June 8, 2009
William Jefferson’s corruption trial starts Tuesday
The Hill reports, “Former Rep. William Jefferson’s (D-La.) corruption trial is set to begin Tuesday after two years of intense legal wrangling that at one point involved evidence gathered during an FBI raid of his congressional office.”
I don’t really have a comment for this. I just saw an opportunity to share this little video of Big Sexy, in collaboration with Hot Air, confront Mr. Jefferson about the $90,000 federal agents had found in his freezer.
I know, a person is supposed to be believed innocent until proven guilty and he hasn’t been proven guilty, yet. The video is still a classic.
(H/T: Memeorandum)
Comments (0)June 5, 2009
Somehow, I don’t think the KKK would have been shown such leniency.
Remember when Attorney General Eric Holder called us all cowards for not discussing race relations in America? Remember when he followed that up by saying that people were starting to talk, but there was a level of comfort missing? Well, Michelle Malkin reports in her column today how the Holder DOJ has just eroded that comfort level just a tad bit more:
Two weeks ago, in a highly unusual move, Holder dismissed default judgments his department had won against two of three defendants charged with violating the Voting Rights Act. On November 4, 2008, a billy club-wielding militant in military-style boots and beret stood outside a Philly polling location with a similarly-dressed partner. Citizen journalists from the Pennsylvania-based blog Election Journal captured the menacing duo on video. One of the watchdogs observed: “I think it might be a little intimidating that you have a stick in your hand.”
That was an understatement. Witness Bartle Bull, a Democratic lawyer who organized for Bobby Kennedy and worked for the civil rights movement in Mississippi, signed a sworn affidavit decrying the Election Day brutishness. Serving as a poll watcher that day, he called the behavior of Samir Shabazz and Jerry Jackson “the most blatant form of voter discrimination I have encountered in my life.”
One of them, Bull reported, taunted poll observers: “[Y]ou are about to be ruled by the black man, cracker.”
If the pair had been dressed in white sheets, all hell would have broken loose. But the ebony-clad thugs were members of the New Black Panther Party who had been dispatched by Malcolm X wannabe Malik Shabazz to “guard” the polls. Translation: Protect them from scrutiny. Shield them from sunlight. Keep independent voters and observers out.
Who is Malik Shabazz? The bespectacled race hustler grabbed the spotlight in the weeks after the September 11 terrorist attacks by defending Osama bin Laden, blaming President Bush for 9/11, bashing Israel, and blasting our founding fathers as “snakes.” His group also infamously rallied behind the Duke University lacrosse rape hoaxer. And on the day before the presidential election last fall, one of Shabazz’s “field marshals,” Minister Najee Muhammad, held a “black power” rally promising to send his forces to polls across the country “to ensure that the enemy does not sabotage the black vote.”
The Bush DOJ filed suit against Malik Shabazz, Samir Shabazz, and Jerry Jackson in early January 2009. None of the defendants filed an answer to the lawsuit, putting them all into default. Instead of taking the default judgment that DOJ is entitled to against all of the defendants, the Obama team fully dismissed the lawsuits against Malik Shabazz and Jerry Jackson. Jackson, you should know, is an elected member of the Philadelphia Democratic Committee and was a credentialed poll watcher. Witness Greg Lugones told me “Obama campaign operatives were on site throughout the entire episode.”
Former Justice Department official and voting rights scholar Hans Von Spakovsky added: “I have never heard of the Department dismissing a case it has already won by default. They have…sent the message that hurling racial epithets and slurs at voters and intimidating and threatening voters at the polls is fine with the Holder Justice Department – at least if you are African-American. I seriously doubt that would have happened if the races had been reversed in this case.”
I wonder why people are uncomfortable talking about race relations in America? With actions like this being taken by our Department of JUSTICE, it just baffles the mind. I don’t get it.
This is absurd and Michelle is right. Reverse the races in this equation and the outcome would not be the same. This would not be tolerated, as it shouldn’t be. Racism is inexcusable, no matter how you cut it. This is a new kind of politics, all right. Thanks Obama!
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Teacher/Child Molester Collects Teaching Salary
Convicted child molester continues to receive salary from the state of Alabama:
Former teacher Charlene Schmitz is behind bars in a federal detention center in Tallahassee, Florida, serving 10 years for using texts and instant messages to seduce a 14-year-old student.
She has been fired from her job as a reading teacher at the high school in Leroy, Alabama.
But she is still collecting a paycheck.
Schmitz is appealing her federal conviction — and her firing. State charges filed in connection with the case are pending. Under the law in Alabama, she is still entitled to her $51,000-a-year salary while she appeals her firing.
School officials are not happy that they now have to pay both Schmitz and her replacement. But her attorney says they must obey the law.
Add this to my list of reasons I’m happy that I don’t live in the state of Alabama!
Comments (0)June 3, 2009
S.Logan comes through with some priceless advice
OK, my regular readers, don’t be disappointed with the fact that I’m NOT trying to start a fight with Clever S.Logan, for once! No Jell-O Wrestling challenges over her most recent post. Here’s a taster for you:
It’s an obvious fact, but I’ll state it anyway: everyone likes doing what they’re already good at, and no one likes looking ridiculous. But it’s the people who pursue life without abandon, leaving everything on the floor knowing they can take nothing home, who have no regrets. Having put it all out there, they never have to look back and wonder “What if?” Instead, they wonder “What if I don’t?” To these types, the reality that who they are, what they love, what they’re good at (and what they’re not) may go forever unknown if they don’t lay it all out is enough to make living through those first awkward moments of a new experience not just bearable but desirable.
I wonder how many of us have hidden gifts, passions, or purposes left unnoticed and unused because we haven’t done the requisite legwork to discover them? How much untapped potential is lying dormant that could radically change our lives and the lives of those around us if we’d only venture beyond our limits and leave it all on the “floor”?
I don’t know how much we have in common. We’re still getting to know each other. I do know this, though, I have spent many years of my life working outside of my comfort zone and I know that it takes work. For example, most people think I am one of the most extroverted people they have ever met. In reality, that’s me fighting my natural tendency to turn inward and spend time alone.
My quote, or whatever you call it, on Myspace has been, for quite some time I might add, “No regrets! It might have been a mistake, but it was fun at the time.” I guess that about sums it up. The things I regret most in life are those things I was too scared to try.
A couple of years ago I lived in Florida. We used to go down to this place in Orland, Old Town(?), that had some rides. They had this Sky Coast–think bungee jumping–that I was always tempted to go on (I’m an adrenaline addict)–but I was just too scared. Since I have moved back to DC, I think about it all of the time. The first thing I told my cousin when he picked me up at the Orlando airport last week was that this time I had to do that. Unfortunately, the weather (God?) had a different plan and dropped a huge storm on us while we were driving there, but I was ready to do it. I can bet money I wouldn’t have regretted doing it, but I know that I have regretted I was too scared to do it for the last two years.
I live my life constantly putting myself outside my comfort zone. Although, to be fair, I think S.Logan has me beat at this point with her hip-hop dancing and Karaoke. OK, I would/have done the dancing. The singing in public, not so much. She’s right, though. It’s such a great way to learn about yourself. And, who cares if you’re bad at it. I have found it’s often not about how good you are at something, but rather how you deal with that. Like when a person falls. There’s no good way to fall, but we all (just me?) secretly appreciate that person who can laugh at themselves more than the person who runs away in embarrassment.
So, to steal a little from S.Logan, go out and live a little. Push yourself out of your comfort zone! “Leave everything on the floor!” (Does this chick follow basketball? There’s so much to learn about her!)
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I’m declaring Meghan McCain tweeterrific…if that’s even a word.
I don’t know if Meghan McCain is really that stupid, self-involved, or if her whole media strategy is based on starting fights with people more famous (with good reason, typically) than her, but here we go again with her completely missing the point:
IN WHICH I APPARENTLY MAKE MEGHAN MCCAIN ANGRY…. I had an item yesterday noting that Dick Cheney’s remarks on gay marriage may have a role in the party’s debate over gay rights. I added what seemed like a pretty uncontroversial idea — while Meghan McCain and Steve Schmidt were other Republicans of note who’ve taken progressive views on the issue, Dick Cheney has far greater influence.
Apparently, this has angered Meghan McCain in some way. She’s added at least four tweets complaining about my observation. In the order in which they were posted:
# Hey Washington Monthly, so it’s only important to speak out for marriage equality if your an old man?
# so I guess young women should just stfu and be seen and not heard Washington Monthly….? Only Dick Cheney should speak out…?
# I wonder if the Washington Monthly thinks if all women or minorities speak out it is “almost meaningless” – apparently only Cheney matters
# I guarantee you if one of my brothers were doing what I am doing right now the Washington Monthly would think it had meaning.
This is what I wrote that prompted these tweets: “It was pretty meaningless to hear Meghan McCain urge her Republican Party to come around on gay marriage. It seemed a bit more important when Steve Schmidt, John McCain’s campaign manager, gave the GOP the same advice. But in terms of influence in Republican politics, Dick Cheney is on another level.”
I haven’t the foggiest idea why this seems so outrageous to McCain, so perhaps I should clarify the point further…..
Based on an 18-word sentence in a blog post, Meghan McCain has concluded that I only respect old white guys, I don’t respect young women, and I’m somehow hostile to minorities. I still don’t really know how she came to these conclusions, but I’m pleased to report she’s mistaken.
Let me clarify to Steve Benan, it’s not you, it’s her. Meghan McCain thinks that she is specialand the whole world loves her because the MSM loves her. She thinks that she is special and the Republican Party should base everything they say, do and think on what Meghan McCain says they should say, do and think. Unfortunately for her, what the Republican Party is supposed to stand for is the antithesis of what Meghan McCain purports to stand for–from what I can discern from her nonsensical ramblings.
In her tiny little mind, she cannot grasp how you could think that she doesn’t have the power to change “her” Republican Party (when are people going to stop referring to it as “her” party?). In her tiny little mind, she simply cannot grasp how anyone could think, never mind dare write in an article, that any person’s opinion is more important, or might simply (obviously?) have more influence, than hers. In her tiny little mind she cannot grasp how anyone could suggest that “None of McCain’s sons or daughters, regardless of age or gender, are influential in shaping conservative attitudes right now.” I really don’t think she realizes that the only reason people listen to her is because of whose daughter she is, not because of her life experiences, intelligent insights, or her inside knowledge of politics gained through her personal political connections. She’s Meghan McCain, b*tch!
Meghan McCain is quickly beginning to remind me of those horrible singers you see on American Idol in the first couple of episodes. Like those bad singers’ friends and family should do them the courtesy of saving them the embarrassment of singing on national TV, Meghan’s friends and family should do her the courtesy of saving her from the embarrassment of tweeting, writing, or speaking in public. Every time something new comes out of her it puts her ignorance and youth (my apologies to the youth of America) on display for everyone to see. Other people her age should shut her up to save themselves some face.
What is most disheartening to me is that instead of engaging in a dialogue or stating her opinion she tweets a classic liberal attack on the article. She can’t honestly and logically state why she thinks that her opinion is or, at the very least, should be considered equal to and as important as the former VICE PRESIDENT of the United States and connected leader of the Republican Party. Instead she took cheap shots by suggesting that the author only respects old white guys, doesn’t respect young women, and is somehow hostile to minorities. As if I needed anymore evidence to support my theory that she’s a pathetic liberal who lacks any real intelligence and will do anything to satisfy her craving for attention.
(H/T: Memeorandum)
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