Xenophobia, Crack Pipe & Crack Ho's All In A Week's Work!

Actress in racially-charged Hoekstra ad apologizes (click here to read more)

Eric Bolling, Fox News anchor, tells Maxine Waters to 'step away from the crack pipe' (click here to read more)

Whitney Houston called ‘crack ho’ on L.A. radio; shock jocks John and Ken apologize, suspended by station (click here to read more)

MSG posts questionable image of New York Knicks' Jeremy Lin (click here to read more)

What is really going on here? All this in the second full week of February 2012! Will it get worse?

Block Out The Vote (BOTV)?

Since the presidential election of Barack Obama, 40 Republican-controlled legislatures at the state level have introduced legislation to change voting procedures in their states. The NAACP and other civil rights organizations have gone on record suggesting that the overwhelming majority of the changes in these states voting procedures are deliberately intended to suppress the vote of blacks and other minorities, the elderly, the poor, and the youth vote.These groups also suggests that these changes are intended to vote President Obama right out of office in the November presidential election by suppressing the vote of his base supporters.

One of the most disturbing and revealing of these state legislative proposals is in the state of Florida. Many churchgoers in the state, particularly in black churches, had grown accustomed to voting the Sunday before Tuesday elections  in an event commonly known as "Souls to the Polls". Ministers and other church leaders would make valiant efforts getting their congregations and surrounding communities out to vote on those Sundays before election day. Many of the churchgoers are elderly, disabled, and poor and lack transportation and other resources to make it to the polls on Tuesday. These churches were instrumental in providing transportation needs on Sunday utilizing buses and vans and encouraging carpooling. The Florida state legislature passed legislation canceling voting on the Sunday prior to election day. Governor Rick Scott signed the legislation into law.

40 Republican-controlled legislatures at the state level have introduced legislation to change voting procedures in their states; 17 of those states have already passed legislation changing procedures. Is this proof that PTBPD exist? Or, is it simply states attempting to prevent voter fraud and protecting voting integrity?

Are Black Dems Getting Intolerant of Black Repubs (video)?

Has the political flames been turned up between blacks on opposite ends of the political spectrum? Has what many view as racially charged rhetoric and actions/deeds from Newt Gingrich, other GOP presidential candidates, and other GOP elected officials taken its toll on many black democrats? The interviewer in this video definitely seems at his wits end! However, kudos to the lady; she demonstrated great poise in the lambasting she was getting from the interviewer. Was the interviewer out of line here (especially considering the interviewee’s a woman)?   

Also, do you think the rhetoric from self-identified black conservatives like Herman Cain and Allen West has really help intensify the heat between black liberals/progressives and black conservatives/Tea Party members? How should the two groups handle this going forward? Watch the video to the end for reference to the related link below.

Related:

Operation Black Storm

Q & A Session: Black Conservatives

Image from callofduty-8-modernwarfare-3.com

The intention of this post is have a virtual question and answer session with black conservatives. It is not intended to stereotype or label this group in any kind of way. Actually, it’s intended to have the opposite effect. I want for my blog readers to have a better understanding of this group. So please, if you are a black conservative, chime in and answer whatever questions you feel comfortable answering. And of course this is a blog; so please feel free to discuss whatever you want or critique the Q and A at the end. I may adjust questions accordingly. I encourage you to cut and paste the questions to make it easier on the reader. As long as the language is fairly appropriate, I will not delete or alter your comments in any way at all- that’s not what I do here. I’ll be conducting Q and A Sessions in the future for other groups as well. Please, you can comment on this post no matter who you are; but only answer the questions if you are truly a black conservative. Thanks in advance.

1. Are you a U.S. Citizen?
2. Are you a registered voter?
3. What’s your primary political party association? 
4. Are you affiliated with the Tea Party? 
5.  What state or region of the U.S. do you reside? 
6. Do you own a firearm? 
7.  How long have you considered yourself conservative? 
8.  Name at least one of your political idols? 
9.  If you’re of age, were you active in the Civil Rights Movement? 
10.  What’s your gender? 
11.  What’s your marital status? 
12.  What’s your age group (20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, etc.)? 
13.  If married, is your spouse black? 
14.  What’s your religion? 
15.  What’s your sexual orientation? 
16.  Did you vote for Barack Obama in 2008? 
17.  Do you feel the Democratic Party is nothing more than a plantation? 
18.  Do you feel that black voters are too monolithic in their voting decisions?
19. Do you recognize the Confederate flag as a symbol of positive American history? 
20. What’s your individual annual income (if a student or similar, please state)?

The Congressional “Blank” Caucus?

Image from varight.com

Remember a few months back when Rep. Maxine Waters (D- Calif.) and some other members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) wouldn’t shut up about a statement made by President Obama to a crowd of CBC members in which he told the crowd to "stop complaining" and "put your marching shoes on”?  On the other hand, has anyone noticed the deafening silence from Maxine Waters and other CBC members on what many view as divisive and incendiary rhetoric and behavior coming from Newt Gingrich, other GOP presidential candidates, and other Republican elected officials?

As I’ve expressed throughout this blog, if the PTBPD phenomenon is real, it’s not limited to white people. In fact, it has no racial barriers. Therefore, it is my suspicion that Maxine Waters and other members of the CBC may be suffering from the disorder. How so? Barack Obama was not the establishment candidate. He also didn’t come up through the ranks of the Civil Rights Movement or sanctified by the “old heads” of the Movement.  Remember, many of these same CBC members jumped on Hillary Clinton’s bandwagon during the 2008 democratic presidential primaries when she was often referred to as the presumptuous nominee. However, when Candidate Obama won the Iowa Caucuses, many CBC members took notice and slowly began jumping on the Obama bandwagon.  

Image from courageinamerica.com

Several people have long suspected that many members of the CBC were jealous of Obama’s political success. I’ve even heard them being referred to as “Uncle Toms” and “Aunt Jemimas”. Here’s my question- Are they even relevant? There’s no question that black people have been hit the hardest by the current economic crises in America. I’m always hearing about this caucus or that caucus- this gang of six or that gang of six. What about the CBC? Now, I’m not suggesting that the caucus had its place and is now irrelevant. What I am suggesting is that maybe it’s time to get rid of most of the members and replace them with fresh blood. Fresh blood that will be servants to their constituents and bring energy, purpose, and fearlessness and speak out against all forms of divisive and incendiary rhetoric whether it’s coming from the right, left, or center. Can you imagine what House and Senate Republicans would do or how they would react if President Obama made statements on the campaign trail (or anywhere else for that matter) alluding to taking money from black folks and giving it whites? Or, saying that he’s “not concerned about poor people” (or maybe that should say "rich" people)? Or, if Obama belonged to a religion often dubbed as a cult and recently viewed white people as cursed? Or, indicate that white people are lazy and don’t understand work ethics? Or, if the president published a racially insensitive newsletter that bore his name?

Well, I guess we don’t have to use too much of our imagination on what House and Senate Republicans would do or how they would react at all. Remember how they reacted when Candidate Obama made a statement in what was supposed to be a private dinner with campaign donors about “distribution of wealth”? Remember their reaction when it was discovered that Obama belonged to a Christian church founded on Black liberation theology? Do you recall how they pointed out how far to the left President Obama may be for being the President of the Harvard Law Review? A pattern may be starting to form here people.

Related Articles:

Maxine Waters, Black Caucus Criticize...
Maxine Waters Criticizes Obama for CBC...

“A Time To Kill” & The GOP?

Remember the 1996 movie “A Time to Kill”? Even better, remember the defense’s closing argument? When I think about some of the inflammatory and suspect remarks, behaviors, and associations of the past and current field of GOP candidates for the 2012 presidential race, I’m reminded of the defense’s closing argument in the movie.

Image from wikimedia.org

Assuming that you remember the defense’s closing argument, or that you’ve clicked on the link above to refresh your memory- or see it for the first time, I’m going to ask you to close your eyes for a moment (not literally like in the movie though because this is a blog post and you have to have your eyes open to read the rest of this post, [smile]). When we examine some of the most offensive, incendiary, and dividing rhetoric, actions, and associations of the final four of the GOP candidates for the 2012 presidential election, we find what some may view as disturbing facts.

We have a candidate in Rick Santorum stating, “I don't want to make black people’s lives better by giving them somebody else’s money”.  We have another candidate in Ron Paul who published a racially insensitive newsletter that bore his name that he recently attempted to distance himself from. Next, we have a candidate in Mitt Romney who’s a member of a religion, commonly dubbed as a cult, which banned people of African descent from priesthood or participating in temple ceremonies and viewed black skin as a curse from God (see my blog titled, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Jr. vs. Prophet Joseph Smith, Jr. for more details on this). Last, we have a candidate in Newt Gingrich who has a thirty-plus year history of playing race and class warfare politics and refuses to address President Obama as “President” (see my blog titled, I Just Can't Put My "Finger" On It (Jan Brewer) for more on this). Mr. Gingrich also commonly refers to America’s first black president as the food stamp president.

Image from ajc.com

Please, continue to keep your eyes closed……can you see them?.......can you hear them?......now, imagine these candidates being black……hold on, continue to keep your eyes closed……can you see them?......can you hear them?......now, imagine yourself being black……now, open your eyes……I mean really open your eyes people! You can make all the arguments you want to about how you don’t agree with these candidates on the issues I pointed out but how you agree with their political philosophies and so on and so forth. However, I’m willing to bet everything I own that nearly all black voters (to include black Republicans) have eliminated these candidates simply because of the issues I described above- and maybe you should too. You see, racism is not just some “issue”; it indicates cowardice and skewed morality. It’s not okay to say that you’ll vote for David Duke because you agree with his fiscal conservative policies while ignoring that fact that he is/was a card-carrying KKK member.

Image from twimg.com

I understand that eliminating all these GOP candidates totally wipes out the current field. Maybe the powers-that-be in the Republican Party should introduce more options while there’s still time. I believe the GOP has better options within its ranks. Imagine Herman Cain saying what Santorum said (replacing the word “black” with “white”); imagine him publishing a newsletter riddled with racial epithets against white people; imagine him belonging to the Nation of Islam; imagine him saying the nation’s first white president was nothing but a slave owner who loved impregnating his black female slaves. Any one of these issues would have promptly ended Cain’s career as a politician.

Let’s not even attempt to argue a non-winnable argument that racism or prejudice can’t or won’t factor into how one governs. In fact, such ignorance and fear will overwhelm how one governs. Wth?...

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Republican Racism is an Air Raid Siren, Not a...

Weekly Therapy

This post is open for comments the rest of the week. Discuss anything here. Get your therapy and prescription here! Wth?...

Image from redbubble.com

Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Jr. vs. Prophet Joseph Smith, Jr.

 

I try to keep my blog posts as short as possible and will attempt to do the same thing on this one. However, this subject can be a little more complicated.

Photo form nydailynew.com

I think we all remember President Obama’s minister, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, during the last democratic primaries. Wright became a household name after most American media outlets released a very controversial sermon given by Wright inside his Chicago church. Wright’s church was founded on the vision of Black liberation theology. A combination of the controversial sermon and association with Black liberation theology by Wright caused an outcry for Obama to distance himself or disavow his church and pastor of twenty years. The outcry came from both, Obama’s constituents and conservative media outlets. After a controversial National Press Club speech by Wright, Obama had no choice but to leave his church and cut ties with Rev. Wright in a passionate speech called “A More Perfect Union” in Philadelphia.

Now, this brings me to Prophet Joseph Smith, Jr. Smith is the founder of the Latter Day Saints movement, which gave rise to the modern day Mormon theology. To conserve space on this post, I’m not going to go into all the questionable beliefs of Mormons and practices and beliefs Mormons have had about people of African descent. However, I will point out that until 1978, the Mormon church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints- LDS), had a policy in place that prohibited people of African descent from becoming priests and participating in temple ceremonies. Why? Mormons believe[d] black skin was a curse by God.

Photo from facebook.com

The leadership structure of the church consists of a First Presidency, Quorum of the Twelve, Area Presidencies, Stake Presidency, Bishop / Branch President, and Family (members). This doesn’t appear to be too strange. However, the First Presidency is comprised of two counselors and the President of the Church who also serves as a modern-day living prophet (Thomas S. Monson) in the likes of Noah, Abraham, and Moses. Now, that’s where it gets strange. 

Herein lies my issue. My understanding is that Mormons have to follow the word of the prophet because the prophet is in direct communication with God and is only delivering the word of God. Now, that could be positive in the way that in 1978 the prophet received from God that it was okay for people of African descent to be priests and participate in temple ceremonies. The scary part of this is what if the prophet receives word that is not so positive or not in line with American moral beliefs. Either way, conventional wisdom suggests that Mormons have to follow the word from the prophet. In other words, because Mormons have a living prophet, it is impossible for a Mormon to truly separate church and state. No matter what the situation, the word from the modern-day prophet will always trump the Constitution of the United States and the American judicial system. Hence, a Mormon politician is bound to his prophet, not to the Constitution or his constituents.

Photo from realclearpolitic.com

The current Republican Party frontrunner, and Republican establishment favorite, for President of the United States, Mitt Romney, is a proud and devout Mormon and believed to be or have been in the upper hierarchy of the LDS church. Now, Obama’s minister, Rev. Wright, may have said some things that some believed to be inflammatory; but by no means was he a prophet and he never claimed to be one. Black liberation theology is not a religion- it’s a set of principles. Obama worshiped in and Rev. Wright preached to a Christian congregation. With all that being said, there are a few questions on the table: where is the outcry from Romney’s constituents and the liberal media for Romney to publically disavow his modern-day prophet Thomas S. Monson (so he can govern freely) and the outcry for him to distance himself from a church or theology that believe[d] people of African descent were/are cursed by God? Obama had to do it while he was still a candidate. Why not Romney? 

It is obvious that the LDS church and Mormonism are a lot more controversial than a Christian church on the south side of Chicago founded on the vision of Black liberation theology. For purposes of length, I didn’t discuss the history of polygamy associated with Mormonism or the association with cosmology and other questionable beliefs or practices. Is there something more cynical here as to why there’s an absence of media and constituent outcry for Romney to distance himself? Wth?...

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I Just Can't Put My "Finger" On It (Jan Brewer)

 

Okay PTBPD Family, we all have seen the viral photo of Arizona Governor Jan Brewer pointing her finger in the POTUS face on the airport tarmac in Arizona shortly after the president arrived. Is this the same thing as Joe Wilson's "You Lie" comment or the notion that Newt Gingrich refuses to address President Obama as "President"? Or, was it just a photo op for Gov. Brewer to boost sells for her new book?

 

I'll be doing a blog soon solely dedicated to the divisive language coming from the GOP primaries, right-wing radio, and similar mediums that many have labeled: racial "dog whistling". The biggest problem that I have with Brewer pointing her finger in the president's face is the fact that this lady sometimes can't even articulate an appropriate thought and the fact that she doesn't even have a college degree (second paragraph)!

Dog whistling, white-skin-privilege, putting him in his place, book selling? What say you? Wth?...

Related articles

• Arizona Governor Jan Brewer Puts her finger in the POTUS's Face and I'm Mad! (iamdomo.com)
• Photo: Arizona Governor Jan Brewer Throws Her Finger in President Obama's Face During Airport Greeting (economy4abc.blogspot.com)
• Obama Doesn't Have Time for Jan Brewer's Shit, But Don't Tell Her That [Politics] (jezebel.com)
• Governor Jan Brewer Pointing In President Obama's Face (buzzfeed.com)

Weekly Therapy

Image by incurable_hippie via Flickr

This post is open for comments the rest of the week. Discuss anything here. Get your therapy and prescription here! Wth?...

What Should We Make of Gingrich Challenging Sharpton & the NAACP?

First Gingrich offered to speak at a NAACP gathering to discuss with their leadership black people and their apparent problem with being on food stamps. Now he's challenging Al to discuss the same issue. Are there dog whistles being blown here? Wth?...

Related articles

• Newt Gingrich: 'I will tell black people to demand paychecks instead of food stamps' (thegrio.com)
• Gingrich's 'food stamps' answer becomes new South Carolina ad (thehill.com)
• Is Obama the 'food stamp president?' (politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com)

From Fox News

Gingrich Wins SC Primary! What Now...

What does this mean? Did the South Carolina primary move the goal post so far to the right that Republican presidential candidates (including Gingrich) may have crippled themselves for the general election? Was that race-baiting Newt was conducting in South Carolina? Is Gingrich the best option? Where does Romney go from here? What th' hell?...

From HuffPost  From Grio  From Fox News  From NY Post

I'm Back After A Much Needed Hiatus!

Let's get started and get this thing on the road! It's going to be a long bumpy road 'til November and the PTBPD will be in full effect! Wth?...