Rudy Giuliani Tells Michael Eric Dyson That There Wouldn’t Need to Be So Many White Police Officers in Black Communities “If You Weren’t Killing Each Other 70-75% of the Time”

Posted on November 25, 2014 by Elaine Magliaro
Rudy Giuliani Former Mayor of New York City

Rudy Giuliani
Former Mayor of New York City

By Elaine Magliaro

On Sunday, former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani of “a noun, a verb, and 9/11” fame appeared on Meet the Press. He got into a contentious discussion with Georgetown professor Michael Eric Dyson on the subject Ferguson, Missouri. After host Chuck Todd brought up the disproportionality of white police forces not reflecting the demographics of the communities they serve in several American cities, Giuliani said that he was “disappointed” that the focus was “on the majority of the police force being white, rather than violence between African-Americans.” He said, “But the fact is, I find it very disappointing that you’re not discussing the fact that 93 percent of blacks in America are killed by other blacks. We’re talking about the exception here.”

Dyson  responded, “First of all, most black people who commit crimes against other black people go to jail. Number two, they are not sworn by the police department as an agent of the state to uphold the law. So in both cases, that’s a false equivalency that the mayor has drawn, which has exacerbated tensions deeply embedded in American culture.” Dyson added, “Black people who kill black people go to jail. White people who are policemen who kill black people do not go to jail.” He continued, “If a jury can indict a ham sandwich, why is it taking so long?”

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Posted in Government, Media, Society, Uncategorized, United States | Tagged , , , , , | 12 Comments

The Sixteenth Post in the “Oh My Achin’ Head” Series: Anti-Gay Televangelist Who Once Performed an On-air Exorcism of President Obama Elected to Colorado House of Representatives

Posted on November 23, 2014 by Elaine Magliaro
Gordon “Dr. Chaps” Klingenschmitt

Gordon “Dr. Chaps” Klingenschmitt

By Elaine Magliaro

Far-right Christian zealot Gordon Klingenschmitt, also known as “Dr. Chaps,” is a televangelist who was recently “swept into office” in Colorado with just under 70% of the vote. He will represent the state’s 15th House district. TPM reported that Klingenschmitt, a former Navy chaplain, “doesn’t understand why his election caused such a stir…” He thinks “it all must be because of a ‘backlash’ against Jesus.” The stir wasn’t a backlash against Jesus. It happened because the man is nuts and would give Louie Gohmert a run for his money in a “Who’s the Craziest Right-Wing Politician in the USA” competition.

After his election, Klingenschmitt spoke on Bible News Radio. He was quoted as saying, “Why would people hate a chaplain? I’m just a guy who believes the Bible. I love Jesus. I love people. I’m a man of faith and compassion.”

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Posted in Government, Politics, Propaganda, United States | Tagged , , , , | 21 Comments

Yet Another Scene from “Post Racial” America: Kentucky Fire Chief Refuses to Help Black Family Involved in Traffic Accident…Says “We Ain’t Taking No N*ggers Here”

Posted on November 22, 2014 by Elaine Magliaro

By Elaine Magliaro

 

Julius Hatfield, the Southeast Bullitt Fire Chief, is reported to be under fire after footage of his racist comments were made public. In September, Hatfield “was recorded on a Bullitt County Sheriff deputy’s body camera during a response to a traffic accident…” Hatfield allegedly refused to help a family of stranded motorists because they were black.

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Posted in Society, United States | Tagged , | 9 Comments

Benghazi House Investigation Report Released in “Friday Document Dump”

Posted on November 22, 2014 by Elaine Magliaro

Seal_of_the_United_States_House_of_Representatives.svgBy Elaine Magliaro

The Associated Press reported on Friday that the House Intelligence Committee’s two-year investigation into what happened in Benghazi in 2012 found that the CIA and the military had acted properly when responding to the 2012 attack on a U.S. diplomatic compound there.  The committee asserted that there was no wrongdoing by Obama administration appointees. According to Lauren French (Politico), the committee dismissed “a number of the most persistent myths about the 2012 terrorist attacks at a diplomatic outpost in Benghazi.”

French said the committee “found the U.S. government didn’t fail to send assistance to the Americans under siege by Islamic militants and there was no ‘stand down order’ from the State Department.” She said that the committee also dismissed the notion that there was an “intelligence failure” that allowed the attacks to occur. French added, though, that the committee, chaired by Republican Chairman Mike Rogers of Michigan, ruled some “individuals involved with Al Qaeda were involved with the attacks and Abu Sufian bin Qumu, a Libyan national, ‘probably played some role’ in the attacks.” She noted that Qumu had been a prisoner at Guantanamo Bay before he was transferred to Libya in 2001.

The AP said that the investigation report debunked “a series of persistent allegations hinting at dark conspiracies…” Evidently, there had been no delay “in sending a CIA rescue team, no missed opportunity for a military rescue, and no evidence the CIA was covertly shipping arms from Libya to Syria.”

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Posted in Government, Media, Politics, Propaganda, United States | Tagged , , , , , | 12 Comments

Stay Classy Grievance Syndicate!

Posted on November 21, 2014 by Bob Stone

Posted by Bob Stone

Ferguson Protesters Erupt Outside Police Department: ‘What Do We Want? Darren Wilson! How Do We Want Him? Dead!’

Protesters in Ferguson, Mo., have taken to the streets and chosen not to wait for a grand jury’s decision before clashing with police once again. A grand jury is expected to decide whether to indict police officer Darren Wilson, who is accused of shooting 18-year-old Michael Brown, in the coming days. But protesters made their voices heard outside the Ferguson Police Department on Thursday night shouting, “What do we want? Darren Wilson! How do we want him? Dead!”  (Click here for full story and lovely videos)

And…

Mob Teaches Children Cops are Pigs

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Posted in Courts, Crime, Education, Law Enforcement, Racism | 195 Comments

Matt Taibbi on JPMorgan Chase, Too Big to Fail, AIG, Jamie Dimon, and How Bankers Stay Out of Jail

Posted on November 21, 2014 by Elaine Magliaro

By Elaine Magliaro

Breaking the Set host Abby Martin spoke with investigative journalist Matt Taibbi recently about JP Morgan Chase whistleblower Alayne Fleischmann who came forward to expose how the bank knowingly sold toxic mortgages to investors and how the Justice Department used her as a pawn in its settlement negotiations with the financial giant. Martin and Taibbi also touched on other subjects–including the huge raise Jamie Dimon received after the bank’s record-breaking settlement with the Justice Department; AIG’s lawsuit against the government; white collar crime; the Bush Administration being tougher on Wall Street than the Obama Administration; the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act; and too big to fail companies.

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Posted in Government, Politics, United States | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

POETRY FRIDAY: John Clare’s “Autumn” Read by Richard Burton

Posted on November 21, 2014 by Elaine Magliaro

PoetryFridayButton

 

Posted by Elaine Magliaro

 

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Posted in Art, Poetry | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

2014 Midterm Election: The “Screw You” Strategy Was a Winner! (With a Mark Fiore Video)

Posted on November 20, 2014 by Elaine Magliaro

By Elaine Magliaro

Political cartoonist Mark Fiore thinks that humans “are a little hard to figure out sometimes, and that makes for an interesting Democracy.” Fiore was puzzled by the results of the recent midterm election. Imagine people voting against their own best interests, which he said “seemed to be the dominant theme in this election.”

Fiore:

Congressional Republicans just finished a successful campaign that focused on not being Obama. Forget about the issues and actually having a platform, the party of We’re-Not-Obama came out on top…

Fiore thought one of the most fascinating things about the midterm election “was comparing what people actually believe in versus what or who they actually voted for.”

Happy with your Kentucky Kynect health exchange, brought to you by Obama’s Affordable Care Act? Then you’ll definitely want to vote for Mitch McConnell so he can keep trying to dismantle Obamacare bit by bit. Huh?

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Posted in Government, Politics, Society, United States | Tagged , , , , | 14 Comments

Preparations Are Being Made for the “Coming Storm” in Ferguson, Missouri

Posted on November 19, 2014 by Elaine Magliaro
Jay Nixon Governor of Missouri

Jay Nixon
Governor of Missouri

By Elaine Magliaro

On Monday, Missouri Governor Jay Nixon declared a state of emergency. The FBI also issued a bulletin “warning of likely violence across the country as a St. Louis County grand jury concludes its investigation of Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson.”

Wesley Lowery (Washington Post) reported that Governor Nixon’s announcement “allows him to mobilize the state’s National Guard to keep order…”–and that it has added “to the overflowing docket of anxiety in greater St. Louis as the city braces for the expected news that Wilson will not be charged” in the shooting death of the unarmed black teenager Michael Brown. According to Lowery, the FBI bulletin “warned law enforcement agencies that protesters are likely to attack police officers and federal agents after the decision.” The bulletin concluded, “The FBI assesses those infiltrating and exploiting otherwise legitimate public demonstrations with the intent to incite and engage in violence could be armed with bladed weapons or firearms, equipped with tactical gear/gas masks, or bulletproof vests to mitigate law enforcement measures.”

Charles Pierce (Esquire) said it appeared that Nixon’s decision “to declare a pre-emptive state of emergency in anticipation of widespread disapproval of what a grand jury plans to do in the case of Darren Wilson is having the same salubrious effects around the country that it is having in Ferguson.”

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Posted in Government, Media, Propaganda, Society, United States | Tagged , , , , , | 37 Comments

Senators Ted Cruz and Al Franken…and John Oliver Opine on the Subject of Net Neutrality

Posted on November 18, 2014 by Elaine Magliaro
Senator Ted Cruz R-Texas

Senator Ted Cruz
R-Texas

By Elaine Magliaro

Last week, Senator Ted Cruz wrote an op-ed for the Washington Post titled Regulating the Internet threatens entrepreneurial freedom. In his piece, Cruz claimed that one of the greatest regulatory threats to the Internet was net neutrality.

Cruz:

In short, net neutrality is Obamacare for the Internet. It would put the government in charge of determining Internet pricing, terms of service and what types of products and services can be delivered, leading to fewer choices, fewer opportunities and higher prices.

President Obama this week came out aggressively for net neutrality and turning the Internet into a public utility. Some in the online community have embraced this call, thinking that cheaper prices would result. But when has that worked? Government-regulated utilities invariably destroy innovation and freedom. Which is more innovative, the U.S. Postal Service or Facebook and Twitter? Which is better for consumers, city taxi commissions or Uber and Lyft?

John Oliver provided a different perspective on the subject of net neutrality. He talked about it on  Last Week Tonight a few months ago:

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Posted in Government, Media, Politics, Propaganda, Society, Uncategorized, United States | Tagged , , , , , , | 64 Comments