"In any discussion of the problems in our world today, racism must rank high. Not because we are soft-minded liberals obsessed with countless crimes throughout history induced by colour, religion, tribalism or chauvinism of one kind or another. But because the poison which we hoped and believed had been eradicated in our own time by the knowledge of the ultimate evil- the gas-chamber murders committed by the Nazis--is in fact still present, not in any one area of discrimination or racism, or in a restricted number of specific rulers or governments, but in all humankind. I call it "Inner Racism."-

Gitta Sereny, "The Healing Wound"

Thursday, February 9, 2017

GOING TO THE DOGS (with apologies to my best friend, Willie)

 

 
  With the impossibility of his lifelong dream to become the Attorney General of the Confederate States of America (his buddy, Senator Inhofe, the Einstein of Oklahoma, says he's got a snowball's chance in the US Senate), Jefferson Beauregard Sessions will have to settle for Attorney General of the United States of America in spite of what the late Mrs. King had to say, among thousands of others. Thanks to the dishonest (according to our President) Washington Post and to another southern boy with an infectious grin, Senator Mitch McConnell, Mrs. King's letter, addressed to the legendary white supremacist, the finally departed Senator Strom Thurmond (Lindsey Graham's mentor), has seen new life and perhaps a greater distinction. Please click on it whenever you can- we include the link in our "Required Reading" section to the right of this posting. Its been -finally- recorded in the official annals and reported by now, widely, all over the news - you really don't need us to present it to you. It was, as reported, tabled by Senator Strom when first it appeared- he never recorded it in his committee's account of the (failed) nomination of Jefferson Beauregard back in 1986- it seems it never saw the public light of day-until this week(?) Anyway those of us familiar with some American history and the name Strom Thurmond probably weren't so surprised at such a story. The Republican senators of today are like "Well that was old  Strom fer ya. C'mon Sessions wasn't voted a judge back then anyway. He's a better and wiser white man today." And of course they all voted to confirm. All but one Democrat voted against. The outcome wasn't really in doubt was it? The letter does recall a time we should all revisit again and again if we are ever going to turn this ship of state around. 
  One thing about this letter - and far be it for me to understand the machinations and subtleties of the US Senate-I just don't get. Its addressed to "dear Senator Thurmond" but if you notice at the bottom there is a "cc:" addressed to Senator Joe Biden. Do Ex Officios have no longer a say in the affairs of their country? Not that Biden supported him for a federal judge back then but there is still the mystery of its disappearance, but nevertheless - and I have googled like crazy- I haven't come across a reference citing VP Joe  as saying something like, "You know there was this letter..."

 

While I have been racking my brain wondering why the wife of an heir to a pyramid schemer multi-billionaire would want a job that she insists is worth but $1 annually and has really no experience worth the appointing- unless, of course, you consider donating over $200 million to the Republican cause worthy of any consideration short of dog-catcher and by the looks of it the Trump Administration is not beyond going to the dogs and their unscrupulous best friends interests anyway- and neveryoumind the apparently unimportant fact that basically most people who take a serious turn when it comes to educating their kids are not happy at all with the president's selection but (almost) all the Republican senators are because 1.) they aren't serious about educating your kids and 2.) this furthers their anti-Obama "Reconstruction" agenda which mirrors the Trump campaign pathology. 
OK you try googling "Betsy DeVos With School children" and see what you get

Does anybody really imagine that this gang has your child's best interest at heart? For those of us not lucky enough to have school-aged kids trying to learn in Michigan go and read ( now there's a non-Trumpian idea) about how this misguided woman has left her shadow in the schoolhouse door (so to speak) all over Michigan for these last score plus years:

"This deeply dysfunctional educational landscape — where failure is rewarded with opportunities for expansion and “choice” means the opposite for tens of thousands of children — is no accident. It was created by an ideological lobby that has zealously championed free-market education reform for decades, with little regard for the outcome.
And at the center of that lobby is Betsy DeVos, the west Michigan advocate whose family has contributed millions of dollars to the cause of school choice and unregulated charter expansion throughout Michigan."- Detroit Free Press

So with such a divisive nomination, such an animus against her appointment- needing the deciding vote of a narrow-minded and bigoted man as our new Vice-President Mike Pence who as governor denied much needed federal funds for the public school kids in his state because he is -after all- a good Christian man; a proponent of de-funding Planned Parenthood; a denier of Gay & Lesbian rights; a supporter- like Mrs. DeVos- of guns in schools- at least in the parking lot; Mike Pence who matches his President's disdain for the media because it dares to criticize his antinomian ways- needing his tie-breaking vote- for the first time in American history- why does she think she is so important to the future of American education? Would it not have shown a bit of character- of a nascent conscience to have seen all this pain and trepidation that her very name had caused and remove herself from consideration. Her entire career- or whatever you call it- negates such a distinction. Put simply, she ain't all that. So what is her true mission in this and what have we wrought?

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Coretta Scott King Wrote 1986 Letter Blasting Jeff Sessions On Race


The damning letter, which helped deny Sessions a federal judgeship in 1986, was never entered into the congressional record. It was finally published Tuesday evening.



Grassley’s office did not respond to requests for the letter, and sources told BuzzFeed News that Democratic members’ hands are tied by committee rules that give Grassley the sole authority to release it.