Photo: Racist celebration at Bob Jones University

A photo of the 2012 Election-Day celebration at Bob Jones University. This photo was belatedly discovered on BJU-owned WBJU's website and has been making the rounds on Facebook today. The photo was not hidden or private at all.

They don't even care if people see them acting like ... well, like what they are.

In the photo (below), as we see, a dark monkey-appearing doll (?) has been elected president, wearing a red, white and blue lei (after all, he IS from Hawaii) and overalls. Not sure I get the overalls reference, but I'm sure they had a reason.

This is what we've been talking about. This was 2012, not back in the 20s.

They have no shame at all.

BEST IDEA I've heard in a long time!

Double A mentioned this on our radio show today, and I am all for it.

We need to make the politicians wear suits advertising their commercial endorsements, just like the NASCAR drivers do. The more money contributed, the bigger the logo!

In the case of BigPharma, the logo should be that of the most popular, best-selling drug of any given company. For instance, Eli Lilly's biggest seller last year was CYMBALTA, so that word should be suitably emblazoned on the jackets of any and all politicians who took Eli Lilly's generous corporate donations. (This could well have a subliminal effect: Perhaps people will wonder if the politician-in-question is making them depressed?) I personally can't wait for conservative Senator Tom Coburn, who took $7000 from Purdue Pharma, to wear the giant word OXYCONTIN on his belly, as he addresses his constituents. Likewise, how funny would it be if Obama wore the logo ADDERALL XR at his next press conference? (Would he seem more or less authoritative?)

Here are some fashion-forward ideas I discovered, when I searched the web.

From Crooks and Liars:



Like I said, no cheating with PFIZER... it has to say VIAGRA, so everyone will recognize the product. (And frankly, this move might not sell the product as well as playing them sexee blues songs on TV commercials, but maybe Pfizer should start thinking about IMAGE?)

~*~



~*~

From Good.is:



~*~



~*~

Somebody named Captain Obvious contributed this to a political forum, the new Supreme Court robes:



~*~

And from Political Irony:

Green Party Livestream show during President Obama's 2013 State of the Union address

The Green Party will be live-blogging the State of the Union address tonight. Included will be my esteemed radio co-host, GORGEOUS GREGG!
Speaking of which, here is the podcast of today's OCCUPY THE MICROPHONE show, on WOLT FM. Our special guest was the amazing Art Goodtimes.



PRESS RELEASE:

WASHINGTON, DC -- The Green Party of the United States will hold a special online GP-TV broadcast during President Obama's 2013 State of the Union address on Tuesday, February 12.

The show, which begins at 9 p.m. Eastern Time and 6 p.m. Pacific Time, will be aired on the Green Party's Livestream Channel (http://www.livestream.com/greenpartyus).

Viewers will be able to participate in a simultaneous chat about the address on the Livestream page and can also call in with comments and questions after the end of President Obama's speech. Craig Seeman and Starlene Rankin will produce and host the show.

Jill Stein, the Green Party's 2012 nominee for President (http://www.jillstein.org), will be a guest on the show via Skype after the President's speech.

Greens and friends will discuss the State of the Union, expectations for the second term of the Obama Administration, and the Green Party's own plans for the coming year. Issues like climate change, which President Obama discussed in his inaugural speech, will get special attention: is the President serious about curbing global warming, or will he approve the Keystone XL pipeline and continue to promote fossil fuel production?

See also:

Facebook page for the Livestream show: http://www.facebook.com/events/250333045092419

"Green Party urges national protest against the proposed Keystone XL and Trailbreaker pipelines"
Green Party press release, January 31, 2013
http://www.gp.org/press/pr-national.php?ID=583

MORE INFORMATION

Green Party of the United States http://www.gp.org
202-319-7191

Contacts:
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-904-7614, mclarty@greens.org
Starlene Rankin, Media Coordinator, 916-995-3805, starlene@gp.org

The white South’s last defeat

... is the title of an article by Michael Lind on Salon. Some of it really rings true to me, and I thought I would do some quoting and commentary of my own.

The article is accompanied by a photo of the confederate battle flag in front of the State Capitol here in South Carolina. (sigh) Every time I go to Columbia (I think the last time was for Occupy Columbia), I see someone taking a picture of that damn flag, and it's pretty embarrassing.

Some excerpts from the article:

The white Southern narrative — at least in the dominant Southern conservative version — is one of defeat after defeat. First the attempt of white Southerners to create a new nation in which they can be the majority was defeated by the U.S. Army during the Civil War. Doomed to be a perpetual minority in a continental American nation-state, white Southerners managed for a century to create their own state-within-a-state, in which they could collectively lord it over the other major group in the region, African-Americans. But Southern apartheid was shattered by the second defeat, the Civil Rights revolution, which like the Civil War and Reconstruction was symbolized by the dispatching of federal troops to the South. The American patriotism of the white Southerner is therefore deeply problematic. Some opt for jingoistic hyper-Americanism (the lady protesteth too much, methinks) while a shrinking but significant minority prefer the Stars and Bars to the Stars and Stripes.

The other great national narrative holds that the U.S. is a nation of immigration, a “new nation,” a melting pot made up of immigrants from many lands. While the melting pot story involves a good deal of idealization, it is based on demographic fact in the large areas of the North where old-stock Anglo-Americans are commingled with German-Americans, Polish-Americans and Irish-Americans, along with more recent immigrant diasporas from Latin America, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

But even before the recent wave of immigration from sources other than Europe, the melting pot never included most of the white South. From the early 19th century until the late 20th, the South attracted relatively few immigrants.

Many, many Americans in the Midwest (where I am from) descend from German and Irish immigrants. This is likely one reason they are more tolerant of immigration in general.

Lind includes THIS FASCINATING MAP (reproduced at left, you can click to enlarge), pointing out that much of the south simply regards its ancestry as "American" (which I guess ought to be spelled "Amurrican"). That truly does speak volumes.

However, I would also point out the huge swaths of purple on that map, which are the majority-African-American counties. That might give you some idea of how old-school white people feel "surrounded" in the South (underscoring the facts in my post about how white-flight brought down the economy). It is my contention that MOST whites would feel that way, and it is notable that there is no such similar swath of purple anywhere else in the country. Although yankee whites feel superior to southerners in race-matters, that is because they are safely in the majority. When African-American populations reach a certain critical mass (my estimate is about 25-30%), then racial animosities manifest in the North as well as the South.

One of the first things I noticed when I moved down South was that there are lots of rural African-Americans here, as well as city-dwellers, something nearly unheard of in the North. In the North, various white threats to "move out to the country" are racist code; dog-whistling for 'escaping' from blacks. In the South, such comments simply mean that you are moving to the country so you can grow tomatoes and raise chickens; no dog-whistling intended. Here in the South, there is no place whites can go (other than the richest enclaves) to 'escape' from black people. Would white yankees be as tolerant, in the same circumstances? Since most currently choose to live in segregated enclaves, far more segregated than the neighborhoods of most southerners .... I hardly think so.

This is the major reason white southerners don't like racial finger-pointing from yankees who live in all-white neighborhoods. I do not live in a white neighborhood, and I understand the sentiment.*

Back to Lind:

As difficult as it may be, outsiders should try to imagine the world as viewed by conservative white Southerners, who think they are the real Americans — that is, old-stock British-Americans — and the adherents of the true religion, evangelical Protestantism. In this perspective, the rest of the country was taken over by invading hordes of Germans, Irish and other European tribes in the first half of the 19th century, leaving the South, largely unaffected by European immigration, as the last besieged pocket of old-stock British-Americans, sharing parts of their territory with subjugated and segregated African-Americans.

This local British-American ethno-racial hegemony in the South was eroded somewhat by the migration of Northeasterners and Midwesterners to the Sun Belt following World War II and the advent of air-conditioning. And now, predominantly nonwhite immigration from Latin America and Asia threatens to make white Southerners of British Protestant descent a minority in their own region. Texas and Florida are already majority-minority states. It is only a matter of time before the same is true of every state in the South. Southern whites will go from being a minority in the nation as a whole to a minority in the South itself.

If Southern culture had a tradition of assimilating immigrants, then cultural “Southernness” could be detached from any particular ethnicity or race. One could be an assimilated Chinese-American good old boy or a Mexican-American redneck. To some degree, that is happening. And Southern whites and Southern blacks have always shared many elements of a common regional culture.

Indeed, one thing I find especially charming is young Asians with deeply-southern accents (little Asian children saying "Hey yall!" is too adorable for words) or young Mexicans at the White Horse Road Flea Market warning their brothers and sisters, "Its fixin to rain!" sounding as thoroughly southern as any other native South Carolinians. After all, they have been born here, and it was inevitable. There is a great deal of intermarriage among young white southerners and the new arrivals, and adorable kids of indeterminate race/ethnicity hollering "yall" has been the result. (And places like the White Horse Road Flea Market and the immensely-popular Anderson Jockey Lot is where we all come together.) I am one of the Midwesterners who moved here (in 1987) after the advent of air-conditioning (even though I often regard myself as a 'repatriated southerner'--since my mother's family was southern).

But the Old South ain't buying. Lind is right about that much:

[It] is difficult, if not impossible, for many white Southerners to disentangle regional culture (Southern) from race (white) and ethnicity (British Protestant). The historical memory of white Southerners is not of ethnic coexistence and melting-pot pluralism but of ethnic homogeneity and racial privilege. Small wonder that going from the status of local Herrenvolk to local minority in only a generation or two is causing much of the white South to freak out.

The demographic demise of the white South is going to be traumatic for the nation as a whole. A century ago, when European immigration made old-stock Yankee Protestants a minority in much of the Northeast and Midwest, one response was hysterical Anglo-American nativism. In a 1921 essay in Good Housekeeping titled “Whose Country Is This?,” then Vice President Calvin Coolidge, an old-stock Yankee from Vermont, explained: “Biological laws tell us that certain divergent people will not mix or blend. The Nordics propagate themselves successfully. With other races, the outcome shows deterioration on both sides.” Patrician Yankees promoted immigration restriction to prevent “inferior” European races from further contaminating America.

And now we come to another fascinating map provided by Lind, also reproduced at left (again, click to enlarge): Evangelical Protestants, rates of adherence per 1000 population. It largely speaks for itself.

I was particularly curious about those bright red hot spots of Evangelical religious activity, which are mostly in rural areas. Snooping around (with the invaluable aid of Google Maps), I discovered some of these bright red spots are on (or near) the home-bases of various influential mega-churches: Morristown First Baptist (Morristown, TN); Heartland Worship (Paducah, KY); Victory Family Life Worship Center (Hugo and Durant, OK), Altus First Baptist (Altus, OK), First Baptist Church of Wichita Falls (Texas), Harrisburg Baptist and The Orchard (both in Tupelo, MS). That bright red square in Montana jumped right out at me also--possibly a Christian militia stronghold? Likewise, the spot in Idaho is very close to Ruby Ridge.

As we see, most of the orange swaths are in the South, and many of these spots also correlate to various mega-churches.

Lind again:

Just as white Southerners today are gerrymandering congressional districts and contemplating gerrymandering the Electoral College to compensate for their dwindling numbers, so the outnumbered Yankees of the North sought to dilute the political influence of European “ethnics” in the early 1900s. When the 1920 census revealed that largely European urbanites outnumbered mostly old-stock Anglo-American rural voters, Congress failed to reapportion itself for a decade, because of the determination of small-town Anglo-Americans to minimize the power of “white ethnics.”

The startling difference at this historical juncture is that they will not admit what they are doing. They will deny that this has anything to do with their whiteness, although they will proudly cop to evangelical religion as a major motivation (deny Christ at your peril!).

I have to admit, this denial of their xenophobia is what I find so confusing, as someone who lives here and argues with these folks rather frequently. The racists and bigots of yore came right out and told you what they were thinking; they were not ashamed. Modern-day southerners categorically deny that their gerrymandering and various attempts to prevent minority voting (etc) has anything at all to do with race or ethnicity ... and they actually appear to believe their own lies. They tell you it is about IDEOLOGY. They refuse to believe that their ideology or politics is backward or racist, and consider such a statement anti-southern.

This is why I continually remind everyone of the purple swaths on that map: whites are not the only southerners. I refuse to let them forget it.

Lind winds up:

By the 1970s, the social divisions among old-stock Anglo-Americans and the “white ethnics” had faded to the point that most white Americans in the North had ancestors from several Western European nationalities. Similarly, the trans-racial melting pot in the U.S. will probably blur or erase many of today’s racial differences by the middle of the 21st century.

But the old-stock Yankees in the Northeast and Midwest did not accept their diminished status in their own regions without decades of hysteria and aggression and political gerrymandering. The third and final defeat of the white South, its demographic defeat, is likely to be equally prolonged and turbulent. Fasten your seat belts.

Yup.

A few days before the 2012 election, I was shopping at the Fresh Market (a gourmet store) and blundered into the men's restroom. (there is only one toilet per restroom) A well-dressed, mellow old southern white man was drying his hands, leisurely, and looked up at me, bemused. He wasn't bothered.

"Ohhhh--" I burbled, embarassed. "I am so sorry! I wasn't paying attention!" He laughed, and then so did I. "You got me, dead to rights!" I held up my hands, as if under arrest. He laughed heartily.

"Welp, in a coupla days," he drawled in his low-country accent (a speech pattern strongly associated with 'old money' in these parts) "somebody else in Washington, Deee Ceee is gonna be held dead to rights too!" he cackled delightedly. In case I didn't know what he meant, he punctuated his comment with, "Benghazi!" --which he pronounced Benn Gozzeh.

I was stunned, but I smiled and nodded politely. I hardly knew what to say, so I said nothing. Mr Low-Country departed the restroom, chuckling happily at Obama's imminent demise.

I was stunned because: 1) He really did believe with his whole heart that Obama was going to lose, like most of the Fox News fans, and 2) he had no doubt that if he was talking to a white woman over 50, that I must agree with him. I mean, I was a reasonable person who apologized for entering the wrong-gender toilet, wasn't I? OF COURSE I was no hooligan, and I must therefore be a Republican.

It did not seem to occur to him that he might be talking to someone who would not agree with him. I think this is because he had met so few people who did not.

This is the South that is currently perishing. Not fast enough for me, but probably too fast for Mr Low-Country.

I have thought of him many times since the election. And I wonder how he dealt with the shock.






~*~

*I was once self-righteously preached at by a prominent blogger, that she made People of Color her role models about racial matters (I had foolishly remarked that I looked up to my mother as a political role model). When I checked the demographics of the Midwestern town this blogger lived in, I was stunned: It was 98.5% white. Who the hell are these role models she is talking about?

I realized then, that she was talking about, you know, Oprah Winfrey and bell hooks and various bloggers at Racialicious, not people she actually lived next to or associated with in real life.

This was a major wake-up call for me, contrasting the political-correctness of what various hip, so-called 'progressive' white bloggers SAY and how they actually live and what they actually do. When I bring these matters up (of neighborhoods and personal associations), it is understood that I am somehow saying something dirty or uncool--the idea that they should practice what they preach seems foreign to them. Am I suggesting they stop living in all-white neighborhoods?

Why yes, I am.

Videos of the year

As in years past, my first choice is the one I listened to the most, after first posting it.

In some ways, this doesn't really count, since the whole reason we listened to it over and over is that we also used it on the radio broadcast/online podcast, as our "Republican Update" theme, during the election and after. I mean, it was just SO perfect.

They ARE, after all, living in their own Private Idaho.

And so, without further ado, from 1980, here are the B-52s.

Private Idaho - B-52s



Get outta that state! Get outta that state!

~*~

As for videos I did not post on the blog, THIS ONE is easily the best. I must have watched it 50 times, and forwarded it countless times as well. (It was initially on another site and not YouTube, so I did not know how to share it here. Problem has since been solved!)

I know just how the monkey feels.

Paul Krugman on the election

In a piece boldly titled SOCIALISM! in the New York Times, Paul Krugman writes:

I have to say, the gnashing of teeth and rending of garments on the right comes as a surprise. We knew that they would be upset; but the extent to which they were really, truly unprepared for the obvious possibility that Obama would be reelected is remarkable.

...

One thing that caught my eye, in particular, has been the wailing that Americans have turned socialist. (Conservatives haven’t failed America — America has failed conservatives!) Thus John Hinderaker of 'Bush is a genius' fame declares--

To me, the most telling incident of the campaign season was a poll that found that among young Americans, socialism enjoys a higher favorability rating than free enterprise. How can this possibly be, given the catastrophic failure of socialism, and the corresponding success of free enterprise, throughout history? The answer is that conservatives have entirely lost control over the culture.

Oddly, he doesn’t even seem to consider the more obvious possibility: after decades in which right-wingers have attacked long-established institutions — Social Security, progressive taxation, unemployment insurance — as “socialism”, a lot of young people now believe them, and think that this “socialism” thing really isn’t so bad.

As for me, I am glad I didn't scrub off those OBAMA 08 bumper stickers from days gone by.

I rather enjoy the dirty looks and grim countenances I see this week in my rear-view mirror.

Deb Morrow not elected; annoying Tea Partier is re-elected

At left: Daisy and Deb Morrow at Occupy Spartanburg last year.







My friend Deb Morrow has lost to Tea Party-puppet Trey Gowdy in the South Carolina 4th District congressional race. He won by refusing to debate her. (Green Party candidate Jeff Sumerel was also in the race, and also offered to debate Gowdy.)

So sorry, Deb--you ran a good race. But as you know, hundreds of thousands of dollars will always beat someone who doesn't take money from special-interest groups.

It shouldn't be that way, but it is.





Gowdy wins second term in SC's 4th District

COLUMBIA — (Associated Press) The GOP's Trey Gowdy has easily won a second term in South Carolina's strongly Republican 4th District in Greenville and Spartanburg counties.

With about a third of precincts reporting, Gowdy had about 65 percent of votes cast in the three-way contest that included Democrat Deb Morrow and Green Party candidate Jeff Sumerel.

Gowdy says he wants to continue working to get the nation's economic house in order. He says the nation isn't going to succeed fiscally without real conversations in Congress about spending priorities and entitlement reform.

Morrow was making her first bid for political office. She's retired from a computer services business and said she decided to run for Congress after getting involved in the Occupy Wall Street movement and organizing an Occupy demonstration in Spartanburg.

You fought the good fight. (bows)

I know exactly what she means...

Pundits are describing 4-year-old Abigael Evans as an "internet sensation"--after her mother posted her endearing cries for mercy, correctly echoing all of our deepest feelings!

Tired of Bronco Bamma and Mitt Romney



Viewed almost 12 million times, Abigael wins the DEAD AIR prize for sincerity, during this 2012 election.

Zomney: He needs brains

This has been viewed well over 5 million times already, so you have probably seen it by now. But I couldn't resist sharing it.

Joss Whedon on Mitt Romney and Zombie Apocalypse



He has a point, of course.

Jill Stein for president

Greenville Greens expressing ourselves, earlier today in downtown Greenville.

Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein is attempting to raise $16,000 by midnight tonight.

Compared to Barack Obama's one billion dollars (the highest amount that any presidential candidate has ever raised) and Romney's $881 million (and climbing rapidly), it seems like a mere pittance, doesn't it?

So if you have a few bucks, send it Jill's way.

I don't, but I figure this is one way I can help.

Odds and Sods: Final debate edition

Talented Jill Andrews at Fall for Greenville, last Sunday.









Admittedly, I haven't been writing about the debates, because I find the entire spectacle depressing. (I have been dutifully covering them on the weekly radio show, which of course you have been listening to!) I have a hard time taking these things seriously... all that pacing around the stage during the last debate, made me nostalgic for Johnny Carson, or anybody else who knew how to freaking STAND STILL on a stage and still command the attention of an audience.

Are people now so accustomed to razzle-dazzle, special effects and music videos, that we have to turn somersaults and cartwheels to keep them engaged?

Tonight is the much-heralded "last debate" between the two major candidates. Only TWO candidates allowed, even though there are others. Not included: Green Party candidate Jill Stein (whom I have interviewed on my show), Justice Party nominee Rocky Anderson, Libertarian Party nominee (and former New Mexico governor) Gary Johnson, Constitution Party nominee Virgil Goode and Peace and Freedom Party nominee Rosanne Barr. (Biographical aside: Your humble narrator was registered as a member of the Peace and Freedom Party while a resident of California.)

I'm sure there are countless others, but these are the best-known of the 'minor' candidates.

To his credit, Gary Johnson has filed a lawsuit against the Commission on Presidential Debates, protesting his exclusion:

On Friday, the Libertarian presidential ticket of former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson and former California Superior Court judge Jim Gray filed another lawsuit against the Commission on Presidential Debates to attempt to force their way into the foreign policy debate tonight.

This lawsuit argues that Gary Johnson has met the 15% polling requirement for inclusion in the debates because polls that have included only President Obama and Gov. Johnson have showed Johnson with much more than 15% support. This is because polls that exclude the name of one candidate (Republican nominee Mitt Romney) should be just as valid as polls that exclude the name of another candidate (Johnson).

Good luck with that, Governor... but I think we all know how that is going to shake out.

It should be noted that Jill Stein has also filed a similar lawsuit, after her arrest last week in Hempstead, New York:

Last week Green Party presidential candidate Dr. Jill Stein was arrested, along with VP candidate Cheri Honkala, attempting to get into the presidential debates in Hempstead, New York. This week her fight continues with a lawsuit filed today against the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), claiming that the CPD, Democratic National Committee, and Republican National Committee, together with the Federal Election Commission and Lynn University, had deprived her of her constitutional rights to due process, equal protection, and free speech, as well as her statutorily protected civil rights.

Free And Equal will be hosting a debate of several 'minor' candidates, tomorrow in Chicago. Ironically, no American networks will be covering this debate, but Al Jazeera and Russia Today will be covering it! (Larry King will be moderating.)

Meanwhile: In this corner, the living fulfillment of the White Horse Prophecy--Mittens Romney!!! And in this corner, the current leader of these great United States (and reigning champ)--Barack Hussein Obama!!!! (((huzzahs, whistles, screams, applause, etc)))

I usually end up watching just to see if someone screws up... I will never forget the hugely-entertaining Rick Perry moment of last November's primary debate. I am heartily wishing for one of those; Romney's humorous "binders of women" came awfully close.

Stay tuned, sports fans.

~*~

Our plucky heroine at the 4th annual Voices Against Violence event, brought to you by the awesome Traci Young Fant and Think2xTwice.org.

Along these lines, I'd like to share this thoughtful piece by Lionel Foster, titled Freeing Young Men from the Trap of Aggression.

An article about the new trend of "gang sweeps": 'New Jim Crow' or Public Safety? Check the comments, too.

~*~

Comment on a recent affirmative action thread at Alas, A Blog, from (someone named) nobody, really:

I recently read an analysis of polling data comparing this [racial] sense of grievance to abortion rights. Popular wisdom says that abortion rights are a controversial issue politically, driving certain white working-class people from the Democratic Party. But polls regularly show that most Americans, most white working class Americans, most white Catholic working-class Americans, etc. … favor abortion rights. Rather, the data suggests that white working class people are driven away from the Democrats by the latent perception that government is intervening to help undeserving OTHERS – others at home, others abroad. This was the core of Nixon’s Southern Strategy, and it remains the core of the Republican faith.

~*~

Paul Ryan withdraws endorsement of State Rep. Roger Rivard:

Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan and Gov. Scott Walker have dropped their endorsements of a Wisconsin lawmaker who said that his father had told him "some girls, they rape so easy" as a way to warn him that women could consent to sex but then later claim they hadn't.

In a further blow to state Rep. Roger Rivard's re-election bid, the operation committed to maintaining a Republican majority in the state Assembly on Thursday ended its financial support for Rivard.

Ryan pulled his support for Rivard, of Rice Lake, just hours after the Journal Sentinel reported on his rape comments Wednesday

Not to worry, Sen. Jim DeMint will likely endorse him.

In a recent piece on Rivard in Feministe, Jill Filipovic wrote an excellent summary of conservative views of gender. An excerpt:

The socially conservative worldview believes that men and women are fundamentally different — not just physically and emotionally and biologically, but in terms of what role they are supposed to fill in society. The conservative worldview sees a society in which these traditional, “natural” roles are filled as the best society. Conservatives believe that men are naturally aggressive and desiring of sex; in the best world, men are heads of households and responsible for action in the public sphere. They care for their families as financial supporters and physical protectors. But they have to be coerced into entering into that family model through a system in which they cannot get sex without marital commitment. Women, on the other hand, could take or leave sex, but they deeply desire monogamy, romantic love, commitment and support. Women are naturally subservient and desiring of stability; in the best world, women are helpmeets to their husbands and responsible for the private sphere — homemaking and caretaking of children and family. They are responsible for civilizing men, partially by withholding sex in order to get the marital commitment they want, and by establishing a nuclear family that is ultimately the best foundation for society.

In that view, sex is essentially a bartering chip. It’s not something that is good in and of itself. It’s good only when it’s used for both parties to get what they want in a socially-sanctioned way. It is something women “give” to men, once men give women what women want.

Sex as something that’s “given” — sex as a commodity — allows for sex to be constructed as something that can be taken.

...

Rape, in the conservative worldview, isn’t about violating consent or forcing sex on someone against their will; rape is about who the victim is and whether or not she plays by right-wing rules. It’s about whether she’s already given up her right to say no.

At the same time, as the conservative female is naturally chaste and subservient and refusing of sex unless she falls from grace, the conservative male ideal is aggressive, animalistic and virtually uncontrollable (except by a good woman, of course). Men, in the right-wing view, are going to tirelessly try to get sex. “We have forgotten that before we began calling this date rape,” says conservative activist and author of The Myth of Male Power Warren Farrell, “we called it exciting.”

~*~

More stuff:

CNBC Host Accuses Obama Of Manipulating Libya Facts To Cut Military Spending (Reality Check)

Three Reasons Why the Race Is So Close; Nine Reasons Why Obama Will Win (Huffington Post)

Voter Intimidation Billboards Will Be Pulled Down In Cleveland (Think Progress)

CNN will be live-blogging the debate tonight (CNN) If you flip channels compulsively, as I do, this is a good way to keep up!

Poll: Who will win the Presidential election? (The Good Men Project) Rates mention for the discussion in comment section.

Americans Way More Interested in Paul Ryan’s Naked, Heaving Chest Than His Budget (Jezebel) I've never doubted it.

And finally... Democracy Now will be EXPANDING THE DEBATE, hosting a debate between the aforementioned candidates Jill Stein and Rocky Anderson in about 2 minutes, at 8:30pm, extending to midnight. (Democracy Now) Yall come!

Got links?

At left: a very colorful Page of Cups.



Lots of great reading out there, and I can barely keep up.

Here's a sampler of goodies you may have missed:

[] Arkansas Republican endorses death penalty for children (Raw Story) In case you wonder, candidate Charlie Fuqua got this straight from Deuteronomy 21:18-21.

So if you disagree, talk to God about it, okay?

[] Woo hoo, it's Conspiracy Theory time! Elections bring them out of the woodwork as little else does. AlterNet gives us 10 Conspiracy Theories Hatched by Conservative Fearmongers As Election Day Nears, which is entertaining enough that I hope to cover a couple of these on my upcoming radio show.

As a South Carolina Green Party member in good standing, my hands-down favorite is "The Green Plot to enslave the world":

Agenda 21, a little known and non-binding resolution adopted by the United Nations, is viewed by some on the right as an attempt to control the lives of people throughout the world by regulating everything they do. Amongst their paranoid fears is that Agenda 21 will cede U.S. sovereignty to the U.N. and a one-world government. The truth is that Agenda 21 is a set of principles to guide the development of practices to preserve a sustainable environment for future generations. It is entirely voluntary and was agreed to by the U.N. in 1992 and signed by President George H.W. Bush.

But to hear doomsayers like Glenn Beck put it, it will “suck all the blood out of [our communities], and we will not be able to survive.”

[] My friend JW finally had the daughter I foretold for her and her partner in their Tarot readings. Alright! Our hearty Deadhead congratulations go out to both of them, as well as lovely big sister LM (whom regular DEAD AIR readers may recall from THIS photo).

To celebrate, a look back at JW's reading, as well as a popular piece I wrote about the Tarot titled, How I learned to stop worrying and love the Tarot.

In addition, here is South Carolina Boy's post about my reading of his cards.

[] Anti-Muslim subway ads that sparked anger in New York are now popping up in D.C. (Huffington Post)

The ads, paid for by the American Freedom Defense Initiative, are supposed to be posted in the U Street, Georgia Avenue, Takoma and Glenmont stations for one month.

The ad reads: "In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man. Support Israel. Defeat Jihad." They have been widely condemned as promoting Islamophobia.

[] Interesting piece titled Nerds and Male Privilege comes directly on the heels of Annalee Newitz's controversial The Great Geek Sexism Debate. BE INFORMED!

[] A heated exchange about disability and abortion starts with Disability, Prenatal Testing and the Case for a Moral, Compassionate Abortion, which brings an angry response from Tiger Beatdown: Lives worth living: Disability, abortion, and slipshod ethics (comments also mandatory reading). Response/Part II: Disability and Abortion, Part Two: Individual moral choices are not categorical imperatives.

Caution: Very heavy, emotionally-wrenching stuff, but it's what we all ought to be thinking about, as science marches on and genetic testing becomes increasingly commonplace and culturally accepted.

[] Historic Number of Women on Ballots Could Lead to Historic Year for Female Lawmakers (Reality Check) Thanks to my California-droog Barbara! (kiss)

Along these same lines, check out some FEMINIST HALLOWEEN COSTUMES!

[] In further election news, our embarrassing Teabagger Senator, Jim DeMint, has decided to join Rick Santorum in backing Todd Akin for Senate in Missouri. I do find it interesting that Chris Christie wants no part of Akin, and has cut him loose.

Translation: Obviously, Christie has his eye on the proverbial Big Tent (higher office), while DeMint is intent on consolidating his power and influence on the right.

[] No list of links is complete without Glenn Greenwald. I especially recommend last month's one-two punch, CNN and the business of state-sponsored TV news (subtitled: The network is seriously compromising its journalism in the Gulf states by blurring the line between advertising and editorial)... and Conservatives, Democrats and the convenience of denouncing free speech (subtitled: Westerners love to decry censorship aimed at them by Muslims while ignoring the extreme censorship they impose on them). Both from the UK Guardian, and required reading for newshounds.

[] And finally, your long-overdue dose of cute: Panda mama nurses her little baby pandas. AIYEEE! SQUEEE!!! (((dead from cuteness)))

Mitt Romney's class contempt exposed

Romney's speech to private donors hits the airwaves and gives us all a fit of the giggles.

Others are simply slack-jawed at the Republican presidential candidate's total and unbridled contempt for ordinary Americans. Here is the video of the speech, leaked by Mother Jones magazine. (Full transcript here.)

The money quote:

There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe that government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you name it. That that's an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what. And I mean, the president starts off with 48, 49, 48—he starts off with a huge number. These are people who pay no income tax. Forty-seven percent of Americans pay no income tax. So our message of low taxes doesn't connect. And he'll be out there talking about tax cuts for the rich. I mean that's what they sell every four years. And so my job is not to worry about those people—I'll never convince them that they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.

But rest assured, the entire speech is well worth reading. His astounding class-based contempt and overall Richie-Rich comic-book cluelessness is evident throughout.

For instance, I consider this quote almost as incredible as the predictable "forget the 47%" jibber-jabber currently crashing the airwaves and nightly news shows:

[There is] the percent that's, "Oh, you were born with a silver spoon," you know, "You never had to earn anything," and so forth. And, and frankly, I was born with a silver spoon, which is the greatest gift you could have, which is to get born in America. I'll tell ya, there is—95 percent of life is set up for you if you're born in this country. And I remember going to—sorry just to bore you with stories—but I was, when I was back in my private equity days, we went to China to buy a factory there, employed about 20,000 people, and they were almost all young women between the ages of about 18 and 22 or 23. They were saving for potentially becoming married, and they worked in these huge factories, they made various small appliances, and as we were walking through this facility, seeing them work, the number of hours they worked per day, the pittance they earned, living in dormitories with little bathrooms at the end with maybe ten rooms. And the rooms, they had 12 girls per room, three bunk beds on top of each other. You've seen them.
...

And around this factory was a fence, a huge fence with barbed wire, and guard towers. And we said, "Gosh, I can't believe that you, you know, you keep these girls in." They said, "No, no, no—this is to keep other people from coming in. Because people want so badly to come work in this factory that we have to keep them out, or they'll just come in here and start working and try and get compensated. So, we—this is to keep people out."

Well, gosh... sure it was.

Is this man for real?

~*~

The media reactions have been as explosive and amazing as Romney's idiocy.

AlterNet's 10 Desperate and Depressed Conservative Reactions to Romney's 47 Percent Moment (Fun subtitle: Some are standing by Romney; the semi-smart ones are running away like he's carrying Ebola) includes some quotable goodies:

The reality, of course, is that Romney cherry-picked one tax – federal income taxes – which happens to be one of our more progressive taxes. It accounts for 42 percent of federal revenues. A more regressive tax, paid by almost every working person -- but not the super-rich who live off of their investments -- is the payroll tax, which accounts for 40 percent of the government's take. And, of course, the idea that the 47 percent of households that don't pay federal income taxes are Democrats is just silly – they're heavily concentrated in red states and a fifth of that group are elderly, a demographic that tends to skew Republican.

Great talking points; highly recommended for those of us who insist on foolishly arguing with Romneyoids on various blogs and forums.

Romney's '47%' presents challenge for Republican candidates (Los Angeles Times)

Mitt Romney’s ‘47 Percent’ Remarks Have Everything To Do With Race (Colorlines)

By way of Boing Boing, here's the 'story of the story'... how the speech-video eventually surfaced online: The Long Strange Leak Of Mitt Romney's 47% Video (BuzzFeed)

And E.J. Dionne asks the pertinent question, Does Mitt Romney's '47 percent' comment show he hates America?:

What kind of nation are we if nearly half of us are lazy, self-indulgent moochers who will never be persuaded to mend our ways? "I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives," Romney said, thus writing off a huge share of our citizenry.

From his perch high atop the class structure, Romney offered an analysis of political motivations that even Marxists would regard as excessively materialistic. He speaks as if hardworking parents who seek government help to provide health care for their kids are irresponsible, that students who get government aid to attend community colleges are not trying to "care for their lives." Has he never spoken with busboys and waitresses, hospital workers and janitors who make too little to pay income taxes but work their hearts out to "take personal responsibility"?

Of course he hasn't. I think that is fairly obvious.

Stay tuned, sports fans.

White Horse Prophecy revisited

By popular demand, here is the video I played on my radio show (Saturday). It concerns the fabled White Horse Prophecy, which is not official Mormon doctrine, but part of LDS religious-folklore.

On my show, I compared the prophecy to Catholic stuff like the Secrets of Fatima, and fundamentalist stuff like The Rapture. These are not, technically-speaking, "doctrine" either, but are frequently employed as "dog whistles" to alert the people who do believe them. (Actually, I think some Christian sects DO consider the Rapture a matter of doctrine, but I couldn't readily name which ones.) Many devout Mormons do not believe in this prophecy, and they are not required to believe it; ditto the Fatima Secrets and the Rapture.

Nonetheless, these stories do have an appreciable influence on religious adherents.

Examples: If I say "Three Secrets of Fatima"--and you are Catholic, then you have some idea of what I refer to, and might further understand that I am discussing Russia and/or the future of communism and the Catholic Church. If I say "Rapture" --and you have a fundamentalist background or are familiar with these ideas, then you know I mean the endtimes and the emergence of a dangerous world leader who will be called Antichrist. Etc.

If you use the phrase "Hanging by a Thread"--many pious Mormons will know what you refer to, and react accordingly. This phrase contains specific wording in the "White Horse Prophecy"--which I discussed on this blog a couple of years ago. (At that time, I was writing about Glenn Beck's apparent adherence to the prophecy.) Therefore, using such a loaded phrase is a way to communicate something important to those who catch the inside-reference; the chosen media-method of "dog whistling" to citizens attuned to the appropriate frequency.

The following is a video by a Protestant fundamentalist preacher named Carl Gallups, warning the faithful about Mitt Romney and the White Horse Prophecy. (warning: fundie fulminating at the link!) It was first aired on WEBY-AM, "Gulf Coast Talk Radio" in Florida.

I find this very entertaining ... and fascinating.

Whether we believe any of this stuff or not, plenty of people do, and they act on this belief. Even if their beliefs are not "real"--their actions are. And that includes those who oppose them, as the preacher who made this video, certainly does.

As I hope I don't have to say: I do not believe the Christian fundamentalist assertions (and prejudices) stated in this video. FOR INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY.
....

ALERT! - THE ROMNEY RISING - The White Horse Prophecy of MORMONISM Being Fulfilled?



~*~

The following video comes via conservative CleanTV. Issued by wacky, hyperkinetic televangelist Bill Keller, it includes fervent anti-Romney warnings, referencing the White Horse Prophecy as proof.

Love the Rod Serling picture that suddenly pops up... as well as the swirling, apocalyptic music that puts one in mind of the movie soundtrack of THE OMEN.

ROMNEY WHITE HORSE PROPHECY



~*~

This one comes from Shawn McCraney, "Born Again Mormon":

The White Horse Prophecy



~*~

And finally, the more-or-less straight media version from MSNBC. This is reporter Tamron Hall interviewing Politico's Edward-Isaac Dovere:



Stay tuned, sports fans...and WATCH THE SKIES!

Democratic Convention update

At left: Ten undocumented immigrants arrested at demonstrations outside the Democratic National Convention. This protest was the end-point of the UNDOCUBUS journey across the USA. Photo from the Village Voice.





The Democratic Convention continues, with few arrests--although there have been some. As I said previously, I was worried. There have been demonstrations, but nothing too disruptive.

Former President Bill Clinton wowed the audience last night, making folks nostalgic for Clintonian America; Democratic delegates openly confessed that they wish they could vote for him instead of Obama. (Transcript of Clinton's speech)

Mr Daisy dislikes the conventions and opted to watch DVDs of "The Office" instead. I think he prefers the old-style conventions, wherein the major networks actually broadcasted endless rules-discussions and other such wonky, procedural, political in-group activities. It somehow made you feel like you really were being represented and that your state's delegates, of both parties, were there to choose what was best for you. Now, it's mostly just razzle-dazzle and teleprompter-speeches, already market-tested for the masses. No surprises, and consequently, no fun.

Michelle Obama's speech was judged by the mass media as a big hit. The notable exception would be (big shocker) Fox News viewers. Daily Kos reported on the nasty racism in the comments on the Fox News website. No exaggeration either, I went over there and looked, and there are many more, and far worse. What particularly surprised me (but not really) is the fact that Fox webmasters did not close the thread down, and didn't seem at all worried by how bad this makes their viewers look. As I wrote in comments here, racism IS profitable, despite what some conservatives claim, i.e. a return to Jim Crow is somehow not possible in our (cough) racially-enlightened times. Of course it is. (And therefore, when anyone talks seriously about repealing the 1964 Civil Rights Act? They are either stone-cold racists, incurably naïve or simply NOT PAYING ATTENTION.)

As Ezra Klein noticed, the huge change in Democratic Party strategy has been: the Democrats are reclaiming Obamacare. YES, universal medical care IS a winning policy, and it is about time somebody said so. Several convention speakers have openly used the term "Obamacare"--which ironically started out as a Republican put-down. The new theme is, OBAMA CARES about you, as Mitt Romney only cares about the rich, like himself.

I guess we'll find out how well this works?

As for me, as my readers know, I love me some class warfare. When conservatives accusingly howl, "CLASS WARFARE!" as if its an insult, I never get it. When *I* am accused of it, I always say "Thank you!"--since of course, it's totally necessary and we certainly can't have enough of it. What is the intended insult, exactly? FAIRNESS IS GOOD. ROBIN HOOD WAS RIGHT. If you don't like that, move to Switzerland with the rest of the tax exiles, and take Mitt with you.

I hear he already has a bank account set up over there, so he and the misses will be just fine.

They can sublet their expensive houses. Most of us could support our whole families on the rents from the sublets, alone.

~*~

Yesterday, I enjoyed my 82nd viewing (give or take) of Suddenly, Last Summer. Just so amazing... and my previous post about the movie is here.

Speaking of which, its way past time to link myself! I often forget to do it.

[] I neglected to mention my own blogular accounts of protesting at the Democratic and Republican Conventions in 1980, one of which was linked on Wikipedia (((preen))), so here they are: Republican Convention in Detroit, Democratic Convention in New York.

[] And here is my official BACK TO SCHOOL POST, for all of you exhausted parents out there.

I continue to get positive and affirming feedback about this story, years after I first wrote it. I have received emails as well, lamenting similar GIANT SCHOOL PROJECTS on similar-sized ping-pong tables, sometimes offering detailed descriptions: One mom described a Confederate battlefield, complete with miniature Rebel-battle-flags and toy cannons; another teacher on a forum I visit, relating the same about a detailed Napoleonic display.

All of the (historically-accurate) uniforms carefully sewed onto the teeny-tiny soldiers, some with itsy-bitsy brass buttons.

The mind boggles.

Democrats, Republicans and links

And the 2012 Democratic Convention commences! It should be interesting. Protests are planned in 32 cities nationwide, on September 6th.





I decided to sit this protest out, even though it's in Charlotte, which is only a stone's throw away.

Whenever I asked The Fates if I should go, I kept getting this card. Yow! Three times is the charm. I got it three times in a row, and that settles it. Staying home.

Besides, I am way too old to sleep on floors, which never bothered me when I was young. (sigh) I will leave that hardy activity to the youngsters. Thanks to the marvel of Facebook and Twitter, I have a ringside seat, with great photos being provided by my many droogs. I will try to include a few here, throughout the week.

Thanks, peeps, and I LOVE YOU!

~*~

Speaking of aging, here is a good one:

Harry's Law canceled because viewers are too old:

On paper, the cancellation looked a bit surprising, because "Harry's Law" is NBC's second most-watched drama behind "Smash." "Harry's Law" averaged 8.8 million total viewers this season, compared with 9 million for "Smash," according to Nielsen. And it drew more viewers than "Law & Order: SVU" (7.6 million), which just got renewed for next fall.

The problem? Those "Harry's Law" viewers are older than Madison Avenue wants. The show ranked very low among viewers ages 18 to 49, the demographic most advertisers care about.

~*~

And speaking of arrests, the undocumented immigrant riders of the "Undocubus" are being arrested, literally as I type this.

Outside the Democratic Convention: Labor Rallies, Protests, and the "Undocubus" (Village Voice)

Not Much Evidence That Romney Got a Post-Convention Bounce—and That Should Worry Him (The New Republic)

Mitt Romney's Bain Capital Bailout: GOP Candidate's Firm Profited From Company That Required $44 Million Federal Bailout. (Huffington Post) -- Daisy's subtitle "Government spending for ME, but not for THEE!"

Mitt and Me -- Mitt Romney doll comes to life.

Occupy Greenville celebrates Labor Day in the pouring rain! -- Yes, we are still at it!

~*~

Time for Tuesday tuneage! I played this one on my radio show some months ago. (And here is the link to Saturday's fabulous show.)

It just seems fitting.

I Wanna Grow Up To Be A Politician - Roger McGuinn (Live) 1986

Haley Watch: The Governor's star turn

As reported yesterday, our fashionable governor took the podium at the Republican National Convention last night, camera-ready for her big close-up, and the reviews are in.

How'd she do?

For those of you lucky enough to miss it, SC Governor Nikki Haley read Barack Obama the riot act:

Haley then accused the Obama administration of launching an all-out assault on her state.

"The hardest part of my job continues to be this federal government, this administration and this president," Haley said, going on to say that "Obama will do everything he can to stand in your way," even if you play by the rules.

According to Haley, her state had attempted to implement "one of the most innovative illegal immigration laws in the country," bring jobs to South Carolina through a deal with Boeing and enact a voter ID measure, only to have the Obama administration bring lawsuits against them.

The Justice Department has sued South Carolina over its immigration law and voter ID measure over concerns that the legislation put the state in violation of various civil and voting rights acts. Obama's National Labor Relations Board eventually dismissed a union lawsuit against Boeing, which Haley suggested was a response to the state getting "loud."

Haley got a standing ovation for her support of voter ID laws, saying that it was a natural step when identifications were required to pass through airport security or purchase Sudafed from a drug store.

Really?

And here we thought it was just her overall incompetence that made her...totally incompetent. Instead, she blames her incompetence on the president. Good work if you can get it, and this song-and-dance has obviously taken Nikki all the way to the podium in Tampa.

Actually, the "hardest part of her job" appears to be the job itself, which she seems patently unable to do. As the Charleston City Paper correctly pointed out, she can't even talk to the South Carolina press, and prefers to model clothing for Vogue magazine instead:

Nikki Haley has refused to speak with members of the press, both those of the state's two largest and most influential dailies, the Post and Courier and The State, as well as the state's two alt-weeklies, The Free Times and the Charleston City Paper. On one occasion, Haley even ran away from reporter Renee Dudley.

How is this habitual scampering away from reporters, the fault of President Obama?

Hard-core conservatives like Will Folks, however, weren't having any. He ably picked apart the fine points of Nikki's speech. Folks gives away his Ron Paul-partisanship, when pointing out that:

[The] fight over Boeing was clouded by the fact that the company relies extensively on billions of dollars in taxpayer-funded subsidies doled out from both the state and federal governments.

Aside: It's a sad day when it's up to libertarians to do the job of (snort) "liberals," pointing out how working-class taxpayers regularly foot the bills for big business. This might be why Democrats do so poorly around here. It's usually been up to the Paulites to highlight CORPORATE welfare, while the rank-and-file Repubs natter on about "government handouts." I still remember our counter-demonstration at the local Republican debate, when Ron Paul supporters were the only ones to applaud one protester's sign, "Drug testing for corporate welfare recipients!" They loved it, as Will Folks would probably love it. The regular Republicans rolled their eyes and ignored us. (Same as they do with corporate welfare.)

Nikki Haley initially marketed herself as a Tea Party Republican, all ready to challenge the status quo, and she has instead rolled her eyes and ignored the malcontents, just like the rest of the big-money Repubs. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. One hopes the Tea Party-affiliated Republicans in this state will not sit back and simply allow her to shit all over them, in her breakneck-climb to the cover of Newsweek, her fashion spread in Vogue, and the Conservative Book Club bestseller's lists.

At left: Governor Haley's photo from The New York Times Magazine. (Since she is afraid to talk to the South Carolina press, we have to go to national media to find pictures of her.)




The Charleston Post and Courier reports:

Haley’s star status has been on display here for days. Monday morning, she won a standing ovation from Florida’s GOP delegation. Georgetown County GOP Chair Jim Jerow, who is at his first convention, was there and noted Haley “is growing in her job.”

U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina Republican who had the biggest moment at the GOP convention four years ago, said Haley’s speech would be a good honor for the state and for her as an individual.

He said she needed to make the home team proud, please the “chattering class” in the media and make a personal connection. “I think she’s going to do really good,” he predicted.

Rep. Jeff Duncan, R-S.C., agreed with Graham’s prediction. “She’s going to showcase the state well. She always does,” he said. “It’s got to help her. I’m focused on how it helps us as a party. She’s going to be the face of the party.”

World-class stupidity as the "face of the party"! Well, they didn't mind hosting Dubya for eight years, so this isn't too surprising.

Growing in her job? WHAT, pray tell, does that mean? Sounds like an internship, rather than an elected office.

NPR says it's all about being a minority female. They are pushing her out front because they feel they have no choice:

It's become a perennial problem for Republicans, but not one that the party yet knows how to solve.

Recent polls show GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney taking a drubbing among minority groups, badly trailing President Obama among Hispanics, Asians and single women.

One recent poll showed Romney's support among African-Americans at 0 (yes, zero) percent.

In a sense, this is nothing new. As long ago as 2001, Rich Bond, a former head of the Republican National Committee, told The Washington Post: "We've taken white guys about as far as that group can go. We are in need of diversity, women, Latino, African-American, Asian."

What has changed is that minority voters now make up a large and growing share of the electorate. Between 1992 and 2008, the non-Anglo portion of the electorate doubled, to 26 percent from 13 percent, as measured by exit polls.

According to a recent National Journal analysis, Romney will need the percentage of white voters to remain at 74 percent nationwide — and he'll have to take 61 percent of that white vote — in order to win.

"This year or 2016 will be the last time Republicans can do as well as they've done in recent decades with [just] a strong showing among white voters," says Henry Olsen, vice president of the conservative American Enterprise Institute. "At some point in the not so distant future, Republicans have to start doing better among minorities or they will not win elections."

One way the party is hoping to speak to minority voters is by having minority officeholders speak to them. The GOP's convention lineup this week is loaded with high-profile minorities, including Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (Thursday), former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (Wednesday) and Govs. Nikki Haley of South Carolina and Brian Sandoval of Nevada (who spoke Tuesday) and Susana Martinez of New Mexico (Wednesday).

Haley claims to be all about bringing minorities and women into the Republican Party. Um, since when?

Well, since she was elected and they gave her the script, of course:

"It's offensive to me as a woman and as a minority that Democrats can go and say, 'That party hates you,' and can get away with that," Haley told an editorial board from Gannett and USA Today on Tuesday.

Haley suggested that her party offers a welcoming home to many minority voters and is a good fit for them on issues such as the economy and jobs.

The "We Built It" theme of the Republican Convention, actually tramples all over minority people, who built most of the South, where the convention is. It tramples all over the maids and janitors who are cleaning up all the balloons and streamers and vodka-puke that the Republicans leave behind. Ann Romney's maids and assistants, the overworked-seamstresses who sew Nikki Haley's designer wardrobe, the lighting technicians and the retail/fast-food grunts and the hotel clerks and secretaries, THESE ARE THE PEOPLE who keep everything going. And they/we built it too.

And if you persist in NOT seeing this, Republicans, you will fail.

Your cartoon-convention, scrambling to find minorities and women to put on stage and on camera, is just that, a cartoon.

Governor Haley goes nationwide tonight

Governor Nikki Haley, Vogue-vetted fashion plate, models her trademark designer duds, while mouthing some indecipherable nonsense in Tampa at the Republican Convention. Since she has proudly bankrupted the working class of South Carolina, this is the closest the rest of us will ever get to designer clothes, so you might want to tune in tonight at 10pm to see what she wears.

~*~

The good news is, maybe she will get a national gig and GO AWAY.

The bad news? Tonight, the unbearable Haley-fawning reaches a fever pitch... Newsweek, Vogue, Christiane Amanpour, The View, a hardcover biography and now she is at last ready for prime time. All this prepping, all this hoopla, and you can almost hear em sing THERE SHE IS, MISS AMERICA... as she struts those infamous mega-pricey stilettos up to the GOP podium. This is it! She's ready for her close-up, Mr DeMille!!!

Some of the up-and-coming politicians who have historically been selected for this coveted time-slot at past conventions include Sarah Palin, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton.

Yes, our little Nikki has hit the big time. And all she's done is creatively manage her dad's books and dodge an ethics investigation. Oh yeah, and receive endless genuflection from the national press as an attractive Indian-American female star for the GOP; currently the youngest governor in the country.

As Newsweek famously summed her up two years ago:

[The GOP's] freshly anointed gubernatorial nominee arrived: Nikki Haley, 38 years old and Indian-American, wearing a snug, saffron-colored suit and stilettos you could impale a small animal with. Only a few months ago, she was an obscure state representative. Then former Alaska governor Sarah Palin endorsed her, the Tea Party movement embraced her, and she proceeded to dispatch a U.S. congressman, the lieutenant governor, and the attorney general in the Republican primary and runoff. Now she’s the hottest thing in South Carolina politics. And if she wins in November, becoming the state’s first female and first nonwhite governor, she’ll likely rocket to national prominence and secure a spot in the GOP firmament.

Yes, and here we are.

Ron Paul draws thousands of eager, dedicated young kids to the Republican Party and hosts raucous Republican rallies, yet he is denied a speaking spot at the Republican Convention, while our governor, a walking disaster (albeit a very fashionable one), who can't even make sure our roads are repaired, is officially anointed as the hot new thing.

As Ayn Rand would say, choke on it, Congressman Paul, life isn't fair.

And all because she endorsed Romney early and allowed Mitt and Ann (as well as every other Republican presidential candidate) to use the Governor's mansion as a Motel 6, on our dime. She has just given her staff big raises (again, on our dime), but is nonetheless heralded as a fiscal conservative and Tea Party true-believer. And just wait till she gets started on her newest melodramatic role, "military spouse"--a role she coincidentally landed just in time for the convention.

It's enough to make you sick.

Like, really sick.

And hey, I ain't the only one. Her jilted lover, blogger Will Folks, is even more nauseated than the state's lefties are.

For him, it's personal, as he offers an amazing (and quite comprehensive) a laundry list of her offenses at his conservative blog, FITSNews. He reminds everyone of what is now known as the Savannah River Sellout, and fulminates at some length. (Preach it, Will!)

But in the end, we are just huffing and puffing. It's Haley's night. I've got some DVDs, some Marx Brothers, some American Dad, and if it gets too painful, I will not subject myself to lengthy torture. After all, I live here under Queen Nikki's rule, and I am tortured every time I drive down Woodruff Road, taking my life in my hands.

The only good thing about Romney possibly winning the election, is that Queen Nikki will undoubtedly be dispatched elsewhere. (But then, what about the rest of the country?)

I'm afraid there is no good outcome, and either way, we all lose.

Enjoy the speech... and the fashionistas among you may want to play "name that designer!" while you watch. Bring those anti-nausea meds.