Why Do We Need Bigotry?

Posted on November 20, 2019 by jilldennison under Bits 'n Pieces, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary

A couple of news items crossed my path yesterday that had a common theme … bigotry. Bigotry takes many forms – misogyny, racism, anti-Semitism, homophobia, Islamophobia and more – all of it ugly. The human species is the only one on earth that has this superiority complex, and I’ve yet to understand why.

A ‘big’ march …

Back in 2013, after George Zimmerman was acquitted in the murder of a young, unarmed black man named Trayvon Martin, a new movement came into existence: Black Lives Matter. In the years following, there were far too many incidences of police killing unarmed black people with little or no provocation, and the words, Black Lives Matter, sometimes shortened to BLM, became even more relevant as we came to realize that the U.S. is still very much a racist nation.

But then, some portion of the Caucasian population took umbrage at the phrase and started their own counter-movement, ‘All Lives Matter’. They questioned why black lives mattered more than white, for they lacked understanding. Nobody was saying that black lives mattered “more”, just that they mattered “too”. It was a statement of equality … a life is a life, whether the person’s skin is black, white, or green. Since the beginning of this nation, people of colour have been looked down on by society, and the time is past for us to stop that! That is what Black Lives Matter is about … equality.

But, it isn’t only black people who are discriminated against in this country. Jews, Muslims, Hispanics … and one of the most misunderstood groups, LGBTQ people.

Back in 1970, on June 28^th in New York City, there occurred what would become known as the first “Gay Pride” march, to mark the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. This was the birth of the Gay Pride movement … pride as opposed to shame or social stigma. Like the Black Lives Matter movement that would come later, it was about equality. But, just as with Black Lives Matter, bigots misunderstood the meaning.

In response to Gay Pride, or LGBT Pride, a relatively small group of people recently formed what they call “Straight Pride”. But that “Straight Pride” movement is not about equality … not in the least. It is a highly discriminatory movement, an anti-LGBT movement that seeks to harm. Fortunately, the movement has not gained much momentum and doesn’t appear to be taken seriously by very many.

Last Saturday, a group calling themselves the ‘Super Happy Fun Group’, planned a ‘Straight Pride’ march in Dallas, Texas. The group told their followers they were going to make a “mighty impact on Dallas” by marching through downtown on Saturday, “spreading the joys of straight pride” to all who would hear. Dallas police took the threat seriously and had a dozen uniformed and plainclothes officers on hand to protect the demonstrators from counter-protesters. The local paper, the Dallas Observer, sent a reporter to cover the event.

The turnout? Three people showed up to march in the ‘big parade’.Perhaps there is hope for this nation after all? Perhaps some people are getting tired of the hate and bigotry that is tearing this nation into bits? Is it too much to hope for? Yeah, probably.

A change of heart?

I’ve mentioned before my aversion to certain businesses that engage in discriminatory practices, such as Hobby Lobby and Chick-Fil-A. Of late, Chick-Fil-A has come under heavy criticism for their anti-LGBT practices, including making large donations to anti-LGBT groups. When Popeye’s came out with their chicken sandwich that is considered to be comparable to Chick’Fil-A’s famous chicken sandwich, Chick-Fil-A apparently began losing a significant amount of business.

Chick-fil-A announced Monday that it would no longer be making charitable donations to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the Salvation Army—two organizations with decidedly anti-LGBTQ stances. However, in years past Chick-fil-A had claimed to have distanced itself from the anti-LGBTQ cause, but its tax returns told a different story.

Time will tell if the company has truly changed its stance. I have my doubts.

Y’know, friends … we wouldn’t need Black Lives Matter or LGBT Pride movements if people just treated everyone with kindness, regardless of their skin colour, religion, gender preferences. The world is a big, sometimes scary place, and life is hard sometimes for most all of us. We’re all in this together, folks … why are there always some people who judge others based on the colour of their skin or other superficial criteria? Isn’t there enough hate in this world without adding to it senselessly? There is no room for this clannish, tribal mentality in today’s world. Women’s rights, civil rights, gay rights … those should not have to be fought for, they should be the natural order of things. Sigh.

Too Little, Too Late, But Still …

Posted on August 20, 2019 by jilldennison under Bits 'n Pieces, Free Press Issues, Law and justice, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary

There have been some positive signs that perhaps this nation as a whole is sick and tired of the white supremacists and their rhetoric, sick and tired of seeing white people with notions of superiority thinking they have more ‘natural rights’ than others. It’s far too little, too late, but still … it’s a start.

And it only took five years …

In 2014, New York City police officer Daniel Pantaleo choked an unarmed black man, Eric Garner, to death. It was not the first, nor would it be the last case of a white cop killing an unarmed black man, but it was the case that brought the #BlackLivesMatter movement to the forefront of the public eye. In almost every one of these cases, the police officers have gotten off scot-free, even kept their jobs. On Monday, a New York City Commissioner James P. O’Neill made a decision that will, hopefully, set a new precedent, by firing Officer Pantaleo, and stripping him of his pension benefits.

Garner’s crime five years ago was that he was allegedly selling cigarettes outside a convenience store. For this, he paid with his life. It is my opinion that Officer Panteleo should have been tried and convicted. The department had a rule against using the chokehold he used on Mr. Garner, and Garner said, “I can’t breathe”, but still Panteleo didn’t release his hold. Blatant cruelty. And yet, despite Mr. Garner’s death having been ruled a homicide, Panteleo was never charged.

As I said, this is a case of too little, too late. Pateleo should be in prison, but instead he is in his lawyer’s office trying to force the NYPD to reinstate him, his benefits, and pay him back pay for time lost. And, it took James O’Neill five years to decide to fire him. When they say the “wheels of justice” turn slowly, they aren’t kidding! Still, it is a small step in the right direction.

A slippery slope …

The 1^st Amendment right to free speech is a slippery slope and has been the cause of much disagreement throughout time. At what point does free speech cross the line and become punishable? At what point should speech be silenced? Some would answer “never”, but most reasonable people agree that there must be limits, but rarely agree to the terms of said ‘limits’. In this age of social media, the question becomes even more relevant, for there are those who believe that hate speech is protected under the 1^st Amendment, and spew their hate all over Facebook, Twitter and YouTube for all the world to see.

Last week, social media outlets Facebook and Instagram suspended the accounts of James Orien Allsup, and Twitter had already suspended his account in late 2017. James Orien Allsup is a white supremacist who marched with the other white supremacists at the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017 and whose hate speech can still be seen on YouTube. There will be some, no doubt, who will cry “Foul!” at the move by Facebook and Instagram, but frankly, I support the move.

I am a staunch advocate for freedom of speech and freedom of the press. However, in my book there is a line. When you publicly threaten or incite violence, then you have shirked the responsibility that accompanies those rights. I say the same about media outlets such as Fox and Breitbart that engage in conspiracy theories that have already led to violence and loss of life. I applaud Facebook and Instagram, and would urge YouTube to remove this man from their platform as well.

The New York Times is doing an excellent series titled The 1619 Project:

The 1619 Project is a major initiative from The New York Times observing the 400th anniversary of the beginning of American slavery. It aims to reframe the country’s history, understanding 1619 as our true founding, and placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of black Americans at the very center of the story we tell ourselves about who we are.

I will be including some of their works in future posts, but I urge you to check it out for yourselves. Racism, white supremacy, white nationalism … whatever name you give it … is ugly, and in this country, it is increasing at what I consider to be an alarming rate. We need to tackle this subject, to take off the window dressing and show it for what it is … arrogant hate. A friend sent me a meme recently that I think should be made into a poster and mailed to every member of any of the 1,000+ hate groups around the country!

A Basketful of Snippets (The Snarky Kind)

Posted on August 8, 2019 by jilldennison under Bits 'n Pieces, Free Press Issues, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary

Something caught my eye this morning, blatant racist behaviour by cops – the people we are told to respect and look up to. But first … there was this by Fox News’ own Tucker Carlson …

“Duh … who me?”

“If you were to assemble a list, a hierarchy of concerns, problems this country has, where would white supremacy be on the list? Right up there with Russia probably. It’s actually not a real problem in America. This is a hoax. Just like the Russia hoax, it’s a conspiracy theory used to divide the country and keep a hold on power.”

Now, keeping in mind Mr. Carlson’s claim that white supremacy is naught but a ‘hoax’, a ‘conspiracy theory’, consider the following …

I was incredulous, couldn’t believe what I was reading. Surely this was a joke, albeit a sick one? But no … this was no joke. It happened in Galveston, Texas, last Saturday when police arrested Donald Neely on suspicion of criminal trespassing, though there is no indication that Mr. Neely did anything wrong … seems like he was just the wrong colour, in the wrong place, at the wrong time. Two white officers, identified only as P. Brosch and A. Smith, were on horseback when they saw Mr. Neely, who is African-American, and decided to arrest him.

The officers both had radios and could have called for a squad car to pick up Mr. Neely. But they did not do that. Instead, they put him in handcuffs, behind his back, then attached a rope to the cuffs, re-mounted their horses, and pulled Mr. Neely down the street by the rope.A couple of passersby saw this abomination and took pictures and videos. Needless to say, the community, or at least part of it, was incensed. Galveston police chief Vernon Hale offered a tepid apology …

“First and foremost, I must apologize to Mr. Neely for this unnecessary embarrassment … I believe our officers showed poor judgment in this instance and could have waited for a transport unit at the location of arrest … my officers did not have any malicious intent at the time of the arrest.”

Poor judgment??? No malicious intent??? If you buy into that one, come see me, for I’ve got a great bridge I’ll sell you cheap. The officers, as of this writing, have not been disciplined nor terminated. Anybody else thinking “Jim Crow”?

In other news …

You guys remember a few weeks ago when I got banned from Twitter for a day for calling Ann Coulter a ‘bimbo’? Well, guess who’s been banned now? No, no … not me. @TeamMitch, Mitch McConnell’s campaign account. Remember that picture I showed you of the faux tombstones, one with McConnell’s opponent, Amy McGrath’s name on it? Well, since he posted that picture to his campaign account on Twitter, that account is banned until they agree to take the photo down! So, perhaps Twitter does have some standards after all. Now, if they would just ban Trump for all his bluster, ranting and lies …
Remember back in July, when Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced her resignation as White House Press Secretary? Trump then replaced her with Stephanie Grisham, who until that time had been Melania Trump’s personal slave spokeswoman, but we have seen nothing of her since then! Nary a press briefing has she held, not even an impromptu gathering on the White House lawn. Hmmmm … suspicious?
But, speaking of press secretaries, Deputy Press Secretary Hogan Gidley, Grisham’s second-in-command, criticized President Obama, saying that while Trump is trying to “move the country forward”, Obama is taking it “to a dark place that we never want to be and we never want to visit again”. Say WHAT??? Presumably he was referring to Obama’s speech earlier this week where he urged us to reject leaders who stoke fear and hatred and normalize racism, but I have no idea how that is taking us to a dark place. Seems to me it is Trump who’s taking us to a dark place.
Speaking of a dark place … here’s a sample of some ‘great’ behaviour. Curt James Brockway took umbrage, I guess, with a child age 13 who failed to remove his hat at an event at the Mineral County (Montana) Fair on Saturday when the national anthem was played. The kid wasn’t being obnoxious, he just didn’t remove his hat, which is certainly his prerogative. But ol’ Curt decided to slam the kid into the ground and the child suffered a concussion and temporal skull fractures. Oh, and by the way, much of the fair is sponsored by the NRA. Tell you anything?

One last snippet, and this one will have you rolling your eyes and shaking your heads. It involves Trump’s buddy Steve Bannon, so don’t look for logic. Bannon claims that the El Paso shooting was actually a sign of how ‘great’ Trump’s economy is! That’s right, folks … if the economy were not so great, all those people wouldn’t have been in Wal-Mart (never mind that people only shop at Wal-Mart when they cannot afford to go elsewhere) and that the shooter wouldn’t have had anybody to shoot. And as for the democrats, according to Bannon … “What the Democratic candidates are attacking is the Trump miracle.” Stop shaking your heads now, else you’ll develop a rattle up there … trust me, I’ve had one for a while now.

And on that note, I will leave you to go find a more peaceful blog to read. Something fun and uplifting. Might I suggest this one by Gottfried over at Banter Republic … he’s always good for a bit of humour!

Don’t Be Fooled …

Posted on August 5, 2019 by jilldennison under Election 2020, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry

Why is everybody so pleased that Trump called out white supremacy? He lies. Simple fact is that he doesn’t mean it but was told by his campaign people that it wasn’t looking good, that a lot of people were blaming him for at least the El Paso shooting. Can’t let those poll numbers drop, now can he? So, he stands up and says, “In one voice our nation must condemn racism, bigotry and white supremacy”, and the press acts as if this absolves him of the hundreds, maybe thousands of times he has called for violence, called white supremacists “very fine people”, and denigrated members of Congress only because of their ethnicity or skin colour.

Turns out, he also blamed mental illness, violence in the media, and video games. He did not urge Congress to pass strict gun laws, he did not condemn the NRA, he did not recant any of his previous statements. Quite simply, he said what his advisors told him he ought to say. In this case, talk is cheap and he has told so many lies that there is no reason … not a single shred of reason … to believe him. Trump has been a racist all his life, from when he refused to rent apartments to blacks all the way up to just last week when he went on a tirade against a civil rights hero and member of Congress, Elijah Cummings.

He took no responsibility for the atmosphere of division, nor did he recognize his own reluctance to warn of the rise of white nationalism until now. He blamed social media, which is laughable, since it is his main venue, apart from campaign rallies, for spewing his racist hate.Actions speak far louder than words, and in this case, you can rest assured that his actions will not change, and by next week he will be back to his campaign of racist remarks and behaviours. The media seems to be drooling all over themselves at his remarks, with big bold headlines reading …

Trump Condemns White Supremacy After Mass Shootings

What they should read is

A Leopard Doesn’t Change His Spots

As Jennifer Rubin said in her column today, “It would be laughable if it were not so infuriating”. Or, in the words of Senator Kamala Harris, “I’m too busy watching what he’s doing to hear what he’s saying”.

As I said in a previous post, if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it probably is a duck. Trump has been waddling and quacking for far too long … he hasn’t changed. He’s still a liar and a racist. Don’t be fooled.

Don’t Tread On Me

Posted on July 12, 2019 by jilldennison under Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Re-blogs, Social commentary

Our friend Jeff from On the Fence Voters has written a piece for another publication and has shared a portion of that work in a post on his blog. Jeff lives in Oregon, part of the Pacific Northwest that we tend to think of as being liberal, non-racist, progressive. But beneath the surface, all is not what it seems. There is a growing movement in Northern California and part of Oregon to actually secede from the U.S. and form a 51st state to be called the State of Jefferson. We think of racism as being predominantly in the deep south, but perhaps that is a fallacy, perhaps the south is only more vocal, more obvious about it. Take a look at Jeff’s article, if you will, and give him some feedback. Thanks, Jeff, for permission to share this enlightening piece of work!

On The Fence Voters

A detailed look at a secessionist movement, and Oregon’s progressive utopia

Several months ago I decided that in addition to our blog, I was going to do some freelance writing for other publications. Today, I would like to share an excerpt of an article I did for a print and online magazine called The Culture Crush. Following the excerpt, I will include links to the full article, as well as other links associated with my piece. But first, I need to provide some brief background and context.

As we all know, the election of Donald Trump in 2016 dramatically magnified the already deep divisions we have been experiencing in our country. Since moving to Oregon in 2016, I learned some things about this state that I hadn’t known previously. For one, the state has a deep and troubling history of white nationalism and militias, that date back to the founding…

View original post 1,997 more words

Sunday Snarky Snippets …

Posted on May 26, 2019 by jilldennison under Bits 'n Pieces, Election 2020, Global Issues, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary

Sunday afternoon seems a perfect time to share a bit of snarkiness, don’t you think? As usual, I didn’t have to look far to find some targets for my sharp tongue.

Don’t believe it for a minute

On Thursday, this headline appeared in The Washington Post:

Racial prejudice has declined as a reaction to Trump’s presidency, a new study suggests

Racial prejudice has not increased among white Americans since the explosive 2016 election, argues political scientist Daniel J. Hopkins. It has actually decreased by some measures, he found, possibly as a reaction to Trump’s unexpected ascension to the White House.

… Hopkins believes the study provides evidence that the racially incendiary rhetoric and policies issuing from Trump’s White House have pushed the majority of Americans in the opposite direction.

Unbelieving, my jaw dropped. Sorry folks, but I’m not buying this one. Look at the number of people clamoring for Trump’s horrendous border wall to keep out Mexicans and Central Americans … is that not racism? Look at the people pushing for laws to remove protections from LGBT people … is that not homophobia? Look at the people who denigrate Muslims … is that not Islamophobia? And then this from the Associated Press …

Hate makes a comeback in the Pacific Northwest

White nationalism has been on the rise across the U.S., but it has particular resonance along the Idaho-Washington border, where the Aryans espoused hate and violence for years.

In 2018, at least nine hate groups operated in the region of Spokane and northern Idaho, including Identity Evropa, Proud Boys, ACT for America and America’s Promise Ministries, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Keegan Hankes, a researcher for the Southern Poverty Law Center, said the number of hate groups is growing across the U.S., driven in part by a toxic political culture. The human rights group counted 784 active hate groups in the U.S. in 2014 and 1,020 in 2018. In particular, white supremacist groups are growing because of fears that the country’s racial makeup is changing.

That is an increase of 30% in just four years. But racial prejudice is declining? I think not.

How quickly they forget …

Remember back in November when I wrote about Cindy Hyde-Smith, the junior United States Senator from Mississippi who had said that if she were invited to a lynching, she would be “in the front row”? It was discovered at that time that she has a history of making racist comments, and had posted this picture, captioning it with “Mississippi history at its best!”

When that news broke, a number of companies requested a refund of campaign monies they had previously donated to Ms. Hyde-Smith.

However, memories are short and this is, after all, the era of Trump, the era of white supremacy in the United States. Hyde-Smith won her special election last November, despite her racist ways, and is now campaigning for re-election in 2020. And the following companies are lining up to contribute to her campaign:

ExxonMobil ($5,000), the fossil fuel behemoth
National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors ($5,000), the trade association for distribution companies
National Chicken Council ($5,000), the trade association for the poultry industry
National Association of Realtors ($3,000), the trade association for real estate agents
American Waterways Operators ($2,500), the trade association for the tugboat, towboat, and barge industry
T-Mobile USA ($2,500), the telecom giant
Genentech ($2,500), the biotech company that makes Tamiflu and Boniva — now a subsidiary of Roche
Foley & Lardner ($1,000), a large legal and lobbying firm
General Dynamics ($1,000), the defense contractor and aerospace company
Resolute Forest Products US ($1,000), the American branch of a Canadian pulp and paper manufacturer

Hyde-Smith also received the legal maximum donation of $10,000 from Dirigo PAC, the leadership PAC controlled by Senator Susan Collins of Maine. I’ll leave you to make of that what you will.

I though Japan had better sense …

Trump traveled to Japan this weekend (on our tax dollars) and Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe rolled out the red carpet. Understandable, I suppose, given that Japan is currently experiencing an economic slowdown and Abe is hoping for a lucrative trade deal from Trump. Still …

It began with a round of Trump’s favourite activity, golf. I wonder if he cheated? Silly me, of course he did!

Why am I suddenly reminded of that t.v. show, “Jake and the Fatman”?

Then there was the sumo wrestling “basho”, complete with a special new trophy, a 60-pound ‘President’s Cup’ trophy designed just for Trump to present to the tournament winner, Asanoyama.

Twins???

Dinner was a lovely affair … wait!!! We paid for Melania to go too??? I can’t afford a weekend trip to the Smokies and … Sheesh!

Presumably Trump and Abe managed to find some time to talk business, as Trump said …

“The prime minister and I talked lot today about trade and military and various other things. I think we had a very productive day.”

Your tax dollars hard at work.

On that note, I shall leave you with something to ruin your appetite so you don’t eat too much this holiday weekend …

A Terrorist By Any Other Name …

Posted on April 28, 2019 by jilldennison under Free Press Issues, Law and justice, Political commentary, Social commentary

On February 15^th, just over two months ago, Christopher Paul Hasson, a U.S. Coast Guard lieutenant and white supremacist was arrested after federal investigators uncovered a cache of weapons and ammunition in his Maryland home. His plan was, in his words …

“I am dreaming of a way to kill almost every last person on the earth.”

Christopher Hasson

Hasson had a ‘hit list’ that included almost every journalist who has been critical of Donald Trump, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, and most of the democratic candidates for president in 2020, among others. He had been searching the internet for the home addresses of two Supreme Court justices.

Now, if Mr. Hasson had been an immigrant from anywhere in the Middle East, he would have been labeled a terrorist and treated accordingly, right? But … Hasson is Caucasian, and thus rather than calling a spade a bloody shovel and charging him with domestic terrorism, what did the Department of Justice do? They charged him with weapons and drugs violations … not plotting to murder, not terrorism, just weapons and drugs. But wait … now for the really great news …

Judge Charles Day

On Thursday, United States magistrate Judge Charles Bernard Day of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland decided to grant bail to Mr. Hasson and release him from jail pending trial. If he had been charged with domestic terrorism, as would have been right and proper, he would not be eligible for bail or release, but since he wasn’t, his public defender argues that her client hadn’t made any direct or specific threats to harm anyone. She said prosecutors are seeking to punish Hasson for “private thoughts” that he never shared.

“They have not come forward with evidence that Mr. Hasson is a domestic terrorist because he is not.”

But listen carefully now to a part of her reasoning … she compared Hasson’s racial slurs and targeting of Democrats and the media to similar views that Trump has taken and said his hit list “looks like the sort of list that our commander in chief might have compiled while watching Fox News in the morning.”

Does anybody care to give me that argument again that Donald Trump’s horrendous attacks on those he perceives as his ‘enemies’ are not causing harm? NEVER in the history of this nation have we had a president who bullied as he does, who referred to our free press as “the enemy of the people”, and who threatened any and all who cross him. NEVER!

When Trump was asked his opinion of the Hasson case, he replied that he thought it was ‘sad’. When asked if he believed some of his harsh language might have played a part in Hasson’s plot, he replied that his “language is very nice”.

Joe Scarborough of Morning Joe is one of the names on the list. His wife and fellow anchor, Mika Brzezinski, is understandably upset, saying …

“I think Trump’s doing this. How can I not do that math in my mind that the attorney general is making a clear decision here to make sure the lives of people who are being targeted continue to be in danger because they will not put together the pieces of this case? A stockpile of weapons, a list of people that he wants to kill. Are you serious? There’s no way not to let this guy walk? You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Oyer also said Hasson has had a lifelong interest in firearms and likes to hunt and target practice. She said the number of guns he owned isn’t unusual in North Carolina, where he lived for years before moving to Maryland. Oh for Pete’s sake … give us credit for not being totally stupid, Ms. Oyer!

Part of the stash found in Hasson’s home

And thus, because Hasson was not properly charged, he will likely walk out of jail one morning next week, a free man, at least until his trial.

Hasson pleaded not guilty last month to charges of illegal possession of firearm silencers, possession of firearms by a drug addict and unlawful user, and possession of a controlled substance. He faces a maximum of 31 years in prison if convicted of all four counts in his indictment. Thirty-one years. And a conviction on all counts seems unlikely at this point, even though the evidence is plentiful. But think about something else. Even if Hasson is sentenced the full 31 years … wait for it … Donald Trump could pardon him.

I shall leave you to ponder on that one.

Steve King Strikes Again!

Posted on March 23, 2019 by jilldennison under Election 2020, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary

Back when I was still doing my Idiot of the Week posts, in March 2017 to be exact, I awarded Filosofa’s Idiot of the Week award to a member of Congress named Steve King of Iowa. Mr. King apparently appreciated the award so much that he keeps flitting across my radar, begging to be given some additional recognition, it would seem. All I can say is that he’s lucky I don’t live in his home state of Iowa!

Let’s face it … any representative that earns a score of zero from the Humane Society, but an ‘A’ rating from the NRA is not somebody you’re really going to look up to! Now, King has a reputation, well-earned, of being a racist and a bigot. He is firmly against LGBT rights, has spoken cruelly against Mexicans in general, against Muslims, was against President Obama because of his ethnicity, loves Donald Trump, supports racial profiling, is a climate-change denier and … need I go on? There is a word for people of his ilk … it starts with a ‘J’, ends with another word for a donkey, and if I have to tell you what it is, then you are in the wrong blog!

So, what has King done now, you ask, to ruffle the Filosofa’s feathers? Back in 2005, when Hurricane Katrina hit both the Florida and Louisiana coasts and nearly devastated much of New Orleans, as parts of the levee system were breached, King was one of 11 members of Congress who voted against a federal aid package for New Orleans. On Thursday, 14 years after the devastating hurricane that took the lives of at least 1,500 in Louisiana alone, King spoke at a Town Hall meeting in his district.

“Here’s what FEMA tells me. We go to a place like New Orleans, and everybody’s looking around saying, ‘Who’s going to help me? Who’s going to help me?’ We go to a place like Iowa, and we go, we go see, knock on the door at, say, I’ll make up a name, John’s place, and say, ‘John, you got water in your basement, we can write you a check, we can help you.’ And John will say, ‘Well, wait a minute, let me get my boots. It’s Joe that needs help. Let’s go down to his place and help him.'”

What. A. Jerk. FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency), by the way, denies his claim. It should be noted that King’s state, Iowa, is predominantly white, whereas New Orleans is 60% African-American. If New Orleans were predominantly white, King would almost certainly not have made such a ridiculous statement.

Once again, as has happened multiple times in the past year, his fellow republicans took him to task. Representative Steve Scalise, whose district includes parts of New Orleans, said …

“His comments about Katrina victims are absurd and offensive, and are a complete contradiction to the strength and resilience the people of New Orleans demonstrated to the entire nation in the wake of the total devastation they experienced.”

Last weekend, King came under fire for this Facebook post …

Nice, huh? And in January he was stripped of his committee assignments in the House for white supremacist remarks he made. When asked about an apology for his remarks, he refused to apologize. Even Mitch McConnell condemned King’s remarks …

“There is no place in the Republican Party, the Congress or the country for an ideology of racial supremacy of any kind. I have no tolerance for such positions and those who espouse these views are not supporters of American ideals and freedoms. Representative King’s statements are unwelcome and unworthy of his elected position. If he doesn’t understand why ‘white supremacy’ is offensive, he should find another line of work.”

The late night hosts didn’t miss the opportunity …

The people of Iowa have elected this doofus nine times now! This nation is undergoing a very tense, divisive time and the very last thing we need is an obnoxious white supremacist with a loud mouth in Congress, for we already have one in the White House. Iowans … PLEASE remove your heads from your patooties, wake up, and vote Mr. King out of Congress next year!!!

Dodging Bullets …

Posted on February 21, 2019 by jilldennison under Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary

“I am dreaming of a way to kill almost every last person on the earth.”

Christopher Hasson (left) with wife and son

Those are the words of Christopher Paul Hasson, a U.S. Coast Guard lieutenant and white supremacist who was arrested after federal investigators uncovered a cache of weapons and ammunition in his Maryland home last Friday. Authorities say he intended to launch a widespread domestic terrorist attack targeting politicians and journalists.

But WAIT! Weren’t we told that the “national emergency”, the threat to our well-being, our lives and safety was at the southern border, and that the terrorists were Latinos crossing the border from Mexico and Central America? And before that, weren’t we told that all terrorists were people who came here from the Middle East? Wait, wait, wait … I need some answers here! Somebody has obviously lied to us!

The authorities said Mr. Hasson had been amassing supplies and weapons since at least 2017, developed a spreadsheet of targets that included House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and searched the Internet using phrases such as “best place in dc to see congress people” and “are supreme court justices protected.”Mr. Hasson served in the Marine Corps from 1988 to 1993. He was then on active duty with the Army National Guard for approximately two years. He began working for the Coast Guard in 2016. But … we are supposed to be afraid of our Muslim and Hispanic neighbors??? Can somebody find a logical explanation, for I have scratched my head until it bleeds!

Here is a partial list of some of the people Mr. Hasson had in his crosshairs …

Richard Blumenthal
Cory Booker
Chris Cuomo
Kirsten Gillibrand
Kamala Harris
Chris Hayes
Van Jones
Tim Kaine
Sheila Jackson Lee
Don Lemon
Ari Melber
Ilhan Omar
Beto O’Rourke
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Nancy Pelosi
John Podesta
Joe Scarborough
Chuck Schumer
Elizabeth Warren
Maxine Waters
Angela Davis

At least five of those names are democratic candidates for president in 2020. At least four are well-respected, notable journalists. Others are members of Congress. This man planned to completely eradicate the most prominent democrats in our government and turn Washington D.C. into total chaos. And what, I wonder, would Donald Trump or his mouthpiece Sarah Huckabee Sanders have said if he had succeeded in his plot? What would Wayne LaPierre of the National Rifle Association have had to say?

Part of the stash found in Hasson’s home

Hasson was also planning to use biological weapons such as the Spanish flu, botulism, and anthrax to “kill almost every last person on the earth” followed by attacks on the food supply. An email found on his computer said …

“Liberalist/globalist ideology is destroying traditional peoples esp white. No way to counteract without violence. It should push for more crack down bringing more people to our side. Much blood will have to be spilled to get whitey off the couch. Looking to Russia with hopeful eyes or any land that despises the west’s liberalism. Excluding of course the muslim scum. Who rightfully despise the west’s liberal degeneracy.”

Chilled yet? See, here’s the thing: They caught Christopher Hasson before he could put his plan into action, but how many more are out there? Yes, sure, he’s a lunatic, a mentally unstable person. But folks … he was a Lieutenant in the Coast Guard! He had served in the USMC! And nobody realized that he was unstable, that he was dangerous, even lethal. He lived with his wife. Surely she saw his growing stash of weapons, surely a woman to whom he had been married for decades saw something in his behaviour!

On November 9 2018, just two weeks after the October 27^th Pittsburgh Synagogue shooting, police in Washington, D.C. arrested Jeffrey Clark. Jeffrey and his brother Edward were believed to have ties to the Pittsburgh shooter and Edward had killed himself on the day of the Pittsburgh shooting. When they entered the Clark’s home they found hollow-point bullets, “ballistic vests and helmets,” a “marijuana grow” operation and a Nazi flag. A noose dangled from a bunk bed, a small toy hung by its neck, and a flyer was found promoting the neo-Nazi organization known as Atomwaffen Division.

Jeffrey Clark, according to federal prosecutors, had saluted the killings and had fantasized about killing blacks and Jews himself. Here is a flyer that was found in Clark’s home …And let us not forget that last October a Florida man, Cesar Sayoc Jr., sent mail bombs to thirteen democrats including Senator Cory Booker, former Vice-President Joe Biden, actor Robert De Niro, Senator Kamala Harris and former DNI James Clapper.

These are isolated incidents and fortunately thus far none have succeeded in their goal to create chaos, murder and mayhem. But consider this … all it takes is for one of these people with hate in their heart to succeed. Sooner or later, if we don’t squelch the hate levels in this nation, if we don’t find ways to unite rather than divide, one of these plots will succeed. Terrorism? Yes, this is terrorism at its worst, and the perpetrators are not Muslim immigrants from the Middle-East. The terrorists are not Latinos fleeing violence in Central America. The terrorists are U.S.-born citizens with bigotry and hate as their driving force.

Two weeks ago, Donald Trump over-stepped his power and declared a “state of national emergency” as a political ploy to build a wall along our southern border to keep what he refers to as ‘terrorists’ from entering the country. I’ve got news for him … the real terrorists are already here … they have always been here.

*Additional information about Hasson and the charges against him

That white privilege thing

Posted on November 12, 2018 by jilldennison under Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Re-blogs, Social commentary

Our good friend Keith wrote this post nearly three weeks ago. I intended to re-blog it at the time, and as seems to happen more and more with me these days, I got side-tracked and it fell by the wayside. No matter, for his words are timeless … they were as true 100 years ago as they are today, and I suspect will still need to be heard in another century. Thank you, Keith, for this post, for reminding me of it, and for your generous permission to share.

musingsofanoldfart

Usually when Dr. Phil comes on, I leave the room. Seeing people yell at each other is not therapeutic for me. Yesterday, my wife said you need to see this one as it was an interesting group discussion on race relations and white privilege.

In one powerful, illustrating exercise, young adults of both genders and several races, religions, sexual preferences, and countries of origin stepped forward or backward based on answers to a series of questions. At the end of about thirty or so questions, white people tended to be at the front of the room, while other races tended to be at the back.

As a now 60 year-old white man, I can pretty much go anywhere I want without repercussions. And, I need not have to worry for my life when I am stopped by the police or state patrol. A black man in his Sunday best has…

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