Bardwell, Defends His Refusal to Perform Marriage Ceremony for Interracial Couple

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Not been blogging much lately, as I have been sick with a mean sinus infection complicated by my asthma and a possible cold and as of this posting still am.

Anyway there have been more developments in the case of Keith Bardwell, the Justice of the Peace in Louisiana who refused to perform a marriage ceremony for a mixed race couple because he was convinced that it would be harmful for the children. That there parents' mixed racial and ethnic heritage would open them up to rejection (likely from people who would have you know prevented them from being born in wed lock if you get my drift).

Anyway, a credit to both Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) and Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-LA) have both come out and called for Bardwell to resign his position over the radical notion that somehow the function of a public official invested with the power and responsibility is to enforce the law.

Bardwell, however insists he does not have the power to deny anyone a marriage license, just to perform the ceremony and that he told them where they could have such a ceremony performed.

He also insists in the interview on the CBS Early Show posted above, that everyone hates him now, and that he didn't mean to offend the couple, and he was just trying to do them and any children they may possibly have in the future a favor by refusing to perform such a ceremony. He also says that because he informed the couple of where they could get married, this whole issue should now go away.

Now if this sanctimonious, preachy bumpkin wants to hold that segregationist mindset that is primitive, disgusting, and evidence that some are now able to keep up with the changing standards of decency and tolerance in society that is fine. Deplorable and I would be both offended and humiliated to have him represent my parish at any level, but those are his personal "beliefs" and those can't and shouldn't be forcefully changed. Despite that, he can be demanded and should to enforce the law as required or resign. And if he doesn't do either, he should be forced from office.

When did that somehow become a radical notion?

Update: In other angry white man news, the anger and xenophobia of white bread conservatives like Pat Buchannan does not seem to be abating. In his latest screed the columnist, MSNBC analyst, and three time far right third party paleoconservative goes on to bemoan the demise of prayer in schools and rail against 1960s radicals who started riots, and struck on campus; (this from a guy who was part of the Nixon administration who sought to efface entire parts of the constitution, recklessly extended the Vietnam war into Cambodia and Laos, overthrew a democratically albeit socialist government in Chile to install one of the 20th century's most despotic mad men, and dragged the office of the president of the United States down to the level of a two bit burglar).

He also goes on with his rhetoric with a zeal that is more George Wallace then George Washington, fulminating that Americas racial, ethnic, religious, and cultural make-up are evolving with age. Pat as always keepin it classy. I would say that this sort of nonsense would be deposited with once his generation dies off to put it bluntly, but much of these racist mindsets were thought to have expired long ago. But Bardwell, Buchannan, and a collection of others who have recently surfaced show that the death of racism has been greatly exaggerated.

Taking Justice and Peace Out of 'Justice of the Peace'

If anyone began to somehow doubt that a reservoir of bigotry and stupidity still exists, Louisiana Justice of the Peace Keith Bardwell proves that it is alive and well.

The Justice of the Peace (who obviously hasn't received the 42 year old memo on the Supreme Court ruling of Loving Vs. the state of Virginia that ruled states must recognize interracial marriage) is refusing to give a marriage license to a black and white couple, saying he is concerned about any future children that the couple might have and their well being. Actually judging from Bardwell's belief, if he is a father I would be much more concerned about his children.

Bardwell, and here's a kicker emphatically states he is not racist, saying he issues licenses to black couples and white couples all the time, just thinks that interracial marriages just don't work out.

A Louisiana justice of the peace said he refused to issue a marriage license to an interracial couple out of concern for any children the couple might have. Keith Bardwell, justice of the peace in Tangipahoa Parish, says it is his experience that most interracial marriages do not last long.

Neither Bardwell nor the couple immediately returned phone calls from The Associated Press. But Bardwell told the Daily Star of Hammond that he was not a racist.

"I do ceremonies for black couples right here in my house," Bardwell said. "My main concern is for the children."

Bardwell said he has discussed the topic with blacks and whites, along with witnessing some interracial marriages. He came to the conclusion that most of black society does not readily accept offspring of such relationships, and neither does white society, he said.

"I don't do interracial marriages because I don't want to put children in a situation they didn't bring on themselves," Bardwell said. "In my heart, I feel the children will later suffer."

Someone needs to inform this racist boorish idiot that this is the 21st century and that Dixie died a long time ago. Then they need to fire him. Its amazing that people would admit to this outdated ideology that has no place in a modern civilized society, and given that he is no doubt breaking the law it is even more disgraceful that any state, county, parish, or community in America would have such a man as a public servant.

Meanwhile the couple in question is consulting with the U.S Justice Department Civil Rights division to see what they can do.

Illinois Teacher Uses term "Black Fags" says he didn't mean to offend anyone.

In other racist and homophobia related news,Illinois High School teacher Dave Burke was teaching a economics related class when according to one openly gay High School Senior in the class Burke posed a question to the class.

"How would you feel about your tax dollars going to pay some black fag in New York to take pictures of other black fags?"

As glaring in its homophobia and racism as this statement is, Burke's attorney wanted to make it clear, that if by some off chance anyone was offended that it was not his intention to offend anybody.

Hunter said during a lecture on tax dollars on Oct. 5, Geneva High consumer education teacher Dave Burk started talking about the National Endowment for the Arts, asking his students, "'How would you feel about your tax dollars going to pay some black fag in New York to take pictures of other black fags?'"

Burk's attorney, D.J. Tegeler, said Monday he was not personally aware of the terms Burk used to his classes, but that Burk apologizes for any offense.

"Mr. Burk is cooperating fully with both the principal, the dean of students and the School Board," Tegeler said. "Mr. Burk's biggest problem is he does not want to intentionally offend anybody and if he did, he apologizes."

No Mr Burk, the biggest problem is that you have a poorly developed mind and a pre-civil war mentality at least in your statements. Burke was later issued a warning by the school.That's accountability for you.

As one person later said, a bigger waste of the people's tax dollars then the National Endowment for the Arts is this guys salary.

Fox News and Genetics

Once a cable news morning talk show host has made comments basically saying Americans are, "marry other species", Fox News realizes you may have gone over the line.


But wishing death on U.S soldiers captured by our enemies and accusing them of desertion, is still okay? Damn, Fox News sets such high standards.

The Fox News Ticker

Fox News resurrecting the prejudices of the antebellum south and spreading them by airwaves since 1996? Look on the ticker of this video, the words that move across the screen at the bottom from Fox News's New Year's Eve coverage that I found posted on Raw Story. Fox Personalities like Bill O'Reily often denounce blogs like the Huffington post for hate speech. But will the network apologize for airing a racist statement like "Lets Hope the Magic Negro does a good job"? The phrase "Magic Negro" is a reference to a parody song originally played by Rush Limbaugh and more recently distributed on a CD by former Tennessee state Republican Party Chair and candidate to be the Party's National Chairman Chip Saltsman.

Parents Outraged That Bakery Denies Writing Son's Name on Cake.... His Name Adolf Hitler !

This is not only ridiculous but tragic, that in this day in age anyone would burden their child and relegate him to what will no doubt be a life of ostricization and being a social outcast by naming their son after the most brutal tyrant of the 20th century, who slaughtered 6 million people and that is not counting all the allied soldiers fighting against the axis powers.

Anyway a Pennsylvania family is now outraged, as well as both awkwardly espousing and softly denying their Nazi sympathies, after criticizing a local bakery for not writing the name of their three year old son Adolf Hitler Campbell. They later did go to a Wal- Mart that wrote the name on the cake instead.

This is cruel. Though one could say who is the bakery to decide what is and is not offensive, and I am not suggesting that they legally ban someone naming a child after Hitler as they do in Eastern European countries. But the fact that anyone would actually do this in the 20th century is really outrageous and shows that people don't necessarily grow more intelligent over time.

Associated Press:

EASTON, Pa. (AP) — The father of 3-year-old Adolf Hitler Campbell, denied a birthday cake with the child's full name on it by one New Jersey supermarket, is asking for a little tolerance. Heath Campbell and his wife, Deborah, are upset not only with the decision made by the Greenwich ShopRite, but with an outpouring of angry Internet postings in response to a local newspaper article over the weekend on their flare-up over frosting.

"I think people need to take their heads out of the cloud they've been in and start focusing on the future and not on the past," Heath Campbell said Tuesday in an interview conducted in Easton, on the other side of the Delaware River from where the family lives in Hunterdon County, N.J.

"There's a new president and he says it's time for a change; well, then it's time for a change," the 35-year-old continued. "They need to accept a name. A name's a name. The kid isn't going to grow up and do what (Hitler) did.

He says he named his child after Hitler, not because he admires what the Getrman dictator did, but because he just liked the name because it is so unique and so uncommon. There is a reason for that you know? So naming your son after Adolf Hitler, just a mistake made after a drunken night in the Mel Gibson spirit? Well the Campbells have also cursed their two children with racist names, one after the white supremacist organization the Aryan Nation and the other after high level Hitler associate and Nazi Heinrich Himmler.

The Campbells' other two children also have unusual names: JoyceLynn Aryan Nation Campbell turns 2 in a few months and Honszlynn Hinler Jeannie Campbell will be 1 in April.

Heath Campbell said he named his son after Adolf Hitler because he liked the name and because "no one else in the world would have that name." He sounded surprised by all the controversy the dispute had generated.

Campbell said his ancestors are German and that he has lived his entire life in Hunterdon County. On Tuesday he wore a pair of black boots he said were worn by a German soldier during World War II.

The Klan Alive, but Hurting in thier Wallet

The Ku Klux Klan has unfortunately been one of the most painful and hateful legacies in our nation's history. Like terrorists groups such as Al-Queda do to try and justify their cause by perverting and distorting Islam, the Ku-Klux Klan does by carrying out acts of violence, their faces knotted with hate concealed behind bed linens; in the name of America and the name of Christianity when what they are really doing is soiling the fabric of both. I am white, but its deranged militants like these who are fueled by hate that make me embarrassed to call them fellow human beings at times. Many see the Ku Klux Klan as a shameful relic of the past, but unfortunately that is only half true. They are in fact shameful, but while their influence may have waned and they have been rightfully labeled as the tangled mass of stupidity, they are still in operation.

Just this week, a horrifying story, about a woman murdered at a Klan rally in Louisiana.

COVINGTON, La. (AP) — After a Ku Klux Klan initiation at a Louisiana campsite went awry, authorities said, a recruit who tried to back out was shot dead. The body of the woman, who traveled from Oklahoma, was dumped on a rural roadside and covered with brush. Her belongings were set aflame.

But the cover-up was stillborn: The body was found Monday, a day after the shooting. By Tuesday, a local Klan leader sat in jail on a second-degree murder charge, and seven others were charged with trying to help conceal the crime.

"The IQ level of this group is not impressive, to be kind," St. Tammany Parish Sheriff Jack Strain said Tuesday.

The woman, whose identity was not released, was recruited over the Internet to participate in the ritual and then return to her home state to find other members for the white supremacist group, Strain said.

MORE>>>

This is horrific. It is the 21st century and it is abhorrent that some narrow minds remain cemented in the prejudices that have haunted this country for over two hundred years. The Ku Klux Klan may say they are for the so called "purity of the white race" and "white woman hood" but this is them. They are against not only minority groups but those who don't subscribe to their twisted and warped view.

However, in another KKK related story, the Southern Poverty Law Center has dealt a crushing blow to the Imperial Klans of America. Here is More:

The Southern Poverty Law Center today won a crushing jury verdict against one of the nation's largest Klan groups for its role in the brutal beating of a teenager at a county fair in rural Kentucky.
The $2.5 million verdict will likely cripple the Imperial Klans of America, which has 16 chapters in eight states.

"The people of Meade County, Kentucky, have spoken loudly and clearly. And what they've said is that ethnic violence has no place in our society, that those who promote hate and violence will be held accountable and made to pay a steep price," said SPLC founder and chief trial attorney Morris Dees, who tried the case. "We look forward to collecting every dime that we can for our client and to putting the Imperial Klans of America out of business."

The SPLC brought the lawsuit on behalf of Jordan Gruver, who was 16 when he was attacked in July 2006.

The jury deliberated for approximately five hours before delivering the verdict against IKA Imperial Wizard Ron Edwards and two former IKA members, Jarred Hensley and Andrew Watkins, both of whom served two years in state prison for assaulting Gruver. The SPLC earlier reached settlements with Watkins and one other Klansmen.

This is the way to hit them the hardest. Don't only go directly after those who break the law, but drive the groups into bankruptcy. Now that is hitting them hard.

Two Skinheads Arrested in Obama Assasination Plot

There has been so much hate in this campaign, springing forth by aggravated conservatives and people who are just bound by their own ignorance and unreasoned illogical and ugly hatred.

Now after the bizarre and fabricated report of a McCain volunteer being assaulted by an African American, a real terrifying incident where a real incident of violence is now allegedly thwarted. The Feds have arrested two neo-Nazis in Tennessee, suspected in a plot to assassinate Democratic Presidential Candidate Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill), and murder 88 African American students at a school.

This just shows that while we as a society have made immense progress in terms of race relations and civility, there are still those in enclaves who with hate brewing in their hearts seek to drag us back through horrific acts of violence and make we the majority of civilized paralyzed by fear.

No matter what your politics are, a political assassination as well as the slaughter of nearly one hundred people is horrific to even think about.

Feds disrupt skinhead plot to assassinate Obama
By LARA JAKES JORDAN
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Two white supremacists allegedly plotted to go on a national killing spree, shooting and decapitating black people and ultimately targeting Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, federal authorities said Monday.

In all, the two men whom officials describe as neo-Nazi skinheads planned to kill 88 people - 14 by beheading, according to documents unsealed in U.S. District Court in Jackson, Tenn. The numbers 88 and 14 are symbolic in the white supremacist community.

The spree, which initially targeted an unidentified predominantly African-American school, was to end with the two men driving toward Obama, "shooting at him from the windows," the court documents show.

"Both individuals stated they would dress in all white tuxedos and wear top hats during the assassination attempt," the court complaint states. "Both individuals further stated they knew they would and were willing to die during this attempt."
More>>>

The best thing we can do to fight this hate and really aggravate these two Hitler worshiping neo-Nazis is to cast a ballot for Barack Obama on November 4. Many people my age and some older have expressed anxiety that if elected President, Obama would not only find himself on the receiving end of racially tinged vitriol and anti-Muslim rhetoric, but that his very life could be endangered, by those such as these two suspects who despise the mere notion of an egalitarian diverse America, where Americans are no longer garisoning themselves off in a state of erratic fear, but embracing each other in the fashion of America's promise.

The way I respond to those who express such anxieties is while that is a worry I too share, we can't be held in the shackles of our own fears and worse case scenarios. In short, vote based on the issues and your ideals, don't deprive yourself and your country of a more vibrant future because of your fears about what could happen to them.



UPDATE: Much like the minds of the two guys involved, police say the plan wasn't fully formed yet.

Joseph McCarthy in Lipstick

Friday Night Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann (R- MN 06) not only repeated the scurrilous Bill Ayers Jeremiah Wright attacks against Barack Obama, but she now claims that liberals are anti-American and that many members in congress could be plotting against America.



Next she will likely be claiming that she has a list of 50, or 200, or 100 Al-Queda members who are in the high ranks of the U.S State Department. Joseph McCarthy brought about division, shattered lives, and made the Cold war harder to fight all to enhance his political career. Suddenly I am worried that this clip shows that we could be on the precipice of repeating a shameful and hideous chapter in American history and a grim event in the lengthy history of America's freedoms. Representative Bachmann, Barack Obama and dissent in America is not the problem, your tactics to stir greater fear and suspicion for your own partisan gain is the problem.

UPDATE: (Saturday 11:25A.M ET)- You too can take action to stop these dangerous histrionics by signing this statement, urging Congress to censure Bachmann for stoking such fears. Send a message that McCarthyism and the manipulation of the American polity will not stand.

> Learn more at this blog about the madness of Bachmann and the woman who is described as "Minnesota's answer to Florida's Katherine Harris".

The Constituents in My Pennsylvania District are Racist

Now I appreciate how Congressman John Murtha (D-PA) has taken a strong stand against the Iraq war, but saying something that sounds like you are calling your constituents racist in an election year can't be good.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic Rep. John Murtha said Wednesday his home base of western Pennsylvania is racist and that could reduce Barack Obama's victory margin in the state by 4 percentage points.

The 17-term Democratic congressman told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in a story posted Wednesday on its Web site: "There is no question that western Pennsylvania is a racist area."
Murtha said it has taken time for many Pennsylvania voters to come around to embracing a black presidential candidate, but that Obama should still win the state, though not in a runaway.

There has got to be a better way to phrase that.

You Reap What You Sow, McCain Tries to Quell Supporters Anger He Helped Stoke

The McCain campaign and their crowds have become increasingly unruly and jacobinical this week, as the campaign has raised questions and released ads about Obama's connections with 1960s radical and Weatherman member William Ayers, whom Obama served with on an education reform board in Illinois years ago.

The volley of attacks began last weekend when Republican Vice Presidential candidate Governor Sarah Palin (R-Alaska)accused Obama of "Paling around with domestic terrorists". Although Mccain did not raise the issue of Ayeres at this past week's Presidential debate, Palin has continued being the chief point person on these attacks and McCain himself has said on several occasions at rallies this week that Obama's relationship with Ayers needed to be further explored, and the campaign has released at least one ad on the subject.

Meanwhile at the McCain rallies in several states, as members in these audiences have become more and more unhinged, with audience members parroting Internet rumors and some shouting out when Barack Obama's name is mentioned that responses from the crowd are outright hateful. Some audience members even branding Obama a "terrorist", yelling "Kill him", and those are just two.McCain's campaign stops seem to be morphing into incubators of hate and what can only be described as political lynch mobs, as McCain supporters even slur a black camera man.

McCain has started a fire that he in essence can't put out. it seems to be that it has all taken on a life of its own. Nevertheless, McCain seemed to be trying to put all this racous and even dangerous violent rhetoric back in the proverbial Pandora's box.

Politico:

At a town hall in Minnesota, McCain tried to tone down a week of raucous, angry crowds after one man stood up and said: "We want you to fight."

"The people here in Minnesota want to see a real fight. We want a strong president to lead us through the next four years."

"I think I got my marching orders," McCain said. But then he shifted tones.

"I am enthusiastic and encouraged by the enthusiasm and I think it's really good," McCain said. "We have to fight and i will fight but we will be respectful. I admire Sen. Obama and his accomplishments and I want to be respectful.

"I dont mean that you have to lose your ferocity. I just mean you have to be respectful."

A moment later, another woman stood up and urged McCain to speak up so voters "really have an understanding of who the candidates are."

"There's a difference between rhetoric and record," McCain said, adding that Obama voted to raise taxes 94 times. "He has the most liberal voting record in the United States Senate, even more liberal than Bernie Sanders."

Once again, McCain repeated, "I want all of you to tell your neighbors about the difference between rhetoric and record, but let's do it respectfully."

I doubt this moment will continue for the duration of the campaign. After all McCain's ads bringing up the Ayers connection are still on the air, Palin is still stoking crowds with this, and talk radio is still aiding Mccain in promoting this. Meanwhile his supporters both inside and outside his rallies are becoming more and more unhinged. Here are a few of the most viralent and shocking examples:

> Anti-obama Billboard gets michiganders approval.

> The Smoking Gun.com: man pulls gun on Louisana Voter Registration offical saying "Keep the N*&er out of Office."

> Video: McCain supporters accuse Obama of being a terrorist, Muslim, and socialist.

> Man shot for wearing Barack Obama t-shirt.

> Gun for sale on Craig's List: If Obama Gets Elected.

> Huffington Post: McCain Campaign Now attacking Michelle Obama over Ayers Connections.

More acts of hate:

> Crooks and Liars.com: Man at palin Rally displays Monkey doll with Obama sticker.

> Crooks and liars.com: Your an Obama Supporter? You can't Park Here.

> Virgina Republican Party Chairman compares Barack Obama to Osama Bin Ladden, McCain reluctant to condemn remarks.

> Huffington Post: "Obama Bin Lyin" signs show up at McCain/Palin campaign rally.

Now someone tell me, what is so maverick about leading political lynch mobs? If McCain manages to pull this off and win, then what? His economic plan as President would probably be to change nothing else and just keep attacking Barack Obama. Now that isn't maverick, that is just delusional.

I will update this post frequently as I hear of more vitrolic attacks and outright racism by McCain supporters and Anti-Obama forces. Stay tuned.

Someone is Having a bit of a Walter Moment

Yeah there are people that hate Obama so much they are willing to pull a gun on someone to make sure they get a voter registration card. He seems to have also forgotten his white bed sheets at home. Absolutely disgusting.

Rise in Online Anti-Semitism? (and Some Random Rambling Poetry Stuff)

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) states that since the crisis on Wall Streets, comments and incidents of anti-semitism have risen, since last month when banks such as Lehman Brothers went down.

In times of crisis people entangled in awe that soon turns to fear, and soon morphs into anger and the vitriolic search for scapegoats, as the shareholder sinks his head and in his bought with insomnia plunges into his open hands burying his face as he sits at the kitchen table. The Market, a gamble, We are all patrons in the elaborate Casino. Left it to chance and lost all, savage prejudices engulf.

A Matter of the NRA mindset vs the ACLU Mindset?

On my wordpress blog, a reader makes this interesting point about the Alcee Hastings remark:

The comment IS stupid but what he sounded like he was trying to get across is that the majority of people who are up hunting moose aren’t really all that concerned with the plight of minorities.

I would have you to show me the amount of people who are NRA members AND ACLU members. I bet it is little to none. The point is that Sarah Palin has never been a big advocate of racial diversity or minorities. That is a fact and their are a lot of people in Alaska who were in a meeting with her where she said as much

.
That is an interesting point, but one that given the nature of the remarks is nevertheless not a remark that Obama will want following him. Interesting insight.

What is the Connection?

Now as anyone who reads this blog is well aware I support the candidacy of Democratic Presidential Candidate Senator Barack Obama (D-Ill), but this comment by U.S Congressman Alcee Hastings (D-FL) at a rally of Jewish Democrats Wednesday, left me a little befuddled.

“If Sarah Palin isn’t enough of a reason for you to get over whatever your problem is with Barack Obama, then you damn well had better pay attention,” Rep. Alcee Hastings of Florida said at a panel about the shared agenda of Jewish and African-American Democrats Wednesday. Hastings, who is African-American, was explaining what he intended to tell his Jewish constituents about the presidential race. “Anybody toting guns and stripping moose don’t care too much about what they do with Jews and blacks. So, you just think this through,” Hastings added as the room erupted in laughter and applause.

I don't get it. Hunting moose is not the same as civil rights issues. Can anybody tell me what the connection is here?

New Mexico Republican says Hispanics Won't Vote for Blacks

At first one might think this is just an analysis, but from the way he phrased it, it sounded well shall we say less then complementary to either race, in an interview with the BBC about the Hispanic vote.

On the other side of the Fair, however, Fernando de Baca, 70, told a different story. The chairman of Bernalillo County Republicans argued that the Latino emphasis on hard work and family values, plus the Catholic church's opposition to abortion, made the community naturally conservative.

He offered another, blunter, reason why he believed John McCain would do well in New Mexico.

"The truth is that Hispanics came here as conquerors," he said. "African-Americans came here as slaves.

"Hispanics consider themselves above blacks. They won't vote for a black president."

Between this remark and former Senator George Allen's (R-VA) role at a minority outreach rally by the Republican party in the state, I highly doubt the Republican party will be making very many inroads amongst minorities this election year.

And Conservatives Wonder Why They get So Little African-American Support

After news that the head of the Pennsylvania Federation of College Republican leader had to resign his position after making racially offensive remarks about Democratic Presidential Candidate Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill) on his facebook page, it looks like the so-called conservative "base" (base one could say is the best way to describe them and their tactics), have caught heat over a product at a vendor at the "Value Voter's Summit" (one of the values of these voters I guess is outright racism). Its difficult to believe in the twenty-first century that there are still minds so undeveloped as these.

Minneapolis Star Tribune:

Values Voter Summit organizers cut off sales of Obama Waffles boxes on Saturday, saying they had not realized the boxes displayed "offensive material." The summit and the exhibit hall where the boxes were sold had been open since Thursday afternoon.

The box was meant as political satire, said Mark Whitlock and Bob DeMoss, two writers from Franklin, Tenn., who created the mix. They sold it for $10 a box from a rented booth at the summit sponsored by the lobbying arm of the Family Research Council.

David Nammo, executive director of the lobbying group FRC Action, said summit organizers were told the boxes were a parody of Obama's policy positions but had not examined them closely.

Republican Party stalwarts Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney were among speakers at the forum, which officials said drew 2,100 activists from 44 states.

While Obama Waffles takes aim at Obama's politics by poking fun at his public remarks and positions on issues, it also plays off the old image of the pancake-mix icon Aunt Jemima, which has been widely criticized as a demeaning stereotype. Obama is portrayed with popping eyes and big, thick lips as he stares at a plate of waffles and smiles broadly.

Placing Obama in Arab-like headdress recalls the false rumor that he is a follower of Islam, though he is actually a Christian.

On the back of the box, Obama is depicted in stereotypical Mexican dress, including a sombrero, above a recipe for "Open Border Fiesta Waffles" that says it can serve "4 or more illegal aliens." The recipe includes a tip: "While waiting for these zesty treats to invade your home, why not learn a foreign language?"

Pissing off three ethnic groups at the same time. Its amazing that conservative figures like Romney and Gingrich would get anywhere near this, although in fairness to them one can't know of everything that is being sold at these Conservative hootenannies. But the excuse that they didn't know this was racially offensive in anyway is ridiculous. Anyone with an IQ in the double digits would know that this is racist, not to mention xenophobic. I suppose they put on a minstrel show as entertainment.

Young Conservative Quits Republican Group After Racist Obama Remarks.

Between the offensive remark by a commentator from the conservative Media Research Center about Liberal talk show host and MSNBC commentator Rachael Meadow, as that " Lesbian Air American host" and the slew of hate that has been spouted by conservatives about Obama and the African American Community, it is stomach turning to hear these activists.

Tragically it even seems to be trickling down to some conservative far right college activists, including the leader of the Pennsylvania Federation of College Republicans. The millennial generation largely is abhorred and doesn't subscribe to this kind of narrow and primitive thinking. But it does seem to rear its hideous head occasionally even with college age youth. Its shameful and embarrassing.

Yahoo News:

ALLENTOWN, Pa. - The leader of a statewide group of college Republicans has been forced to resign after posting racially insensitive comments about Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama on the Internet.

Adam LaDuca, 21, the former executive director of the Pennsylvania Federation of College Republicans, wrote on his Facebook page in late July that Obama has "a pair of lips so large he could float half of Cuba to the shores of Miami (and probably would.)"

Fortuanatly, the organization had the decency to force this idiot to resign, but he has dabbled in what one could call "racial insensitivity" at best and stocking the flames of racism at worst before. Look what he called Dr.Martin Luther King Jr.

LaDuca, who previously had called Martin Luther King Jr. a "pariah" and a "fraud," also wrote: "And man, if sayin' someone has large lips is a racial slur, then we're ALL in trouble."

He also held one of those conservative anti-affirmative action bake sales that make white people think they are the ones now victims of racism.

LaDuca is a senior at Kutztown University. Two years ago, Kutztown's College Republicans chapter was heavily criticized for holding a "bake sale" to protest affirmative action in which whites were charged more for cookies than blacks. LaDuca, then the group's spokesman, made a public apology on the group's behalf.

Are these the future leaders of conservatism? It sounds a lot less like Edmund Burke and alot more like Rush Limbaugh. They may want to take a page from their hero Ronald Reagan (or at least this clip of him in this 1951 obscure number about the Ku-Klux Klan, (although according to the Youtube description the movie contained neither victims of color nor did it take place in the south.)

Newark Riots 1967

On this date in 1967, tensions between police and the African-American population, racism, and economic hardship in the most blighted alcoves of Newark. Looting, chaos, and violence ensued as neighborhoods turned into war zones; as some of the worst violence and bedlam of the 1960s occurred.

The Texas GOP is Afraid of Black people

This button was being sold at the Republican state convention in Texas. To think this was once the party of Lincoln?

This seems to be the Texas Republican's image of blacks in America. They really need to join the twenty-first century.


UPDATE 6/18/08 9:50 PM Eastern Time- The Texas Republican party says that the vendor who sold the button will not be selling merchandise at Republican events again and that they will take the money that the vendor paid as rent to rent the space, and donate that money to relief efforts for mid-western flood victims.

Didn't You hear Pastor, Obama Has a REVEREND!!!!!!

Once again the fires of fear-inducing innuendo and controversy have been stoked by conservative Christians regarding U.S Senator and Presidential candidate Barack Obama (D-Illinois), and allegations by some in such political circles that he is a Muslim.

The latest incident to unfold occurred in Jonesvile, South Carolina, where the reverend Roger Byrd has put up a sign in front of his church that reads "Obama.... Osama... hmmm are they brothers?" According to Byrd, whose Jonesvile Church of God is devoid of any African-American members the sign is supposed to be thought provoking and not intended to induce any prejudices racial or otherwise.

WSPA:

Pastor Byrd says the sign is not meant to be racial or political, but rather to make people think. "His name is so close to Osama i have a feeling he might be Islamic therefore he doesn't recognize Christ," Pastor Byrd said

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Real intelligent, huh? Here is more.

WYFF 4:

"Its simply to cause people to realize and to see what possibly could happen if we were to get someone in there that does not believe in Jesus Christ," he said.

When asked if he believes that Barack Obama is Muslim, Byrd said , "I don't know. See its a question: Are they brothers? In other words, is he a Muslim? I don't know . And its just something to stir people's minds. it was never intended to hurt feelings or offend anybody."

MY TAKE: Well first off Byrd, Osama Bin Ladden is about as representative of the Islamic faith as say Eric Rudolph, who killed people in his own terrorist attacks against gay bars, abortion clinics, and the 1996 Olympic park bombing, or Adolf Hitler were of the Christian faith. About as representative as I am of all college students. Or about as representative as you are of all smart people! Second off where was this guy during the past few weeks where the airwaves and news was saturated by the video of Jeremiah Wright playing so endlessly that it felt like torture. One question pastor, since you are supposed to be a fountain of knowledge on questions of God and religion, if Obama is a Muslim, HOW COME JEREMIAH WRIGHT IS HIS REVEREND? Muslims don't have Reverends. Reverend is a position solely of the Christian oriented faith. Look it up in the dictionary! Has this guy been living under a rock or something?
Here is the definition of reverend (as in Rev Jeremiah Wright):

reverend- noun:
1. A member of the clergy and a spiritual leader of the Christian church [syn clergyman] [ant: layman].
2. A title of respect for a clergy man

If this guy is going to be a backwoods prejudiced conservative troglodyte, he can at least be informed. There is no doubt conservative will exploit this ignorance and use people like Byrd either as pawns or messengers of false allegations to plant doubt and apprehension in the hearts and minds of voters. Its sad that there are still some so diseased by bigotry, lacking in logic, and so underdeveloped in terms of reason and intelligence that they still grip onto these inane stereotypes and inflated allegations.

UPDATE 4/23/08: In a small victory for common sense, truth, logic, and tolerance the sign outside the Jonesvile "Church of God" has been removed.