Jordan Davis Gets His
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| Jordan Davis 1995-2012 ` |
Jordan Davis would have - should have - turned nineteen last week. The only thing he celebrates these days is fifteen months under six feet of dirt. Whoopee. A man nearly three decades his senior stands convicted of firing the shots that ended his young life. The jury in Jacksonville, Florida convicted him on four of the five counts filed against him. The only thing they couldn't agree on was whether or not it was first degree murder.
Only in the American South.
I'm not going to lose much sleep over this one. Michael Dunn, the man accused of murdering Jordan in cold blood on November 23, 2012, will be spending the next sixty years in prison - regardless of whether-or-not he is convicted in a retrial on the first degree rap. The fact that he is now in his late forties guarantees him a life sentence. Whatever happens, I won't be wasting too much time and energy bitching and wailing about the outcome of this sad case. My personal life has been nothing short of torrential these last two months and I need to be focusing my energy and concentration elsewhere at the moment. It's just that there are a couple of things I need to take note of here - my personal distractions aside.
Michael Dunn and I have at least one, fairly substantial common denominator: We both don't care much for rap music. With the exception of the late Biggie Smalls (AKA: Notorious B.I.G.) most of the rap music I've heard is shit. When discussing the genre I'm sometimes mortified to catch myself sounding like someone's grandfather ("YOU CALL THAT MUSIC???") I'm going to come out on record now: I think rap music sucks. It's a cultural thing to be sure. There is nothing in my experience that causes me to relate to it in any way. Call it the downside of being raised a upper middle class white boy.
That being said, it never even occurred to me to take out another human being misguided enough to enjoy the stuff. I'm sorry but homicide just isn't my schtick. I'm kinda funny that way, you know?
Mr. Dunn was parked next to Jordan Davis and his pals at a convenience store. He was offended at the volume of the rap music ("thug music" he called it) emanating from the stereo system in the vehicle in which Jordan and his pals were chilling. He asked them (or told them) to turn the music down. They refused. Dunn claims Davis reached for a shotgun - although not one of the eyewitnesses (including Dunn's own fiance) ever saw one and none was ever recovered. He fired several shots into the car. Three bullets entered Jordan Davis' seventeen-year-old body. He was killed almost instantly.
Throughout his trial Mr. Dunn has projected the contented demeanor of a man quite pleased with himself. This is definitely not a guy with the habit of looking inward. What was it that Socrates said about the unexamined life?
One more thing for the record: I dislike modern country music as much as rap. With very few exceptions (Willie Nelson comes to mind - God bless the old guy) nothing about it strikes me as very original. Like rap, it's merely audible shit to my ears. Hank Williams and Johnny Cash are gone and they're not coming back I'm sorry to say.
Here's what bugs me:
Suppose - just suppose - that the shoe had been on the other foot. Let's say that Jordan Davis had been offended by the sound of Achy Breaky Heart cranking at maximum volume from Michael Dunn's car stereo. What if the scenario had transpired in reverse? What if Jordan Davis killed Michael Dunn in the exact same situation? Do you believe - for a half second - that any Florida jury would have hesitated in finding Jordan guilty of murder in the first degree? The kid would be rotting on Death Row at this very moment. Let's stop kidding ourselves, folks.
The moral of today's story is short and not-too-sweet:
Fellow Caucasians, there are two sets of rules way down south - one for them and one for us. My message to any young, black male planning on visiting the Sunshine State is as simple as can be: Watch yer step, boy! Stay the hell up north if you know what's good for you. The racial situation is a little better here....I think.
In Florida Michael Dunn took his stand; he "stood his ground". The result was another broken black body, scarcely past childhood. What is called for here is a worldwide tourism boycott of what must be the most overrated peninsula on the planet earth.
Can I get a witness?
Tom Degan
Goshen, NY
SUGGESTED LISTENING:
The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
by Bob Dylan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8C16SpTNbKY
Listen as Uncle Bobby lays it out in chapter and verse.
AFTERTHOUGHT:
For those of you who have been kind enough to inquire about my health after my recent illness, I have good news and bad news for you....
The good news is that I'm as a fiddle.
The bad news is that it's Jack Benny's fiddle.
Seriously, though, I'm doing better than the law (and karma) should allow. Thank you so much for all your well wishes and kind thoughts!
 |
| Michael Dunn |
Michael Dunn and I have at least one, fairly substantial common denominator: We both don't care much for rap music. With the exception of the late Biggie Smalls (AKA: Notorious B.I.G.) most of the rap music I've heard is shit. When discussing the genre I'm sometimes mortified to catch myself sounding like someone's grandfather ("YOU CALL THAT MUSIC???") I'm going to come out on record now: I think rap music sucks. It's a cultural thing to be sure. There is nothing in my experience that causes me to relate to it in any way. Call it the downside of being raised a upper middle class white boy.
That being said, it never even occurred to me to take out another human being misguided enough to enjoy the stuff. I'm sorry but homicide just isn't my schtick. I'm kinda funny that way, you know?
Mr. Dunn was parked next to Jordan Davis and his pals at a convenience store. He was offended at the volume of the rap music ("thug music" he called it) emanating from the stereo system in the vehicle in which Jordan and his pals were chilling. He asked them (or told them) to turn the music down. They refused. Dunn claims Davis reached for a shotgun - although not one of the eyewitnesses (including Dunn's own fiance) ever saw one and none was ever recovered. He fired several shots into the car. Three bullets entered Jordan Davis' seventeen-year-old body. He was killed almost instantly.
Throughout his trial Mr. Dunn has projected the contented demeanor of a man quite pleased with himself. This is definitely not a guy with the habit of looking inward. What was it that Socrates said about the unexamined life?
One more thing for the record: I dislike modern country music as much as rap. With very few exceptions (Willie Nelson comes to mind - God bless the old guy) nothing about it strikes me as very original. Like rap, it's merely audible shit to my ears. Hank Williams and Johnny Cash are gone and they're not coming back I'm sorry to say.
Here's what bugs me:
The moral of today's story is short and not-too-sweet:
Fellow Caucasians, there are two sets of rules way down south - one for them and one for us. My message to any young, black male planning on visiting the Sunshine State is as simple as can be: Watch yer step, boy! Stay the hell up north if you know what's good for you. The racial situation is a little better here....I think.
In Florida Michael Dunn took his stand; he "stood his ground". The result was another broken black body, scarcely past childhood. What is called for here is a worldwide tourism boycott of what must be the most overrated peninsula on the planet earth.
Can I get a witness?
Tom Degan
Goshen, NY
SUGGESTED LISTENING:
The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
by Bob Dylan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8C16SpTNbKY
Listen as Uncle Bobby lays it out in chapter and verse.
 |
| Mr. Benny |
For those of you who have been kind enough to inquire about my health after my recent illness, I have good news and bad news for you....
The good news is that I'm as a fiddle.
The bad news is that it's Jack Benny's fiddle.
Seriously, though, I'm doing better than the law (and karma) should allow. Thank you so much for all your well wishes and kind thoughts!
posted by Tom Degan @ 2:49 PM
72 comments
72 Comments:
I there a blog there, or just a title? I've reloaded three times and no text.
"Suppose - just suppose - that the shoe had been on the other foot."
Sounds like something Art Bell would have said on his old radio show.
"Suppose - just suppose - that aliens were behind the start of life on earth".
I call it thug music too.
For the record.
You want some citations as backup? I can produce hundreds.
Why? Why approach a vehicle loaded with "spooky" black men blaring "thug music?" Are white people that daft? Did the stuffy old white guy think that his request or command was going to be obeyed? Or was he relying on a confrontation confident that he had his gun?
Why can't folks use a bit of guile and "soft-glove" to remedy these problems. "Hey boys...Just an FYI, last Thursday the cops rolled through and tossed a vehicle for a noise ordinance." Be their "friend." Be an ally. Speak to people's self-interest and it goes a long way.
Dunn did see a "shotgun," as well as any number of other risks to him. Everybody was also smoking pot and the boys were there only to sell drugs. His misconceptions got the better of him.
What could of have been solved with a little gentility ended with death.
a little gentility? Like the knock out game? Sure right on, power to the people, no justice no peace!
First, I am glad you are doing better, Tom. May springtime show you renewed health (it really will come there)...I have crocus blooming in my front yard.
Second, how can one burst out in laughter--loudly enough to startle a dog--while reading something as serious as this? By coming upon the following:
That being said, it never even occurred to me to take out another human being misguided enough to enjoy the stuff. I'm kinda funny that way, you know?
Signed, Not a fan of rap or modern country music (both basically sound like thug music to me in their own way)
The three lowest forms of music are (c)rap, disco, and country.
Did Dunn live at the convenience store? Were they blaring their music outside his bedroom window all night?
Was it really too difficult for him to think, "That music really sucks, I'm glad I'll only have to hear it for a few seconds.'?
Thug music? Is that music thugs listen to? Or is it music with violent lyric content? Is it both?
I suppose Wagner is also "thug music" since Nazis liked it and the librettos contain words of violence.
I guess opera is thug music, by nature.
Bluegrass and country, as well as rap, are full of "thug music" tales of violence, too.
Then there's the metal stuff.
That's a lot of thug music out there.
Maybe someone can clear this up for me, since I'm only musician.
What do I know?
The Rhetoric of Violence in Rap and Country Music
This study is a semiotic ethnography and ethnomusicological comparison of the rhetoric of violence found in two increasingly popular musical forms, rap and country. Based on the production-of-culture perspective, musical genres are considered socially constructed organizing principles and lyrics, the primary data, are viewed as ensembles of texts. The strategy is to address rap and country songs as they present claims concerning the focal concerns of trouble and toughness. First, analysis is framed in terms of three violent crimes–murder, manslaughter, and assault. Second, dimensions of toughness are specified–physical prowess and masculinity. This study illustrates the hidden resemblances between rap and country and highlights parallels between these essentially incompatible musical domains.
Try the Humans Race by the Sweatshop union it might expand your mind. As far as country music it just makes me cry in my beer and I don't need any help with that.
Garth Brooks, one of the most beloved stars of country music has a song called "Papa Loved Mama" sung from the point of view of a child who's Father Killed his Mother over an affair, andanother song called "THunder Rolls" where a wife kills her husband for the same thing. Yeah, good wholesome "family" entertainment. I still hate rap music, and disco gives me pimples, but to critisize rap because it's violent is just hypocritical.
Harry Reid is a low, corrupt politician. He has become a wealthy man while serving his entire adult life as a public employee. How does that happen? Obviously, he has taken bribes, sometimes in the form of sweetheart Las Vegas real estate deals. Harry Reid is the epitome of corrupt cronyism. Not coincidentally, cronyism is precisely what Charles and David Koch are fighting against.
cronyism is precisely what Charles and David Koch are fighting against.
LOL!!! Yeah, that's it, the guys famous for "dark money" corrupting out political process are noble angels.
What. A. Frickin'. CULT.
What percent of those convicted of violent crimes listened or listen to rap, AKA thug music?
Mr. Dubya, at your work place, is rap music allowed to be played?
How many country western songs have the "N" word in them?
What's the % of violent acts sung about in total rap songs vs. all other styles of music?
How many rap singers have been murdered by the thug fans of other rap "artists"? Give the same numbers for country western singers.
Before I go any further, I'm not a fan of country western music. The attempt to equate the violence found in rap music and it's fans to the effects of any other style of music is plan stupid. If the media is the message, then what is the message rap music is sending to it's fans? Women are trivial compared to men, murder is acceptable, calling some a "N" is ok? Find that in any other genera of music.
Here are seven Obamacare figures that have Democratic insiders sweating.
1. 56% of uninsured Americans do not like Obamacare.
The Kaiser Family Foundation’s recent polling data reveal that 56% of uninsured Americans--the very people whom Obamacare purports to help--do not like Obamacare.
2. According to the Obama administration’s own figures, Obamacare will spike premiums on 11 million small business employees.
A new report from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services concluded that two-thirds of small businesses that offer health insurance will pay higher premiums due to Obamacare. That, reports the Washington Post, means 11 million workers can expect their premiums to jump because of Obamacare. Worse for Democrats, because many employers renewed their pre-Obamacare health plans before the end of 2013, many of these rate spikes will be timed to hit beginning in the second part of 2014 right before the November 4 midterm elections.
3. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) says Obamacare will kill 2.5 million jobs over the next 10 years.
By creating disincentives to work, the CBO says Obamacare will result in a “decline in the number of full-time equivalent workers of about 2.0 million in 2017, rising to about 2.5 million in 2024.”
4. Obamacare will cost taxpayers between $1.8 and $2.6 trillion over the next decade. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has reported that Obamacare will cost American taxpayers $1.798 trillion. The Senate GOP Budget Committee says those figures are based on overly optimistic economic assumptions and scores the real cost at $2.6 trillion.
5. According to the New York Times, 800,000 Obamacare enrollees failed to pay their first premium.
Even as the Obama administration attempts to put a happy face on its low four million enrollees—a figure far removed from its seven million goal--the New York Times says at least 20% of all the people who applied for Obamacare never paid their first month’s premium, thereby rendering them still uninsured.
6. Just 11% of Obamacare customers were previously uninsured.
The purported purpose of Obamacare was to increase health care coverage of uninsured Americans. However, as the Wall Street Journal reported, a McKinsey & Co. study last month found that “only 11% of consumers who bought new coverage under the law were previously uninsured.”
7. Obama reassured Americans at least 36 times that if they liked their health care plan, they could keep their health care plan.
President Barack Obama’s now-infamous promise, “If you like your plan, you can keep your plan” was named Politifact’s “Lie of the Year.” Obama stated the claim at least 36 times, and several Democrats running in tight races parroted the president’s comments before millions of Americans saw their health insurance plans canceled due to Obamacare. Political ads have already begun hitting voters showcasing Democratic candidates repeating Obama’s ill-fated promise.
And we are back to the inevitable Obama whinefest.
Chuckie,
Isn't censorship un-American? Guns are tools of actual violence.
Thugs love guns. Yet you want to ban music you don't like and allow gun sales without background checks.
Sounds real smart.
Clue: NO music contains violence.
Clue 2: Thugs listen to all kinds of music. Wanna ban ALL music too?
Meanwhile we show just a couple Right Wing LIES:
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has reported that Obamacare will cost American taxpayers $1.798 trillion.
CBO says:
Taking the coverage provisions and other provisions together, CBO and JCT have estimated that the ACA will reduce deficits over the next 10 years and in the subsequent decade.
http://www.cbo.gov/publication/44176
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) says Obamacare will kill 2.5 million jobs over the next 10 years.
Politifact says. FALSE
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2014/feb/14/national-republican-congressional-committee/nrcc-says-congressional-budget-office-predicts-oba/
CBO says:
Q: Will 2.5 Million People Lose Their Jobs in 2024 Because of the ACA?
A: No, we would not describe our estimates in that way.
By the way, to get to the number where the 'majority' of Americans are unhappy with Obamacare, you have to add the numbers of people who are just outright against it for whatever reason, and the people who are against it because it doesn't go far enough.
Unless you think Jim Demint and Michael Moore actually have the same objections.
"NO music contains violence."
Thanks Mr. Clark, I gave that song a 85 cause the kids could really dance to it. Well, that settles it for me Davey.
Obamacare.....
I guess this means democrats running in 2014 will be running on the wonderfulness of Obamacare and will be begging the President to be campaigning with them?
De_Bill,
Keep telling yourself that right up to the day after the NOV elections.
I read this the other day, it explains how Obamacare has brought out the worst in liberals. Liberal impatience with partisanship, that is, with people who oppose their plan, arises from the fact that in contemporary liberalism, there is no publicly acknowledged right of revolution. Look at some of the most important political theorists to today's statist or modern liberal, Kant, Hegel and Woodrow Wilson, they were quite explicit in rejecting a right of revolution. The believed that a people always have the government they deserve. There is no right to "abolish" as the Declaration of Independence proclaims, the current form of govt and substitute it with a better one. This position in today's liberalism is shown by their belief that there is no conceivable right to overturn contemporary liberalism, or as today's liberal likes to say "there is no turning back back the clock".
This flies in the face of what the Declaration of Independence said was our right.
Read Sam Tanenhaus's book "the Death of Conservatism". He holds that conservatism is good insofar as it consolidates and preserves the liberal order. When conservatism attempts to roll back the liberal order, it has gone revolutionary, or radical, liberalism stands for progress and progress, after all, is final. Even if the people it governs do not want or like the progress.
This has finally explained the liberal knee jerk reaction to any criticism of a liberal policy. The right to revolt, to say no, to vote against, to express dissatisfaction against liberalism is forbidden in the liberalism of today. To do so risks being branded a wacko or racist. Yet that concept is the foundation of our country.
Tom, there must be SOME way to delete these off topic WHINING posts that are nothing but spam.
Only the brainwashed radical Right Bubble Cult believe Obamacare is a liberal idea. And they still have no sane and compassionate alternative. Why is that? Well, why SHOULD they care? They never have and never will.
Here's the real liberal plan.
Socialized healthcare for all is the only sane and compassionate answer. It's cheaper AND has better outcomes.
So why does the radical Right hate it? Greed. They want our health care dollars going into the pockets of the CEOs and shareholder elites, who provide ZERO health care.
"there is no turning back back the clock".
This flies in the face of what the Declaration of Independence said was our right.
I didn't know the Declaration allowed for time reversal. They indoctrinate strange things in their cult, don't they?
Yeah, blame liberals because we can't go back to the dark ages.
The irony is that is what we are doing.
This country has been screwed since Reagan led us into corporatized America. Yes, Reagan took us from a creditor nation to a debtor nation.
We are well on the way to neo-feudalism where the rich keep getting richer and the rest of us lose. The enemies of democracy and owners of our government will rule with iron fists. Wealth will trickle up, and austerity will be imposed on the public.
Ever wonder whatever happened to all that "trickle down" they promised? Just give the rich more tax breaks and...they get richer...and public services are gutted...and infrastructure decays as funding is slashed.
Ever notice that the Bubble Cult does NOT want to admit who's raking it all in?
Watch what happens...
Hey, Chuckie! Who's raking it in these days?
See? Not a peep.
They're forbidden to admit the truth in their cult.
All we get is "blame the black guy" and "liberals are commies".
The cult truly believes that following the economic agenda of the elites, and allowing their rule over us, will "trickle down" prosperity.
Yeah, they really do buy into that crap. Totally. Blindly. And they are programmed to hate anyone who disagrees, for in the eyes of their cult, those who disagree can only be commies.
So, Chuckie, as long as you're not answering questions, tell us what music do you want to censor? Who, besides liberals, do you want to silence?
Hey genius, I think we already had an election that decided if a majority of people were unhappy with Obamacare or not.
Maybe Faux Noise told you differently.
Kathleen Willey, the former volunteer aide to Bill Clinton who says she was sexually harassed by the president in the 1990s, is now sounding the alarm about the potential danger of Hillary Clinton becoming president.
“Hillary Clinton is the War On Women, and that’s what needs to be exposed here,” Willey said Sunday night on Aaron Klein’s WABC Radio show.
“The point is what this woman is capable of doing to other women while she’s running a campaign basically on women’s issues. It just doesn’t make any sense. She singlehandedly orchestrated every one of the investigations and character assasinations of all these women [who accused her husband of sexual crimes]. They’re the people reminding us of how sordid this all is.”
De-Bill,
For the record: The presidential election was before the ACA went into effect. Talk to me after the NOV elections.
Davey,
You have proven my point, again. The election in NOV will tell us if Americans want to go into the direction you so strongly support or not. My money is on a total rejection of the entire DNC and their allies liberal vision for America.
Hey Chuck, didn't you guys predict a Romney landslide in 2012? HOW'D THAT GO FOR YA?
Chuckie,
You've shown us you don't even know what a liberal vision is.
The election in NOV will tell us if Americans want to go into the direction you so strongly support or not.
Big Money's "Free speech" will decide who's on the ballot. The direction towards sanity and compassion will not be options from the two corporatist parties.
There is no "liberal party". BOTH work for wealthy interests over the majority interest.
Sanity and compassion do not "trickle down" from DC.
The people will speak by voter initiatives at the state level. That's basically all that's left of our democracy.
Saaaayyyy, Chuckie,
You "forgot" to answer my question.
Who's raking it in these days?
Hint: The ones you shill and lie for.
Mozart,
I predicted nothing about the 2012 election.
Davey,
Already with the excuses for losing in Nov. 2014? Since the Dems aren't liberal, why do you even care?
As always you never fail to support by your own actions that what I have said. Thanks for giving my position creditability, again.
About your question(s), why on earth would I lower myself by an attempt to answer anything you asked? In the past when I have, you have just ignored them.
As I said earlier, "This position in today's liberalism is shown by their belief that there is no conceivable right to overturn contemporary liberalism, or as today's liberal likes to say "there is no turning back back the clock". You now claim there is no liberal party. WOW!
Then you are grab the mantel of States rights, do you believe the States should have the final say about the right to murder a child while in its mothers womb? Or is that "good" federal interference? What's your take on Gov Walker of WI and his labor actions at the state level? Or AZ and their enforcing federal law at the Mexican boarder? Or do you only mean the legalization of pot by some states?
Your mantra of "blame the black guy", "Bwaack buck buck" and unwavering support for socialism while denying communism also supports socialism, has made your posts irrelevant to me. At least Mozart comes up with gems like his "I there a blog there, or just a title? I've reloaded three times and no text" that bring a smile. You simply have no grasp of the inconsistency of your own views and statements, or the rage you display when confronted with that fact, and frankly, you bore me.
To move things back on topic while indulging in an act of shameless self-promotion, I put together my thoughts about the Jordan Davis case: http://macklyons.blogspot.com/2014/03/jordan-davis.html
why on earth would I lower myself by an attempt to answer anything you asked?
Chuckie can't get any lower when it comes to dishonesty, rudeness, trolling, and running from the truth. There's a reason he NEVER answers questions.
As I said, Chicken Chuckie's frightened to acknowledge, let alone debate:
We are well on the way to neo-feudalism where the rich keep getting richer and the rest of us lose. The enemies of democracy and owners of our government will rule with iron fists. Wealth will trickle up, and austerity will be imposed on the public.
Ever wonder whatever happened to all that "trickle down" they promised? Just give the rich more tax breaks and...they get richer...and public services are gutted...and infrastructure decays as funding is slashed.
Ever notice that the Bubble Cult does NOT want to admit who's raking it all in?
Watch what happens...
Hey, Chuckie! Who's raking it in these days?
See? Not a peep.
They're forbidden to admit the truth in their cult.
All we get is "blame the black guy" and "liberals are commies".
This all goes to show you don't need to be a prophet to predict the Bubble Cult's behavior and indoctrination.
Davey
BORING!!!!!!
Chicken Chuckie:
"Bwaack! Boring! Bwaack, buck, buck, boring, blame the black guy, buckaaww!"
Tom,
If nothing else, your blog is an interesting experiment in what is important to the American people. Frankly, racial politics is not high on the radar screen of the average American. We all know racism and/or ethnicism exists - always has, always will all over this globe. It is nothing new or unique in the American context other than the fact that we have a unique cultural mix and history that yields some unique social problems. Not saying it isn't important - just saying folks have bigger issues to deal with. And, believe it or not, 21st century American racial "problems" are relatively mild compared to what goes on around this world. You know that. I'm curious as to what's beneath your fascination with it.
And, reading through the post replies, I especially like Jay's - good thoughts... I don't think it would work, but I like the mindset.
Another thought... I would have been proud to stand up with most of the black men and women who were fighting unfair treatment in the early and mid 20th century. Righteous indignation over immoral and unjust oppressors. The preponderance of evidence I have personally witnessed (and I live in an older section of town surrounded on all sides by low income, predominantly black areas) is that I would not stand with most of what I see today... I'm not ashamed to say that. Having said that, I don't wish ill, I wish for healing and wholeness for these areas, but self-preservation naturally takes over at some point. I've seen some pretty scary stuff. It's just reality. And, I truly believe the "thug" rap industry exploits and promotes it.
So, you're saying the GOP DIDN'T try to make the 2012 election a referendum on the ACA?
That's hilarious.
"So, you're saying the GOP DIDN'T try to make the 2012 election a referendum on the ACA?"
How could they? It didn't go into effect until fall of 2013. We won't know what's in it until we read it, remember that? And based on the roll out problems and effects for those who were able to sign up, no Democrat knew that it was so bad either. If they did and didn't say anything about it in 2012, why? Don't you think for one second that if the GOP knew of the all failures and problems in and with Obamacare in 2012 they would have made it an election issue?
I think you are grasping at straws De_Bill. Nov. of this year will be an eye opener for you.
Harley A.
What other issue but race can liberals talk about?
The economy, unemployment, underemployment, numbers of people on food stamps and welfare, the numbers of us not working, foreign policy success's? The claim that race is a problem is the only issue they know will activate their base in 2014 elections. They know now that what Palin and Romney said about Russian aggression was true. They know they cant blame Bush for that.
So by default, the race card is the only card they hold.
One-third of Americans say the Affordable Care Act has had a negative impact on them personally, while 14 percent say the law has helped them, according to a new Rasmussen survey. The poll finds that public dissatisfaction with Obamcare remains nearly as high as it was during the height of the website’s problems last year.
Rasmussen finds that more people say they have a “very unfavorable” opinion of the law than have a favorable opinion of it at 41 and 40 percent, respectively. Fifty-six percent of respondents said they view the law unfavorably, just shy of a high of 58 percent in November of last year. Of the 40 percent who have a favorable opinion, only 16 percent view the law ”very favorably.”
The one-third of Americans who say they have been hurt by the law is a slight increase from the 29 percent who said the same in January, while those saying they had been helped by the law dropped 2 percent over the same period.
Hey Anonymous, Chuckie
Go Phrack Yourself!
The Coke brothers and Faux News are behind all those FAKE stories about people having problems with ObamaCare.
You should read the bill to find out whats in it before you pollute Tom's fine marxist blog with fake stories!
President Obama’s foreign policy is based on fantasy — Washington Post
One question, that will certainly go unanswered by Chuckie, but his conscience, or utter lack thereof, will tell.
Who was the real thug in this incident, Davis or Dunn?
I bet every racist reading this will think the black kid was the thug.
Right, Chuckie?
"Mitt Romney Was Right About Russia" New Republic
hehehehehe
Mozart, you said:"Tom, there must be SOME way to delete these off topic WHINING posts that are nothing but spam."
Just give it up. Tom has no intention of turning off these idiots and I have amost stopped reading The Rant because of the off topic and name calling posts. There are other sites that are much more interesting and can offer on topic comments.
"How could they? It didn't go into effect until fall of 2013."
Wow.......just wow.
" Now who can argue with that? I think we're all indebted to Gabby Johnson (Chuck) for clearly stating what needed to be said. I'm particulary glad that these lovely children were here today to hear that speech. Not only was it authentic frontier gibberish, it expressed a courage little seen in this day and age.
SusieQ -
Your post is both off-topic and name-calling...
Delete it, Tom.
I kid. Lighten up.
Suzie Q....
I have neither the time nor the inclination to delete every trolling imbecile that posts here. Ignore them. I do.
Two hunters are out in the woods when one of them collapses. He's not breathing and his eyes are glazed, so his friend calls 911. "My friend is dead! What should I do?" The operator replies, "Calm down, sir. I can help. First make sure that he's dead." There's a silence, then a loud bang. Back on the phone, the guy says, "Ok, now what?"
Just taking your advise Harley!
De_Bill,
You convinced me, EVERYBODY knew the problems with Obamacare (a.k.a. ACA) in 2010.
That's why the GOP tried to delay
it's start update and the DEM's knowing the problems were just flat being cruel to Americans by not fixing it before they mandated it on us.
There, you like that version better?
Harley, with regard to Tom's fascination with racism, I suspect that instinctively he senses he is black - as we all are in a way - at least the 99% of us. The most significant distinction that exists in this country is between the ultra-wealthy and the rest of us. Paralleling this is privilege, freedom and opportunity vs. consequences, bondage and lack of choice.
The whole black & white or Jew & Muslim thing is promoted in our society. Divide & conquerer - it's the oldest trick in the book - and us rubes fall for it again & again...
At least there is irony in that 1% will probably be sliced by their own swords. Perhaps when the gmo crops fail and the polar tide engulfs their estates. An oligarch reading this might feel a bit smug - but might change his tune watching his children mutate in his doomsday vault - that is if the serfs don't eat them before they move in.
Hmmm? I'm just a bundle of joy today.
John 'the optimist'
P.S. Tom, fight climate change, GMO & pesticide use, TPP and for recognition of our constitutional rights - how these issues play out will define this time. And finally, is the guy controlling a drone guilty of murder?
Back in 2008, the foreign policy press corp of America (and your favorite Marxist Tom Degan) ridiculed Sarah Palin for predicting that Barack Obama’s displays of weakness and softness would set the stage for a Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Blake Hounshell, then the left leaning editor of Foreign Policy and now Deputy Editor of Politico’s magazine, labeled the claim “strange.”
After Hounshell’s 2008 article started circulating on twitter the other day, he tweeted sarcastically, “Yes, Twitter, Sarah Palin totally called this exact Ukraine scenario 6 years ago….”
LOL LOL LOL progressives!
What do you expect from an amateur (Bill Clintoon's words) who talks a big game but couldn't run a McDonalds?
P.S. Obama has a 53 percent disapproval rating, but keep your Hope And Change T-Shirts on progressive utopian dreamers!
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What I really like is how you're able to ignore the fact I just proved you were talking out of your ass.
This is why I like Chicken Chuckie, er..."Joe the Plumber", our favorite radical Right authoritarian. He ignores everything we say. He ignores every bit of information that doesn't conform to his Bubble Cult's message. We can depend on that characteristic of his personality.
He runs from the truth so much he goes in circles, oblivious to what others plainly see.
He's a classic example of a radical Right authoritarian personality. John Dean's book, "Conservatives Without Conscience" thoroughly describes the authoritarian personality, and examples working in American government. The Bush Administration provided many case studies.
The authoritarian leaders utilize the vast Corporate Right Wing media to indoctrinate their followers. And as Chuckie proves again and again, these loyal followers are the most ill-informed, narrow-minded, resentful, hateful, and angry of true believers.
They believe the poor are too well off, and the rich don't have enough, and are even getting screwed. They’re encouraged to resent those on public benefits, mostly minorities in their view, as unworthy dregs, out to steal their money. They're indoctrinated to revere wealth and the wealthy elites to the point of supporting them against their own interests. Their cult has them believing they can all get rich, if they just work hard enough. No amount of greed is excessive to these people. It is valued. Greed is their virtue, their faith, and their god. They’re in service to the greediest elements of humanity. They can’t see it of course. They are programmed to believe they serve “freedom’ and the so-called “free market”, their infallible god.
So they support their rich authoritarian leaders, and push to have their way with literally everything they want. And what they want is for their wealthy elites to literally have more power than the federal government.
Yes, that is dictatorship. Inverted Totalitarianism is the term.
They are indoctrinated to believe those who disagree with them are communists. Liberal is just another word for commie to these extremist radicals. Chuckie plays his commie card more often than he pretends liberals play the race card. The authoritarian personality regards pointing out real racism as the “race card”.
So, crazy as they are with hate, and as dangerous to humankind as they've proven, the radical Right authoritarian personality is still entertaining in a sad, sick way.
It's the relief we feel when we go, "Thank God, I'm not like those angry, confused assholes."
And that is why I like Chuckie, er..."Joe the Plumber".
John,
why dont we talk about this?
President Obama’s job approval rating hits a record low this week, as a majority of Americans say his administration has mostly failed at growing the economy, creating jobs, improving health care and the country’s image.
For the first time in a Fox News poll, fewer than four voters in ten -- 38 percent -- approve of President Obama’s job performance. Fifty-four percent disapprove. Before now Obama’s worst job rating was 40-55 percent in November 2013. Last month 42 percent approved and 53 percent disapproved (February 2014).
Or this?
Last week, the Democratic Party had their winter meeting and MRCTV's Dan Joseph decided to ask DNC committee members and guests if they're ready for Hillary--and why.
Some said she had about a hundred moments of greatness when she served under President Obama - but, strangely, couldn't name a single accomplishment of hers, besides marrying Bill Clinton.
Another attendee mentioned Clinton's stance on abortion as a reason to be super excited for Hillary Clinton in 2016. As for her accomplishments, none came to mind, but she noted that Obama saw a reason for her to be nominated as Secretary of State.
Maybe this?
A House chairman probing the IRS scandal on Wednesday said that President Obama has reneged on a promise to have his aides cooperate with the investigation, forcing the Ways and Means Committee to conduct a dragnet for emails and documents needed to smoke out the truth.
Rep. Dave Camp also revealed that federal agents conducting an investigation into the Internal Revenue Service's bid to punish Tea Party and conservative critics of the president have yet to talk to a single target of the scandal.
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Camp, whose committee is one of several looking into the 2010-2013 scandal, put the blame for the drawn out investigations on Capitol Hill at the president’s feet.
“I don’t fully understand why it’s taken them so long given that the president promised,” Camp said at a media roundtable hosted by the Christian Science Monitor. “He promised that he would have quick action and we still don’t have the documents from an agency that is in this administration."
Fight climate change? Do you have a way to stop volcanoes from erupting, or sun spots from changing or India and china from polluting? How would you suggest we fight those four largest reasons for climate change?
"Is the guy controlling a drone guilty of murder?" Since the guy ordering the use of drone strikes is a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, I think he would be the place to start.
What do you think?
Never mind the Troll’s FOX(R) propaganda dump and his rude demands for distraction.
There's a reason they run from this question, "Who was the real thug in this incident, Davis or Dunn?"
We know they are of the Dark Side.
From theNew Study:
Internet Trolls Are Often Machiavellian Sadists
The research, conducted by Erin Buckels of the University of Manitoba and two colleagues, sought to directly investigate whether people who engage in trolling are characterized by personality traits that fall in the so-called "Dark Tetrad": Machiavellianism (willingness to manipulate and deceive others), narcissism (egotism and self-obsession), psychopathy (the lack of remorse and empathy), and sadism (pleasure in the suffering of others).
It is hard to underplay the results: The study found correlations, sometimes quite significant, between these traits and trolling behavior.
And they wonder why they are compared to fascists and sociopaths...and real thugs.
John "the optimist said",
Tom, fight climate change, GMO & pesticide use, TPP and for recognition of our constitutional rights - how these issues play out will define this time. And finally, is the guy controlling a drone guilty of murder?
Dave the socialist said,
dump his rude demands for distraction.
Tom said, "there are no rules here."
Mozart said, here must be SOME way to delete these off topic WHINING posts that are nothing but spam."
Anonymous said "What percent of those convicted of violent crimes listened or listen to rap, AKA thug music?"
Harley A. said, "I call it thug music too.
For the record.
You want some citations as backup? I can produce hundreds."
Interesting what happens when freedom of speech is allowed.
Interesting what happens when freedom of speech is allowed.
Well, radical Right authoritarians will misquote someone they hate for sure.
Dave the socialist said, dump his rude demands for distraction.
Yes, rude authoritarian trolls distract, lie and of course, blame the black guy. Oh yeah, blame Obama for Putin sending troops to Ukraine. Really? Sarah the expert on world politics predicted it?
LOL!!!
Did Sarah and her fellow haters of the black guy blame Bush for the Russian incursion in Georgia? Hell no, that was Senator Obama's fault, right?
If they don't like being compared to racists and fascists then they should stop acting like them.
Yeah, that'll be the day.
Hey, Chuckie, who was the real thug, the black kid listening to the "thug music" or his white killer?
And who's raking in vast wealth at record levels? The poor? The middle class?
What's the matter, trick questions?
Scared that reality overrules your cult indoctrination?
Bwaaack, buck, buck.
Republicans think Harry Reid is running the Senate like a dictator: His no-compromise style is almost like Vladimir Putin’s, and his inflammatory rhetoric is reminiscent of the Joe McCarthy era.
But Reid doesn’t seem to care.
“Get a brain, OK?” the Senate majority leader snapped at a reporter, when asked why he doesn’t permit far more votes on GOP amendments. “You’re a smart guy.”
Loving this Democratic version of democracy
Republicans think Harry Reid is running the Senate like a dictator:
Yeah, only "no compromise" Republicans should be dictators. The nerve of allowing the democratic process of majority votes deciding an issue.
Meanwhile, Hannity mocks the black guy for wearing a bicycle helmet.
Just like he DIDN'T do to Bush when HE wore a bicycle helmet.
If they don't like being compared to racists and fascists then they should stop acting like them.
Living here in Jacksonville and knowing what I've learned through out this case, I'd like to point out a few things.
I've personally been to the exact store where this took place. We have many of these stores down here. This specific store has one of the larger parking areas. Mr. Dunn could have parked anywhere. He chose to park next to an auto playing loud music. If it were so loud that he had to say something, he heard it before he even pulled in that spot.
It doesn't matter if you're offended or not by what one plays, the simple fact that those 4 young men were not breaking any laws, http://tbo.com/pinellas-county/florida-supreme-court-strikes-down-loud-car-stereo-law-581519 .
This was never a "stand your ground" defense in my opinion. I do support the "stand your ground" law, but I do believe that every reasonable attempt should be made to avoid the situation. I do not think Zimmerman should have walked, he had more than every chance to avoid the situation, he like Dunn, chose to put them selves in an avoidable situation.
Ah yes, the old race card, when a liberal has nothing else to play, they can always find racism somewhere, some how.
Don't make fun of our black president wearing a helmet on a bike, that's racist of you.
Really? Talk about a thin skinned, what is it called, "bubble cult"?
Here's a clue, making fun of any public figure if it is not about race is not racism. Period.
Share with us where good ole Harry Reid has compromised on anything the minority party has purposed.
BTW why doesn’t Harry permit far more votes on GOP amendments? Wonder if Harry is afraid of allowing the Black Senator from S.C. to vote? That's racist isn't it. Or would it fly in the face of Harry's "cult indoctrination"? We must not allow the GOP ideas to be voted on because if we do, even if voted down, we will not have their lack of passed legislation to solve the problems we Dems have created, to beat them up over. So Harry just doesn't allow any votes on GOP ideas, that way Dems can say the GOP isn't offering any solutions.
Pure B.S.
But laughing at the Pres for wearing mom jeans and a helmet is racist.
BTW, Obama throws a baseball like a girl! Racism, right?
BTW Obama has big ears, racism , right?
BTW, Obama's wife has a large rear end, racism, right?
BTW, Obama has never worked a day in the private sector, racism, right?
The best part of this blog are the race mongering reply's by Dave Dubya to any post that criticizes blacks or liberalism. That's racism if you laugh at Obama but didn't at Bush? Yea, well then it's racism if you laugh at Bush or any white Conservative and dont laugh at a black liberal!
Just another page out of the liberal, socialist, race mongering play book. Don't laugh at Obama cause he's black and you didn't laugh at Bush cause he's white! Now the PC Police are trying to control our sense of humor to fit their world view of "fairness"? Calls for more legislation. HA1
B.S.!
I don't believe it was in any way a warranted response to some teens acting stupid - teens of all races have been known to do that. Thing is, we don't know for sure Dunn wouldn't have responded the same way to a carload of of white teens cranking thug rap music. He very well may have. Racism may have played a part - may not have. It is irrelevant to the fact that it was a murder that occured. That's what bothers me - the insunuation that it was necessarily race-based simply because it was a white agressor and a black victim. When rarely do we jump to the same conclusion (if we even discuss) the reverse.
To DD's point, yes, I'd have to say Dunn was a thug based on his actions. But, we also know the driver was a tinge thuggish based on the fact he was on probation for a felony charge and breaking curfew. Guilt-by-association? Not necessarily, no, but probably would have been wiser choice of friends he could have made, no? We also know Davis engaged and escalated. He didn't deserve what he got, but he sure could have helped himself out had he responded differently.
Worthy of discussion but not handled fairly all around. I don't like slant pieces...
I ask everyone’s indulgence for returning to the topic of Tom's Rant.
I have lived in Florida for almost thirty years and here is my take on the Davis-Dunn confrontation.
There were three youths other than Davis who were shot but not fatally. Dunn was convicted on those three shootings, which resulted in a prison term of 60 years.
Davis was shot dead and that resulted in a hung jury and no conviction.
The lesson learned from this case (as in the Zimmerman case) is to leave no survivors. Shoot them all dead, and walk after “Standing Your Ground.”
What a deplorable situation.
If liberals dont want to be called idiots, then they need to stop acting like one.
If liberals don't want to be called race mongers, then need to stop playing the race card.
If liberals don't want to called socialists, they should stop supporting socialist big government policy's.
If liberals don't want to be called Communists, they should stop supporting Communist economic policy's.
If liberals want to be taken serious when they oppose the death sentence, they need to stop supporting abortion at any time for any reason.
If liberals want lower unemployment levels, they need to stop supporting government actions like higher taxes, and increasing regulations on business that destroy jobs.
If liberals are really worried about man caused global warming they should not buy anything made in China and India.
If liberals are really "pro-women" they should not support Islam.
If liberals
If "Anonymous" actually understood liberals he wouldn't call them commies.
If "Anonymous" hates socialism, he would refuse police and fire protection, and oppose national parks and the VA. He would hate the US Constitution for providing for the general welfare. He would let the unemployed starve.
If "Anonymous" had a memory he'd remember we had lower unemployment and a balanced budget when taxes on the rich were higher.
If "Anonymous" had a memory he'd remember the middle class prospered when we had unions.
If "Anonymous" had a memory, he'd remember Bush left us the Great Recession and skyrocketing unemployment.
If "Anonymous" had any honesty he'd admit who's raking in "trickle up" wealth at record levels.
If "Anonymous" had a any honesty he'd admit we have the greatest income inequality since 1929.
If "Anonymous" had a memory he'd remember Republicans were at the helm at the advent of the Great Depression.
If "Anonymous" had any integrity he would admit who was the real thug, the black kid listening to the "thug music" or his white killer?
If "Anonymous" wasn't a radical far Right authoritarian, he wouldn't be such an ignorant, hateful, asshole troll.
Isn't that right, Chuckie?
Well there you have it, a stalemate. A cold war that can never be won by either side.
On a positive note we are not blowing up each others children's school buses like they did in Ireland for 40 years but is still a shitty situation.
The country is being run like shit and I think we are headed for a collapse in the next ten years. And when it does we still will be blaming each other for the calamity.
The funny thing is me and Anonymous both know in our hearts we are right.
Darn those Christian extremists.
LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) – Four young men were convicted of gay sex and whipped publicly as punishment Thursday in an Islamic court in northern Nigeria, a human rights activist said.
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AP) — A Catholic bishop says Islamic insurgents have destroyed 20 churches in northeastern Nigeria in recent attacks.
Bishop Oliver Dashe Dome says than 500 of his parishioners have been killed since insurgency in the region began in 2009. At least 180 people have been killed in less than two weeks, including 60 children.
Thank Chuckie for once again proving how ignorant he is about liberals.
Oh, look, we see an admission that we have the greatest income inequality since 1929!
Does this mean Obama has helped the rich get richer? Isn't that a good thing for Chuckie?
As much as he loves to blame Obama for everything, I bet he's chicken to tell us how that is Obama's fault, or if it is even a problem.
Liberals would gladly discuss it, but not Chicken Chuckie.
Bwaaack.
Yes, darn those religious extremists, indeed.
Americans’ Role Seen in Uganda Anti-Gay Push
American evangelical Christians, whose teachings about “curing” homosexuals have been widely discredited in the United States, arrived here in Uganda’s capital to give a series of talks.
The theme of the event, according to Stephen Langa, its Ugandan organizer, was “the gay agenda — that whole hidden and dark agenda” — and the threat homosexuals posed to Bible-based values and the traditional African family.
Human rights advocates in Uganda say the visit by the three Americans helped set in motion what could be a very dangerous cycle. Gay Ugandans already describe a world of beatings, blackmail, death threats like “Die Sodomite!” scrawled on their homes, constant harassment and even so-called correctional rape.
Yes, inspired by the hate, ignorance and fear from “good Christians” Uganda passed a death penalty for homosexuality. Under pressure from sane and compassionate voices they reduced the punishment to life in prison.
Thanks to American Christian fundamentalist influence, “Homosexuals can forget about human rights” in Uganda.
Happy days may be here again for American Liberals!!!
Bernie Sanders says he is “prepared to run for president of the United States.” That’s not a formal announcement. A lot can change between now and 2016, and the self admitted socialist Senator from Vermont bristles at the whole notion of a permanent campaign. But Sanders has begun talking with savvy progressive/liberal/socialist political strategists, traveling to unexpected locations such as Alabama and entertaining the process questions that this most issue-focused self-described democratic socialist member of the Senate has traditionally avoided.
My name is BaCrock Obama.
I promised all you ameriKans that you could:
1) Keep your Doctor
2) Keep your current Health Care Plan
3) Save $2500 a year in Health Care Costs
Fox News and the Coke Brothers been lying that I have not kept my 3 promises.
All I can say to Fox News is GO PHRACK YOURSELF!
Currently I have beem pushing for raising the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour to raise millions out of poverty into the middle class.
I'm now thinking of raising the minimum wage to $1 Million dollars a year!
If we are all millionaires then there will be no more class warfare and it will be an end to the Marxian Struggle!
After working for a year and earning a $1 million we can all retire and pursue our dreams and not have to work anymore!
Hey Mod, keep your day job because your comedy shtick is really lame.
James,
Is it as lame the Ass Clown Named Obama with the 53 percent disapproval rating?
"Rspect", that is what our President demands, as do his supporters.
why are liberals so fucking dumb when it comes to basic economics?
why are liberals so fucking dumb when it comes to basic economics?
Put or up shout up.
Hateful idiots are racists. Above is proof of hateful idiocy.
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