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Hey Folks Happy Friday to Ya's! Unfortunately if it is Friday so it is also time for the Weekly (C)Wrap Up!
If you haven't noticed, your probably living under a rock, but since the black guy has won the primary and is the democratic nominee for President the rhetoric has ramped up a 100%. If you thought the primary was bad wait until we really get into the general election cycle. BTW, you like the little plush toy in the pic above?! Get your's today! From Thinkprogress:
Now the company had this to say after being bombarded with emails and phone calls:Website peddles racially-charged ‘Sock Obama’ toy.
Last month, ThinkProgress noted that a bar owner in Georgia was selling t-shirts comparing Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) to Curious George; last week, the Black Congressional Caucus Foundation received a t-shirt in the mail featuring a similar image. Continuing this racially-charged theme, a stuffed monkey toy called “The Sock Obama” has now been made available online:
TheSockObama™ is made with high quality knit materials to capture the nostalgic look of the Sock Monkey that we all know and love. Staying true to his root, he is hand stuffed with just enough filling to give him a firm, but huggable feel. The removable suit jacket offers two looks for this future President - All Business or Hands On.
Kyle E. Moore at Comments from Left Field explains the racial connotation: “Simian depiction and derision of black people is nothing new. But the specific mechanics as to why it is such an abhorrent racist practice should be lost on no one. In the universal present sense, it’s a matter of subjugation through dehumanization.” (HT: Hoffmania)
Dear Joseph,
Thank you for your email and your forthright feedback. No, this is not a joke, and our intention is not to offend.
Our objective is three fold:
1} Provide a cuddly toy for the millions of Obama fans to take a little piece of their favorite candidate home with them.
2} Have a means for children to become a part of the political process with a cuddly plush toy all their own.
3| Contribute a pivotal article of presidential election memoribilia.After test marketing our product, we found a majority of our customer base finds our plush toy fun and loveable.
By virtue of our plush toy now temporarily out of stock, we’ve had to expedite a new order of inventory to meet the needs of our customers who want TheSockObama.
Joseph, again we thank you and appreciate your interest in the TheSockObama.
Regards,
Dave & Ellee
http://www.thesockobama.com
My problem is why do they always dehumanize the black guy? I will tell you why...Its easier to hate something not thought of as human. Hitler did the same things with the jews. I have to point out item two: 2} Have a means for children to become a part of the political process with a cuddly plush toy all their own. Which really translates to teach your kids racism at an early age. How to equate black people to monkeys. The party is just getting started! Here is a little nugget for my Conspiracy Corner fans a letter of endorsement:
“Many thanks for all your kind assistance with this project as it has been an extreme pleasure working with you and Binkley-Toys. We look forward to working with you again soon in the near future. I will be sure to recommend you to my industry friends in need of your services. Respectfully, I remain Desiree Gutierrez Vice President Haliburton International Corporation Rancho Cucamonga, CA USA”
I am afraid to even wonder what they helped Haliburton with. Anything even remotely involved with Darth Cheney cannot be good!
Jon Stewart chimes in on the starting of the dance in a segment called "Let The Character Assasinations Begin!" From Crooks & Liars:
By: Nicole Belle @ 3:40 PM - PDT
Download |
We have the presumptive nominees for the two parties. It’s the general election season and that means it’s time to start looking at the issue of character and how the various factions try to smear the other side. To the corporate media, John McCain is a lovably curmudgeonly Maverick. But we know from our buddy Cliff Schecter’s book, The Real McCain (see above), that McCain has a bit of a temper on him, and not above dropping c-bombs on his sugar momma wife. (I love that line)!
Okay, seems a little harsh. But in his defense, McCain’s a Navy man. It’s just salty Navy talk. He’s not trying to hide it, you’ve seen his campaign slogan: John McCain—Experience You C**ts Can Count On.
You know you can’t spell “count on” without c…Is this story true? Who knows, but the important thing is, it’s out there, signaling that we have officially moved into the character assassination portion of our presidential campaigns.
That’s right, it’s not just limited to McSame. Stewart shows us Hillary feminists for McCain (“Wow! So McCain has the blind, spite vote locked up. Because of sexism, we’re going to go with the [beep] patriarch.”) and David Brooks’ inane attempt to paint Barack Obama as an elitist because he doesn’t seem the type to go to the Applebee’s salad bar.
Those white women at the end of the segment wasn't going to vote for Barack anyway and their delusions of persecution make for a better excuse than the fact that in your racism, spite and hatred for people of color you would rather vote against your best interests!
Speaking about voting make sure you check out "I'm Voting Republican.Com"! I posted the video HERE yesterday! It really made a difference in my life!
Giving credit where it is due, I would like to thank the Supremes for restoring Habeas Corpus and in turn the Constitution! This is a big deal, if not to you at least to the detainees at Gitmo! What it means is that the detainees can be tried in regular Federal court not in those wack ass military tribunals which goes against the Constitution and lil George is trying to push. it also means that people that have been held for years will finally get a chance to talk to a lawyer and see a real judge and have a real trial. From The Muckraker:
You know the Lil Chimperor was pissed but not as pissed as Judge Scalia who wrote the dissenting opinion. From ThinkProgress:
Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Gitmo Detainees
From the AP:
The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that foreign terrorism suspects held at Guantanamo Bay have rights under the Constitution to challenge their detention in U.S. civilian courts.The justices handed the Bush administration its third setback at the high court since 2004 over its treatment of prisoners who are being held indefinitely and without charges at the U.S. naval base in Cuba. The vote was 5-4, with the court's liberal justices in the majority.
Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing for the court, said, "The laws and Constitution are designed to survive, and remain in force, in extraordinary times."
Late Update: The court did not say that the prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay should be released.
It did, however, say that they can take their individual cases -- or petitions of habeas corpus -- into federal court...MORE!
Scalia came off like he had a personal interest to make sure that Shrubs "military tribunals" were not overturned. Not to mention we are no longer scared of the fear mongering, unless your stupid. Don't forget there is help for being stupid. You come here daily and get this dose of reality and eventually the pain will go away. I know the first steps are the hardest but push on my brothers and sisters a smarter day is waiting for ya!Scalia: Court’s Decision Restoring Habeas ‘Will Almost Certainly Cause More Americans To Be Killed’
In a landmark decision today, the Supreme Court ruled that habeas corpus protections apply to detainees held at Guantanamo Bay. “We hold these petitioners do have the habeas corpus privilege,” wrote Justice Anthony Kennedy in the majority opinion. The decision was a “a stunning blow to the Bush Administration in its war-on-terrorism policies,” SCOTUS Blog noted.
Conservative Justice Antonin Scalia, however, is outraged. In his dissenting opinion, he devoted an entire section to “a description of the disastrous consequences of what the Court has done today,” a procedure “contrary to my usual practice,” he admitted. Scalia adopted extreme rhetoric about the impacts of the decision, calling it a “self-invited…incursion into military affairs” that would “almost certainly” kill Americans. Some lowlights:
– “America is at war with radical Islamists. … Our Armed Forces are now in the field against the enemy, in Afghanistan and Iraq.”
– “The game of bait-and-switch that today’s opinion plays upon the Nation’s Commander in Chief will make the war harder on us. It will almost certainly cause more Americans to be killed.”
– “Today the Court warps our Constitution.”
– “The Nation will live to regret what the Court has done today.”
It is unlikely that the Supreme Court’s decision will have the impacts that Scalia claims. As Kennedy explained, “Liberty and security can be reconciled; and in our system they are reconciled within the framework of the law.” Discussing the restoration of habeas at Guantanamo last year, Colin Powell noted:
The concern was, well, then they’ll have access to lawyers, then they’ll have access to writs of habeas corpus. So what? Let them. Isn’t that what our system’s all about? And by the way, America, unfortunately, has too many people in jail, all of whom had lawyers and access to writs of habeas corpus. And so we can handle bad people in our system. MORE!
Moving On...
This made me giggle a bit. As you know both Barack (Barry) and McLame are searching for running mates and while Barack just began, McSane? has been on the grind for a minute and he has put a few names out there! One of them just happens to be Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal well it seems the good governor has a history of battling demons. No not drugs or alcohol but real demons...From TPM:
And they thought Reverend Wright was a nut job! But here is some breaking not really news, seems the "Pee Pee" Man got away with his crimes:Is Bobby Jindal -- Who May Be On McCain's Veep Shortlist -- An Exorcist?
Bobby Jindal, the 36-year old governor of Louisiana, is being taken seriously by the national press as a candidate on the shortlist to be John McCain's Vice President. No one doubts that he's a political prodigy -- his impressive resume includes stints as president of the state university system, a Congressman and now governor.
But one of Jindal's job titles hasn't gotten much attention -- and it just might prompt a few questions if his Veep candidacy gains steam: Exorcist.
As others noted during his 2003 and 2007 gubernatorial campaigns (see update), in an essay Jindal wrote in 1994 for the New Oxford Review, a serious right-wing Catholic journal, Jindal narrated a bizarre story of a personal encounter with a demon, in which he participated in an exorcism with a group of college friends. And not only did they cast out the supernatural spirit that had possessed his friend, Jindal wrote that he believes that their ritual may well have cured her cancer. (Em-pha-sis all mine) MORE!
R. Kelly Found Not Guilty
Judge Considers Removing Juror Who Yells At Restaurant Server, But Decides Not To
CHICAGO (CBS) ― A jury has acquitted R. Kelly in the child pornography case for which he stood trial.
Kelly was charged with 14 counts of videotaping himself having sex with an underage girl, who prosecutors say was as young as 13. If convicted, he faces a minimum of four years in prison and a maximum of 15 years. He would also have to register as a sex offender in Illinois.
The jury-nine men and three women-was given the case Thursday.
The key question for the jurors was whether they believe it was Kelly in the video, as prosecutors contend. Kelly's attorneys say it wasn't him. MORE!
The problem I had with this is that it took as long as it took Felonius Phil to take the stand. I knew then the "fix was on"! I guess all the time he was allowed to make music and do concerts and what not allowed him to "Step" his ass outta jail. Personally every time I hear his name mentioned or a song on the radio I can't help but remember that Dave Chapelle spoof...
What makes jury's so star struck?! Another pervert gets away!
What's next...We'll file this next item under supporting the troops rethuglican style. Seems Grampa McSame has stuck his foot in his mouth again this time on the Today show and Keith Olbermann rips him a new one in his latest "Special Comment" from Crooks & Liars:
By: Nicole Belle on Thursday, June 12th, 2008 at 7:00 PM - PDT
Download | (h/t Heather–it’s a really big file)
John McCain has said many a stupid thing during this general election campaign. But when he told Matt Lauer on The Today Show that bringing our troops home was just not that important, he crossed a line from stupidity to being unforgivable:
You have attested to: a fairly easy success; an overwhelming victory in a very short period of time; in which we would be welcomed as liberators; which you assured us would not require our troops stay for decades but merely for years; from which we could bring them all home, since you noted many Iraqis resent American military presence; in which all those troops coming home will also stay there, not being injured, for a hundred years; but most will be back by 2013; and the timing of their return, is… not… that… important.
That, Senator McCain, is context.
And that, Senator McCain, is madness.!! MORE!
It might not be a big deal to McLame, but i bet it's a big deal to 1000's of Americans who have family over there in Iraqnam! And this is who white folks want to choose just because he's not black or whatever lame excuse your using to make you feel less guilty?! Again people would rather cut off their noses to spite their faces!
Here is a little update on the "Obama's Baby Mama Drama" and why it offends summed up rather nicely! From Salon:
Baby mama drama
How did an urban slang insult cross over into the political mainstream, and why is it so offensive?
By Miles Marshall Lewis
Reuters/John Gress
Sen. Barack Obama with his daughters Malia, center, and Sasha, and wife, Michelle, in Des Moines, Iowa, May 20, 2008.
June 13, 2008 | "Stop Picking on Obama's Baby Mama!" Those were the words running on the bottom of Fox News' screen Wednesday, during a discussion about right-wing attacks against Michelle Obama's patriotism between anchor Megyn Kelly and conservative blogger Michelle Malkin. It's not the first time intracultural urban language has ended up in mainstream conversation with wince-worthy results (the French speak of their leader Nicolas Sarkozy as "President Bling-Bling" on an almost daily basis). The term "baby mama" -- or its sibling, "baby daddy" -- graces two mainstream Hollywood films and one hit song, but where did it come from, what is its cultural significance, and why did it incite such outrage in Obama's case?
Certain slang stolen from the urban community can be traced back to a specific origin: The onomatopoetic phrase "bling bling," connoting flashiness, comes from "Bling Bling," the 1999 hip-hop song by New Orleans rapper B.G., for example. With "baby mama," following the breadcrumbs isn't quite as clear-cut.
In Jamaican patois, "baby mother" dates back to the mid-1960s. Never a term of affection even from the beginning, the "baby mama" expression was humorously coined to refer to a woman who's the mother of a man's child, though unmarried and no longer in a romantic relationship with that man. Not the wife, therefore, but merely the baby's biological mama. (Michelle Obama has been married to Barack for 16 years.) Similar to the stigma once attached to babies born out of wedlock ("bastards" is still the operative word for such offspring, according to most modern dictionaries!), "baby mama" carries the negative connotation of referencing a mother of so-called illegitimate children. The term was and is never used without derision; in fact, it's not a term anyone in that situation actually uses to refer to the parent of their out-of-wedlock child. Though used with a certain amount of humor in the very beginning, "baby mama" is used disdainfully nowadays, when used at all. MORE!
Still not as bad as dropping the c-bomb on your spouse (see Jon Stewart clip above), but offensive nonetheless. However, being fair about this issue Michelle Obama did introduce him once as "her baby's daddy"! I guess it's another one of those cases where black people can say it but nobody else can like the N-Bomb. We can't have it both way's! We have to stop glorifying it by watching Maury and making songs about it or deal with it when people ridicule us over it. Not to mention this dance just started it's going to get much hotter than that. So man up Obama supporters and just remember to put the smack down on the many many slurs, lies and smears that are coming.
REAL BREAKING NEWS:
NBC's Tim Russert dies of apparent heart attack
AP - 4 minutes agoWASHINGTON - Tim Russert, who pointedly but politely questioned hundreds of the powerful and influential as moderator of NBC's "Meet the Press," died Friday of an apparent heart attack. The network's Washington bureau chief was 58.
Damn! Not "Take Them To The Tape Timmeh"! WOW! Now this is news! I was just posting a message in another group about this! Why couldn't it have been O'Really or Lush Rimpballs! I am going to miss making fun of Timmeh! He was once a good journalist!
Switching gears for a second...Another big story has got to be this crazy destructive weather...
Iowa flood evacuations rise, losses seen in billions
Reuters - 1 hour, 13 minutes agoCEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (Reuters) - Overflowing rivers in Iowa and other Midwest states forced evacuations and disrupted the region's economy on Friday with fears of worse to come from fragile levees and more rain.
Upper Midwest flooding forces evacuations, floods roads
By AMY LORENTZEN, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 24 minutes ago
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - Rising water from the Cedar River forced the evacuation of a downtown hospital Friday after residents of more than 3,000 homes fled for higher ground. A railroad bridge collapsed, and 400 city blocks were under water.
In Des Moines, 100 miles to the southwest, officials issued a voluntary evacuation order for much of downtown and other areas bordering the Des Moines River. Mayor Frank Cownie said the evacuations were an attempt "to err on the side of citizens and residents."
Des Moines is Iowa's capital and largest city, with about 190,000 residents. But the hardest-hit was Cedar Rapids, a city of 124,000 people. MORE!
Let's see if the Weather guys can give us some insight as to what is going on with this weather. Personally (adjusting tin-foil deflectors) I think that the Rethugs got them a weather machine...Shhhhhhh! From USAToday:
Father's Day weekend weather forecast
Flooding continues in Midwest -- Though the rainfall has come to an end across much of Iowa, and most of the state should remain dry today, major flooding continues along the Des Moines, Iowa and Cedar Rivers. Scattered thunderstorms are expected across parts of the state both Saturday and Sunday, with isolated heavy rainfall possible. However, widespread heavy rainfall is not anticipated. A drier air mass is forecast to move into Iowa early next week.
The heaviest rain this morning stretched from southwestern Missouri through northeastern Missouri and flash flood warnings are in effect for much of the central part of the state. Rain will continue to fall today along a cold front that will slide eastward through Illinois and Indiana. Heaviest rainfall totals today (in excess of 1.50 inches) are expected from west central Indiana through southeastern Michigan. At time of writing, 45 river gauges were in major flooding and 74 in moderate flooding across 10 states in the Midwest.
Severe weather threat -- In addition to the threat of heavy rainfall, some thunderstorms may be severe today and may include large hail, damaging winds and isolated tornadoes. A slight risk for severe thunderstorms today includes much of Oklahoma, northern Arkansas, western and middle Tennessee, central and western Kentucky, much of Missouri and Illinois, Indiana, southern Michigan, Ohio, far northwestern Pennsylvania and western New York bordering Lake Erie.
The slow-moving storm system that has brought heavy rain to the Midwest this week will push into the Appalachians on Saturday.
Rain elsewhere -- As the cold front moves through the Appalachians on Saturday, scattered showers and storms will be possible on the tail end of the front as it stretches through the Southeast. Scattered showers and storms will continue in Florida as well as the Gulf and Southeast coasts on Father's Day.
On the sunny side -- High pressure will build in the West, keeping most locations west of the Rockies sunny and dry this weekend.
(Click graphic to enlarge; Graphic reprinted from USA TODAY newspaper)
Well at least the heat in the East has dissipated a bit. I hope it drys out in the midwest. You think this is more affects of global warming?!?
Okay back to the grime and slime...Speaking of the slime and slimer's Barack knows the smears and the swiftboating is coming so he is getting him and his staffers ready for it. He has set-up a rapid response website to address the mud the right will be slinging in this race because they have nothing else but war and more corporate welfare all at your expense...From Crooks & Liars:
By: Steve Benen @ 1:20 PM - PDTThe question facing the Obama campaign has been around for quite a while: ignore trashy rumors (and possibly allow them to fester unchallenged) or debunk them (and possibly bring added attention to the lies, inadvertently lending them credence). As Time’s Karen Tumulty explained, Obama is going with the latter with a new site called, “Fight the Smears.”
Obama is enlisting his millions of supporters to help him hunt down and quash these stories, just as those supporters helped him turn his insurgent campaign into a history-making juggernaut. […]
Though the latest and most poisonous rumors about Michelle were ginned up by a pro-Clinton website, Obama knows that — notwithstanding John McCain’s pledge that his own campaign will not engage in smears — more rumors can be expected in a general-election campaign. Trying to kill them with oxygen and openness is a risky approach. But Obama is attempting to find the humor — and the votes — by taking the rumors head-on.
It may be risky, but all things being equal, on everything from Obama’s religion to his birth certificate to Larry Sinclair, sunshine has to be the best disinfectant, isn’t it?
Most people after the last few years are in tune to what the corporate media is all about and won't fall for the BS, but as we have seen play out over and over again is how the Laws of Stupidity always are in the mix. Stupidity is also like a magnet it pulls other stupid people along with it very easily. While we are on the subject of stupidity the Nation's Capital of Stupidity, Washington DC was in the dark early this morning...From USAToday:
Friday the 13th' blackout hits nation's capital
WASHINGTON (AP) — A power outage brought much of the nation's capital to a standstill for more than two hours Friday as the White House went to a backup generator, stranded commuters escaped the snarled Metro by trudging up stalled escalators and federal workers milled outside darkened buildings.Frustrated officials muttered darkly about the "Friday the 13th" blackout as some government employees were given the rest of the day off. Pepco, the utility provider, reported power was restored to all customers before 11 a.m.
The power went out at 7:25 a.m., idling arriving office workers outside darkened workplaces. Two small fires on Metro tracks snarled morning subway commutes. It wasn't clear whether the fires were caused by power problems, which have been blamed in the past for track fires. MORE!
I can remember getting stuck on the Metro tracks because of the snow for hours so I know a power outage was miserable in this heat especially full of rush-hour riders!
Moving On...Seems were going to have more and more towns and cities with citizens walking around with concealed weapons, this time at Church! From the USAToday:Armed and dangerous: Welcome to church
Denver-area church representatives were warned today that churchgoers are more likely to carry guns following two fatal church shootings in December, The Denver Post reported.
The El Paso County Sheriff'€™s Office saw a spike in concealed-weapons permits after Matthew Murray'€™s attack on New Life Church in Colorado Springs and the Youth With a Mission campus in Arvada, the Post said.
Tim Priebe, a New Life member and former police officer told the Post the incident sparked hundreds of security requests from other congregations. "€œEverybody wants ninjas in the church and snipers on the roof,"€ he said. MORE!
Hey they are shooting everywhere else now why not Churches! I can see the headlines now:
Sister Activiah Johnson, choir director for the Southern States Grace of God Worship Counsel Baptist Church, School and Night Club had an altercation with Sister Januvia Jenkins from rival crosstown church Oak Grove AME Church of the Latter Day Jesus. After the annual "Deuling Diva's" contest violence broke out between the two rival choirs and madness ensued. It is alleged that Sister Johnson is sleeping with the Deacon board and that is the only reason she won. No one knows who shot first but "erybody" shot back!"Rival Choirs In Running Gun Battle On First Sunday!"
by Deacon DustyNutz Cialis Styles
Yeah it would go something like that...I am still in shock about Tim Russert! He died at work and at a very young age. It is always disturbing when people die this young without warning. My prayers really go out to the family. His dad has got to be hurting especially because it is Fathers' Day weekend! BRUTAL!
Getting back to it...Katrina is still making headlines about trailers and other stuff the people that need it never got...From the Muckraker:
Weeks after FEMA attempted to confiscate the rest of their trailers used by victims of Hurricane Katrina, a CNN investigation found around $85 million in goods meant for those misplaced victims sat in warehouses for two years before being sent to other federal and state agencies. (CNN)From ThinkProgress:
“The number of U.S. homeowners swept up in the housing crisis rose further last month, with foreclosure filings up nearly 50 percent compared with a year earlier,” reports the foreclosure listing company RealtyTrac Inc. “One in every 483 U.S. households received a foreclosure filing in May, the highest number since RealtyTrac started the report in 2005 and the second-straight monthly record.”Close to home news from the Muckraker:
A Prince George County, Maryland couple has been indicted for operating a $35 million foreclosure scheme in one of the largest mortgage fraud cases in Maryland history. (Washington Post)
There is so much more but the whole Russert thing has me shook...As usual tell me what I missed, got wrong or you need clarity on and we can discuss it! The comment section is open!
Let's Start The Dance!
10-acious_D
The New Defenders of The Double Down!
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