Race And The Obama Presidency

Jelani Cobb's piece in the New Yorker is a long overdue and frank look at the myth that President Obama's election in 2008 was going to result in post-racial anything.  Where we're at in 2012 should have put that to rest, but it's good to have the topic finally being discussed.

The post-racial myth is the logical outgrowth of an older mythology that the black struggle for freedom was anchored in a moral crusade to redeem America at large. The truth of the matter is that Martin Luther King, Jr., was more of a backroom operator than that. The idea of redemption stemmed from a moral sales pitch proffered by King, a transaction in which whites would confront the awful contours of American history and be granted exemption from its implications. Black people had a more tangible yield in mind: removing the dusty boot of Jim Crow from our necks. If fashioning spiritual redemption as a form of higher patriotism was enough to end abominations like the waterlogged obscenity that was Emmett Till’s body, then so be it. But the deeper truth is that black people were more concerned with saving our own necks than saving America’s soul.

For this reason, white claims to have “marched with Dr. King” eventually became an unintentional punch-line, a disclaimer for whatever racially obtuse commentary followed that preface. The joke, however, was on us. Few could conceive that forty years after King’s death, the nation would elect a black President—an event deeply rooted in the civil-rights ethos, a bolder redemption, a stronger immunization against the claims of history. And, as with the claims to have marched with Dr. King, the very fact of Obama’s election has been a disclaimer against the racism that came after it.

Do read the entire article, it's fascinating and informative.  I touched on it briefly in today's podcast too.

Podcast Versus The Stupid!

Episode 17 this weekend, Unleash The Biden now up for your listening pleasure.  Ian Boudreau hangs out with us again for the hour as we talk the VP debate, the tightening race for President, Todd Akin's awful views on evolution, and the scary part of the campaign season as the nutjobs come out of the woodwork.

Listen to internet radio with Zandar Versus The Stupid on Blog Talk Radio

As always, you can right click and download the episode here or subscribe to the podcast at iTunes.

Legend Gary Collins Dies At 74

It's been a tough month for older celebrities.  Today Gary Collins joins the list of people I grew up with and will miss terribly.

Breaking from TMZ:

Gary Collins, a legendary TV actor and host, died early this morning in Biloxi, MS at the age of 74.

Harrison County Deputy Coroner Brian Switzer tells TMZ he passed of natural causes just before 1:00 AM at Biloxi Regional Medical Center.

Collins' resumé is a mile long ... having appeared on episodes of such hit shows as "Fantasy Island," "Charlie's Angels," "Alice," "The Love Boat," "Police Story" ... the list goes on. 

Collins was also known for hosting the talk show "Hour Magazine" and from 1980-1988 and hosted the Miss America Pageant from 1985-1989.

Every show we watched eventually had Collins as a guest, it seemed.  He was always known as a happy go lucky man who liked to laugh.

All About The Missing Benjamins

Somehow I'm thinking that the list of possible suspects in this little heist was known to the cops well ahead of time.

Unknown thieves stole a "large amount" of newly-designed $100 bills bound for a Federal Reserve facility in New Jersey on Thursday, the FBI said.

Frank Burton, Jr., spokesman for the FBI's Philadelphia division, said the theft occurred at some point between when the shipment of bills landed at the Philadelphia airport on a commercial flight from Dallas at 10:20 Thursday morning, and when the shipment reached its New Jersey destination around 2:00 p.m., when the courier service transporting the bills reported some missing.

Burton declined to comment on the amount taken, but said it was substantial. 

I'm betting our crooks aren't going to be spending the money here in the states anytime soon, either, for one important reason:

The missing bills carry a design that is not slated to reach circulation until 2013. They feature a large gold "100" graphic on the back, and an orange box on the front with a faint image of the Liberty Bell.

The second any US bank sees $100 bills like these, the game is over.   Our crooks get to sit on these bills for six months, or head overseas to launder them.  Either way, I'm betting there's a bust soon.  Couldn't be a huge list of people with access to those bills.

We'll see.

It's Nobody's Business But The Turks

It seems our Turkish friends aren't really buying the whole "we have an election season going on right now" excuse as to why the US and the UN aren't doing anything about Syria shelling Turkish border positions, and PM Erdogan is being somewhat vocal about his level of annoyance.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan rebuked the U.N. Security Council for inaction over Syria on Saturday as war intensified across the country, saying the world body of superpowers was repeating mistakes that led to massacres in Bosnia in the 1990s.

President Bashar al-Assad's forces used air strikes and artillery to bombard insurgents on several fronts in the 19-month-old conflict, which risks dragging in regional powers with no sign of a diplomatic breakthrough.

Turkey - increasingly entangled after having intercepted a Syrian airliner carrying what it said were Russian-made munitions for the Syrian army, infuriating Moscow and Damascus - has led calls for intervention, including no-fly zones enforced by foreign aircraft to stop deadly air raids by Assad's forces.

But there is little chance of U.N. support for robust action. China insists any solution to Syria's crisis must come from within while Russia has said many Syrians still support Assad. Western nations meanwhile are loath to commit to any military action that could touch off a regional sectarian war.

"The U.N. Security Council has not intervened in the human tragedy that has been going on in Syria for 20 months, despite all our efforts," Erdogan told a conference in Istanbul attended by dignitaries including Arab League Secretary General Nabil Elaraby. "There's an attitude that encourages, gives the green light to Assad to kill tens or hundreds of people every day."

And yes, Erdogan's comparison to Bosnia is rather apt.  China and Russia aren't going to allow anything to happen on a UN front until things are already too late, because al-Assad is A) a pretty good customer of theirs and B) the last thing either one of them wants is the UN poking around in his books.

Eventually something's going to have to give.  Sadly, it's not looking like diplomacy.

StupidiNews, Weekend Edition!

• Colorado police have identified the body of ten-year-old Jessica Ridgeway, reported missing last week, as they now investigate her murder.
• Northern Ireland's first abortion clinic will open next week, and the city of Belfast is preparing for demonstrations, protests, and possibly arrests.
• Civil rights groups will not appeal South Carolina's struck down voter ID law to the Supreme Court, citing a major win in protecting the rights of voters in the state.
• PayPal will cut at least 300 jobs as the online payment company looks to save money against the credit card companies.
• Google may be soon facing a major anti-trust lawsuit as the Federal Trade Commission looks into how the company's search engine practices harmed competitors.

Last Call

And this right here is a Syfy movie of the week.

A softball-sized eyeball from an unknown creature has washed up on a beach in Florida. According to the Orlando Sentinel, Gino Covacci was taking a morning walk along Pompano Beach when he spotted the blue orb bobbing in the tide.

Placing it in a plastic bag, he walked home and put it into the refrigerator, figuring that it was something unusual.

“It was very, very fresh,” he told the Sentinel. “It was still bleeding when I put it in the plastic bag.”

Covacci contacted police, who directed him to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, who were also stymied as to what animal the eye could have come from.

Wildlife Commission spokesperson Carli Segelson said that wildlife officials packed the eye in ice and forwarded it to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute in St. Petersburg.

And then whatever it came from shows up and it has 13 more of them.  Only Dean Cain and Kari Wuhrer have any chance against it, because if they fail, humanity is next on the menu!

Yeah, we're boned.

Age Is No Excuse

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) -- A 91-year-old woman who pleaded guilty Thursday to stealing $201,000 from the south Alabama town where she was mayor for three decades paid hush money in a bid to keep her crimes secret, documents showed.

Prosecutors said River Falls Mayor Mary Ella Hixon pleaded guilty to theft and resigned. In exchange, authorities dropped another felony ethics charge.

Circuit Judge Ashley McKathan sentenced Hixon to 10 years in prison but suspended the term because of Hixon's advanced age. She must spend five years on probation.

I'm not saying it's great to have a 91-year-old woman in jail, but neither should someone steal that amount of money and then confess with no repercussions.  Five years of probation?  What is she going to do in her early 90s, start a motorcycle gang?

What really sucks is that while I see why the judge made that call, this woman got away with multiple crimes.

Michael Vick Wins Me Over

I had spoken to Zandar about Vick recently anyway, so this story from TMZ is the perfect chance to speak my mind.  When Vick was found guilty, I was as mad as anyone.  I cried while the story developed, and I was so angry I truly lost sleep over it.

Time went by after Vick got out, and I didn't buy his act.  I was angry, and he hadn't paid enough.  But his actions ever since have been impeccable.  This man learned a lesson.  He did an awful thing, and he came out of it paid in full and a better man.  I believe that, and I had every reason to nurse a grudge.

And then there's this TMZ update:

Michael Vick has finally said squarely ... his family does indeed have a dog.

There's been a lot of controversy over whether Vick -- who served hard time for brutally killing multiple dogs, should own one again.

Vick says, "I understand the strong emotions by some people about our family's decision to care for a pet.  As a father, it is important to make sure my children develop a healthy relationship with animals."

Vick goes on, "I want to ensure that my children establish a loving bond and treat all of God's creatures with kindness and respect.  Our pet is well cared for and loved as a member of our family."

Vick continues, "This is an opportunity to break the cycle.  To that end, I will continue to honor my commitment to animal welfare and be an instrument of positive change."

He is right.  He has shown a truly positive change, sustained over a great length of time.  He is trying to teach his kids better, and you can't do that until you have a pet.  He isn't an ass about the skepticism, he understands it and he speaks frankly about why it's important to break the cycle and do good.  I believe he feels he owes animals some karma.

What say you, readers?  Do you agree, or think he should forfeit his right to pets forever, even for the sake of his kids?

Palin Is Thinning Her Herd

The Immoral Minority has pointed out that Sarah Palin is wasting away.  She has gone from fit to thin to freaking bony.  Rumors had started about her health, but nope.  She's just hawking another damn book.

Sarah Palin debuted a new look in Los Angeles this week: frosted hair, frosted lips, and a thinner figure than she’s had in the past. Turns out, she’s got a new project to go with it — penning a diet and exercise tome.

In an email to People magazine Tuesday, the former Alaska governor and VP candidate wrote, “Our family is writing a book on fitness and self-discipline focusing on where we get our energy and balance as we still eat our beloved homemade comfort foods!”

So if she can't tell the country how to live while milking their wallet, she'll just hit us on an individual level.  Please God, someone shut this woman up already.  The Juneau Jerky will continue to wear skinny jeans and those godawful clog shoes she has taken a shine to.

Maybe she just has some ghostwriter frequent flyer miles to use up before the end of the year.

May The Punishment Fit The Crime

DALLAS (AP) -- A doctor has testified that a Texas mother who glued her 2-year-old daughter's hands to a wall also beat the toddler so badly that she suffered significant brain trauma and bleeding inside her skull.

Elizabeth Escalona pleaded guilty July 12 to injury to a child. The 23-year-old mother is being sentenced Monday. She faces up to life in prison. A state district judge will decide her punishment.

Anyone who can do this to a two-year-old over potty training issues deserves the full punishment.  I really do believe in attempting rehabilitation, but when you are working with someone this diabolical I don't give very good odds.

I hope these poor kids get a family that loves them and treats them well, while they spend a lifetime breaking the cycle of abuse.

I fear what it would do to some states, but for the safety of the kids and the determination of the parent's options, perhaps we should look at a nationwide effort to give parents a place to bring their kids when they are on the edge.  Life is full of stressors and triggers for people who need help.  Increase counseling, or the availability of it.  But with that let it be a two-edged sword.  Parents don't get to claim being overwhelmed or not knowing they had this option.  Some kids are spared, some abusers get stiffer sentences.  That's winning however the win comes.

Something has to be done.  I'm tired of writing these, shaking my head and unable to do more than just be pissed.  It's time to give this attention and our best minds.

Friday Morning Happygram

Spoiler alert: the kitty is okay.

SAYBROOK, Ill. -- When firefighter Toni Day was handed a tiny tabby kitten covered in second- and third-degree burns through the window of a burning Saybrook home, she wasn’t too optimistic about its chances.

“I didn’t expect her to survive the night,” said the member of the Gibson City Fire Department.

But nearly three weeks later Dutchess is beating the odds in Urbana at the University of Illinois Veterinary Teaching Hospital, bringing hope to a family that lost nearly everything and winning the hearts of people around the world. A campaign that began on Facebook to collect money for her care has raised about $2,900 of its $5,000 goal, but more still is needed to ensure Dutchess receives necessary treatment that her family cannot afford.

“At 5 pounds, I can’t believe she hung on like she did,” owner Jackie Jones, 27, said of her 8-month-old feline. “Isn’t it amazing — being a little bitty tiny thing?”

Dutchess is doing much better, and can even tolerate affection, which would be a big deal for a poor animal who has gone through so much pain.  She is "eating like a champ" and is expected to make a full recovery.  The kindness and generosity of strangers is such a great thing, it seemed like a good way to kick off the pre-weekend celebrations.

Debate Deblogging

Joe Biden came out swinging in the Vice-Presidential Debate last night, and lord knows he needed to.  Paul Ryan held up for a while, but in the end he faltered under Biden's relentless fact checking.   Biden also scored some crushing blows yesterday.  The transcript, courtesy CNN, is pretty fascinating.

Biden's best attacks came early and often, especially during the foreign policy questions that moderator Martha Raddatz brought up at the beginning.  After Ryan went somewhere over Mars on the administration's response in Benghazi, Joe tore into Paul.

BIDEN: With all due respect, that's a bunch of malarkey.
RADDATZ: And why is that so?
BIDEN: Because not a single thing he said is accurate. First of all...
RADDATZ: Be specific.
BIDEN: I will be very specific. Number one, the - this lecture on embassy security - the congressman here cut embassy security in much for the embassy security piece.
Number two, Governor Romney, before he knew the facts, before he even knew that our ambassador was killed, he was out making a political statement which was panned by the media around the world. And this talk about this - this weakness. I - I don't understand what my friend's talking about here.

But Biden's response to Congressman Ryan's attacks on the stimulus package was the moment of the debates so far.

And I've never met two guys who're more down on America across
the board. We're told everything's going bad. There are 5.2 million
new jobs, private-sector jobs. We need more, but 5.2 million - if
they'd get out of the way, if they'd get out of the way and let us
pass the tax cut for the middle class, make it permanent, if they get
out of the way and pass the - pass the jobs bill, if they get out of
the way and let us allow 14 million people who are struggling to stay
in their homes because their mortgages are upside down, but they never
missed a mortgage payment, just get out of the way.

Stop talking about how you care about people. Show me something.
Show me a policy. Show me a policy where you take responsibility.

And, by the way, they talk about this Great Recession if it fell
out of the sky, like, "Oh, my goodness, where did it come from?" It
came from this man voting to put two wars on a credit card, to at the
same time put a prescription drug benefit on the credit card, a
trillion-dollar tax cut for the very wealthy. I was there. I voted
against them. I said, no, we can't afford that.

And now, all of a sudden, these guys are so seized with the
concern about the debt that they created. 

Just devastating stuff.  Ryan was simply outgunned.

Taegan Goddard at Political Wire starts the pundit roundup after the jump and the reviews are just as bad:

StupidiNews!

• Another US drone strike in Pakistan has apparently killed 16 in the country's rugged tribal regions.
• Vice-President Joe Biden got in shot after shot last night against Rep. Paul Ryan in last night's debate here in Kentucky.
• New jobless claims dropped this week to a 4 1/2 year low as signs the economy continues to improve continue to add up.
• The European Union itself was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, with the award committee citing the EU's commitment to human rights and democracy.
• Six billion people in the world now have a cell phone, including 2 billion combined in India and China.

Last Call

Dana Milbank may be a nimrod most of the time, but at least he recognized the absurdity of Wednesday's impromptu House Oversight and Government Reform committee hearings where good ol' "national security" Republicans Darrel Issa and Jason Chaffetz all but revealed to the world that yes, the CIA had a facility in the Benghazi, Libya embassy compound.

Through their outbursts, cryptic language and boneheaded questioning of State Department officials, the committee members left little doubt that one of the two compounds at which the Americans were killed, described by the administration as a “consulate” and a nearby “annex,” was a CIA base. They did this, helpfully, in a televised public hearing.

Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) was the first to unmask the spooks. “Point of order! Point of order!” he called out as a State Department security official, seated in front of an aerial photo of the U.S. facilities in Benghazi, described the chaotic night of the attack. “We’re getting into classified issues that deal with sources and methods that would be totally inappropriate in an open forum such as this.”

A State Department official assured him that the material was “entirely unclassified” and that the photo was from a commercial satellite. “I totally object to the use of that photo,” Chaffetz continued. He went on to say that “I was told specifically while I was in Libya I could not and should not ever talk about what you’re showing here today.” 

Well let's see, now why would an innocent-looking annex freak Rep. Chaffetz out?  Well, that's because it wasn't an innocent-looking compound annex.  Who else besides diplomats hang out in embassy compounds?  If you said "duh, the CIA" then congratulations, you're smarter than a Republican.  Libyans knew it.  We of course knew it.  Everybody knows it.  We don't just publicly say "Hey, our spies are hanging out here next to the embassy.  We thought you should know."  That's why we tell people "It's an innocent-looking embassy compound annex" because it's hidden in plain sight.  You're not supposed to confirm this to anyone who is watching.

In other words, Jason Chaffetz just blew the CIA's Libya embassy cover.  In public.  On television.   And people wonder why I think Republicans in Congress are worthless on national security.  They can't even keep their OWN mouths shut.

Now that Chaffetz had alerted potential bad guys that something valuable was in the photo, the chairman, Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), attempted to lock the barn door through which the horse had just bolted. “I would direct that that chart be taken down,” he said, although it already had been on C-SPAN. “In this hearing room, we’re not going to point out details of what may still in fact be a facility of the United States government or more facilities.”

May still be a facility? The plot thickened — and Chaffetz gave more hints. “I believe that the markings on that map were terribly inappropriate,” he said, adding that “the activities there could cost lives.”

All but tipping off anyone with half a brain that the Benghazi annex was in fact the CIA's little home in Libya.  Good work, moron.  What started out as yet another of Issa's witch hunts against the Obama administration, this time against Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, has now turned into Republicans pointing out just where our CIA spies are hanging out in Benghazi.

Just thinking about it gives me a headache.