72 comments

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  Slave Revolt

  4 months ago

  "D" if you want tax cuts, and you feel that super-exploited Americans don't deserve some type of protection from the most rapacious corporations--then, yes, the Republicans do offer you, as an individual, the best opprotunity.
  
  But his is only if you view 'freedom and liberty' in a very selfish, anit-human, and unecological fashion--and if you agree with historical US imperialism.
  
  Opposing labor unions and allowing corporations to super-exploit do not increase your liberty--unless you value the liberty to exploit your fellow human being, your liberty to wage illegal agression against others, and the liberty to despoil the economical systems upon which future generations depend to merely survive.
  
  The independence from 'group-think' is to a degree a pathological delusion. Without common goals and patterns of though--group-think--humans would have already have become extinct as a species.
  
  The civil rights movement was a type of 'group-think'---labor solidarity in the face of wage slavery is a type of 'group-think'.
  
  Philosophy--it's all about asking questions.
  
  You might fancy that you could use a tax break, and you don't own the family of a thug in the hood a dime--but that would merely point up your own ignorance.
  
  Don't fall for the divide and rule patterns of thinking that are pimped by the ruling class, the moder day slavers and colonialists.
  
  Just the fact that the Republcians were cheerleaders for the illegal attack on Iraq (that has killed hundreds of thousands) should tell any thinking, ethical person something.
  
  The rightwing line of thinking cannot survive engaged debate or scupulous scrutiny--and this is why Dr. King could only be taken out by a bullet. The ideas King embraces transcended the petty politicing of the two-headed DEM/REP hydra that is bringing the world to the brink of disaster.
  
  Who's your master?
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• 

  D.

  4 months ago

  I was with you.....up until you invoked Iraq. Not going to tie up the thread with the war stump speech, but we don't agree there.
  
  I am big on personal responsibility, and not waiting on the government to come in and clean up a mess of one's own creation. That's why I lean conservative, because liberal solutions always seems-to me-to involve a handout of some sort.
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  bigassbelle

  4 months ago

  Define "handout" please. Is social security a handout? Is Medicare a handout? I've been paying for those things since I was 15 years old. Handout? How is that??
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  GreenLadyHere

  4 months ago

  N(o)BRA(ins): EVIDENCE people!!! Can anyone produce a document - attendance at a Repug meeting, rally, convention, positive/supportive articles published in repug publications, pictures of his attendance at a repug's birthday party, wedding, bar-b-q, church picnic, etc. or his voter registration paperwork??? Something/anything?????
  So looking forward!
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  Miss- Opinion

  4 months ago

  This is pretty stupid of them. I respect Dr. King and all but um, he's dead. He could have been a member of the free masons ans a 4H member, he's dead. It doesn't even matter and the fact that they're claiming dead people shows how hard up they are for members to their insane organization. I'd love to take this seriously but again, I can't because he's dead. I mean really. What a joke.
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  ayersteach

  4 months ago

  I am not sure IF he was or not. He may have been. Remember we are talking about the Repubs from about 40-50 years ago when they were more in tune with the Civil Rights movement than southern democrats were. Nevertheless what have they done for us lately?
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  Karmi

  4 months ago

  Celebrating Black Republicans Dr. King wasn't the only Black Republican in history...
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  TruthSeeker

  4 months ago

  Is this like if you piss on it, it's yours? I'll do you one better: Jesus would have voted Democrat.
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  Tish

  4 months ago

  I doubt Jesus would vote at all. Sometimes I figure out need to vote is something that we as humans feel necessary. But as Christians or whatever religious doctrine you follow, I think we need to think in the sense of how our trust and belief in God allows us the knowledge to know that he is the ultimate judge in who is chosen. In all aspects and realms of our lives, we need not worry about earthly things such as elections, because who other than God chooses whose going to win. All the voting in the world is never going to sway what God has in store. My opinion.
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  D.

  4 months ago

  Now, when the NBRA puts up a sign that says "Jesus was a Republican,' that's where I get off the train.
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  rikyrah

  4 months ago

  No, Dr. King wasn't a Republican. They need to let go of this lie.
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  GreenLadyHere

  4 months ago

  THANKS Rikyrah and Nellcote!
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  Nellcote

  4 months ago

  "These guys never give up, do they?" said Lowery, who co-founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference with King. "Lord have mercy."
  
  ===
  
  The King Center in Atlanta says there is no proof that King was ever a Republican. Rice stands by her claim.
  
  ===
  
  Lowery, who knew King well, said there is no reason why anyone would think King was a Republican. He said King most certainly voted for President Kennedy, and the only time he openly talked about politics was when he criticized Republican Barry Goldwater during the 1964 presidential campaign.
  
  "That was not the Martin I know and I don't think they can substantiate that by any shape, form or fashion. It's purely propaganda and poppycock," Lowery said. "Even if he was, he would have nothing to do with what the Republican Party stands for today. Do they think Martin would support George W. Bush and the war in Iraq?"
  
  In "The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.," which was published after his death from his written material and records, King called the Republican national convention that nominated Goldwater a "frenzied wedding ... of the KKK and the radical right."
  
  "The Republican Party geared its appeal and program to racism, reaction, and extremism," King said in the book.
  
  http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Billboards_Claim_...
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• 

  bigsmitty72

  4 months ago

  Jackie Robinson was a Republican as well. So were a lot of black folks 50 years ago. So what?
  
  Being a republican then is much different than it is now. You could have argued that Nixon was more liberal than Kennedy and Johnson in 1960. This is before Goldwater in 1964 and Nixon's Southern Strategy in 1968.
  
  This campaign is going to go nowhere.
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• 

  Tish

  4 months ago

  Well I'm not a republican, or a democrat for that matter, but MLKJr's affiliation shouldn't have an affect on anything as far as today. I'd say I were more of a conservative independent if I had to really define myself, though i tend to sway towards moderate on a lot of issues. There aren't any vast differences in the parties. Liberalism is leading us towards socialism and I can't stand the fact. Blacks like to blame the GOP but truly it's the stumbling blocks set for by the left disguised as helping hands. Social programs and a smiling face and open hands to welfare mother (whom Democrats stereotype as) does not help our race, it only puts us further behind. I'm all for capitalism and not receiving handouts. Working for what you want, makes you more grateful in the end. Handouts make you needy and unwilling to work on you own.
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• 

  Town

  4 months ago

  So should all whites give up their handouts?
  
  Should Iowans give up their farm subsidies?
  
  How about the subsidies Indians, Arabs and Koreans get for opening up small business?
  
  Should white women give up their "minority" status when they want to open up businesses, claim minority contracts and have sports teams in schools?
  
  No, because only BLACKS have their hands out for "handouts." Only BLACKS are needy and unwilling to work. Uh-huh. Right.
  
  Take that bull to somebody who believes it. Fox News, ABC, CNN etc. Don't even try it over here.
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  bigassbelle

  4 months ago

  And why can you not "stand the fact" of socialism? Most uninformed people equate socialism with totalitarian communist governments such as russia and china before they turned into capitalist (totalitarian) governments.
  
  What is it about socialism that just drives people here mad? Democratic socialism has served Europe very well. The most progressive countries in the world are social democracies.
  
  This country under FDR developed socialist programs that provided a basic safety net for everyone and that, along with strong unions, launched this country into the greatest period of prosperity its ever known.
  
  Reagan and his ridiculous crackpot theory of trickle down economics, coupled with insane tax cuts for the richest among us, launched the disastrous economic train that has taken us to where we are today. He decimated the unions, he borrowed from the social security trust fund to cover the tax cuts for his cronies. He deregulated industries that never should have been deregulated and he turned a blind eye to monopolies and trusts. So here we are, with an economic disaster of epic proportions, all thanks to unbridled capitalism and the alleged "free market" and a corporate-owned government that answers only to the top 1-2% in this nation.
  
  I'll take a system of democratic socialism ANY day, with its emphasis on justice for all, on equality and fairness and a level playing field for every one of us, not just a select few who are no better than you or me, but by chance or thievery or family connections, good fortune and luck and yes, hard work, have risen to the very top of our economic ladder.
  
  But it is not simply hard work that takes one there, not in this country. My grandparents came here in 1893 and they worked their asses off farming in western Kansas. They were successful, hanging on to their land even through the depression. And that family wealth has been passed down, added to, has expanded the prospects of every one of us who came after them.
  
  Should I add that they were white? Yes, I should, because though they faced rampant discrimination as German immigrants, that ultimately vanished and they were, by second generation, "as good as" the rest of (white) America.
  
  What about the black families who were working every bit as hard as my grandparents? Far, far more of them lost their land in the depression, lost their farms due to government misdeeds. They worked JUST as hard and they still lost out. So what to hand down to their next generations? Nothing. And then that generation, facing racism and discrimination, trying to build something on top of nothing, continues to struggle, continues to deal with economic injustice, economic inequality, and so it goes.
  
  "Handouts make you needy and unwilling to work on your own." I agree with that. But "handouts" also help people through periods of crisis, through disastrous times that we may all face at some point, but which should not ruin a person. Those "handouts" are why I pay taxes and as someone who recognizes her own very blessed, very fortunate existence, I don't mind paying for those who were not so blessed, who have faced different and more devastating obstacles in life.
  
  I faced such a disaster in 2001 when my husband became ill and could not work. Thank God we had insurance, but how many people in this country don't have it? Our out-of-pocket medical costs WITH insurance ran over $30K a year for the next four years, and we lost half our income when he could no longer work. Handout? I'd have taken one instantly, had one been available. As it was, I had to refinance my house, draw out the equity I'd worked so hard to create, and muddle through.
  
  Wouldn't it be more humane ~ more European ~ for me to simply have been able to take care of him, knowing I'd not lose the roof over our heads or go bankrupt trying to pay medical bills? Of course it would, but in this country, in this fucking selfish, condemning country, we don't give a shit about one another, it's every man for himself.
  
  Because I care about people, all people, and because I recognize the vast injustice present in this society and the persistent, systemic discrimination inherent in this country, I am a socialist and I am proud of it.
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  Inkognegro

  4 months ago

  So...they're saying Denzel is a Republican too?
  
  But He is endorsing and donating to Obama....
  
  
  I am so confused.
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  Nita

  4 months ago

  Dr. King's political party is irrelevant. What matters is whether or not he would agree with McCain's policies.... or Obama's. I see how they're working, though. Blacks are seen as 'stupidly' voting for party no matter what platform is. There are better ways to deal with the monstrous hypocrisy of the Democratic party than this, however.
  
  Republicans need to offer solutions, not fake links to the past.
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  blksista

  4 months ago

  Martin's politics didn't countenance Dixiecrats turned Republicans, or newly liberal (if you can believe that) Democrats back then. He knew what they were; he knew what his father's generation was like, and he went his own way.
  
  By the time he died, I am sure he thought we were all walking across the Niagara on a tightrope, and trying to get to the other side rather than falling into the deep maelstrom. I think that he had gotten to the point that when it came to the two parties, none of them could be trusted, but he would use either one if it meant rights for blacks.
  
  These turncoats are despicable; they'll try anything. First, they say that the GOP is the party of Lincoln, when it was, for a short time, it was actually the party of Thaddeus Stevens and his Radical Republicans. These guys were, for their time, activists. They moved faster than what Lincoln might have done, and Stevens himself was dead in three years. They laid the ground under which blacks legally got the vote and all, but after the death of Radical Republicanism, they refused to do anything for their constituents, other than allow them to get burned and hung for the next hundred years.
  
  This kind of activism is something the present GOP would rather lie about. They talk Lincoln, but Lincoln himself was more conflicted about blacks than they'd like to admit. He even thought about deporting all of us back to Africa, but it would have broken the national treasury. I just wonder, though, whether they would have chucked the bi- and triracial people along with us on that journey.
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  Slave Revolt

  4 months ago

  Black folks that climb in bed with corporate wage-slavery and rightwing reactionaries like Rush Limbaugh and Bush are what used to be called Uncle Toms.
  
  King was no Tom, not by a long-shot. King was the 'un-Tom'--and he was critical of capitalist immiseration and imperialist agression. He recognized the limitations of only organizing on a racial justice agenda and set about organizing a poor-folks march on Washington.
  
  Yeah, the fact that Toms in the Republican Party try to claim King's legacy says it all, and on so many levels.
  
  It does matter on a symbolic level in the current political fray whether King was down with the Republican Party back in the day. But, as has been pointed out by other commentators, the presidental race in 1964 with Goldwater saw the rise of racial back-lash on the part of Southern whites and racist whites all over the US.
  
  King was a Republican--yeah, and McCain and his wife Cindy have some Carribean beach-front property they want to sell you in Arizona.
  
  (McCain is the political grandson of Barry Goldwater and the white back-lash--he opposed designating a MLK,Jr. national holiday on several occassions.)
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  D.

  4 months ago

  You know, this is one of a couple of things that's kept me from joining the NBRA. Every time someone mentions these billboards to me, I say to myself, "no, he wasn't."
  
  If anything, MLK was an independent. He held views that were liberal, conservative, and socialist. More accurately, he may have transcended the label of any one party.
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  RonnieB

  4 months ago

  You said it, D. Dr. King could never have been as influential (and credible) had he been toting water for either political party.
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  Slave Revolt

  4 months ago

  Well, King, smartly, did not jump in bed with the Democrat Party--but he is as far the corporate-welfare, kick-the-poor-in-the-face, bomb the brown-people 'conservatism' of the current Republican Party as you can get.
  
  Black Republicans that justify exploitation and imperialism are simply Toms. They are opprotunists and parasitic sell-outs.
  
  Word.
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  RonnieB

  4 months ago

  The National Black Republicans must really think very little of the intelligence and intellect of Black folk, if they're trying to palm off Dr. King as a Republican (especially a Republican of today). They seem to be saying "...well, Black people will believe just about anything, so why not sell them on this too?".
  
  'Sa damn shame.
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  Town

  4 months ago

  We see them all the time on FOX NOISE claiming that blacks are simple sheeple who are only voting for Obama because he's black, to the tune of 90%, conveniently forgetting that blacks vote 90% for the Dem. nominee ANYWAY. Only black people in this country are simple sheeple who can't think for ourselves, and the Nat'l Black Republicans and people like Magic Juan Williams and the Steeles (Michael & Shelby) are more than happy to tell white people that THEY aren't sheeple, they are Speshul and Magical Negroes who have transcended Sheeple Think unlike most black people, who have their hands out for welfare and handouts. SMH.
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  SquarePeg

  4 months ago

  "Black Republicans that justify exploitation and imperialism are simply Toms. They are opprotunists and parasitic sell-outs."
  
  Thank you Slave Revolt, well said. Period.
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  D.

  4 months ago

  The reality is.....it's not even a good billboard. Looks like they threw it up overnight, and like it's still drying.
  
  Hell, I wouldn't give it a second thought if I saw it going down the road.
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  Tish

  4 months ago

  Why would Black Republicans be sell outs? What do they owe to the Democratic party? Blacks shouldn't be involved with either parties in that case. Again why I declare myself and Independent, I'll have no ball and chain connecting me to either. But Democrats are no better than Republicans. I think we're not looking at the larger picture when it comes to policies and their intentions.
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  Town

  4 months ago

  Toms who are black republicans, for the most part, are sellouts because they go to white people, and they suck up to idiots like INsannity and Oreally?, and tell these fools that black people are stupid idiots who cannot think for themselves and if only they shucked and bucked like them for the Republicans they'd be in a better position in life. I do not say "all" black republicans, but most black republicans are tomming, and anyone who defends tomming is a Tom themselves. This does not mean the Democratic party is a slamming 4th of July BBQ themselves; we saw that first hand this primary season. But people generally aren't going to affiliate themselves with a political party that says "you are pieces of shit."
  
  LOL, and most of these Toms are intellectually dishonest for going on Fox Noise and claiming blacks are only voting for Obama because he's black because if that were the case, why aren't we seeing Senator Alan Keyes (R-IL) or Gov. Lynn Swann (R-PA) or Sen. Michael Steele (R-MD)?
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  D.

  4 months ago

  Tish,
  As I was told once, because "no self respecting black man can be a Republican!" Black Republicans/conservatives don't really believe the stuff we say; we just get paid to say it!!
  
  (end sarcasm)
  
  Of course the dhimmicrats are no better.
  
  That fact, unfortunately, will get lost in this discussion. Like it always seems to.
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  RonnieB

  4 months ago

  D~
  It's certainly possible for a Black man to be a Republican. The problem is the
  inherent bargain that goes along with it: you're expected to be disrespectful
  of the majority of other Black people.
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  D.

  4 months ago

  That's only "expected" by those who don't agree with you; who think you shouldn't believe what you do because of the color of your skin.
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  msmartin

  4 months ago

  No, believe what you believe. Being conservative is one thing, aligning with a party that openly disvalues a race of people is another.
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  RonnieB

  4 months ago

  Poor effort at a rebuttal, D. Nonetheless, there are two--maybe three--Republicans
  who are Black that have had the courage to speak well of the entire Black
  community, instead of either showing gratuitous contempt or being indifferent..
  
  I'd say Gen. Powell, S.O.S. Rice and (of late) Michael Steele. The rest seem
  to be too afraid of losing their "I'm-different-than-them" standing.
  
  When folks like Shannon Reeves are more representative of Black Repubs,
  will they gain respect--not just from other Blacks, but from very Whites they
  try and appeal to.
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  Tish

  4 months ago

  And democrats expect Blacks to just fall in line and let them smooth out all of our problems (problems they have identified mind you). Democrats I believe have enslaved the Black mind into believing they are helping the Black race, when truly they are only enforcing stereotype and setting one up for failure. Every smiling face isn't friendly. My mother taught us this "white folks are friendly, but they are not your friends", and so forth I believe for the Democratic party.
  
  Define yourself not by political parties.
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  Slave Revolt

  4 months ago

  Well, yes, Democrats are only the 'good cop', leftwing of a US ruling class that exploits the working class in general. Most folk are smart enough to know this---again, Democrats are the leftwing, less savage sector of US corporate political power.
  
  But, I'm say'n--the Republicans simply want to kick subordinated folks in the face, as well as crap all over the environment , etc., etc. These are savage mo-fos.
  
  In the African American/black community there are more than enough sell-outs that are bought-and-paid-for the the savage corproate sector--and you will find this type cheering on Bill Cosby making fun of black folk that name their children African names. Cosby wants black folk to give their children respectable European names--like Tom, Dick, Bill, and Mary.
  
  Yes, these issues and politics are fraught with social class, priviledge, disporortionate allocation of opprotunity, and gender.
  
  The support for Obama has much to do with the man's background, his empathy, and his policies--that don't simply kick subordinate classes in the face in a blatant manner.
  
  But like Reverend Wright said--Obama is a politician, and we have to be on his ass to make him do the right thing. Commonsense.
  
  We are talk'n comparative evil here--most folks aren't total chumps. Always follow the money--to many that have 'escaped the hood' love to preach boot-strappism while the US plutocracy lowers the minimum wage, ships decent jobs overseas where they can super-exploit and pollute with impunity.
  
  Come on! Give us a break. Most of us know what the hell time it is! It is slave revolt time for the folk that haven't been brainwashed into Booker T. boot-lick'en.
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  Slave Revolt

  4 months ago

  D., most don't expect everyone to engage in group think.
  
  However, back in the day there were a portion of slaves that supprted slavery. Word.
  
  These are the types we see today suck'n up to massa, the small priviledged sectors that control the wealth. Turning on people, like Dr. King, that strive for economic and social justice pays well. If you toe the rightwing Republican line you might just get a cushy think-tank position, or a radio show, or another gig where you can help brainwash the slower-thinking among us to support more tax breaks and wage slavery.
  
  There have been Toms in North America since the first colonizing slavers arrived to plunder the place. The point is to be down with real human freedom--not contradictory ideology that is designed to take our eyes off the most important goals.
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  CAB

  4 months ago

  "D., most don't expect everyone to engage in group think."
  
  Don't you think that sounds a bit...off?
  Perhaps D believes that the GOP offers the best opportunities for freedom and liberty. Perhaps he does not care. What proof do you have of him being a Tom?
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  D.

  4 months ago

  I do believe that the Republican Party offers me and my family the best opportunities for freedom and liberty (my fiancee, however does not, and rolls her eyes when I say stuff like that.).
  
  I haven't always identified myself as a Republican; preferring to go by "neoconservative independent." That's changing, for my own personal reasons (which I'm not going into here).
  
  Before you try to write me off as a "Tom," you might want to have a discussion with me first. There's a certain three letter word that you make yourself when you assume.
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  Tish

  4 months ago

  D,
  
  I respect your thoughts and that's pretty much where I'm heading in terms of politics. I consider myself now at 24 a moderate/conservative Independent. I'm starting to really understand the Democratic party and lean more right than left. But who knows I may forever stay in the middle.
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  D.

  4 months ago

  I don't expect people to engage in groupthink. But they do....and on some things, in large, overwhelming amounts. The fact the CAB below wants to refer to me as a "Tom" shows that, but I'll respond to him directly......
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  Slave Revolt

  4 months ago

  "Perhaps D believes that the GOP offers the best opportunities for freedom and liberty. Perhaps he does not care. What proof do you have of him being a Tom?"
  
  CAB--sorry, but I believe that people from historically subordinated groups that take the side of the ruling elites with respect to war or policies that exploit and marginalize people are Toms. This crosses racial lines. Someone from a working class background that backs policies that disempower and cause deeper exploitation are Toms.
  
  No, I am not calling D a Tom at all. To his credit, he sees through the 'freedom and liberty' shuck-and-jive--and, he is also very skeptical (or, equally skeptical) of the Democrat Party.
  
  That is to his credit.
  
  Without a full discussion of historical forms of exploitation and imperialism, one cannot discern just how Tom someone really is at any given point in time.
  
  When Cosby attacked and made fun of black folk naming their kids African names he was Tomming, big time.
  
  We all have the capacity to Tom from time-to-time---by dint of the fact that we don't research issues, and we have to ingratiate ourselves toward more powerful economic forces in order to merely survive.
  
  Again, when you have human oppression and hierarchies of privilege you will have Toms.
  
  I admit, I come from the Dr. King anti-war leftwing, populist sector of US politics, and most folks don't take the time to engage in enough philosophical and historical research to escape the US propaganda system--that encompasses 'education', the media, and even entertainment.
  
  Modern wage-slavery is rendered invisible to millions of people by dint of the ruling class sponsored propaganda system. And, historically it takes leaders like Sojourner Truth, Emma Goldman, and Malcom, and Dr. King to help rescue the masses from culturally induced slumber and apathy.
  
  Again, I DON"T put D into the catagory of Tom. First off, I don't know the man enough--and, secondly, I don't see in his comments in this thread that he is down with white supremacy and wage-slavery that is rife in the US A.
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  D.

  4 months ago

  Correction: I am all for freedom and liberty. Everything else-or just about everything else-is secondary.
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  bigassbelle

  4 months ago

  you can wave that "freedom and liberty" flag the corporatists sold you while you're economically going down the tubes.
  
  oh wait. you work for the government, dontcha? hmmm . . . that was one of FDR's socialist initiatives, to recognize the beneficial effect of government as an employer of many.
  
  it's really strange that so many of the rabid right wingers i've met are either retired government employees or still thus employed. it makes no sense to suck of the teat of government while decrying that same government with a mouth full of milk.
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  D.

  4 months ago

  Nobody sold me anything. You and I have had the discussion on where my beliefs stem from.
  
  Your analogy, however, is hilarious.
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  msmartin

  4 months ago

  I've been reading D's comments for months and I've never once read anything that he wrote against anything that affects minorities. He is also not honest about Republican conservatives and the way they view minorities.
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  D.

  4 months ago

  ...as opposed to.....democratic conservatives?
  
  I get it now; you don't like me. That's okay. However, it must have been past your bedtime when I posted this yesterday:
  
  "You want me to fall on the sword for the right wing and call them bad for throwing gays, blacks, and whoever they need to under the bus? Fine; bad right wing."
  
  I've repeatedly said that the Republican Party has been suspect-hell, more than suspect-in dealing with minorities. I know that. It's not of my doing. It is what it is.
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  Michelle

  4 months ago

  D, as the person who was involved in that discussion and to whom you were replying with that comment you quoted, I would like to point out that that statement from you only came after I pushed you pretty hard. I wonder if there are other comments where you do this (or something more analytical even) -- and if so, did other people have to work like I did to get you to say what you are claiming full credit for saying. (I don't know bc I have not been closely reading your comments/discussions over time).
  
  Which doesn't take away from the fact that you wrote what you quoted above in the open thread last night, or from the second part of that comment which to me was way more interesting and less rhetorical.
  
  I just want to add a little context as one of the others involved in that discussion.
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  Val

  4 months ago

  D - It is okay to disagree. Don't fall for the hype and no need to go on the defensive. Hold to your ideals (even though we don't agree on most politically) but that is your right. I ain't mad at you. It is strange to me that folks are associating political affiiliation with a persons view on minorities. One has nothing to do with the other and I am speaking from personal experience. If we are going down that road -- how about views minorities have of each other? Anyway. I gotta shut it down. All this racial baggage is giving me a headache. Will check back in a few weeks.
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  D.

  4 months ago

  Thanks, Val. Don't stay gone long.
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  RonnieB

  4 months ago

  And where are those Black Republicans when their party needs to be dealt with when it comes to minorities? They pull a vanishing act.
  
  But if Democrats go too far on affirmative action or some other issue that unnerves White men, Black Republicans are barking louder than anyone.
  
  Colin Powell called out his party for this. No other Black Republican has had the courage.
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  D.

  4 months ago

  I'm going to bring this full circle, and then I'm done with this particular thread:
  
  I'm black. I'm conservative. The two are not mutually exculsive. If people can't deal with that, that's on them.
  
  Nothing about this discussion is helping to win the War on Terror, lower the price of gas, or fix the economy.
  
  There are much more important things that we could be discussing besides the sins of conservatism and why black Republicans/conservatives don't do what other blacks think they should.
  
  If everyone is as tired as the "politics of the past" as they claim to be, start with letting this go.
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  msmartin

  4 months ago

  You are not black - we've been over that before too!
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  D.

  4 months ago

  You want to continue on that childish line of attack, come over to my blog.
  
  Or, hell, if you're close enough, I'm in DC Monday-Friday.
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  Val

  4 months ago

  msmartin. please stop it. how disrespectful is this? Where is this conversation going? To question someone's color? Even if D was of another color or race, what does that mean? He is not entitled to his opinion? Or are blacks only allowed to think one way about everything? Is there a "black" test somewhere that we should all be taking? I am sorry and I know your question is not directed at me but I have four kids and the thought of someone attacking them because they think differently or subscribe to a different party affiliation or if they simply have another way of thinking - - - they could be perceived as not 'black enough' what is that?
  
  I am offended for D. C’mon all - we are better than this. What can we possibly expect to achieve by this statement? See . . . that is what I get for coming back to read when i said i would drop off for a while.
  
  Blessings to you msmartin.
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  msmartin

  4 months ago

  Val,
  
  I thought you were gone, but since you're not let me help you. This conversation is a long standing conversation between me and D (and others) and it is about dishonesty.
  
  I don't know what color you are and don't care. In fact, color means nothing me until it is used against me. I too wish for a perfect world were it doesn't matter, but such isn't the case. I have been moved to speak out for mine at times during this campaign - sorry you haven't or uncomfortable in others doing so.
  
  Your party affiliation is also your choice and means nothing to me until you use color as the black conservative Republicans have in conjunction with promoting the Republican party platform which is not inclusive of African Americans sugar coat it is as you wish (you too D).
  
  It is not my desire to go in to detail to inform you about a series of conversations that you apparently haven't been privy to because by your own admission, you haven't been around because you're so tired of the race thing, but D represents as black conservative but has never ever been offended by anything that is a clear affront to African Americans and only repeats the meme of the conservative right (with hardly an intelligble position might I add).
  
  I wish race didn't matter, but it does, America won't let you forget it.
  
  May I suggest, in the future that you get the background before you insert yourself into an ongoing conversation.
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  msmartin

  4 months ago

  And Val, D is entitled to his position as a person of any color but I don't won't to hear the opinion of someone representing as black when they are white and coming from a different place.
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  msmartin

  4 months ago

  You spelled exclusive wrong.
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