Just One Black Man's Tweets

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Blame the Niggras part II

last week a buddy of mine blogged Blame it on the niggras. In this blog he was commenting on the fact that some on the right are attempting to pin this whole financial crisis on the back of black folks. Now Ann Coulter has joined the bunch with her latest column.
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Looks like Ann Coulter has slithered out from what ever dark, damp hiding place she calls home to pen another masterpiece of sheer stupidity. She's now claiming that this whole financial crisis is the fault of niggras, liberals and Bill Clinton. According to Coulter liberals in the Clinton Administration put undue pressure on lending institutions like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to make more loans to poor and minorities. According to Coulter they were forced to practice "Affirmative Action" with their lending policies

Coulter writes:

“Under Clinton, the entire federal government put massive pressure on banks to grant more mortgages to the poor and minorities. Clinton's secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Andrew Cuomo, investigated Fannie Mae for racial discrimination and proposed that 50 percent of Fannie Mae's and Freddie Mac's portfolio be made up of loans to low- to moderate-income borrowers by the year 2001. Instead of looking at "outdated criteria," such as the mortgage applicant's credit history and ability to make a down payment, banks were encouraged to consider nontraditional measures of credit-worthiness, such as having a good jump shot or having a missing child named "Caylee."

Threatening lawsuits, Clinton's Federal Reserve demanded that banks treat welfare payments and unemployment benefits as valid income sources to qualify for a mortgage. That isn't a joke -- it's a fact.”

But she’s not done. She then goes on to write later in her piece:

“In 1999, liberals were bragging about extending affirmative action to the financial sector. Los Angeles Times reporter Ron Brownstein hailed the Clinton administration's affirmative action lending policies as one of the "hidden success stories" of the Clinton administration, saying that "black and Latino homeownership has surged to the highest level ever recorded."

I guess Ann never stopped to think that maybe Black and Latino home ownership surged because of a strong economy and record low unemployment rates during the Clinton years. Unlike the “good economy” of the 1980’s. The jobs created during that time actually paid decent wages and allowed many people the opportunity to finally be in a position to afford to purchase a home.

Then she comes up with gem of a statement:

“A decade later, the housing bubble burst and, as predicted, food-stamp-backed mortgages collapsed. Democrats set an affirmative action time-bomb and now it's gone off.”

Nice……

She finally ends her column with your typical right-wing rambling about Democrats and Political Correctness. What ever……

I would like to thank Ann Coulter for clearing this up for me. See I was thinking this whole financial mess was caused by all sorts of complicated economic principles and circumstances. But now I know it is much simpler than that. It was all the fault of liberals, Democrats, the Clintons and those uppity nigras buying houses they had no business buying.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Who am I?

In retrospect this probably should have been my first post. Oh well.......
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I’m a “Forty Something” Black male, born and raised in the South. Politically, I consider myself a moderate-to-conservative Democrat. In my younger days, I was much more left of center than I am now. During my journey to my present place in the political spectrum, I became an Independent for a while but didn’t like it very much. I’m also a student of geopolitics and how events around the world affect our lives here in the US.

I came up with the name of my blog from a black commentator (who's name escapes me) that my parents used to listen to. He would end each commentary with the statement; "This is just one black mans opinion". For some reason that has always stayed with me through the years.

I am a battle hardened veteran of the old USENET newsgroup wars, where I regularly debated with people on the right as well as the left. At the moment, I prefer to not discuss my profession especially since I’m now putting my personal opinions on display in a very public forum. I’m just your average Brother; I’m a husband, father and all around nice guy that likes to dabble with computers, frequent Flea Markets and thrift stores looking for that one gem that everybody else has over looked. When I’m not traveling, I also sell stuff on eBay and Amazon, mainly for a little extra weekend beer money. I currently reside in Tampa, Florida and have no plans to live anywhere where the temperature drops below 40 degrees ever again.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Overthrow

I just wanted to share a book that I'm in the process of reading. My dad gave me a copy the last time I visited with him in North Carolina.

I haven't finished reading the book yet, but recent events compel me to at least mention it here. It takes me a while to finish a book because it's hard to find time to sit still long enough to actually read, much less post to this blog. I hope to finish this during my next trip abroad.

The Book overthrow discusses the history of American Regime Change from the very first documented occurrence in Hawaii to Iraq. Most people think regime change is a new tool in Americas foreign policy tool box. But quite the contrary. The US has been practicing regime change for the better part of a hundred years. What I found to be most compelling is the role the media played in making the case for foreign intervention. But don't take my word for it, get copy for yourself and enjoy.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

White Privilege, White Entitlement and the 2008 Election

Once again Tim Wise knocks it out of the ball park. What really got me is how the situation with her 17 year old daughters pregancy was dealt with by all the rightwing talking heads as well as the McCain campign itself. I understand the fact that she is young and she made a mistake. And at this particular time in her life more than any other she needs her family's support and understanding. I got that. The very same people that have basically made a living off of demonizing young unwed mothers (usually black) now suddenly have managed to find it thier hearts to have compasion and understanding. To me this is yeat another example of right wing Republican hypocrisy. I'm neither suprised or dissapointed. After all I don't expect better from these guys. What I am dissapointed about is that nobody has called them out on this. Or maybe somebody has and I just missed it.

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September, 14 2008By Tim Wise


For those who still can't grasp the concept of white privilege, or who are constantly looking for some easy-to-understand examples of it, perhaps this list will help.

*White privilege is when you can get pregnant at seventeen like Bristol Palin and everyone is quick to insist that your life and that of your family is a personal matter, and that no one has a right to judge you or your parents, because "every family has challenges," even as black and Latino families with similar "challenges" are regularly typified as irresponsible, pathological and arbiters of social decay.

* White privilege is when you can call yourself a "fuckin' redneck," like Bristol Palin's boyfriend does, and talk about how if anyone messes with you, you'll "kick their fuckin' ass," and talk about how you like to "shoot shit" for fun, and still be viewed as a responsible, all-American boy (and a great son-in-law to be) rather than a thug.

* White privilege is when you can attend four different colleges in six years like Sarah Palin did (one of which you basically failed out of, then returned to after making up some coursework at a community college), and no one questions your intelligence or commitment to achievement, whereas a person of color who did this would be viewed as unfit for college, and probably someone who only got in in the first place because of affirmative action.

* White privilege is when you can claim that being mayor of a town smaller than most medium-sized colleges, and then Governor of a state with about the same number of people as the lower fifth of the island of Manhattan, makes you ready to potentially be president, and people don't all piss on themselves with laughter, while being a black U.S. Senator, two-term state Senator, and constitutional law scholar, means you're "untested."

* White privilege is being able to say that you support the words "under God" in the pledge of allegiance because "if it was good enough for the founding fathers, it's good enough for me," and not be immediately disqualified from holding office--since, after all, the pledge was written in the late 1800s and the "under God" part wasn't added until the 1950s--while believing that reading accused criminals and terrorists their rights (because, ya know, the Constitution, which you used to teach at a prestigious law school requires it), is a dangerous and silly idea only supported by mushy liberals.

* White privilege is being able to be a gun enthusiast and not make people immediately scared of you. White privilege is being able to have a husband who was a member of an extremist political party that wants your state to secede from the Union, and whose motto was "Alaska first," and no one questions your patriotism or that of your family, while if you're black and your spouse merely fails to come to a 9/11 memorial so she can be home with her kids on the first day of school, people immediately think she's being disrespectful.

* White privilege is being able to make fun of community organizers and the work they do--like, among other things, fight for the right of women to vote, or for civil rights, or the 8-hour workday, or an end to child labor--and people think you're being pithy and tough, but if you merely question the experience of a small town mayor and 18-month governor with no foreign policy expertise beyond a class she took in college--you're somehow being mean, or even sexist.

* White privilege is being able to convince white women who don't even agree with you on any substantive issue to vote for you and your running mate anyway, because all of a sudden your presence on the ticket has inspired confidence in these same white women, and made them give your party a "second look."

* White privilege is being able to fire people who didn't support your political campaigns and not be accused of abusing your power or being a typical politician who engages in favoritism, while being black and merely knowing some folks from the old-line political machines in Chicago means you must be corrupt.

* White privilege is being able to attend churches over the years whose pastors say that people who voted for John Kerry or merely criticize George W. Bush are going to hell, and that the U.S. is an explicitly Christian nation and the job of Christians is to bring Christian theological principles into government, and who bring in speakers who say the conflict in the Middle East is God's punishment on Jews for rejecting Jesus, and everyone can still think you're just a good church-going Christian, but if you're black and friends with a black pastor who has noted (as have Colin Powell and the U.S. Department ofDefense) that terrorist attacks are often the result of U.S. foreign policy and who talks about the history of racism and its effect on black people, you're an extremist who probably hates America.

* White privilege is not knowing what the Bush Doctrine is when asked by a reporter, and then people get angry at the reporter for asking you such a "trick question," while being black and merely refusing to give one-word answers to the queries of Bill O'Reilly means you're dodging the question, or trying to seem overly intellectual and nuanced.

* White privilege is being able to claim your experience as a POW has anything at all to do with your fitness for president, while being black and experiencing racism is, as Sarah Palin has referred to it a "light" burden.

* And finally, white privilege is the only thing that could possibly allow someone to become president when he has voted with George W. Bush 90 percent of the time, even as unemployment is skyrocketing, people are losing their homes, inflation is rising, and the U.S. is increasingly isolated from world opinion, just because white voters aren't sure about that whole "change"thing. Ya know, it's just too vague and ill-defined, unlike, say, four more years of the same, which is very concrete and certain.

White privilege is, in short, the problem.

Tim Wise is the author of White Like Me (Soft Skull, 2005, revised 2008), and of Speaking Treason Fluently, publishing this month, also by Soft Skull.For review copies or interview requests, please reply to publicity@softskull.com

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Blasts rock US embassy in Yemen

Just a reminder that the world is still a dangerous place.
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From the BBC

Blasts rock US embassy in Yemen

A car bomb attack targeting the US embassy in Yemen has killed at least 16 people, including civilians and Yemeni security guards, Yemen officials said.
The bomb hit the main security gate, and was followed by a second explosion, the cause of which was unclear, a US official inside the embassy said.
Eyewitnesses say there was an exchange of gunfire between the unidentified attackers and security guards.
Hundreds of heavily armed troops have now surrounded the embassy compound.
The attack occurred at about 0830 local time (0530 GMT).
US spokesman Ryan Gliha was unable to confirm reports of a gun battle.
Mr Gliha said the embassy building itself had not been damaged as it was set far back from the security gate.
He described the atmosphere inside the embassy as calm, adding that arrangements were being made so that staff could "go about their business in a safe manner".
Terrorism threat
A group calling itself the Islamic Jihad in Yemen said it carried out a bomb and rocket attack on the embassy, and threatened to attack other foreign missions in Yemen, Arabic TV channel al-Arabiya reported.
The authenticity of the claim could not be immediately verified.
It is the second attack on the embassy this year.
The US ordered the evacuation of non-essential personnel from Yemen in April after mortar bombs were fired towards the embassy. They missed but hit a nearby school.
Yemen, the ancestral home of Osama Bin Laden, has long been a haven for Islamist militants.
In 2000, 17 US sailors were killed when suicide bombers with alleged links to al-Qaeda blew themselves up on an inflatable raft next to the USS Cole in the Yemeni port of Aden.
The government of Yemen, which backs America's "war on terror", has often blamed al-Qaeda for attacks on Western targets in the country.
US special forces have been helping the government fight the Islamist militants.
There are many tribal conflicts within the country, including an ongoing war with Shia rebels in the north, in which hundreds of people have died.

McCain Invented Blackberry? Adviser Says He Helped

Now this one is just too funny! McCain has convinced me that he will say or do anything to get elected President. Does this guy even know how to use a Blackberry?
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MIAMI — Move over, Al Gore. You may lay claim to the Internet, but John McCain helped create the BlackBerry.
At least that's the contention of a top McCain policy adviser, Douglas Holtz-Eakin. Waving his BlackBerry personal digital assistant and citing McCain's work as a senator, he told reporters Tuesday, "You're looking at the miracle that John McCain helped create."
A McCain aide later dismissed the remark as "a boneheaded joke by a staffer."
McCain has acknowledged that he doesn't know how to use a computer and can't send e-mail, one of the BlackBerry's prime functions.
Holtz-Eakin's argument is similar to one advanced by Gore, the Democratic presidential nominee in 2000. Gore once boasted about "taking the initiative to create the Internet" through technological and educational policies. He later was mocked for claiming to have invented the Internet, although he never made such a claim.
Holtz-Eakin, former director of the Congressional Budget Office, said McCain's service on and leadership of the Senate Commerce Committee put him at the intersection of a number of economic interests, including the telecommunications industry.
The Arizona senator's handling of regulation and deregulation of that industry in particular left him with the skills to help revive the economy amid a mortgage crisis, an energy crisis and a Wall Street meltdown, the adviser said.
"He can and has the judgment to put people in place with technical expertise, with the history of experience in the areas necessary, that we're going to get reforms," Holtz-Eakin said.
Senior McCain aide Matt McDonald said that the senator "laughed" when he heard the comment about the BlackBerry.
"He would not claim to be the inventor of anything, much less the BlackBerry. This was obviously a boneheaded joke by a staffer," McDonald said.
In a statement, Democratic candidate Barack Obama's campaign spokesman Bill Burton said: "If John McCain hadn't said that 'the fundamentals of our economy are strong' on the day of one of our nation's worst financial crises, the claim that he invented the BlackBerry would have been the most preposterous thing said all week."

Sunday, September 14, 2008

The OJ Jury (Part II)

It looks like the jury for the latest OJ trial will be all white. Interesting. I'm not a OJ fan by any means. But even I have to agree that this smells, so you mean to tell me they couldn't find even one person of color to sit on the Jury? Dude is toast.
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LAS VEGAS, Nevada (CNN) -- A jury of nine women and three men -- none of them black -- was seated Thursday for the trial of O.J. Simpson on kidnapping and armed robbery charges.
The judge made no official mention of the jury's makeup, but prosecutors revealed in court that no blacks were on the jury. A black man and black woman, however, are among six alternate jurors.
Defense attorneys had argued the prosecutors were deliberately trying to exclude blacks, but Judge Jackie Glass denied their challenges.
Opening arguments are scheduled to begin Monday in the case against Simpson and a co-defendant, Clarence Stewart.
Prosecutors say Simpson and five other men stormed into a Las Vegas hotel room on September 13, 2007 to recover sports memorabilia that Simpson said belonged to him. Prosecutors say at least two men with Simpson had guns as they robbed a pair of sports memorabilia dealers.
If convicted on all counts, Simpson faces a possible sentence of life in prison. He has pleaded not guilty and has told CNN he was trying to get his property back.
Four of five Simpson's original co-defendants have struck deals with the prosecution to testify against Simpson. One testified in a pre-trial hearing that "O.J. Simpson wanted me to have a weapon." Another testified that Simpson "wanted me to help him acquire some guns."
An attorney for Simpson, Yale Galanter, has disputed that.
"O.J. Simpson did not know that there were guns in that room," Galanter said.



Find this article at: http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/09/12/simpson.jury/index.html

They're at it again


Geez, the greed of some folks never ceases to amaze me. Especially in Georgia. In the immediate aftermath of hurricane Katrina several gas stations in Georgia were gouging consumers at the pump. Some were increasing prices by more than a dollar per gallon in hours. I remember racing to the gas station in an attempt to beat the price increases after our secretary sent out an email waring that the price per gallon was increasing by the hour. Eventually the state of Georgia fined the stations that were guilty and they also were ordered to refund consumers that had purchased fuel from those stations. You would have thought they learned from that experience. I guess not.

Oil, Sex and Drugs

This is an incredible story. I always suspected the current administration was in bed with "BIG OIL". But I never would have guessed it was literally. Seems like a good house cleaning is in order here. Of course our good Republican friends say this is all a "Hoax". Yeah.....RIGHT!

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Florida Republican Group to Boycott Oprah



OK so now I'm seeing this little tid bit where Women Republicans in Florida are planning to boycott Oprah because she will not have any of the candidates on her show until after the election. While it's true Oprah did have Obama on her show, it was before he was officially a candidate. Are they freaking serious!!! Oprah? not to belittle Oprah, but I want to see Gov. Palin handle herself on the Sunday morning talk shows. She can do the powder puff stuff later.

Gov. Palin talked a whole lot of trash during her speech at the Republican Convention last week. I for one am ready to see her back it up in a situation where she can't rely on canned responses prepared by someone else.

If she's really all that the Republicans say she is. Then let her show it.

Will the Real Journalist please stand up.

Ok, so let me get this straight Campbell Brown asked one of McCains people to name one decision (just one) the Gov. Palin made regarding the Alaska National Guard. Since supposedly being Commander in Chief of the National Guard somehow makes her qualified in foreign policy and qualified to be Commander in Chief of all US Forces if something were to hapen to McCain while he's in office. In short the guy couldn't answer the question. He tried to turn it around and attack the reporter but she wasn't having it and kept hammering him on it. In retaliation McCain cancelled his appearance on Larry king.

The Republicans are very adept at this blame game they play with the Media. When ever one of them gets called out on something. or they get taken to task over thier hypocrisy they crank up the rehtoric blaming all the usual suspects. The "Liberal Media", or the latest and my favorite the "Elitist Media" Just what the hell is the "Elitist" Media anyways?

Unfortunately and all too often the mainstream media whimpers and backs down. I am hoping that somehow this time will be different. But I'm not counting on it. All the mainstream media outlets must still do the biddig of their corporate masters. Which makes the whole "Liberal Media" line a joke in itself.

Bottom line I'm not counting on the mainstream media, to ask Sarah Palin the tough questions that the American People deserve answers to. I hope I'm wrong.