If you don't want America
to play second fiddle,
Kill, kill, kill for peace
Kill, kill, kill for peace


Florence Riefle Bahr, Peace, 1968, Color woodcut

* The Ugly Side of the GOP. excerpt:

"The G.O.P. has spent the last 40 years insulting, disenfranchising and otherwise stomping on the interests of black Americans. Last week, the residents of Washington, D.C., with its majority black population, came remarkably close to realizing a goal they have sought for decades — a voting member of Congress to represent them.

"A majority in Congress favored the move, and the House had already approved it. But the Republican minority in the Senate — with the enthusiastic support of President Bush — rose up on Tuesday and said: 'No way, baby.'

"At least 57 senators favored the bill, a solid majority. But the Republicans prevented a key motion on the measure from receiving the 60 votes necessary to move it forward in the Senate. The bill died.

"At the same time that the Republicans were killing Congressional representation for D.C. residents, the major G.O.P. candidates for president were offering a collective slap in the face to black voters nationally by refusing to participate in a long-scheduled, nationally televised debate focusing on issues important to minorities.

"The radio and television personality Tavis Smiley worked for a year to have a pair of these debates televised on PBS, one for the Democratic candidates and the other for the Republicans. The Democratic debate was held in June, and all the major candidates participated.

The Republican debate is scheduled for Thursday. But Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, Mitt Romney and Fred Thompson have all told Mr. Smiley: 'No way, baby.'

They won’t be there. They can’t be bothered debating issues that might be of interest to black Americans. After all, they’re Republicans."
...
"In 1991, the first President Bush poked a finger in the eye of black America by selecting the egregious Clarence Thomas for the seat on the Supreme Court that had been held by the revered Thurgood Marshall. The fact that there is a rigid quota on the court, permitting one black and one black only to serve at a time, is itself racist.

"Mr. Bush seemed to be saying, 'All right, you want your black on the court? Boy, have I got one for you.'

"Republicans improperly threw black voters off the rolls in Florida in the contested presidential election of 2000, and sent Florida state troopers into the homes of black voters to intimidate them in 2004.

"Blacks have been remarkably quiet about this sustained mistreatment by the Republican Party, which says a great deal about the quality of black leadership in the U.S. It’s time for that passive, masochistic posture to end."

* The wife of the new Chelsea manager is a touch odd. In a recent TV appearance she:

1. Knocked back a whisky tumbler of her own urine live on air to explore whether or not it had any health benefits.

2. She appeared with a sadomasochist, allowing herself to be spanked and then accepted his invitation to punch him hard in the face.

3. She sat with a male companion in a bath of spaghetti and tomato sauce while wearing a bathing suit, and they toasted each other with red wine.

-- More on the "Ruby Wax of Israeli television" here.

* "The media in America has become so cowed and compromised." -- John Sayles