality is that most white southerners had nothing to do with elite plantation owners, but unfortunately the idiots calling for secession and romanticizing the Confederacy believe they ARE the elite now. They are the elite white-trash Middle Class who are better than the rest, especially people of color.

Harper Lee, author of To Kill a Mockingbird, had it right when she made Bob Ewell the villain of her southern gothic story. Bob Ewell is the guy who blamed a black man for everything and expected his white peers to believe him, much like Bob McCulloch, the prosecutor in St. Louis who basically defended white cop Darren Wilson instead of the black victim, Mike Brown.

Bob Ewell is the face of the white southern Tea Party. He's poor white trash but maybe with a college degree. He grew up watching Mod Squad and Room 222 and probably cried during the movie Brian's Song, but he can't recall that black people ever made a dent in his consciousness. All he remembers is the Golden Age of the Whites, when Mom made apple pie, and cities lit up at Christmas Time because white people loved Jesus more. (You know, black people don't celebrate Christmas because they're all Muslims. We don't need no Kwanzaa.)If you make an Archie Bunker joke to him, he will not laugh, but might say Archie actually made some good points, and isn't it a shame everyone is so PC these days?

He's the ancestor of farmers, mill workers, or mechanics, but his family rose to middle class status in the 60s-70s, ironically with color TVs on which to see integrated sports. He drives brand new jeeps and trucks, and thinks he's top of the heap, as good as any millionaire/billionaire. He could be a millionaire if he tried hard enough or went on a game show - Donald Trump has got nothing on him - but as long as he has a riding lawnmower, some happy kids, his church and a gun cabinet full of weapons, he is one badass mofo, and don't you forget it. But please remember to pray with him against the Gay, the Abortion, and the Scary Black Man in the White House.

He and his wife/sisters/cousins may work in fast food or construction and can barely pay their rent, but have been taught for over 50 years that the whites are the elites, while immigrants and blacks have come here to take whatever they have. They are nobody's equal - the blacks, hispanics, asians, etc... are jealous of what they have. Who cares about other cultures? Who cares about other religions? The descendent of Bob Ewell has the correct white culture and the right religion - Christianity because there is no other religion - and he preaches to the choir every day on Facebook. Wherever he lives, that is God's Country, and it will stay white if he and his gun have anything to say about it. If he ever got close to the Imperial President, he would shoot that foreign bastard right between the eyes - and he has a Constitutional Right according to the white Christian Founding Fathers to say that on Facebook.

The gun nuts among the Bob Ewell crowd - and who isn't one these days? - watch the movie of To Kill a Mockingbird and probably love the scene in which Atticus Finch shoots the rabid dog down in the street. Hell yeah! That's what a Southern Man does! Protect the home and hearth and God's Country with his trusty gun. Since none of these yahoos would ever read a book, they don't realize that Atticus is anti-gun and the only smidgen of that left in the movie is when he won't allow his son Jem to have a gun, but of course we do see Jem suddenly adoring his Daddy when the rabid dog comes down the street. Bang! Hell Yeah, say the Bob Ewells. Teach that boy to shoot! And later when the black rape suspect Tom Robinson is shot down, they probably say "Hell Yeah," and think that's the message - a black thug is like a rabid dog. Or perhaps, if they are more subtle, they connect the mentally ill Boo Radley to the rabid dog, since he ain't right in the head, and he was in jail once - or below the jail. And he's kinda creepy, walking around at night and scaring children.

Atticus is not a Cop - he's Justice
The Police are Behind Him
The Rabid Dog is NOT Boo Radley or Tom Robinson

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So to the Bob Ewells of America, the rabid dog represents kids like Trayvon Martin or Mike Brown or Tamir Rice; black grown-ups who seem to be troublemakers like Eric Garner; mentally ill people no one understands, such as Kajieme Powell, shot down because he had a knife - just like Boo Radley. Yes, all of these people were on public property and were shot or killed somehow by vigilantes like George Zimmerman or the police. But once again the Ewell Klan has missed the point.

Harper Lee did not have a racist bone in her body, but she certainly understood the town, the state, and the country in which she lived. She knew how the white trash Ewells viewed anyone "different" whether by color or mental health. She knew that the Ku Klux Klan viewed black people have less than human/ Heck, rabies seems tame to what they believe in. She knew she was writing something that would drive them out of their minds, and it worked for about 40 years, but they've forgotten now.

Let's white-splain to the Ewell descendents right now and be clear - the rabid dog is not about killing blacks or anyone different. Who takes care of the Finch children? A black woman. She's certainly not the rabid dog. In the courthouse, the kids stand up in the segregated balcony and Atticus doesn't seem to mind. They even go to a black church now and then. We know what Bob Ewell says about Atticus Finch - that he's a N*****-Lover.

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So what does the rabid dog mean? After all the name of the book isn't "To Kill the Rabid Dog." Right - the main symbol in To Kill a Mockingbird is, of course, the Mockingbird. It's the innocent creature who sings all day and does no harm, like Tom Robinson helping Mayella Ewell because he felt sorry for her, or Boo Radley leaving gifts for the Finch children. It's very much like the innocent kids - Scout, Jem and Dill - and even Atticus himself, who just wants to get along with everyone.

So who, pray tell, is the rabid dog? It may come as a shock, but it's Bob Ewell, of course. Atticus faces the dog to save his children and everybody else in town. Then after the trial, Bob Ewell gets drunk and comes after Jem in the car outside Tom Robinson's house, and Atticus faces him in the road - pretty strong parallel symbolism. It's important that Tom Robinson is also a father, and his now-fatherless chidlren are there too - living next door to Bob Ewell, who is a father's nightmare, abusing his own children and anyone else's.

Atticus stands between Bob Ewell and the Robinson family - as the police and courts are supposed to stand up for justice, but often do the opposite, as we have daily proof in Ferguson, Cleveland, and New York.

At the end of the story, Bob Ewell comes after Jem and Scout on Halloween - much like Voldemort in the Harry Potter series, probably by design - J.K. Rowling knows her literature. And as he tries to kill the kids, who steps in to protect the kids? Boo Radley. Boo protects the children against danger, then takes the children home to their father. It is just like Atticus killing the rabid dog in the street - Bob Ewell is the rabid dog, not Boo.

Hey, Boo.

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But the descendents of Bob Ewell don't get it.

When the recent protests grew heated in Ferguson, Missouri, over the death of Mike Brown, the white people on my Facebook - those I grew up with in our integrated high school - suddenly became sociologists, blaming bad parenting, the high divorce rate, lack of respect for authority, the terrible public schools where they don't pray enough, or merely the color of their skin. They want to justify shooting someone down like a dog in the street based on their upbringing. They want to impose the death penalty on anyone selling cigarellos in the street, or merely walking around eating candy and talking on the phone.

All of this made something finally snap in me. I'm ashamed of white people and what they write on the internet. I despise my own race, even though I was born this way and have no control over my race, like everyone else. But it's really sad I cannot stand how white I am.

I have spent the last two weeks blocking or muting racists, even those mostly closet racists I grew up with, on Facebook. Of course, those same people on Facebook hate President Obama. I've been blocking anyone who posts something about the "Imperial President" too, and it has been a pleasure. I put up with all this much too long, and enough is enough.

What makes it even worse is that these same Ewell-ish people judging Mike Brown and his protestors in the streets of Ferguson may have had a rough upbringing themselves, suffered through public schools, may be divorced themselves, may have mentally ill relatives or a family member in jail, and may have never respected authority in their lives - hello, Libertarians - but none of that stops them from spouting off when the shooter is a white cop and the victim is black. Hypocrisy is no barrier when white folks start blaming black folks. No matter what, the white Bob Ewells close ranks and get all self-righteous. They never pause and reflect, even while asking for prayer every single day on Facebook.

Harper Lee had something else right - "There's only one kind of folks - folks." Yet the latter-day Ewells think democracy is only for the whites, and the rule of law is only to protect them. They could not care less about the rights of Mike Brown or Eric Garner or the rest.

I thought my white peers learned the same lessons I did growing up in the civil rights era, but they missed their history lessons along with literature and empathy lessons. My family was poor white trash too - we lived in a hand-built concrete house - but we didn't think we were better than anyone. Sadly, some white people do feel they are still the "elite" even if they live in a trailer park and work at Chick-Fil-A for minimum wage - at least they aren't on welfare, right? Except often they are. In fact, white people are the majority on welfare in most states, but no one on Facebook ever admits that.

People who take up for the white police even in the face of video evidence, as with Tamir Rice or Eric Garner, would say they are not racists at all, merely realists because crime is worse in the black community, and why shouldn't people be scared of "thugs?" They believe in the rule of law - even white libertarians who don't want any laws at all. One guy I know, who usually peppers his Facebook posts with prayer requests and anti-tax screeds, suddenly started posting picture after picture of his gun collection on the night of the Ferguson decision. If that is how he views a black protest against injustice, I never want to see his smiling white mayonnaise face again. Just another well-dressed, well-educated, fake-praying Bob Ewell.

White people always blame gangs who live "over there" in some other community or the "wrong side" of town. Yes, I know that gangs exist, and there are shootings in my own city. I see that. But there are white people who also shoot both white and black people. I have had lily-white neighbors shooting their rifles right behind my house, and hunting in the woods 100 yards from my neighborhood. But like most of my neighbors, I can't call the police or he might shoot my dog or one of my kids. That's the reality I live with every day in white-trash post-Bob Ewell 'merica. Eventually these gun-hoarding ammo-sexuals are going to justify killing other whites too, because we have different views or we don't like guns. They certainly talk about it on Twitter often enough. Then it really will be another Civil War.

Atticus was right that "courage isn't a man with a gun in his hand," but that's the conventional white wisdom now. And if they believe that Mike Brown tried to take a gun from a cop, well, by God, he got what he deserved. Like Bob Ewell and the all-white Jury in To Kill a Mockingbird, modern white-trash folks count on their Facebook peers to give them a high five on their racist views.

When GOP operative Elizabeth Lauten recently slammed the Obama family on Thanksgiving, slut-shaming the Obama girls while pompously pretending to give them advice on "being classy," she counted on the echo chamber to back her up. Instead, she forgot that her account was public, that not everyone who followed her account as a racist. After black twitter lambasted her, along with hundreds of tweets from non-racist whites like me, she had to resign from her job. We found out that she was a modern version of Mayella Ewell, daughter of Bob Ewell: blaming anyone black for "disrespect" in order to suit her purposes.

Luckily for all of us, her racist screed backfired on her, and really it always does. Karma bites. If you're Chris McDaniel in Mississippi, you slam black voters and lose elections. If you're Bob McCulloch, the Justice Department is going to investigate your ass. Someday, my gun-crazy neighbor will shoot himself in the foot and not mind at all if a black cop shows up at his door to help him.

Ferguson and the Blame Obama meme have changed many people forever - including me. I will probably end up with no friends on Facebook, and no more wedding invitations from my Ewell-ish relatives. But at least my soul, dignity, and empathy will be intact. Bob Ewell may have been my ancestor too, but I don't have to carry on his hateful tradition.

The white people I've blocked are still living in the Fox News bubble, reading Right-Wing blogs, praying away the blacks and gays, and blaming the black Imperial President for everything! This afternoon they will stop on the way home from work to buy more guns on their way to church where they will pray for the death of Barack Obama. Unfortunately, Bob Ewell has a gene-pool that just keeps on giving.

Angry Nation Ponders Eric Garner Non-Verdict from New York Grand Jury

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#ICantBreathe = Last words of Eric Garner.

What is your life? It is even a vapor,
that appears for a little time, and then vanishes away.

New Testament James 4:14

There are really no words - or breath left to speak words - after the non-decision of a New York Grand Jury in the tragic death of Eric Garner, who was killed by a cop while in a stranglehold on a public sidewalk. The whole thing was caught on film from the first interaction to his dying breath, yet to the bafflement of the world, no indictment against the cop was brought by the Grand Jury. Once again a prosecutor chose to protect law enforcement instead of enforcing the law.

And it's been another sad day for our country as we grieve another senseless death at the hands of the police, the death of a man who was selling cigarettes on the city streets. He wasn't a thug, he wasn't being violent. There was no danger for the cop who killed him. There is no instant death sentence for resisting arrest.

We have to solve this, and soon.

Eric Holder has announced an investigation into the Garner case, as well as in Ferguson for the victim Mike Brown. Until there is some kind of justice and cops are held accountable by somebody somewhere, protests are going to fill the streets of our country. Tonight thousands flooded into the streets from New York to Seattle, and Reverend Al Sharpton has called for a march on Washington on December 13th. It would be nice to have some sense of resolution of all these racially motivated cop shootings by Christmas, but the thin blue line is into protecting itself these days and most politicians don't seem to give a damn.