3/5ths Compromise and a conservative view

Today, I had one of the most interesting conversation with one of my classmates in my American Legal Systems class. He is very conservative. I mean VERY conservative. He believes that the constitution was written in such a way that each of the framers, some slaveholding, and very pious, believed that in 100 years, full rights would be exercised to everyone. He believes that Al Sharpton and Jeremiah Wright have put pressure on African Americans to always vote Democratic. I understood that as a hardcore conservative, that he would make these sort of points. One that got me today was the 3/5ths compromise.

His belief system was this. HE believed that abolitionists and anti-slavery advocates drummed up the three-fifths compromise to encourage slave rights, which would lead to black suffrage. It was amazing how he tried to convince everyone that what most learned since 2nd Grade Social Studies was the other way. Here is the facts.

Annotation:
The Constitution was a document based upon compromise: between larger and smaller states, between proponents of a strong central government and those who favored strong state governments, and, above all, between northern and southern states. Of all the compromises on which the Constitution rested, perhaps the most controversial was the Three-Fifths Compromise, an agreement to count three-fifths of a state's slaves in apportioning Representatives, Presidential electors, and direct taxes.
The three-fifths figure was the outgrowth of a debate that had taken place within the Continental Congress in 1783. The Articles of Confederation had apportioned taxes not according to population but according to land values. The states consistently undervalued their land in order to reduce their tax burden. To rectify this situation, a special committee recommended apportioning taxes by population. The Continental Congress debated the ratio of slaves to free persons at great length. Northerners favored a 4-to-3 ratio, while southerners favored a 2-to-1 or 4-to-1 ratio. Finally, James Madison suggested a compromise: a 5-to-3 ratio. All but two states--New Hampshire and Rhode Island--approved this recommendation. But because the Articles of Confederation required unanimous agreement, the proposal was defeated. When the Constitutional Convention met in 1787, it adopted Madison's earlier suggestion.
The taxes that the Three-Fifths Compromise dealt with were "direct" taxes, as opposed to excise or import taxes. It was not until 1798 that Congress imposed the first genuine direct taxes in American history: a tax on dwelling-houses and a tax on slaves aged 12 to 50.
The Three-Fifths Compromise greatly augmented southern political power. In the Continental Congress, where each state had an equal vote, there were only five states in which slavery was a major institution. Thus the southern states had about 38 percent of the seats in the Continental Congress. Because of the 1787 Three-Fifths Compromise, the southern states had nearly 45 percent of the seats in the first U.S. Congress, which took office in 1790.
It is ironic that it was a liberal northern delegate, James Wilson of Pennsylvania, who proposed the Three-Fifths Compromise, as a way to gain southern support for a new framework of government. Southern states had wanted representation apportioned by population; after the Virginia Plan was rejected, the Three-Fifths Compromise seemed to guarantee that the South would be strongly represented in the House of Representatives and would have disproportionate power in electing Presidents.
Over the long term, the Three-Fifths Compromise did not work as the South anticipated. Since the northern states grew more rapidly than the South, by 1820, southern representation in the House had fallen to 42 percent. Nevertheless, from Jefferson's election as President in 1800 to the 1850s, the three-fifths rule would help to elect slaveholding Presidents. Southern political power increasingly depended on the Senate, the President, and the admission of new slaveholding states.

It was about power. It was by no means necessary about slave rights or suffrage. No. In 1787, there were hardly many metropolitan areas as was in the North. The North was the industrial hub of the nation where manufacturing was king. There were hardly any fertile land for crops to be grown, so it became a place of industry and slavery was limited or not needed. In the South, however, agricultural, sparse land was only there. The population was not dense at all. It was spread out and land was sparingly used. With a small population, means that there are less electoral votes, less representation in the U.S. Congress, thus less political power in the south, where the North could forcefully impose anything they wanted on the South. Thus, slaves were counted as 3/5ths. There were loads of slaves in the South and could be used to bolster power in the South.

Thats the facts. I don't know where he came up with that, but I'd like to see it.

I'm not prejudiced, but I'm calling you a nigger thief.

Its amazing isn't it. You know, I always hear that the northern states don't have any racism from people who lived there, yet it seems you can find it if you look hard enough. Now, don't get me wrong, I live in Georgia. I know when someone humbly missteps or says a bigoted statement. Everyone has made at least one bigoted statement in their lives, including me. When I do it, and I see an uncomfortable person or a person who gets angry, I try to understand to apologize and tell the person I didn't know what exactly I said that was offensive, he or she tells me, and I make sure not to say it again. I try to do the same thing.  I also know when someone is outwardly and outright racist. Case in point.





Now, this cockney shrew, and I mean that with the utmost respect, did this to a guy that was only trying to do his job. Unfortunately, he was fired for it. Its not as if he struck her back after he struck him. Still, it doesn't look good in this day and age that someone who does their job to the best of their ability should not be fired for that.

This happened in the state of Massachusetts. The state that has the now re-elected black governor, Deval Patrick. The state that overwhelmingly voted for then Sen. Barack Obama in the 2008 U.S. Presidential election. I just wanted to show this to confirm to many that just because their political affiliation may be Democratic or liberal doesn't mean that racism doesn't permeate their supporters. Likewise that Republicans or conservatives have racists permeate throughout. On both sides, I hope to see that each side expels these views away. From what I have seen the last two weeks, I'm not too hopeful.

You know the feeling you get after being hit upside the head with a baseball bat?

Yeah, thats the Democrats today.

I gotta say, I'm in great deathly pain. Our state has just elected a man who might get federally indicted a month after the inauguration.

Ok, here's my assessment. Its the economy, stupid. And with 9.6% unemployment, people are not happy. In spite of all of the things the President and the Congress has done, each of them good, it does not stop the pain of the economic hurt in the nation. This, coupled with a majority of the 62 Million Americans who did not vote for President Obama in 2008, led the charge for the Republican Party to take the U.S. House and damn near the U.S. Senate and elected the first Orange American to be the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. It was also a media problem. Its hell to solve it and with the media ad buys, its a wonder they even know the President. The biggest fault that President Obama and the White House did was to stop doing press conferences and primetime news interviews. When he did those, everybody was attentive and saw his viewpoint. He needs to start doing those again, especially with Republicans in charge in the House. Two, and this is a problem with the Democrats, FOLLOW THE FRIGGIN LEADER!!!!! 39 House Blue Dogs voted against healthcare reform. 12 of them are left. Trying to become Republicans didn't help them much. Of course, neither did it help many candidates with (D) behind their name. If you run from positions the President advocates, it doesn't make the position very popular and voters will not reward you for standing up.



(Have Mercy.)

As you can understand, Republicans across the nation are gleeful and they should be. They won the friggin U.S. House with a margin larger than there was in World War Two.
They have been having these every hour on the hour for the past 24 hours. And theirs were real.


But make no mistake. Republicans are still lowly regarded than Democrats on favor ability and according to polls, people expect to be disappointed by your actions. So, though you won, your party still has something to prove. Just as well, we have to wonder about the Republican leadership and the tea party candidates that won. The ones that most of you didn't back.

You can also understand the Democrats.............




Democrats, liberal and conservative, setting up a primary challenge against Barack Obama in 2012 is a bad idea. It didn't work in 1968, nor 2000, nor 1980, so no, it will not make him more liberal/centrist. It will make him lose.  And who you are planning to challenge him with. For the conservative Dems, Evan Bayh!!?? Fuck no. There is a reason he isn't vice president and the shit he pulled in Indiana shows it. For the liberals, Alan Grayson, Russ Feingold, and Howard Dean have all one thing in common. THEY LOST!!!!!!!!!!! Running him against losers in a year where we might be seeing something totally different is not only stupid, but further leads to Democrats as a whole not taking you seriously. Hell, if the GOP is engineering polls saying its likely a primary challenge will happen, it should give you pause. Take a breath. Lay down. Get your spouse, partner, boy/girl/hookup and get some angry sex going with them. Hell, most of you had victory sex after the President won, have some angry ones now.

Its surprising how after the election, it proves both liberals and conservatives were correct at least to liberals and conservatives.
All in all, we will get through it. Its American politics. It'll be hard as all frig and frack hell, but that we will get through it.


UPDATE: IT BEGINS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Its gonna be fun. Stay tuned.

MY GOD, OBAMA IS RACIST TOWARD REPUBLICANS!!!

Oh my, oh great balls of fire. You know, today on Fox News, I learned something about Obama today. He is..........yup you guessed it, a racist.

Against whom you might ask.........just guess.

REPUBLICANS!!!!!! Ahh, the horror.

How dare this man, who gave this speech in Philadelphia in 2008




Who told all of us to rise above and come into better times. How dare he racebait Republicans. How DARE HE!!!!

And just what did he say........

SEE WHAT HE SAID!!!!!



Somebody call the National Urban League and Al Sharpton. How DARE HE!!!!!! Republicans ran the car in ditch. Democrats got the car out. Now the Democrats drive and want Republicans in the back seat. RACIST!!!!!!!!

I mean, look, Patriotic beloved Fox News believes in racial equality for Republicans. Look at them talking about the travesty today.



Gee, I'm glad Fox News gave President Obama a lesson on racial politics. Fox News understands that fully.





(That video above encompasses what I was doing while I typed this.)

Ok, a couple of things. Really Fox, you heard car and got BUS!? No mention of a bus was made. He said car, meaning a coupe or four door sedan. Not a big ass MARTA. In the Jim Crow era, black people had to ride in the back of the BUS!" Many people of color rode in the back of cars. Really Fox, you couldn't ask Juan Williams for Eyes on the Prize? He has a boxed DVD set you could run on Fox to educate the viewers.I am not of the Fox mindset, so I guess I just didn't know that car and bus were interchangeable. I guess its like giving a five year old kid a playboy instead of Go Dog Go. Its close enough, its got words in it, plus it can also teach your child about anatomy. Then, its racist because he is saying that Republicans have to get in the back seat. Of the "car"(Which is not a bus.) Now, note I said Republicans. Republicans. No skin color or ethnic background, just Republicans. Now, in order for it to even come close to being racist, would be to believe that President Obama believes that all Republicans are of one race. Right Fox? I mean, yeah theres George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, but Marco Rubio, Michael Steele, General Colin Powell. All are Republicans, so I guess their all racially in the same group,right Fox?

The real question should be, why is Fox insinuating that all Republicans are all one race?

Hell, I thought the President was nice, letting Republicans ride in the car. I would have had them push.

Why I don't listen to Mark Halperin when it comes to President Obama.

Mark, Mark, Mark. Still trying to make sense in the political world, I see. You would think that after the political general election of 2008, he would temper his beltway crystal ball about what will happen and why stuff happens the way it does. Every time I see this prognosticator on news media and cable shows, it always hearkens back to when he said this.



and then this shoddy display after the last Presidential Debate in October of 2008.



So whenever I see Mark Halperin, I think the same thing I think when I see Luke Russert and when I use to see George W. Bush, "There because his daddy was important enough, but doesn't know what the f*&$ to do." So, when I read his latest screed, it caused my eyes to roll so far into my head, I actually saw my temporal lobe.

With the exception of core Obama Administration loyalists, most politically engaged elites have reached the same conclusions: the White House is in over its head, isolated, insular, arrogant and clueless about how to get along with or persuade members of Congress, the media, the business community or working-class voters. This view is held by Fox News pundits, executives and anchors at the major old-media outlets, reporters who cover the White House, Democratic and Republican congressional leaders and governors, many Democratic business people and lawyers who raised big money for Obama in 2008, and even some members of the Administration just beyond the inner circle.

Ok, one thing I don't get is how its good to be an elite again. Being elite is not a vice, but a virtue now. Two years ago, when then Democratic Nominee Sen. Barack Obama was running for office, it was that he was elitist, and that elites don't know jack shit about the political scene. Now it seems the President is not in the elite club anymore and since he isn't, its ok to be elite. And since Marky here believes hes part of the club, that Two, they all believe this guy is in over his head still, even when he proved them wrong by getting elected overwhelmingly without vote recounts or the Supreme Court in 2008. That he is insular, arrogant and clueless with getting along with Congress (which conservative members of the Democratic Party tie his hands with no fear of retribution and the Republicans who want his presidency to come out worse so that George Bush looks good by comparison, though got financial reform and health care reform through), the Media (who all want dog and pony shows with the guy, remember Jeremiah Wright said it=Barack Obama said it.), the Business Community( Who are all about making money and anyone that makes it much more difficult for them to with financial regulations must be destroyed.) and working class voters (majority white who didn't vote for him anyway.) But thats not all in the screed here.

On Friday, after the release of the latest bleak unemployment data - the last major jobs figures before the midterms - Obama said, "Putting the American people back to work, expanding opportunity, rebuilding the economic security of the middle class is the moral and national challenge of our time." But elites feel the President has failed to meet that challenge and are convinced he will be unable to do so in the remainder of his term. Moreover, there is a growing perception that Obama's decisions are causing harm - that businesses are being hurt by the Administration's legislation and that economic recovery is stalling because of the uncertainty surrounding energy policy, health care, deficits, housing, immigration and spending.

Ok, the uncertainty thing I have been hearing over and over. Its something that has never made any sense to me. Business is all about uncertainty. If you have an invention and you have to put a down payment on it for about $20,000 to get the patents, manufacturing cost, etc., your uncertain about whether it would breed results. You don't know if your opportunity cost would be for naught or would be paid back in full plus. We were in tough times before where we were uncertain about where our country was headed, but we got through it with the ingenuity of the American people, including its business set.

What gets me about this article is that it seems to lay everything on President Obama without factoring in the partisanship of the GOP, hellbent on winning after two staggering election losses, the unemployment which has no quick fix, and most of all historical context.

I had a discussion with someone about historical context and how we judge other presidencies alongside the current one. Its a reason why that stale cardboard Sen. Orrin Hatch can say with a straight face today how much he "loves" President Bill Clinton, even though he was one of the senators who voted for impeaching him.
Its why this Ronald Reagan Fellatio Contest happens with Republicans, omitting all the stuff he did in the White House and how they wanted him not to run for re-election in 1984, in which he took 49 states.


Moral here, don't listen to Halperin, and you'll be all the wiser.

"Thou doth protest too much??"

Ok, this week, I really had nothing to say on the political side of things. Only that polls are tightening in Congressional races and that the ascendancy of a Speaker Oompa Loompa may be premature. Who knows he could get it, then again, he might get challenged by the more conservative faction of the Republican Party for the Speaker's chair. So who knows what will happen. But, speaking of the Republican Party, lets look at the state of Michigan. In the state of Michigan, they have assistants to the offices of many state offices. Governor and Lieutenant Governor. Secretary of State and assistant Secretary of State. Where our excursion follows us today is to the office of the Attorney General. Like the other offices, assistant Attorneys General are there to help out in case the elected Attorney General is incapacitated. They are also there to "assist" the Attorney General in any need pertaining to the office. However, I never thought their functions were to do this to an SGA President of a college.

Take a look.



Okay. Lets recap, Assistant Attorney General of the state, get it THE STATE of Michigan, Andrew Shirvell, targeting an SGA President. SGA President, who is not a state employee, but basically an employee of the school. Who was elected not by Michigan, but the student body of the University of Michigan. Saying that he was funded by outside gay groups to run, (I never thought running for SGA President was the equivalent of running for the White House.) Ok, lets take the gay thing out for a minute. A grown ass man, is stalking a college student. WTF!!!!!!!!!!!! HOW ISN'T THIS GUY NOT FIRED OR COMMITTED!!!!!!!! If I were that SGA President Chris Armstrong,a restraining order may be needed.

"He's pushing a RADICAL AGENDA!!!!!!" Duh. Its college. At least 60% of us could be considered radical. We don't all give a crap about gay marriage or gays in the military. Some want all military bases around the world closed. Hell, the male freshman population would love to have "Free Condom and Topless College Women day." I mean, my God, this guy talks about tuition rates and extending cafeteria hours. On the coed living together part, some do already. I mean, there over the age of 18. Yeah, they designate an apartment for women while men have one next door, but its so lax that it ends up happening. I'll never forget my sophomore year when every morning, I'd see one of my roommates girlfriends cooking breakfast.(P.S. she made good pancakes.)

Where did they get this guy from?

Where did they find this guy.

Question to the Media: Why does the President have to "relate to me?"

Ok, today watched the CNBC Town Hall thing today. President Obama, as usual, gives substantial answers to the questions that the press deems "too long". Hey, if it isn't a soundbite like "Bring it on!" was, well to hell with covering it. What I was surprised at though was the sort of "post-game analysis in which they review the highlights, so to speak. In this exchange here, I found it ridiculous.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Ok, lets see. He relates to me because he was broke before. He's black like me. He's white, and somewhere in me, I have a drop of white (thank you slavery and especially my Great-Grandfather on my maternal grandmother's side and maybe my paternal grandmother's as well.) Here's the thing, I don't want President Obama to go around, grasping ahold of people saying ," I feel your pain." Hell, I remember reports of the media ridiculing President Clinton for doing that. Now, suddenly its in vogue now? What the hell. Listen, the President has a lot of shit I don't have. One, a huge 132 room house leased to him for four years with an optional renewal by the landlords for another four, along with a fleet of Cadillac's, Yukon's, airplanes and helicopters. He has bodyguards, maid service, home office, $400,000 a year plus $50,000 Expense account. Was loaded beforehand due to him and the First Lady's lucrative jobs. Has two kids in private school and is probably the most famous man on the planet. If he ever says," I feel your pain." to me, I would probably say the same thing that Louise Jefferson said to George.

Hell, even if you are a defeated former president, you make out well. Look at President Jimmy Carter, defeated in 1980 in a landslide and has been living the high life since.

The whole interview, with shots of where he lives.

Damn, I would switch with Jimmy Carter in a heartbeat. He is doing pretty well for himself. No way in hell do these guys feel my pain. They may be empathetic to my pain. Sympathetic to it. They may have known the pain before, and cringe at the thought.  President Carter with his wife Rosalynn might help me build a house, but they don't feel my pain. Look, I elected a President not to feel my pain, but put in policies that benefit me as well as people around me so I can staunch the bleeding, put an ice pack on the pain, and make it heal. (Long ass metaphor, almost forgot what the hell I was talking about.) Its nice to "feel my pain", but then you tell me the solutions to how to stop the pain. Its how it works, and I respect politicians more when they do that then trying to get me to believe that a guy born with a silver spoon in his mouth, who had a father who was a CIA chief, RNC chair, U.S.Congressman, Oilman, heir, Vice President, and President would, "have a beer with me."  To me, thats just like the time Governor Mitt Romney quoted Baha Men lyrics.



(LIKE SERIOUSLY MITT? Are you going to sing Flavor Flav's greatest hits in 2012 to try to blight President Obama's approval? How about Freddie Jackson or Moms Mabley's comedy stylings. I swear, I think he thought with this strategy that he would end up with 20% of the black vote.)

Media, I don't care if my President doesn't feel my pain, I just want him to fix the problem. I wish you would fix your problem and just report instead of analyze.

Oh yes, Newt is running for President.

Anybody remember that house speaker that shut down the government, seemingly because of a seating place on Air Force One. The guy that was behind impeaching an American president for having an extramarital affair, WHILE having an extramarital affair. A guy who, as Walter Matthau put it (At the 3:23, just replace John Gustafson with Newt Gingrich)...........



Ok, so he didn't say that, but yeah, thats my feeling toward him. Well, he's running for President of the United States now. He hasn't announced yet, but he has no need to announce. He's been throwing loads of diapercrap at the President like some insane toddler.

Like here-Where President Obama is now 16 years old.



and here, where the CBO is now wrong since bureacrats created it and the top 2% will be damn dirt poor to invest if their taxes jump to 40% from the 35% they are on now.



and this, where he wonders why President Obama can't say that the Park 51 community center shouldn't be built.



(Even the muslim ones Newt?)

This is a guy that financed this film and released it on Saturday.



The piece of the analysis to me which further tells me that he is running for President is this quote, from the revered conservative digest, The National Review.

“What if [Obama] is so outside our comprehension, that only if you understand Kenyan, anti-colonial behavior, can you begin to piece together [his actions]?” Gingrich asks. “That is the most accurate, predictive model for his behavior.”

“This is a person who is fundamentally out of touch with how the world works, who happened to have played a wonderful con, as a result of which he is now president,” Gingrich tells us.

“I think he worked very hard at being a person who is normal, reasonable, moderate, bipartisan, transparent, accommodating — none of which was true,” Gingrich continues. “In the Alinksy tradition, he was being the person he needed to be in order to achieve the position he needed to achieve . . . He was authentically dishonest.”

A con man, wow. Newt Gingrich, the 58th Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives who left office in disgrace wants to call someone a con man. So it is said by the family values conservative that left his cancer stricken first wife for his second, then left her for his third after she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. (If I were "Listy", I would definitely get a checkup, cause for Newt a runny nose=nother woman.) The guy that impeached President Clinton about lying about his extramarital affairs while having his very own. The guy, who according to his second wife Marianne,

"He believes that what he says in public and how he lives don't have to be connected," she says. "If you believe that, then yeah, you can run for president."
Sitting on a bench, she squints against the light. "He always told me that he's always going to pull the rabbit out of the hat," she says.

I had a conversation before where someone declared that President Obama was narcissistic. I listened, though fundamentally disagreed with that point of view. Hell, anyone that runs for President has a huge ego, no doubt about that. However, no one can tell me that he does not love his wife and children more than he does himself. A real narcissist wouldn't be able to possess that.  I don't get that with Newton Leroy Gingrich. Newt should talk, lambasting the President's transparency, leaving the Speaker's chair with ethics violations and even having his own party believing he was too manic for any leadership role. Everything he said above is a projection of him onto the President.

Yes Newt, run. I hope to God you run so we can fillet your already smoldered political corpse. Run, trying to "otherize" the President again. Say he's "anti-colonial, I am too. I understand why Kenya wouldn't want to be under British rule. Hell, we should understand their plight. Weren't we under British rule. Weren't George Washington, John Jay, James Madison, John Adams, and all the other founding fathers "anti-colonial" as well?

I really don't want to get cocky. President Obama could very well be defeated in 2012. Its hard to tell what lies ahead and anything can happen. However, with the straw poll 2012 Republican lineup for Presidential nominees.......Palin, Gingrich, Barbour, Romney... its hard not to be.

A DAMN RUG!!!!! Really?

Ok, I understand it. We are heading into a midterm election where the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate can change majority parties. I get that in elections like these, that Presidents are usually drug through the mud on many policy initiatives and executive decisions. I never thought that a rug would get this much attention to the detractors of President Obama.

Every four years, we have a U.S. presidential election, where we change the occupant or keep the occupant in for one more term. In that, the winner is afforded a four year lease on the huge white complex on Pennsylvania Avenue. While there, they can do anything they want with their private quarters and their offices. One of those offices is of course the Oval Office, where during their term, they make the choice to personalize the office and put their mark on it. Nearly every President does it and a least a week ago, the current President chose to continue that tradition. It wasn't any big shakes to anyone who doesn't care about things like this, except for our media. I guess after six months, you sort of get tired of the old, "The First African American President in U.S. History does_________! Isn't that amazing!!!" stories that they put out. To me, hes basically a President who, besides President Clinton, wouldn't be more uncomfortable than me at one of my family reunions.

All in all, its a cool look. I'm not exactly dude on Trading Spaces, but if I were President, my First Lady would definitely be designing the room, because I wouldn't know what the hell to put in it. Wallpaper, new reupholstered chairs, couches, paint, etc. are all expected in a remodeling of a room. However, one bit of controversy is the rug. In the report on the Washington Post, the rug has various quotes inscribed on it.

In the center is the presidential seal, and the quotes on its border include some of the most famous words ever spoken by Americans:

- "GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE AND FOR THE PEOPLE" - Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address.

- "NO PROBLEM OF HUMAN DESTINY IS BEYOND HUMAN BEINGS" - John F. Kennedy.

- "THE WELFARE OF EACH OF US IS DEPENDENT FUNDAMENTALLY ON THE WELFARE OF ALL OF US" - Teddy Roosevelt.
ad_icon
clear pixel

- "THE ONLY THING WE HAVE TO FEAR IS FEAR ITSELF" - FDR's inaugural speech.

- "THE ARC OF THE MORAL UNIVERSE IS LONG, BUT IT BENDS TOWARD JUSTICE" - Obama's favorite Martin Luther King quotation.

Fair enough right. Rug with quotes on it from prominent Americans in history was a great idea for a rug. Well, up until this happened.

One quote reads, “The Arc of the Moral Universe Is Long, But It Bends Towards Justice.”


As the Washington Post’s Jamie Stiehm points out, the quote attributed to King is not really King’s quote at all.


It’s Theodore Parker’s.


King often quoted and paraphrased Parker, an abolitionist and minister from Massachusetts, who in 1853 proclaimed, “I do not pretend to understand the moral universe; the arc is a long one ... And from what I see I am sure it bends towards justice."

As soon as I read that, I said aloud these words,.......


"THIS SHIT JUST GOT STUPID!!!!!!!!!"


The simple fact is this, that just because Dr. King did use Parker, who says the same thing in a more or less different way, does not mean that Dr. King should not be referenced when saying the quote. I looked at the speech that Dr. King gave, titled, "A look to the Future", given at the Highlander Folk School in Monteagle, Tennessee. Where the moneymaker quote stands.

"So my answer to the question of our theme is that the future is filled with vast and marvelous possibilities. This is a great time to be alive. Let us not despair. Let us realize that as we struggle for justice and freedom we have cosmic companionship. The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice."

Basically, Mr. Parker did say the same thing, albeit in a much greater context. Dr. King, however, said the quote in the same, exact way as quoted on the rug. Common sense should dictate to you that the quote was meant to be portrayed as Dr. King had said it. Unfortunately, we don't live in the age of common sense anymore.

The second thing to do, LOOK AT THE RUG!!!!!

Rug by the rugmakers.

I don't see any names there attributing quotes to the people. SO, for people who want to attribute the quote to Theodore Parker, go ahead. Be my guest. This is the United States in America, where each of us has the right to attribute quotes to people who made them first in some different words. I think.

The nature of this attack and the media's efforts at covering it is farcical. Its as then-Sen. Barack Obama said in the primary debates.



Damn, you have to wonder if Dr. King were alive today, would he be subjected to this since he borrowed from Parker. Or, how about President Lincoln. "Of the people, by the people, for the people" sounds the very same as Parker's quote, "of all the people, by all the people, for all the people" Shouldn't these two people be taken to the mat. Come on media, the economy, the elections, most of all jobs. We really don't give a damn about the rug.

What in the hell did I just watch yesterday?

Since this is a mass media and politics class, I decided to cover the ceremony yesterday that was the Martin Luther Beck ceremony at the Lincoln Memorial. Let me just say this,....


WOW!!!


I mean what in the hell was that all about? Really? What did it accomplish. Nothing, accept for the fact that some  people now love the message of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.



I mean, how can you deny these gentleman have learned the true message of Dr. King, huh?

And this guy, a person who works for government, how Dr. King's message helped him rise up from the brutality of not getting ahead at his job.





He and his South American wife have been persecuted FAR TOO LONG!!!!!!!!


There were rousing, patriotic speeches from the greatest Governor on earth who didn't finish her term, because she wanted to save America, Sarah Palin.




To Alveda King, niece of Dr. King who never lets us forget with her endless refrains to her "Uncle Martin".





To Pastor C.L. Jackson of the Pleasant Grove Missionary Baptist Church of Houston, Texas, who calls Glenn Beck the Son of God who was sent by God to be here on this Earth (Breaking snark, "YOU CAN'T MAKE THIS SHIT UP!!!!")

After all, his views have always been something that a son of God would practice.


Then,the pièce de résistance.



If you want a longer version, look at this link here.


I admit, I watched it. I tuned in to see what it was about. And after all of that,.......

I still don't know what the hell it was about. Really, the whole ceremony was less about Dr. King's dream and more about comparing Glenn Beck to Dr. King.  Scratch that, it was ALL about Beck. The self aggrandizement of Glenn Beck. It was like everything he said at that rally was everything he said on his show, except the politics. This speech was pretty friggin apolitical, which is out of character for Glenn Beck. Everything, the tears, the soft toned speaking voice, to the loud barking howling voice was there, but that was it.

I bet some in the crowd were also wondering what the hell that was on the stage. Many there probably won't speak ill of Glenn Beck, but some elements were missing, like the reason that many were there in the first place. Most of it having to do with....


THIS MAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After all, who do you think they are talking about with these proclamations about Socialism and Marxism and Racism and Sexism and absurdism and irreligionism and any other damn ism you can think of.



I mean, these people weren't there for "reconciliation and bringing the nation together." They were for watering the tree of liberty and ousting tyrants (duly elected tyrants by the way) from our government.

They are organizing for this


http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=3541676491952611859

and this



They believe the duly elected President of the United States is this



and this



These people don't want to engage. I have to honestly say, after all of that, I'm disappointed for the audience.

f Beck was even thinking that this event would come close to overshadowing August 28, 1963, he's fooling himself. No matter what he does or what he tries, there was a defining reason why Dr. King was there. Not to restore that illusion of "honor" that they haven't even defined, but to make America better for everyone.




Those are the principles that Dr. King believed in. The ones that Glenn Beck disagrees with







Mr. Beck, Dr. King is not some emblem which you can use to justify your backward beliefs. In that regard, he is something you never could be.

UPDATE: The effects of this stupidity.

Wow.

Islamic radicals are seizing on protests against a planned Islamic community center near Manhattan's Ground Zero and anti-Muslim rhetoric elsewhere as a propaganda opportunity and are stepping up anti-U.S. chatter and threats on their websites.

One jihadist site vowed to conduct suicide bombings in Florida to avenge a threatened Koran burning, while others predicted an increase in terrorist recruits as a result of such actions.

"By Allah, the wars are heated and you Americans are the ones who…enflamed it," says one such posting. "By Allah you will be the first to taste its flames."

Don't say anybody didn't warn them this would inflame intentions on the wrong side.

Ignorance and fear at a glance

Wow, really? A black man in a Kangol cap walking around New York City is a "Muslim coward". And the tall guy was probably doing hardhat man a favor trying to calm him down, seemingly wanting to pick a fight with the man. Many wonder why people call the Tea Party filled with bigots.

I know, I know. Not ALL of the Tea Party members are bigots. However, it seems that the poster children of the movement always seems to be the most loudest, bigoted person you could find that day. I find the statement, "There trying to make it look like were a bunch of racists."  hilariously sad. The solution to that dilemma, DON'T VERBALLY ATTACK A BLACK GUY IN A KANGOL AND LOOK LIKE YOU'RE ABOUT TO WHIP HIS ASS!!

The backstory on this youtube video consists of the protest in front of the designated building that is to be deemed Park 51, a community center in the vicinity of the area where the World Trade Center towers stood nearly 10 years ago.

On its website here, it has its vision in plain view, stating that the community center is there for pluralism, service, arts and culture, education and empowerment, appreciation for our city and a deep respect for our planet. How this has been turned into a terrorist powerstation and a trophy for Al Qaida and Osama Bin Laden is a whirlwind of disbelief to me.

Reading this New York Times article, it drips with the extreme disdain at the counterprotestors from the protestors there.

Michael Rose, 27, a bespectacled medical student from Brooklyn, approached the opponents of the mosque around noontime with a handwritten sign, reading “religious tolerance is what makes America great.” He was immediately surrounded by protestors, some of whom angrily pointed a finger in his face. One man, his face red, leaned in to Mr. Rose and hissed, “If the cops weren’t here, you’d be bleeding right now.”

A group of police officers quickly moved in, pushing Mr. Rose away from the crowd and angrily insisting he return to the designated area for supporters of the mosque. Later, Mr. Rose said he had wanted to “get a better sense of what the protesters were saying, or thinking.”

Was he surprised by their message? Mr. Rose shook his head. “There was nothing that Newt Gingrich isn’t saying,” he said.

Just then, the red-faced man who had threatened Mr. Rose reappeared. He had followed the medical student a block from the protest. He stuck out a hand and, in a terse voice, said: “I’m sorry.”

“You have a right,” the man continued. (He would not give his name.) “I am sorry for what I said to you. I disagree with you completely, but you have a right.” 

Now, I am happy that the man apologized to him for his behavior, but he should have had his behavior in check at the protest. You don't threaten a mans life when you disagree with their views. Its just isn't rational. It exposed his mission that this protest was to constrain a certain people from their rights instead of allowing their freedom to do what they want to do. 

This didn't seem like a protest just against the community center either. You had President Obama and the Democrats mentioned more times than Montana Fishburne's tape at Vivid Entertainment. This was your run of the mill tea party protest. This protest from the pictures and youtube video went from the community center being built to how the disagreed with President Obama and attacked anyone who they believed voted for him. Not just his stance on the center, but him in general. His policies, his election, his birth (AGAIN! Won't let that go.) was all debated. Chants of "Obama must go!" ran through the crowd. Basically, I believe this whole thing was drummed up to highlight the same thing they tried in 2008. Keep President Obama foreign. After all, his name is Hussain (Hussein for people who can spell)



And what American has a name like that? Certainly not the President of the United States.

Even conservative talk show host, Tammy Bruce, believes this community center being built was hatched by the President.

I’m convinced this mosque was Obama’s idea. The notion of it and its location. I think he knows he’ll be a one-term president and wants as much destruction to the American psyche as possible. The legacy this man is now establishing is a continuation of the terrorism unleashed in the 90s and defined by 9/11.

Yes, because every Muslim, including American ones want the terrorism unleashed in the 90's and 9/11, right? Isn't that like me saying that a evangelical Christian church being built in an area where there were lynchings in the 1930's-50's means that all Christians want that same terrorism unleashed now? Again, President Obama. Anything like this is laid at his doorstep. I swear, if their daughters had gotten pregnant out of wedlock, I believe that there would be a 75% chance that these people would bring President Obama to fault for having a guy play the game Pop goes the Weasel with their daughter.

I may have some people disagree with me on this, but this is ignorance and fear, pure and simple. It is a sign that one election or one man cannot cure the tempestuous beliefs of a sullen group of the American populace that believes that their rights have been taken away from them.  Muslim, is just another hot button word meant to signify, "The Other" in the debate. It has been used by many conservative minded peoples to imply that, "The Other" is a threat to "real Americans."

Lets cut to the chase here. One, its their right to build a community center there. Whether or not you like it. Thats the consequence of being an American. Things happen here that you may not like or agree with. President Obama's election. President Bush's elections. President Clinton's, President H.W. Bush's, President Reagan's. Each of those people voted in office were not wanted by many to be there. However, they were there. The Giants winning  Superbowl 42 (I still don't know how the hell that happened.) It happens every day that something goes on that you don't like.  However, all of the above was within the rights of the U.S. Constitution. We could have said, "yeah, but.." and we would still be just as wrong as Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich are right now. There is no, "yeah, but.." when it comes to the Constitution in its present form. The only way to put a "yeah, but" in that document is to either get Congress to amend it to the Constitution or get the Supreme Court to strike down the provision. Until then, "yeah, but...." is about as useless as a thong in Siberia.

Then, there are calls that, yes it should be built, but just not that close. Its "hallowed ground." Well, take a look at this blog and tell me if all of that should be on "hallowed ground" and like this guy, I agree wholeheartedly with this statement.




Either, they forgot about the last President, (or just don't want to remember.) or they forgot his message about the difference between Muslims and radical extremists.





That message no longer applies now. Now, the people who were not on those planes, but died in those towers are to shoulder the blame of the transgressions of those radicals. They don't blame just them, but my own Aunt and cousins. Someone who used to work in the Atlanta police department, helping to make our streets safe, has been blamed. My elder cousins, who have both studied hard in college, one has a Juris Doctorate and works in D.C., another a schoolteacher here in Georgia, they are to blame now for radical Islam's sins. Instead of actually taking the community center as a peaceful conciliation towards unity and fellowship, it is derided as something that would fan the flames of radical extremist beliefs.

I close this with a statement that rings true today and can bust through all of this bigoted bull. Something that should be on the minds of every American who believes this way about all Muslims.






He may not be classified as "real American", but he was indeed a great American.

The Conundrum of Dr. Laura Schlessinger and the N-Word.

This was when I heard of Dr. Laura as a child in the late 90s. It may seem strange that a black, southern fourth grader would be watching Frasier, but hey, its me. I come from a family where we listen to different viewpoints, or at least encouraged me too when they couldn't do it.  My father, who has voted Democratic since 1988, though he voted Reagan in 1984 (A fact which my ardent Democratic mother wouldn't ever let him forget.) listens to A.M. talk radio which in Georgia, is very conservative. He does it because, as he told me one time, "Better to fight off my Republican coworkers if I already know what those jackasses say. Often, I have heard the voices of Rush Limbaugh and Mike Gallagher bellow out various screeds against Democratic and left leaning people, pummeling them with that self righteous dollop of good ole conservatism. It was the same all over, my father would listen while my mother fumed in the passenger seat, exacerbating her ire. I would just sit in the back laughing my ass off when a four letter curse word left her lips while she begged Pops to turn to something else. Dr. Laura would be on the dial, and she was one of the top women besides Martha Zoller that filled her with incredulity and anger.

So, I listened at times at Dr. Laura, when she would vastly and repeatedly insult and belittle her callers, because she seemed to believe that she always knew what was best for them. She has had various libel lawsuits and earned the absolute disdain from many left wing groups, including the Gay and Lesbian community for her stark conservative views. There have been questions about her being a psychologist to people with problems, since her doctorate is in physiology and her bachelors is in marriage counseling. However, she has thrived since then and has rivaled The Rush Limbaugh Show in radio ratings.

Flash forward to the date of Tuesday, August 10, 2010, where a troubled caller wanted advice for  how to deal with a problem with her husband and her husband's friends. The caller was a black female who is in an interracial marriage with her husband, who is white.




Captivating, isn't it? Lets just say that using the N-word, unprompted, ELEVEN TIMES, is not a very good idea. Especially when you have sponsors, that are patrons of those sponsors. To tell you the truth , Dr. Laura using the N-word is the least of the problem here. She basically told the caller that if she didn't want these problems to arise between the friends and her, that she shouldn't have married outside of the race. Well, afterward, Dr. Laura knew she had done something to arise the proverbial avalanche of bile her way. So, the following day, she apologized.




After that, some people believed that this wasn't enough, and wanted her show to be canceled. Sponsors still were dropping like flies from her show. So she made an appearance on Larry King to defend what she did.



Well, her show is dead, but damn if she didn't go out screaming,right?

Ok, here it is. I am gonna make a statement, that will have many of you looking at me with the side eye. I will also in my article write the word out. White people, Asian people, Latino people, Martians, animals, anyone who isn't black, you can say (GET READY NOW!) nigger. You are right, as an American citizen, per the first Amendment to the United States Constitution, you have the right to say it. I don't want to stop you from having that right. You're good on that.

Are you still with me, because after that paragraph, a lot of people must be wanting to do this to me.



(If you can do that with a basketball to anyone, call the Guinness Book of Records.)

Now, having said that, you can say the word. Just remember, I am also American, and per the rights afforded to me first Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, I can send a wave of bile your way like you never imagined for using that word. I can essentially hate you, and get a chorus of people to hate you along with me. I can ruin your life that way. It has happened before in history. There is a reason why David Duke or Pat Buchanan isn't President of the United States today. There is a reason why Alabama Governor George Wallace's Inauguration speech is the most infamous in history. There is a reason that Nathan Bedford Forrest doesn't have a national holiday.

The N-word is a word used since 1619, when we were first brought on the shores on Jamestown. It was used by people who weren't black (Not just white people) to personify a black man as inferior. As lower than dirt. Not even human. That word being said by non-black people meant that they viewed the person as sub-human. Even after the Civil War, where many of these black people considered free, the word was still used by non-black people to quarter blacks as sub-human and not allowed to be afforded those rights in the constitution. It was used to go after black people for wanting to use the restroom anywhere, to go to school anywhere, to work anywhere, to live anywhere, to just be American. So, when you encounter black people who charge at non-black people for saying the N-word, remember that this may be the reason.

Now, as for black hip hop artists and comedians, yeah they use it. They use it as a term of endearment. Thats just the facts. I highly doubt a black hip hop artist or comedian would use it as a term of hate. Not to say that non-black use of it is always used as a term of hate, but its more likely with non-black usage than black usage. To some of you, it may not be right, but it is what it is.
We should also be aware that anyone can be offended by the N-word, not just black men and women. It even happens even when black people use it with other black people. I have encountered some of my Afro-American peoples grimace or tell me outright that I should not use the N-word in their presence. I meant it as a term of endearment, but some still don't want it used. I see that, and I respect that. Likewise, some black people will allow you to use it. It has happened, not with me personally, but with other friends and their non-white friends. As long as they use "nigga" and say it as a term of endearment, its ok with them. Some may disagree with that, but it is what it is.

The N-word will remain controversial for a long time. Dr. Laura will not be the last to use this word and be faced with the blowback, but Dr. Laura is wrong in her analysis that she can't say it. She exercised her first amendment right. She was well within her right to do so. But as history will show us, just because it is within your legal rights to do so, does not mean that you won't look like a jackass to some people when you say it.