Morality is not determined by the church you attend nor the faith you embrace. It is determined by the quality of your character and the positive impact you have on those you meet along your journey
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Sometimes brutal truth is best delivered in the form of a comic strip.
I see this as "It could have been me." I see this as a photo journalistic way of creating a mocking political cartoon.
There is no text and I have no way of reading anything from the original posters who created these images so I don't know if this is being done as a protest over Zimmerman and stand your ground or the exact opposite.
But I don't see this much differently than the political cartoon that put Martin Luther King's face in a hoodie.
On a recent PBS documentary, a historian described a county in one southern state (my apologies for forgotting which one) where the lynchings usually included such "extras" as: 1) a mob suddenly showing up and dragging their victim from his home while his family watched helplessly and begged for his life, 2) torturing him by beating him with farm tools or setting him on fire, and 3) lynching him in such a way that instead of instantly breaking his neck he'd slowly strangle and thus "dance" for a few minutes as the crowd cheered and shouted racist insults.
It was also common in this county (and surely in others as well) for the lynched bodies to either be left dangling from a tree or sometimes dragged into town and then left for perhaps a week so anyone who felt like it could spit on the corpse or pelt it with garbage or maybe even urinate on it -- just for kicks ...
And, as sickeningly gruesome as these details are, the local newspapers would report them with unreserved glee for up to two weeks after -- or, even more horrifying, for the week BEFORE a lynching took place !
The historian then calculated, based on careful research of the written records, that these lynchings occurred, on average, EVERY THREE MONTHS.
This, he concluded, meant that for more than five decades after they'd finally been freed from two centuries -- or roughly six generations -- of slavery, the African-Americans who continued to live in that county would have been "lucky" if they ever went more than a week or two without encountering SOME sort of very graphic reminder that, at any time and for little or no reason, any male regardless of age might be chosen for torture and murder by their white neighbors WITHOUT THE SLIGHTEST RISK OF LEGAL CONSEQUENCES OF ANY KIND for no other reason than livening up an otherwise uneventful Saturday night.
Writing all that has left me in tears, but to modern-day racists and their apologists ... ?
Well, all THAT happened a loooong time ago and none of US had nothin' to do with it and even if'n we DID we couldn'ta done nothin' to stop it -- y'know, like, if'n we'd a-wanted to.
An' that's how come all the black people need to just shut up and stop 1) listening to hip hop, 2) talking "black," 3) wearing hoodies, 4) committing violent crimes, 5) hating white people by 6) using vicious, hateful racist insults like "Cracker !" and ... um, er ... well, it really REALLY hurts to be called a Cracker !
But above ALL, since all this happened a loooong time ago -- and, HELL, even white folks can make a few little bitty mistakes -- ALL the black people in America gotta STOP using silly little mistakes like lynchings as an excuse to sit around, living lives of luxury and ease by collecting welfare paid for by white people's taxes !!!
Of COURSE that rationale makes PERFECT sense -- so long as you're the lobotomized offspring of five generations of first-cousin marriages.
O/T but good lord, Gryphen, what do you think of this? More dumbing down of the children!
GOP Lawmaker: Sending Children To School Should Be A Choice
State Sen. Aaron Osmond (UT-R) outlined a proposal last week to abolish compulsory education in the state, and let parents choose whether or not to send their children to school.
A Republican lawmaker in Utah outlined a proposal last week to abolish compulsory education in the state.
State Sen. Aaron Osmond (R) argued that certain "parents act as if the responsibility to educate, and even care for their child, is primarily the responsibility of the public school system."
"As a result, our teachers and schools have been forced to become surrogate parents, expected to do everything from behavioral counseling, to providing adequate nutrition, to teaching sex education, as well as ensuring full college and career readiness," he wrote in a post on the state senate's blog.
Osmond told the Deseret News that he wants the public to view education as an opportunity rather than a requirement.
"Let’s let them choose it, let’s not force them to do it," Osmond said.
If we stop all that compulsory education nonsense, we can start our girls popping out babies at much younger ages without that silly schoolwork getting in the way.
After all, what do female-types need with education anyway? As long as they know how to change a diaper, clean the house and make a nice meal for the man of the house, that's all they really need to know. isn't it?
* * * * * *
All snark aside, I found it quite interesting that Osmond works for Certiport-Pearson. Anyone connected with education immediately recognizes the name of Pearson as a mega-corporation that produces curriculum and educational testing materials. They were also deeply involved in the creation of the Common Core standards, which guide the academic curriculum of school districts across the country. Helpfully, they ALSO provide testing materials as well as curriculum materials.
In NY, there has been an outcry because the latest ELA test used text excerpts taken directly from the curriculum that Pearson developed and sold, but which is NOT being used by NY. What this means is that students who use the Pearson materials have an advantage over the students who have never seen that text before, thereby essentially forcing states to use Pearson curriculum materials if they want their students to do well on the tests.
From what I can gather in a quick google search, the companies are also developing a lot of online educational materials that can be used by schools and by home schoolers. It makes you wonder if Osmond's push to eliminate education mandates will encourage more use of these online materials, which (coincidentally, of course!) might just bring some new profits to the company that he works for. Things that make you go Hmmmmm...
BUT you can be sure if the intent here is to strip public education of money. After all, if it is no long compulsory nor needed as a requirement for a citizen then there is no need for everyone to pay taxes to support public education nor is it required that the state support public education.
DOJ Sets Up Email Tip Line in Zimmerman Case, Right Wing Bloggers Go Batshit
Inexplicably, or perhaps very explicably, right wing blogs have united to defend and lionize Trayvon Martin’s killer George Zimmerman, and today they’re all (and I do mean “all”) freaking out like chihuahuas on crack about the Department of Justice’s email tip line: George Zimmerman: DOJ Solicits Help From Civil Rights Leaders in Zimmerman Investigation.
The U.S. Department of Justice on Monday afternoon appealed to civil rights groups and community leaders, nationally and in Sanford, for help investigating whether a federal criminal case might be brought against George Zimmerman for the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, one advocate said.
The DOJ has also set up a public email address to take in tips on its civil rights investigation.
That’s all the wingnuts need to set them off into a frenzy of hatred for President Obama and Eric Holder. Actually, to be precise, they’re always in a constant state of low-level frenzy; this just turns up the heat a little more.
At PJ Media, Bryan Preston says the DOJ is going to manufacture evidence so they can destroy the entire concept of self defense, and give Obama “two years of unchecked power.”
The Dumbest Man on the Internet, Dim Jim Hoft, calls it a “Zimmerman snitch line,” and is careful to note that George Zimmerman is a Democrat and voted for Obama. This is always a very important point for Hoft. Nobody knows why.
At Michelle Malkin’s troll agitation site Twitchy.com, they’re inciting the wingnut audience to flood the DOJ’s tip lines with stupid comments, as usual. Winning!
At Breitbart.com, a short post by Ben “Friends of Hamas” Shapiro has elicited more than 2000 totally insane, utterly racist comments. Two quick representative examples:
Tea Party Speaker at Anti-Immigrant Rally: “You Can’t Breed Secretariat to a Donkey and Win the Kentucky Derby”
It’s racism, folks. No other word for it.
The Nation’s George Zornick reports: Ugly Opposition to Immigration Reform Comes Back to Capitol Hill.
Ken Crow, who used to be president of Tea Party of America until he bungled logistics of a Sarah Palin speech and is now affiliated with Tea Party Community, got up and started talking about “well-bred Americans.”
Here is some video of what followed, in which he made a straightforward case for racial purity. (Apologies for the quality; I didn’t anticipate something that crazy to about be said and so I wasn’t well-positioned. But the audio should be clear.)
The transcript:
From those incredible blood lines of Thomas Jefferson and George Washington and John Smith. And all these great Americans, Martin Luther King. These great Americans who built this country. You came from them. And the unique thing about being from that part of the world, when you learn about breeding, you learn that you cannot breed Secretariat to a donkey and expect to win the Kentucky Derby. You guys have incredible DNA and don’t forget it.
Not only was this said in the presence of hundreds of people on Capitol Hill, but many important Republican politicians were present. Senator Jeff Sessions, who helped lead the opposition to the immigration bill in the Senate, was directly behind me, glad-handing attendees, as I shot this video. Congressman Steve King, who is taking up Session’s mantle in the House, was also there. Both men spoke (Sessions is the keynote), and Senator Ted Cruz is also on the roster. The rally was promoted by major conservative media figures like Laura Ingraham.
In other words, the rally and its place on the political landscape is impossible to ignore. Last month, another hard-right rally featured Representative Michele Bachmann holding up a white baby and talking about the “future of America”—not quite as explicit, but mainly a difference in degree.
In Florida ...
ReplyDeleteGo to jail for sex with a 17 year old; and go free if you shoot and kill one.
so true
Deleteouch - the truth hurts
ReplyDeleteTrayvoning
ReplyDeletehttp://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/07/17/what-these-kids-are-doing-will-make-you-sick-images/
I see this a different way.
DeleteI see this as "It could have been me." I see this as a photo journalistic way of creating a mocking political cartoon.
There is no text and I have no way of reading anything from the original posters who created these images so I don't know if this is being done as a protest over Zimmerman and stand your ground or the exact opposite.
But I don't see this much differently than the political cartoon that put Martin Luther King's face in a hoodie.
On a recent PBS documentary, a historian described a county in one southern state (my apologies for forgotting which one) where the lynchings usually included such "extras" as: 1) a mob suddenly showing up and dragging their victim from his home while his family watched helplessly and begged for his life, 2) torturing him by beating him with farm tools or setting him on fire, and 3) lynching him in such a way that instead of instantly breaking his neck he'd slowly strangle and thus "dance" for a few minutes as the crowd cheered and shouted racist insults.
ReplyDeleteIt was also common in this county (and surely in others as well) for the lynched bodies to either be left dangling from a tree or sometimes dragged into town and then left for perhaps a week so anyone who felt like it could spit on the corpse or pelt it with garbage or maybe even urinate on it -- just for kicks ...
And, as sickeningly gruesome as these details are, the local newspapers would report them with unreserved glee for up to two weeks after -- or, even more horrifying, for the week BEFORE a lynching took place !
The historian then calculated, based on careful research of the written records, that these lynchings occurred, on average, EVERY THREE MONTHS.
This, he concluded, meant that for more than five decades after they'd finally been freed from two centuries -- or roughly six generations -- of slavery, the African-Americans who continued to live in that county would have been "lucky" if they ever went more than a week or two without encountering SOME sort of very graphic reminder that, at any time and for little or no reason, any male regardless of age might be chosen for torture and murder by their white neighbors WITHOUT THE SLIGHTEST RISK OF LEGAL CONSEQUENCES OF ANY KIND for no other reason than livening up an otherwise uneventful Saturday night.
Writing all that has left me in tears, but to modern-day racists and their apologists ... ?
Well, all THAT happened a loooong time ago and none of US had nothin' to do with it and even if'n we DID we couldn'ta done nothin' to stop it -- y'know, like, if'n we'd a-wanted to.
An' that's how come all the black people need to just shut up and stop 1) listening to hip hop, 2) talking "black," 3) wearing hoodies, 4) committing violent crimes, 5) hating white people by 6) using vicious, hateful racist insults like "Cracker !" and ... um, er ... well, it really REALLY hurts to be called a Cracker !
But above ALL, since all this happened a loooong time ago -- and, HELL, even white folks can make a few little bitty mistakes -- ALL the black people in America gotta STOP using silly little mistakes like lynchings as an excuse to sit around, living lives of luxury and ease by collecting welfare paid for by white people's taxes !!!
Of COURSE that rationale makes PERFECT sense -- so long as you're the lobotomized offspring of five generations of first-cousin marriages.
And those are the same places that the SCOTUS thinks no longer need the supervision of the VRA.
DeleteNooo, there's no more racism there! Really!!!
Is it OK to use redneck or trailer trash?
DeleteStrange fruit.
ReplyDeleteWe're still growing it in abundance.
O/T but good lord, Gryphen, what do you think of this? More dumbing down of the children!
ReplyDeleteGOP Lawmaker: Sending Children To School Should Be A Choice
State Sen. Aaron Osmond (UT-R) outlined a proposal last week to abolish compulsory education in the state, and let parents choose whether or not to send their children to school.
A Republican lawmaker in Utah outlined a proposal last week to abolish compulsory education in the state.
State Sen. Aaron Osmond (R) argued that certain "parents act as if the responsibility to educate, and even care for their child, is primarily the responsibility of the public school system."
"As a result, our teachers and schools have been forced to become surrogate parents, expected to do everything from behavioral counseling, to providing adequate nutrition, to teaching sex education, as well as ensuring full college and career readiness," he wrote in a post on the state senate's blog.
Osmond told the Deseret News that he wants the public to view education as an opportunity rather than a requirement.
"Let’s let them choose it, let’s not force them to do it," Osmond said.
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/gop-lawmaker-in-utah-wants-to-end-compulsory?ref=fpa
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865583185/Utah-lawmaker-calls-for-end-of-compulsory-education.html
Makes perfect sense to me.
DeleteIf we stop all that compulsory education nonsense, we can start our girls popping out babies at much younger ages without that silly schoolwork getting in the way.
After all, what do female-types need with education anyway? As long as they know how to change a diaper, clean the house and make a nice meal for the man of the house, that's all they really need to know. isn't it?
* * * * * *
All snark aside, I found it quite interesting that Osmond works for Certiport-Pearson. Anyone connected with education immediately recognizes the name of Pearson as a mega-corporation that produces curriculum and educational testing materials. They were also deeply involved in the creation of the Common Core standards, which guide the academic curriculum of school districts across the country. Helpfully, they ALSO provide testing materials as well as curriculum materials.
In NY, there has been an outcry because the latest ELA test used text excerpts taken directly from the curriculum that Pearson developed and sold, but which is NOT being used by NY. What this means is that students who use the Pearson materials have an advantage over the students who have never seen that text before, thereby essentially forcing states to use Pearson curriculum materials if they want their students to do well on the tests.
From what I can gather in a quick google search, the companies are also developing a lot of online educational materials that can be used by schools and by home schoolers. It makes you wonder if Osmond's push to eliminate education mandates will encourage more use of these online materials, which (coincidentally, of course!) might just bring some new profits to the company that he works for. Things that make you go Hmmmmm...
Always follow the money.
BUT you can be sure if the intent here is to strip public education of money. After all, if it is no long compulsory nor needed as a requirement for a citizen then there is no need for everyone to pay taxes to support public education nor is it required that the state support public education.
DeleteBe sure, this is where this is heading.
DOJ Sets Up Email Tip Line in Zimmerman Case, Right Wing Bloggers Go Batshit
ReplyDeleteInexplicably, or perhaps very explicably, right wing blogs have united to defend and lionize Trayvon Martin’s killer George Zimmerman, and today they’re all (and I do mean “all”) freaking out like chihuahuas on crack about the Department of Justice’s email tip line: George Zimmerman: DOJ Solicits Help From Civil Rights Leaders in Zimmerman Investigation.
The U.S. Department of Justice on Monday afternoon appealed to civil rights groups and community leaders, nationally and in Sanford, for help investigating whether a federal criminal case might be brought against George Zimmerman for the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, one advocate said.
The DOJ has also set up a public email address to take in tips on its civil rights investigation.
That’s all the wingnuts need to set them off into a frenzy of hatred for President Obama and Eric Holder. Actually, to be precise, they’re always in a constant state of low-level frenzy; this just turns up the heat a little more.
At PJ Media, Bryan Preston says the DOJ is going to manufacture evidence so they can destroy the entire concept of self defense, and give Obama “two years of unchecked power.”
The Dumbest Man on the Internet, Dim Jim Hoft, calls it a “Zimmerman snitch line,” and is careful to note that George Zimmerman is a Democrat and voted for Obama. This is always a very important point for Hoft. Nobody knows why.
At Michelle Malkin’s troll agitation site Twitchy.com, they’re inciting the wingnut audience to flood the DOJ’s tip lines with stupid comments, as usual. Winning!
At Breitbart.com, a short post by Ben “Friends of Hamas” Shapiro has elicited more than 2000 totally insane, utterly racist comments. Two quick representative examples:
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/42279_DOJ_Sets_Up_Email_Tip_Line_in_Zimmerman_Case_Right_Wing_Bloggers_Go_Batshit
Tea Party Speaker at Anti-Immigrant Rally: “You Can’t Breed Secretariat to a Donkey and Win the Kentucky Derby”
ReplyDeleteIt’s racism, folks. No other word for it.
The Nation’s George Zornick reports: Ugly Opposition to Immigration Reform Comes Back to Capitol Hill.
Ken Crow, who used to be president of Tea Party of America until he bungled logistics of a Sarah Palin speech and is now affiliated with Tea Party Community, got up and started talking about “well-bred Americans.”
Here is some video of what followed, in which he made a straightforward case for racial purity. (Apologies for the quality; I didn’t anticipate something that crazy to about be said and so I wasn’t well-positioned. But the audio should be clear.)
The transcript:
From those incredible blood lines of Thomas Jefferson and George Washington and John Smith. And all these great Americans, Martin Luther King. These great Americans who built this country. You came from them. And the unique thing about being from that part of the world, when you learn about breeding, you learn that you cannot breed Secretariat to a donkey and expect to win the Kentucky Derby. You guys have incredible DNA and don’t forget it.
Not only was this said in the presence of hundreds of people on Capitol Hill, but many important Republican politicians were present. Senator Jeff Sessions, who helped lead the opposition to the immigration bill in the Senate, was directly behind me, glad-handing attendees, as I shot this video. Congressman Steve King, who is taking up Session’s mantle in the House, was also there. Both men spoke (Sessions is the keynote), and Senator Ted Cruz is also on the roster. The rally was promoted by major conservative media figures like Laura Ingraham.
In other words, the rally and its place on the political landscape is impossible to ignore. Last month, another hard-right rally featured Representative Michele Bachmann holding up a white baby and talking about the “future of America”—not quite as explicit, but mainly a difference in degree.
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/42278_Tea_Party_Speaker_at_Anti-Immigrant_Rally-_You_Cant_Breed_Secretariat_to_a_Donkey_and_Win_the_Kentucky_Derby
Gigantic Asshole Richard Cohen Says Young Black Males a "Menace"
ReplyDeletehttp://thedailybanter.com/2013/07/gigantic-asshole-richard-cohen-says-young-black-males-a-menace/
O/T Texas Democrat Introduces REAL Pro-Life Bill That Forces Conservatives To Put Up Or Shut Up
ReplyDeletehttp://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/07/17/texas-real-pro-life-bill/
Now THIS is walking the walk!
ReplyDeleteZimmerman Trial Verdict Makes Front Pages Around The World
The world was watching.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/andrewkaczynski/zimmerman-trial-verdict-makes-front-pages-around-the-world
ReplyDeleteWhite House Press Secretary: Trayvon Martin Death "Symbolizes Loss We See Daily To Gun Violence"
The White House further reacts to the Zimmerman trial verdict.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/andrewkaczynski/wh-press-secretary-trayvon-martin-death-symbolizes-loss-we-s
Nope, there's no racial profiling in our country any more.
ReplyDeleteOh, wait. Never mind.
http://www.upworthy.com/know-anyone-that-thinks-racial-profiling-is-exaggerated-watch-this-and-tell-me-when-your-jaw-drops-2