Do The Tea Party People and Republican Lawmakers SUPPORT or CONDEMN Racial Slurs Directed At Democrat Lawmakers? It's Truth Telling Time!!!
Regular readers of this blog know that I have supported the passion shown by the so-called "Tea Party" people because as a political activist myself, I welcome all (legal and respectful) activism.
I've never written this before, but I will tell you that I have been in email contact with several Tea Party people in different parts of America, people who are "leaders" in their geographical areas. I have discussed things I disagree (and agree) with them and never once have I read or heard these people say anything that smacked of racism or gay bashing.
I haven't spoken or emailed any of these people about what happened this past weekend, but they will read what I'm about to write now.
YO, Tea Party people and Republican lawmakers!!! Your SILENCE is DEAFENING!
I know your beef with President Obama and Democrat lawmakers isn't just about "health care", but the "health care" issue is what was voted on this past weekend and while Democrat lawmakers were walking to where they were supposed to go to cast their votes, African American lawmakers were subjected to loud racial slurs and an openly gay lawmaker was subjected to slurs about what HE is.
Threats that the FBI is investigating were also made which is also bad, but most of those threats appear to have been in a less "open" way, so I want to go back to what a lot of people heard and saw this past weekend.
It's showtime, gang. As in, it's time to declare what you stand for, are prepared to tolerate or prepared to condemn.
Look, regarding this health care business? The only thing I know for sure is that changes to what we've been living with need to be made and I don't know ANYONE who DISAGREES with that. Are the changes that have now been signed into law the changes that (over the long haul) will be considerably more beneficial to us than what we've HAD?!? I don't know and if this bill isn't overturned, I don't think any of us will know until at least 10-years from now.
Feel free to argue about that until your faces turn blue. In a respectful and civil manner.
But when you declare your opposition by including loud racial and gay insults, only two things happen.
(1) The only thing most folks remember about your activism is your loud racial and gay insults.
(2) Inquiring minds like me wonder if non responding (to these outrages) Republican lawmakers and Tea Party leaders are silently CONDONING these publicly spewed racial and gay insults.
A simple question that deserves a simple answer is being posed to you Republican lawmakers and Tea Party leaders. And while we're at it, let's include some well known talk show hosts who have subtly or in some cases been openly guilty of race and gay baiting in the past.
Here's the question: Do you SUPPORT the race and gay insults that were yelled this past weekend?!?
If the answer is, "Yes!", stay silent or show your true colors by standing up and saying, "HELL, yes!!!"
If the answer is, "No!", speak up because your silence, while deafening, is also not a "cause helper".
SPEAKING OF "CAUSES"...
Helping the troops and or spouses and children of troops.
Excuse my fractured English when I say, "Ain't NOBODY more supportive of helpin' the troops and or spouses and children of troops than a guy like ME who was RAISED in a military family and who also served his OWN little "Tour of duty".
I wasn't any kind of multiple medal military guy. I left the military in possession of a "Good Conduct Medal" which some would suggest MUST be COUNTERFEIT and there was medal I refused to accept because I thought that what they wanted to give it to me for was the result of something stupid I had done.
And I've never claimed to be "A GREAT American!"
Oh, you know where I'm going with this, right?
Sean Hannity. He wraps himself in the Flag sooo much, I keep waiting for him to wear a Flag SUIT!
He's had this (what appears to be) very nice charity thing involving what he calls, "Freedom Concerts". Concerts that have been held in different cities for several years. Tickets have to be purchased and other things are sold at the concerts. If you're not playing close attention when you hear Hannity talk about an upcoming concert, you're probably left with the impression that darn near every dollar raised goes to help severely wounded troops and or surviving spouses and children of troops who were killed in Iraq or Afghanistan.
I've never listened to his "pitches" closely, either. But one thing I know about "charities" is that because of loose regulations, money collected can be used for all kinds of "expenses" before a dime is given to the charity that's being touted. Shoot, I've had telemarketers tell me about the disgracefully low amount of money that goes to charities from money pledged by people on the phone. Overall, the telemarketers themselves and their bosses seem to get way more than the particular charity does.
I bring this up because of a commentary written less than a week ago by a very conservative blogger who has been on Sean Hannity's show more than a few times.
Debbie Schlussel is her name and she says she sent an email to Hannity's private email address with a list of questions she wanted to ask him about information she had uncovered about his "Freedom Concerts". She says that Hannity never responded to her, so she went ahead and wrote the story that is now all over the internet. In this commentary, Debbie Schlussel claims to have seen tax forms showing a tremendous amount of money raised from these Freedom Concerts being written off as "expenses money". Money, that among other things, pays for the use of large private jets. She also lists what she claims to be very accurate low percentages of money collected that went to suffering troops or surviving family members. Instead of me listing things she wrote with the documentation she offers, you can simply read her very long commentary by going to http://debbieschlussel.com or if you have trouble finding what you're looking for, feel free to ask me for it scottstjames@sbcglobal.net and I will email her commentary to you.
The headline above Schlussel's commentary is, "Sean Hannity's Freedom CONcert Scam: Almost None of Charity's Went To Injured Troops, Kids of Fallen Troops; G5s for Vannity?"
Again...I'll be happy to email you this commentary if you would like me to. Send your request to scottstjames@sbcglobal.net
A SUBJECT THAT IS BEING DELAYED...
Last week I said I would cover a couple of questions that are burning a hole in my little pea brain and perhaps in your (much larger) brain as well. Questions about death and who made the decision (the day the decision was made) that this/then was the day YEAR ONE was beginning. We're now almost three months into YEAR TWO THOUSAND TEN (2010). How, why and by whom did "year one" begin?
I'm postponing these subjects until next week.
I'm going to end this week's blog with a joke, but first,
ENTERTAINMENT STUFF!!!
First of all, has there ever been good television competition like the competition we're supposed to choose from every Tuesday night at 10/9 Central time?
I mean, you have "The Good Wife" on CBS, "Parenthood" on NBC, "Justified" on FX and "Southland" on TNT. All four of these shows are TERRIFIC shows!!! If I had to choose one, I would choose "The Good Wife" and right now, there is a way to see three of these shows every week. "Justified" is shown a second time on Tuesday night at 11/10 Central time. "Parenthood" is shown a second time on Saturday night at 8/7 Central time. "Southland" seems to be shown only the one time (Tuesday) each week on TNT.
"American Idol" is now down to 10 singers. I thought the judges were a little rougher than they needed to be on several of the singers last night (Tuesday), but the right person was eliminated tonight (Wednesday). Teen Idol, Miley Cyrus was the "mentor" this week, I thought she did a good job and I thought the new song she sang tonight was very good. I also liked the fact that in a conversation with Ryan Seacrest, she stuck up for the singer who did a "slide move" the night before and was mercilessly barbecued by the judges for doing it. You had to see it to know what I'm referring to, but I liked what the singer did and (obviously) Miley Cyrus did as well.
One New Film and Two Old Films that I Liked...
First, the new film. "Green Zone". An action packed story about Iraq and a Chief Warrant Officer (played by Matt Damon) who wants to find what we supposedly went to Iraq for. The infamous and non-existent WMD, otherwise known as Weapons of Mass Destruction. And when Damon realizes there aren't any WMD, he becomes annoyed and all hell breaks loose. Amy Ryan is very good as the big time newspaper reporter who was duped by administration officials and Greg Kinnear is very good as the sleazy Bush official responsible for "selling" this WMD nonsense that has caused us to spend billions of dollars and resulted in many deaths and life altering injuries suffered by our troops and their families. Good film.
A 1993 film I saw for the first time. "The Pelican Brief", starring Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington with terrific supporting performances by (among others) Sam Shepard, John Heard, John Lithgow, Tony Goldwyn, James B. Sikking, William Atherton, Stanley Tucci, Cynthia Nixon and Robert Culp, a very fine actor who died today at the age of 79. While walking, he fell and died. We never know when it's coming, folks. Unless we're really sick. Culp figures to have been caught totally by surprise.
Back to "The Pelican Brief". It's a John Grisham film that was directed by Alan J. Pakula so I don't have to tell you how good it was-is. If you haven't seen it, you figure to be able to find it where I found it. On one of the cable channels.
A 1964 film I saw for the first time. "Kitten With A Whip", starring Ann-Margret and John Forsythe with very fine supporting performances by (among others) Richard Anderson and Peter Brown. Here's an example of how time flies, folks. Next month, Ann-Margret will have a birthday. And on that day, she will be 69. That means she was 22 or 23 when she starred in "Kitten With A Whip" which was her 3rd or 4th film.
In this film, Ann-Margret plays a teenager who has escaped from a mental ward after stabbing a mental ward official. John Forsythe plays a guy who has political aspirations, his wife is out of town, he extends a helping hand to the Ann-Margret character because of a sob story she has given him (he doesn't know about the mental ward thing yet) and when he finds out who she really is, he can't get rid of her.
Yes, she is a very bad and very mean girl this Ann-Margret character is and I "bought" her character completely. The way this film ends is in a way I didn't see coming and that added to the enjoyment I had of the film.
After seeing her and Elvis Presley in "Viva Las Vegas" on TCM during an Elvis marathon on his most recent birthday, and being enthralled by the chemistry between those two, I told friends of mine it's a darn shame those two never did another film together. I also stated that I was of the opinion that despite her many accomplishments, Ann-Margret is arguably the most under-used major talent in the history of the film business. And after seeing "Kitten With A Whip", I have no reason to change my view about her.
I'm ending this week's blog with a "joke" I hope you enjoy. It was sent to me by a long time reader and interesting stories provider, Dave, from Missouri.
And it goes like this...
A woman pregnant with triplets was walking down the street when a masked robber ran out of a bank and shot her three times in the stomach. Luckily, the babies were okay. The surgeon decided to leave the bullets in because is was too risky to operate. She gave birth to two healthy daughters and a healthy son.
All was fine for 16 years until one daughter walked into the room in tears.
"What's wrong?" asked the mother. "I was taking a tinkle and this bullet came out.", replied the daughter.
The mother told her it was okay and explained what happened 16 years ago.
About a week later, the second daughter walked into the room in tears. "Mom, I was taking a tinkle and this bullet came out!"
Again, the mother told her not to worry and explained what happened 16 years ago.
A week later, her son walked into the room in tears. "It's okay!" said the mom, "I know what happened. You were taking a tinkle and a bullet came out."
"No!" said the boy. "I was playing with myself and I shot the dog!"
Thanks, Dave!
THOUGHTS AND OR COMMENTS?
Write to me at scottstjames@sbcglobal.net and I will respond to you immediately. If you write to the blog, there's no way for me to know your email address so I will be unable to respond to you. All "Anonymous" emails are ignored.
THE NEXT BLOG?
Barring unforseen circumstances, next Wednesday night (late), March 31.
I've never written this before, but I will tell you that I have been in email contact with several Tea Party people in different parts of America, people who are "leaders" in their geographical areas. I have discussed things I disagree (and agree) with them and never once have I read or heard these people say anything that smacked of racism or gay bashing.
I haven't spoken or emailed any of these people about what happened this past weekend, but they will read what I'm about to write now.
YO, Tea Party people and Republican lawmakers!!! Your SILENCE is DEAFENING!
I know your beef with President Obama and Democrat lawmakers isn't just about "health care", but the "health care" issue is what was voted on this past weekend and while Democrat lawmakers were walking to where they were supposed to go to cast their votes, African American lawmakers were subjected to loud racial slurs and an openly gay lawmaker was subjected to slurs about what HE is.
Threats that the FBI is investigating were also made which is also bad, but most of those threats appear to have been in a less "open" way, so I want to go back to what a lot of people heard and saw this past weekend.
It's showtime, gang. As in, it's time to declare what you stand for, are prepared to tolerate or prepared to condemn.
Look, regarding this health care business? The only thing I know for sure is that changes to what we've been living with need to be made and I don't know ANYONE who DISAGREES with that. Are the changes that have now been signed into law the changes that (over the long haul) will be considerably more beneficial to us than what we've HAD?!? I don't know and if this bill isn't overturned, I don't think any of us will know until at least 10-years from now.
Feel free to argue about that until your faces turn blue. In a respectful and civil manner.
But when you declare your opposition by including loud racial and gay insults, only two things happen.
(1) The only thing most folks remember about your activism is your loud racial and gay insults.
(2) Inquiring minds like me wonder if non responding (to these outrages) Republican lawmakers and Tea Party leaders are silently CONDONING these publicly spewed racial and gay insults.
A simple question that deserves a simple answer is being posed to you Republican lawmakers and Tea Party leaders. And while we're at it, let's include some well known talk show hosts who have subtly or in some cases been openly guilty of race and gay baiting in the past.
Here's the question: Do you SUPPORT the race and gay insults that were yelled this past weekend?!?
If the answer is, "Yes!", stay silent or show your true colors by standing up and saying, "HELL, yes!!!"
If the answer is, "No!", speak up because your silence, while deafening, is also not a "cause helper".
SPEAKING OF "CAUSES"...
Helping the troops and or spouses and children of troops.
Excuse my fractured English when I say, "Ain't NOBODY more supportive of helpin' the troops and or spouses and children of troops than a guy like ME who was RAISED in a military family and who also served his OWN little "Tour of duty".
I wasn't any kind of multiple medal military guy. I left the military in possession of a "Good Conduct Medal" which some would suggest MUST be COUNTERFEIT and there was medal I refused to accept because I thought that what they wanted to give it to me for was the result of something stupid I had done.
And I've never claimed to be "A GREAT American!"
Oh, you know where I'm going with this, right?
Sean Hannity. He wraps himself in the Flag sooo much, I keep waiting for him to wear a Flag SUIT!
He's had this (what appears to be) very nice charity thing involving what he calls, "Freedom Concerts". Concerts that have been held in different cities for several years. Tickets have to be purchased and other things are sold at the concerts. If you're not playing close attention when you hear Hannity talk about an upcoming concert, you're probably left with the impression that darn near every dollar raised goes to help severely wounded troops and or surviving spouses and children of troops who were killed in Iraq or Afghanistan.
I've never listened to his "pitches" closely, either. But one thing I know about "charities" is that because of loose regulations, money collected can be used for all kinds of "expenses" before a dime is given to the charity that's being touted. Shoot, I've had telemarketers tell me about the disgracefully low amount of money that goes to charities from money pledged by people on the phone. Overall, the telemarketers themselves and their bosses seem to get way more than the particular charity does.
I bring this up because of a commentary written less than a week ago by a very conservative blogger who has been on Sean Hannity's show more than a few times.
Debbie Schlussel is her name and she says she sent an email to Hannity's private email address with a list of questions she wanted to ask him about information she had uncovered about his "Freedom Concerts". She says that Hannity never responded to her, so she went ahead and wrote the story that is now all over the internet. In this commentary, Debbie Schlussel claims to have seen tax forms showing a tremendous amount of money raised from these Freedom Concerts being written off as "expenses money". Money, that among other things, pays for the use of large private jets. She also lists what she claims to be very accurate low percentages of money collected that went to suffering troops or surviving family members. Instead of me listing things she wrote with the documentation she offers, you can simply read her very long commentary by going to http://debbieschlussel.com or if you have trouble finding what you're looking for, feel free to ask me for it scottstjames@sbcglobal.net and I will email her commentary to you.
The headline above Schlussel's commentary is, "Sean Hannity's Freedom CONcert Scam: Almost None of Charity's Went To Injured Troops, Kids of Fallen Troops; G5s for Vannity?"
Again...I'll be happy to email you this commentary if you would like me to. Send your request to scottstjames@sbcglobal.net
A SUBJECT THAT IS BEING DELAYED...
Last week I said I would cover a couple of questions that are burning a hole in my little pea brain and perhaps in your (much larger) brain as well. Questions about death and who made the decision (the day the decision was made) that this/then was the day YEAR ONE was beginning. We're now almost three months into YEAR TWO THOUSAND TEN (2010). How, why and by whom did "year one" begin?
I'm postponing these subjects until next week.
I'm going to end this week's blog with a joke, but first,
ENTERTAINMENT STUFF!!!
First of all, has there ever been good television competition like the competition we're supposed to choose from every Tuesday night at 10/9 Central time?
I mean, you have "The Good Wife" on CBS, "Parenthood" on NBC, "Justified" on FX and "Southland" on TNT. All four of these shows are TERRIFIC shows!!! If I had to choose one, I would choose "The Good Wife" and right now, there is a way to see three of these shows every week. "Justified" is shown a second time on Tuesday night at 11/10 Central time. "Parenthood" is shown a second time on Saturday night at 8/7 Central time. "Southland" seems to be shown only the one time (Tuesday) each week on TNT.
"American Idol" is now down to 10 singers. I thought the judges were a little rougher than they needed to be on several of the singers last night (Tuesday), but the right person was eliminated tonight (Wednesday). Teen Idol, Miley Cyrus was the "mentor" this week, I thought she did a good job and I thought the new song she sang tonight was very good. I also liked the fact that in a conversation with Ryan Seacrest, she stuck up for the singer who did a "slide move" the night before and was mercilessly barbecued by the judges for doing it. You had to see it to know what I'm referring to, but I liked what the singer did and (obviously) Miley Cyrus did as well.
One New Film and Two Old Films that I Liked...
First, the new film. "Green Zone". An action packed story about Iraq and a Chief Warrant Officer (played by Matt Damon) who wants to find what we supposedly went to Iraq for. The infamous and non-existent WMD, otherwise known as Weapons of Mass Destruction. And when Damon realizes there aren't any WMD, he becomes annoyed and all hell breaks loose. Amy Ryan is very good as the big time newspaper reporter who was duped by administration officials and Greg Kinnear is very good as the sleazy Bush official responsible for "selling" this WMD nonsense that has caused us to spend billions of dollars and resulted in many deaths and life altering injuries suffered by our troops and their families. Good film.
A 1993 film I saw for the first time. "The Pelican Brief", starring Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington with terrific supporting performances by (among others) Sam Shepard, John Heard, John Lithgow, Tony Goldwyn, James B. Sikking, William Atherton, Stanley Tucci, Cynthia Nixon and Robert Culp, a very fine actor who died today at the age of 79. While walking, he fell and died. We never know when it's coming, folks. Unless we're really sick. Culp figures to have been caught totally by surprise.
Back to "The Pelican Brief". It's a John Grisham film that was directed by Alan J. Pakula so I don't have to tell you how good it was-is. If you haven't seen it, you figure to be able to find it where I found it. On one of the cable channels.
A 1964 film I saw for the first time. "Kitten With A Whip", starring Ann-Margret and John Forsythe with very fine supporting performances by (among others) Richard Anderson and Peter Brown. Here's an example of how time flies, folks. Next month, Ann-Margret will have a birthday. And on that day, she will be 69. That means she was 22 or 23 when she starred in "Kitten With A Whip" which was her 3rd or 4th film.
In this film, Ann-Margret plays a teenager who has escaped from a mental ward after stabbing a mental ward official. John Forsythe plays a guy who has political aspirations, his wife is out of town, he extends a helping hand to the Ann-Margret character because of a sob story she has given him (he doesn't know about the mental ward thing yet) and when he finds out who she really is, he can't get rid of her.
Yes, she is a very bad and very mean girl this Ann-Margret character is and I "bought" her character completely. The way this film ends is in a way I didn't see coming and that added to the enjoyment I had of the film.
After seeing her and Elvis Presley in "Viva Las Vegas" on TCM during an Elvis marathon on his most recent birthday, and being enthralled by the chemistry between those two, I told friends of mine it's a darn shame those two never did another film together. I also stated that I was of the opinion that despite her many accomplishments, Ann-Margret is arguably the most under-used major talent in the history of the film business. And after seeing "Kitten With A Whip", I have no reason to change my view about her.
I'm ending this week's blog with a "joke" I hope you enjoy. It was sent to me by a long time reader and interesting stories provider, Dave, from Missouri.
And it goes like this...
A woman pregnant with triplets was walking down the street when a masked robber ran out of a bank and shot her three times in the stomach. Luckily, the babies were okay. The surgeon decided to leave the bullets in because is was too risky to operate. She gave birth to two healthy daughters and a healthy son.
All was fine for 16 years until one daughter walked into the room in tears.
"What's wrong?" asked the mother. "I was taking a tinkle and this bullet came out.", replied the daughter.
The mother told her it was okay and explained what happened 16 years ago.
About a week later, the second daughter walked into the room in tears. "Mom, I was taking a tinkle and this bullet came out!"
Again, the mother told her not to worry and explained what happened 16 years ago.
A week later, her son walked into the room in tears. "It's okay!" said the mom, "I know what happened. You were taking a tinkle and a bullet came out."
"No!" said the boy. "I was playing with myself and I shot the dog!"
Thanks, Dave!
THOUGHTS AND OR COMMENTS?
Write to me at scottstjames@sbcglobal.net and I will respond to you immediately. If you write to the blog, there's no way for me to know your email address so I will be unable to respond to you. All "Anonymous" emails are ignored.
THE NEXT BLOG?
Barring unforseen circumstances, next Wednesday night (late), March 31.
posted by Scott St. James at 10:54 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home