Michael Steele Snubs LaRaza

For all the whining and backtracking RNC chairman (and my favorite HNIC) Michael Steele does about the lack of diversity in the party, he hasn't done anything to show people of color that they have a place in the Republican party. Michael Steele is an embarrassment. He says and does stupid stuff and stands for nothing.

He has to be the most misunderstood man in America but he should blame himself. He's always talking shit and ends up retracting it later. Remember that little dust-up between him and racist talk show host Rush Limbaugh? Steele was right the first time when he said Limbaugh was an entertainer and not the leader of the Republican Party but he quickly retracted that. Like other Republicans who dared challenge Limbaugh, Steele was scraping and groveling like the rest of them.

A few months ago, he was lamenting the lack of diversity in the Republican party and was planning some kind of hip-hop outreach to bring more blacks into the party. Ironically, Steele is always talking shit about other stuff but never ever addresses the racist and xenophobic elements of his party. He's had plenty of opportunities to do so but he has been silent to date. He would much rather send some "slum love" to Bobby Jindal than send some tough love to Rush Limbaugh.

Steele likes his place of prominence in the Republican party, he likes attention. He likes being the only black guy in the room when those "birthers" start in on their looney conspiracies or when they start talking about how socialism is ruining this country or how we need to do more to secure our borders with Mexico. Michael Steele is co-signing on all of that foolishness with them and then some; he's the quintessential house negro.

So the good chairman, along with prominent Republican leaders like Mississippi Governor Hailey Barbor, Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty and the Governor of Puerto Rico Luis Fortuno all declined invitations to attend LaRaza's annual conference. Think Progress reports that all four cited "scheduling conflicts" as the reason for the snub. They might as well told La Raza to "f**k off".

So much for reaching out to a civil rights and advocate group that champions the concerns of the Hispanics. I guess Steele and the GOP could careless about reaching out to members of the largest minority group in the country. Hispanics, which include Mexicans, Puerto Ricans and Central Americans, are the largest growing minority group in this country. This is not a smart move for a party that claims to be inclusive.

As bad as Republicans talked about Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, a Latina and one of the most qualified people to ever be nominated for the Supreme Court, I guess they couldn't bear facing a group like LaRaza; it would make them seem like a bunch of hypocrites.

Method Man & Redman Go Off

Last week, the judge ordered the rapper Nas to pay his soon-to-be ex-wife Kelis $55,000 a month in spousal support. This vulgar, profanity laced rant by rappers Method Man and Redman is one of the reasons why relationships between black men and women are so effed up. It is not only indicative of the misogyny that is prevalent in popular rap music but it points to the widely held belief by some men that women are nothing but scheming bitches and hos. No respect for women here. Definitely no respect for the sanctity of marriage or families either.

Obama the Witch Doctor

If this picture doesn't scare you into believing President Obama is a socialist, I don't know what will. This is another one of those widely circulated conservative emails that made the rounds last week. This one is courtesy of Dr. David McKalip, a conservative activist in St. Petersburg, Florida who is also a practicing neurosurgeon.

McKalip has since apologized for the email and claims he sent an apology email to the President. He also admitted to erroneously transposing the President's head onto the body of a New Guinea tribesman. Now before you start thinking there is something racist about this image, McKalip has already debunked your suspicions. He has affirmed that the image has nothing to do with his feelings or thoughts on any race or culture. So there!

If all this anger is really about health care, I'm concerned. Why are conservatives, particularly those rich talk show hosts, so opposed to affordable health care for everyone? If the Republicans were really serious about winning back popular support, they should be knocking themselves out to come up with an opposing health care plan of their own. I really want to be convinced that $2,000 tax credit for buying my own health insurance is a good idea. Unfortunately for them, their opposing strategy never rises above petty racism and fear-mongering.

G. Gordon Liddy and Those Looney Birthers

I'm amazed that people are still challenging President Obama's birth. Never the type to accept the copy released by the Hawaii Department of Health, these people are still questioning Obama's legitimacy with a straight face.

This must be play number 353B, a black man wins the presidency by overwhelming popular vote and in the electoral college, let's see if we can besmirch his credibility by any means necessary. This is the United States of America, a country built by and for white people according to Pat Buchanan.

One of the looniest of the loonies is G. Gordon Liddy who claims that there is a sworn statement from Obama step-grandmother (step-grandmother!? Isn't that shaking the family tree a bit too hard?) that he was born in Kenya. Liddy went on 'Hardball with Chris Matthews' to assert his birther claims but didn't really do a good job.

Matthews shows Liddy various copies of Obama's birth certificates which he refuses to acknowledge and then goes on to hint that there is a vast conspiracy surrounding Obama's birth but can't quite say whether David Axelrod, Michelle Obama, Columbia University or Harvard University are in on it. The best part of the segment is when a resigned and detached Liddy just sits there and mentally drifts away.

Isn't it time that people like Lou Dobbs, Liz Cheney and Liddy give up these ridiculous, baseless claims. These folks sure are a bunch of sore losers who will latch onto any claim in an attempt to undermine President Obama. I smell and sense some desperation here.

Dumbassness of the Day: Karrine Steffans aka 'Superhead'

Sorry Chris, I Ain't Buying It

Chris Brown's $300,000 "OOPS" chain

I watched Chris Brown's apology video. It took him five months to come up with this nonsense!? If that kind of apology took that long, I imagine a sincere, heartfelt apology would take at least a year.

Chris was reading from a teleprompter, his eyes were shifty and he clearly looked as if he'd rather be doing something else. In my opinion, these are not the ingredients of a heartfelt apology. Delivering that kind of 'beat-down' on a young woman is deplorable and despicable especially at his young age.

And about that $300,000 chain he bought a few weeks ago, I'm sure that was another youthful indiscretion too. Was it "oops" because he got caught or was it "oops" because he really didn't mean to beat Rihanna's ass. Regardless, the chain was tasteless and crass and overshadowed any kind of remorse he may have had for what happened between him and Rihanna. So sorry, Chris, I ain't buying your apology.

Not in Our Pool You Don't

In a story that sounds like something out of the 1950s, about 60 children were expelled from a private pool club in Philadelphia. Children from the Creative Steps Day Camp were told by a pool attendant that minorities weren't allowed in the club. So much for the end of racism.

Afraid that the black kids were going to "do something" to their precious children, club members complained about the sudden appearance of black children in their pool. Obviously black people, specifically black children do not belong there. I was thinking that club members were afraid that their blackness might wash off and pollute their pool. I wonder if they got to use the water fountain?

Those private pool folks weren't having any of that race-mixing in their club and those black children had to go. The children were promptly expelled and the day camp's money was refunded.

John Duesler, The Valley Swim Club president, issued a poorly worded, inappropriate statement citing a "concern that a lot of kids would change the atmosphere and complexion of club". Didn't he really mean that a lot of black kids would change the atmosphere and complexion of the club?

Are we really still doing this kind of thing in 2009? Obviously so. I guess having a black president is one thing but having a black child in your pool is something else.

Link of the Day: Joan Walsh

Joan Walsh who writes a column on Salon.com is one of my favorite commentators. She's smart, funny and has written a spot-on analysis of the Michael Jackson Memorial. You can read her excellent take on it here.

Sage Advice from a Plumber

The problem with anointing someone like Joe the Plumber (government name: Samuel Wurzelbacher) is that they never seem to know when their fifteen minutes is up. Last week God told him not to run for political office, this week, he is railing against the government for taxes, not using our military resources to keep illegal immigrants out of the country and admonishing them to" pull their head out of their butts". Good thing for Joe, he was among his ilk.

Did you know that there were more of those protest tea parties on July 4th? Neither did I.

The Real Problem with Sarah Palin

Good riddance to Sarah Palin. The articulately challenged Governor abruptly resigned from her post for some unknown, rambling reason last week. Since I can't be bothered with understanding her long-winded resignation speech (believe me I tried reading it but lost interest halfway through) or watching the video, I'm sure she has a really, really good reason for leaving office.

All she ever talks about is how the liberal media has been picking on her and how she got thrown under the bus by John McCain's campaign staff but she never owns up to how she may have contributed to any of this. Of course it's everyone else, it's not her. Unfortunately for Palin, politics is not a beauty pageant where you get to wear a swimsuit, flash a pretty smile and answer superficial questions; constituents expect more.

The real reason Sarah Palin has become a joke was accurately summed up by Fox News analyst Liz Trotter. Trotter reads Palin's pedigree at the 1:07 mark and doesn't stop there:



As far as Palin's future, I hope she lays low and keeps her mouth shut for the next 20 years but that's just wishful thinking on my part. In spite of what she says, Palin loves the media spotlight but doesn't want to be held accountable for anything.

God Talks to Joe the Plumber?

Joe the Plumber (aka Samuel Wurzelbacher) has decided against running for public office. If you're thinking what I'm thinking, you're probably breathing a sigh of relief. Whoever had that lame idea that someone like Wurzelbacher is suitable for public office needs to be knocked the f**k out. Clearly his fifteen minutes is over and he desperately needs to fade back into obscurity and anonymity.

I'm thinking the same people wanting him to run for public office probably think Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is the Republican presidential front-runner in 2012. *crickets chirping* Surely God talks to other people and not just Joe the Plumber. According to Wurzelbacher he talked to God and "he was like, 'No." If God is listening, I sure wish he'd tell Joe to shut up and go away.