Two More Stories from Political Pollution

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New York City Police Chief Bill Bratton:

"He doesn't know what the hell he's talking about.  Quite frankly, I took great offense at that statement.  I have almost 1,000 Muslim officers in the NYPD.  Ironically, when he's running around here, we probably have a few Muslim officers guarding him."

m'eye thoughts:  Cruz doesn't care about facts.  Hate sells, and he's just trying to make his monthly quota.

Read more at Raw Story

--2--

If more guns make us safer, why wouldn't the RNC want guns at their convention; after all, they're the "good guys," right?

Read more and sign the petition at 

Change dot Org

Three More Stories I Found Interesting Today

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m'eye thoughts:  I'm searching for my shocked face.

Read more at Reverb Press

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Reading his answers to the editorial board's questions, I have to conclude that Mr. Rich (I know words) White Trash's plan for America is to just wing it.

"The Editorial Board concluded Trump is (an) 'empty policy basket' who 'makes almost impossible the kind of substantive debate on which democracies depend.'  And they slammed his 'lack of clarity' as 'dangerous.'

Read more at The New Civil Rights Movement

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No racism here, folks.  Please move along.

Read more at Raw Story

Is this really what we want our children to learn?

A Few More Stories from My Political Pollution Page

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m'eye thoughts:  While this article has some cutesy, human interest value, it is this paragraph that

confounds:

"Slankard said he got a call from a local Republican after he made the sign Feb. 19. The caller noted that Trump didn't need the money he would earn as president, and could hire qualified people to handle the job of governing."

Whoever this Republican is, he wants to ELECT a president who he then expects will basically OUTSOURCE the job! (Didn't we have enough of that with W?!)  America is not a hotel!  It doesn't need an absentee landlord/manager, it needs a leader!

If (if?!) Trump is not qualified, WHY IN THE HELL YOU YOU SUPPORT HIM?!!!

Read more at CantonRep

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What a piece of garbage--and I mean what is being said as well as who is saying it. Garbage.  Shameful, disgusting, lying garbage.

Video at CNN 

--3--

The KKK...a.k.a. "The Group Donald Trump Knows Nothing About"

Read more at Addicting Info

January 30 - A Couple More Stories I Originally Posted at Political Pollution

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"Fiorina has been openly supportive of vaccines derived from fetal stem cells at least since her California Senate run in 2010.  According to the Los Angeles Times, Fiorina clarified that, 'It is when

embryos are produced for the purposes of destruction, for the purposes of stem cell research that I have a great deal of difficulty.'"

m'eye thoughts: So Carly is anti-abortion because she thinks women all over America are getting purposefully pregnant in order to destroy their embryo so the tissue can be used in stem cell research?  Am I missing something here?

Read more at Crooks and Liars

--2--

According to new Federal Election Commission filings, the only people who donated to the Black Americans for a Better Future Super PAC last year (or at all--it was created in 2014) were super, super white.  In fact, of the $417,250 in donations the super-pac received, $400,000 was from Robert Mercer, the hedge-fund CEO also known as Ted Cruz's sugar daddy.

Basically one rich white guy, trying to present himself as something he's not to people for whom he has no respect...  Yeah, I'm sure this is going to work.

Read more at Addicting Info

I was naive...

...because I feel the same way.  

While I've chronicled the haters in Washington and beyond who have demonstrated they are unable to accept a black man living in the White House, I'm still surprised at how many and how rabid is the bigotry against minorities, gays, women, non-Christians in the general population.  My generation was supposed to be the one that put that behind us and allowed us to move on.  I wonder now if we accomplished anything at all.

We Are Becoming the United States of Hatred

Headlines in the past two days:

1 - American Bigots Borrow From Sharia Law by Hurling Stones and Bullets at Muslim Women in Florida

Read more at Addicting Info

2 - Muslim Family's Windows Smashed Twice at New Texas Home

Read more at The Washington Times

3 - FBI Investigates California Mosque Fire

Read more at News8000

eye'm thynkin':  Throwing rocks through Muslim windows in Texas, shooting at Muslim women in Florida, setting fire to Muslim houses of worship in California... 

The hatred spewing from Republican mouths is eagerly consumed by their far right (we love Jesus!) followers and then gleefully acted upon.  What are we becoming?!  Conservative followers fear the 21st Century is leaving them behind and they look for someone to blame, someone to hate, somewhere to strike out, throw a rock, beat up a protester, shoot up a school... That'll show 'em!  I'm with you, Donald!  I'm getting the job done, Ted!  I'm a soldier in your army, Carly!  We have your back, Gov. Abbott!

These actions are a dangerous, violent, adult version of a toddler's temper tantrum, of acting out on the playground.  I am so ashamed--so very, very ashamed.

Fact-Checking the GOP: No, Jimmy Carter Did NOT Deport All Iranian Students During Hostage Crisis

Conservative pundit Ann Coulter went on a Twitter rampage yesterday in defense of Donald Trump's call to close our borders to all Muslims--even Islam-following U.S. citizens currently traveling abroad.  (Addendum: Mr. Trump changed his position, saying that, as of now, he would allow Muslims who are American citizens to cross our borders.  How magnanimous.) 

The Statements

"My best birthday gift! Donald Trump Calls For 'Complete Shutdown' of Muslim Entry to U.S."

"Now MSNBC is interviewing GOP 'lawyer' misstating the Constitution.  CLAIMS ALL CONSTITUTIONAL RTS APPLY TO FOREIGNERS. Who is this retard?"

"President Carter ordered Iranian students deported after hostages seized in Tehran."

The Facts

During the Iranian hostage crisis, then-President Jimmy Carter ordered that the immigration status of all Iranian students be examined.  He wanted all students here illegally on expired student visas sent back to their home country.

Many of the Iranian students feared prosecution if they were sent back to Iran.  The Justice Department openly acknowledged this and told President Carter that, according to our Constitution,--the document discussed on MSNBC by a GOP attorney whom Ms. Coulter so politely referred to as a "retard"--these illegal students were still entitled to due process under our laws.  Nobody could or would be summarily thrown out of the country.  Appeals and hearings were necessary.

Following due process, those students genuinely fearful of being returned to Iran were granted political asylum in the U.S. and became permanent residents.

m'eye Verdict

Ms. Coulter, as she so often is, seems to be a bit hazy on her facts.  Jimmy Carter never ordered the wholesale deportation of Iranian students.  He never advocated for closing our borders and he never refused asylum.    

President Carter did order that all Iranian student visas be examined.  He did want all Iranian students here illegally sent home; but he never tried to override our Constitution's call for due process for everyone on U.S. soil.

Saying Carter's actions were the same as Trump's latest No Muslims Allowed proposal is like saying a tuna and an alpaca are the same because they both have eyes.

In the end, if we accept Ms. Coulter's penchant for cherry-picking facts to back up her own personal prejudices, it is easy to see how she mistook "examine visas" with "close our borders;" but I still give her 3 out of 5 Gops for this rant.  I added the 4th one for her thinking that our Constitution only applies to those blessed with U.S. citizenship.  Anyone this dumb deserves a bonus.

Trump Picks Up First Endorsements--and "Surprise!" They're From Racists

Last month:

"Andres Anglin of the neo-Nazi blog site The Daily Stormer (has) endorsed Trump.

'He is absolutely the only candidate who is even talking about anything at all that matters,' said Anglin of Trump...

...Kyle Rogers of the Council of Conservative Citizens also supports Trump.  (This) is the group that radicalized and inspired the Charleston shooter, Dylann Roof."

Read more at Ring of Fire

Yesterday:

"David Duke, a former grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan and self-described 'racial realist,' says Donald Trump is the best Republican candidate for president because he 'understands the real sentiment of America.'"

Read more at BuzzFeed News

eye'm thynkin': Trump's sentiments are not part of the "real" America I know.  

When the nation's leading racists are the only people endorsing your party's front runner, it's time to do some serious re-thinking of your policies, your rhetoric, your leadership.  In fact, it's time to clean house top to bottom and start over.  

Donald Trump has ceased to be funny.

Huckabee: Black Lives Matter is a "Sin Problem," Not a "Skin Problem"

Mike Huckabee (R)

"Republican presidential contender Mike Huckabee believes Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. would be 'appalled' by the Black Lives Matter movement--telling CNN that racism is 'more a sin problem than a skin problem.'

During an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer on Tuesday evening, the former Arkansas' governor...said he was troubled that the movement focuses on one ethnicity."

eye'm thynkin':  The real "sin" is that "Christians" like Mike Huckabee prefer to attack the players in the movement rather than embrace their message.

Read more at Politico

Bigots in the News

what eye thynk:  It's amateur week at the art festival, folks; and the professional bigots are in attendance.

Good ol' boy #1:  Florida Gun Supply owner Andrew Hallinan who came under fire last month when he declared his gun shop a "Muslim-free Zone," and posted a sign on his door to make sure the world knew about it.

Good ol' boy #2: George Zimmerman, the guy who shot and killed an unarmed black teenager in Florida and was acquitted.

Under the hot Florida sun, these two bigots have found each other and joined forces to save the Confederate battle flag.  

But, please, don't call them racists.

Mr. Zimmerman, observing the way Mr. Hallinan was presented by the media, painted a picture of the Confederate flag for him with a little bit of "artistic" flair added to make the gift more poignant.

Mr. Zimmerman explained his flag caption by saying, "The second protects the first is a double entendre.  The second flag I painted was the Battle Flag which we need in America in order to protect the first."

Mr. Hallinan, who has been sued over his anti-Muslim signage, announced a fundraiser on Monday.  Stating that he felt both he and Mr. Zimmerman had been mistreated by the media, he said the two of them were joining forces to sell prints of Mr. Zimmerman's original "art?" work.

Mr. Hallinan agreed that racists have used the stars and bars; but defended his display by saying most people see the flag simply as a way of honoring the pride of their Southern heritage. 

But, you know, just the innocent parts of that heritage--like slavery and succeeding from the United States.  Really, just looking back on those days makes every white person South of the Mason-Dixon line weep with pride.

Mr. Hallinan added that a "cultural cleansing" is going on in this country, and that's what brought him to the point where he felt the need to protect the Confederate flag. 

Because nothing says "I'm proud to be an American" like waving a symbol that represents the losing side's Civil War battle flag.

The Hallinan/Zimmerman partnership will enter the name of every person purchasing a print of the painting into a raffle to win the original.  

Be still my lily-white, Northern heart!  But then, winters are tough in the North and firewood can be expensive, so maybe...

Jeb Confuses Fact With Fantasy. Most People Would Call It "Lying"

This past week, a Jeb Bush campaign event in Las Vegas was called short after representatives from Black Lives Matter began chanting in response to Mr. Bush's answer to a question about racial injustice. 

Later, a spokesperson for the Bush campaign stated that Jeb had held a private meeting with the group before the event, a claim that was repeated in multiple news stories.

Kevin Hooks, president and CEO of the Las Vegas Urban League confirmed to the media that he had organized a meeting at the request of Mr. Bush's campaign, but said that it was not a meeting with Black Lives Matter activists.  Explaining that he held a certain respect for Mr. Bush for wanting to reach out to minorities, Mr. Hooks added that the way Jeb's campaign had characterized the attendees was "a little disingenuous."

what eye thynk:  There were three people at the Bush meeting, a meeting that reportedly lasted just fifteen minutes:

1.  A member of Mr. Hooks staff from the Las Vegas Urban League
2. North Las Vegas' Mayor Pro Tem
3. A registered lobbyist who once ran as a Republican candidate for Nevada's state assembly.   

Maybe Mr. Hooks was trying to be polite; but Jeb's campaign was more than "a little disingenuous." There is no way anyone could have mistaken that for a meeting with anyone representing Black Lives Matter.  It was simply an out and out lie.

As Hunter of Daily Kos wrote, "(Jeb is) just superb at this campaigning thing, isn't he?  I can see why he's rocketed all the way to seventh place or so among Republican voters.  As for why the campaign would lie about such an obviously checkable thing, you've got me there, but we've already seen a lot of evidence that Jeb Bush is not necessarily the smart one.

Republicans Say the Darndest Things: Obama Could Prohibit Prosecution of Blacks

Kansas' Secretary of State

Kris Kobach (R)

Kris Kobach, Kansas' Secretary of State hosts the weekly Kris Kobach Show on KCMO Talk Radio where he takes calls from listeners.   Earlier this year, the conversation turned to minorities and crime.  

One caller said, "I don't think it's too much of a stretch, Kris, to envision an announcement that any black person accused of a crime, charged with a crime, is not going to be prosecuted, regardless of the crime... So the word is going to come down that there just won't be any prosecutions of black criminals.  And I can see it happening.  I don't think I'm nuts for envisioning it."

what eye thynk:  Okay, I've tried, but no matter how I distort my brainwaves, that still sounds nuts to me.

Instead of explaining how criminal law works, Mr. Kobach, who is an attorney, fed into his caller's bigoted delusion by replying:

"Well, it's already happened more or less in the case of civil rights laws.  So I guess it's not a huge jump, I think it's unlikely, but you know I've learned to say with this president, never say never."

Late last year, during a discussion of immigration reform, Mr. Kobach told one caller that he saw the possibility of President Obama's executive action on immigration leading to ethnic cleansing of whites.

Color me cynical, but I don't see Secretary of State Kobach as a big supporter of minorities in Kansas or the White House.  I can, however, see him as CEO of White Paranoia Is Us.

And think about this: Mr. Kobach is an attorney with the Immigration Law Reform Institute and was elected to the office of Secretary of State in 2011 by a wide margin.  

Brownback and Kobach.  God help Kansas.

British Reporter Tries to Make Sense of Oath Keepers

Kylie Morris speaking to DeRay McKesson (Channel 4 screen grab)

"Kylie Morris of Channel 4 in Britain visited Ferguson on Tuesday and tried to explain to the British people why white "Oath Keepers" were allowed to open carry firearms on the street while peaceful black protesters were arrested...

... Morris told her British audience that the commemoration of the one year anniversary of Michael Brown's death had been interrupted by armed Oath Keepers, who claimed that they were there to protect businesses and conservative journalists...

... Morris noted that black protesters faced pepper spray, arrests and other actions by riot police...

...'It's hard to know how this keeps the peace, putting civil rights leaders in handcuffs, including the prominent philosopher Cornel West and Black Lives Matter activist DeRay Mckesson during a peaceful sit-in outside the federal court,' she remarked."

eye'm thynkin': Can we make ourselves look any more ridiculous, any more "thuggish" in the eyes of the world? 

Read more at Raw Story

Eye Recommend --- Oath Keepers and the Age of Treason

Members of the Oath Keepers in Ferguson on Tuesday (Lucas Jackson/Reuters)

OATH KEEPERS AND THE AGE OF TREASON, by Justine Sharrock --
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2010/03/oath-keepers

what eye thynk:  Civilian white guys dressed in military garb and carrying assault rifles being pretty low on my list of common sense solutions to possible unrest in largely black neighborhoods, the recent news that Oath Keepers have shown up in Ferguson, Missouri on the anniversary of the death of Michael Brown made me wonder about this group and what they represent.  

I found this Mother Jones article from 2010 that confirms all my worst fears.

"Pvt. 1st Class Lee Pray is preparing "to take on the US government when it declares martial law.

His belief that that day is imminent has led Pray to a group called Oath Keepers, one of the fastest-growing 'patriot' organizations on the right.  Founded (in April 2009) by Yale-educated lawyer and ex-Ron Paul aide Stewart Rhodes, the group has established itself as a hub in the sprawling anti-Obama movement..."

Mr. Rhodes, who says his group boasts 30,000 members, recently wrote on their website: "Go armed, at all times, as free men and women, and be ready to do sudden battle, anywhere, anytime, and with utter recklessness.  That is the price of freedom."

"...There are scores of patriot groups, but what makes Oath Keepers unique is that its core membership consists of men and women in uniform, including soldiers, police, and veterans.  At regular ceremonies in every state, members reaffirm their official oaths of service, pledging to protect the Constitution--but then they go a step further, vowing to disobey 'unconstitutional' orders from what they view as an increasingly tyrannical government.

Pray...and five fellow soldiers based at Fort Drum take this directive very seriously.  In the belief that the government is already turning on its citizens, they are recruiting military buddies, stashing weapons, running drills, and outlining a plan of action...  

... In Pray's estimate, it might not be long (months, perhaps a year) before President Obama finds some pretext--a pandemic, a natural disaster, a terror attack--to impose martial law, ban interstate travel, and begin detaining citizens en masse..."

Five years later, Pvt. Pray is still waiting, we're still driving our interstate highways on the way to vacation cabins and nobody is living in a citizen detention camp.  He and his idiot friends must have been jumping for joy when Jade Helm was announced.  Finally, proof that they're not just another conspiracy group with no conspiracy to they're name!

"...When it does, Pray and his buddies plan to go AWOL and make their way to their 'fortified bunker'--the home of one comrade's parents in rural Idaho--where they've stocked survival gear, generators, food, and weapons.  If it becomes necessary, they say, they will turn those guns against their fellow soldiers..."

You know, when I was eleven, a lady moved into a house on the corner of our street.  She fascinated all the neighborhood kids because 1- she lived alone 2 - she went everywhere on a bicycle, something no adult did in the 50s, and 3 - she dressed all in black and always wore a long cape.  We used to stake out her house and planned how to sneak out of our homes at night to guarantee around-the-clock surveillance because we were convinced she was a "real" witch.  The game lasted for a summer and then was forgotten. 

But Pvt. Pray and his friends sound like particularly disturbed adults who still think like little boys playing at soldier, except that they are soldiers...adult soldiers... with real weapons.

What should give us all pause, is the fact that this is a nationally growing group that has the support of people like Glenn Beck, Lou Dobbs, and Pat Buchanan, a group that has blossomed out of the platform of hate that the GOP has fed the gullible and bigoted for nearly seven years.  A group that thinks sending "operatives" to Ferguson is an intelligent idea. 

The only way to keep a government conspiracy group alive is to continue to feed it with "facts" that will convince people that the threat is real.  And if you want to keep the members hyped, you have to escalate your rhetoric, something the Republican Party has been particularly adept at doing. 

The result of the GOP's seven year long hate-fest can be seen in Donald Trump's dominance of the right's presidential primary roster.  It can be seen in cases like that of Alfred Baria who was arrested last week in Mississippi and charged with shooting at soldiers at a Jade Helm military training site.  And it can be seen in groups like the Oath Keepers who are no longer satisfied with hiding in their toy bunkers, but are stepping into the national spotlight in places like Ferguson, Missouri. 

The U.S. has always been home to some group that wants to fight the government, but they've been fringe agitators content to live away from our city centers, arming themselves in order to protect their own.  The Oath Keepers are an entirely different kind of club--fed by the GOP's endless conspiracy news cycle, they think they're protecting you and me. 

The time is long over-due for some Republican re-thinking on the 24/7/365 everything-Obama conspiracy talk.  Disagreement is part and parcel to a democracy.  So is civility, an aspect that the GOP has ignored for far too long.

Until the GOP reacquaints itself with adulthood, children like the Oath Keepers will continue to grow and flourish along with a willingness to see "turn(ing their) guns against their fellow soldiers" as an act of patriotism.

It's time Republican leaders ask themselves if they really believe a homegrown al Qaida is a good idea.

Radio Host Has Proof Obama Wants Anti-White Race War

"Conservative talk radio host Michael Savage is positively convinced that President Obama is inciting an anti-white race war, and now he has definitive proof:  An elderly Mayan woman prophesied it...

...On (Monday's) edition of 'The Savage Nation,' Savage said he felt the need to tell his audience about this prophecy, which he said he read about in an email..."

eye'm thynkin': Oh, "he read about it in an email."  Then it MUST be true.

Read more and hear audio file at: Right Wing Watch