Tiger Woods’ Affair(s) Brings Out The Haters Who Were Waiting

The blood is in the water and the sharks are circling.

Tiger Woods has been getting hammered by more than just his wife, Elin, since his car accident and alleged affairs have been thrust into the media’s range.

Obviously, I don’t condone marital infidelity by Woods or anyone else – whether it was with one woman or it was with 15. And, the same holds true for women because, contrary to popular belief, women cheat just like men cheat. Still, if even a portion of what is being alleged about Tiger Woods is true then it does almost seem as though he had a whole separate life that a lot of people did not know about. But, should any of us really be shocked? No. Tiger Woods is a human beings and human beings do good things and human beings do bad things. The only ones who are shocked are those who put Tiger Woods on a pedestal (because they admired him so much or because they wanted to see him fall from it).

That said, one thing I have found interesting about the Woods’ mess is the reaction of some of Tiger’s fellow golfers who have turned the Professional Golf Association (PGA) into the Professional Haters Association (PHA). It’s amazing how Woods’ seemingly self-inflicted misery (which has damaged his reputation, but not irreparably) has opened the door to the closet haters to come out and bash the player (Tiger Woods).

I found this at Huffington Post which quotes Life & Style:

For the time being, Tiger Woods’ major sponsors — including Nike and Tag Heuer – haven’t dropped him. But things could change in the wake of a messy, public divorce. In fact, many of Tiger’s colleagues in the golf world have already made up their minds about the situation — and wasted no time badmouthing their former friend.  Jesper Parnevik, the Swedish golfer who introduced Elin, then his kids’ nanny, to Tiger, has said he regrets doing so. “We probably thought he was a better guy than he is,” Parnevik said.

Ben Crane, a PGA player, has even harsher words. “This is no surprise to anyone who knows Tiger,” Crane tells Life & Style. “He’s a phony and a fake and he can’t retain that squeaky-clean endorsement deal any longer.” Crane also believes Elin may have known about Tiger’s other women. ”She’s no fool,” Crane says, adding that perhaps Elin “turned a blind eye because of the money and the kids and the lifestyle he provides.”  

PGA golfer Charles Warren agrees that it may have been more than love that attracted Elin to Tiger but that she should definitely leave him in light of what’s happened. “She was very young when Jesper introduced them,” Warren tells Life & Style. “She had stars in her eyes and maybe dollar signs too. But no, she should not stay with him. What kind of message would that send to her sister and mother and all the women out there? That your husband can be a bastard but as long as he makes the deal worthwhile, you’ll stay?”

For more on Tiger’s cheating, pick up the new issue of Life & Style, on newsstands now!

That represents some interesting stuff to me.

Some of these cats have been waiting on an opportunity like this one to get at Tiger Woods.

“… Squeaky-clean endorsement deal…” Crane said.

That is an interesting statement.

Crane, a PHA player, went to work on Woods with some scathing comments that frankly stinks of him having a lot of hate inside of him. Crane, running a clinic on player hating with these comments, sounds like a guy holding inner resentment toward Woods and waiting on something to happen so he could express his true feelings.

The mess is for Tiger and Elin to sort out, but it is interesting how it reveals the ugly side of some other people who see an opportunity to attack this couple – most likely out of suppressed jealousy.

Michael Steele To Sen. Harry Reid: Check Yo Self!

“Money” Mike Steele, the Republican National Committee’s chairman and leader of the right-wing’s reluctant exploration of hip hop culture, was back on the mic again. This time, he was in a conversation on an MSNBC show and last seen essentially running and screaming away from Donny Deutsch, who called out Steele for his comments directed at Sen. Harry Reid. Steele’s comments were part of an orchestrated effort to play the so-called race card while accusing Democrats of playing the so-called race card. It is, to say the very least, a very interesting strategy.

Here is an excerpt from a Think Progress story that features strong comments from Hip Hop Mike (as The Field Negro aptly calls him):

On MSNBC’s Morning Joe, co-host Mika Brzezinski called Reid’s remarks “unfortunate.” Her guest, RNC Chairman Michael Steele, said Reid needs to “check himself” and ripped him for being “out of touch,” “clueless,” and “ignorant.”

Wow, Hip Hop Mike was setting it off.

Those are quite the strong comments, including, ”check himself?” It seems Hip Hop Mike is at it again trying to fire up his crew with some straight-up off-the-hook comments.

I thought we squashed these beefs with 2Pac and Biggie.

Check out these thoughtful, scholarly and measured responses from RNC Chairman Michael Steele:

DEUTSCH: I’m still trying to understand why the analogies he’s made are wrong. Obviously, the issue here is that any great change throughout history has the naysayers saying “it’s not time, it’s not time.” So why was that an irrelevant analogy?

STEELE: I won’t even dignify that with a response.

DEUTSCH: What do you mean, dignify? It’s a question, it’s a genuine question.

STEELE: Next question.

DEUTSCH: It’s a genuine question.

STEELE: Next question. Come on. I’m sorry, sir. I’m not going to sit here and say it’s an appropriate comparison to slavery.

DEUTSCH: He’s not. He’s comparing it to dramatic change, and the naysayers to change.

STEELE: Whatever, whatever. Next question.

DEUTSCH: That’s a great response. Very, very intelligent, brave response.

STEELE: It is. As was your question.

Hip Hop Mike went a little too far back in his youth… back to like kindergarten with his responses. Come on, Hip Hop Mike. It’s time to grow up and not running screaming from debate in a childish display of weakness.

Hip Hop Mike got punked by Donny Deutsch.

What would the homies think?

Think Progress:
http://thinkprogress.org/2009/12/09/steele-deutsch-questions/

I’ve Changed My Mind About Sen. Harry Reid’s Comments

I’ve taken an opportunity to reexamine the controversial comments of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. And, as a result of taking another look at his words, I’ve changed my mind and I think he was pretty much on target with what he said (even if it may come at a bit of a political cost). Reid is right when he speaks of the obstructionists who are akin to those who barked against women’s rights, the Civil Rights Movement, the movement to abolish slavery and the movement for fundamental fairness for GLBTs (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender). We hear the same words: slow down, lets take it slow, lets take a closer look, we’re moving too fast, it’s too soon, be patient, things will work out … blah, blah, blah.

The Senate Majority Leader is right as you read the comments he made that has pushed him into the spotlight.

“Instead of joining us on the right side of history, all the Republicans can come up with is, ’slow down, stop everything, let’s start over.’ If you think you’ve heard these same excuses before, you’re right,” Reid said Monday. “When this country belatedly recognized the wrongs of slavery, there were those who dug in their heels and said ’slow down, it’s too early, things aren’t bad enough.’”  

He continued: “When women spoke up for the right to speak up, they wanted to vote, some insisted they simply, slow down, there will be a better day to do that, today isn’t quite right.  

“When this body was on the verge of guaranteeing equal civil rights to everyone regardless of the color of their skin, some senators resorted to the same filibuster threats that we hear today.”

Note that conservatives latched onto the race aspect of what Reid said and all but ignored the full context of what he said when he talked about the rights of women as well? You can believe this is no accident. Once again, the diversity-lacking Republicans are trying to use race as a way of attacking black people and fueling resentment in the hearts of some whites who might be predisposed with the election of Barack Obama.

In what is an almost balanced story (that is saying something for Fox News) comes an interesting comment that puts it all in perspective:

Richard Harpootlian, former chairman of the South Carolina Democratic Party, said the comparison was a sign of “silly season in Washington.” 

“We see Harry Reid saying silly things on one side, we see Republicans talking about killing grandma on the other — wake up, Washington,” he said. 

So true in some ways, but in other ways I can understand where Sen. Reid is coming from with his statement.

Harpootlian does have a point in that the rhetoric is getting wild.

Noted Bigot Rush Limbaugh Lectures Black People On Their Problems

Multicultural icon Rush Limbaugh is at it again telling black people how bad they are and how pitiful they are in today’s United States of America. He now is telling people ”the black frame of mind is terrible” on his radio broadcast that reaches millions of people. The sad thing is that the millions of people he reach believe in just about everything he is saying and support his frequent racial, sexist and homophobic attacks. He criticizes black people for thinking the election of Barack Obama was going to be this huge turnaround of the economy when actually conservatives were saying that about President Obama and portraying him as some kind of celebrity and calling him “The One” as a way of attacking him.

Some of this might resonate with the 18 black people who probably listen to Limbaugh, but not much beyond that small minority.

Then noted race relations expert Rush Limbaugh finishes off his idiotic rant by taking a shot at Tiger Woods and his interracial marriage by saying, “Tiger Woods’ choice of females not helping them out with their attitudes there either.”

Rush Limbaugh’s words translated: Black people are not working, black people are bad, blacks have bad attitudes, blacks are depressed, blacks are down, blacks are disillusioned and blacks are being screwed by Barack Obama. Then you got Tiger Woods who is messing around with white women and showing you just how bad people of color are today.

It’s always interesting to hear from champions of diversity and inclusion like Rush Limbaugh when he shares his firsthand knowledge of all that is bad with black people and how they can turn it all around if they listen to Uncle Ruckus Lim … er… Uucle Rush Limbaugh.

Media Matters for America:
http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/200912080019

Amazing How Republicans Become Racially Sensitive When They See Opportunity To Attack Democrats

Republicans have had a rather dubious in regard to race relations for decades, but it seems their sensitivity to race has recently been heightened. The right-wing has spotted some blood in the water and is going after one of its favorite targets: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who likened the Republican health care opposition to slavery. As one might expect, right-wing nuts emerged from everywhere to pounce on Sen. Reid and accuse of him of playing the so-called race card (one of angry Michelle Malkin’s favorite terms). Malkin is just one of a gang of conservatives moving into to attack like one of the groups from the legendary Michael Jackson music video, “Beat It.”

As Media Matters for America has pointed out, however, conservatives have for years attacked progressives (in particular) blacks for being slaves to the government. We’ve routinely heard from conservatives that people who are on welfare are like slaves and that if health care is enacted that people will essentially become slave-like.

Here are the remarks Media Matters for America cited from conservatives (with the usual subjects in Fox News, Rush Limbaugh and Michelle Malkin leading the way):

Fox’s Bolling: “Were you shocked as I was when I heard him?” On the December 7 edition of Fox News’ Your World, guest host Eric Bolling — who also frequently guest hosts for Glenn Beck — asked Republican Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson (TX): “[W]ere you shocked as I was when I heard him compare — if you were against health care, you may actually be in favor of slavery?” Bolling later asked if Reid’s comments were an indication of “desperation” about health care reform.

FoxNews.com: Reid “took his GOP-blasting rhetoric to a new level Monday.” In a December 7 article, FoxNews.com wrote that Reid “took his GOP-blasting rhetoric to a new level Monday, comparing Republicans who oppose health care reform to lawmakers who clung to the institution of slavery more than a century ago.”

Limbaugh: “This is outrageous.” On his radio show, Rush Limbaugh said that Reid’s remarks were “outrageous, because Harry Reid knows the Republican Party was born in the fight against slavery.” Limbaugh added that Reid’s remarks are an indication of what Democrats have “been reduced to.”

Malkin: Reid “playing the race card.” In a December 7 post, Michelle Malkin wrote that Reid was playing the race card in his remarks, adding: “I’m sure Nevadans appreciate being likened to slavemasters, too.”

It just goes to show the nuts at Fox News along with a cabinet-level nut like Malkin and the NOTUS (Nut Of The United States) Rush Limbaugh are the biggest of the hypocrites.

Where was Michelle Malkin’s outrage when Glenn Beck used slavery multiple times to attack progressives.

This is another way some conservatives gleefully spit in the face of minorities and act as if minorities are not smart enough to sift through the B.S. and middle-America whites are not smart enough to understand their game.

Check out the evidence Media Matters for America displays to show that conservatives lacked the outrage when they’re diversity-challenged side has made comments using slavery.

Lou Dobbs’ Negative History With Respect To Hispanics Comes Back To Haunt Him Again

Lou Dobbs made a dubious name for himself during his late days at CNN for endlessly whining about illegal immigration and for displaying hostility toward Hispanics. After Dobbs and CNN parted company, it was rumored that he was being considered for a job at CNBC. That possibility caused those who have been most negatively impacted by Dobbs’ bigotry to step forward and make sure their voices were heard by CNBC and will be heard by any other major media organization that considers hiring Dobbs to sit in an anchor chair and give him a platform to potentially spit out more divisive rhetoric.

This is from a Think Progress story:

This past Wednesday, CNBC dispelled rumors that were circulating throughout the week that former CNN anchor Lou Dobbs would be joining the business network. Meanwhile, Dobbs affirmatively told Fox Business News shock jock Don Imus that he didn’t even talk with CNBC and that he had “no idea where they even got that.” However, National Hispanic Media President Alex Nogales told ThinkProgress today that CNBC was in fact talking with Dobbs and that his hiring was, at least in part, thwarted by the same coalition of Latino, civil rights, and media-watchdog groups that successfully campaigned to get Dobbs off CNN airwaves.

Who knows whether these groups had an impact on Dobbs’ not being hired by CNBC. One thing is for certain, however, the demons of Lou Dobbs’ past (in spite of the fact he has weakly attempted to soften his image among with Latinos since his departure from CNN) will continue to haunt him in the future.

He may find a position (even Don Imus did), but he will be watched and he will be challenged by those he has attacked throughout his career.

Sarah Palin Of All People Should Know How Painful Spreading Rumors Can Be For Public Figures

A reader pointed me to a Salon.com story on Sarah Palin’s comments (an effort to bring the stupid birther conspiracy movement back into the public spotlight). Since she burst onto the national scene with a well-delivered speech at the Republican convention last year, the former governor of Alaska has been using the politics of fear to spark all kinds of conversations about people palling around with terrorists, the birther movement and the deather movements. Losing on the issues, right-wing extremists were left to scare white people (constantly bringing up the Rev. Jeremiah Wright), scare old people (that they will be put to death), scare parents (your Down Syndrome baby could face a death panel), scare Americans (constantly bringing up William Ayers) and more.  Here is a good excerpt from the Salon.com story that brings some interesting points to light:

Palin is, of course, wrong to say that the public is still “rightfully” bringing up the issue — it’s been answered again and again at this point, and there’s no doubt that Obama was born in Hawaii. But she is right about a couple things: For one, whoever the Republican nominee is in 2012, they won’t “have to bother to make it an issue.” It already will be, if not one discussed explicitly by the campaign and its surrogates, because so many Republicans already have doubts about the president’s birthplace. The fact that Palin and other mainstream figures, like Lou Dobbs and Tom DeLay, have indulged the Birthers doesn’t help matters.

Palin’s also right to draw a parallel between the conspiracy theories that surround Obama’s birth and the one about her son. The two are equally nutty. You’d hope, however, that going through that experience would teach her that it’s an awful thing to happen to anyone, regardless of political party. Instead, her attitude seems to be that the two wrongs somehow make a right.

That is a great point. All kinds of ugly rumors were spread during the campaign about her as they were about President Obama and his family. Yet, it seems Palin has not learned much from the ugliness that has targeted her own family. Palin continues to help the effort to mainstream the idiotic and already-debunked birther movement by pretty much irresponsibly endorsing it as an issue worthy of discussion.

Salon:
http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2009/12/03/palin_birther/index.html

More Evidence Of Fox News Anti-President Obama Bias

Fox News takes a story about the small drop in in the jobless rate and spins in the worst possible way with this irresponsible headline that screams: RIGHT-WING BIAS.

This is the kind of bias and prejudice that makes Fox News look like a second-rate tabloid magazine.

Join me for a moment of laughter and take note of the phony-ass Fox News slogan: Fair & Balanced.

Hypocrite Sarah Palin Is Back At It Again … Now Posing As A Birther

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, the darling of the right-wing, is back at it again – this time giving comfort to the nutty birthers who continue to attack President Obama. Governor Palin, who cried about the media and people coming after her as she resigned from her position in governor’s office in Alaska, now is continuing to advance the pathetic mission of the birthers. During a segment on the show of a right-ring radio talker named Rusty Humphries, it was Palin who went out of her way to provide a soothing hand of comfort to the birther morons who just can’t seem to come to grips with the president of the United States of America being a black man. That’s right, I said it. I do believe that this birther movement largely is motivated by a strong prejudice.

As documented by Think Progress:

Yesterday while appearing on the right-wing radio show of Rusty Humphries, former Alaska governor Sarah Palin expressed her allegiance with the birther movement. She asserted that it was a “fair question” to ask whether President Obama was born in the U.S. “I think the public rightfully is still making it an issue,” she said. “I don’t have a problem with that.”

She doesn’t have a problem with it because she is a right-wing extremist, who has a bias against the president and you have to wonder if it is just a political and philosophical bias.

Think Progress then added her response:

After the media picked up her comments, Palin went on her Facebook page at 1:16 a.m. and criticized reporters for calling her a birther and pushing “stupid conspiracies”:

Voters have every right to ask candidates for information if they so choose. I’ve pointed out that it was seemingly fair game during the 2008 election for many on the left to badger my doctor and lawyer for proof that Trig is in fact my child. Conspiracy-minded reporters and voters had a right to ask… which they have repeatedly. But at no point – not during the campaign, and not during recent interviews – have I asked the president to produce his birth certificate or suggested that he was not born in the United States.

And, as Think Progress later pointed out, it was Palin who left the position of governor of Alaska crying about how the media and people were advancing all of these attacks on her. Then, she turns around and helps push an attack on President Obama that was long ago refuted. She cried about how the media, politicians and political operatives were attacking her and making it so difficult for her to conduct business (she was being dogged by allegations of ethics violations). Then she turns around and contributes to the same thing against President Obama.

Sarah Palin feels the “politics of personal destruction” are OK as long as they are directed at President Obama or some other Democrat and not directed at her.

Sarah Palin believes questions  from idiot birthers in regard to where President Obama was born are OK, but questions raised about potential ethics violations against her are part of the “politics of personal destruction.”

Sarah Palin is a hypocrite.

Think Progress:
http://thinkprogress.org/2009/12/04/palin-birthers-conspiracies/

Bill O’Reilly Was Prepared To Attack President Obama Before Afghanistan Speech

Fox News right-wing talker Bill O’Reilly, who remains consistently dishonest about his political bias, already had his talking points prepared before President Obama’s speech at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. O’Reilly was already prepared to attack the leader of our nation before even hearing a word the man had to say about the war effort in Afghanistan.

Here is how Media Matters documents what O’Reilly said as he hosted a show to supposedly analyze the president’s speech on Afghanistan:

Following President Obama’s speech at West Point addressing the war in Afghanistan, Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly criticized Obama for supposedly not “saying, ‘Look, these are bad guys. We’re fighting evil” and for not warning Americans that “[i]f we lose, this is going to lead to more bloodshed all over the world.” In fact, Obama referred to Al Qaeda as “extremists who have distorted and defiled Islam … to justify the slaughter of innocents,” he called the Taliban “a ruthless, repressive, and radical movement,” and he warned that withdrawing from Afghanistan now “would significantly hamper our ability to keep the pressure on Al Qaeda and create an unacceptable risk of additional attacks on our homeland and our allies.”

This is crazy even by Bill O’Reilly’s standards. Additionally, it proves he is a right-wing hater who will never be satisfied with much of anything this president does (after mostly kissing George W. Bush’s ass for eight years). He hammers the president for not using the exact language he wanted him to use (even though the president’s message was clear and strong).

Check out how Media Matters breaks it down and illustrates how O’Reilly’s prejudice paralyzes him in pretty much any discussion about President Barack Obama.

This is from Steve, who authors The O’Reilly Sucks Blog:

FACT: Obama referred to Al Qaeda as “extremists who have distorted and defiled Islam to justify the slaughter of innocents,” he called the Taliban “a ruthless, repressive, and radical movement,” and he warned that withdrawing from Afghanistan now “would significantly hamper our ability to keep the pressure on Al Qaeda and create an unacceptable risk of additional attacks on our homeland and our allies.”

OBAMA: We did not ask for this fight. On September 11, 2001, 19 men hijacked four airplanes and used them to murder nearly 3,000 people. They struck at our military and economic nerve centers. They took the lives of innocent men, women, and children without regard to their faith, or race, or station.

Were it not for the heroic actions of passengers on board one of these flights, they could have also struck at one of the great symbols of our democracy in Washington, and killed many more.

As we know, these men belonged to Al Qaeda — a group of extremists who have distorted and defiled Islam, one of the world’s great religions, to justify the slaughter of innocents.

Al Qaeda’s base of operations was in Afghanistan, where they were harbored by the Taliban — a ruthless, repressive, and radical movement that seized control of that country after it was ravaged by years of Soviet occupation and civil war, and after the attention of America and our friends had turned elsewhere.

O’Reilly also claimed that Obama didn’t put any urgency behind his words, like, ‘If we lose, this is going to lead to more bloodshed all over the world. Let’s wise up everybody and get in there and win it.’ “I didn’t see any of that.”

FACT: Obama said “new attacks are being plotted” from region, and withdrawal now would “create an unacceptable risk of additional attacks.”

OBAMA: I make this decision because I am convinced that our security is at stake in Afghanistan and Pakistan. This is the epicenter of violent extremism practiced by Al Qaeda.

It is from here that we were attacked on 9-11, and it is from here that new attacks are being plotted as I speak. This is no idle danger; no hypothetical threat. In the last few months alone, we have apprehended extremists within our borders, who were sent here from the border region of Afghanistan and Pakistan to commit new acts of terror.

And this danger will only grow if the region slides backwards and Al Qaeda can operate with impunity. We must keep the pressure on Al Qaeda, and to do that, we must increase the stability and capacity of our partners in the region.

Of course, this burden is not ours alone to bear. This is not just America’s war. Since 9-11, Al Qaeda’s safe havens have been the source of attacks against London and Amman and Bali. The people and governments of both Afghanistan and Pakistan are endangered. And the stakes are even higher within a nuclear-armed Pakistan, because we know that Al Qaeda and other extremists seek nuclear weapons, and we have every reason to believe that they would use them.

These facts compel us to act along with our friends and allies. Our overarching goal remains the same: to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat Al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and to prevent its capacity to threaten America and our allies in the future.

To meet that goal, we will pursue the following objectives within Afghanistan: We must deny Al Qaeda a safe haven; we must reverse the Taliban’s momentum and deny it the ability to overthrow the government; and we must strengthen the capacity of Afghanistan’s Security Forces and government, so that they can take lead responsibility for Afghanistan’s future.

Basically O’Reilly only saw what he wanted to see, and he was dishonest about that. As he claims to be fair to Obama, while him and Rove sit there and lie about everything he said in the speech.

Again, we see that O’Biased had a predetermined attack ready to unleash and it barely mattered what the president said. It’s kind of like when the President gives the State of the Union and the opposing party already has a predetermined counterattack ready to go. O’Reilly and others want to portray the president as being tough on terrorists in Afghanistan. Even as he pledged to send more troops to Afghanistan, the conservatives were all ready with new attacks.

You can’t please these right-wing nuts so don’t even try.

Media Matters:
http://mediamatters.org/research/200912010047

The O’Reilly Sucks Blog:
http://www.oreilly-sucks.com/

Chris Matthews Apologizes For Irresponsible Comment About President Obama, West Point

MSNBC’s Chris Matthews, who hosts “Hardball” on the network, made what a large number of people considered to be a highly offensive and inexplicable statement about President Obama’s speech at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Matthews said that the president went into “the enemy camp” for his speech at West Point. Obviously, you don’t need advanced college degrees to know and see the offensive nature of such a statement. Matthews, rightly, came under fire for those comments.

Here is what Matthews originally said:

MATTHEWS: I didn’t see much excitement. But among the older people there, I saw, if not resentment, skepticism. I didn’t see a lot of warmth in that crowd out there that the President chose to address tonight and I thought that was interesting. He went to maybe the enemy camp tonight to make his case. I mean, that’s where Paul Wolfowitz used to write speeches for, back in the old Bush days. That’s where he went to rabble rouse the ‘we’re going to democratize the world’ campaign back in ‘02. So, I thought it was a strange venue.

That is reprehensible and just plain stupid. At the very least, it was a poor choice of words.

Wednesday night, Matthews was back on the air to issue what could arguably be considered an apology:

MATTHEWS: But first. I’ve gotten some very tough calls from parents of cadets and from former cadets at West Point and about my saying last night that the President going to speak up there to maybe the “enemy camp.” I was talking about the skepticism I saw on the faces in the crowd as President Obama spoke also of course about how West Point was where President Bush went in 2002 to make his most hawkish speech before the Iraq war.

Now I’ve heard too many politicians say things like, “oh that was taken out context” to explain something they wish they hadn’t said let me just say to the cadets, their parents, former cadets and everyone who cares about this country and those who defend it: I used the wrong words and worse than that I said something that is just not right and for that I deeply apologize.

As those who watch me regularly probably got right away, my point was that the military up at West Point was probably a skeptical audience for President Obama given his strong position against the war in Iraq and generally more dovish image. I was wrong to make that conclusion based on the lack of applause or apparent enthusiasm in the ranks of officers and cadets last night. Cadets, one former cadet and a friend of mine just told me, aren’t supposed to show that kind of reaction to a speaker.

He, a former cadet, reminded me that soldiers, including those now in training to face the enemy, want wars to be fought effectively and ended as quickly as possible. I had no reason to assume that the cadets at West Point or their officers who were present last night are more hawkish than the president. People who have watched me over the years know, I think, of my strong devotion to this country and strong gratitude toward those who serve in the military. It’s because our military is so good and true I want the civilians that make the policies and set the missions to get them right, in this country’s best possible interest. And by the way, it’s something we’re allowed to argue about in this country. Whenever I meet someone with a service record I always say, “thank you for your service.” They know I say it, and I hope they know I mean it.

It’s good that Chris Matthews apologized for his comments. He could have done what Bill O’Reilly would do and make excuses, blame the victims and bring on someone like Juan Williams to defend him against a charge. Fortunately, Matthews did not do that and issued a solid apology for his words.

White Guy From Mid-Michigan Declares Jackson And Sharpton Spokesmen For Black People … So Stupid

I am always amazed how conservative white guys jump up and declare Rev. Jesse Jackson and Rev. Al Sharpton spokesmen for the so-called black community. It is so ignorant to suggest that black people need one or two spokespeople to speak on their behalf as if they’re too stupid to speak on their own. Where are the leaders for the white community, the Latino community, the Asian American community or the Native American community? And, if they are out there, why are they not being set up to be attacked as Rev. Jackson and Rev. Sharpton are being put into position to be attacked?

This is from a Midland, Mich. writer named Chris Stevens, who states in a blog titled “Anything goes: Instead of Limbaugh, let’s say ‘no’ to Jackson and Sharpton”:

So Rush Limbaugh’s bid to be one of the buyers of the St. Louis Rams is being opposed by, among others, the Revs. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson.

Why doesn’t that surprise me?

Sharpton and Jackson have as much politically in common with Limbaugh as the Detroit Lions have with Super Bowl championships.

Zilch.

That’s not the whole story, of course. If Sharpton and Jackson are involved in something nationally, typically race is involved.

That’s their shtick. They are, and have been, the designated spokespeople for the black race. And that’s quite puzzling.

He stats that if Rev. Jackson and Rev. Sharpton are involved then race is probably an issue. But, who is asking the questions? Rev. Jackson and Rev. Sharpton don’t run CNN and MSNBC and they sure as hell don’t run the far-right Fox News. They don’t run NBC, CBS, ABC, the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, etc.

So, a conservative white guy declares that Rev. Jackson and Rev. Sharpton are spokesmen for the so-called black community. Now, this is done because conservatives in the media have worked for decades to demonize Rev. Jackson and Rev. Sharpton as a means of knocking down and keeping down what they call “the black community.” They declare Rev. Jackson and Rev. Sharpton the so-called leaders of “the black community” or the so-called spokesmen for “the black community” and then turn around and attack the two. Is this a disguised attack on blacks as a people?

Is Rush Limbaugh the spokesman for the white community? He is for a large number of far-right conservatives.

So, this writer ends by stating:

Sharpton and Jackson have had their time in the limelight.

It’s time for them to go away.

He seems to have left Limbaugh’s name out of that statement. Should be surprised? Of course we should not be surprised.

Don’t for one minute believe conservatives like Chris Stevens want men like Rev. Jackson and Rev. Sharpton to go away. I agree that the media should allow other strong and young black voices (alternative voices) a platform in the media, but that is not the interest of conservatives like Chris Stevens.

It’s a disguised and passive-aggressive way of attacking black people.

WTF … Perino: “We did not have a terrorist attack on our country during President Bush’s term”

Dana Perino clearly has spent way too much time in the Bush Administration and speaking out on Fox News. You expect people to be mostly bigoted and generally dumbed down on Sean Hannity’s Fox News program, but this is ridiculous (even by Hannity standards). Perino, a former spokesperson in the most recent Bush Administration appeared to have momentarily lost her mind when she uttered the following stunning words during an exchange on Hannity’s show:

PERINO: And we had a terrorist attack on our country. And we should call it what it is. Because we need to face up to it so that we can prevent it from happening again.

HANNITY: I agree with you. And why won’t they say what you just so simply said?

PERINO: They want to do all of their investigations. I don’t know. All of the thinking that goes into it. But we did not have a terrorist attack on our country during President Bush’s term. I hope they’re not looking at this politically. I do think we ought it to the American people to call it what it is.

WTF?

I am pretty sure her boss George W. Bush was president on Sept. 11, 2001 during the worst-ever terrorist attack on U.S. soil. As the Think Progress article points out, Bush Administration people have been fond of citing how it supposedly has kept America safe from terrorist attacks during the last seven years (of its administration) by conveniently starting history after Sept. 11, 2001. Also, the Think Progress article points out the Anthrax scare/attacks (which I had forgotten about). if Fort Hood was a terrorist attack then were the Anthrax attacks terrorist attacks? This is a combination of partisanship and the stupidity of labels.

All are terrible tragedies and people need to stop exploiting them for political gain.

Back to Perino … I hope Dana will at least clarify her remarks. Say it isn’t so, Perino!

It’s becoming hard to believe President Obama’s administration is offering her a job.

Hmm… maybe she is talking about President George H.W. Bush.

Think Progress:
http://thinkprogress.org/2009/11/25/perino-terror-attack-bush/

UPDATE: Someone mentioned the D.C. sniper killings. Was that terrorism?

Bill Moyers, 75, Retires; Arrogant Bill O’Reilly Takes Credit For Helping Drive Him Out

It’s a wonder Bill O’Reilly doesn’t talk about himself in the third person.

The depth and breadth of Bill O’Reilly’s arrogance seemingly knows no bounds. Recently, the right-wing Fox News commentator again granted himself permission (still suffering from his God complex) to take credit for something that he simply deserves no credit for in any way, shape or form. But, the reason that Bill O’Reilly is taking credit for the announced retirement of PBS legend Bill Moyers is precisely what makes him little more than a zit on the face of journalism. O’Reilly has had a vendetta against Moyers and, as he is apt to do, has sent his producers at different times to try and ambush Moyers simply because Big Bill disagrees with the accomplished host on some issues and sees him as a liberal.

For O’Reilly, these (meager as can be) are sufficient grounds to send low-life stalker “producers” after people.

From Think Progress:

Last night on his Fox News show, Bill O’Reilly used the news to attack Moyers and his journalistic ethics. He also claimed that his producer, Jesse Watters, was solely responsible for Moyers resigning. “Now I think we — Jesse Watters drove him out of PBS,” said O’Reilly. “I think Jesse Watters is responsible for Bill Moyers leaving.”

Ah yes, in the head of Bill O’Reilly, the fifth-rate Jesse Watters (the tough guy “producer” who stalked and intimidated a female reporter from Think Progress, Amanda Terkel, who wrote this recent article) gets credit for attacking a legend like Bill Moyers.

One more excerpt from Think Progress:

In 2007, Watters ambushed Moyers on the street outside his home. O’Reilly had Watters harass Moyers after the PBS journalist ran a program about impeaching President Bush. O’Reilly claimed that Moyers symbolized “Americans who want their country to lose in Iraq, based upon hatred of all things Bush,” which he determined was a good reason to send his henchman to Moyers’ house. According to O’Reilly, this one interview was what drove Moyers out of his job two years later.

This just shows how arrogant Bill O’Reilly is to think that an ambush “interview” from a couple of years back drove Bill Moyers completely out of the business.

Talk about a delayed reaction, but in the world of Bill O’Reilly it is so.

Terkel, in her article, does highlight one of my favorite video clips of all time: Fox News “reporter” Porter Berry’s pitiful attempt to ambush Moyers.

Berry is at least 0-2 because he also was schooled by Fr. Michael Pfleger in another of my favorite videos.

Just to show you how angry O’Reilly is at Moyers, his attack continued as he hosted another right-wing talker, Bernie Goldberg.

GOLDBERG: Avuncular, right. But you know what? I knew Bill Moyers at CBS. I worked with him. He’s a very serious guy. And in that sense I give him — I give him credit. When a lot of people were going for fluff, Bill Moyers wanted to do serious journalism.

Some place along the line, Bill, he stopped being a journalist, and he started of being an advocate. He stopped being a journalist, and he started being an evangelist. And the religion he was preaching for was liberalism.

O’REILLY: Far left.

GOLDBERG: Far left. And when you’re — when you’re that kind of person, there are no shades of gray.

O’REILLY: Now I think we — Jesse Watters drove him out of PBS. I think Jesse Watters is responsible for Bill Moyers leaving. Now Bill Moyers is hammering Bush and Cheney, wanted them impeached, this and that, and you know, taking shots at The Factor. So we sent Jesse out to talk with him. Roll the tape.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JESSE WATTERS, FACTOR PRODUCER: Mr. Moyers, what do you think about that? I mean, come on, do you think…

BILL MOYERS, PBS: Come on my show. I’ll ask you. Bill won’t do it. He doesn’t have the courage. But I’ll ask you.

WATTERS: Bill would have been here today but he’ interviewing Lindsay Lohan.

MOYERS: Oh, of course. Bill’s got his priorities in line.

WATTERS: That’s right. He would have loved to be here, but he can’t make it tonight.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right.

GOLDBERG: I’m amazed he knew who Lindsay Lohan was.

O’REILLY: Look, and that was a joke, by the way. There was no Lindsay Lohan interview.

Ha, ha … oh that is so funny.

Once again, O’Reilly uses his platform to attack someone with which he has disagreement. This time (but not the first time) it’s Bill Moyers.

Religion, liberalism … these guys are nuts.

Bill O’Reilly never had the journalistic integrity of Bill Moyers.

Unlike Moyers, O’Reilly gets on television almost every night and lies about being fair.

Here Is Another Voice On Glenn Beck Insulting The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. ‘I Have A Dream’ Speech

This is from the Glenn Beck Sucks Blog in reference to Glenn Beck’s effort to disrespect Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Here is an excerpt from the blog:

And one last thing, Beck thinks he is the white Martin Luther King. At the rally and in a letter on his website, Beck said he plans to organize a series of conventions in seven regions of the country, where his supporters can go to learn about self-reliance, community organizing, the economy and how to be a political force in your own neighborhood and country. The conventions will lead to a new book by Beck called “The Plan” and he will have a march on Washington to promote it:

BECK: All of the above will culminate in “The Plan” a book that will provide specific policies, principles and, most importantly, action steps that each of us can take to play a role in this Refounding.

On August 28, 2010, I ask you, your family and neighbors to join me at the feet of Abraham Lincoln on the National Mall for the unveiling of “The Plan” and the birthday of a new national movement to restore our great country.Notice the date of Beck’s rally, it’s the same day as the anniversary of the I Have a Dream speech by Martin Luther King, Jr.

Let me give you Glenn Beck lovers a reality check. Glenn Beck is doing all this insanity to get rich, it’s all about money. Everything he does is to make him more money from his book sales, his radio show, and his tv show. He is a fraud and a con man, and a crazy one at that. And anyone who listens to one word he says it a lunatic who needs mental help.

Check out the Glenn Beck Sucks Blog to keep up with all of the craziness that Beck displays on a daily basis.

Sadly, this goes beyond humourous stuff. This is a direct insult by Glenn Beck of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

That is unforgiveable.

Glenn Beck To Hold March In Washington On Anniversary Of Martin Luther King Jr.’s Historic ‘I Have A Dream Speech’

On Aug. 28, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered a historic and important address that we have since come to know as the “I Have a Dream” speech. During that speech, from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the Civil Rights Movement, Dr. King called for the people and the government to bring racial equality to reality and to end discrimination in the United States of America. To commemorate Dr. King’s important, sensational and inclusive speech, the divisive and hostile opportunist, right-wing nut Glenn Beck, plans to exploit the great things that Dr. King fought for to advance his bigoted points of view and make a few bucks selling books.

Here is the entire text from the “I Have a Dream” speech (I put it all here because people need to see the entire speech and not just the selected excerpts):

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we’ve come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

In a sense we’ve come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the “unalienable Rights” of “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked “insufficient funds.”

But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we’ve come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.

We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.

The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.

We cannot walk alone.

And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.

We cannot turn back.

There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, “When will you be satisfied?” We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the negro’s basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating: “For Whites Only.” We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until “justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.”¹

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas where your quest — quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.

And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of “interposition” and “nullification” — one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; “and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.”²

This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.

With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

And this will be the day — this will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with new meaning:

My country ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.

Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim’s pride,

From every mountainside, let freedom ring!

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.

And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.

Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.

Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.

Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.

But not only that:

Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.

From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:

                Free at last! Free at last!

                Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!³

So now we go from the great Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., one of the greatest men who ever lived, to someone like Glenn Beck who is set to spit in the faces of black people by holding his rally on the anniversary of “I Have a Dream” and in Washington D.C.

Here is a Facebook comment from CNN contributor Roland Martin, ”Guys like Beck HATE that speech. It was about demanding the govt. do what it’s supposed to do. This is an attempt to rebuke MLK’s vision.”

Roland is correct. Men like Beck selectively quote Dr. King by taking out of context bits and pieces of his speeches to slap down people of color. A lot of people have been conditioned to like Dr. King. Many of these people who have been conditioned to like (or grudgingly accept) Dr. King would be badmouthing him if he were alive today.

From the disgraceful Glenn Beck’s Web site:

- I have begun meeting with some of the best minds in the country that believe in limited government, maximum freedom and the values of our Founders. I am developing a 100 year plan. I know that the bipartisan corruption in Washington that has brought us to this brink and it will not be defeated easily. It will require unconventional thinking and a radical plan to restore our nation to the maximum freedoms we were supposed to have been protecting, using only the battlefield of ideas.

- All of the above will culminate in The Plan, a book that will provide specific policies, principles and, most importantly, action steps that each of us can take to play a role in this Refounding.

- On August 28, 2010, I ask you, your family and neighbors to join me at the feet of Abraham Lincoln on the National Mall for the unveiling of The Plan and the birthday of a new national movement to restore our great country.

This is an intentional insult to Dr. King and to black people. It is not an accident that Beck has chosen this date. Gleefully, Beck is exploiting the great deeds of Dr. King to insult black Americans, disrespect Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and to make money selling a book.

From the Daily Kos:

When Glenn Beck called for his national rally at the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 2010, he twisted the memory of the day for a country that has evolved from slavery to elect it’s first black president. MLK gave his “I Have a Dream” speech there 46 years ago. President Obama accepted the Democratic nomination last year. Tsk, tsk, ego issues, Glenn?

This is no accident and it speaks lowly of a man with a dark heart and a mean streak when it comes to minorities who don’t fit his vision of what people of color should be like in the United States of America.

This is a jab back and black people.

This is disgusting by Glenn Beck’s standards (and that is saying a lot).

Crazy Like A Foxx … Virginia Foxx Again Makes A Foolish And Insulting Statement

Leave it to Norh Carolina Republican Congresswoman Virginia Foxx to make yet another foolish and insulting statement in what almost is becoming old hat for her. In a debate about a project that mostly was unrelated, Foxx used the opportunity (and the platform it provided) to attack Democrats and prop up Republicans using the Civil Rights Movement as her weapon of choice. Foxx claimed,  “Just as we were the people who passed the civil rights bills back in the ’60s without very much help from our colleagues across the aisle. They love to engage in revisionist history.” But, as she yielded her time, Congressman Dennis Cardoza, a Democrat from California, rose and issued a strong response against Rep. Foxx.

CARDOZA: Today, what I’m hearing on the floor really takes the cake. The gentlelady from North Carolina, in her statement just now, indicated that the Republican GOP had passed the Civil Rights Act legislation with almost no help from the Democrats. I can’t believe my ears. It was the Kennedy and Johnson administration where we passed that Great Society legislation. It was over the objections of people like Jesse Helms from the gentlewoman’s state that we passed that civil rights legislation. John Lewis…

FOXX: Would, would the gentleman yield?

CARDOZA: No, I will not yield. John Lewis, a member of this House, was beaten on the Edmund Pettus bridge to get that civil rights legislation passed. Tell John Lewis that he wasn’t part of getting that legislation passed.

Helms was a United States senator from 1973 through 2003. While he was not around in the 1960s, Helms was clearly no friends to blacks or to those who fought, bled and died during the Civil Rights Movement.

Foxx rises later and says that Helms was not elected until 1972 and “was not in the Congress when the Civil Rights legislation was passed in the 60s.”

She is technically correct, but her victory is a weak one. It’s kind of like being proud of outrebounding your opponent, in basketball, by five when you lost the game by 25 points.

Helms blasted the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (source: Wikipedia):

Helms opposed many progressive policies regarding race, such as busing, the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act.^{[257][258][259]} Helms called the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ‘the single most dangerous piece of legislation ever introduced in the Congress’,^[12] and sponsored legislation to either extend it to the entire country or scrap it altogether.^[173] Helms reminded voters that he tried, with a 16-day filibuster, to stop the Senate from approving a federal holiday to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr,^[21] although he had fewer reservations about establishing a North Carolina state holiday for King.^[260] He has been accused of being a segregationist by liberals and political scholars including USA Today’s DeWayne Wickham who wrote that Helms ’subtly carried the torch of white supremacy‘ from Ben Tillman.^{[261][262][263][264]}

In 1996 the Department of Justice admonished Helms’s 1990 campaign for mailing 125,000 postcards to households in predominantly African-American precincts warning them (incorrectly) that they could go to jail if they had not updated their addresses on the electoral register since moving.^[265] Helms opposed ‘every piece of civil rights and affirmative action legislation’ and blocked ‘Black judges from being considered for the federal bench’.^[260] In 1982, he voted against the extension of the Voting Rights Act.^[260] Helms opposed busing, supported the ‘racist apartheid regime of South Africa’, and ‘for years blocked attempts by President Bill Clinton to appoint a Black judge on the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’.^[260] Only when Helms’s own judicial choices were threatened with blocking did attorney Roger Gregory of Richmond, Virginia get confirmed.^[260] Helms tried to block the nomination of Carol Moseley Braun, the first African-American female senator, as ambassador to New Zealand.^[260]

Her defense of Jesse Helms is more pathetic than the original point that put her in the hole in the first place.

Fox Nation Readers Viciously Attack Stevie Wonder Using Race, Joke About His Blindness

The great Americans who post comments on Fox Nation’s Web site, the blogging cesspool that is a product of the Fox News empire, have a new target: entertainer Stevie Wonder.

Here is what is written to get things started:

Grammy award-winning musician Stevie Wonder said President Barack Obama’s popularity has been decreasing because “people are afraid of change.” Regarding health care reform, Wonder said people are “bickering over something that we should have had a long time ago.”
 
“I think as far as his [Obama's] popularity decreasing, I think it’s because people are so used to, they’re so afraid of change and I think you have politics playing too much a role in what should be a natural, given that health care in this country needs to be improved and that’s just a reality,” Wonder told CNSNews.com in an exclusive interview before his performance at a benefit concert for the Maya Foundation, a Washington D.C.-based non-profit group that raises money for special education programs in private schools

Now, let us take a look at some sample comments from some of the readers:

Obama Approval Down ‘Cause People “Afraid Of Change”
Is he blind or something? He sure can’t seem to see the damn truth. If he could see whats happening around him he’d have a different view about how things are.

Here’s another:

Stevie should just stick too singing, otherwise shut up.
All ya gotta do is open your eyes and look around at what’s happening.

More classy words from Fox Nation:

Another black entertainer/sports star that doesn’t know what he’s talking about and should keep his mouth shut.

There’s more:

Stevie, I love your music, so, shut up and sing.

Lets keep it going:

I AM NOT stevie………………….I heard your music and Smokey Robinson and Ray Charles and the Commadors and on and on and on.
I was NEVER afraid of change. WE faught for the right to have change when we defeated Germany and Japan and Korea and so on…………….I have NEVER been afraid of change.
Change is ALL around us….around us ALL!
Maybe stevie it’s because you have NEVER seen our FLAG wave in the wind….sung God Bless America or shed tears when a Flag covered coffin passes
by.
ONE thing we the people are NOT afraid of is change………………………………………
BUT
when we are given the choice to be SOLD out vs being PROUD…GIVE me the PRIDE in country over the offering of our gov now.
YES……………stevie…..we can HAVE change…….even in music…….or do YOU NOT remember that hit YOU had that ALL of us loved.
BUT……………………..this change is UN FIT for human consumption!
NOT even good music can MAKE us hum along!
I ……………… WISH…………………you could see what I wrote about above…but until that changes for you………give me WAHT I know and WHAT I LOVE!

And the last few:

Since Stevey wonder is blind, I will give him the benefit of the doubt that he’s only physically blinded, not ideologically blinded, as is all the Obama-ites are..

Poor Stevie blind as a bat in all ways.

Too bad Stevie can’t see what Obama is doing to this counttry…

Well, by now you get the picture.

You can see how viciously these good Americans who love Fox News attack a blind man.