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by American Dream » Tue Jul 16, 2013 7:01 am
It is painful to say this: Trayvon Martin is not a miscarriage of American justice, but American justice itself. This is not our system malfunctioning. It is our system working as intended. To expect our juries, our schools, our police to single-handedly correct for this, is to look at the final play in the final minute of the final quarter and wonder why we couldn’t come back from twenty-four down.
— Ta-Nehisi Coates, on Trayvon Martin and the George Zimmerman trial.
by norton ash » Tue Jul 16, 2013 9:01 am
American Dream » Tue Jul 16, 2013 6:01 am wrote:It is painful to say this: Trayvon Martin is not a miscarriage of American justice, but American justice itself. This is not our system malfunctioning. It is our system working as intended. To expect our juries, our schools, our police to single-handedly correct for this, is to look at the final play in the final minute of the final quarter and wonder why we couldn’t come back from twenty-four down.
— Ta-Nehisi Coates, on Trayvon Martin and the George Zimmerman trial.
by seemslikeadream » Tue Jul 16, 2013 9:20 am
Christopher Darden Believes There May Be Justice Yet for Trayvon
by Christopher A. Darden, Michele Noble Jul 14, 2013 8:35 PM EDT
O.J. Simpson’s prosecutor says he never would have brought the Trayvon case to court. Still, he argues, just putting George Zimmerman on trial was a victory.
“The struggle continues, our work isn’t over,” were the words of Melissa Harris-Perry an hour after the not-guilty verdict in the George Zimmerman trial. I agree. Work within the African-American community, work within the criminal-justice system, and work on a national level to further the debate over racial profiling, civil rights, and “stand your ground” laws must continue. The power of racial profiling and the power of the gun lobby is a lethal combination in America.
Averri Liggins, 22, of Atlanta, chants while holding a picture of Trayvon Martin during a protest on July 14, 2013, the day after George Zimmerman was found not guilty in the 2012 shooting death of Martin. (David Goldman/AP)
As a former prosecutor, I never would have brought the Zimmerman case to court. There was a high burden of proof giving way to reasonable doubt. That said, as an African-American, I know it was a victory just putting Zimmerman on trial.
No doubt, there will be a civil suit, and Zimmerman will have to testify. The outcome may echo O.J. Simpson’s civil trial, in which he was forced to testify and was found guilty. (I was on the prosecution team in the Simpson criminal case.) Today the NAACP wrote a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder requesting that the government prosecute Zimmerman under the Civil Rights Act. So truth and justice might be found for Trayvon Martin—in several other courts of law.
Yet I still believe in the criminal-justice system, as I did after the Simpson verdict. The O.J. case polarized America, dividing us along hard racial lines. African-Americans felt justified supporting O.J. as a “payback” for all the profound injustices we have suffered at the hands of the criminal-justice system. But O.J. Simpson was the wrong poster child for that righteous campaign. He was no hero, framed by the police. He was a cold-blooded killer, guilty of a gruesome double murder.
O.J. Simpson was found not guilty of murder in 1995.
The election of Barack Obama pulled us up from the bleak hole created by the Simpson trial and unified many black and white people to believe and hope again—together. I do not see the same divide with the Zimmerman verdict. But the details of the case illustrate a real divide in racial experience. Would Zimmerman have followed a white teenager? Would he have thought that boy suspicious or a threat?
Our national collective expectation of equal justice is based on our feeling of morality—not legality. We want the morality of a situation to match the criminality. That is often not the result in our court system. Trayvon Martin had the right to be afraid, the right to fight a stranger who was armed and prepared to use deadly force against him. Trayvon Martin had a right to stand his ground. That is our moral position. Racial disparity in killings that are found justifiable demonstrates that black life is not as valued as white life in this country. That is our reality.
The televised Simpson trial became a trial about race, celebrity, and wealth when it should have been about domestic violence and murder. The televised Zimmerman trial became a trial about demonizing Trayvon Martin, creating a black bogeyman who could legitimize racial profiling and vigilante murder.
The media did not make this case a race case. The family of Trayvon Martin did not make this a race case. George Zimmerman did.
Within the legal community, many feel the Zimmerman trial’s prosecution team was never really in the game. The prosecutors did not have a consistent story to tell the jury, and they shied away from race.
At the press conference, after the verdict, Zimmerman’s defense team was deplorable. Those lawyers felt the need to spike the football with no regard for the death of Trayvon or the grief of the Martin family. They chose not to acknowledge the killing of this teenage child.
As a father, I always think of the safety of my children. As an African-American, I have experienced racism in all its malevolent forms. I instruct my children about how to behave in certain situations, including interacting with the police. The Zimmerman case makes us face, question, and come to terms again with the truth of violence by those who feel we don’t belong.
A dead reckoning is used in navigation as a process of calculating a current position by using a previous “fixed point,” whereby you intuitively calculate where you are and where you are going by where you have been. I believe this is where America is with race. Our country is at an intuitive fixed point that may or may not be as far along as we imagined. The Zimmerman case was a race case. Zimmerman would not have followed Trayvon Martin if he were not black. The media did not make this case a race case. The family of Trayvon Martin did not make this a race case. George Zimmerman did.
“Trayvon Martin will forever remain in the annals of history next to Medgar Evans and Emmet Till as symbols for the fight for equal justice for all.” Benjamin Crump, the Martin family attorney, said after the verdict.
In the end, Trayvon Martin did not have to die. And I believe, we will not retreat. We will be heard. When I look at my son, a 15-year old, 5-foot-11 inch, 145-pound, black maIe, I am compelled to take note of how very much he looks like Trayvon. I’m glad it was not my son who ran out for iced tea and a bag of Skittles and ended up dead. In my son and in all the black boys in this color-struck nation, I see thousands upon thousands of Trayvons. In many ways, we are all Trayvon.
by seemslikeadream » Tue Jul 16, 2013 9:34 am
'Neighborhood Watch' Groups Like Zimmerman's and in Much of the Deep South Are Hardly Different Than Slave Patrols of Old
Slave patrollers traveled, through the countryside looking for African-Americans who were “not where they belonged.”
July 15, 2013 |
George Zimmerman kept close watch over his neighborhood. When Black men walked or even drove through the area, he alerted the police, over and over and over again. Finally, exasperated that “they always” got away, he went out on a rainy night armed with a loaded gun and the Stand Your Ground law, looking for anybody who should not be in his largely White neighborhood.
The South has a long history of this sort of thing. They used to be called Slave Patrols.
Prior to the Civil War and Reconstruction, the main way Southern states maintained the institution of slavery was through local and statewide militias, also known as “Slave Patrols.” These Patrols were, in many states, required monthly duty for southern white men between the ages of 17 and 47, be they slave-owners or not.
Slave patrollers traveled, usually on horseback [the modern equivalent would be in a car], through the countryside looking for African-Americans who were “not where they belonged.” When the patrollers found Black people in places where they “did not belong,” punishment ranged from beatings, to repatriation to their slave owners, to death by being whipped, hung or shot.
Some of the most comprehensive reports on the nature and extent of the Slave Patrols came from interviews done by the WPA (the Works Progress Administration, a New Deal program created by FDR) during the Great Depression. At that time, former slaves and the children of former slaves were still alive and had stories to tell, and the WPA put people to work in the American South gathering and documenting those stories.
The WPA’s Georgia Writers Project, Savannah Unit, produced a brilliant summary of stories taken from people who were alive (most as children) during the time of slavery, about their and their families interactions with slave patrollers. The report’s title was “Drums and Shadows: survival stories among the Georgia coastal Negroes).
Many other oral and written histories compiled by the WPA Writers Project are now maintained by the Library of Congress.
Dozens of other similar reports, as well as detailed state-by-state studies of slave patrols, even including membership rosters, are published in Sally E. Hadden’s brilliant book “Slave Patrols: Law and Violence in Virginia and the Carolinas.”
Hadden cites numerous stories and scores of sources about how the slave patrollers would beat, whip, or otherwise abuse African-Americans who were found off the plantation. Women were routinely subjected to rape, and men were usually beaten with sticks or whips. Hadden writes of the stories compiled by the WPA:
“Slaves might beg to be left out of a whipping from the patrol, hoping that mercy or caprice might avert a beating. Patrollers sometimes toyed with a slave, threatening a whipping, then let the slaves go free. The inherent arbitrariness of punishment added to the fear most slaves felt when they encountered slave patrols.
“One former bondsmen [slave], Alex Woods, recalled how a patrol reacted to a begging slave. He said that the patrollers ‘wouldn't allow [slaves] to call on de Lord when dey were wippin’ ‘em but they let ‘em say, “Oh! pray, Oh! pray, marster.”’
“The harsh punishment a patrol could administer caused one former slave to like meeting the patrol with being sold to a new master – a slave would seek to avoid both fates at any cost. Few things compared to the agony a slave endured from a patroller beating. One ex-slave from South Carolina recalled what people heard when she was born: her mother ‘screamed as if she were being beaten by patrollers.’” (p.117)
The National Humanities Center reprinted an 1857 account by Austin Steward, who escaped slavery in 1813. Titled “Slaves and Slave Patrol,” Steward opens the account with this summary:
“Slaves are never allowed to leave the plantation to which they belong, without a written pass. Should anyone venture to disobey this law, he will most likely be caught by the patrol and given thirty-nine lashes.
“This patrol is always on duty every Sunday, going to each plantation under their supervision, entering every slave cabin, and examining closely the conduct of the slaves; and if they find one slave from another plantation without a pass, he is immediately punished with a severe flogging.”
He then goes on to tell several harrowing stories of personal encounters with the slave patrol, including one that led to the death of six slaves, and reprints the North Carolina Slave Patrol regulations as follows:
"SLAVE PATROL REGULATIONS, ROWAN COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA, 1825
1st. Patrols shall be appointed, at least four in each Captain's district.
2d. It shall be their duty, for two of their number, at least, to patrol their respective districts once in every week; in failure thereof, they shall be subject to the penalties prescribed by law.
3d. They shall have power to inflict corporal punishment, if two be present agreeing thereto.
4th. One patroller shall have power to seize any negro slave who behaves insolently to a patroller, or otherwise unlawfully or suspiciously; and hold such slave in custody until he can bring together a requisite number of Patrollers to act in the business.
5th. Previous to entering on their duties, Patrols shall call on some acting magistrate, and take the following oath, to wit: "I, A. B. appointed one of the Patrol by the County Court of Rowan, for Captain B's company, do hereby swear, that I will faithfully execute the duties of a Patroller, to the best of my ability, according to law and the regulations of the County Court.”
The National Humanities Center has many other similar reports in its archives.
Slave Patrols were a regular feature of the South, from its first settlement by slave-owning Europeans until the decades after Reconstruction.
When slavery was abolished, but Whites in the South still want to keep Blacks “in their place,” the Slave Patrols were largely replaced by (or simply renamed as) the KKK, small-town sheriffs, and, apparently, “Neighborhood Watch.”
Slave Patrollers rarely stopped or molested white people. But when Blacks were found in unexpected places, they could expect a swift and severe punishment.
And the legal systems of the South, largely without exception, backed up the Slave Patrollers and their post-reconstruction heirs.
It appears that the more things change - at least in the deep South - the more they stay the same.
Footnote:
As Carl T Bogus writes in his brilliant article for the University of California Davis Law Review, “The Hidden History of the Second Amendment,” a police state of sorts was necessary to enforce slavery in the old South. An essential part of that police state was the Slave Patrols. As Patrick Henry, the largest slave owner in Virginia, and slave-owner James Madison noted in their debates at the Virginia constitutional ratifying convention, these slave patrols were state militias, and were protected, at least in the South, by the very careful wording of the Second Amendment that, in final draft, gave militia powers not to the nation but to the individual states. You can read Patrick Henry’s argument for that below, and James Madison’s comment on Henry’s concern in “Extracts From The Madison Papers” available on Google books.
In a previous article, I documented how these southern militia slave patrols were acknowledged and incorporated into the Second Amendment. That Second Amendment tip of the hat to white power has now been expanded and amplified with the so-called Stand Your Ground laws.
Patrick Henry to the Virginia Ratifying Convention (June 1788) arguing for a Bill of Rights to be ratified along with the Constitution in order to preserve slavery:
With respect to that part of the [Bill of Rights] proposal which says that every power not granted remains with the people, it must be [ratified] previous to adoption [of the Constitution], or it will involve this country in inevitable destruction. To talk of it as a thing subsequent, not as one of your unalienable rights, is leaving it to the casual opinion of the Congress who shall take up the consideration of that matter. They will not reason with you about the effect of this Constitution. They will not take the opinion of this committee concerning its operation. They will construe it as they please.
If you place it subsequently, let me ask the consequences.
Among ten thousand implied powers (sic) which they may assume, they may, if we be engaged in war, liberate every one of your slaves if they please. And this must and will be done by [northerner] men, a majority of whom have not a common interest with you. They will, therefore, have no feeling of your interests.
It has been repeatedly said here, that the great object of a national government was national defence. That power which is said to be intended for security and safety [In article 1, section 8 of the Constitution] may be rendered detestable and oppressive.
If they give power to the general government to provide for the general defence, (sic) the means must be commensurate to the end. All the means in the possession of the people must be given to the government which is intrusted with the public defence.
In this state there are two hundred and thirty-six thousand blacks, and there are many in several other states. But there are few or none in the Northern States; and yet, if the Northern States shall be of opinion that our slaves are numberless, they may call forth every national resource.
May Congress not say, that every black man must fight? Did we not see a little of this last war?
We were not so hard pushed as to make emancipation general; but acts of Assembly passed that every slave who would go to the army should be free.
Another thing will contribute to bring this event about. Slavery is detested. We feel its fatal effects—we deplore it with all the pity of humanity. Let all these considerations, at some future period, press with full force on the minds of Congress. Let that urbanity, which I trust will distinguish America, and the necessity of national defence,—let all these things operate on their minds; they will search that paper [The Constitution], and see if they have power of manumission [to free the slaves].
And have they not, sir? Have they not power to provide for the general defence and welfare[In article 1, section 8 of the Constitution]? May they not think that these call for the abolition of slavery? May they not pronounce all slaves free, and will they not be warranted by that power?
This is no ambiguous implication or logical deduction. The paper [the Constitution] speaks to the point: they have the power in clear, unequivocal terms, and will clearly and certainly exercise it.
As much as I deplore slavery, I see that prudence forbids its abolition. I deny that the general government ought to set them free, because a decided majority of the states have not the ties of sympathy and fellow-feeling for those whose interest would be affected by their emancipation.
The majority of Congress is to the north, and the slaves are to the south.
In this situation, I see a great deal of the property of the people of Virginia in jeopardy, and their peace and tranquillity gone. I repeat it again, that it would rejoice my very soul that every one of my fellow-beings was emancipated. As we ought with gratitude to admire that decree of Heaven which has numbered us among the free, we ought to lament and deplore the necessity of holding our fellowmen in bondage.
But is it practicable, by any human means, to liberate them without producing the most dreadful and ruinous consequences? We ought to possess them in the manner we inherited them from our ancestors, as their manumission is incompatible with the felicity of our country. But we ought to soften, as much as possible, the rigor of their unhappy fate.
I know that, in a variety of particular instances, the legislature, listening to complaints, have admitted their emancipation. Let me not dwell on this subject. I will only add that this [institution of slavery], as well as every other property of the people of Virginia, is in jeopardy, and put in the hands of those who have no similarity of situation with us [who not slaveholders].
This [issue of control over the militia, a.k.a. the slave patrols] is a local matter, and I can see no propriety in subjecting it to Congress.
by Laodicean » Tue Jul 16, 2013 9:36 am
Nation Throws Hands Up, Tells Black Teenagers To Do Their Best Out There
WASHINGTON—Following Sunday’s not guilty verdict in the George Zimmerman trial, an exasperated and speechless nation could reportedly do nothing other than wish black teenagers good luck out there, saying that they’re definitely going to need it.
“Yeah, I don’t know what to tell you other than keep your wits about you and hope for the best,” Alexandria, VA resident Michael Klein advised the nation’s 10 million African-American youths. “Honestly, I’d recommend just staying inside after sundown if you can.”
“Try to stay safe, okay?” he added.
After neighborhood watch patrolman George Zimmerman was acquitted of all charges in a case where he admitted to shooting and killing unarmed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, a frustrated U.S. populace said that maybe the only thing left for black teenagers to do is hope and pray for the best.
In addition, the citizenry said that it’s basically gotten to the point where African-American teens need to avoid walking alone, hanging out in groups, or even minding their own business, especially if they are planning to do any of those things in public.
Moreover, the nation told reporters that it’s pretty clear all black teenagers—whether they live in inner-city Chicago or the Florida suburbs—are pretty much on their own now, and the sooner they understand that nobody will be able to help them, the better off they’ll be.
“I mean, what can I say? You have no legal system to turn to, the police are out to get you, and everyone is immediately suspicious of you,” said Denver real-estate agent Kelly Martin, adding that she has been racking her brain trying to think of helpful advice for the teenagers, but that all she could come up with was, “Try to stay alive if you can.” “If you’re a black teen, you’re basically living in the Wild West right now. Not exactly words of encouragement, but there you have it.”
“You have to be able to defend yourself, and if you can’t defend yourself, I’m sorry,” she continued. “I’m truly, truly sorry.”
In addition to urging African-American youths to just keep their heads down and hope nobody messes with them, the populace noted that it couldn’t hurt if they also avoided making any fast movements, putting their hands in their pockets, or wearing anything that could somehow be construed as intimidating.
“If I were a black teenager, I would wear a white t-shirt and khaki shorts at all times, even if it’s winter,” said 34-year-old claims adjuster Nick Delmar. “Then again, some psycho would probably think white T-shirts and khaki shorts were some sort of gang thing, kill the kid, say he thought the kid appeared to be violent and dangerous, and probably be found not guilty.”
“What can I say other than it’s scary as all hell out there for you,” he added. “Good luck and godspeed.”
CNN Announces New Reality TV Series Starring George Zimmerman
Zucker says the show will be called Keeping Up With The Zimmermans and will feature George Zimmerman's brother prominently.
"We've seen what the Kardashians have done for the E! channel, and we want to be part of that success," he explains. "We're also thinking of doing a Real Housewives of Cairo, but that is still in the planning stages."
UPDATE: In a statement CNN has confirmed the series is now filming and is focused on his new neighborhood watch group.
by seemslikeadream » Tue Jul 16, 2013 9:41 am
by Searcher08 » Tue Jul 16, 2013 9:42 am
mulebone » Tue Jul 16, 2013 3:43 am wrote:White people need to figure out that we're all "black" now.
Wow! That was awesome.
I haven't laughed so long and so fucking hard since the 'How do you cope" thread where cat videos seemed to be endorsed as a universal panacea protecting the delicate constitutions of RIers from the rigourous harshness of the mean ol' world. When the one cat (snicker) started going on about how he/she saved his/her neighborhood bird population by adopting a cute little ball of fur that now has the sole function of amusing him/her (which translates as cats are great when they're sentient stuffed animals doing cutesy things but not so great when they're following their nature as efficient little killing machines) I almost swallowed my gum.
The "we're all black now" bit is another gum swallowing moment that I thank you for from the bottom of my tainted black heart.
Personally, I can't wait until Al Jolson, who has been previously characterized as a purveyor of minstrel show racism for his famous black face character, can now be seen as the visionary prophet he always was...
Adroitly & unselfishly giving early 20th century America a small foretaste of its 21st century
"We're All Black Now" future.
Bravo Al.
Bravo.
Generally you folk are just pedantic, boring and about as much fun to hang around as as a room full of religious fanatics. But, occasionally, y'all say things that are so utterly absurd, and you say them with such dead panned straight faced seriousness in that special "parody is pointless" way that only left wingers can muster, it almost makes the wade through the turgid RI waters worthwhile.
Take heart though, right wingers are as unintentionally funny as left wingers, but for different reasons. They're more like religious fanatics who would have trouble spelling both "religious" & "fanatic" as they blabber on endlessly about nothing in particular. It is one of the lessons that I've learned in 51 years of living, the right & the left are surprisingly alike in a mirror image/Bizarro World sort of way.
In the end, I wouldn't want either one of you dictating my fate. Not one fucking iota of it.
by seemslikeadream » Tue Jul 16, 2013 9:47 am
by norton ash » Tue Jul 16, 2013 9:58 am
seemslikeadream » Tue Jul 16, 2013 8:47 am wrote:mulebone is a breathe of something but definitely not fresh air
by seemslikeadream » Tue Jul 16, 2013 10:00 am
by seemslikeadream » Tue Jul 16, 2013 10:04 am
The Zimmerman Verdict; America Is Still America to Me
Monday, 15 July 2013 09:17
By Dr. Wilmer J. Leon III, Truthout | Op-Ed
George Zimmerman. (Image: DonkeyHotey / Flickr)
"I talked to old Lem and old Lem said . . . They got the judges . . . the lawyers . . . the jury rolls. They got the law. They don't come by ones. They got the sheriffs . . . the deputies. They don't come by twos. They got the shotguns . . . got the rope. We git the justice. In the end. And they come by tens." - From the poem, "Old Lem," by Sterling A. Brown
The jury has rendered its verdict. George Zimmerman was found by a jury of his peers to be "not guilty" of second degree murder.
We do not know how the jury came to its conclusion or why. What we do know is this: The "USAonWatch" manual that describes the code of conduct for neighborhood watch programs states: "It should be emphasized to members that they do not possess police powers and they shall not carry weapons or pursue vehicles . . . Members should never confront suspicious persons who could be armed and dangerous." George Zimmerman ignored that code of conduct.
We also know that on that rainy February 26th evening, when Zimmerman called the Sanford County Police and told the dispatcher that a suspicious teenager was wandering through the neighborhood, "F---ing punks . . . These a--holes, they always get away," he was directed not to follow Trayvon Martin. He was told to disengage. Zimmerman ignored that directive.
We know that an armed 28-year-old George Zimmerman followed an unarmed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. Zimmerman initiated contact with Trayvon; an encounter ensued, and Zimmerman fatally shot Trayvon. Zimmerman initiated contact, shot and killed an unarmed teenager, and claimed self-defense?
Section 776.013 of the Florida Criminal Code, Home protection; use of deadly force; presumption of fear of death or great bodily harm states, "A person who is not engaged in an unlawful activity and who is attacked in any other place where he or she has a right to be has no duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or her ground and meet force with force, including deadly force if he or she reasonably believes it is necessary to do so to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another or to prevent the commission of a forcible felony." The clear intent of this law is to protect law-abiding citizens and allow them to use deadly force when they are approached and feel threatened by another person. You can not initiate the encounter and later claim self-defense or "stand-your-ground."
Trayvon Martin was not engaged in an unlawful activity (he was walking home from the store), and he was approached at night by a strange man in a place where he had every right to be. Based upon these facts, Trayvon had no duty to retreat and had the right to stand his ground and meet force with force. If Zimmerman had followed the age-old adage, "Don't start nothin'; won't be nothin' " Trayvon Martin would be alive today. The only reason Zimmerman felt "empowered" to engage Trayvon was because Zimmerman knew he possessed the "equalizer" - he was armed.
The State of Florida correctly charged George Zimmerman with second degree murder. Second degree murder is defined as, "the unlawful taking of human life with malice but without the other aggravating elements of first degree murder; i.e. without deliberation or premeditation." Black's Law Dictionary 5th edition. Had the prosecution stuck to these basic elements and not allowed itself to be sucked into the confusing morass of who was screaming for help etc., I believe that Zimmerman would be back in jail awaiting sentencing not at home with his family celebrating the verdict.
Was George Zimmerman acquitted based upon race? I do not know the answer to that question. I was not in the jury room and have not had the opportunity to talk with any of the jurors. I do know that according to "Discriminatory Acquittal": "Modem statistics show continuing disparities in convictions and sentencing based upon the race of the victim . . . Discriminatory acquittals constitute a massive and effectively ungoverned constitutional problem rarely mentioned by scholars and never addressed by courts."
When all of this is said and done, I can only imagine that the parents of Trayvon Martin mourn for him like Emmett Till's mother mourned for the tragic murder of her son. America is still America to me.
I close with the following:
HIS spirit is smoke ascended to high heaven.
His father, by the cruelest way of pain,
Had bidden him to his bosom once again;
The awful sin remained still unforgiven.
All night a bright and solitary star
(Perchance the one that ever guided him,
Yet gave him up at last to Fate's wild whim)
Hugh pitifully o'er the swinging char.
Day dawned, and soon the mixed crowds came to view
The ghastly body swaying in the sun:
The women thronged to look, but never a one
Showed sorrow in her eyes of steely blue;
And little lads, lynchers that were to be,
Danced round the dreadful thing in fiendish glee.
"THE LYNCHING" – Claude McKay
by Laodicean » Tue Jul 16, 2013 10:30 am
by seemslikeadream » Tue Jul 16, 2013 10:32 am
by Laodicean » Tue Jul 16, 2013 12:21 pm
mulebone » Tue Jul 16, 2013 5:43 am wrote:White people need to figure out that we're all "black" now.
Wow! That was awesome.
I haven't laughed so long and so fucking hard since the 'How do you cope" thread where cat videos seemed to be endorsed as a universal panacea protecting the delicate constitutions of RIers from the rigourous harshness of the mean ol' world. When the one cat (snicker) started going on about how he/she saved his/her neighborhood bird population by adopting a cute little ball of fur that now has the sole function of amusing him/her (which translates as cats are great when they're sentient stuffed animals doing cutesy things but not so great when they're following their nature as efficient little killing machines) I almost swallowed my gum.
The "we're all black now" bit is another gum swallowing moment that I thank you for from the bottom of my tainted black heart.
Personally, I can't wait until Al Jolson, who has been previously characterized as a purveyor of minstrel show racism for his famous black face character, can now be seen as the visionary prophet he always was...
Adroitly & unselfishly giving early 20th century America a small foretaste of its 21st century
"We're All Black Now" future.
Bravo Al.
Bravo.
Generally you folk are just pedantic, boring and about as much fun to hang around as as a room full of religious fanatics. But, occasionally, y'all say things that are so utterly absurd, and you say them with such dead panned straight faced seriousness in that special "parody is pointless" way that only left wingers can muster, it almost makes the wade through the turgid RI waters worthwhile.
Take heart though, right wingers are as unintentionally funny as left wingers, but for different reasons. They're more like religious fanatics who would have trouble spelling both "religious" & "fanatic" as they blabber on endlessly about nothing in particular. It is one of the lessons that I've learned in 51 years of living, the right & the left are surprisingly alike in a mirror image/Bizarro World sort of way.
In the end, I wouldn't want either one of you dictating my fate. Not one fucking iota of it.
seemslikeadream » Tue Jul 16, 2013 4:00 pm wrote:maybe not familiar with mule's previous posts to judge from where he comes from
the smell is unmistakeable once sniffed
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