Race To The Bottom

Black White258Once again, America is squirming over our racist past, which doesn’t seem to want to go away. Our watchdog-whistle press is brimming over with scathing indictments of white supremacy. Every few years we are forced to have a “conversation” about having a conversation about race relations. In many cases, it is about relations.

Front and center, we have the Zimmerman trial. The evil white man Zimmerman stalked and killed Trayvon Martin as he walked home from the store. But wait, isn’t Zimmerman actually the product of a white father and a Latino mother? According to the press, it had to be the white side of his parentage that caused him to be stupid enough to get out of his car after the 911 people told him to stay put until the cops arrived. I suppose that also explains Barack Obama’s shoot-to-kill-by-drone policy. It must be the lingering racism he inherited from his white mother that causes him to be so insensitive to the plight of the brown people he so callously snuffs.

If your parents were both white, you are doubly damned, especially if you’re from the Old South like Paula Deen. Deen stupidly admitted that she may have used the N-word some thirty years ago. As we all know, the statute of limitations on that hate crime stops at fifty years, after the Civil Rights Act. That’s unless you are black, like Richard Pryor and scores of rappers who got rich on racially-charged material. Pryor eventually eliminated the word from his act, and many of the rappers are dead from wounds they received via guns made by white people.

Then there is the latest outrage stemming from the crash of the Asiana Airlines jet in SF. KTVU in Oakland color-blindly reported the names of the doomed plane’s pilots as Captain Sum Ting Wong, Wi Tu Lo, Ho Lee Fuk, and Bang Ding Ow. The station got the names from the National Transportation Safety Board, through a press release okay’d by a summer intern. No word on the race of the now-unemployed intern. How this report ever got as far as it did is amazing considering how obvious the phony names are. We must assume that it was white people who are at fault.

And it was white boy comedian Patton Oswalt who upped the ante by tweeting that the spokesperson who issued the eventual apology was none other than Wi So Solly, which led to a damning article on insensitivity at Salon.com.  And now Asiana is suing KTVU for airing the gaffe, stating that it demeaned their Ho Li Fukked Up business. They’ll need the money to pay for the stream of lawsuits coming their way.

As a member of the lily-white haole honky cracker oppressors, I am constantly berated by my politically correct brothers and sisters for airing these kind of complaints. I should accept that I am racist by birth and beg for forgiveness. Never mind that these are the same people who don’t have a problem slandering anyone from any race who considers themselves conservative. Calling a black person Uncle Tom isn’t racism, it’s just politics. How about Rolling Stone magazine’s muckracking reporter Matt Taibbi declaring that the best way to shut up Asian-American commentator Michelle Malkin would be to stuff a pair of balls in her mouth? (And we’re not talking about tennis balls.) Ha ha! Now that’s comedy!

If we’re going to have a conversation, let’s admit that we’re all racists to some degree. There’s a line from a movie, the name of which I don’t recall right now, that’s stuck with me for many years: Americans either feel too much or they feel nothing at all. Dealing with that problem could be a good starting point.

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68 Responses to Race To The Bottom

  1. rl crabb says:

    I remember the title of the movie now. It was “Scenes From The Class Struggle In Beverly Hills” by the late Paul Bartel.

  2. George Rebane says:

    Yes indeed, truth and justice are not colorblind.

  3. Our unease and hypocrisy over the race issue is payback for slavery. To use a Catholic analogy, slavery was America’s original sin and we’ll be going penance for years to come.

  4. Chris Peterson says:

    In my oh-so-skeptical way, I see the story line of Zimmerman being white as a ploy to take the focus off the asinine “stand your ground” law. The fact that a guy with a gun caused a confrontation with a teen which resulted in the teen’s death should be the beginning and end of the story. The fact that we have armed vigilantes roaming the streets and deciding who should be confronted, for ANY reason, is enough for me.

    I had to come to grips long ago that I was prejudiced. When my black shipmates came on liberty with us, it was a fun, relaxed atmosphere. But when I went out drinking with them; I suddenly found myself incredibly uncomfortable. And I had considered myself quite UN-prejudiced to that point.

    All that notwithstanding, it is that fear that is used by those who would keep the general population separate and at odds for their own purposes, whatever they be. And while prejudice may be natural; some people teach their children to embrace it, rather than work at overcoming that fear; and that’s just wrong.

  5. Chris Peterson says:

    Hey Bob,
    On another note, I’ve been trying to remember what was there before the Safeway strip mall in GV. I seem to remember some kind of apartment type building, but I’m unsure.

    Any recollection?

    • rl crabb says:

      It was called Brockington Manor, and there were a few houses there for awhile when we wuz young’uns. All that’s left are the stone columns at the Neal St. entrance to the parking lot.

  6. petek says:

    Bob, thanks for driving your point from the “middle” of the road. Reading the blogs that drive on the “left” or the “right” are starting to “drive” me crazy.

  7. Todd Juvinall says:

    The race hustlers are really pissed.

  8. TD Pittsford says:

    Many of the leaders of the entirely peaceful and beneficent children of Islam have remarked on more than one occasion, to wit, “…political correctness will destroy America.” These words have been uttered in many cases just before we kill them, their families, their goats, and their neighbors, with one of Obama’s drones. How strange that they scream about our intolerance towards their beliefs while we in this country at least pay lip service to tolerating anything and everything from rap lyrics to KKK marches. You are right, Bob, racism will NEVER die in this world simply because there is still a preponderance of other humans who insist on shoving their concepts of “tolerance” down the throats of everyone else. I support a mantra of, “Do no harm and mind your own business.”

  9. Steve Enos says:

    Consider the points raised by Ted Nugent:

    So this guy’s neighborhood has been burglarized off and on and the residents are very concerned for their safety and well-being. Neighbors agree to upkick their vigilance and overall level of awareness to watch out for each other and keep an eye out for suspicious individuals and behavior. It could be considered by an official designation such as “Neighborhood Watch”, but officially labeled or not, it is the purest form of Americans watching out for each other and being good neighbors. So far so good.

    So George Zimmerman sees what he believes is a suspicious individual in suspicious circumstances, and intelligently and responsibly pays attention and calls 9-1-1 to report what he sees to the officials. This gesture is proof positive he was not looking to do anyone harm or break any laws, but rather perform the fundamental responsibility of a neighbor who cares.

    Doing nothing illegal or improper, he follows the individual while answering all the questions from the 9-1-1 operator to the best of his ability, keeping an eye on the individual so the authorities can hopefully intercept and determine exactly what is going on.

    For reasons unknown, though I will comment on momentarily, after expressing racism and hostility on the phone to a friend in response to being followed, the suspect now changes course and turns towards George and immediately initiates a hostile verbal confrontation that quickly escalate to a violent physical assault.

    Within seconds, the suspect has overwhelmed George, has gained the advantage on top, pinning George to the ground, and further escalates the assault to deadly force by smashing George’s face, breaking his nose, and violently slamming his skull onto the concrete with all his youthful athleticism.

    George screams frantically for help as Trayvon Martin pummels his face and head furiously, inflicting damaging and potentially life threatening wounds. Fearing for his life and about to lose consciousness at the hands of an enraged, violent attacker, George Zimmerman does what anyone who wishes to live would do, and he reaches
    for his concealed handgun, firing a single shot to neutralize the deadly force being wreaked upon him.

    This represents the purest form of self-defense there is. It is exactly why people who believe in good over evil carry a gun to protect themselves from the well documented violence that plagues our country, in order to save our lives from a life threatening attack. Period.

    Based on all evidence available to them, the professional law enforcement officers did not hold George Zimmerman on charges later that night. They saw it for what it was: cut and dried self-defense.

    And so it was for a few weeks until the race-baiting industry saw an opportunity to further the racist careers of Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, the Black Panthers. President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder, et al, who then swept down on the Florida community refusing to admit that the 17-year-old dope smoking, racist gangsta wannabe Trayvon Martin was at all responsible for his bad decisions and standard modus operendi of always taking the violent route.

    With an obvious racist chip on his shoulder, referencing the neighborhood watch guy as a “creepy ass cracker” to his fellow racist female friend who admitted under oath that that is how non-blacks are referred to normally in their circles, Trayvon had no reason not to attack, because it was the standard thug thing to do. See Chicago any
    day of the week.

    With nearly 700 examples of this truism played out in Chicago in 2012 alone, no one can possibly dispute the recent surge in black racism increasing throughout Barack Obama?s presidency. To attempt to claim otherwise is a laughable lie.

    The jury got it right, and non-racist America rejoices that there is still common sense, honesty and decency aware of identifying justice in this country. America also believes that the entire prosecutorial team should be ashamed of themselves and disbarred for ignoring the obvious and kowtowing to the pure racism that forced the politically correct lie that only black lives killed by non-blacks matter, which is why there are no headlines, no protests, no prosecutions and no Barak Obama or Eric Holder meddling in the nonstop black-on-black slaughter in their gun-free zone of Chicago.

    Martin Luther King Jr. is rolling over in his grave that he sacrificed his life for the cause of judging people by the content of their character instead of the color of their skin, as so many of his own race carry in in self-destructive behavior while professional race mongers blame everything on racism. It is painful and heartbreaking to say and write this, but horrifically it is true. Blacks kill more blacks in a weekend in Chicago than the evil, vile Ku Klux Klan idiots did in 50 years. Truly earth shattering insane. And not a peep from Obama or Holder. Tragic.

    The only racism on that night was perpetrated by Trayvon Martin, and everybody knows it.

    Here’s the lesson from all this, America: Teach your children to not attack people for no good reason whatsoever. Conduct yourself in a responsible, civil manner, and everything will be just fine. Try to kill someone and that someone just may be exercising his or her Second Amendment rights and you could get shot. It?s called self-defense, and it is the oldest, strongest and most righteous instinct and God-given
    right known to man.

    Ted Nugent is an American rock’n roll, sporting and political activist icon. He is the author of Ted, White, and Blue: The Nugent Manifesto and God, Guns & Rock N Roll (Regnery Publishing).

    • TD Pittsford says:

      Ted is also a bona fide nut case.

    • Chris Peterson says:

      You lost me at, “Consider the points raised by Ted Nugent.” You might as well have said, “In the immortal words of Daffy Duck…”

      • Todd Juvinall says:

        I bet you all say that about Alex Baldwin and Barbara Streisand too. Right?

        • Chris Peterson says:

          Love the way your mind works, Todd. You must have been a hoot in history class.

          Teacher: “Hitler was a homicidal maniac. Yes, Todd?”

          Todd: “I’m sure you say the same about Gandhi.”

          Teacher: “What does Gandhi have to do with the discussion, Todd?”

          Todd: “I’m not sure, but I thought you were attacking conservatives. It’s just the way my mind works.”

          • Todd Juvinall says:

            Chris I see your mind cannot truly grasp the superior intelligence I possess. Try harder dude.

      • Steve Enos says:

        Chris, too bad you can’t get past your blockage that it’s Ted Nugent that made these comments about Zimmerman and Martin.

        Maybe you can open up a bit, read his comments and consider the issues and points he raised and comment on them.

        • Chris Peterson says:

          Oh, I read it, Steve. I’m just imagining you, on your way home some night, and your car breaks down. And while your walking to the nearest gas station or your home, a guy pulls up in an SUV and starts hassling you. You appropriately tell him to F…off, and a fight ensues where you happen to be better or stronger and get the upper hand, at which point he pulls out a gun and kills you.

          Oops, so sorry; you just fell victim to the vigilante law of “I thought he was going to hurt me.” Pretty cool, eh?

          And Ted Nugent is a clown, socially AND musically.

          • rl crabb says:

            Chris, that reminds me of the night you, me and Barry had to hitchhike to NC on a dark stretch of Hiway 20. We’d still be out there, probably eaten by bears, if we hadn’t split up and let you, the straight lookin’ guy, fall back so someone wouldn’t be too afraid to give you a ride.

          • Chris Peterson says:

            Yeah, I was always the guy who had to hide in the bushes.
            Later in my career, it worked out for the best; I wasn’t necessarily the guy, on paper, they would have promoted, I just looked like I was; so I got the promotions. lol

          • Todd Juvinall says:

            Your scenario happens every night in Chicgo and Detroit. You are just too smeart for us ChrisP.

          • Chris Peterson says:

            I seriously doubt that I’m too “smeart” for you, Todd. Maybe I simply put what I was given to better use? Like knowing that the majority of gun deaths in the US are in the deep south, and the majority of those are from suicide.
            To me, that means that down in those solidly red states, where they lead statistically in obesity, teen pregnancy, abortion, and lower education, their biggest threat is putting a gun to their OWN head. Given that fact, I’m in complete agreement with the NRA and Walmart; they should ALL have a gun.
            In the south, Kevorkian is spelled C-O-L-T.

  10. Greg Goodknight says:

    Love the old Star Trek reference in the toon at the top, though it looks more like a “Half-Black Man Crew” member working a multimedia act on the Vegas Strip than the late, great Frank Gorshin in white/blackface.

    “Bele: You’ve combed the galaxy and come up with nothing but mono-colored trash, do-gooders and bleeding hearts. You’re dead, you half-white!
    Lokai: [to the crew] You useless pieces of bland flesh. ”

    At least in the ’60’s we had Star Trek, where pointed political commentary could be made with (by modern standards) laughingly bad aliens taking little makeup and crude special effects standing in for the usual suspects.

  11. Greg Goodknight says:

    Guess who?

    “Negroes constitute ten percent of the population of New York City, and yet they commit thirty-five percent of the crime. St. Louis, Missouri:the Negroes constitute twenty-six percent of the population, and yet seventy-six percent of the persons on the list for aid to dependent children are Negroes. We have eight times more illegitimacy than white persons. We’ve got to face all of these things. We must work to improve these standards. We must sit down quietly by the wayside, and ask ourselves: “Where can we improve?”What are the things that white people are saying about us? They say that we want integration because we want to marry white people. Well, we know that is a falsehood. We know that. We don’t have to worry about that. Then on the other
    hand, they say some other things about us, and maybe there is some truth in them. Maybe we could be more sanitary; maybe we could be a little more clean. You may not have enough money to take a weekend trip to Paris, France, and buy all of the fascinating and enticing perfumes. You may not be able to do that, but you are not so poor that you cannot buy a five cents bar of soap.

    And another thing my friends, we kill each other too much. We cut up each other too much. There is something that we can do. We’ve got to go down in the quiet hour and think about this thing. We’ve got to lift our moral standards at every hand, at every point. You may not have a Ph.D. degree; you may not have an M.A. degree; you may not have an A.B. degree. But the great thing about life is that any man can be good, and honest, and ethical, and moral, and can have character.”

    I think those numbers have gotten worse since that was uttered. Lots worse, especially in Chicago. It’s a shame the call wasn’t heeded.

    • Steve Enos says:

      That was… MLK in 1957. His entire sermon is available online and worth the read.

    • Chris Peterson says:

      Somehow, I get the comical image of a bunch of good ol’ boys at a Klan meeting discussing why liberals are actually the race-baiters.

      Funny stuff, guys.

      • Greg Goodknight says:

        Really, CP? Somehow, I get the impression you prefer caricatures over reality. In the piece above, RL touches on this… “Never mind that these are the same people who don’t have a problem slandering anyone from any race who considers themselves conservative.”

        Let’s remember that in the history of the Klan, the Klansmen who managed to get elected to Congress were all Democrats.

        • Todd Juvinall says:

          Greg how true. The Klan was a democrat organization and it appears they are alive and well still today except in small numbers. Maybe Chris can go organize them into a feel good group of guys he can play cards with. Robert Byrd’s picture on the poker table.

        • Chris Peterson says:

          You cut me to the bone , Greg. The first site that I go to, when I have spare time, is that of an extraordinary cartoonist. So, maybe you’re right; maybe I do prefer caricatures over reality although, you may have missed the point on a few of Bob’s cartoons if you don’t see the reality in some of his caricatures.

          As far as Klansmen being Democrats; it’s a pretty specious argument to compare today’s Democratic party with that of a generation ago. Perhaps you didn’t read your Weekly Reader that particular week, but in ’64 when Johnson signed the Civil Rights Bill, he turned to Bill Moyers and said, “We have lost the south for a generation.” One stroke of a pen, and every bigot from Huston to Pascagula became a republican. Anyway, I’m surprised at the caliber of that argument; most politically astute observers abandoned that tired old story years ago.

          As far as Senator Robert Byrd, one of the last true statesmen of Congress, it simply proves the point that, given a long enough span of time, most intelligent men will change from the immaturity of racism to a position of racial equality, although a few like Strom Thurmon will hold to bigotry to the end.

          These days, not every conservative is a bigot, but surely every bigot is a conservative.

          • Todd Juvinall says:

            Yep all those liberal democrats in Boston were never bigots or racists when they rioted against busing. Yep no liberal or democrat is a racist. What a hoot. You are just too smart to be one aren’t you?

          • rl crabb says:

            Since we’re digging up dirt from the graves of the long dead past and handing out derisive labels to political leanings from that time, perhaps I should point out that the progressive movement was originally a Republican creation.

          • Todd Juvinall says:

            That Teddy was not just a piece of revealing clothing worn by a babe was it?

          • Chris Peterson says:

            T.R.; love that guy. Got a picture of him hanging downstairs in the den. That’s the original, and best, progressive movement; one that kicked ass on the barons of the day and brought economic equality back into line with Lincoln’s vision when he said, “Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration.”

            Now, both parties are basically the same within the people, but the politicians are slaves to the bribes that pay for campaigns and, therefore, buy legislation.
            I’d vote for a Republican in a second, if they had the balls and vision of TR or Lincoln, and put the people first.

            But…ain’t gonna’ happen.

            Oh, and Todd; some people fly, and some birds don’t. But most birds do. It’s really not that complicated.

          • Chris Peterson says:

            From TR’s seventh State of the Union Address:

            “There may be honest differences of opinion as to many governmental policies; but surely there can be no such differences as to the need of unflinching perseverance in the war against successful dishonesty.”

            Check it out; it’s a must read.

          • Todd Juvinall says:

            Yeah Chris and some people get the bird. What a hoot!

          • Chris Peterson says:

            The depth of your commentary is truly breathtaking. I suppose if I was there, you’d be making fart noises when I talk.

            I shouldn’t make fun; I’m old, and I know you’re older so, maybe there’s a reason for your mental regression?

            At any rate, someday, maybe a hundred years from now, one of your great-grand-kids will do a search of your comments, and this will appear, and they will say, “Wow, he was really a gasbag, wasn’t he.”

          • Todd Juvinall says:

            Yeah Chris, your comments have inspired me to acrually do a fart in response to your intelligence. Good call.

          • rl crabb says:

            Okay. Everybody got the wind out of their bags? Let’s give it a rest.

          • Greg Goodknight says:

            One more…. “These days, not every conservative is a bigot, but surely every bigot is a conservative.”

            I don’t think I’ve ever seen a statement more bigoted than that one, CP. Thank goodness I’ve never been a conservative or I’d think you were aiming that at me.

          • Chris Peterson says:

            Sorry Greg, I’m going to respect Bob’s wishes and not respond except to say that there’s a little of everything in everybody.

          • Greg Goodknight says:

            Following CP’s lead I will also genuflect towards the esteemed Earl, thinking some groveling in that direction may sooth his nerves enough to keep the delete key from being hit.

            Exalted Cyclops Byrd wasn’t just a Klan member, he formed his local chapter and recruited a hundred or so members. As a Senator, he voted against both black Supreme Court Justices when they came up for confirmation, both Thurgood Marshall and Clarence Thomas, and filibustered the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Then there was his use of the nuclear “n” word in 2010, prefaced by “white” which may have made it OK for some.

            Nowadays you can’t even be an author of a cookbook dripping with lard and admit to ever uttering the word in any context, if you are a person of pallor.

            David Duke didn’t leave the Democratic Party until 1989 (he did win the New Hampshire Vice Presidential Primary in 1988) and while he narrowly won a special election runoff the GOP wasted no time spitting him back out.

            Let’s not be revisionist, here. The Klan was started by Dems and it took a long time for them to be visibly removed from Democratic politics ; it didn’t happen overnight in 1964.

          • Chris Peterson says:

            I think Bob’s objection was to the use of personal attacks on each other, outside of the occasional barb, and not one meant to stifle intelligent dialogue.

            Sen. Byrd’s comment:
            “There are white niggers. I’ve seen a lot of white niggers in my time, if you want to use that word. We just need to work together to make our country a better country, and I’d just as soon quit talking about it so much.” Pretty lame by today’s standards, a true statement, and Paula Dean’s comments were mostly a commercial travesty in that her image no longer fit her marketing scheme.

            David Duke did run three times as a Democrat, but it wasn’t until he switched to Republican that he found the support he needed to win an election. Unlike Sen. Byrd, and the nation, he never changed his bigoted ways, and eventually was left in the political dust of an evolving society.

            By the way; Sen. Byrd’s objections to Marshall were that he thought he had communist leanings, and his objection to Thomas were that he was simply a poor choice for a Supreme Court Justice, a fact born out by his behavior as such. Isn’t it a conservative claim that to publicly oppose a black man’s opinions is racist in itself?

            Two singular, and wildly different, examples in a sea of overall demographics does not a sound argument make. If your argument is that TODAY, there are nearly as many racially motivated citizens in the Democratic party as there are in the Republican party, then I give you a resounding fail on your theory.

            And lastly, racial bias will never be completely removed from ANY political group, but attitudes by those in the margins changes daily. That, in no way, negates the reality of Johnson’s prediction in ’64 that there was a large and immediate movement from one party to the other by those who lag far behind an ever progressing nation.

          • Greg Goodknight says:

            CP, you forgot to hand wave away David Duke’s support (especially the votes in New Hampshire) from Democrats in ’88, and have ignored completely Byrd’s *filibustering* the Voting Rights Act.

            Democratic racism has mostly gone underground. Google “soft racism of low expectations” for a clue. You might also look into the racial makeup of core democratic constituencies like construction unions.

          • Greg Goodknight says:

            Regarding Duke’s one win as a Republican for a LA House seat, from the wiki:
            “Ron Gomez, then a member of the Louisiana House from Lafayette, observed the District 81 special election:

            “John Treen was not a very dynamic campaigner, and he was not very well liked by the political insiders in Jefferson Parish. . . . Harry Lee was quoted as saying the runoff election was ‘a choice between a bigot and an asshole.’ During the few head-to-head public forums Treen’s advisors allowed, John wilted under the relative eloquence of Duke.”

            A lesser of two evils special election caused by the incumbent resigning after being appointed to the judiciary, and no good candidates ran on short notice. Bigot or an asshole, the bigot won, then got kicked out in the next regulation. Not clear cut, is it?

            There weren’t any assholes to explain the 11 thousand votes Duke got in a New Hampshire DEM primary in 1988.

            In short, “Republicans are the racists” is a fairy story some Dems tell themselves in order to cloak their politics in a false and unearned righteousness.

          • Chris Peterson says:

            You’re absolutely right; my bad. He did win the New Hampshire Vice Presidential primary in ’88, putting him up there with such notable names as Raymond Stebbins, Wladislav Kubiak, and Endicott Peabody, just to name a few more recent winners. As many as 55 enter the race for each party, and it’s winner takes all.

            He received just 47,047 votes, for 0.04 percent of the combined, national popular vote in the ’88 Presidential election which, after the NH primary, he switched to the Populist party.

            And Sen. Byrd’s objection to the Voting Rights Act was on the grounds of state’s rights which, if you follow the Supreme Court, has recently been vindicated. And all-in-all, it was a time when philosophical differences were fought on the floor of the Senate, rather than single Senators issuing filibusters from the cloak room on a regular basis. Money now rules over substance.

            Your comment that racism has moved underground is a statement in itself that one must now dig deep to find such behavior in the Democratic party, though I freely admit it is there, as it is anywhere you dig deep enough. The depth, though, at which it can be found in the Republican party is, in comparison, shall we say; more shallow?

          • Greg Goodknight says:

            So, you think because Byrd didn’t use the n-word in his Voting Rights Act filibuster, he wasn’t thinking it, after having uttered it in all its malevolence more often than Paula Deen could dream of?

            Soft bigotry at work. It’s quite alive and well in the Democratic Party; if you can’t get elected actually saying overtly racist things you don’t say them, and there’s nothing but warm fuzzies that will come your way if you explain away low achievement in school as being a remnant of past discrimination rather than an indictment of public education.

            Again, how well have Democratic construction unions integrated?

          • Chris Peterson says:

            I’m afraid you’ll have to enlighten me; unions being groups of people who’s sole purpose is a more equal sharing of the profits they create, and more often than not vote Democratic, doesn’t equate in my mind to them being labeled Democratic unions, unless you spell it with a small d.

            I will admit that their giving of contributions to the Democratic party for the small bones they receive is wrong-headed in an atmosphere where both parties favor the man with the money who’s actions they wish to change, but still; Democratic unions? I think not.

          • Greg Goodknight says:

            Maybe this will help you understand what you are apparently trying to ignore, about the AFL-CIO’s campaign to help Obama in 2008:
            ” the turnout by Ohio union members for labor’s campaign has been notably smaller than in past elections, at least in certain parts of the state. “This year, it’s been very difficult to get volunteers out,” says Skeen, the Columbus-area [AFL-CIO] coordinator, “partly because of Barack at the top of the ticket. We’ve had big get-out-the-vote programs for the past four years, but this year, people are just burnt out. Phone bank workers and precinct walkers hear a lot of racist remarks. Some local leaders say they don’t want to be involved because it may affect their own re-election. Leaders of the [building] trades have had a hard time getting out front of their members.”
            http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/The-312/October-2012/Rahm-Emanuel-Trade-Union-Racism-and-the-Burden-of-History/

            I don’t think you’ll be able to find any big union support for McCain that year.

          • Chris Peterson says:

            I think McCain’s problem was that he had little support at all, other than being the last of the crazies to make it through the Republican primary marathon. And Ms. Alaska certainly didn’t help that image.

            The Republican’s main problem these days is that they have no one of any great charisma to run for the office. Not that they care; their focus is on the House, Senate, and the state and local level. The party could care less about the White House; they know that the changes they can effect in state legislatures far outweighs their losses in a Presidential race. As long as they can keep the governors, state legislatures, and courts in their column; they win. And it’s working.

            As far as McCain: what warrior in history destroyed weapons in training, got captured in his first battle, and was able to use that record to gain control of his society’s leadership. By that standard, we should have run Barney Fife years ago. Who remembers the names of the Romans that were captured by Hannibal?

  12. George Zimmerman is a poster boy for why we need better gun control laws.

    Here’s a man, armed and inept, confronting a kid with a cell phone and a can of soda. If we are to believe Zimmerman, Martin managed to close on him, knock a much bigger man to the ground, and pummel him until Zimmerman was able to pull his gun and shoot him

    We let people like him carry guns?

    • Steve Enos says:

      George, what do you base your claim that Zimmerman confronted Martin?

      The facts and information provided in the trial do not support your claim. The jury did not find that Zimmerman confronted Martin. It was Martin that confronted Zimmerman. The trial showed Martin initiated the hostile. verbal confrontation that quickly escalate to a violent physical assault of Zimmerman.

      • Zimmerman initiated the confrontation by ignoring police advice and leaving his car to follow Martin. When Martin stood his ground, Zimmerman didn’t back away.

        Zimmerman had the “fire power” to control the situation, but apparently couldn’t or didn’t want to. As one of his own witnesses testified, Zimmerman was physically inept.

        But he was armed and dangerous.

        • Steve Enos says:

          As shown in the trial, Martin confronted Zimmerman, Martin made the contact.

          “Martin stood his ground, Zimmerman didn’t back away”… based on what facts?

          Martin initiated the hostile. verbal confrontation and Martin assaulted Zimmerman… as was shown in the trial.

          The jury heard the case and found Zimmerman not guilty.

        • Greg Goodknight says:

          The claim (not refuted by any evidence) was that, after losing visual contact with Martin, Zimmerman was walking back to his car when Martin appeared and the confrontation began, and all of the jury were convinced Martin started the fight.

    • Steve Enos says:

      George… Martin was 5’11 and 158 lbs. and George Zimmerman 5’7” and 204 lbs. So on what planet was Zimmerman “a much bigger man”?

  13. Todd Juvinall says:

    Excellent points Steve Enos.

  14. rl crabb says:

    There’s not much point in rehashing this sorry case. Beyond the details outlined by one side or the other, both men made serious miscalculations that led to the tragedy. Blaming it on racism blurs the bigger issue: Why is there so much animosity between the races? I believe it has less to do with skin color or ethnicity than it does with the state of the economy. Kids in the inner city don’t have many job options. For many, the only chance to get ahead is to deal drugs. That means connecting with gangs, and gangs survive by defending their turf. Asians vs. Mexicans vs. blacks vs. ethnic minority whites.
    The crime rate dropped during the boom years of the nineties, even after the Rodney King riots and the OJ fiasco. Given the opportunity, most people prefer working and getting a paycheck over sticking up a 7-11.
    And here’s where the problem lies as we head into the future. There will be fewer jobs, at least the good paying kind. Entire professions are either being outsourced or automated. Unless we figure out how to deal with that fact, the tensions we see today are just the fuse to a real explosion to come.

    • Michael Anderson says:

      I believe Earl has a Bingo on that comment.

    • Greg Goodknight says:

      According to Sowell, when he was a kid in Harlem, his classmates read at nearly the same level as the kids in white NYC elementary schools. Black families were intact.

      Poverty doesn’t cause crime; if anything, it’s the other way around.

    • Todd Juvinall says:

      Good points RL. I think it is all about the lack of common sense education. If you hire an inner city kid to do carpentry can he even read the numbers on the tape? Can he read the directions on the back of the paint can? The woman who was the friend of Martin could hardly speak English. I had to play the testimony a few times to understand her. These are education issues. But the blacks turn on their own when the try to become educated. They call them trying to be white. Or Uncle Toms etc. Just ask Bill Cosby, Thomas Sowell or Clarence Thomas. Anyway, I consider myself enlightened and I am not a racist because of my own history with others. My parents were not racists and did not teach that to us children. But the bottom line is the lack of many minority people unwilling to take advantage of the opportunities this country offers all.

      • Chris Peterson says:

        So, just to be clear, Todd; you’re not a racist, you’re actually an enlightened being who can’t understand why minorities choose to be uneducated? And you have trouble understanding why they can’t talk like us or read numbers, given that they had all the opportunities we had growing up?

        In your benevolent and infinite understanding of the social patterns of our society, you have figured out that minorities aren’t less intelligent than us, (because only THAT would be racist), but rather have chosen to be more ignorant, lest they appear to be white-like?

        Oh great and noble God, if there be one, please grant me the wisdom to be as enlightened as Todd Juvinall.

        • Todd Juvinall says:

          You seem to be a bit confused Chris but maybe you have all the answers and I am just dense. Please tell us all your solutions to this gap between the races here in America. How would you fix the problems, Tell us all with the wisdom you seem to have, how we will get aklong.

          What is fascinating to me about liberals is they really have no life’s experiences with any other races yet are full of words, never deeds. I have my own real world experience with others from around the world but in a liberals mind that is not enough for me to have an opinion. Too funny Chris, I hope your prayer is answered.

          • Chris Peterson says:

            Todd, it is my opinion, as I originally stated, that this is NOT a racial problem, it’s one of runaway vigilante-ism. You’r the one who said others were the “race-baiters, and then proceeded to argue why dem po’ black folk is so dumb.
            I do not take anything you say seriously, as you have little to no knowledge of the subject.
            And yes, I have more. Obviously, a lot more; from my days in the navy overseas, to my years of running large multi-ethnic crews in SF.
            You don’t have a clue, old chum. (A fishing term in this context.)

        • Todd Juvinall says:

          Oh thank you Chris I am so honored to even blog with a person of your stature. You are so right that even though you know nothing about me and my lifes experiences that you have put me in my place. I understand now why you and your ilk never answer our questions, you are just to far above us. I am humbled by your intelligence and ability to be so wonderful.

  15. Greg Goodknight says:

    RL, from that Salon article: “Unions are a means for redistributing wealth from capital to labor. Strong unions reduce income inequality and contribute to a thriving middle class.”

    The issue that prompted the article was a BART strike. A public employee union, operating a mass transit system that everyone paid for. That particular strong union wasn’t redistributing wealth from capital to labor, but from the working classes to an already well paid working class with actual defined benefit pensions and great prepaid healthcare. “The unions have sought a wage increase of more than 20 percent for the next four years after agreeing to a freeze and granting $100 million in concessions on their last contract, negotiated in 2009, when BART faced a steep deficit. Management wants workers to make pay more for health benefits—most make a flat $92 monthly payment for family coverage— and to begin to contribute to their pension plan. ”

    My favorite grandfather grew up in the town he called Frisco, Lowell High Class of 1922 or therabouts. A brewer by trade, his last couple decades of work was as the Secretary of the Brewer’s Union in California: he worked out of the office in SoCal, the President of the local was in Frisco. I heard lots of interesting stories about the contract negotiations with places like Anheuser-Busch which were mostly about drinking management under the table over a three day binge and having them to sign the contract to get it to stop; it’s probably more sedate nowadays. Every industry has their quirks, and brewers tend to be drinkers, often to excess.

    It’s one thing for brewers to strike… if they go too far, non-union shops will gain market share and there will be more pay for fewer union members. The SoCal musician’s union called a strike against the motion picture and TV industry back n the ’80’s which was a Pyrrhic victory… they got their wishes but by the time it stopped, recording work spread to other states and countries shrinking the need for union musicians in LA.

    State and local governments don’t shrink the way breweries or recording studios do. . Calling Dr. Detroit.

    • rl crabb says:

      The reason I posted that link was not so much in defense of unions, but the growing disparity between haves and have nots. Most people seem to believe that all this will be sorted out eventually by “the market”. The question is whether it will happen soon enough to prevent the have nots from revolting. Who gives a damn about promises that “things will get better” when you can’t afford food and the politicians want to roll up the safety net?

      • Greg Goodknight says:

        Smugness about ‘merit’ aside (many 20-somethings in Silicon Valley will be surprised when the social media feeding trough runs dry), if folks can’t read well they won’t manage to succeed in a world of information, and there are MANY schools that do a poor job of the most basic of educational tasks, including a number in Nevada County.

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