6/23/06

Southern Republican bigots are trying to kill the Voting Rights Act by John in DC - 6/23/2006 12:31:00 PM

Gee, first the Republicans showed last summer that they had an affinity for lynching blacks, and now they don't want blacks and Latinos to vote. Do we need any more evidence for blacks, Latinos and other minorities to realize that the Republican party hates people who aren't rich, white, straight, Amurican men?And, you just have to love the argument from the Southern Republican Members of Congress trying to kill this landmark civil rights legislation. You see, the legislation unfairly tarnishes southern states as bigots.First off, you southern states are the reason the law exists in the first place. Loving v. Virginia, anyone? Not to mention Virginia's penchant for being possibly the most homophobic state in the Union. It seems there is still a special place for hatred and bigotry in the soul of the south, so spare us the victim crap. And how about that old civil war war-horse you people can't seem to ever get over. A people who get beyond your past you are most certainly not. (Yes, yes, many of you are sane liberals and independents, and that's great, but far too many are not, and your representation in Congress proves what the majority of your brethren really are.)Secondly, the very fact that you're trying to kill a civil rights law is proof enough of why it's needed. As your own Republican Representatives so often like to tell the rest of us, if you have nothing to hide, then what are you afraid of?

Bruce Unplugged by Joe in DC - 6/23/2006 11:06:00 AM
Bruce Springsteen is one of the best advocates for progessive politics in America -- and his smackdown of Coulter works, too:
O’BRIEN: In 2004 you came out very strongly in support of John Kerry and performed with him - your fellow guitarist, I think is how you introduced him to the crowd. And some people gave you a lot of flack for being a musician who took a political stand. I remember…SPRINGSTEEN: Yeah, they should let Ann Coulter do it instead. Think Progress has the both the video and the full transcript.

Bush is snooping into your bank records without a warrant by John in DC - 6/23/2006 10:13:00 AM
Let me guess: it was too hard to get a search warrant?Whatever. The Republicans have destroyed our country, killed our troops, spat upon the Constitution and the founding principles of our democracy, and now they're violating our bank records privacy too. And we're supposed to be surprised? These people have no respect for democracy, for civil rights, for civil liberties, for blacks, for women, for gays, for Latinos, for Muslims, for democracy and for any Christian religion other than hate-filled Baptists. Republicans have become petty thugs who do whatever they please because it feels good, to hell with the law. This isn't the America we fight wars for. It's the America we fight wars to avoid becoming.


Ralph Reed: the mighty is falling...crashing...and burning by Joe in DC - 6/23/2006 08:46:00 AM
Back in the 90s, Ralph Reed was portrayed as the poster boy for GOP moral values. He was a Republican kingmaker. In return, the GOP was putting him in their pipeline to leadership -- starting with the Lieutenant Governor's office in Georgia. In reality, he's just another one of the 21st century poster boys for GOP corruption:
A bipartisan Senate report released on Thursday documented more than $5.3 million in payments to Ralph Reed, the former director of the Christian Coalition and a leading Republican Party strategist, from an influence-peddling operation run by the corrupt lobbyist Jack Abramoff on behalf of Indian tribe casinos.The report by the Senate Indian Affairs Committee portrayed Mr. Reed, now a candidate for the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor in his home state of Georgia, as a central figure in Mr. Abramoff's lobbying operation, the focus of a criminal investigation by the Justice Department.Mr. Reed was depicted as having used his contacts among conservative Christian groups in the South and Southwest beginning in the late 1990's to block the opening or expansion of casinos that might compete with the gambling operations of Mr. Abramoff's clients.Ralph Reed really is the face of the GOP.