Is The Justice System Rigged Against Young Black Men?

In the wake of the verdict in the George Zimmerman trial there will be much talk about the defects in America's criminal justice system - much of it well deserved criticism.  It is a conversation that needs to occur because things are indeed rotten.  White heterosexuals get a very different treatment that do others.  We gays have our problems with homophobic judges and homophobic police, but no one faces more likelihood of arrest and criminal prosecution than young black men in America.  Too man white Americans see young blacks and automatically assume that they are would be burglars or criminals (we have neighbors who sadly have this mindset).  Think Progress has some data that is very disturbing.  Here are excerpts:

Although a Florida jury found Zimmerman not guilty, his attitude — that a young black male is an object suspicion and contempt — not only cost Martin his life but has infected the entire United States criminal justice system.  Law Professor Michellle Alexander makes the point powerfully:

It is the Zimmerman mindset that must be found guilty – far more than the man himself. It is a mindset that views black men and boys as nothing but a threat, good for nothing, up to no good no matter who they are or what they are doing. It is the Zimmerman mindset that has birthed a penal system unprecedented in world history, and relegated millions to a permanent undercaste.

The statistics back up Alexander’s point. Minorities, especially the six million young black men in America, get much worse outcomes from the criminal justice system for the same conduct:

1. A black male born in 2001 has a 32% chance of spending some portion of his life in prison. A white male born the same year has just a 6% chance. [Sentencing Project]

2. In major American cities, as many as 80% of young African-American men have criminal records. [Michelle Alexander, The New Jim Crow]

3. African-Americans who use drugs are more than four times as likely to be incarcerated than whites who use drugs. African Americans constitute 14% of the population and 14% of monthly drug users. But African-Americans respresent 34% of those arrested for a drug offense and 53% of those sentenced to prison for a drug offense. [American Bar Association]

4. In seven states, African Americans constitute 80% or more of all drug offenders sent to prison. [Michelle Alexander, The New Jim Crow]

5. Black students are three and a half times as likely to be suspended or expelled than their white peers. One in five black boys recieve an out-of-school suspension. Education Secretary Arne Duncan who commissioned the study, said “The undeniable truth is that the everyday education experience for too many students of color violates the principle of equity at the heart of the American promise.” [New York Times]

6. Black youth who are referred to juvenile court are much more likely to be detained, referred to adult court or end up in adult prison than their white counterparts. Blacks represented 28% of juvenile arrests, 30% of referrals to juvenile court, 37% of the detained population, 35% of youth judicially waived to criminal court and 58% of youth admitted to state adult prison. [National Council on Crime And Deliquency]

7. The United States imprisons a larger percentage of its black population than South Africa did at the height of apartheid. [Michelle Alexander, The New Jim Crow]

Those who claim that America is now a post-racial society are obviously sticking their heads in the sand.  We all ought to be ashamed that so many lives are being written off and condemned to an underclass status.

Republicans Adrift From Reality

A column in the Washington Post looks at an issue that I have looked at often - the current Republican Party's disconnect from objective reality and inability to accept that the country is changing and the the party base is losing its long enjoyed white Christian privilege.   The column also references a lengthy piece in New York Magazine that is worth a read as it describes a National Review post election cruise.  The column also looks at the bubble of racism and ignorance that so much of the party base now embraces.  It's a sad commentary on what was once a respectable political party.  Here are some column excerpts:

On Nov. 11, a mere five days after the presidential election, the cruise ship Nieuw Amsterdam pushed off from Fort Lauderdale for a Caribbean jaunt. Aboard were nearly 600 emotionally tattered Republicans, most of whom had been expecting a Republican victory of Rovian proportions — surely they had all read Karl’s prediction in the Wall Street Journal — and now were about to cruise 750 miles to nowhere, just like the party they so adored.

The difference between this cruise and others like it was the (paying) presence of Joe Hagan, a writer for New York magazine. To his considerable credit, Hagan abstained from shooting these particular fish in their barrel and instead portrayed them as dismayed and somewhat disoriented refugees from an America that used to be. Not only had they been unprepared for Mitt Romney’s loss, but it was dawning on them that their tribe — mostly affluent, elder whites — had lost the election as well as the demographic battle that had preceded it.

“Minorities came out like crazy,” Kevin Hassett, a former Romney economic adviser, told them. “White people didn’t get to the polls. There are far more African-Americans voting than they expected.” Imagine!  Who “they” might be is not exactly clear. But what is clear is that to the cruising Republicans, there is something weirdly topsy-turvy about minorities gaining the political clout once held in perpetual trust for the majority.

A menacing sense of foreboding permeates Hagan’s article. The passengers both fear and hate Barack Obama. To them, he is the nightmare president — allegedly alien in outlook, morality and economic approach. An economic cataclysm is imminent, and the nation has wandered into an icky swamp of immorality. “I’m afraid,” a passenger told Hagan. “Write that. We’re scared to death.”

I chortle not. I was once a National Review subscriber, although never a conservative. In its infancy and for years afterward, the magazine was bursting with ideas. The writing was often fresh and engaging

Now, though, it is conservatism that is both intellectually exhausted and nearly indefensible. It is the movement of the ideologically ossified, of gun zealots and homophobes, of the immigrant-phobic and the adamantly selfish. It insists that government must be small (an impossibility!), education must be local (a stupidity) and that debt, no matter what the reason, is immoral and reckless. The movement has lost its reliable monster. Godless communists have been replaced by the church ladies of Planned Parenthood.

[T]he emphasis was on yesterday. These passengers were people who had — and maybe still have — a sense of possession about America. It was once theirs. It once looked like them and acted like them and thought like them. No more. In more ways than one, they were out to sea.

I will confess that like the column's author, I too once subscribed to the National Review.  Not any more.  And the decline of that publication is reflective of what has happened to the Republican Party and its base who are now best defined by their racism bigotry, greed and selfishness.

 

The Republican Embrace of Brazen Racism

Today's Republican Party has, in my view, acquired two characteristics that coincide with the party's take over by the Christianists: (1) a growing tendency to engage in nearly constant shameless lies and (2) an increasingly open embrace of racism.  To me, this negative transformation of the GOP by the Christianists base of the party comes as no surprise.  All one need do is follow the websites of some of the leading "family values" organizations to see that this "godly Christians" are about as truth challenged as anyone you're likely to ever meet.  They lie incessantly and will recruit faux experts who will deliberately fabricate bogus "research" to justify their agenda.  The truth is never on their radar screen.  In addition to this disregard for the truth is a fairly visible form of racism that directs lies and falsehoods about those who aren't white.  Again, it's not surprising since many of these "family values" organizations are run by the direct descendants of rabid segregationist or have  personnel with documented histories of dealing with white supremacists - e.g., Tony Perkins of FRC.  A piece in Politcususa looks at this sad reality:

One of the finest lines in the Declaration of Independence is “all men are created equal” and even though Thomas Jefferson failed to put that sentiment in practice in his personal life, it is a noble concept. Jefferson’s intent was that every person starts out equal, but American history has shown that all men are not equal and it has nothing to do with their achievements or station in life, but because of genetics that no human being has control over and cannot possibly change.

The election of Barack Obama in 2008 appeared to show that most Americans had overcome their aversion to African Americans, but there was always an undercurrent of racial animus that has grown exponentially over the past three years, and Republicans have stoked racial resentment as their path to victory in the general election.

Throughout the Republican primary race, one after another presidential contender appealed to racists by implying that President Obama is guilty of taking something that belongs to white people and giving it to lazy African Americans, and it is nearly indisputable that the party’s standard bearer going into the November election is making this election about race. Willard Romney is having difficulty running on his record as a vulture capitalist, governor of Massachusetts, or head of the 2002 winter Olympics, so he has made a calculated decision to use brazen racism as his campaign strategy
  
As more Americans learn Romney’s economic plan is giving the wealthy resources he plans to steal from middle-class and poor Americans, and that he advocates for preventing women from making their own reproductive choices, he is resorting to the only thing Republicans have left; appeal to angry white males as a path to victory.

Romney is being helped in part by teabaggers, who adhere to racial and bigoted sentiments, and it is extremely unfortunate but at this point being a bigot and racist is part and parcel of what it means to be a Republican. The Republican primary gave all the evidence Americans need to understand that, for whatever reason, Republicans are counting on white supremacy, racial resentment, and bigotry to carry the day.

What is happening in the Republican Party transcends dog-whistle racism and birtherism; they are brazen racists counting on vengeful bigots to help them win an election and it defames the entire country.  

What I personally find disturbing is the totally inability of many in the Republican Party to see the humanity in those who look ethnically different from themselves.  They show not a shred of empathy or understanding that those they despise are likewise living, breathing individuals with hopes, aspirations and feelings too.  It goes without saying that these same Republicans also look at LGBT citizens as somehow less than fully human.  It makes me sick.

Gays - Exluded From the GOP's "Inclusion"

With roughly 2% of the attendees being non-white, the GOP convention organizers went to great lengths to give the faux appearance that today's GOP is inclusive at least for blacks and Hispanics - two groups the GOP base hates and despises as in the image above.  I suspect most viewers figured out the ruse if they paid any attention whenever the cameras panned out across the crowd.   One group, however, didn't even bear mention other than in the party platform deemed by many to be the most reactionary in many decades.  That's right, its us gays or, using the Christofascists' terminology "sodomites."  Frank Bruni comments on this invisibility in the New York Times.  Here are excerpts:

WHAT the Republicans painstakingly constructed here was meant to look like the biggest of tents. And still they couldn’t spare so much as a sleeping bag’s worth of space for the likes of me. 

Women were welcomed. During the prime evening television hours, the convention stage was festooned with them, and when they weren’t at the microphone, they were front and center in men’s remarks. Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney both gushed about their moms in tributes as tactical as they were teary. 

Latinos were plentiful and flexed their Spanish — “En América, todo es posible,” said Susana Martinez, the New Mexico governor — despite an “English First” plank in the party’s regressive platform.

And while one preconvention poll suggested that roughly zero percent of African-Americans support Romney, Republicans found several prominent black leaders to testify for him.

But you certainly didn’t see anyone openly gay on the stage in Tampa. More to the point, you didn’t hear mention of gays and lesbians. Scratch that: Mike Huckabee, who has completed a ratings-minded transformation from genial pol to dyspeptic pundit, made a derisive reference to President Obama’s support for same-sex marriage. We were thus allowed a fleeting moment inside the tent, only to be flogged and sent back out into the cold. 

It was striking because the Republicans went so emphatically far, in terms of stagecraft and storytelling, to profess inclusiveness, and because we gays have been in the news rather a lot over the last year or so, as the march toward marriage equality picked up considerable velocity. We’re a part of the conversation. And our exile from it in Tampa contradicted the high-minded “we’re one America” sentiments that pretty much every speaker spouted. It also denied where the country is so obviously headed and where so many Republicans have quietly arrived.

On the convention stage in Tampa, where estrogen was platinum and melanin was gold, Republicans spoke eloquently about a country that valued every person’s worth and was poised to reward each person’s dreams. Those words would have carried much more weight if coupled with even a glancing recognition of gay and lesbian Americans. Instead speakers tacitly let the party’s platform do the talking. It calls for the kind of constitutional amendment that Romney now supports. 

Sorry, Governor Martinez, you’re wrong. Todo no es posible. Not if you’re gay and live in Wisconsin (Ryan’s home state), Michigan (Romney’s) or 42 others and want to get married. Not if you’re gay and listened to all the soaring oratory in Tampa with the wish for one sentence or syllable of reassurance that the tent stretched all the way to you.

Lindsay Graham: "Not Enough Angry White Guys"

The above image reflects a reality that many in today's Republican party don't seem to grasp: the party base is dying off and by driving away minorities and non-Christianists, the GOP is committing suicide.  Even if the Romney/Ryan ticket somehow wins, it may be a Pyrrhic victory in the long run.  The fact that GOP convention attendees were reportedly 98% white ought to send a message.

Wisconsin Sikh Temple Shooter Organized Richmond, Virginia, Hate Group Concert

Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) continues to unearth frightening information on Wade Michael Page's involvement with white supremacy groups - including Page's involvement in helping to organize a white supremacy hate rock concert in Richmond, Virginia.  Virginia is sadly fertile ground for white supremacy groups and similar anti-minority groups.  According to the Southern Poverty Law Center - which first labeled Page as a white supremacist - there are 34 registered hate groups in Virginia.  All but five (5) are white supremacy/anti-immigrant/anti-Muslim groups.  As a result, it is not surprising that Richmond provided a popular venue for a gathering of those who support so-called hate rock as CNN has described it:

The weekend killings at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin have brought a furious fringe genre of American music out of the background and to the front of the mix.

So called hate-rock bands like the one once led by temple gunman Wade Page are increasingly important to the U.S. white supremacist movement, drawing in new recruits and bringing in cash, according to groups that keep tabs on those groups.

[W]hite-power music comes in," he said. "It bridges the gap between healthy youth rebellion and hardcore white supremacy, providing that kind of Aryan identity."  .   .   .   .  "It really provides the bulk of the financing, such as it is, that neo-Nazi and related kinds of groups are able to earn in this country," added Mark Potok, who tracks white supremacist groups for the Alabama-based Southern Poverty Law Center.

So what role did Page play in organizing a hate fest in the Richmond area in March, 2012?  Here are some highlights from Realcourage.org:

Wade Michael Page, the terrorist killer behind the mass murder attack on a Sikh temple on August 4, 2012, was also one of the organizing coordinators of a white supremacist hate group concert in Richmond, Virginia on March 17, 2012.   Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) has investigated his white supremacist associations, and we have identified national and international contacts who have been involved with this white supremacist terrorist. 

The March 17, 2012 Richmond, Virginia concert organized by terrorist Wade Michael Page featured one of his bands, called “Definite Hate,” as well as other white supremacist musical bands including “Open Season Australia” (Australia), “Chaos 88″ (New Jersey), Landsknecht (Germany),  ”FucFace88″  (Florida). 

The terrorist Wade Page assisted a white supremacist group, called the Confederate Hammerskins (CHS), in organizing the event. Most of the information regarding the CHS events are maintained behind a wall of secrecy to their members. But a web cache of certain files led to discovery of communications and context on how the Confederate Hammerskins and their associated white supremacists organized such white supremacist hate concerts. 

[T]he flier promoting the event was created by someone with the screen name “End Apathy,” undoubtedly [Page] himself;  ”End Apathy” was the other band that Wade Michael Page led.   “End Apathy” used Internet tool “Photo Bucket” to control and distribute the final event brochure, and the CHS communications show how this was approach was used to ensure secrecy of white supremacist concert planning.   “End Apathy” distributed their first flier for the Richmond, Virginia concert on October 7, 2011.

Click image to enlarge

 

The gruesome images on the terrorist’s albums clearly communicated his hatred for others, especially the image on the first album, Definite Hate – Violent Victory, which shows a white individual bludgeoning a black individual with a chain. The cover of this white supremacist hate group album clearly demonstrates that goal to promote violence, as does the second “Definite Hate” album with a blood-covered axe used by a white supremacist.

The question for the Richmond community should be – how will they address this ongoing racial hatred in Richmond that led to members of its community cheering for the hate of a white supremacist band which last weekend resulted in murder on people of a minority group?

What is very disturbing is that literally while I was typing this post, MSNBC was reporting on the racist messaging being used against Barack Obama by Mitt Romney's campaign and supporting PAC's.    As I said in an earlier post the Republican Party is knowingly fanning the flames of hate that already burn too high in the hearts and minds of people like Wade Michael Page.

Stormfront Poll Shows Homosexuality, Racemixing, And Polygamy The Most "Unacceptable Forms Of Behavior"

Image of End Apathy Group Led by Reported White Supremacist Terrorist Wade 

Michael Page (Photo: Label 56 Web Site)

Lest LGBT readers think that they are safe from white supremacist bigotry unless they are non-white, they need to think again.  Stormfront.com, the white supremacy site with which Wisconsin Wade Michael Page had affiliation did a survey of its followers and being LGBT was deemed the most "unacceptable behavior."  Indeed, we ranked more unpopular than interracial couples.  White Reference, another white supremacy site reports as follows:

[T]he three most unacceptable forms of behavior among White Nationalists are homosexuality (73.5 percent), race mixing (69.4 percent), and polygamy (51.1 percent). On the opposite end of the scale, military service (3.2 percent), non-violent ex-convicts (7.8 percent), and national socialism (8.7 percent) are considered the least objectionable.

 The massive rejection of homosexuality is gratifying; it seems like the White Nationalist community is the last bastion of defense against the promotion and statutory protection of the homosexual lifestyle nationwide.

I'd love to know what percentage of the white supremacists consider themselves to be good conservative Christians.  

Voter IDs - and the GOP - on Trial

Even though all the data shows that voter fraud is rare, around the country Republican controlled state legislatures have passed voter ID laws which in the last analysis have but one goal: minimize the minority vote since it is assumed that minorities will vote for Democrats.  The demagogues in the GOP continue to nonetheless make outrageous and bombastic claims about voter fraud since for the right, truth and honest mean nothing - even as they demagogues wrap themselves in religiosity.  A lawsuit in Texas is focusing on that state's thinly veiled law aimed at keeping Hispanic voters from the polls.  An editorial in the New York Times looks at the case and the lows the GOP will stoop to in an effort to win.  Here are excerpts:

Representative Trey Martinez Fischer, the chairman of the Mexican-American Legislative Caucus in the Texas House of Representatives, flew to Washington this week to persuade a panel of federal judges to invalidate a requirement that voters must have an ID card. His trip was less arduous than the one some residents would have to endure to get a government-issued photo ID. 

“In West Texas, some people would have a 200-mile round-trip drive” to the nearest state office to get a card, he testified, according to The Dallas Morning News. More than a quarter of the state’s counties don’t even have an office to get a driver’s license or voter card. Lines at the San Antonio motor vehicles offices are often more than two hours long, he said. 

Texas is one of 10 Republican-controlled states that have imposed a government ID requirement to vote, purportedly to reduce fraud but actually to dissuade poor and minority voters who tend to vote Democratic.

 

Texas is  . . . . .  is covered by the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which allows the Justice Department to disapprove of any change in voting procedures in areas with a history of discrimination.  That’s exactly what the department did in March, saying the law imposes a huge disadvantage on Hispanic voters, who lack a government ID, like a driver’s license or gun permit, at a far higher rate than the general population. Texas sued, and a trial began Monday. 

Those defending Texas’ law told the judges that “only” 168,000 eligible voters in Texas lack a government-issued ID, but federal officials said the number is actually closer to 1.4 million, mostly Hispanic and black voters. Texas, of course, was unable to demonstrate any level of voter fraud that would justify the law, pointing only to five prosecutions for voter impersonation.

The same effect is being seen in other states. In Pennsylvania, 758,000 registered voters lack ID cards and could be turned away at the polls in November. 

Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. said Tuesday that 25 percent of black citizens lack an ID card, compared with 8 percent of white citizens. These requirements, he said, are the modern equivalent of a poll tax. Of course, states aren’t allowed to charge for a card, but he is correct that using this tactic to erect barriers to participation harks back to Jim Crow efforts. And the stakes are no less high because Texas is expected to ask the Supreme Court to strike down Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act — the provision that allows the federal government to preapprove changes in voting procedure — if the three-judge panel rules against its voter-ID requirement.  People died to achieve that federal law, but 47 years later, the discrimination has not disappeared.

This is yet another example of why in good conscience, I can't be a Republican.  And what's striking is that as the Christofascists have come to control the GOP there is a direct correlation with the Party's dishonesty, racism and  contempt for average American, not to mention minorities.  I'm sure if they could figure out a way to do it, the Virginia GOP would seek to keep LGBT citizens from voting since we disproportionately vote Democrat.  As a discussed with a black woman yesterday at the Obama event, for a gay to vote for today's GOP would be like her voting for a candidate who was active in the KKK. 

Republican: Voter ID Laws Are ‘Gonna Allow Governor Romney To Win’

Even though there is virtually no data to support the GOP claim that voter fraud is a problem, GOP controlled legislatures - including the Virginia General Assembly - have been aggressively passing voter ID laws to fight the non-existent problem.  Now, one GOP Congressman has been honest enough to state what the real goal of these laws has always been: diminish minority voting so that the GOP candidates - particularly Mitt Romney - have a better chance of winning.  If you're black, Hispanic or some other non-white race, they simply do not want you voting.  Think Progress looks at this candid confession by Pennsylvania Republican House Leader Mike Turzai (pictured at left).  Here are highlights:

This weekend, Pennsylvania Republican House Leader Mike Turzai (R-PA) finally admitted what so many have speculated: Voter identification efforts are meant to suppress Democratic votes in this year’s election. 

At the Republican State Committee meeting, Turzai took the stage and let slip the truth about why Republicans are so insistent on voter identification efforts — it will win Romney the election, he said:

“We are focused on making sure that we meet our obligations that we’ve talked about for years,” said Turzai in a speech to committee members Saturday. He mentioned the law among a laundry list of accomplishments made by the GOP-run legislature.

“Pro-Second Amendment? The Castle Doctrine, it’s done. First pro-life legislation – abortion facility regulations – in 22 years, done. Voter ID, which is gonna allow Governor Romney to win the state of Pennsylvania, done.”

Voter identification efforts disproportionately affect low-income voters of color, a typically Democratic demographic. Despite insistence by Republicans that the efforts are needed to prevent misconduct on election day, voter fraud is less likely than being hit by lighting. 

Belief In God Plummets Among Youth

While the Christianists disseminate hate and discord against gays, immigrants, non-whites and non-Christians among others and the Catholic Church leadership continues to demonstrate that it is morally bankrupt, younger Americans are watching and drawing their own conclusions about religion.  And increasingly, that conclusion is that they don't need or want religion and all of its poisonous attributes.  The chart above from Talking Points Memo that reflects new Pew Research findings shows clearly who belief in God and religion is plummeting among the under 30 set.  I'm sure the self-congratulatory professional Christians and the Catholic bishops will blame the situation on "secular society" but I suspect the real reason is because the Christians in America are killing Christianity. Given the hate and violence that seem to be the principal hallmarks of Christianity nowadays, that's probably a good thing.  Here are highlights from the TPM article:

The younger generation is abandoning God in droves.  A new survey by the Pew Research Center finds that belief in the existence of God has dropped 15 points in the last five years among Americans 30 and under.  Pew, which has been studying the trend for 25 years, finds that just 68 percent of millennials in 2012 agree with the statement “I never doubt the existence of God.” That’s down from 76 percent in 2009 and 83 percent in 2007.  Among other generations, belief in God is high and has seen few changes in recent decades.

The trend was also reflected in declining numbers of millennials who agreed with the statements “Prayer is an important part of my daily life” and “We all will be called before God at the Judgment Day to answer for our sins.” Answers to those questions also didn’t change much among older generations.

Republican Extremism and the Decline of American Politics

Seemingly across the country the biggest obstacle to addressing the nations problems (and here in Virginia, Virginia's many problems including transportation) is Republican intransigence and an effort to turn the clock back to some mythical 1950's version of America that never existed in fact.   In the GOP's mythical America, white males rule supreme, women, blacks and non-Christians all know their place, and gays are invisible if they know what's good for them.  The irony is that to the extent any form of the "Ozzie and Harriet" middle class world worshiped by the GOP actually existed, much of it stemmed from the financial security that unions had brought to many families - the exact security that the GOP seeks to destroy.  A column in The New Yorker looks at the threat the GOP poses to responsible government.  Here are excerpts:

At least since President Obama’s Inauguration, political observers have been taking note of the Republican Party’s trend toward the right, and away from compromise. “After 2010, it was impossible for a fair-minded person who knew what was going on in Washington and around the country to maintain the fiction that there was an equivalent extremism, and polarization, and ugliness on both sides,” George Packer says in this week’s Political Scene podcast. But there was an impulse among pundits and citizens alike to believe that Democrats, too, bear some of the blame for the country’s polarization, an impulse only now beginning to fade.

Packer traces the polarization back to Newt Gingrich. Starting with his Speakership, Packer says, Republicans have been exhibiting a “willingness—even an eagerness—to use every tactic short of law-breaking to demonize the opponent on the way to winning power.” And that, of course, includes this election.

“With Mitt Romney, there’s the extremism about taxes and about the Catholic Church and its conflict about contraception,” Davidson says. “And then there’s the ugliness as well in things like birtherism and in Mitt Romney’s flirtation with Donald Trump.” 

Packer believes President Obama—who, he notes, “has always been skeptical of hard ideological lines,”—will have trouble in the current landscape. His lack of ideological stance “means that he’s having to start from scratch in assembling a clear argument that opposes the extremism” of the G.O.P.

Beyond this election, even if Romney loses, Packer predicts that Republicans will not relent, but will continue to bog down government and prevent a return to respectable politics. He quotes Barney Frank’s idea for a Democratic Party-wide slogan: “We’re not perfect, but they’re nuts.”

I would add to the analysis of causes for the growing GOP extremism the rise of the Christofascists as the puppet masters of the party.  When those who utterly reject science and who seek to impose a far right Christian theocracy take charge, there is no compromise.   When hate filled people who claim to have God on their side steer the party, extremism is the only result that can be expected.  Unfortunately, the mainstream media remains afraid of exposing the true ugliness of conservative Christianity in this country.  This needs to change NOW.

Right Wing: America is Becoming Non-White-That's a Bad Thing

We all knew it was coming - the far right's freaking out over the new census data that reports that off all new babies born in the United States, whites now make up less than 50% of new births.  Uber-bitch herself, Phyllis Schlafly (at left) of Eagle Forum is beside herself and is lamenting that this is bad news for America.  In Schlafly's always bigoted mind, being non-white immediately equates to being an immigrant which she says means not "sharing American values."  Her equally big concern: "it is a good bet that they will not be voting Republican when they start voting in large numbers."  One might ask what are "American values"?  Native American values?  Whites after all were not the first Americans.  As for not voting Republican, given the party's anti-immigrant, anti-non-white, anti-non-ultra-right Christian agenda, the GOP and people like Schlafly have no one to blame but itself for its unattractiveness to those who do not belong to the white supremacist right wing Christian crowd.  Here a sampling of Schlafly's odious comments:

For decades, the NY Times has been promoting immigration policies that heavily favored a huge influx of non-whites. Today's lead story brags:

WASHINGTON — After years of speculation, estimates and projections, the Census Bureau has made it official: White births are no longer a majority in the United States.

It is not a good thing. The immigrants do not share American values, so it is a good bet that they will not be voting Republican when they start voting in large numbers.  

The NY Times liberals seek to destroy the American family of the 1950s, as symbolized by Ozzie and Harriet. The TV characters were happy, self-sufficient, autonomous, law-abiding, honorable, patriotic, hard-working, and otherwise embodied qualities that made America great. In other words, the show promoted values that NY Times liberals despise.

Instead, the USA is being transformed by immigrants who do not share those values, and who have high rates of illiteracy, illegitimacy, and gang crime, and they will vote

Not surprisingly, Schlafly considers herself a "good Christian." And sure enough, her core principles are scorn and hatred towards others and -  self-congratulatory feigned piety. 

Democrat when the Democrats promise them more food stamps.

Obama Kicks Off Virginia Campaign at Richmond's VCU

Even as the Virginia GOP tries to move Virginia backwards to a pre-Civil War society, Virginia's cities are slowly growing in population to a point where they are on the cusp of being able to out vote the backward rural bastions of the GOP.  Yes, there are still many Kool-Aid drinking knuckle draggers in Virginia Beach and Chesapeake (the latter in particular), but over all the urban vote seems to want to move forward into the 21st century rather than return to the 19th century.  Moreover, the urban populations reflect the racial diversity that is the new America - much to the horror of the white supremacist friendly Virginia GOP.  Thus, it's no surprise that Barack Obama kicked off his campaign in Virginia in Richmond, the former capital of the Confederacy, which in many ways is evolving into a progressive city (at least by Virginia standards).  The photo above shows some of the large crowd that turned out at Virginia Commonwealth University.  Blue Virginia notes the sharp contrast in the crowd against the GOP base:

Notice a few things about the crowd that Willard will never match? 1) Enthusiasm (why would anyone in their right mind be enthused about a corporate robot?); 2) numbers (Remember when Willard had a rally in a football stadium, and it was 99% empty? Guarantee - that will NOT happen to Barack Obama today, or any day in this campaign!); 3) a crowd that looks like America, in all its diversity (Willard's crowd - older and white, pretty much. Not that there's anything at all wrong with older white people - there are good and bad people in every race, religion, ethnicity, etc. - but crowds that are consistently made up of 95% older white people, as are invariably seen at Republican rallies, is NOT representative of the demographics of today's America. Sorry Willard.) 

The Republican War on Voters

When a political party's policies are not attractive to the majority of rank and file voters and seek to protect the immensely wealthy, there are not too many approaches that will lead to electoral victory other than seeking to limit the ability of hostile voters to cast their vote.  That' seemingly the GOP approach (including the Virginia GOP) to the 2012 elections and beyond.  Hence the concerted war to disenfranchise minority voters and others who don't fit the profile of Gilded Age ultra wealthy under the dishonest premise of stopping largely non-existent "voter fraud.".  Sadly, the GOP seems increasingly to be a party in favor of oligarchy and religious extremism.  A column in the Washington Post looks at this disturbing phenomenon.  Here are some highlights:

Republicans are waging the most concerted campaign to prevent or discourage citizens from exercising their legitimate voting rights since the Jim Crow days of poll taxes and literacy tests. Four years ago, Democrats expanded American democracy by registering millions of new voters — mostly young people and minorities — and persuading them to show up at the polls. Apparently, the GOP is determined not to let any such thing happen again.

According to the nonpartisan Brennan Center for Justice at New York University, which keeps track of changes in voting laws, 22 statutes and two executive actions aimed at restricting the franchise have been approved in 17 states since the beginning of 2011. By the center’s count, an additional 74 such bills are pending.

The most popular means of discouraging those young and minority voters — who, coincidentally, tend to vote for Democrats — is legislation requiring citizens to show government-issued photo identification before they are allowed to cast a ballot. Photo ID bills have been approved by Republican-controlled legislatures in Alabama, Kansas, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin, and by referendum in Mississippi. .   .  .   . In Virginia, Republican Gov. Bob ["Governor Ultrasound] McDonnell has not decided whether to sign a voter ID bill the legislature sent to his desk.

In theory, what could be wrong with demanding proof of identity? In the real world, plenty.  As Republican strategists are fully aware, minorities are overrepresented among the estimated 11 percent of citizens who do not have a government-issued photo ID. They are also painfully aware that, in 2008, President Obama won 95 percent of the African American vote and 67 percent of the Hispanic vote. It doesn’t take a genius to do the math: If you can reduce the number of black and Latino voters, you improve the Republican candidate’s chances.

If photo ID laws were going to be the solution, though, Republicans had to invent a problem. The best they could come up with was The Menace of Widespread Voter Fraud.  It’s a stretch. Actually, it’s a lie. There is no Widespread Voter Fraud. All available evidence indicates that fraudulent voting of the kind that photo ID laws would presumably prevent — someone shows up at the polls and votes in someone else’s name — just doesn’t happen.

 Of course, there are other potential kinds of electoral fraud; crooked poll workers, for example, could record votes in the names of citizens who actually stayed home. Election officials could design ballots in a way that worked to a specific candidate’s advantage or disadvantage (see Florida, 2000). But none of this would be prevented by photo ID, which still hasn’t found a problem to solve — except, perhaps, an excess of Democratic voters.

Even more sinister are new laws, such as in Florida, that make it much more difficult for campaigns — or anyone else — to conduct voter-registration drives. If you thought Republicans and Democrats agreed that more Americans should register to vote, you were sadly mistaken.

In the name of safeguarding the sanctity of the ballot, Republicans are trying to exclude citizens they consider likely to vote for Democrats — the young, the poor, the black and brown. Those who love democracy cannot allow this foul subterfuge to succeed.

This GOP practice, combined with the party's embrace of theocracy and religious extremism make it impossible for me to be a Republican.  I may not fully identify as a Democrat, but I sure as Hell am not today's version of what it takes to be a Republican.  Just about 100% of my extended family feel likewise and have fled from the GOP.

The GOP's Worsening Hispanic Problem

When a political party deliberately or by default panders to bigoted older white far right Christians and white supremacists of all ages, it should come as no surprises that attracting minority voters who are the targets of constant GOP demonization is going to be problematic. Like gays, Hispanics are a favored whipping boy of the GOP base. Indeed, most Hispanics are depicted in GOP circles as wetbacks who just came across the Rio Grande by cover of night. In fact, here in Virginia Virginia Attorney General Ken "Kookinelli" Cuccinelli recently compared immigrants to rats. Yet, Hispanics are the fastest growing segment of the American population. Thus the GOP attacks on Hispanics might not be described as very good long term strategic planning. A Salon article looks at the GOP's increasing problem with the Hispanic vote. Here are some highlights:

“We have to fix our problems with the Hispanics,” said John McCain last week when asked by MSNBC’s Chuck Todd about the Republican Party’s competitiveness in the Southwest in the 2012 election.. “It starts with a way to address the issue of immigration in a humane and caring fashion, at the same time emphasizing the need to secure our borders because of the drug cartels and the people who transport people across our border and treat them terribly.” A tip for McCain, front-runner Mitt Romney and other Republicans: drop the “the” in front of references to Hispanics.

Democrats dominate among non-white groups, winning among African-Americans and Asian Americans as well as Latinos. In 2008 Obama carried 67 percent of the Latino vote, and even won the Cuban-American subset previously loyal to Republicans. For GOP presidential candidates, the party’s struggle to attract Latino voters is particularly troubling for two reasons. First, the Latino vote is significant and growing quickly, and will in the near future surpass African-Americans as the nation’s largest ethnic minority voting bloc.

Second, unlike in the South where white Republican performance rates can counterbalance African-Americans’ overwhelming support for Democrats, the Latino vote outside Florida and Texas tends to be concentrated in Southwestern states where the offsetting effects of white Republicans are often insufficient.

Although other issues have contributed to the GOP’s struggles with Latino voters, the party’s strident opposition to immigration reform has poisoned the electoral well. From California’s Proposition 187 referendum in the 1990s to Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer’s signing of the most anti-immigrant law in the country in 2010; from the antics of crusading Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio to the state-level attempts to secure borders to denying benefits to immigrants or their children, conservative groups and their Republican allies are leading the anti-immigrant charge.

“The GOP’s reputation among Latinos is as bad as it has ever been, driven primarily by statements and state legislation on immigration,” Gary Segura, a Stanford political scientist,

Segura estimates that if Romney or any other Republican nominee fails to get 40 percent to 42 percent of the Latino vote nationwide, Obama will likely hold Nevada, Colorado and New Mexico, and possibly win Arizona without McCain at the top of the ticket.

“The current dynamic among Latinos is mild disappointment with Obama but outright fear of the GOP,” wrote Simon Rosenberg, president of NDN, a center-left think tank known for its analysis of Latino politics, . . . .

Collins predicts that Harry Reid and Senate Democrats will make a major immigration reform push at some point this summer or fall, not in order to actually pass legislation but to demonize the Republican ticket and split the party in the months before the general election.

As Republicans try to simultaneously please both the xenophobic elements within the conservative base and the Latino voters it needs to compete nationally, they may be tempted to seek a quick-fix solution, notably the selection of a Latino vice-presidential running mate. Symbolic shortcuts to demographic parity don’t necessarily work, of course, and may create as many problems as they solve.

John McCain is right: The GOP has a problem with “the” Hispanics. In general elections and especially during primaries, Republican candidates increasingly depend upon support and money from older, whiter voters who hold more reactionary views than younger Americans do toward minorities and immigrants.

What is really distressing is that the GOP base increasingly is utterly incapable of seeing the common humanity of minorities that aren't white, far right Christian, and heterosexual. Long term, it is a recipe for electoral disaster. It also puts a very ugly face on Christianity.

Federal Court Deals Blow to GOP Gerrymandering in Texas

For a party that claims to honor democracy and the integrity of the electoral system, the Republican Party goes to extreme lengths to limit the ability of minorities to vote - through new ID requirements and sometimes outright intimidation - and to gerrymander voting districts so as to neutralize minority populations who have little reason to vote Republican given the Party's efforts to often demonize them . Such behavior by the GOP is the norm here in Virginia. Texas is no different. But it appears that GOP efforts in Texas may be hitting a road block in the form of the federal courts which are poised to rewrite the GOP redistricting effort. Under the GOP plan, 3 out of 4 new Congressional seats would have tilted to the GOP and all GOP encumbrances would have held safe seats. The court plan would flip this outcome on its head. Here are some highlights from Politico:

A federal court-proposed map positions Democrats to gain as many as three congressional seats in Texas, dealing a sharp blow to Republicans who had hoped the state would help solidify their new majority.

Under the plan, Democrats could capture three of the four new seats Texas is gaining in the current round of reapportionment, and would be positioned to compete against one of the state’s freshman Republicans, Rep. Quico Canseco, whose southwestern Texas district would become considerably less GOP-friendly.

The interim plan was crafted by a San Antonio court, which was tasked with providing a congressional map until a Washington, D.C.-based court determines whether a Republican-drawn plan, approved by the state legislature earlier this year, adequately accommodates the state’s exploding Hispanic population. The Justice Department, along with several minority groups, instigated legal action earlier this year, alleging that the GOP blueprint dilutes minority voting strength.

The court-drafted map is a devastating reversal for Republicans, whose map would have positioned the GOP to win three of the state’s new seats and would have allowed each of the party’s 23 incumbents to run in safe districts.

“This is a big win for Democrats and minority groups in Texas,” said Matt Angle, director of the Texas Justice Fund, which helped craft the legal strategy combating the GOP plan.

Several other Republican-held districts would also be less safe under the interim plan. Veteran GOP Rep. Joe Barton would see his seat grow less Republican-friendly, as would the Galveston-area seat held by retiring GOP Rep. Ron Paul.

The proposed map is not final – Republicans will have until the end of this week to provide input and suggest changes before the plan is finalized. The interim plan was released just ahead of Monday’s opening of the filing period for candidates to declare their intentions to run in Texas races.

Video Shows White Teens Killing Black Man

Hate is alive and well - especially in Mississippi - where a video caught a group of white teens targeting and black man then running him over with a car and killing him. It's yet another example of what the politics of hate and division of the far right bear as their ultimate foul fruits. The messaging of the far right seems increasingly out to dehumanize others because of their race, gender, sexual orientation, and religion - all of which makes it easier for some to feel totally free to physically harm those whom have been dehumanized. It's precisely what the Nazi regime did to the Jews in the 1930's. What's shocking in this sad case is that the murder was caught on video. Here are highlights from CNN on the disturbing story:

On a recent Sunday morning just before dawn, two carloads of white teenagers drove to Jackson, Mississippi, on what the county district attorney says was a mission of hate: to find and hurt a black person.

In a parking lot on the western side of town they found their victim. James Craig Anderson, a 49-year-old auto plant worker, was standing in a parking lot, near his car. The teens allegedly beat Anderson repeatedly, yelled racial epithets, including "White Power!" according to witnesses.

Hinds County District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith says a group of the teens then climbed into their large Ford F250 green pickup truck, floored the gas, and drove the truck right over Anderson, killing him instantly.

Mississippi officials say it was a racially motivated murder. What the gang of teens did not know was that a surveillance camera was focused on the parking lot that night, and many of the events, including the actual murder of Anderson, were captured live on videotape.

The group of teens that night was led by 18-year-old Deryl Dedmon, Jr., of Brandon, Mississippi, according to police and officials. "This was a crime of hate. Dedmon murdered this man because he was black," said Hinds County District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith. "The evidence will show that."

Dedmon led and instigated the attack from early in the evening, he took part in the beating of Anderson, and Dedmon was also the actual driver of the Ford 250 truck that would serve as the murder weapon, according to officials.

As the teens were partying and drinking miles away from Jackson that night, in largely white Rankin County, Dedmon told friends they should leave, saying "let's go fuck with some niggers," according to law enforcement officials.

Dedmon pummeled Anderson repeatedly as he crumpled to the street, according to officials, though this is not visible in the videotape. Finally, after the beating some of the teens left and some got into the green truck.

At this moment on the video, Anderson becomes visible, as he staggered into view and walked towards the headlights of the truck. The truck suddenly surges ahead, running over Anderson, then continuing at high speed away from the scene.

Shortly after he allegedly drove the truck over Anderson, Dedmon allegedly boasted and laughed about the killing, according to testimony given by some of the teens to detectives. "I ran that nigger over," Dedmon allegedly said in a phone conversation to the teens in the other car.

It's frightening stuff and it's the result in part, I suspect, of the constant message put out by the Tea Party and Christianists that America - read whites - are under siege and losing control of the country. Sadly, I suspect that we'll see more murders like this. And not just of blacks.

More Disgusting Racism from the GOP

I have noted many times that in addition to the Christianist undercurrent that plagues the Tea Party Crowd, there is a very clear element of racism: Anti-black, anti-Hispanic, anti-anyone who isn't white. Now a GOP/Tea Party official in California has revealed just how low these folks will go and how in their minds anyone who isn't straight and Caucasian is indeed not quite human. Exhibit A: the above photo being e-mailed around by Marilyn Davenport, a Southern California Tea Party activist and member of the central committee of the Orange County Republican Party. The photo bears the caption "No wonder there's no birth certificate." When the e-mail was discovered by the Orange County Weekly, Ms. Davenport - like all confirmed racists - claimed she isn't a racist. Obviously, she has forgotten the maxim that actions speak louder than words. People like Ms. Davenport continue to turn the GOP into something vile. I can only wonder what Ms. Davenport thinks of LGBT Americans. Here are some highlights from the OC Weekly:
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This afternoon, Marilyn Davenport sent an email to fellow Orange County Republican elected officials, apologizing if anyone was offended by her depicting President Barack Obama as an ape--while also blasting the "liberal media" for reporting the story.
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"I simply found it amusing regarding the character of Obama and all the questions surrounding his origin of birth," Davenport wrote. "In no way did I even consider the fact he's half black when I sent out the email. In fact, the thought never entered my mind
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Tim Whitacre, a longtime conservative Orange County Republican activist in Santa Ana, defended Davenport: "Marilyn Davenport is a staunch, ethical Republican lady. There is nothing unethical about this from a party standpoint because it wasn't sent out to the party at large with any racist statements and it wasn't signed as a central committee member. As a private individual, she is just real big on Birther stuff. One of her passions that drives her is the president's lack of forthrightness about where he was born. Marilyn believes that nobody knows where he was born and so this picture says a thousand words." . . . . She is known as a pleasant, loving person, and it kills me that she is being attacked by this non-story knowing her mindset."
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Indeed, the photo says a great deal about today's GOP and none of it good. Does the "loving" Ms. Davenport also support stoning gays and the murder of abortion providers too?

Colin Powell Slams GOP

As a former Republican I have been dismayed to watch as the GOP has become a party of intolerant bigots which excludes basically anyone who is not white, an extreme evangelical Christian, back woods redneck, and a hater of all minority groups and immigrants. The party name needs to be changed to the "Christian Taliban Party" since it's becoming virtually impossible for anyone who is a rational thinking person to remain a member. And as for the party's alleged principals of small government, personal freedoms, and fiscal conservatism, those have all been thrown on the dung heap. Now, Colin Powell has joined the many already decrying what has become of the GOP and its divisional tactics. Here are some highlights from CNN:

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(CNN) — The Republican party must stop "shouting at the world" and start listening to minority groups if it is to win elections in the 21st century, former Secretary of State Colin Powell said Thursday. In an interview with CNN's Fareed Zakaria for Sunday's "GPS" program, President Bush's former secretary of state said his party's attempt "to use polarization for political advantage" backfired last month.

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"I think the party has to take a hard look at itself," Powell said in the interview, which was taped Wednesday. . . . if the party wants to have a future in this country, it has to face some realities. In another 20 years, the majority in this country will be the minority."

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"Can we continue to listen to Rush Limbaugh?" Powell asked. "Is this really the kind of party that we want to be when these kinds of spokespersons seem to appeal to our lesser instincts rather than our better instincts?" Zakaria's full interview with Powell will air Sunday at 1 p.m. ET on CNN.