Guest Voz - Minuteman X: The Demise of BPAUX MCCI Minutemen!

Guest Voz - Minuteman X (just received today!): "I just received an update on the BPAUX MCCI Minutemen. They are on the verge of being evicted from their camp in San Diego and are attempting to move their whole money making operation to Arizona because they feel they can generate more donations there with current anti-immigrant sympathies running so strong. The leaders of the BPAUX are also apparently under investigation for weapons trafficking in San Diego. It has long been suspected that their real motive for positioning themselves so close tot he border was profiting from the weapons and possibly narcotics trade plaguing the area. More to come on this."

HATE CRIME: Swastika-Shaving Case To Be First Test Of New Hate Crimes Law Named For Matthew Shepard

Swastika-Shaving Case To Be First Test Of New Hate Crimes Law Named For Matthew Shepard
FARMINGTON, N.M. — Three friends had just finished their shifts at a McDonald's when prosecutors say they carried out a gruesome attack on a customer: They shaped a coat hanger into a swastika, placed it on a heated stove and branded the symbol on the arm of the mentally disabled Navajo man. Authorities say they then shaved a swastika on the back of the 22-year-old victim's head and used markers to scrawl messages and images on his body, including "KKK," `'White Power," a pentagram and a graphic image of a penis.

The men have become the first in the nation to be charged under a new law that makes it easier for the federal government to prosecute people for hate crimes. The case also marked the latest troubling race-related attack in this New Mexico community, prompting a renewed focus among local leaders on improving relations between Navajos and whites. The defendants are accused of violating the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act and could face 10 years in prison if convicted. The sentences could be extended to life if the government proves kidnapping occurred.

Federal prosecutors say they were able to bring the case because the 2009 law eliminated a requirement that a victim must be engaged in a federally protected activity, such as voting or attending school, for hate crime charges to be leveled. The law also expanded civil rights protections to include violence that is based on gender, disability, sexual orientation or gender identity. The swastika branding has also put the spotlight back on Farmington, a predominantly white community of about 45,000 residents near the Navajo Nation.

Simpsons Show Tells the Truth About Fox News! What will O'Reilly/Ailes do to Punish Them & Squelch Their Freedom of Speech?

rawstory.com reports: For the second week in a row, the popular cartoon "The Simpsons" mocked the Fox News Channel, implying those under the age of 75 should not watch the channel. The show, which is broadcast by Fox Broadcasting, flaunted a Fox News helicopter inscribed with a fictional slogan, "Fox News: Unsuitable For Viewers Under 75" during the opening scene.

News Corporation owns the Fox Broadcast network as well as Fox News Channel. It was the only reference to Fox News in the entire episode. Last Sunday's episode contained a Fox News helicopter with the motto, "Fox News: Not Racists, But #1 With Racists."

In that episode, the Fox News helicopter was carrying a Fox News executive. After the executive steps out of the helicopter onto the head of the Statue of Liberty, the helicopter goes into a tailspin and crashes, with the pilots lamenting, "It's not fair, we're unbalanced."

The executive proceeds to conduct a secret meeting where his team plans a new health care scare that will send their ratings through the roof. At one point in the episode, the likeness of former Vice President Dick Cheney laments the lack of terrorist attacks on America.

In response, Bill O'Reilly of Fox News called the show's creators "pinheads." "Continuing to bite the hand that feeds part of it, Fox Broadcasting once again allows its cartoon characters to run wild," O'Reilly complained on his show.

Republicans (Party of No!) Delaying Passage of START (resulting in Nuclear Proliferation) to Continue their Own Agenda!

On Meet the Press this morning, Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) made it very clear that Republicans prefer to push their top two agenda items (1. Tax Cuts for the Rich; 2. Defeat Obama in 2012) even if it means risking Nuclear Proliferation.

Kyl said he would not vote for the passage of the new START Treaty in the upcoming vote during the Lame Duck session. His excuse: "We don't have enough time." However, his argument is bogus. It ignores the fact that the treaty has already been exhaustively vetted. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee conducted 18 hearings and five briefings and the Obama Administration answered 900 submitted questions during the committee's process this summer. In September, with a bipartisan vote of 14 to 4, the committee recommended ratification of the treaty. It would only take two to three days for the Senate to consider and vote on ratification. The START I treaty had only 5 days of Senate floor debate, the SORT treaty two days, the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty two days and the Chemical Weapons Convention two days.

Republican Kyl has shown a real unwillingness to get the ball rolling with respect to START. He clearly is attempting to make this a partisan issue and is instead promoting continued tax cuts for the top 2% of richest Americans.

Republican Kyl continues to lead the charge for the "Party of No!" Weeks prior to his appearance on "Meet the Press," Kyl demanded that the administration include additional funds for nuclear weapons modernization as part of the overall package. When the White House acquiesced, his complaints about the measure focused on the need to ensure U.S. nuclear weapons deterrence. Those concerns have been called overblown by the treaty's defenders. But as the clock has continued to tick, both Kyl and others in the GOP tent have been handed another reason to drag their feet: a closing window for consideration in the lame duck Congress.

The possible derailment of the Senate ratification of the new START treaty signed by President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in April may be devastating. If a handful of primarily Republican U.S. senators succeed in their efforts to block ratification of the New START treaty this year, we face losing Russia's support and partnership for tough sanctions on Iran and securing all nuclear materials globally so they don't fall into the hands of terrorists. The nuclear terrorism is the most urgent threat we face today and locking down all nuclear materials is a national security imperative. But without Russia's cooperation in those goals, an effective international effort may be impossible to achieve.

On Meet the Press, Kyl would NOT address his reasons for opposing this vitally needed treaty. Kyl sneered when he talked saying he needed more time and Harry Reed's "pushing so many other initiatives in so short a time." His sneer was largest when he spoke of his opposition to "Don't Ask Don't Tell" and "The Dream Act" during the lame duck session. His sneering reflected his extremely ANTI Gay / Latino biases.

Later in the program, Kyl was asked about his cohort, Mitch McConnell's quote "The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president" (not the Economy, Jobs, the American People) Kyl laughed and said it was just political.

The START Treaty is supported by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates; Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen; high-ranking members of the Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, H. W. Bush, Clinton, and W. Bush administrations -- including such national security experts as George Shultz, Henry Kissinger, James Baker and Brent Scowcroft; the current commander and seven former commanders of U.S. Strategic Command and the entire current U.S. military leadership. Admiral Mullen said the treaty "allows us to retain a strong and flexible American nuclear deterrent.... I believe, and the rest of the military leadership in this country believes, that this treaty is essential to our future security.... I hope the Senate will ratify it quickly."

Given the stakes and urgency for our national security, our Senators should be able to spare two to three days to consider and vote on the New START treaty before they break for the Christmas holiday. Certainly, a ratified new START treaty would be ample reason to celebrate the New Year.

Guest Voz-- Mitchell Bard: Why Sarah Palin's North Korea Flub Matters!!

Guest Voz-- Mitchell Bard: Why Sarah Palin's North Korea Flub Matters
Sarah Palin provided prime material for news outlets and comedy programs when she said on Glenn Beck's radio show Wednesday: "But obviously, we've got to stand with our North Korean allies."
If she hasn't already, I'm sure Palin will say that the "elitist," "lamestream" media is doing her wrong, and that she is once again a victim of "gotcha journalism." And Palin's small but passionate group of supporters will undoubtedly argue that Palin made an honest slip of the tongue, something that could happen to any of us. Her supporters are right. Saying "North" instead of "South" is something that any of us could easily do.

But here's the thing: Any of us did not stand up two years ago and claim we were qualified to fill a job that is a heartbeat away from the American presidency. We haven't written books, made speeches, endorsed candidates and spoke to the (mostly right-wing) media as if we were policy experts. And we haven't been scouting office space in Iowa for a 2012 presidential run. In short, more should be expected of Sarah Palin than any of us, based on how she has portrayed herself, and how she is treated by the media.

The real story, though, isn't that Palin said "North" instead of "South." Let's be honest: Vice President Joe Biden could have just as easily blown a line like that. No, the real story is that Palin was discussing a complex, precarious, highly dangerous issue as if she were an expert, even though she clearly isn't. Does anyone outside of Palin's relatively small group of smitten followers honestly believe that she is competent to act as an expert on Korean policy? That she knows the intricacies and risks of engaging with the North Koreans? That she understands the possible leadership struggle going on there? Do you think she has the first clue about the history of Korea over the last century? Do you think she's ever heard of Syngman Rhee, the Bodo League massacre, the Battle of Inchon, or National Security Council Report 68, or that she knows about the decades of Japanese rule in Korea? Do you think she's ever read about the role the propaganda efforts of the post-Stalin Soviet government played in the eventual armistice that ended the fighting?
Doubtful, at best.

Now, do you doubt for a second that Joe Biden could reel off a dissertation-level analysis of these issues from the top of his head? That's the real story about the Palin flub about North Korea that the media isn't covering. It's not that she misspoke, but that anyone cared what she had to say on the issue in the first place. Sarah Palin, with her reliance on spouting talking points, simplistic approach to issues and complete lack of experience beyond a half term as governor of a state the size of Columbus, Ohio, is not competent to be discussing North Korea. And shame on any media outlet that treats her opinions as if they're worth anything.

The real damning Palin quote in the Beck interview is the one in which she worries if "the White House is gonna come out with a strong enough policy to sanction what it is that North Korea's gonna do." Putting aside her usual butchering of the English language, she takes a complicated problem facing the United States (and the world) and reduces it to a talking-point political attack on the president.

Her comment reveals that she has no understanding that we are dealing with a North Korean leadership that may not be rational and may even be self-destructive. And one with the firepower to kill legions of South Korean civilians. To her simplistic, politics-driven approach, it's only about how the Democratic president isn't tough enough. (As an aside, she is talking about a president who has increased troops in Afghanistan, stepped up drone attacks on the enemy, and taken out more Taliban and al Qaeda leaders than George W. Bush ever did, but I digress... )

She recklessly portrays the North Korea crisis as one that is simple and only requires American strength, when, in reality, it is a difficult-to-solve issue fraught with danger. It is complicated and nuanced, and one wrong move could lead to an attack on Seoul. I wonder if Palin would be so cavalier in her approach if North Korea's missiles could reach Anchorage, Dallas or some other city in Real America?
And this person wants to be president? It's a joke.

Palin's "North"-for-"South" flub matters, but not because she misspoke. It matters because we, as a country, are acting as if she is some kind of policy expert, when, in reality, she is simple-minded and ignorant. She can say the wrong name, just like us. But just like most of us, she has no business acting like she understands the North Korea crisis in the first place.

President Obama's Beautiful Family - "Obama Girls"

BREAKING NEWS: Congressional Hispanic Caucus Member Clips President During Basketball Game And They are Still Friends!

The blogs are all abuzz! President Obama received 12 stitches after suffering an injury during a basketball game today. What Happened? and Who did it?

What Happened -- According to a White House statement:
"After being inadvertently hit with an opposing player's elbow in the lip while playing basketball with friends and family, the President received 12 stitches today administered by the White House Medical Unit. They were done in the doctor's office located on the ground floor of the White House." (Don't worry, the President is fine, just a sore lip.)

Who did it? It was none other than Reynaldo (Rey) Decerega, the Senior Programs Manager at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

Now, Now Rey. The President and Vice President have already agreed to put their full support behind passing the Dream Act during the Lame Duck. No need to get rough. (Just Kidding!) We are glad you and the President are still Friends!

ITWAMA has just Friended you on Facebook and we look forward to hearing much more about you in the days ahead!

Remembering Amazing Family Thanksgiving Recipes

Thanksgiving has always been my favorite Holiday. It is a family day. It is a time where families come together to celebrate their love for one another.

When I was a little girl, we had amazing celebrations. We were very poor, but being poor didn't matter. My mother and her "comadres" planned their Thanksgiving feasts weeks in advance. On Holidays, specialities were on the menu. This was our chance to have Tamales, Barbacoa and Menudo. These were delicacies for us in Michigan. They were not every day menu items. Sure we ate tortillas, rice and beans on a frequent basis, but the delicacies were left for special times. It wasn't that they were expensive, it was just that they were either time consuming to make or the meats in the menu items were difficult to come by in Michigan. Of course, nowadays, you can buy these delicacies at your local Taco Cabana or Mexican Restaurant or buy the ingredients at your local Kroger or Wal-Mart.


Tamales were time consuming to make. My mother rarely made them alone for our family. Usually she brought in her comadres from the neighborhood. Each would bring an ingredient. One group would bring the corn husks. Another would bring the corn masa harina. My mother usually made huge pots of meat mixture, usually made from pork. The women gathered around the table. Each had a stack of cleaned/soaked corn husks. Bowls of masa were made and pots of the prepared meat mixture were placed on the table. An assembly line formed around the table. First the corn husks were pasted with masa in a very correct method. You could not layer it too thickly for fear of making your tamales too doughy. Next, the meat was layered. This was also very precise. You could have meaty tamales, but not too meaty for fear you'd run out of meat. Next, each tamale was carefully wrapped in a tight wrap. Finally, the tamales were place round and round in a huge stock pot or canner, layer after layer and layer until the pan was filled. When many ladies came, we had four or five huge pots filled to the brim. After they were cooked, each lady took home 5 or 6 dozen for their families holiday meal. Delicious.


I also loved Barbacoa. We rarely had it. The old traditional recipe for barbacoa was to make it from the meat of a cow's head. Back then, in Michigan, you could never buy a cow's head at a grocery store. My father did have a few farmer friends and I remember a few times being shocked at the site of a frozen cow's head in our freezer. When preparing barbacoa, my mother slow cooked the head in the oven until the meat just fell off the bone. She used very little spices, mostly tender loving care. There was a simplicity to it. The taste was unbelievable, moist and tender. My father liked to save the cow tongue for sandwiches later. As far as the cow brains, my father said they were a delicacy and if you ate them, they made you smarter.


Menudo was another great treat. Many people call menudo a "hangover cure." It certainly has a unique taste. It's made with tripe (and sometimes pig's feet), white hominy, onions and spices -- especially chili powder. The tripe had to be carefully cleaned and soaked. This was a long, laborious process. After the cleaning and cutting of the tripe, then my mother combined all the ingredients in a pot and let it cook and simmer for hours before the taste was just right. You could only eat corn tortillas with menudo and my mother always chopped up fresh onions and lemon with it.


On Thanksgiving days, after church, our huge family gathered around the table, said a prayer, each announced what we were thankful for, and ate our delicacies. Turkey and corn dressing were always included in the menu, ending with one of my mother's amazing deserts. We only ate one meal on Thanksgiving Day, but often, it was the best meal of the year. And we, as a family, were all very Thankful!

Right Wing Extremist Threatens to Kill the President! Why are Some Media Outlets Attempting to gain Sympathy for the Perp?

What a strange story! A 78 year old man threatens to Kill the President. The Secret Service go to his home. The man repeats his threats. The Secret Service are particularly alarmed because of the cache of fully loaded weapons both the Man and His Son have in the house! Thankfully, he was arrested. You would think everyone would let out a sigh of relief and be happy this man did not take action.

However, what is especially odd is, members of the right wing media are attempting to gain sympathy for the attempted assassin by highlighting he is old (78 years old), a veteran, former fire-fighter and policeman. Additionally, his son is blaming the VA Hospital for "mis-diagnosis." His son said he was was surprised by all of this, yet when the Secret Service interviewed the man at his house, they found a house-full of loaded weapons, including weapons in the son's room. On checking Facebook, it shows family members are fans of extremist right wing pundits including Michele Malkin.

Before this is over, I'm sure we will find this perp is a Beck Fan, a Tea Party Member, and brain-washed by them during Beck's "Take Back the Civil Rights Rally" event earlier this year. This perp has been arrested and rightfully so. If anyone is to blame besides the perp, Blame those that convinced him to believe he should harm our President! They should be stopped and held accountable!

From the Warrant:
During a consensual search of the Bowden residence, 3 semi automatic handguns, and a semi automatic rifle were located within the immediate area of Mr. Bowden’s bed. All of the weapons were fully loaded, with rounds in the firing chamber, and spare ammunition in close proximity. In the adult son’s bedroom, a short distance down the hall, we located 9 rifles, 2 shotguns, and a handgun. Additionally, a loaded, short-barrel, shotgun with pistol grip was located near the front door of the home.

wyff4 reports: SPARTANBURG COUNTY, S.C. -- A 78-year-old veteran and retired New York City fire captain who said he's suicidal has been arrested because he said he'd also like to kill President Barack Obama, according to an affidavit. According to a Secret Service affidavit, on Nov. 16, Michael Stephen Bowden was at the Veterans Affairs clinic in Spartanburg for a routine checkup. When asked if he was suicidal, he said he was and then told a mental health nurse that he "was thinking of traveling to Washington, D.C., to shoot the president because he was not doing enough to help African Americans," according to the affidavit.

Bowden was in the Navy for four years. He was a New York City policeman for three years and a NYC fire captain for more than 18 years, until he had a heart attack on the job and had to retire.

According to VA records, there was indication in April that Bowden was suicidal. His son, Kerry Bowden, said that the family didn't find out that his father had tested positive for suicidal tendencies in April until the Secret Service called them last week.

On Nov. 16, Secret Service agents went to Bowden's home in Woodruff where he lives with his wife and son, the affidavit said. The agents said when asked, Bowden did not deny the threatening statements, and said "if I had the opportunity, I would shoot him (President Obama) myself. If I had the opportunity to get Obama against the wall and shoot him, I would."

Bowden allowed the agents to search his home, and according to the affidavit, they found three loaded semi-automatic handguns and a semi-automatic rifle near Bowden's bed. They said they also found a loaded short-barrel shotgun near the front door. The agents said in the son's bedroom they found nine rifles, two shotguns and a handgun.

Bowden was arrested Nov. 17 and charged with threats against the president.

Michael Bowden's son, Kerry Bowden, said, "It's been a shock to the entire family. We had no idea that he had any type of suicidal thoughts." (apparently the huge, cache of loaded weaponry did not give them a clue to Bowden's state of mind) Kerry Bowden is blaming his father's comments on the VA denying him the service he had asked for. "The only way he was going to get the help he needed was to act out, because if he didn't act out, they were going to pass him by for another month," he said. "They didn't do their job the way they should have," he said. "He was acting out," he said. "He did not have the intent. Let's face it -- he's a 78-year-old man that's gone through two bypass surgeries. He has seven stints. If he lifts anything over 20 pounds, he has to pop a nitro because of his chest pain. If he walks up the hill or too far, he has to stop and pop a nitro because of his chest pain. Is this man really a threat?" (Well his loaded cache of weapons certainly are!)

Kerry Bowden did say that the Secret Service has been considerate of his family. "They see it's a medical situation rather than a law enforcement issue," he said. He said his father is taking a "bag full of drugs" every day and he thinks drug interaction could be causing problems.

Bowden said, "I think he was just fed up with it and he's going to do what he's got to do to get the help. And unfortunately he's getting the help behind bars." He said the family expects to take civil and criminal action against the VA. "If anything comes out of this, this will never happen to another family again," he said. "He's missing Thanksgiving. He's going to miss Christmas. Why? Because these people didn't do their job."

The Secret Service told WYFF News 4 that Bowden has already made his initial court appearance and will be undergoing a mental evaluation in the federal prison system.

The First American Thanksgiving was Celebrated by the Spanish Immigrants with the Native Americans in Florida -- 55 years before the Pilgrims Landed!

According to World renowned University of Florida history professor Michael Gannon, it was the Spanish and not the Pilgrims who first celebrated Thanksgiving in the New World. The first Thanksgiving took place in 1565, 55 years before the Pilgrims landed, when the Spanish founder of St. Augustine, Pedro Menendez de Aviles, and 800 Spanish settlers shared a Mass of Thanksgiving and a Thanksgiving Dinner Celebration with the Native Americans.

“It was the first community act of religion and Thanksgiving in the first permanent European settlement in the land,” Gannon wrote in his 1965 book, “The Cross in the Sand.” The Pilgrims didn’t have their first Thanksgiving meal until 1621, 56 years later.

Menendez and his followers dined on cocido - a stew made from salted pork and garbanzo beans and laced with garlic seasoning - hard sea biscuits and red wine, said Gannon.

The Seloy Indians contributed food. The menu included wild turkey, venison, gopher tortoise, mullet, corn, beans and squash, Gannon said.

The first Thanksgiving is recounted by Gannon in “We Gather Together,” an article published in St. Augustine Catholic, the publication of the Catholic Diocese of St. Augustine.

The 1565 celebration wasn’t even the first Thanksgiving, Gannon said. Numerous Thanksgivings for a safe voyage and landing had been made in Florida by such explorers as Juan Ponce de Leon in 1513 and 1521; Panfilo de Narvaez in 1528; Hernando de Soto in 1529; Father Luis Cancer de Barbastro in 1549; and Tristan de Luna in 1559.

The French, who came to the St. Johns River near Jacksonville in 1562 and Rene de Laudonniere in 1564, also offered prayers of Thanksgiving - well before the Pilgrims, Gannon said. And in Texas, some claim that Spanish explorer Don Juan de Onate celebrated the first Thanksgiving in America in 1598.

“By the time the Pilgrims came to Plymouth, St. Augustine was up for urban renewal,” Gannon said.

So, if the Spanish were first, why do Pilgrims and Plymouth get all the credit?

“It is the victors who write the histories,” Gannon said. “England won out over Spain for the mastery of the North American continent, so the early English ceremonies achieved wide currency in history books and eclipsed our knowledge of the earlier Spanish celebrations on Thanksgiving.”

LATINO CITIZEN ALERT: America's Most Racist Congressman Steve King Vows To Take On Birthright Citizenship

Latino Citizen Alert: BE AWARE! BE READY TO PROTECT OUR LATINO CITIZEN CHILDREN! ALERT YOUR CONGRESSMEN! REGISTER TO VOTE AND VOTE!!!
HP.com Reports: Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), fresh off of a massive GOP victory earlier this month that is looking likely to make him a key pilot of the next Congress's immigration policy as likely chairman of a House subcommittee on immigration, recently explained how he plans to take on his bête noire, birthright citizenship.

Here's what (Racist) King opined to the Des Moines Cityview about his (intended) plans to repeal a clause in the 14th Amendment that overturned the landmark Dred Scott case and promised American citizenship to freed slaves: "The framers did not consider the babies of illegals when they framed the 14th amendment because we didn't have immigration law at the time so they could not have wanted to confer automatic citizenship on the babies of people who were unlawfully in the United States," King said. King wants Congress to pass a ban on "anchor babies," place it in statute, and wait for the other side to challenge the prohibition in the courts. If King and his forces lose, they'll move for a constitutional amendment to change the practice, he said. (LATINO & HUMANITARIAN ALERT! KING INTENDS TO MOVE FORWARD WITH THIS! WE MUST STOP THIS, AT ALL COSTS!!!! ALERT YOUR CONGRESSMEN!!! STAND STRONG! REGISTER TO VOTE AND VOTE IN EVERY ELECTION!)

Such plans (BY KING) signify a willingness to embark on the incredibly onerous task of amending the Constitution, a process that would require ratification by two-thirds of Congress and three-fourths of state legislatures. But according to the Cityview, King believes that the issue warrants such an effort.

King opined that the framers of the amendment intended to include exceptions in the its wording, "including [of] certain Indian tribes and babies born to ambassadors or visitors." That's why they included the phrase "subject to the jurisdiction thereof," said King, who recently appeared to argue that undocumented immigrants were simply not subject to U.S. law. King won't be alone in the venture, as some have predicted that the Republican-controlled Congress -- which has representatives on both sides of the debate -- will attempt to tackle the contentious issue as soon as it convenes in January.

Senate GOPers have been also been outspoken about opening the 14th Amendment to review. Senators Kyl (Ariz.), Graham (S.C), Coburn (Okla.), Grassley (Iowa) and McConnell (Ky.), among the most powerful Republicans in the chamber, have all come out against birthright citizenship. (LATINOS: REMEMBER THIS ENEMIES LIST!! REMEMBER TO VOTE THEM OUT OF OFFICE!!!)
On the state level, legislators in at least 13 states have begun drafting legislation that would seek to remove birthright citizenship guarantees from their specific laws.

Dispelling the LIES Republicans Tell About the DREAM ACT

Fox News and other Republican outlets have begun a smear campaign. They are spreading LIES about the Dream Act. Here are a list of their LIES, followed by the TRUTH about the Dream Act:

REPUBLICAN LIE: The DREAM Act uses taxpayer dollars for scholarships and grants to undocumented students.
STATUS: THIS IS A REPUBLICAN LIE
THE TRUTH: The DREAM Act states that undocumented youth adjusting to lawful permanent resident status are only eligible for federal student loans (which must be paid back), and federal work-study programs, where they must work for any benefit they receive. They are not eligible for federal grants, such as Pell Grants.

REPUBLICAN LIE: The DREAM Act allows undocumented students to pay cheaper tuition than citizens.
STATUS: THIS IS A REPUBLICAN LIE
THE TRUTH: The DREAM Act gives states the option to offer in-state tuition to students registered under DREAM, but it does NOT guarantee cheaper tuition. At most, the DREAM Act allows undocumented students to access the same benefits as their peers. The DREAM Act allows undocumented students to access in-state tuition, but only if they would otherwise qualify for such tuition, and if state law permits undocumented students to receive in-state tuition.

REPUBLICAN LIE: The DREAM Act gives undocumented students and their families access to public benefits.
STATUS: THIS IS A REPUBLICAN LIE
THE TRUTH: DREAM Act students receive no special benefits and are subject to the same public benefits eligibility requirements as other legal immigrants. This means that DREAM Act students and families are NOT immediately eligible for Supplemental Security Income, food stamps, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, Medicaid (other than emergency care), and numerous other federal benefit programs. In general, a person must be here as a lawful permanent resident for five years before they receive non-emergency federal assistance.

REPUBLICAN LIE: The DREAM Act will result in a mass amnesty.
STATUS: THIS IS A REPUBLICAN LIE
THE TRUTH: The DREAM Act is not an amnesty. No one will automatically receive a green card. To legalize, individuals have to meet stringent eligibility criteria: they must have entered the United States before age 16; must have been here for five years or more; must not have committed any major crimes; must graduate from high school or the equivalent; and must complete at least two years of college or military service. Eligible students must first obtain conditional residency and complete the requirements before they can obtain a green card—a process that will take years. Not all immigrants who came as young children will be eligible to legalize because they will not meet some of these requirements.

REPUBLICAN LIE: The DREAM Act will spur more illegal immigration because it rewards undocumented youth.
STATUS: THIS IS A REPUBLICAN LIE
THE TRUTH: Programs like the DREAM Act, which have clear cut-off dates, offer no incentives for more illegal immigration. In order to qualify for the DREAM Act, a student must have entered the United States before the age of 16 and have lived in the U.S. for at least five years before the date of enactment. Economic conditions have far more impact on illegal immigration than specific pieces of legislation.

REPUBLICAN LIE: The DREAM Act isn’t just for students, but will benefit people of all ages.
STATUS: THIS IS A REPUBLICAN LIE
THE TRUTH: Because the U.S. has failed to address the question of illegal immigration for more than a decade, an entire generation of young people’s skills and contributions could easily be lost. The young people who inspired the DREAM Act ten years ago may now be in their early 30s and should be eligible to benefit when it becomes law. Consequently, the DREAM Act encourages immigrants 35 or younger to attend college or join the military, but they must still have entered the U.S. before they were 16 AND have been here for five years immediately preceding the date of enactment.

REPUBLICAN LIE: The DREAM Act legalizes criminals and gang members and lets people who have already been ordered deported avoid the law.
STATUS: THIS IS A REPUBLICAN LIE
THE TRUTH: Immigrants convicted of serious crimes are ineligible for DREAM Act status; the DREAM Act excludes from eligibility most immigrants applying for benefits who have been under an order of deportation. Specifically, the DREAM Act states that an applicant may not have already been ordered deported unless they received the order before they were 16 years old.

REPUBLICAN LIE: The DREAM Act lets students cut in line in front of other lawful immigrants.
STATUS: THIS IS A REPUBLICAN LIE
THE TRUTH: DREAM Act students do not compete for visas with other applicants for legal permanent residence. Instead, DREAM Act creates a separate program for students that requires them to earn legal permanent residence by attending college or serving in the military for two years while in a temporary legal status. DREAM will not affect the number of visas available or the time it takes to get a visa for those entering through traditional legal immigration.

REPUBLICAN LIE: The DREAM Act would diminish opportunities for U.S.-citizen students.
STATUS: THIS IS A REPUBLICAN LIE
THE TRUTH: According to the National Immigration Law Center:
Most undocumented students are likely to have zero impact on admission rates of native born students: Since 2001, 10 states have made it easier for undocumented state residents to attend college by offering in-state tuition to those that qualify. A significant portion of the students that took advantage of this opportunity have done so in community colleges, which have open enrollment. The small numbers of students who will attend 4-year universities are not significant enough to affect the opportunities of others.

Institutions charged with education of our youth overwhelmingly support the bill. Well-established education organizations like the American Association of Community Colleges, American Association of State Colleges and Universities, National Educators Association, the College Board, and prominent university presidents/chancellors support the DREAM Act.

11-Year-Old Latino Boy Victim Of Reported Hate Crime by Racist Teenagers

KTVU.com reports: PETALUMA, Calif. -- Two teenage boys assaulted an 11-year-old boy in a racially fueled attack near a Petaluma elementary school Friday morning (8:20am as the Latino boy was on his way to school), according to a school alert issued by Petaluma police. The boy, who is Hispanic, was on Crinella Drive near La Tercera Elementary School at about 8:20 a.m. when the two teens approached him on BMX bicycles, police said.

One struck the boy with an unknown object, bruising the left side of his face, according to police.

Before the suspects rode away, one of the boys cursed at the victim and told him to "go back to your country, you (expletive) Mexican," police said.

The suspects are of unknown race and are approximately 13 to 18 years old with brown hair. Police described the boys as about 5 feet 4 inches tall, with one slightly shorter than the other.

One of the attackers wore a red shirt and shorts, while the shorter suspect wore an orange shirt and skinny blue jeans, police said.

Anyone with information or questions about the school alert is asked to contact police at (707) 778-4372.

Republican Leaders & TeaPartiers Chant Obama Tune to RNC Leader Steele: "We Want Our RNC Back from our Black Leader"

Washington Post reports: Michael Steele's days as chairman of the Republican National Committee appear to be numbered. The real questions about his eventual departure are when it will take place and how messy it will be. The embattled chairman has not said whether he intends to seek another term leading the RNC...
Among Republicans outside the RNC, Steele's credibility is lower than for any other recent chairman. But are his critics shrewd enough to help engineer a smooth transition to another chairman and a soft landing for Steele? Or will their public pressure force Steele, for the sake of his pride and ego, to stand firm and fight a battle the party doesn't need right now?

Steele has attributes that made him an attractive choice for leader after the beating Republicans took in 2008. He is the first African American to lead a party that has struggled for decades to improve its standing in the minority community. He is certainly personable, and he has an engaging (if undisciplined) style of communicating. But his tenure has produced a combination of personal gaffes and structural problems that, now that the 2010 campaign is over, have led some of the GOP's leading politicians to call for a change in leadership - or to fret in an increasingly public way about the state of the committee.

In the past week, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, chairman of the Republican Governors Association (RGA) and a former RNC chairman, reiterated his belief that the national committee needs a new leader. And Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a likely 2012 presidential candidate, said he was concerned about reports critical of the RNC's performance under Steele, though he stopped short of calling for the chairman to step aside.

The RNC's political director, Gentry Collins, resigned with a blast at Steele's management - a five-page letter detailing the financial and political shortcomings of the committee this fall. The letter added up to a devastating portrait of the RNC's problems, most significantly the failure to fund a robust get-out-the-vote operation. Collins, pointing to an outside study, argued that these shortcomings may have cost Republicans two Senate seats, and he said he would add three governor races to that list. Properly managed and better funded, he claimed, the RNC could have put an additional 21 congressional districts into serious competition.

Others can dispute the particulars, but the broader indictment - that Steele's tenure has left the national committee in a far weakened position - is something that Republicans have been complaining about for many months.

Others stepped in to fill the void left by the RNC, most notably Barbour's RGA, which spent about $100 million on campaigns (and which is not bound by the same fundraising limits that govern the national party). But with 37 gubernatorial races this year, the RGA needed to step up. In 2012, however, there will be only 11 gubernatorial races, few in major presidential battlegrounds.

On Friday, Steele issued his own memo, trumpeting the historic Republican victories this month and claiming the RNC's share of credit. He argued that it was the RNC that helped achieve "what was, by far, the greatest turnout by any party in any midterm election in U.S. history."

That assertion actually underscores what political strategists long have known - that the political environment counts for far more than a well-organized ground game. There was a surge in Republican turnout, whether the RNC had anything to do with it or not. Would it have been larger with a more effective national committee? Perhaps.

Republican Leadership says Sharron Angle's Campaign Team Leaders were "Dumb & Dumber!"

Republican Leadership says: Sharron Angle's Campaign Team Leaders were so bad that “If they were filming a sequel to the movie 'Dumb and Dumber,' Terry Campbell (Campaign Manager) would have a feature role.”
Now, see for yourselves. A Never Aired Sharron Angle Ad produced by the aforementioned "Dumb and Dumber." Some people say it reminds them of "the Night of the Living Dead." It is particularly ridiculous because it is Sharron Angle who has pushed for the END to Social Security!
The even scarier news: Angle says SHE'LL BEEE BAAAACK in 2012!! (Yikes!)

Republicans and Teapartiers Complaining About Airline Safety Measures

Republicans and Teapartiers really are an enigma. I've been reviewing several of their websites today and most of them are using the new Airline Safety Measures - Body Scans and pat downs as another method to beat up President Obama. What an enigma. They pretend to be so concerned over Safety for the American people, they even encourage and sanction torture, yet they are duplicitously attacking the President and the TSA for implementing safety security measures at our airports, our most vulnerable target repeatedly used by terrorists. How can they forget last year's "Christmas Airline Bomber?"

Last year, after the Bomber was caught BEFORE he detonated his device, these same folks were UP IN ARMS over the President not doing enough for airline safety.

This year, before the Holidays, the TSA implemented a new Body Scanner technology in many major US airports. Passengers have two choices, they can either submit to a body scan or to a body pat. Either one of these methods would have stopped last year's bombers. He had a hypodermic needle tucked away in his clothes. He had a bomb packed in his underwear.

Granted, these searches and pats are not "fun." Airline travel isn't fun anymore for anyone. Flying "coach" has always been a nightmare being confined for hours into a small space with too many people. With the large number of people travelling, this makes the target all the more convenient for terrorists. It isn't a wonder these added measures of body scanners had to be taken. Remember all of those sci-fi movies that predicted this? Airline travel is a nightmare and these safety measures are unfortunately needed.

Now, however the "Party of No" is capitalizing on this Safety Inconvenience and using it as another weapon against our President and his Administration.

Today, on Meet the Press, Bobby Jindahl said there was no need to stop most people for these "invasive" searches. Jindahl suggested, instead, that the only people that should be subjected to searches is those we think are terrorists - aka Racial Profiling. Last week, conservative pundit Charles Krauthammer said the same thing. He said, "We pretend that we go through this nonsense as a small price paid to ensure the safety of air travel. Rubbish. This has nothing to do with safety - 95 percent of these inspections, searches, shoe removals and pat-downs are ridiculously unnecessary. The only reason we continue to do this is that people are too cowed to even question the absurd taboo against profiling - when the profile of the airline attacker is narrow, concrete, uniquely definable and universally known. So instead of seeking out terrorists, we seek out tubes of gel in stroller pouches."

I think it is ridiculous to racially profile those we "think" are terrorists and let the little grannies and strollers roll by unsearched. Yet the Republicans, Fox News and the Tea Partiers (aka non-minorities / ole boys) are all rallying behind this "racial profiling" suggestion. Sure. Only stop the people in turbans or people we think look like they are "Middle Eastern." Another move to Stop the Brown People. Of course that would mean that none of the teapartiers or Krauthammer would be stopped. Being a granny myself, I guess that means I would not be stopped. African Americans would not be stopped. Only brown, Middle Eastern people in their 20's - 40's would be stopped and scanned. Is that it? That means, Bobby Jindahl, YOU WOULD BE SCANNED and Body Patted. Is that OK by you? And what about the Christmas Bomber? You know, the young guy that looks a little like a young Eddie Murphy? Why profile him? According to Jindahl's and Krauthammer's recommendations, he wouldn't be.

Republicans Vote NO Against the Unemployment While Continuing to Advocate for Tax Extensions for the Rich!

WASHINGTON -- The House of Representatives on Thursday voted down a measure that would have reauthorized extended unemployment insurance for another three months, leaving no clear path forward to prevent the benefits from lapsing as scheduled on Nov. 30.

Without a reauthorization, the Labor Department estimates that two million long-term unemployed will prematurely stop receiving benefits before the end of the year.

"I think it's a sad moment," said Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) after the vote. "It appalls me that the Republicans keep pitching and pitching and pitching the tax cuts for the rich and won't join in a bill to help people keep their homes and not have to live in their cars."

Arpayaso's "Ole Boy" Has-Been InJustice League: "It's All About Me!"

Sheriff Joe Arpayaso continues to prove "It's ALL About Me!" as he pulled together a has-been "InJustice League" to gain more media attention for himself!

Aging has-beens Steven Seagal, who is a sworn deputy in New Orleans, ole guy Lou Ferrigno, of the 1970’s “Incredible Hack”, a reserve deputy with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office, and Mission:Implausible’s Peter Lupus, are among Arpaio’s 56ole boy new Immigration Posse members sworn in this week. Arpaio will work alongside the has-beens and other questionable notables like retired Chicago police officer Dick Tracy, and Wyatt Earp. (Yes, Earp is the nephew of the famous Old West lawman.)

Arpayaso said, “These guys are busy with their acting careers, so I don’t expect them to be here on duty very often, but they can be instrumental in heightening public awareness of the immigration issue…” (I'll keep them as long as they get me media coverage!)

Hero Awarded The Medal of Honor

Washington (CNN) -- A 25-year-old Army staff sergeant from Iowa on Tuesday became the first living recipient of the Medal of Honor for a current conflict since three service members from the Vietnam War were honored in 1976. President Barack Obama awarded the nation's highest medal of valor to Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta -- the kind of soldier who leaves you "just absolutely convinced this is what America's all about," Obama said at the White House award ceremony. "It just makes you proud."

Hero though he is, Staff Sgt. Salvatore "Sal" Giunta does not want to be called a hero. Don't say that he went above the call of duty when he single-handedly stopped two terrorists from kidnapping his wounded buddy during a ferocious firefight in Afghanistan in 2007. Because as Giunta sees it, he was just doing his job. He didn't do anything that any other paratrooper in 1st Platoon, Battle Company, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team -- or anyone in the United States military for that matter -- wouldn't have done, and he can't quite understand what all the fuss is about. He certainly doesn't think he deserves the Medal of Honor, which President Barack Obama presented to Giunta in a White House ceremony Tuesday afternoon -- making the seven-year Army veteran the first non-posthumous recipient of the medal since Vietnam."This could be any of us," Giunta said of receiving the nation's highest award for valor. "Right now, the Medal of Honor, I'm the one sitting here, but it could be any one of my buddies. It could be anyone in any of the services who are out there doing it every day. As for someone calling me a hero, I try not to think about it. I let the words fall away. It seems strange."

On Oct. 19, 2007, Giunta and his buddies, the men of Battle Company, were on a Mission, Operation Rock Avalanche and were dropped deep into insurgent territory. They were on a mission to not only look for weapons caches, but also to win a few hearts and minds. Firefights were to be expected, but they did not expect it turn into a fierce battle. No one could have predicted the intensity of bombings and fighting that followed that left several 2nd Platoon Soldiers injured or dead, including two of Giunta's closest friends.

Guinta's good friend, Sgt. Josh Brennan was walking point when he was wounded and being dragged away by two enemy fighters. "I didn't understand what was going on," Giunta recalled. "I'll think about that moment a lot. That was something I never thought I would see in the military. It was difficult to see. Just reaction -- that's all you really have time to do, but after sitting on it for three years, it's more emotional to me now than I think it was to me then." Many, including his good friend, Medic SPC Hugo Mendoza, tried to rescue Sgt. Brennan from his captors. SPC Mendoza lost his life in his effort. Sgt. Guinta succeeded in rescuing his friend Josh. It was a part of the Warrior Ethos Giunta didn't have to think twice about, because it went without saying that he couldn't leave Brennan and that Brennan wouldn't leave him, that any of the Soldiers in the unit would do the same. So yelling for help and still under heavy fire, Giunta charged forward alone and fired the 15 or 20 rounds remaining in his M4, killing one of the insurgents and wounding the other. Brennan survived for that day, but died of his injuries the next day.

However, Giunta did more than save Brennan. The true nightmare of any leader is a Soldier missing in action, and Giunta prevented that. "They would have definitely taken him to a lot worse place. There's no way we would have come out of that valley without Brennan. We would have fought tooth and nail to find his body or find Brennan." Giunta definitely saved a lot more lives that night.

Fox News' Roger Ailes Proves Fox is Neither Fair Nor Balanced!

(CNN) – (Far Right Extremist) Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes isn't holding back when it comes to his (Republican) opinion of President Obama, saying in a recent interview that he (falsely believes he) espouses a version of "socialism…too far left" even for some European countries. "The president has not been very successful," (extremist) Ailes opined to Howard Kurtz, the Washington Bureau Chief for the Daily Beast and a CNN contributor. (His negative opinion of the President's trip:) "He just got kicked from Mumbai to South Korea, and he came home and attacked Republicans for it. He had to be told by the French and the Germans that his socialism was too far left for them to deal with."

The comments constituted part of Ailes' argument that Fox News is (NOT) a fair and balanced news network that criticizes the president not because he is a Democrat but because the network merely reflects the fact that (in their opinion) Obama "just has a different belief system than most Americans." Meanwhile, Ailes added that it has always been his network's (Republican) policy to "be more direct" in challenging commander-in-chiefs, no matter their party affiliation.

He also opined) the rest of the news media is only now beginning to report accurately on the president. (Ailes also falsely suggested:) "He's had 3,000 press secretaries since he got into office." (For the record, Robert Gibbs has been Obama's only press secretary so far.) Ailes continued to rant: "He's making it harder for the press to make him look good. When the press falls in love, they fall in love hard. They're like teenagers in love. It's like the old Frankie Lymon song, 'Why Do Fools Fall in Love?'"

Ailes also came to former President George W. Bush's defense, saying Obama has relentlessly attacked the "poor guy." "This poor guy, sitting down on his ranch clearing brush, gained a lot of respect for keeping his mouth shut. I literally never heard an Obama speech that didn't blame Bush," he said.

Note: Roger Eugene Ailes (born May 15, 1940) is an American businessman and president of Fox News Channel and chairman of the Fox Television Stations Group. He was a media consultant for Republican presidents Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and George H. W. Bush, as well as Rudy Giuliani’s first mayoral campaign in 1989.

Guest Voz - AJ Langguth: Why US apologized for the Trail of Tears

Guest Voz - AJ Langguth: Why US apologized for the Trail of Tears
With the midterm elections over, it's time for Americans to leave behind the recent attempts to demonize an entire people. We needn't look to Nazi Germany or apartheid South Africa for examples of the labeling and abusing of others. The suspicions promoted about Hispanics as criminals and Muslims as terrorists were only the latest reminders of discrimination throughout our own history. We may be ashamed later, but our apologies usually come too late.

The targets keep changing. Abigail Adams, admirable in many ways, was violently hostile to the French, "Was there ever," she demanded, "a more basely designing and insidious people?" Had it been up to her, the United States might have gone to war with France in 1798, barely 15 years after French support had made America's independence possible. In 1850, voters in New Hampshire refused to delete the provision in their state constitution that barred Roman Catholics from holding public office. By World War I, Henry Ford was publishing, "The International Jew: The World's Foremost Problem."

But it was in the 1830s that a particularly malignant offense was committed, and it was against the original owners of this continent. In the War of 1812, Andrew Jackson had vanquished those Creek Indians who sided with the British. Jackson was not generous in victory. Not only did he strip the tribe of much of its territory, he didn't spare those Creeks who had fought at his side for the United States.

Elected president in 1828, Jackson decreed that the Creeks' neighbors, the Cherokees, must also surrender their ancestral lands in Georgia and move west across the Mississippi River.
From George Washington's time, the United States had signed treaties promising the Cherokees friendship and federal protection. To violate those agreements required painting the Cherokees as savages unfit to live near civilized men. Jackson was not swayed by evidence that the Cherokees were something quite different. They had developed a written language, published their own newspaper and adopted a constitution based on that of the United States.

In fact, Europeans often found them more impressive than their white neighbors, and religious leaders, especially Quakers, and Northern abolitionists, rose to the Cherokees' defense. Even those allies, however, tended to patronize the Indians as simple children. From Concord, Massachusetts, Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote an angry open letter denouncing the forced removal, but he, too, described the Cherokees as "savage."

Georgia's politicians, coveting the rich Cherokee cotton land, were more brutal: They claimed that the tribe consisted of "barbarians," and if the government in Washington did not force the Indians out of Georgia, they would take up arms and do the job themselves. Appealing for help to the U.S. Supreme Court, the Cherokees won a significant legal victory, but Jackson's adamant response was summed up in a few words: Chief Justice John Marshall has made his decision. Let him enforce it now if he can.

Long before Henry Thoreau advocated passive resistance, the Cherokees had pledged that they would never go to war against the United States for their land. They would trust to the fairness of the American people. If they were disappointed, they believed that one day the country would come to understand the wrong that was being done to them. In 1838, Gen. Winfield Scott arrived in Georgia and began rounding up those Cherokees who would not leave willingly. Some 16,000 members of the tribe were herded into makeshift prisons. Scott's men seized women and children first to guarantee that the men would come out of hiding to protect them.

The Cherokees were then forced into wagons, often at bayonet point. As they left their ancestral land, some saw Georgians digging up family graves, looking for silver jewelry. For five months, they were jolted along the route from Georgia to Oklahoma that became known as the Trail of Tears. Northern missionaries who shared the ordeal testified to families wrested from their homes so suddenly that they had nothing to protect them against the freezing winter rains. Pneumonia and exhaustion carried off the old and the very young. Although estimates vary about how many did not survive, wagon trains stopped every day for rough burials along the roadside.

The years passed, and America's attention turned elsewhere. Then in 2004, Republican Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas introduced a resolution calling for a formal apology to the Cherokees and to all of the continent's Indian tribes for past wrongs by the United States. Sixteen years earlier, the Congress had apologized for imprisoning Japanese-Americans during World War II, but Brownback's resolution languished until last year when it was added as an amendment to the 2010 defense appropriations bill. President Obama signed it on December 19, 2009. The apology, however belated, would have pleased Davy Crockett. He had once fought together with Jackson against the British and their Creeks allies. But for opposing the Cherokee removal, Crockett had lost his seat in Congress. Although he regretted his defeat, he said that at least his vote would "not make me ashamed on the last day of judgment."

I find his example worth remembering, along with a hope that no future generation need apologize for what we are saying or doing today.

Rand Paul in the Pocket of Big Business -- Says we ALL work for Rich People and We Better Not Tax Them!

TeaParty favorite, newly elected Senator Rand Paul was asked why the tax cuts should be extended to the highest 2% of the rich when the tax cuts were supposed to be temporary. Paul, staring very naively into the camera said: "There are no rich, there are no middle class, there are no poor...We all either work for rich people or we sell stuff to rich people so just punishing rich people is as bad for the economy is as bad as punishing anyone."

Hmmm. Let's see. The last time I heard a statement this naive was from Queen Marie Antoinette. Back in the 1700s, when asked what to do about the starving peasants in the midst of a national famine in her country who could not afford bread, she said: "No Bread? Then let them eat cake!" (As she stared naively into the interviewers presence)

Oh I know the Teaparty Rand Paul supporters will defend him and say we do all work for the Rich and it makes sense for them to continue to pay little to no taxes. Taxing them less means they will hire more people. La la la. What a fairy tale. All this means is they get bigger bonuses and the opportunity to ship more jobs overseas. It's like saying none of us should pay taxes. Let's stop all city, state and federal services. Think of the jobs this will create. The street lights will stop working. More accidents. More need for doctors and nurses and pharmaceuticals and morticians. Think of all the jobs. And, we will ALL EAT CAKE!

The Video

Racist Republican Rep. Curry Todd Does It Again!

Racist Republican Rep Curry Todd does it again! He admits he didn't pick the best words ("Breed Like Rats" for Hispanics), but, in fact, he isn't exactly backing down. Now he is attacking other minorities by using racist euphemisms.

Todd said, "I'm not going to try to be politically-correct in everything I say, and if I offended "them" (aka "you people"), then I'm sorry that they got offended by that. But the truth is the truth. A spade is a spade."

Todd represents Tennessee's 95th district, which covers the Memphis area.

Guest Voz - Bob Cesca: Tea Party Is All About Race

Guest Voz - Bob Cesca:
I was going to open this piece with an analogy about the tea party groups and why they're treated seriously by the press and the Republicans. The analogy would go something like: "Imagine [insert left-wing activist group here] getting a serious profile in a mainstream newspaper, and imagine serious Democratic politicians appearing at their convention." The problem is, when I really evaluated what the various far-left activist groups are all about and compared them with the tea party movement, there really wasn't any equivalency. At all. Because when you strip away all of the rage, all of the nonsensical loud noises and all of the contradictions, all that's left is race. The tea party is almost entirely about race, and there's no comparative group on the left that's similarly motivated by bigotry, ignorance and racial hatred.

I hasten to note that I'm talking about real racism, insofar as it's impossible for the majority race -- the 70 percent white majority -- to be on the receiving end of racism. That is unless white males, for example, are suddenly an oppressed racial demographic. But judging by the racial composition of, say, the Senate or AM talk radio or the cast members playing the Obamas on SNL, I don't think white people have anything to worry about. This isn't an epiphany by any stretch. From the beginning, with their witch doctor imagery, watermelon agitprop and Curious George effigies, the wingnut right has been dying to blurt out, as Lee Atwater famously said, "nigger, nigger, nigger!" But they can't. Strike that. Correction. TeaParty.org founder Dale Robertson brandished a sign with the (misspelled) word "niggar." So they're not even as restrained as the generally unstrung Atwater anymore.

Most of the time, they merely imply the use of the word. Rush Limbaugh referring to the president as a "black man-child," for example. Every week, a new example pops up on the radio and somehow the offenders are able to keep their job while Howard Stern is fined for saying the comparatively innocuous word "blumpkin." Limbaugh, on the other hand, can stoke racial animosity on his show by suggesting that health care reform is a civil rights bill -- reparations -- and no one seems to mind. And no, the impotence isn't an adequate Karmic punishment for Limbaugh's roster of trespasses.

The tea party is an extension of talk radio. It's an extension of Fox News Channel. It's an extension of the southern faction of the Republican Party -- the faction that gave us the Southern Strategy, the Willie Horton ad, the White Hands ad and the racially divisive politics of Lee Atwater and Karl Rove. It's an extension of the race-baiting and, often, the outright racism evident in all of those conservative spheres. But unlike the heavy-handedness of Dale Robertson and others, the tea party followers are generally more veiled about why they're so outraged by our current president...

From the outset, the tea party was based on a contradictory premise (the original tea party was a protest against a corporate tax cut). And when you throw out all of the nonsense and contradictions, there's nothing left except race. There's no other way to explain why these people were silent and compliant for so long, and only decided to collectively freak out when this "foreign" and "exotic" president came along and, right out of the chute, passed the largest middle class tax cut in American history -- something they would otherwise support, for goodness sake, it was $288 billion in tax cuts! -- we're left to deduce no other motive but the ugly one that lurks just beneath the pale flesh, the tri-corner hats and the dangly tea bag ornamentation.

Irrespective of whether the president passed a huge tax cut or went out of his way to bring Republicans into the health care process, the seeds of racial animosity from the far-right were sown during the campaign. In those lines waiting for then-vice presidential candidate and current tea party heroine Sarah Palin, their loud noises spread the pre-scripted lies, lies that entirely hinged on the president's African heritage. A white candidate would never be accused of being a secret Muslim. A white candidate would never be accused of being a foreign usurper. Only a black candidate with a foreign name would be accused of "palling around with domestic terrorists."

In the final analysis, when you boil away all of the weirdness, it becomes clear that the teabaggers are pissed because there isn't yet another doddering old white guy in the White House -- like they're used to. That's what this is all about.

By way of a postscript, one of the many faceless radio talk show wingnuts, Jim Quinn, this week called President Obama a "Kenyan wuss" who should be "slapped silly." The Kenyan lie and the "slap silly" insult aside, this president is no wuss. You know how I know? He's a black man who ran for president and won despite the growing mob of gun-toting militant white bigots like Jim Quinn who are sucking air in America. President Obama achieving this despite the hatred and threats against him takes serious guts. Guts that Jim Quinn and the tea party movement will never understand.

Teapartiers planning on Irritating Teaparty Congressmen! Congressmen Already Disconnecting Their Numbers!

Tea Party Patriots Release Personal Phone Numbers, Emails Of Almost 100 Incoming GOP Reps
A prominent Tea Party group is hoping to ensure that recently elected GOP representatives aren't transformed by their newfound Capitol Hill influence, by allowing their constituents to get to them before Washington does. At least that was the logic behind the Tea Party Patriots' decision to release the personal cell phone numbers and email addresses of almost 100 incoming Republican representatives, a step they took after they learned that their "Freshmen Orientation" seminar was going to be rivaled by an event supposedly "coordinated by lobbyists and campaign consultants" and organized by the Claremont Institute, a conservative think tank.

Roll Call tested the authenticity of the numbers and verified that at least some of them were correct. Congressman-elect Ben Quayle's, for one, had already been changed. While some incoming legislators seemed to willingly accept that they'd be getting a number of calls, Brian Kennedy, president of the Claremont Institute, seemed less enthusiastic about the nature and tone of some of the people that had been calling. "After a mass e-mail was sent out calling for Tea Party members to harass me, effectively, I have received many nasty and threatening calls saying we should 'stand down' and that 'they have my number,'" he told Roll Call in an email.

Racist Republican/Tea Party Champion Rush Limbaugh Has Done It Again! He Accuses Black Congressman of "Driving Miss Daisy (Nancy)"!

Limbaugh, Limbaugh, Limbaugh. Will he ever stop his Racist hyperbole? Here is his latest racist buffoonery:
Rush Limbaugh has accused Democrats of racism, claiming that Hoyer wants to send Clyburn to "the back of the bus." Yesterday Limbaugh responded to purported claims that Clyburn wants to keep the perk of having a car by suggesting Clyburn (African American) be given the position of "Driving Miss Nancy. He gets to keep the car. He gets to go everywhere she goes, parties and everything else. He's not in the back of the bus. He's in the driver's seat, and she's in the back of the car being chauffeured." (Blatant Racism by Limbaugh -- see his Cartoon!)
Racist Limbaugh does NOT care that the World knows he is Racist! All he wants is ratings!

Here are Limbaugh's "oldies but goodies!"
THE TOP TEN RACIST RUSH LIMBAUGH QUOTES
1. “Have you ever noticed how all composite pictures of wanted criminals resemble Jesse Jackson?”
2. “Right. So you go into Darfur and you go into South Africa, you get rid of the white government there. You put sanctions on them. You stand behind Nelson Mandela — who was bankrolled by communists for a time, had the support of certain communist leaders. You go to Ethiopia. You do the same thing.”
3. “Look, let me put it to you this way: the NFL all too often looks like a game between the Bloods and the Crips without any weapons. There, I said it.”
4. “The NAACP should have riot rehearsal. They should get a liquor store and practice robberies.”
5. “They’re (Blacks)12 percent of the population. Who the hell cares?”
6. [To an African American female caller]: “Take that bone out of your nose and call me back.”
7. ”I think the media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well. They’re interested in black coaches and black quarterbacks doing well. I think there’s a little hope invested in McNabb and he got a lot of credit for the performance of his team that he really didn’t deserve.”
8. Limbaugh’s many attacks on President Obama.
. ‘halfrican American’
. an ‘affirmative action candidate.’
.‘Barack the Magic Negro’
9. “We need segregated buses… This is Obama’s America.”
10. “Obama’s entire economic program is reparations.”
AND:
. Limbaugh Says Steinbrenner Was A “Cracker Who Made African-Americans Millionaires”
. Limbaugh: Obama & Oprah Are Only Successful Because They’re Black
. Limbaugh Calls Gov. Paterson A “Massa”
. Limbaugh Calls Obama “Uppity”
. Limbaugh Says Kennedy “Had Negroes Serve Him Booze”
. Limbaugh: Black Frame Of Mind Is Terrible, Tiger’s Women Not Helping

Racist Republican Rep. Curry Todd Says Latinos "Multiply Like Rats!"

Tennessee State Rep. Curry Todd took his dissatisfaction with the birthright citizenship clause in the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution to a strange level this week, when he suggested that pregnant immigrants will "multiply" like "rats" if they are not asked about their citizenship status. During a discussion about procedures for approving patients for health care access, Todd asked a panel of prenatal health care officials if they require potential patients to show proof of citizenship in order to be accepted for treatment.

One woman then explained that such a process is not necessary -- and is in fact prohibited -- because unborn children will become United States citizens upon birth. "There's a technical guidance letter that states that, for covering the unborn child, we are not permitted to determine citizenship because the child, once born, is a U.S. citizen," the woman explained.

"They can go out there like rats and multiply, then," Todd responded.

According to the Associated Press, Rep. Todd later agreed that he had used harsh wording.

"I was actually wrong, and I admit when I'm wrong," Todd said, before clarifying that he should have used the term "anchor babies" instead -- presumably in an entirely different sentence. He then qualified that statement, however, by saying that the issue is actually a serious concern that needed to be addressed. (WATCH HIS SMUG, RACIST SMIRK IN THE VIDEO!)

Honoring Veterans on Veterans Day: Veteranos - A Legacy of Valor

Republican Tea Party Senator-Elect Rand Paul Advocates Cutting Social Security and Medicare! (Feed the Elderly Cat Food!)

WASHINGTON - Tea Party superstar Rand Paul bucked the GOP leadership on Sunday by pushing drastic budget-cutting proposals, including a 10% pay slash for federal workers.

Paul, the Republican senator-elect from Kentucky, said on ABC's "This Week" that Social Security, Medicare and defense should also be "on the table."

"You have to look at entitlements," he said.

Another person advocating CAT FOOD for the elderly!