Category Archives: Politics

Democracy In Danger

Joe Biden is old, and the U.S. corporate news media wants voters fixated on Biden’s age. It is the story that the media has chosen to run with to keep the horse race going for the White House. This obsession with Joe Biden’s age reveals the pettiness and laziness of the corporate news media, but it also reflects the shallowness of the U.S. electorate. Is my assessment too harsh? Maybe. But the incessant media coverage and harping on Biden’s age is not journalism especially since his opponent is nearly the same age (just three years younger). It is evident to me that the news media does not like to speak ill of voters for fear of driving away their audience, but since I am a voter and have been all of my adult life, I will share my observations about the U.S. electorate. Too many voters are ignorant and ill-informed and some by choice. We have allowed the corporate news media to brainwash us and tell us how to think. Our ability to think critically and objectively about what is going on in these so-called United States politically, racially, and socially is at an all-time low, and the corporate news media has become one of the biggest hindrances to maintaining a “free” and democratic society.

In observing the political opposition campaign mounted by the Republicans regarding Joe Biden’s age, I see a complicit corporate news media chomping at the bit, taking the bait, and falling in line to promote the GOP’s narrative. It is akin to Hillary’s emails and the John Kerry swift boat attacks in the early 2000’s. Yes, I do keep up with the tactics of the Republican party. Republicans lie a lot, and they use fear as a weapon primarily to scare White people into voting for them. According to the July 2023 Census Quick Facts, there are 334.9 million people in the United States and 75.5% of them are White. Make no mistake, this is the audience that the corporate news media covets. The news media loves trump aka “the former guy” or tfg. They love his turmoil, his controversy, his bombastic news making ability. For sure, trump is click bait on websites, and he is commercially profitable to cable news outlets. He keeps viewers tuned in because of his antics and hate speech. Like it or not, his behavior helps TV ratings so that they can sell more soap to all of us or whatever they are selling. Yes, we could reasonably conclude that corporate media loves profits more than preserving the American democracy. Let me add that this negative trend also undergirds the desire for corporate media to placate Americans who fear and loathe BBPOC (Black, Brown, and People of Color).

Face it, the American corporate news media thrives when people faction, are agitated, are outraged, or are otherwise pitted one against the other. Fox is the worst of the bunch, but CNN is a close second. MSNBC which has traditionally been the voice of left-leaning Americans has also kowtowed in many ways to placate a Whiter audience proving this allegiance by releasing hosts who are Black, Muslim, or deemed too controversial. For example, Tiffany Cross and Mehdi Hasan were released from their MSNBC contracts even though each was regarded by viewers. For as many gains that BBPOC have made in these so-called United States, we are still subject to many of the whims of an uniformed and fearful White majority. According to The Hill, 72% of Republicans wanted trump to be the Republican nominee (he is now the GOP nominee as of this writing), and we know that the vast majority of Republicans are White people. More than anything, the news media wants those White viewers. Never mind that trump has 88 felony indictments (Georgia recently dropped three indictments in the RICO case), its Biden’s age that is a problem, right, and many low information voters have swallowed this narrative.

The U.S. democracy is in danger, and I blame voters and the corporate news media. Too many voters relinquished their voice (their vote) in 2016, and in 2020 and beyond too many voters embraced The Big Lie of maga extremism. It has given rise to a fascist wannabe dictator who would emulate dictators like Vladimir Putin and ViKtor Orban (Orban just visited Mar-a-Lago). Interestingly enough, one of the first casualties of these dictators’ nations was the free press. The result, the people are controlled through propaganda promoted by the state. Part of the problem is that ‘we the people’ barely understand civics or how government works. The GOP knows this fact, and they also know that the electorate can easily be manipulated because of their short attention span and a lack of critical thinking. Low information and willfully ignorant voters pose a real threat to the American democracy. For example, these voters are either unaware or simply do not care to know Joe Biden’s record of accomplishments in his first term as President. The corporate news media is designed to keep it that way. In case we forgot, when Joe Biden took office after the incompetence of trump, the United States was still being ravaged by Covid-19. Tragically, over one million Americans died, and the economy was in the toilet. It was Biden that got the virus under control getting the nation back open and close to normal. Yet now, voters have amnesia and seem to have forgotten that the nation was forced to separate and sequester for almost three full years. Further, as voters continually run after political sensationalism and celebrity, the American news media is more than willing to accommodate them with infotainment.

It is time to wake up and shake off the dullness. It is time to stop drinking the Kool-Aid. It is time to be reliably informed and think more critically. In these dangerous political times, I reflect on the loss of media critic Eric Boehlert who was calling foul in the corporate news media long before the cancer of maga metastasized throughout the nation. Taking up the mantle is Press Watch, founded by Dan Froomkin, which agitates for change in political journalism by combating disinformation and holding the media accountable. More now than ever, we need accountability in journalism. Here are some media platforms that hold value and rebut maga lies that constantly flood the zone. Check out unfettered content on Sirius XM Progress 127 which offers voices like Zerlina Maxwell, Stephanie Miller, Thom Hartmann, Michelangelo Signorile, Dean Obeidallah, and John Fugelsang. On Sirius XM Urban View check out Clay Cane. Some of these same voices, including Malcolm Nance and Steve Schmidt, can also be found on Substack.com which offers free and subscriber-based content. Whatever you do, do not fall for the okey-doke of the mainstream corporate news media which regularly promotes GOP talking points and infotainment to dumb us down all while aiding the demise of the American democracy for profit. Stay alert.

Time to ‘Lock Him Up’!

In the latter part of the 2022 midterm election campaign season, Republicans reached into their racist playbook to raise a false flag about “crime,” a tried and true euphemism that frames Black people as the so-called “criminals” telling white American voters to be afraid and vote for the GOP. The goal of Republicans using this trope is to reinforce a militarized police state that targets Black people for containment, i.e., arrest, incarceration, and death. The starkness of this assertion is intentional and lays a foundation for my next one, a suspected criminal, namely trump, and his uncanny ability to remain lawless regardless of the multitude of laws he has likely broken. Besides, there is plenty of empirical data showing that the U.S. judicial system is not blind, specifically not color blind, and the GOP’s 2024 presumptive nominee for president is case in point. He continues to walk about freely primarily because he is a white male with means holding political power all while fomenting hate, bigotry, and violence. In fact, white male privilege borne out of systemic white supremacy is common and remains pervasive throughout the U.S.

To date, there are multiple legal cases against the bloviating huckster, yet only four key criminal investigations. What thrills me beyond words is that some of the brave souls attempting to hold the reality TV personality criminally accountable are Black people, two from New York, DA Alvin Bragg and AG Letitia James, and one from Georgia, DA Fani Willis. We’ll see if Jack Smith, a white male prosecutor, lives up to his lauded reputation. It is clear that DJT is infuriated to know that it’s Black people and women who may end up putting him behind bars. His clear threats targeting Alvin Bragg demonstrate a willingness to use violence to avert prison and further undermine the U.S. democracy. It’s beyond time for this particular criminal to get his just dessert. Lock him up!

Jim Crow 2.0

As an American citizen and upon living most of my adult life in a racist and increasingly fascist racial caste system, it’s plain that Whites who fear loss of power and economic dominance will stop at nothing to keep it including resorting to violence. White supremacist ideology is a hatred that impacts too many hearts and minds in the so-called United States of AmeriKKKa. The current attack on Advanced Placement African American studies is its current offense.

I can recall many years ago that I told a colleague, an Ethiopian immigrant woman, who esteemed herself better than me (perhaps due to pedigree or station in life), that when White people “feel” threatened, they will resort to violence, murder. She seemed genuinely surprised at my declaration, possibly because she did not recognize its truth, or because until that point in her life no Black American, a member of the African diaspora, had dared to confront her with the harsh realities of AmeriKKKan racism. Reflecting on these realities led me to this Washington Post article regarding the revival of anti-Black fascism in AmeriKKKa. States’ attempts to stop AP African American studies courses only serve to heighten the awareness of this important and necessary curriculum.

Like most Black people in AmeriKKKa, I too have personally experienced racial hatred at several points in my life, some overt, but mostly they were subtle forms of racism, e.g., a job denial or a discouragement to even try, a harsh judgment regarding my character or nature, or even the general underestimation of my intellectual capacity. Growing up in New England (back in the day) it was the more overt forms of racism usually racial epithets in the form of “nigger” or “go back to Africa” a place to which I’d never been. Nonetheless, these things rarely deterred me, given my resilient nature and capacity to stand. A Black person standing and not bowed down is also something a white supremacist hates. It’s a sure sign to these ignorant souls of a loss of control that must be put down at all costs.

Once again fascist, racist haters are banning books and preventing the truth about AmeriKKKan history from being taught in school. After all, white supremacist haters must control the narrative at all times, the primary reason it was illegal to teach Black people to read during slavery. AmeriKKKa’s anti-Black propaganda and the relentless dehumanizing of Black people have been effective tactics for centuries. Sadly, some Black people have also bought in, like the corrupt Black cops who murdered Tyre Nichols.

At this stage, I believe that until the so-called United States of AmeriKKKa repents and atones for its original sin of slavery and its brutality compounded by Jim Crow apartheid and white supremacist hate, she will not survive or thrive. Reverend Wright was right (look it up). There comes a reckoning. AmeriKKKa is like a drug addict that can’t kick the habit. One day, that drug of racism will destroy you, and it will be your own fault. First, your image and glory are marred, but then your wealth is destroyed (that thing you love) because you won’t turn to do what is right. Oh, well.

So, where does AmeriKKKa go from here if it doesn’t change? Down and likely out of its dominant and influential position in the world. It’s already begun.

Cross Connection Finds Good Trouble

With zero notice, Cross Connection hosted by Tiffany Cross was canceled by MSNBC only days prior to the 2022 midterm election. Speaking out and speaking truth as a Black person is clearly like walking through a mine field in a snow storm. Though I did not watch Cross Connection regularly, I found Tiffany Cross’ commentary to be truthful. In fact, these days I hardly watch MSNBC and not because of any disdain, but rather the constant ugly political news thrust upon us all by white supremacists and right-wing extremists. It was TC (fox) who called Tiffany Cross a racist for rightly exposing him and his right wing bigots, and it seems MSNBC has bought in. Tiffany standardly served truth straight up with no chaser. Here’s another truth, MSNBC is corporate America, and Black women are rarely supported in corporate America. If we don’t stay in our place then…well, Tiffany is proof of retribution.

Isn’t it curious how Black people are always held accountable yet White people like tucker or trump and his minions never seem to be. She spoke too plainly. She exposed too many truths. She made too many White people uncomfortable. Is this her media lynching? Should only White men be allowed to speak so freely and placate an increasingly fragile White America, i.e., Joe Scarborough? MSNBC has made an executive decision and the cable news platform will need to navigate the fallout. This cancelation looks bad, misogynist, and frankly racist, and her callous release has offended many in the Black community. It’s time for Black journalists, pundits and subject matter experts to stop esteeming cable news platforms like MSNBC as a badge of acceptance or bonafides. MSNBC is not that deluxe apartment in the sky.

Tiffany has been silenced on MSNBC, but her voice will be lifted up in many other spaces. She’s more dangerous now than ever before — unbought and unbossed. She’s free. Lemonade baby, lemonade. Maybe she’ll join Roland Martin, and the two can compare notes on how so-called mainstream media handles Black people who won’t bow down. John Lewis encouraged getting into good trouble; I’d say Tiffany Cross has found a measure. Head up Tiffany. Beware Joy Reid. Seasons come and go, but only the steadfast prevail.

Criminal Intent

In these final days of the 2022 Midterm campaigns, the GOP has played its “crime” trump card. It’s a familiar racist trope that has been used for years by Republicans to scare White people into voting for them. Sadly, it works. “Crime” is the age-old euphemism for Black people. After all, it was Lee Atwater who developed the Southern Strategy under Reagan and the Republicans successfully leverage it with regularity. Case in point, George Herbert Walker Bush defeated Mike Dukakis with the infamous Willie Horton ad campaign.

What the GOP won’t tell voters is where the crime is really happening. You guessed it, in red states. In a recent report by Third Way entitled The Red State Murder Problem we find that murder rates are highest in cities run by Republicans. In 2020, eight of the 10 states with the highest murder rates voted for trump. GOP hypocrisy and lies are boundless. In fact, the biggest criminal appears to be trump himself, the titular head of the Republican party, with at least 55 uncharged criminal offenses since 2015.

So, what is the answer? Democrats must fight back with messaging that frames Republicans as the party that is anti law and order to include the fact that most, if not all, of the GOP does not follow or adhere to the U.S. Constitution that they claim to love. It is the GOP that refused to condemn the trump insurrection of January 6th and whitewashed the violence against Capitol Police officers. It is also the GOP that is fomenting The Big Lie. Democrats’ messaging should continue to drive this point while also emphasizing public safety.

November 8th is election day. If we are to preserve the U.S. democracy, get out and vote, and when you do, VOTE BLUE up and down the ballot. Don’t cede the U.S. democracy to a fascist GOP.

Pastor Jamal Bryant on Herschel Walker, ‘We Don’t Need A Walker’

Pastor Jamal Bryant is a dynamic and anointed preacher. I have heard him several times. He is a gifted orator, but beyond that his brilliance and ability to weave the Word of God with the truth of our times is uncanny. In this video excerpt of his sermon, he nails it. Not only is Herschel Walker a man of low moral character, he is a puppet of a racist and white supremacist GOP.

The GOP clearly believes that all Black people are stupid. trump anointed Walker to run for the Senate in Georgia against a bona-fide Black male candidate, namely Rev. Raphael Warnock, a man of character that demonstrates intelligence and integrity. These two candidates could not be more unlike each other. Apparently, Black men of good moral character and reputation threaten the GOP because they simply do not fit their bigoted stereotypes. The very candidacy of Herschel Walker is a racial epithet.

When I look at Herschel Walker, all I see is the Stephen character from the Quentin Tarantino film, ‘Django Unchained’. Stephen was a devious house negro who did the bidding of his White master which meant reinforcing the brutality and evil of slavery for his own personal benefit. I see Clarence Thomas in this same frame (basically, Herschel and Clarence are loathesome twins).

Ultimately it’s up to Georgians to cast their votes for their next Senator, but only a fool would vote for Walker. To Jamal’s point, Georgia needs a runner. If you live in Georgia, vote for Raphael Warnock!

Luther on the Trail

Barack Obama is on fire. He’s hit the campaign trail in the final stretch of the 2022 Midterms and it is clear that he is unrestrained. In fact, Keegan-Michael Key‘s “Luther” character no longer needs to translate for Obama, he’s good all by himself. From social security to women’s reproductive rights, the former President has sharply and rightly attacked the GOP while exposing just how unhinged and crazy the GOP has become. It’s time to take the gloves off, so-to-speak, and in an ever-increasing toxic political environment, speaking truth is apparently a dangerous thing to do. The recent attack on Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi, is case in point. Whatever it takes, get out and vote, then VOTE BLUE up and down the ballot. Don’t cede the U.S. democracy to a fascist GOP.

trump & Covid-19

trump has Covid-19 and because of 3.9 years of LIES, many Americans simply did not believe it to be true. His debate performance was classic trump. Bullying. Lies. He can’t debate since he doesn’t know anything. Many on social media assumed that trump knew he utterly failed in the first debate and probably didn’t want a repeat, and beside that the next debate format was in the style of a Town Hall. He can’t handle that format. trump’s in his white supremacist bubble and engaging with the American people outside of his cult is dangerous for him.

So, how sick is he? We’re getting conflicting reports. trump’s putting up video to keep his toxic “manly” image in front of his base. More importantly, how many people did the White House infect? Turns out the Amy Coney Barrett SCOTUS theft event was a superspreader. After that, trump traveled to Minnesota and probably knew he was already exposed to Covid-19 by time he went to his New Jersey fundraiser at Bedminster. Dangerous Donald strikes again. Folks better get tested.

Amerikkkan Barbarism

 

Barbaric! Racist. Fascist. These words define the current regime in the White House and its zero tolerance policy. The insidious policy of the 45 regime separating families of asylum seekers is evil and disgusting! Some of the immigrant families entering the United States have entered outside of the official entry points because official ports of entry choke the flow of these immigrants. This action has forced asylum seekers to wait days or weeks to enter the country forcing more danger upon them to fall prey to harsh elements and brutal smugglers.

The United States, through its racism and apathy, allowed a fascist, racist dictator to assume power, and take my word for it, he will not relinquish that power willingly. The man occupying the White House, 45 aka trump, a name I will not to mention again in this piece, is a Putin spy and Russian oligarch.

I did quite a bit of writing during the Obama years because I was hopeful that America had turned a corner in matters concerning race. It did not. The white backlash that empowered 45 has crushed many hopes and given rise to hate, misogyny and authoritarianism. I said it plainly in previous posts, Republicans no longer want democracy, they want autocracy with whites in control. Their basic fear is too many black and brown people in the country and our numbers continue to rise. In the era of 45, I am thoroughly persuaded that my assertions are correct.

Concentration camps in the United States are the latest sure sign of the fascist racism of the 45 regime. This would not be happening if immigrants arriving at the southern border were white. The inhumane evil of concentration camps, like the tent camp located in Tornillo, Texas is taken directly from the Joe Arpaio playbook. Ironically, the meaning of the word tornillo is a small tree with spirally twisted pods, also known as the screwbean. Essentially, immigrants and asylum seekers are being screwed. Is it coincidence that a migrant concentration camp has been set in this remote location? I think not.

If you want a better United States, stand against this evil. Contact your representatives in Congress at 202-224-3121 and demand their action against this barbaric practice of separating families. The Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES) is a Texas nonprofit group helping families separated at the border. Please donate and #KeepFamiliesTogether.

trump Fascism

In 2015 I wrote a piece entitled Dangerous Donald. Who would have known that this piece would become so prescient. I alluded to the toxicity of Trump’s rhetoric, and his blatant hostlity and bigotry against specific groups. Although I got the outcome of the election totally wrong, as most of us did, I saw something back then that has only been made manifest in the era of the trump regime.

The time is now for the people to stand up against the fascism of the Trump regime. Whether it be attacks against the Press, Muslims or an attempt to secure a national registry of voters to substantiate the LIE about voter fraud, fascism has come to America. Its face is Donald Trump, but its body is white nationalism also known as the Alt Right. That moniker is just another obfuscation of hatred against anything not white in the USA, and it is as old as slavery and the KKK.

There is enough evidence on the table already from public record that Trump likely colluded with the Russians to steal the 2016 presidential election. Recent reports have revealed that Russians not only successfully deployed a propaganda campaign against Hillary Clinton via WikiLeaks and hacked into the DNC, but they more than likely tampered with voter rolls in up to as many as 20 states.

Now we have the latest offense from the GOP, a most inhumane, draconian so-called healthcare bill in an attempt to repeal and replace Obamacare (the Affordable Care Act). This GOP bill in its present form will do tremendous damage against many Americans, and the CBO estimates approximately 23 million Americans will lose HealthCare coverage as a result. Is this trump making Anerica great again, or just sicker? Are Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell practicing Ayn Rand inspired eugenics on Americans?

My current prediction, and I hope I’m wrong, is that trump, and his cult following, will spread and foment propaganda that projects violent intent upon the Left, Progressives and Democrats. The fact of the matter is that terrorism is being perpetrated by white nationalists upon black people, Muslims and those who stand up for targeted groups. Cases in point, the murder of Richard Collins, a Bowie State University student on the campus of the University of Maryland. He was stabbed to death by a white nationalist for refusing to step aside. Then there is the murder of two men who defended Muslim women on an Oregon train.

Like it or not this is the reality of the trump era. The perfect storm of events has yielded trump in the White House, a second rate reality TV personality, con artist, misogynist, and grifter. His primary goal is not to create jobs for the American people, but rather try to destroy all that Barack Obama attempted to do to truly make America great. If true democracy looks like resistance to tyranny, then we had better immediately and relentlessly reflect that image. #RESIST!