The Year of Moving Forward

The Year of Moving Forward
At our 4 person wedding reception in DC

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Shocked...and more shocked

This is a sad casualty of the storm yesterday. Ida destroyed my flag.


But it is Veteran's Day, so I will leave it up until dark. It looks kind of like a war time flag, huh? Thanks go out to those who have served in our armed forces. I won't name names, but family members and friends...you know who you are...thanks.

Shocking. I am really shocked that Claire Mitchell lost the district 56 election yesterday. Congratulations to Lawrence McAdory. He will have to defend his win soon, however, as the election only fills the seat through the unexpired term of Priscilla Dunn, who won the Senate district 19 seat earlier this year.

I have my own opinions as to why this election turned out the way it did, but (believe it or not) I am keeping those to myself.

Even more shocking. Teabaggers are defending their use of Kelly Ingram Park for their rally. An anonymous person sent a comment to my post that linked to one of the teabagger organizer's blog. Regarding the Kelly Ingram Park rally, he says:

"Names like Bull Connor and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. are attached to the horrible events there."

Isn't that a little degrading to MLK, Jr., to have is name "attached to the horrible events" as if he bore some responsibility for the fire hoses and dogs. No, that blame is not shared by Bull Conner and Martin Luther King, Jr.

Then after showing historic pictures of the four girls who were killed nearby, he writes this:

"Could there be a better venue to celebrate our freedoms and rise to the defense of civil rights for all? I hope that the symbolism is not lost on people but what happened there today would have to make Dr. King and the victims of Bull Connor proud."

"The defense of civil rights for all"? From the stage I heard a birther arguing against the credibility of the Obama presidency. I heard the right to health care being compared to communism and socialism.

If they wanted civil rights for all, they would have been promoting GLBT equality and same sex civil marriage.

"...but what happened there today would have to make Dr. King and the victims of Bull Connor proud."

Some of the victims of Bull Conner were there, and they were proudly standing against what was coming from the stage.

Read what Kathy wrote. This was nothing more than a modern day "Klan-lite" gathering and a slap in the face of what Kelly Ingram Park and the Foot Soldiers stood for.

Shockingest. Well not really, but somewhat shocking that Republicans could be handing such a gift to the Democrats. In Florida, the Tea Party political party has registered as a valid political party and promises to run candidates against Republicans and Democrats. Thank you thank you thank you. After the success they had in NY-23 (laugh, laugh), right wing conservatives are going to try the same strategy nationwide.

6 comments:

Kathy said...

Joe, thanks for the link and the tip. Here's my post on Mark Williams. You'll be shocked to read that he's not really interested in civil rights for all.

countrycat said...

For now at least, the Tea Bag crowd is the gift that keeps on giving - to Democrats.

However, as Frank Rich cautioned in his NYT column, they're dangerous too. They're success is dependent on keeping their "true believers" whipped up in a foment of anger, intolerance, racism, and xenophobia.

Having that angry mob rampaging around the country is creepy.

Of course, I'm also enjoying the spectacle of the GOP leadership unable to control the monster it unleashed. ;-)

Madison said...

I was at that rally.

The Civil Rights Movement depended on the people reacting/being involved, and I guess tea baggers share that with the CRM. But the tea baggers are totally against the federal government intervening to protect the rights of the minority, in the face of state's rights. And that's what the Civil Rights Movement was about. There's a total fear of federal government/Supreme Court use of power amongst the tea baggers, while CRM participants were begging for that.

If it were up to tea baggers, segregation and voting rights would have been left up to the states. And Kelly Ingram Park would have never had such meeting attached to it in the first place.

perry6911 said...

In a nutshell, each malpractice case is different and a judge and jury should decide the proper damage amounts. A cap on the amount in a medical lawsuit would leave very little negotiating room for settlements. There must be pressure maintained on hospitals so that strong safety procedures are put in place and doctors are careful. Several patients maybe discouraged from filing, which may free a poorly performing doctor from his responsibility. This lunacy idea of medical cap on pain and suffering and punitive damages the Republicans are promoting should not every see the light of day. It seems the Republicans seek and crave to have absolute control of every aspect of the American way of life. Let every American stand up for our rights and put a stop to this Republican un-American and fascism lunacy.

James said...

I am shocked at what I am reading here. Could one of you please explain to me how a group that embraces the Constitution, and it's mission of Human Rights, could be viewed as somehow exclusionary?

Madison said...

I don't know that they are exclusionary, necessarily. I'm sure Tea Baggers would love to have a diverse set of followers. But I'd be very surprised to find a Tea Bagger who would be okay with the federal government stepping in to protect the rights of an oppressed minority over the laws of a state.

Not to mention that they're on the sacred ground of the Civil Rights Movement, in which people marched against deadly force, were beaten, jailed, killed and bombed.

And for what? Why are they gathered in Kelly Ingram Park, of all places? Because of high taxes (they're basically the same now, and will only be as high as during the Clinton administration)? Because of big-brothery shit that didn't bother them when Bush signed the PATRIOT act? It's all crap.