When It Comes To Racism, We Still Have A Long Way To Go

While Rush Limbaugh leads his rabid wingnut followers further down the dark path into political obscurity, we here in reality still have to confront the horrors of racism. Tuesday was a great day for the country, to see an African American sworn in as our President is truly incredible. Yet not all is well and Obama is but a step on the right path. Just ask Pam Graf, who had her house burned down while traveling to Washington, because she was an Obama supporter.

From NorthFulton.com:

CUMMING - In the unseasonable cold of a clear January morning, Forsyth County mother of three and ardent Barack Obama supporter Pam Graf was sifting through the charred, hellish remains of what was once her home on Lanier Drive.

Graf's home had been burned to the ground. No one was in the home at the time of the blaze. Graf said her three children had been sent to stay with their father while she driving to attend the presidential inauguration.

Could it have just been an innocent fire, caused by faulty electrical system or a carelessly left candle?

Graf's home burned down early Jan. 18 in what authorities are calling a "suspicious fire." Most shocking to Graf, and to some of the citizens of the county, state and nation at large, was graffiti the apparent arsonist left on scene.

Spray painted on the fence around the home it said, "Beware [expletive deleted] your black boy will die."

Rush Limbaugh said to Sean Hannity this week (see link above) that, "You know racism in this country is the exclusive province of the left." No Rush, it belongs to all of us, to those that burn down houses, to those that fight it, to those that don't...and to those that try to deny it.

Chambliss Cruises To Victory

Now that the last Senate seat has been voted on (not counting the recounters in Minnesota) the Republicans can say (and probably will) that December is a great month for them. Of course, McCain won Georgia handily and Chambliss nearly won a majority last month. Run-offs generally have lower turnout numbers so yesterday was even tougher for Jim Martin to overcome.

From the AP:

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss handed the GOP a firewall against Democrats eager to flex their newfound political muscle in Washington, winning a bruising runoff battle Tuesday night that had captured the national limelight. Chambliss' victory thwarted Democrats' hopes of winning a 60 seat filibuster-proof majority in the Senate. It came after a bitter month long runoff against Democrat Jim Martin that drew political luminaries from both parties to the state and flooded the airwaves with fresh attack ads weeks after campaigns elsewhere had ended.

It was quite the campaign after the campaign but no matter how much Martin tried, it was too hard to even come close to Saxby Chambliss. Nationally, Democrats have ample opportunities to reach 60 and beyond in 2010. As for 2008, we couldn't have made the Senate filibuster-proof anyways because Lieberman is a shaky vote and not every Senator will toe the party line on each and every bill (that goes especially for Democrats). So that issue doesn't concern me too much based on yesterday's outcome. What is sad is that Georgia returned a degenerate man to the Senate by the name of Saxby Chambliss, I hope they come to their senses when he faces the voters again in six years.

Chambliss Lies About His Record On Social Security

As I type, voters are heading to the polls down in Georgia to decide whether Chambliss returns to Washington or Jim Martin replaces him to change one corrupted seat in the Senate. Last night, in a bid to woo Georgians that want to keep social security as it is, he lied about his pro-privatization record, contradicting a statement he made this July.

Molest Much Senator Chambliss?

I called Saxby Chambliss a creep in my last post and then wondered if that was a little over the line. Booman posted this ad of Saxby's earlier from Thanksgiving and now there's no doubt in my mind:



Someone should call the District Attorney over the last five seconds of that disgrace of an advertisement and a nasty human being.

Jim Martin Needs Your Help Now!

It may be nearly a month since we elected Barack Obama as our next President, but another crucial election warrants your attention for tomorrow. Down in Georgia, voters will be determining if their blatantly racist and corrupt freshman Senator Saxby Chambliss will hold onto his seat. Jim Martin is challenging him and hoping to aid Obama's agenda in the next Congress, but only if we all get together to help. All eyes will be on this race tomorrow and the outcome is still undetermined.

From The Atlanta Journal Constitution:

Tuesday’s runoff between U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) and Democratic challenger Jim Martin has attracted everyone from former President Bill Clinton to GOP presidential nominee John McCain as both parties square off for one final round this election season.

Both Democrats and Republicans contend that nothing less than the future of the nation is at stake. Elect Martin, Democrats say, and voters will clear the path for the substantive political change President-elect Barack Obama promised. Re-elect Chambliss, Republicans counter, and the Senate will have enough GOP votes to stop Democrats from taking the country too far to the left.

“This is the big one,” former U.S. Sen. Zell Miller (D-Ga.) told 200 people last week at a Chambliss rally in Gainesville. “This is a history-changing election. The world is watching this election.”

The Georgia runoff has become a focus of post-Nov. 4 national politics as Democrats inch closer to a 60-vote “super majority” in the Senate, enough to prevent GOP filibusters that could stymie key pieces of Obama’s agenda or even derail U.S. Supreme Court nominees. Democrats now have 58 seats; only Georgia’s runoff and an ongoing recount in Minnesota remain.

Minnesota's voters have to wait for the recount to end and the legal challenges to conclude before knowing whether Coleman or Franken will rule the day. In Georgia, it might as well be the day before November 4th all over again. If you live in the state or nearby, head over and help out at one of two dozen campaign offices. If you are farther away like me, donate or help phonebank for Jim.

The Senate will be a far better place without a creep like Saxby Chambliss, make sure to do your small part to make it happen!

How Saxby Chambliss Views Freedom In America

Chambliss certainly likes to talk, and here with Giuliani, he gets some big names to talk for him as well. With the run-off less than a week away, Saxby must be getting pretty nervous because to throw someone out of a public rally merely due to the fact he has a video camera (not to mention a Democratic staffer) is definitely not a good sign. In Woodstock, GA, Chambliss feels that freedom of assembly only applies if the crowd is out there for him alone.

Twenty Banks Have Gone Down This Year

We all know bad economic times are fully upon us and unfortunately it is just beginning. When Paul Krugman says stuff like this, it isn't a good sign. When twenty banks fail in less than a year, that is bad news. The latest victim to fall is the Community Bank of Georgia.

From ABC News:

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was appointed receiver of the bank, located in Loganville, Ga. It had $681 million in assets and $611.4 million in deposits as of Oct. 17.

The FDIC said all the bank's deposits and about $84.4 million of its assets will be acquired by Bank of Essex, of Tappahannock, Va. Its four branches will reopen Monday as offices of Bank of Essex.

The agency said depositors of The Community Bank will continue to have full access to their deposits.

The FDIC estimated that the resolution of The Community Bank will cost the federal deposit insurance fund between $200 million and $240 million.

Thankfully the FDIC can help customers from their bank's bad practices, but we all share the burden because the money ultimately comes from the taxpayers. Nearly a quarter of a billion dollars can go to a lot of good programs or pay down our debt. Instead it is spent to fix the damage of banks that got too greedy and made themselves collapse. Oh the billions trillions we must spend to get us out of this hole!

Interview With A Diebold Insider

Were you one to laugh at conspiracy theorists who thought that Diebold would plan to steal elections at the touch of a button? Perhaps you were confused when all the polls indicated that Max Cleland would beat challenger Saxby Chambliss in 2002 only to see the results flipped around in the end? Well if you are wondering what is going on in Georgia today, you might want to listen to a guy who worked for them back then and consider what they are up to today.

Chambliss Has Something To Hide For Imperial Sugar

Saxby Chambliss is fighting to keep his Senate seat this fall, narrowly missing the fifty percent cut-off to avoid a run-off early next month against Democratic challenger Jim Martin. Though that isn't the only thing that Chambliss is struggling against. While Saxby makes coded racial messages on the campaign trail, he and his lawyers are busily trying to keep him out of court and testifying about the negligent homicides at the Imperial Sugar factory.

From NBC Affiliate WSAV:

News Three was the first to tell you Georgia Senator Saxby Chambliss had been subpoenaed by Savannah Attorney Mark Tate in the case against Imperial Sugar. Tate, who represents families of the deceased, subpoenaed Chambliss because he believes Chambliss has pertinent information for the case.

In a News Three follow-up, we've gotten word that Chambliss' lawyer is moving to quash the subpoena. Tate says attorneys for Chambliss claim he has immunity because he's a U.S. Senator.

Being a U.S. Senator by no means gives Saxby the right to deny the deceased family members justice and the duty of our legal system to hold all those involved accountable for their actions. If Senator Chambliss has something to hide, the law must come at him with full force and get him on the stand. Chambliss is a known sugar-whore and it would be more than interesting to see what exactly he is trying to hide for his campaign contributors. We also already know what depths he will sink to in order to win office, therefore finding out why he's getting so much sweet and refined money can hopefully help complete the circle and kick the crook out of the Senate.

Did Putin Spare Georgia The Worst To Avoid Looking Like Bush?

There are so many negative attributes about President George Bush, you'd have to write several novels to full encompass them all (oh wait, that's been done already). So I'd like to take a moment to highlight something good he's done in the world of foreign affairs, even if it was done indirectly. It seems that a conversation between Nicolas Sarkozy and Vladimir Putin might have saved Saakashvili's gonads by way of our outgoing Presidential disaster.

From The TimesOnline (UK):

With Russian tanks only 30 miles from Tbilisi on August 12, Mr. Sarkozy told Mr. Putin that the world would not accept the overthrow of Georgia’s Government. According to [Sarkozy’s chief diplomatic adviser, Jean-David] Levitte, the Russian seemed unconcerned by international reaction. “I am going to hang Saakashvili by the balls,” Mr. Putin declared.

Mr. Sarkozy thought he had misheard. “Hang him?” — he asked. “Why not?” Mr. Putin replied. “The Americans hanged Saddam Hussein.”

Mr. Sarkozy, using the familiar tu, tried to reason with him: “Yes but do you want to end up like [President] Bush?” Mr. Putin was briefly lost for words, then said: “Ah — you have scored a point there.”

Now when someone as sinister as Vladimir Putin takes pause at the fear of being compared to George Bush, we can truly account for how far world opinion has fallen of our country in the last several years. That countdown clock to January 20th really can't tick fast enough. Though I wonder if Bush will take credit for that in his memoirs, hmmm.

With Run-off Looming, Chambliss Still Showing His Racist Side

Saxby Chambliss won the majority of votes in the Georgia Senate race but did not clear the 50% hurdle to avoid a run-off next month. Now he and Jim Martin will go at it again without the third party challenger and just like before election day, Chambliss is pulling out all the stops to appeal to every white racist with some not-so-coded pleas to vote for him. Seriously this is just sick, though probably not as sick as what he did to Max Cleland six years ago.

From ThinkProgress:

Last night on Fox News, when asked why he wasn’t able to “close the deal” with Georgia voters on election day, Chambliss said that because of Barack Obama, there was a “high percentage of minority vote” and that his campaign wasn’t “able to get enough of our folks out” to vote:

COLMES: Why do you think you’ve been unable…[to] close the deal with the people of Georgia in terms of what happened on Election Day?

CHAMBLISS: Well, listen, we have, for the first time in the history the our state, a 30-day advanced vote period, and let’s give the Obama people credit. They did a good job of getting out their vote early.

There was a high percentage of minority vote, and I am tickled to death that as many Georgians as did examined their right to vote. That’s what make our election process the envy of the whole free world, but we weren’t able to get enough of our folks out on Election Day.

Oh no, not those minority voters!!! We wouldn't want them to stop Saxby from having a second term in the Senate. The ghastly thing is that he really doesn't care who he offends by saying this racist drivel. As long as he gets the win, the means does not matter compared to the end. Oh and what the hell does "examined their right to vote" mean? That is a peculiar way of saying that Georgians who aren't white exercised their constitutional right to vote. Now I know Chambliss would love it if only white male property owners or the Georgia State House could determine who goes up to Washington, but he better recognize that this is 2008 and even if he does win in the end, 2014 will be a completely different landscape yet again, with more of those....gasp....minorities.

Sen. Chambliss Shows His Racist Side

Senator Saxby Chambliss certainly thinks he knows his supporters, specifically by skin color. In these waning days of the election, what was thought of by the GOP as a safe seat to hold on to has become a battleground thanks to the hardworking campaign of Jim Martin. There is an atmosphere of change in this country and Georgia is certainly a part of it, even if Obama is a few points down here in this "red state." Well Chambliss doesn't like that change and a potential loss of power, so he is going negative in ways we haven't seen since the turbulent times of the 1960s.

From ThinkProgress:

On Wednesday, the chairman of the Hillsborough County, Florida Republican party forwarded an e-mail to several hundred party members that warned of “‘the threat’ of ‘carloads of black Obama supporters coming from the inner city to cast their votes.’” While the McCain campaign condemned the email, the sentiment does not appear to be isolated. As Tapped notes, earlier this week, Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) proclaimed that the the “rush” of African-Americans to the polls has “got our side energized“:

“There has always been a rush to the polls by African-Americans early,” he said at the square in Covington, a quick stop on a bus tour as the campaign entered its final week. He predicted the crowds of early voters would motivate Republicans to turn out. “It has also got our side energized, they see what is happening,” he said.

Similarly, Chambliss has been warning his “predominantly white base” in North Georgia, “The other folks are voting.”

Chambliss' outright racism is energizing like-minded Republicans in his area, inciting the worst parts of people. It isn't just Chambliss, but he certainly is a big part of the problem in this Southern state. The man came to power by attacking the patriotism of a triple-amputee war hero, so I guess we really shouldn't expect much from this scumbag of a Senator.

Colin Powell "Straight-Talks" John McCain Over Georgian Conflict

A common theme in Washington and mentioned by the press last month was that big bad Russia started the conflict with Georgia. Some politicians tried to remain calm and review what was going on, but not John McCain. He went after Russia with avengeance and even sent Senators Graham and Lieberman to the area as if he were the President already. "We are all Georgians" had to have been the key line that showed the oil and gas industry that he was on their side no matter where in the world they did or wanted to do business. This past Sunday Colin Powell went on CNN to help set the record straight on the situation and out straight-talked one of the most crooked politicians ever to run for the Presidency.

From Crooks and Liars:

On CNN Sunday, former Secretary of State Colin Powell offered some “straight-talk” on the Georgia/Russia conflict, and not-so-subtly insinuated that McCain’s rather belligerent response was careless and unnecessarily provocative.

Download | Play Download | Play (h/t Heather)

POWELL: And I think it was foolhardy on the part of President Saakashvili and the Georgian government to kick over this can, to light a match in a roomful of gas fumes.

SESNO: So you’re saying the Georgians provoked this?

POWELL: They did. I mean, there was a lot of reasons to have provocations in the area, but the match that started the conflagration was from the Georgian side.

AMANPOUR: And yet…

POWELL: And that’s a given.

AMANPOUR: And some debate in the presidential elections has basically been, “We are all Georgians now.” What does that mean? It’s the same as was said after 9/11.

POWELL: One candidate said that, and I’ll let the candidate explain it for himself. […] You have to be very careful in a situation like this not just to leap to one side or the other until you’ve taken a good analysis of the whole situation.

Powell very succinctly shredded McCain for his position on the conflict. He categorized him as any other Republican that takes advantage of 9/11 for a profit and uses the goodwill of Americans for the interests of the gas and oil industry. It is sick and disgusting to say the least, so I'm glad to see Powell continuing his quest to be redeemed for the false testimony he gave the U.N. about Iraq back in 2002. The endorsement will be a nice icing on the cake when it comes to wooing moderate-conservatives to Obama.

12 Yr. Old Girl Who Witnesses Bombs In Georgia Punk Fox News

Fox News has led the charge in the corporate media to spin lies about the conflict between Russia and Georgia. The narrative they peddle is that this whole thing is Russia's fault and that Georgia is a good democracy. However when Shepard Smith had young Amanda Kokoeva on his program, she showed him up with a heavy dose of truth....and all he could do was cut away to commercial.

Nations Don't Invade Other Nations Unless They're Iraq Or Afghanistan

Cenk points out the ridiculousness of John McCain's latest statement on the war between Russia and Georgia:

Neo-Cons Look At Georgia And Lust For War

As the situation in Georgia worsens, the world looks on in horror as hundreds and now thousands are dying in a war being fought over a tiny sliver of land in the northern area of the new Georgian Republic. CNN and MSNBC report the death toll in between their coverage of the Olympics. The realities and complexities of the event, dealing with oil and natural gas pipelines are too much for the networks and cable news outlets....but on Fox News and other neo-con entities, this tragedy is a great thing for them.

ThinkProgress sums up their bloodlust:

Russia’s increasing aggression is putting a spark into American neoconservatives. Today on the Times op-ed page, one of their leaders, William Kristol, claims the U.S. must “defend” Georgia’s sovereignty as a reward for its participation in Iraq, while the conservative Washington Times is calling for “maximum pressure” on Russia:

Bill Kristol: [Georgia] has had the third-largest military presence — about 2,000 troops — fighting along with U.S. soldiers and marines in Iraq. For this reason alone, we owe Georgia a serious effort to defend its sovereignty. Surely we cannot simply stand by as an autocratic aggressor gobbles up part of — and perhaps destabilizes all of — a friendly democratic nation.

Washington Times: It is in America’s interest to exert maximum pressure on Russia to withdraw its troops and halt the interference in Georgian territory. This latest act shows the need for greater resolve in establishing a European security system that can be an effective check on Russian power

Writing in the Washington Post today, Robert Kagan goes even further, suggesting that the Georgia-Russia conflict may be the start of World War III:

Do you recall the precise details of the Sudeten Crisis that led to Nazi Germany’s invasion of Czechoslovakia? Of course not, because that morally ambiguous dispute is rightly remembered as a minor part of a much bigger drama. […]

The mood is reminiscent of Germany after World War I, when Germans complained about the “shameful Versailles diktat” imposed on a prostrate Germany by the victorious powers and about the corrupt politicians who stabbed the nation in the back.

Like a good neoconservative, Kagan also links the Western response to the conflict and its wider policy towards Russia as “appeasement.”

Hearing them talk sends shivers down my spine. If they had as much power in 2008 as they had in 2001, I'd be running for the hills. Now this is where we tell them to STFU and sit down. This isn't about beating back communism or corruption, beholden to Georgian sovereignty or any of that crap. This is purely about oil, money and power....and whether we control it indirectly or Russia does.

Racism Still Alive And Well In The U.S.

America is known to have a racist past, but our history books try to tell us that all the bad stuff stopped with Martin Luther King. Of course those of us with our heads not stuck in the sand know differently. Racism in America is still prevalent, it merely took another form, but sometimes it makes itself readily apparent and brutally shocking to the many that abhor this attitude that skin color has anything to do with anything.

From The Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Marietta bar owner Mike Norman says the T-shirts he's peddling, featuring a look-a-like of cartoon chimp Curious George peeling a banana, with "Obama in '08" underneath, are not meant to offend.

Norman acknowledged the imagery's Jim Crow roots but said he sees nothing wrong with depicting a prominent African-American as a monkey.[...]

Marietta native Pam Lindley, 47, joined the protest after reading about the controversy online.

"I don't want people to think this is what Marietta is all about," she added, motioning towards the tavern. "This is what some people think the South is still like. Marietta's come a long way but I guess it's still got a little ways to go."

She said she'd like to see the city ban Norman's provocative musings regularly posted on a sign out front of the bar, which is near Marietta's downtown square. The loosely formed coalition of civil rights activists who gathered Tuesday say they will continue their campaign against Norman's "hate speech."

But his defenders are just as resolute. Mulligan's is a refuge, they say, in an otherwise hypersensitive world. Here, smoking isn't only allowed, it's expected.

"This place is a diamond in the rough," said Gene McKinley, a Woodstock engineer. "People here are genuine and honest. It's the one place I can go without having to worry if I'm offending someone."

That would be code for "I'm free to be my racist self."

Of course Norman is free to sell that crap, but it is a sad state of affairs that the blatantly racist t-shirts are selling so well. It is worse than the newspapers' poll that more than 38% of the people who voted thought the shirts were perfectly fine.

America has come a long way from Jim Crow, but the road ahead is also an arduous trek.

Now This Is A Campaign Stunt

When I think of what to do to run a statewide campaign, things like direct-mail, walking door to door and running television ads come to mind. Now I know Dale Cardwell is running for the U.S. Senate in Georgia, but that doesn't mean you need to lower yourself to cheap stunts to gain attention.

From the AP:

ATLANTA (AP) — A television reporter turned political candidate said he plans to remain on a small scaffold near the top of a tower to focus attention on his long-shot bid to unseat a U.S. senator.

Dale Cardwell was hoisted more than 300 feet up the Corey Tower near downtown Atlanta on Tuesday morning. He said he expects to remain there "for days," sleeping in an insulated sleeping bag and eating military rations. A Webcam tracks his limited movements. Overnight temperatures are expected to drop into the 20s.

Cardwell, who hopes to unseat Republican Saxby Chambliss, said he thinks the publicity stunt won't hurt his credibility, but will make people curious about his message: that politicians should pay more attention to the concerns of working people and less to those of wealthy corporate interests.

Well his message is a good one and he is taking on two establishment candidates, one in his own party and hopefully for his sake the bastardly Saxby Chambliss. Speaking up about that message is what can win this race and take back that Senate seat down south. This publicity stunt however, is more becoming of Dale in his old job working for the local news, not as a Senatorial candidate.

Praying For Rain

Spitzer may be in the local and national spotlight over his drivers license fiasco but at least New York doesn't have Sonny Perdue. The Georgia Governor is doing his best to help his drought-stricken state by....praying. He is also urging people to conserve water but that doesn't really help the towns that can only have access to water for three hours a day. What Perdue thinks he'll get from prayer, only the lord knows.

From The Boston Globe:

The governor will host a prayer service next week to ask for relief from the drought gripping the Southeast.

"The only solution is rain, and the only place we get that is from a higher power," Perdue spokesman Bert Brantley said on Wednesday.

Perdue's office has sent out invitations to leaders from several faiths for the service, set for Tuesday.

Perdue has several times mentioned the need for prayer -- along with water conservation -- as the state's drought crisis has worsened. Over the summer, he participated in day of prayer for agriculture at a gathering of the Georgia Farm Bureau in Macon, Ga.

This may score political points with his Christian conservative base, but what will it do for thirst of Georgians regardless of their faith or those that are atheist or agnostic? I'm all in favor of prayer, but practical solutions need to be looked at. Putting down the debate over climate change might be a good one to examined as well. Can Senator Inhofe and his doubting friends try to end their ignorance now?

Finally, Free Speech Zones Are Challenged

Bush's free speech zones have brought the ire of many that love the First Amendment of the Constitution. Those zones have allowed him to not hear your free speech, so he can more easily subvert the will of the American people. These creations should not have been here in the first place, their only significance is to create an illusion of democracy, not to foster it. The Atlanta city council tried to create an ordinance to further the legality of such zones, but they ran into some interference from the community.

From Atlanta Progressive News:

(APN) ATLANTA – The Atlanta City Council’s Community Development and Human Resources Committee (CDHR) unanimously recommended Tuesday to file the Atlanta Outdoor Events Ordinance, which called for Free Speech Zones for protesters, possibly spelling the end for the controversial proposal.

The City Council will consider the ordinance with the Committee’s recommendation to file when Members meet on June 18, 2007. Councilman Jim Maddox, who introduced the bill on behalf of Mayor Shirley Franklin’s Office, said of the recommendation: "That means [the ordinance] will be dead."

Greg Pridgeon, Mayor Franklin’s Chief of Staff, addressed the Committee and asked that Members file the ordinance so "the stakeholders who are engaged in discussion and debate are given a chance to get together and have further discussions."

"This legislation was well-intentioned and... was put forth at the request of the Administration," Pridgeon said. "We are here today to say to this audience and this Committee that we may have been premature in the ordinance we set forward."

Congratulations to the activists and concerned citizens in Atlanta that caught what the city council was up to. Free speech zones are an insult to the Constitution and the principles for which America was created on. This should serve as a warning to any legislative body that wants to give credence to the shameful practice of having 'free speech zones.' It is extremely unfortunate that they exist in the era of George W. Bush, but they should end exactly where they started.