A Question for Senator John Cornyn from Eddie Griffin
Dear Mr. Cornyn:
I almost cried when you called out the FBI to investigate ACORN. All I could see was blood hounds and water hoses, and ghettos under Nazi suppression.
There were sweeping allegations of “widespread” voter registration fraud. The organization was invaded by federal agents, searching for something non-existent... an unlawful attempt to cast a fraudulent vote.
The insinuation brings to mind something Texans have always been known for, in the past... stuffing the ballot box. But the "ignorant masses" have never stuffed the ballot box. It's always been an uphill struggle just to get them to overcome their apathy and go to the polls.
This “criminal enterprise” allegation against the community-based organization that registers poor people is as ludicrous, as it is malicious. Obliviously, Mr. Senator, you are ignorant of your ignorant constituency.
Now, for sure, we see that your allegations are untrue, Mr. Cornyn.
We always suspected that because of ACORN’s successful voter registration drive in this 2008 election, you targeted them, for the purpose of shutting them down, besmirching their good name, and impeding their works, in order to help your party win.
SO WHERE IS THE INVESTIGATION, NOW, Mr. Senator?
With almost 40% of the electorates in the state of Texas already gone to the polls in early voting (in this most watched election), we should surely be able to see, with our own eyes, whether or not there is a “massive voting fraud” being perpetrated, as you so claim.
A strange unexpected thing: Certain media outlets have started pouring over these claims, looking into the records to find some evidence of voter fraud, even going so far as looking for dead people who might have cast an illegal vote. A local television station went so far as to investigated such a claim, and found only a clerical error by the poll worker.
All the Mickey Mouse sign-ups were flagged before hand and culled out by ACORN itself, and left to be proven or unproven by the state. And, all the election registers around the country commend ACORN on its work and vigilance. Remember, ACORN was even well received and commended by John McCain in 2006, long before this year’s campaign.
Your allegations, Mr. Senator, are not panning out. With 2.7 million voters already gone to the polls in Texas to vote, WHERE ARE THE FRAUDULENT VOTERS?
You are obligated to answer, not for my sake, but for our sake of integrity in the election process. Like the Bible says: THOU SHALT NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS AGAINST THY NEIGHBOR.
Mr. Cornyn, you have no proof of “widespread voter fraud”, nor is there any to be found. This is the second election where ACORN has been made a GOP scapegoat. Even worse, your public call for an FBI investigation on trumped up, fabricated, unfounded allegation amounted to setting off was a false alarm for political gain, and to further damage, discredit, and destroy the good name of a reputable community organization and suppress their good work
Surely, if you still believe now as you profess then, that this organization is a “criminal enterprise”, then come forth with your proof and FBI findings. You made the allegation in the height of the campaign, please don't wait until after the election to present your proof.
This is one election we cannot afford to let hang like a hanging chad. And let me remind you, also: IT’S TOO LATE INTO THE ELECTION FOR AN APOLOGY. Using your office to bring false charges against the innocent should be a criminal offense. Wouldn’t you agree?
Sincerely,
Eddie Griffin (BASG)
http://eddiegriffinbasg.blogspot.com/
WHO'S GOT MY BACK COVERED
P.S. to: Mr. Rick Noriega: Your ad says, “I got your back.” Do you have ACORN’s back?
State Senate candidate Wendy Davis does? State Representative candidate Chris Turner cowered out?
Friday, October 31, 2008
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Daily Kos Host Online Fundraiser for Rick Noriega
Battle of Texas: ALERT!
Tomorrow, Thursday, October 30, 2008
Daily Kos will Host an Online Fundraiser for Rick Noriega
HAT TIP to U.S. Senator Candidate Rick Noriega
Guess what, folks? Rick Noriega showed up for battle, with a new Daily Kos battle cry:
Texas blue! Yee-haw! Better said: Turn Texas Blue! Yahoo!
The old Rebel battle cry never sounded so good coming from the mouth of a Democratic.
From Daily Kos release:
Fri Oct 24, 2008 at 05:00:04 PM PDT
Update: And tonight's winner is Rick Noriega, our Senate candidate from Texas, fighting to oust Box Turtle Cornyn! Let's all meet here tomorrow night at 8 PM EDT/5 PM PDT with our dancin' shoes on, a beer at our side, some good music on and our credit cards handy to hang out and hang loose with our fellow Kossacks while we do our part to help turn Texas blue! Yee-haw!
(Source: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/10/24/19023/257/390/641339)
Reported Eddie Griffin
Tomorrow, Thursday, October 30, 2008
Daily Kos will Host an Online Fundraiser for Rick Noriega
HAT TIP to U.S. Senator Candidate Rick Noriega
Guess what, folks? Rick Noriega showed up for battle, with a new Daily Kos battle cry:
Texas blue! Yee-haw! Better said: Turn Texas Blue! Yahoo!
The old Rebel battle cry never sounded so good coming from the mouth of a Democratic.
From Daily Kos release:
Fri Oct 24, 2008 at 05:00:04 PM PDT
Update: And tonight's winner is Rick Noriega, our Senate candidate from Texas, fighting to oust Box Turtle Cornyn! Let's all meet here tomorrow night at 8 PM EDT/5 PM PDT with our dancin' shoes on, a beer at our side, some good music on and our credit cards handy to hang out and hang loose with our fellow Kossacks while we do our part to help turn Texas blue! Yee-haw!
(Source: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/10/24/19023/257/390/641339)
Reported Eddie Griffin
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
BATTLE OF TEXAS: Part 3
TEN points down and only SEVEN days to go.
Excerpt (Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Republican John McCain could carry Texas in this year’s United States presidential election, according to a poll by Rasmussen Reports. 54 per cent of respondents in the Lone Star State would vote for the Arizona senator, while 44 per cent would back Illinois senator Barack Obama.
The underdog here is not Barack Obama, but U.S. Senate candidate Rick Noriega, who is down in the same Rassmussen polls 55% to 40%. Rick is running a heavy underdog race against one of George Bush’s favorite homeboy, John Cornyn, known to Bush as “Corn Dog”.
The only way for Barack Obama to win Texas, Rick Noriega would have to upset John Cornyn.
Texas was the last state to fall in the Civil War. It will be the last Red State to fall.
Throw your support behind Rick Noriega. If he wins Texas, we can all go home and rest.
Eddie Griffin
http://eddiegriffinbasg.blogspot.com/
Excerpt (Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Republican John McCain could carry Texas in this year’s United States presidential election, according to a poll by Rasmussen Reports. 54 per cent of respondents in the Lone Star State would vote for the Arizona senator, while 44 per cent would back Illinois senator Barack Obama.
The underdog here is not Barack Obama, but U.S. Senate candidate Rick Noriega, who is down in the same Rassmussen polls 55% to 40%. Rick is running a heavy underdog race against one of George Bush’s favorite homeboy, John Cornyn, known to Bush as “Corn Dog”.
The only way for Barack Obama to win Texas, Rick Noriega would have to upset John Cornyn.
Texas was the last state to fall in the Civil War. It will be the last Red State to fall.
Throw your support behind Rick Noriega. If he wins Texas, we can all go home and rest.
Eddie Griffin
http://eddiegriffinbasg.blogspot.com/
Government Heavy-Handed Intervention
A $700 Billion Pandora’s Box
By Eddie Griffin
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Bush administration puts pressure on banks
WASHINGTON – An impatient White House served notice Tuesday on banks and other financial companies receiving billions of dollars in federal help to quit hoarding the money and start making more loans.
"We're trying to do is get banks to do what they are supposed to do, which is support the system that we have in America. And banks exist to lend money," White House press secretary Dana Perino said.
"The way that banks make money is by lending money. And so, they have every incentive to move forward and start using this money," Perino said.
(Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081028/ap_on_bi_ge/financial_meltdown)
How can you command chickens when to lay eggs? Editor asks.
Under the authority of the $700 billion financial bailout plan approved by Congress and signed by President Bush earlier this month, the Bush administration plans to dole out $250 billion to banks in return for partial ownership. The Treasury Department, which is overseeing the massive capital injection program along with the rest of the bailout, will pour $125 billion into nine of the country's largest banks this week. Another $125 billion will go to other banks.
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has said the money would be used by banks to rebuild their reserves so that they would resume more normal lending practices — a crucial ingredient to breaking through a debilitating credit clog that is hurting the national economy and threatens to bring about a deep recession. More recently, though, Paulson said the money could be used by banks to buy other banks to make them both stronger to weather the financial storms.
On Friday, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. said it had received $7.7 billion in cash through selling stock to the government under the bailout program. PNC then said it planned to buy National City Corp. for $5.58 billion.
The tricky part is this: “to rebuild their reserves”. Before a bank can rebuild its reserves, it must restore its balance sheet by paying off debt.
If preferred stock value is recuperated in the transaction, then preferred shareholders recoup their loss before anyone else, unless there is a government stipulation otherwise.
HENCE NOT the henhouse is raided by the fox, the taxpayer bailouts out Wall Street first, even before considering the average ordinary American homeowners at risk.
Reported by Eddie Griffin (BASG)
PROOF LINE
The YouTube video in John McCain’s own words: McCain Voted With Bush 90% of the Time
By Eddie Griffin
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Bush administration puts pressure on banks
WASHINGTON – An impatient White House served notice Tuesday on banks and other financial companies receiving billions of dollars in federal help to quit hoarding the money and start making more loans.
"We're trying to do is get banks to do what they are supposed to do, which is support the system that we have in America. And banks exist to lend money," White House press secretary Dana Perino said.
"The way that banks make money is by lending money. And so, they have every incentive to move forward and start using this money," Perino said.
(Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081028/ap_on_bi_ge/financial_meltdown)
How can you command chickens when to lay eggs? Editor asks.
Under the authority of the $700 billion financial bailout plan approved by Congress and signed by President Bush earlier this month, the Bush administration plans to dole out $250 billion to banks in return for partial ownership. The Treasury Department, which is overseeing the massive capital injection program along with the rest of the bailout, will pour $125 billion into nine of the country's largest banks this week. Another $125 billion will go to other banks.
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has said the money would be used by banks to rebuild their reserves so that they would resume more normal lending practices — a crucial ingredient to breaking through a debilitating credit clog that is hurting the national economy and threatens to bring about a deep recession. More recently, though, Paulson said the money could be used by banks to buy other banks to make them both stronger to weather the financial storms.
On Friday, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. said it had received $7.7 billion in cash through selling stock to the government under the bailout program. PNC then said it planned to buy National City Corp. for $5.58 billion.
The tricky part is this: “to rebuild their reserves”. Before a bank can rebuild its reserves, it must restore its balance sheet by paying off debt.
If preferred stock value is recuperated in the transaction, then preferred shareholders recoup their loss before anyone else, unless there is a government stipulation otherwise.
HENCE NOT the henhouse is raided by the fox, the taxpayer bailouts out Wall Street first, even before considering the average ordinary American homeowners at risk.
Reported by Eddie Griffin (BASG)
PROOF LINE
The YouTube video in John McCain’s own words: McCain Voted With Bush 90% of the Time
NATIONAL BATTLE STATION ALERT!
DISMISS FALSE ACCUSATIONS OF FAVORITISM BY THE MEDIA
How to spot and deal with PROPAGANDA in the 11th Hour
McCain Lashes Out at News Media
NOTE THIS REPORT-
Yet another study backs up the contention that the mainstream news media's coverage of Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama is more favorable than its coverage of Republican John McCain.
(http://www.onenewsnow.com/Election2008/Default.aspx?id=297778)
Poor John, the whole world is against him. But Big Bad John is crying fake tears about not being treated more favorable like the ever-popular Barack Obama.
John has a problem. First, he does not look presidential under pressure. He is high strung and ill tempered. Secondly, his Straight Talk Express is like Indian say: “Forked tongue”. Third, he is too militaristic in his foreign policy perspective, a saber-rattler and loose cannon.
Barack Obama is so well received around the world that he drew crowds of hundreds of thousands of people on his recent trip to Europe. He is well respected of other nations, a man with an air of peace, calm under pressure, consistency in vision, and analytical in his approach to solving problems.
The media cannot make Poor Joe beautiful. You cannot make a purse out of a sow's ear. Maybe he ought to try some of Sarah’s lipstick for pigs.
Fact is: John McCain is what he is. Judge for yourself.
DISMISS ALL FALSE ACCUSATIONS AGAINST THE MEDIA- Boycott FOX News
Signed,
Eddie Griffin (BASG)
How to spot and deal with PROPAGANDA in the 11th Hour
McCain Lashes Out at News Media
NOTE THIS REPORT-
Yet another study backs up the contention that the mainstream news media's coverage of Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama is more favorable than its coverage of Republican John McCain.
(http://www.onenewsnow.com/Election2008/Default.aspx?id=297778)
Poor John, the whole world is against him. But Big Bad John is crying fake tears about not being treated more favorable like the ever-popular Barack Obama.
John has a problem. First, he does not look presidential under pressure. He is high strung and ill tempered. Secondly, his Straight Talk Express is like Indian say: “Forked tongue”. Third, he is too militaristic in his foreign policy perspective, a saber-rattler and loose cannon.
Barack Obama is so well received around the world that he drew crowds of hundreds of thousands of people on his recent trip to Europe. He is well respected of other nations, a man with an air of peace, calm under pressure, consistency in vision, and analytical in his approach to solving problems.
The media cannot make Poor Joe beautiful. You cannot make a purse out of a sow's ear. Maybe he ought to try some of Sarah’s lipstick for pigs.
Fact is: John McCain is what he is. Judge for yourself.
DISMISS ALL FALSE ACCUSATIONS AGAINST THE MEDIA- Boycott FOX News
Signed,
Eddie Griffin (BASG)
Monday, October 27, 2008
Battle of Texas: Part 2
Forth Worth Star-Telegram Endorses Barack Obama
By Eddie Griffin, BASG
Monday, October 27, 2008
FORT WORTH – Star-Telegram Endorses Barack Obama for President of the United States.
See it first online at http://www.star-telegram.com/225/story/996463.html.
HAT TIP to the Forth Worth Star-Telegram Editorial Board
Today, the American people aren’t just asking for change; they are demanding it.
The economic inequities are no longer tolerable. As remarkable as it is to say during a time when U.S. troops are actively engaged in wars on two fronts, Americans are looking for a visionary leader who will focus first on the daunting domestic financial crisis that has upended so many lives.
The nation has experienced the worst housing crisis since the Great Depression, an enormous stock-market plunge among the worst in history, record-high energy prices, and an ongoing war in Iraq that has exacted an agonizing cost in lives, dollars and international prestige.
Americans need new leadership.
For many of the same reasons that the Star-Telegram recommended Democrat Bill Clinton in 1992, it is recommending Democrat Barack Obama in 2008.
By Eddie Griffin, BASG
Monday, October 27, 2008
FORT WORTH – Star-Telegram Endorses Barack Obama for President of the United States.
See it first online at http://www.star-telegram.com/225/story/996463.html.
HAT TIP to the Forth Worth Star-Telegram Editorial Board
Today, the American people aren’t just asking for change; they are demanding it.
The economic inequities are no longer tolerable. As remarkable as it is to say during a time when U.S. troops are actively engaged in wars on two fronts, Americans are looking for a visionary leader who will focus first on the daunting domestic financial crisis that has upended so many lives.
The nation has experienced the worst housing crisis since the Great Depression, an enormous stock-market plunge among the worst in history, record-high energy prices, and an ongoing war in Iraq that has exacted an agonizing cost in lives, dollars and international prestige.
Americans need new leadership.
For many of the same reasons that the Star-Telegram recommended Democrat Bill Clinton in 1992, it is recommending Democrat Barack Obama in 2008.
AM I NOT AMERICAN, too?
By Eddie Griffin
Monday, October 27, 2008
As part of a great international campaign, AM I NOT HUMAN, I was forced to stop and ask myself: Why I am not as American as Sarah Palin and John McCain’s “Real American”. AM I NOT AMERICAN because I have the prefix of an African? Who is the Real American and why are the rest of us snubbed as sub-human Americans?
On Friday, I exercised my right to vote as an American citizen, without fear or intimidation, without bloodhounds and water hoses, without poll taxes and grandfather clauses, without lynching, but not without animosity, fear mongering, and slander.
The little old lady in this video at a Sarah Palin rally said, “I am afraid blacks will take over.”
Wherever did such fear arise? Who stoked this fire?
Of course, African-Americans would like to have a say in government, like anybody else. But a black “takeover” is a figment of someone’s wild imagination and weak conscious. This stoke of fear is aroused purely by skin color ideations and stereotypical prejudices.
Reminiscent of Joe McCarthy’s with hunt for Communists during the 1950s, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) suggested investigating all the members of Congress to see which were American and which were un-American. Now Bachmann is ready to eat her words and apologize to Barack Obama for calling him “un-American” (but only after dropping in the polls in her bid for reelection).
Is it no wonder that they claim that Barack Obama is a socialist who palls around with a domestic terrorist? “He is not like us,” claims Sarah Palin.
He is a Muslim. The same little old lady at the rally said as much: “This is a Christian nation, and I hear that Barack Obama is a Muslim.”
How could she reject the truth and the facts? Or, does truth and facts even matter?
Thirty percent of the American public still approve of George Bush’s handling of the presidency. Naturally, this would be part of the “Real America” of which McCain speaks, and rightfully so also the right extreme where a so-called “real red-blooded American” would never vote for a black man. This Real America can only exist in the eyes of those who see the rest of us as somewhat less.
Monday, October 27, 2008
As part of a great international campaign, AM I NOT HUMAN, I was forced to stop and ask myself: Why I am not as American as Sarah Palin and John McCain’s “Real American”. AM I NOT AMERICAN because I have the prefix of an African? Who is the Real American and why are the rest of us snubbed as sub-human Americans?
On Friday, I exercised my right to vote as an American citizen, without fear or intimidation, without bloodhounds and water hoses, without poll taxes and grandfather clauses, without lynching, but not without animosity, fear mongering, and slander.
The little old lady in this video at a Sarah Palin rally said, “I am afraid blacks will take over.”
Wherever did such fear arise? Who stoked this fire?
Of course, African-Americans would like to have a say in government, like anybody else. But a black “takeover” is a figment of someone’s wild imagination and weak conscious. This stoke of fear is aroused purely by skin color ideations and stereotypical prejudices.
Reminiscent of Joe McCarthy’s with hunt for Communists during the 1950s, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) suggested investigating all the members of Congress to see which were American and which were un-American. Now Bachmann is ready to eat her words and apologize to Barack Obama for calling him “un-American” (but only after dropping in the polls in her bid for reelection).
Is it no wonder that they claim that Barack Obama is a socialist who palls around with a domestic terrorist? “He is not like us,” claims Sarah Palin.
He is a Muslim. The same little old lady at the rally said as much: “This is a Christian nation, and I hear that Barack Obama is a Muslim.”
How could she reject the truth and the facts? Or, does truth and facts even matter?
Thirty percent of the American public still approve of George Bush’s handling of the presidency. Naturally, this would be part of the “Real America” of which McCain speaks, and rightfully so also the right extreme where a so-called “real red-blooded American” would never vote for a black man. This Real America can only exist in the eyes of those who see the rest of us as somewhat less.
Friday, October 24, 2008
The Battle of Texas: Part 1
By Eddie Griffin
Friday, October 24, 2008
Prayer for Barack Obama’s Grandmother, Madelyn Dunham and for the Nation... Eddie Griffin
FORT WORTH: Twitter-> Sitting at battle station: 10/24/2008 6:50 AM- The Battle of Texas is ON.
Stock Market drop 400 points in early trading. It closed yesterday: 173 points up. Financial cannibals could not resist all the federal fat on the pig.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Prayer for Barack Obama’s Grandmother, Madelyn Dunham and for the Nation... Eddie Griffin
FORT WORTH: Twitter-> Sitting at battle station: 10/24/2008 6:50 AM- The Battle of Texas is ON.
Stock Market drop 400 points in early trading. It closed yesterday: 173 points up. Financial cannibals could not resist all the federal fat on the pig.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Hope & Love Shall Overcome Hate & Fear
A Prayer
By Eddie Griffin
Thursday, October 23, 2008
God bless America. Sing it. But do you believe it?
The Star-Telegram opened an editorial this morning with: Get a grip. A newspaper that incites division and animosity should suddenly call for peace and harmony. It is the classic story of Pandora’s Box.
What is unleashed upon America is screaming voices that exceed decibels. It is a screaming in the mind, asking: How did we get here? Are we insane?
The Viper and the Venom
"A clear and present danger"
By Eddie Griffin
Thursday, October 23, 2008
God bless America. Sing it. But do you believe it?
The Star-Telegram opened an editorial this morning with: Get a grip. A newspaper that incites division and animosity should suddenly call for peace and harmony. It is the classic story of Pandora’s Box.
What is unleashed upon America is screaming voices that exceed decibels. It is a screaming in the mind, asking: How did we get here? Are we insane?
The Viper and the Venom
"A clear and present danger"
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Palin: “If I called all the shots…”
By Eddie Griffin
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Who wouldn’t have known that, sooner or later, Sarah Palin was going to open her mouth and stick John McCain in it?
Stupid Robo-calls!
"If I called all the shots, and if I could wave a magic wand," Palin told her traveling press corps as she stood on the tarmac here, "I would be sitting at a kitchen table with more and more Americans, talking to them about our plan to get the economy back on track and winning the war and not having to rely on the old conventional ways of campaigning that includes those robocalls and includes spending so much money on the television ads that, I think, is kind of draining out there in terms of Americans' attention span." (Palin Criticizes Robocalls by Juliet Eilperin)
If Sarah Palin called all the shots, she would not “rely on the old conventional ways of campaigning” such as those stupid McCain robocalls”. And, she wouldn’t have John McCain waste precious campaign money plastering his mug all over TV. It drains the “Americans’ attention span”.
Attention span? Well Gee, Sarah! I didn’t know that the American people had an attention span after listening to you. All you are going to do is make Big Bad John mad.
Fact is: You are not calling the shots, and never will.
Didn’t you know Vice Presidents don’t usurp power? Ddin’t you know a VP candidate doesn't upstage the presidential candidate? Never contradict your running mate.
There is a time to speak and a time to be silent. Your 15-minute conversation with America ended, Sarah Palin, with Katy Couric.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Who wouldn’t have known that, sooner or later, Sarah Palin was going to open her mouth and stick John McCain in it?
Stupid Robo-calls!
"If I called all the shots, and if I could wave a magic wand," Palin told her traveling press corps as she stood on the tarmac here, "I would be sitting at a kitchen table with more and more Americans, talking to them about our plan to get the economy back on track and winning the war and not having to rely on the old conventional ways of campaigning that includes those robocalls and includes spending so much money on the television ads that, I think, is kind of draining out there in terms of Americans' attention span." (Palin Criticizes Robocalls by Juliet Eilperin)
If Sarah Palin called all the shots, she would not “rely on the old conventional ways of campaigning” such as those stupid McCain robocalls”. And, she wouldn’t have John McCain waste precious campaign money plastering his mug all over TV. It drains the “Americans’ attention span”.
Attention span? Well Gee, Sarah! I didn’t know that the American people had an attention span after listening to you. All you are going to do is make Big Bad John mad.
Fact is: You are not calling the shots, and never will.
Didn’t you know Vice Presidents don’t usurp power? Ddin’t you know a VP candidate doesn't upstage the presidential candidate? Never contradict your running mate.
There is a time to speak and a time to be silent. Your 15-minute conversation with America ended, Sarah Palin, with Katy Couric.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Socialism or Communism by Economic Totalitarianism?
by Eddie Griffin
The STRAIGHT TALK Express has steamrolled some of us with subtle innuendos, code words, catch phrases, double-speak, and distortions with and without intent... but foremost a wholesale evasion of truth and reason.
The people who buy into this rhetoric never look below the surface of ego gratification.
John McCain championed Joe the Plumber for one reason... not because Joe represented the small business community... but to twist Barack Obama's phrase “spread the wealth” into meaning something other than what was said.
Now it is clear that “spread the wealth” sounds nothing like “redistribute the wealth”, except in the mind of the predisposed set in stone. If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, implies McCain, then it is a duck... a conclusion only the most simple minded can appreciate. But the innuendo implies that Barack Obama is a socialist. "Spreading the wealth", by STRAIGHT TALK Express, has come to mean "redistribution of the wealth", a clear and intentional distortion.
There are many ways America can spread the wealth without redistributing it... Job creation is one way to spread the wealth. Providing a sound educational system, with equitable resources available to all students, not just the favored schools, is another way of spreading the wealth.
As for Socialism: What do they call the nationalization of our major banking institutions? This massive infusion of government money into saving rich Wall Street investors, is that not “socialism”? The government’s equity stake in financial institutions puts the government in the position of determining who get loans and who doesn't, who profits and who looses. By legislation, it becomes self-regulating.
Just because the pundits and propagandists willfully avoid using the R-word, (God forbid the D-word), changing the word does not change the thing itself.
No, this is not socialism. The printing of money to flood the market with dollars and raising the debt ceiling to the nth generation, the government places a tax burden upon all the poor and working class of the future in America. No, this is Communism, the totalitarian dictatorship of the Wall Street, and its hirelings on K-Street, and the bought and sold members in Congress. They have always ruled the world.
One little innocuous phrase, Barack Obama speaks hope of “spreading the wealth” like saying “a chicken in every pot”. Is that socialism?
Who would say, “No chicken for the pots of the lazy, welfare-seeking, poor people who could do better”? Who would cut ACORN out of the $700 billion dollar bailout package, like no chicken for this pot?
Is not a trillion dollar bailout also welfare for Wall Street rich investors, guaranteeing them they will not loose their shirts in the market. They can take all the risk they wish at taxpayers’ expense.
There can be no righting the capitalist economy that has sucked itself dry?
Here is lesson in hidden stigmatization from the STRAIGHT TALK Expression (that is, “straight talk” by innuendo).
Once you get the people to buy into a false premise, you build on it until they buy into your false conclusion.
So, McCain builds a tower of Babel, by accusing Barack Obama of wanting to raise John the Plumber taxes to “redistribute” the wealth from the hard-working American to “that one”… those poor, shiftless, lazy classes of people who do no work.
That is the premise of a racist stigmatization.
Spreading the wealth could very well mean creating more jobs and incorporating more workers from the ranks of the economically destitute. Spreading the wealth could mean expanding opportunity, so more people can pursue the American dream.
It could also mean creating a fair tax system. Congress has been talking about overhauling the complex IRS tax system for ages that now contain loopholes big enough to drive a corporate Mac truck through.
We need a FAIR TAX SYSTEM.
THOU SHALT NOT transfer property tax burden of the rich onto the backs of the poor.
Large real estate owners clamor for property tax relief. This usually results in shifting the tax burden from the plantation owner onto the backs of the slave, the poor general consumer, in some form of sales taxes.
Why not a straight across the board tax rate? If everybody paid a flat 15% of their income in taxes, that would ease the tax burden on middle-income America, and do nothing to hurt the poor.
Equal taxes upon all
All taxes should be based on income. Besides a flat 15% income tax rate, Social Security and Medicaid tax caps should be removed on all income levels, so that all wages and salaries are subject to the same flat FICA and MICA tax rate, (something that now exempts the multi-million dollar salaried execs). This equal tax rate system on all income will insure the solvency of the Social Security system and provide additional revenue for the healthcare insurance system.
A Fair Tax system would allow adequate Standard Deductions for each dependant. This would benefit large and extended families.
Abolish the Alternative Minimum Income Tax and other tax breaks incentives, which only benefit the higher income bracket.
Everybody should pay taxes on an equal basis. Corporations should receive a tax credit for paying dividends, and incentives for increasing domestic employment.
Is this socialism, or a fairer taxing system? How does it compare with Corporate Communism, where the corporate elite receive obscene salaries, bonuses, and the financial ability to bribe and buy legislation?
The taxpayers just bailed out Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and AIG. What relief did the average homeowner receive?
Homeowners who were duped into ARM mortgages, to begin with, by assuming that interest rates on their homes would go up and down with the market. Hence, they assumed that their house notes would fluctuate with the tide of the market.
Instead, interest rates on these mortgages were never meant to go down. Therefore, homeowners’ house notes would continually escalate; hence, the more risk on “low-to-no” doc mortgages, the more the profit. One day, someday, the house note would exceed the homeowners’ ability to pay: How much profit could be drained out of the consumer’s pocket before the bubble burst? And, how long would it take to turn the property around and put it back on an price inflated housing market? But the housing market was flooded with foreclosures, and housing values fell to their natural level.
How were homeowners lured into these “upside down” mortgages? First, they were duped into believing that their “cracker box” houses were truly worth the $200,000 appraided, when the cost to build it was only $20,000. Over appraising property value... securing a risky line of credit... in exchange for immediate commissions, fees, compensations, golden parachutes... inflated book value, a house of cards was built upon abstract finances.
So, what if the bottom falls out? The financial crisis only exposes the corrupt forces within the market, which, as of late, is incapable of correcting its own aberrant and excessive behavior.
Instead of letting the market correct itself of its unregulated abuses and corruption, the government steps in, raises the debt ceiling, and turn the government piggy bank upside down, in the name of the American taxpayer and their children. Then they force all the major banks to take the loot and extend more credit to the consumers' market.
However, the last thing in the world America needs now is more consumer credit. We are in credit soup already over our heads in debt. What is more credit going to do except put us deeper in Dutch and economically enslaved to Wall Street to the nth generation?
What kind of economic system is this? Communist Economic Totalitarianism?
The STRAIGHT TALK Express has steamrolled some of us with subtle innuendos, code words, catch phrases, double-speak, and distortions with and without intent... but foremost a wholesale evasion of truth and reason.
The people who buy into this rhetoric never look below the surface of ego gratification.
John McCain championed Joe the Plumber for one reason... not because Joe represented the small business community... but to twist Barack Obama's phrase “spread the wealth” into meaning something other than what was said.
Now it is clear that “spread the wealth” sounds nothing like “redistribute the wealth”, except in the mind of the predisposed set in stone. If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, implies McCain, then it is a duck... a conclusion only the most simple minded can appreciate. But the innuendo implies that Barack Obama is a socialist. "Spreading the wealth", by STRAIGHT TALK Express, has come to mean "redistribution of the wealth", a clear and intentional distortion.
There are many ways America can spread the wealth without redistributing it... Job creation is one way to spread the wealth. Providing a sound educational system, with equitable resources available to all students, not just the favored schools, is another way of spreading the wealth.
As for Socialism: What do they call the nationalization of our major banking institutions? This massive infusion of government money into saving rich Wall Street investors, is that not “socialism”? The government’s equity stake in financial institutions puts the government in the position of determining who get loans and who doesn't, who profits and who looses. By legislation, it becomes self-regulating.
Just because the pundits and propagandists willfully avoid using the R-word, (God forbid the D-word), changing the word does not change the thing itself.
No, this is not socialism. The printing of money to flood the market with dollars and raising the debt ceiling to the nth generation, the government places a tax burden upon all the poor and working class of the future in America. No, this is Communism, the totalitarian dictatorship of the Wall Street, and its hirelings on K-Street, and the bought and sold members in Congress. They have always ruled the world.
One little innocuous phrase, Barack Obama speaks hope of “spreading the wealth” like saying “a chicken in every pot”. Is that socialism?
Who would say, “No chicken for the pots of the lazy, welfare-seeking, poor people who could do better”? Who would cut ACORN out of the $700 billion dollar bailout package, like no chicken for this pot?
Is not a trillion dollar bailout also welfare for Wall Street rich investors, guaranteeing them they will not loose their shirts in the market. They can take all the risk they wish at taxpayers’ expense.
There can be no righting the capitalist economy that has sucked itself dry?
Here is lesson in hidden stigmatization from the STRAIGHT TALK Expression (that is, “straight talk” by innuendo).
Once you get the people to buy into a false premise, you build on it until they buy into your false conclusion.
So, McCain builds a tower of Babel, by accusing Barack Obama of wanting to raise John the Plumber taxes to “redistribute” the wealth from the hard-working American to “that one”… those poor, shiftless, lazy classes of people who do no work.
That is the premise of a racist stigmatization.
Spreading the wealth could very well mean creating more jobs and incorporating more workers from the ranks of the economically destitute. Spreading the wealth could mean expanding opportunity, so more people can pursue the American dream.
It could also mean creating a fair tax system. Congress has been talking about overhauling the complex IRS tax system for ages that now contain loopholes big enough to drive a corporate Mac truck through.
We need a FAIR TAX SYSTEM.
THOU SHALT NOT transfer property tax burden of the rich onto the backs of the poor.
Large real estate owners clamor for property tax relief. This usually results in shifting the tax burden from the plantation owner onto the backs of the slave, the poor general consumer, in some form of sales taxes.
Why not a straight across the board tax rate? If everybody paid a flat 15% of their income in taxes, that would ease the tax burden on middle-income America, and do nothing to hurt the poor.
Equal taxes upon all
All taxes should be based on income. Besides a flat 15% income tax rate, Social Security and Medicaid tax caps should be removed on all income levels, so that all wages and salaries are subject to the same flat FICA and MICA tax rate, (something that now exempts the multi-million dollar salaried execs). This equal tax rate system on all income will insure the solvency of the Social Security system and provide additional revenue for the healthcare insurance system.
A Fair Tax system would allow adequate Standard Deductions for each dependant. This would benefit large and extended families.
Abolish the Alternative Minimum Income Tax and other tax breaks incentives, which only benefit the higher income bracket.
Everybody should pay taxes on an equal basis. Corporations should receive a tax credit for paying dividends, and incentives for increasing domestic employment.
Is this socialism, or a fairer taxing system? How does it compare with Corporate Communism, where the corporate elite receive obscene salaries, bonuses, and the financial ability to bribe and buy legislation?
The taxpayers just bailed out Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and AIG. What relief did the average homeowner receive?
Homeowners who were duped into ARM mortgages, to begin with, by assuming that interest rates on their homes would go up and down with the market. Hence, they assumed that their house notes would fluctuate with the tide of the market.
Instead, interest rates on these mortgages were never meant to go down. Therefore, homeowners’ house notes would continually escalate; hence, the more risk on “low-to-no” doc mortgages, the more the profit. One day, someday, the house note would exceed the homeowners’ ability to pay: How much profit could be drained out of the consumer’s pocket before the bubble burst? And, how long would it take to turn the property around and put it back on an price inflated housing market? But the housing market was flooded with foreclosures, and housing values fell to their natural level.
How were homeowners lured into these “upside down” mortgages? First, they were duped into believing that their “cracker box” houses were truly worth the $200,000 appraided, when the cost to build it was only $20,000. Over appraising property value... securing a risky line of credit... in exchange for immediate commissions, fees, compensations, golden parachutes... inflated book value, a house of cards was built upon abstract finances.
So, what if the bottom falls out? The financial crisis only exposes the corrupt forces within the market, which, as of late, is incapable of correcting its own aberrant and excessive behavior.
Instead of letting the market correct itself of its unregulated abuses and corruption, the government steps in, raises the debt ceiling, and turn the government piggy bank upside down, in the name of the American taxpayer and their children. Then they force all the major banks to take the loot and extend more credit to the consumers' market.
However, the last thing in the world America needs now is more consumer credit. We are in credit soup already over our heads in debt. What is more credit going to do except put us deeper in Dutch and economically enslaved to Wall Street to the nth generation?
What kind of economic system is this? Communist Economic Totalitarianism?
Friday, October 17, 2008
Republicans Scapegoat ACORN: An Attack on All Community Organizers
Dear Family and Friends:
Only a few weeks ago, we were calling upon everyone to register to vote. We held massive voter registration drives around the country. And, nobody answered that call like ACORN, who registered 1.3 million people.
Now they are being made into a scapegoat, isolated from the greater public by false allegations of voter registration fraud. Republican leaders have called upon the Justice Department to conduct criminal investigations against them.
Since we are the ones who rallied the nation in this massive voter registration drive, we are obligated to defend the most successful grassroots organization to answer our call. Suppose it were your voter registration drive organization? In fact, it could have been any of us who call ourselves "community organizers". And, false allegations need not be true as to be disruptive and demoralizing. Therefore, Community Organizers must defend ACORN now, not after the allegations prove false and frivolous.
IN CASE YOU HAVE NOT NOTICED:
The John McCain campaign is using the same tactic against Barack Obama that the Hillary Clinton campaign employed: To use Barack’s strengths against him. Since the base of his strength is grassroots based, the Republicans have targeted ACORN, because of its voter registration success in heavily poor Democratic districts.
They scream loud about “voter registration fraud” and bring us forged documents to prove it. If the Republicans are doing this, they would perceive it to be a “little dirty trick”. But they put the criminal suspicion on an innocent grassroots organization, hoping to implicate Barack Obama into a grassroots voter fraud scheme.
Under this is the deceptive scenario, I have challenged Senator John Cornyn of Texas, one of the leading Republican voices in this witch hunt. His call for an FBI investigation into ACORN is part of the above conspiracy that will eventually unravel in time, I’m sure.
But I refuse to let this lie like until November 4. Please help me defeat John Cornyn. He is running for re-election for the Texas Senate seat in the U.S. Congress, which should be reserved for “honorable men” like Rick Noriega.
Sincerely,
Eddie Griffin (BASG)
Only a few weeks ago, we were calling upon everyone to register to vote. We held massive voter registration drives around the country. And, nobody answered that call like ACORN, who registered 1.3 million people.
Now they are being made into a scapegoat, isolated from the greater public by false allegations of voter registration fraud. Republican leaders have called upon the Justice Department to conduct criminal investigations against them.
Since we are the ones who rallied the nation in this massive voter registration drive, we are obligated to defend the most successful grassroots organization to answer our call. Suppose it were your voter registration drive organization? In fact, it could have been any of us who call ourselves "community organizers". And, false allegations need not be true as to be disruptive and demoralizing. Therefore, Community Organizers must defend ACORN now, not after the allegations prove false and frivolous.
IN CASE YOU HAVE NOT NOTICED:
The John McCain campaign is using the same tactic against Barack Obama that the Hillary Clinton campaign employed: To use Barack’s strengths against him. Since the base of his strength is grassroots based, the Republicans have targeted ACORN, because of its voter registration success in heavily poor Democratic districts.
They scream loud about “voter registration fraud” and bring us forged documents to prove it. If the Republicans are doing this, they would perceive it to be a “little dirty trick”. But they put the criminal suspicion on an innocent grassroots organization, hoping to implicate Barack Obama into a grassroots voter fraud scheme.
Under this is the deceptive scenario, I have challenged Senator John Cornyn of Texas, one of the leading Republican voices in this witch hunt. His call for an FBI investigation into ACORN is part of the above conspiracy that will eventually unravel in time, I’m sure.
But I refuse to let this lie like until November 4. Please help me defeat John Cornyn. He is running for re-election for the Texas Senate seat in the U.S. Congress, which should be reserved for “honorable men” like Rick Noriega.
Sincerely,
Eddie Griffin (BASG)
Thursday, October 16, 2008
ACTION ALERT! Defend Community Organizers
ACORN Voter Fraud Allegation: What’s to it?
It is a federal abuse of power to call for an investigation upon the innocent.
What’s behind all these Republican character assassinations, like the recent attack on ACORN? And, how about the abuse of powers to call in federal investigators against ACORN? The fraud is not ACORN but is being carried out by Senator John Cornyn and backstabbing Senator John McCain.
On February 20, 2006, here John McCain is accepting the honors and acclamation of the Service Employees International Union, People for the American Way, UNITE HERE -- and ACORN.
John McCain praised them, telling immigration rights activists at a rally in Miami that they “are what makes America special.” (The ACORN delegation wore red t-shirts with the acorn emblem.)
In early October, ACORN announced that it had registered 1.3 million new voters for the November election.
On the night of October 15, 2008, Judas stabs ACORN in the back and John Cornyn cuts ACORN throat. Just as I predicted, John McCain would betray ACORN on national TV.
Woe unto them that call evil good and good evil... Isaiah 5:20
Who is ACORN?
ACORN is the nation’s largest grassroots community organization of low- and moderate-income people with over 400,000 member families organized into more than 1,200 neighborhood chapters in 110 cities across the country. Since 1970, ACORN has been building community organizations that are committed to social and economic justice, and won victories on thousands of issues of concern to our members, through direct action, negotiation, legislative advocacy and voter participation. ACORN helps those who have historically been locked out become powerful players in our democratic system.
ACORN is an organization that gets out there into the community and does the dirty work of registering voters and empowering grassroots people.
Eddie Griffin is a Texas community organizer, much like ACORN, and a former Black Panther, much like Bill Ayers. This systematic targeting of grassroots organizations by Gestapo raids is purely an act of political repression.
Protect Texas Community Organizers. An assault upon one of us is an assault upon us all.
(1) Fax, (2) Call, (3) Email, and (4) Write
Senator John Cornyn
517 Hart Senate Office Bldg.
Washington, DC 20510
Main: 202-224-2934
Fax: 202-228-2856
5300 Memorial Drive
Suite 980
Houston, TX 77007
Main: 713-572-3337
Fax: 713-572-3777
senatewebmail@cornyn.senate.gov
It is a federal abuse of power to call for an investigation upon the innocent.
What’s behind all these Republican character assassinations, like the recent attack on ACORN? And, how about the abuse of powers to call in federal investigators against ACORN? The fraud is not ACORN but is being carried out by Senator John Cornyn and backstabbing Senator John McCain.
On February 20, 2006, here John McCain is accepting the honors and acclamation of the Service Employees International Union, People for the American Way, UNITE HERE -- and ACORN.
John McCain praised them, telling immigration rights activists at a rally in Miami that they “are what makes America special.” (The ACORN delegation wore red t-shirts with the acorn emblem.)
In early October, ACORN announced that it had registered 1.3 million new voters for the November election.
On the night of October 15, 2008, Judas stabs ACORN in the back and John Cornyn cuts ACORN throat. Just as I predicted, John McCain would betray ACORN on national TV.
Woe unto them that call evil good and good evil... Isaiah 5:20
Who is ACORN?
ACORN is the nation’s largest grassroots community organization of low- and moderate-income people with over 400,000 member families organized into more than 1,200 neighborhood chapters in 110 cities across the country. Since 1970, ACORN has been building community organizations that are committed to social and economic justice, and won victories on thousands of issues of concern to our members, through direct action, negotiation, legislative advocacy and voter participation. ACORN helps those who have historically been locked out become powerful players in our democratic system.
ACORN is an organization that gets out there into the community and does the dirty work of registering voters and empowering grassroots people.
Eddie Griffin is a Texas community organizer, much like ACORN, and a former Black Panther, much like Bill Ayers. This systematic targeting of grassroots organizations by Gestapo raids is purely an act of political repression.
Protect Texas Community Organizers. An assault upon one of us is an assault upon us all.
(1) Fax, (2) Call, (3) Email, and (4) Write
Senator John Cornyn
517 Hart Senate Office Bldg.
Washington, DC 20510
Main: 202-224-2934
Fax: 202-228-2856
5300 Memorial Drive
Suite 980
Houston, TX 77007
Main: 713-572-3337
Fax: 713-572-3777
senatewebmail@cornyn.senate.gov
ACTION ALERT! STOP REPUBLICAN LYNCH MOB POLITICAL RALLIES
From: Eddie Griffin
Millions of us receive email from Barack Obama all the time, throughout this campaign. Sure, these are political advertisements and fundraising efforts. But also included in Barack’s email is an explanation of the political situation, his plans, his ideas, and his understanding of the people’s sentiments, from the grassroots on up.
These are special messages that I use to educate readers on my blogsite. I do not spread propaganda (as if America knows the differences between words that stoke their feelings and words that inform, educate, and provoke critical thinking.)
The shameless lynch mob atmosphere of Sarah Palin’s rallies has frightened us about what forces she would unleash upon America if John McCain were to become president. Everybody must be apprehensive and on pins and needles about the this breeding of hatred at rallies, citing code words and catch phrases that incite vile reactions, never before infused into a campaign. Not even Adolph Hitler employed such tactics of hate-mongering.
Kill him? I beg your pardon, Madam VP wannabe.
ACTION ALERT!
John McCain and Sarah Palin have stopped talking about the issues, and have instead launched a strategy relying on fear-mongering, racial divisions, and hate. The result is McCain/Palin supporters saying "kill him!" "terrorist!" "traitor," and more, at rallies, with the McCain campaign playing dumb in response. It's outrageous and it must stop.
Together, we can show that Americans of all races won't stand for this.
I've signed onto ColorofChange's open-letter calling out McCain and Palin. colorOfChange.org will publish it this week, and as they've shown in the past, when enough of us stand together, we can force the mainstream media to amplify our message.
Will you join us?
http://www.colorofchange.org/united/?id=2046-175482
Write Sarah Palin, herself, and say: STOP IT!
sarah@ci.wasilla.ak.us
Eddie Griffin,
International Prisoner of Conscious (1977)
Millions of us receive email from Barack Obama all the time, throughout this campaign. Sure, these are political advertisements and fundraising efforts. But also included in Barack’s email is an explanation of the political situation, his plans, his ideas, and his understanding of the people’s sentiments, from the grassroots on up.
These are special messages that I use to educate readers on my blogsite. I do not spread propaganda (as if America knows the differences between words that stoke their feelings and words that inform, educate, and provoke critical thinking.)
The shameless lynch mob atmosphere of Sarah Palin’s rallies has frightened us about what forces she would unleash upon America if John McCain were to become president. Everybody must be apprehensive and on pins and needles about the this breeding of hatred at rallies, citing code words and catch phrases that incite vile reactions, never before infused into a campaign. Not even Adolph Hitler employed such tactics of hate-mongering.
Kill him? I beg your pardon, Madam VP wannabe.
ACTION ALERT!
John McCain and Sarah Palin have stopped talking about the issues, and have instead launched a strategy relying on fear-mongering, racial divisions, and hate. The result is McCain/Palin supporters saying "kill him!" "terrorist!" "traitor," and more, at rallies, with the McCain campaign playing dumb in response. It's outrageous and it must stop.
Together, we can show that Americans of all races won't stand for this.
I've signed onto ColorofChange's open-letter calling out McCain and Palin. colorOfChange.org will publish it this week, and as they've shown in the past, when enough of us stand together, we can force the mainstream media to amplify our message.
Will you join us?
http://www.colorofchange.org/united/?id=2046-175482
Write Sarah Palin, herself, and say: STOP IT!
sarah@ci.wasilla.ak.us
Eddie Griffin,
International Prisoner of Conscious (1977)
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Which Witch is Which in this Witch Hunt? Texas Senator goes after Grassroots Community Organizing Group ACORN
To: U.S. Senator John Cornyn
From: Eddie Griffin
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Texas U.S. Sen. John Cornyn called for a nationwide criminal probe into recent voter registration efforts by ACORN, a grassroots community organizing group.
Another report says: Cornyn, R-Texas, sent U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey a letter Tuesday asking the Justice Department to investigate ACORN -- long a political target of Republicans — as a “criminal enterprise”.
ACORN website reports:
October 13, 2008, Miami, FL - U.S. Senator John McCain's recent attacks on the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) are puzzling given his historic support for the organization and its efforts on behalf of immigrant Americans. As recently as February 20, 2006, Senator McCain was the keynote speaker at an ACORN-sponsored Immigration Rally in Miami, Florida at Miami Dade College – Wolfson Campus.
Eddie Griffin sez:
This should serve notice to community organizers everywhere, especially those who engage in voter registration drives, this is what can happen whey modern day McCarthyists like John Cornyn stirs up a witch hunt as a political diversion.
Is there any doubt that presidential hopeful John McCain will use ACORN as a whipping boy to assail baseless voter fraud allegations in tonight’s debate? Hasn’t FOX News been priming the American public for this "red scare"? It will be John McCain’s duty to put one and one together and associate ACORN with Barack Obama’s campaign.
This garbage is as old as “Tricky Dick” Nixon and his dirty tricksters. I would assume the true beneficiary is not the American public, but the Republican Party.
Where is the voter registration fraud, John Cornyn? There is none, other than those manufactured for the benefit of the Republican Party. Why didn’t you just wait for Mickey Mouse to show up at the polls to vote, then and there make him prove his identity? And if he cannot, then that is “attempted fraud”. If he successfully votes, and is found out later, then that is “fraud”. Otherwise, Mr. Cornyn, you have no crime and no probable cause for suspicion.
Another report states:
In recent weeks, conservatives have escalated their attacks on ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. Conservative lawmakers were able to remove a provision aimed at aiding low-income housing programs from the Bush administration's $700 billion economic bailout bill by calling it a "slush fund" for ACORN. Before that, conservatives blamed ACORN for "precipitating the subprime crisis." And last week, they alleged that the "purpose" of ACORN is to engage in voter fraud. However, as columnist Joel McNally correctly noted, the "underlying motive for attacking ACORN" seems to be that it is the "nation's largest grassroots community organization of low- and moderate-income people."
NAACP Chairman Julian Bond from today's ACORN press conference on voter suppression tactics, held at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. The Chairman and Kathryn Kolbert, President of People for the American Way, joined with ACORN leaders at the National Press Club to condemn recent Republican attacks.
Eddie Griffin sez:
What John Cornyn fails to realize is this: If ACORN registered me, and my name was Mickey Mouse, how could the register determine if it was true or false?
Fact is: it’s neither his responsibility nor his business to verify the validity of an application, nor is he God who can look inside to heart and see fraud and deceive, to know who I really am. Whatever I put on the registration, it is up to the elections administration to approve or disapprove, not an ACORN volunteer.
All of this is not aimed at preventing voter fraud. In fact, a real criminal investigation may snag some unwitting McCain operatives working under the cloak of darkness in the name of ACORN. (Remember, they accused Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a communist and, supposedly, had all the evidence to prove it.)
Anyone can sign up as Mickey Mouse, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they will be approved or allowed to vote.
No, it is not truth that you want, Mr. Cornyn. But, rather, you want scandal. And, even more, I suspect it will be used in one of McCain’s lines in tonight’s debate.
Your opponent Rick Noriega should take you by the throat for fanning the flames of this witch hunt. Not that you are dishonest, or anything like that. It's just that you are gullibly stupid for listening to yourself talk and believing what you say.
Why do you want to mess with grassroots organizers, like me, anyway?
Eddie Griffin (BASG)
From: Eddie Griffin
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Texas U.S. Sen. John Cornyn called for a nationwide criminal probe into recent voter registration efforts by ACORN, a grassroots community organizing group.
Another report says: Cornyn, R-Texas, sent U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey a letter Tuesday asking the Justice Department to investigate ACORN -- long a political target of Republicans — as a “criminal enterprise”.
ACORN website reports:
October 13, 2008, Miami, FL - U.S. Senator John McCain's recent attacks on the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) are puzzling given his historic support for the organization and its efforts on behalf of immigrant Americans. As recently as February 20, 2006, Senator McCain was the keynote speaker at an ACORN-sponsored Immigration Rally in Miami, Florida at Miami Dade College – Wolfson Campus.
Eddie Griffin sez:
This should serve notice to community organizers everywhere, especially those who engage in voter registration drives, this is what can happen whey modern day McCarthyists like John Cornyn stirs up a witch hunt as a political diversion.
Is there any doubt that presidential hopeful John McCain will use ACORN as a whipping boy to assail baseless voter fraud allegations in tonight’s debate? Hasn’t FOX News been priming the American public for this "red scare"? It will be John McCain’s duty to put one and one together and associate ACORN with Barack Obama’s campaign.
This garbage is as old as “Tricky Dick” Nixon and his dirty tricksters. I would assume the true beneficiary is not the American public, but the Republican Party.
Where is the voter registration fraud, John Cornyn? There is none, other than those manufactured for the benefit of the Republican Party. Why didn’t you just wait for Mickey Mouse to show up at the polls to vote, then and there make him prove his identity? And if he cannot, then that is “attempted fraud”. If he successfully votes, and is found out later, then that is “fraud”. Otherwise, Mr. Cornyn, you have no crime and no probable cause for suspicion.
Another report states:
In recent weeks, conservatives have escalated their attacks on ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. Conservative lawmakers were able to remove a provision aimed at aiding low-income housing programs from the Bush administration's $700 billion economic bailout bill by calling it a "slush fund" for ACORN. Before that, conservatives blamed ACORN for "precipitating the subprime crisis." And last week, they alleged that the "purpose" of ACORN is to engage in voter fraud. However, as columnist Joel McNally correctly noted, the "underlying motive for attacking ACORN" seems to be that it is the "nation's largest grassroots community organization of low- and moderate-income people."
NAACP Chairman Julian Bond from today's ACORN press conference on voter suppression tactics, held at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. The Chairman and Kathryn Kolbert, President of People for the American Way, joined with ACORN leaders at the National Press Club to condemn recent Republican attacks.
Eddie Griffin sez:
What John Cornyn fails to realize is this: If ACORN registered me, and my name was Mickey Mouse, how could the register determine if it was true or false?
Fact is: it’s neither his responsibility nor his business to verify the validity of an application, nor is he God who can look inside to heart and see fraud and deceive, to know who I really am. Whatever I put on the registration, it is up to the elections administration to approve or disapprove, not an ACORN volunteer.
All of this is not aimed at preventing voter fraud. In fact, a real criminal investigation may snag some unwitting McCain operatives working under the cloak of darkness in the name of ACORN. (Remember, they accused Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a communist and, supposedly, had all the evidence to prove it.)
Anyone can sign up as Mickey Mouse, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they will be approved or allowed to vote.
No, it is not truth that you want, Mr. Cornyn. But, rather, you want scandal. And, even more, I suspect it will be used in one of McCain’s lines in tonight’s debate.
Your opponent Rick Noriega should take you by the throat for fanning the flames of this witch hunt. Not that you are dishonest, or anything like that. It's just that you are gullibly stupid for listening to yourself talk and believing what you say.
Why do you want to mess with grassroots organizers, like me, anyway?
Eddie Griffin (BASG)
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
The Coward & The Lioness:
Kim Brimer & Wendy Davis
Dear Kim:
I am your constituent, Eddie Griffin, and I call you a “coward”... to your face and by email. You are afraid to face your opponent Wendy Davis. The fact that you were a no-show at last night’s debate signifies the type of representation we, in Senate District 10, have received of you... absentee representation.
According to this morning's Star-Telegram report:
"Brimer, R-Fort Worth, was a no-show Monday night to a scheduled debate with Davis at the Fort Worth Botanic Garden."
Why didn’t you show up, Mr. Brimer? Are you afraid to face your opponent Ms. Davis? Are you afraid to face your constituents also? Maybe you are afraid she will slap your face silly red on behalf of the constituents of SD 10.
As for your friend and supporter Mayor Mike Moncrief, who publicly supported you, he is hereby put on cc notice that he supports spineless jellyfish of a coward.
Your manhood, Mr. Brimer, cannot be covered by the manhood of another. Every man must stand, on his own two feet. The good ole boys cannot bail you out of this one. And it would be a shame for the Fort Worth Fire Fighters Association to come to your rescue.
Come forward and give account of your stewardship. Answer to your constituents.
And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward. Luke 16:2
Juana Byrd, Arlington writes:
Sen. Kim Brimer is so reluctant to face Democratic challenger Wendy Davis that he would rather file non-meritorious lawsuits than have the voters decide who is more qualified to serve as their state senator… Brimer is apparently fearful of running on his Senate record and wants to avoid an exchange of ideas with the formidable Davis. This is understandable, given his poor record and her excellent qualifications.
Fred Harper, Fort Worth writes:
The constituents of Senate District 10 should be able to choose their representation on the basis of the candidates’ position on issues important to them, not on political gamesmanship. Brimer’s silly games deny them that information and insult their intelligence.
Ms. Davis alerted us on September 19, 2008: Senator Brimer is hiding something. Otherwise, why would he spend 8 months talking to judges instead of constituents, hoping that the courts will decide this race before the voters have a chance to? The answer is simple: Senator Brimer knows that his record won't hold up in the court of public opinion.
John T. Johnson III, Arlington writes:
Case in point: Brimer was in a key position as a state senator, along with Chris Harris, to put some limits on just how badly the deregulated electricity market was going to be able to put the screws to us. They helped squelch every law out of the Regulated Industries Committee that would have somewhat protected consumers. Don’t believe me? Check it out. Their excuse? They didn’t want to regulate "free enterprise." What a joke!
Eddie Griffin wrote:
Has Mr. Brimer explained to his constituents how he has enriched himself while in office?
Brimer over a 6 year period gave his wife's realty company, Janna Brimer Realty over $170,000 for "rent" when in fact it was being used to purchase a condo. He eventually sold it for a nice profit of $300,000.
In 2007 4 elected officials, Senator Kim Brimer, Senator Jane Nelson, State Representative Vicki Truitt, and former State Representative Toby Goodman were spending their donors' money to purchase condos.
Fines that are pending are for Senator Kim Brimer, Senator Jane Nelson, and State Representative Isett. All have either used their donors' money to buy real property or paid their spouse for services, both are against the rules of the Ethics Commission.
Whatever happened to the fines? Nobody has ever explained.
And, this example from http://bayareahouston.blogspot.com/2008/06/keeping-campaign-cash-tx-state-senator.html:
According to The Lone Star Project, Brimer has been repaying himself for loans he made to his campaign. This in itself is nothing unusual. Many elected officials and candidates loan their campaign money and repay themselves at a later date with campaign funds. Only one problem...... Brimer paid himself more than what he loaned himself. From The Lone Star Project:
• Brimer loaned his campaign $46,000 during 1987 and 1988
• Brimer family members loaned the Kim Brimer Campaign an additional $10,000
• Brimer made a series of payments to himself totaling at least $83,953, reported as “loan repayments,” from 1988 to 1992
• As a result, Kim Brimer received at least $37,953 more than the amount he loaned himself.
Dear Kim:
I am your constituent, Eddie Griffin, and I call you a “coward”... to your face and by email. You are afraid to face your opponent Wendy Davis. The fact that you were a no-show at last night’s debate signifies the type of representation we, in Senate District 10, have received of you... absentee representation.
According to this morning's Star-Telegram report:
"Brimer, R-Fort Worth, was a no-show Monday night to a scheduled debate with Davis at the Fort Worth Botanic Garden."
Why didn’t you show up, Mr. Brimer? Are you afraid to face your opponent Ms. Davis? Are you afraid to face your constituents also? Maybe you are afraid she will slap your face silly red on behalf of the constituents of SD 10.
As for your friend and supporter Mayor Mike Moncrief, who publicly supported you, he is hereby put on cc notice that he supports spineless jellyfish of a coward.
Your manhood, Mr. Brimer, cannot be covered by the manhood of another. Every man must stand, on his own two feet. The good ole boys cannot bail you out of this one. And it would be a shame for the Fort Worth Fire Fighters Association to come to your rescue.
Come forward and give account of your stewardship. Answer to your constituents.
And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward. Luke 16:2
Juana Byrd, Arlington writes:
Sen. Kim Brimer is so reluctant to face Democratic challenger Wendy Davis that he would rather file non-meritorious lawsuits than have the voters decide who is more qualified to serve as their state senator… Brimer is apparently fearful of running on his Senate record and wants to avoid an exchange of ideas with the formidable Davis. This is understandable, given his poor record and her excellent qualifications.
Fred Harper, Fort Worth writes:
The constituents of Senate District 10 should be able to choose their representation on the basis of the candidates’ position on issues important to them, not on political gamesmanship. Brimer’s silly games deny them that information and insult their intelligence.
Ms. Davis alerted us on September 19, 2008: Senator Brimer is hiding something. Otherwise, why would he spend 8 months talking to judges instead of constituents, hoping that the courts will decide this race before the voters have a chance to? The answer is simple: Senator Brimer knows that his record won't hold up in the court of public opinion.
John T. Johnson III, Arlington writes:
Case in point: Brimer was in a key position as a state senator, along with Chris Harris, to put some limits on just how badly the deregulated electricity market was going to be able to put the screws to us. They helped squelch every law out of the Regulated Industries Committee that would have somewhat protected consumers. Don’t believe me? Check it out. Their excuse? They didn’t want to regulate "free enterprise." What a joke!
Eddie Griffin wrote:
Has Mr. Brimer explained to his constituents how he has enriched himself while in office?
Brimer over a 6 year period gave his wife's realty company, Janna Brimer Realty over $170,000 for "rent" when in fact it was being used to purchase a condo. He eventually sold it for a nice profit of $300,000.
In 2007 4 elected officials, Senator Kim Brimer, Senator Jane Nelson, State Representative Vicki Truitt, and former State Representative Toby Goodman were spending their donors' money to purchase condos.
Fines that are pending are for Senator Kim Brimer, Senator Jane Nelson, and State Representative Isett. All have either used their donors' money to buy real property or paid their spouse for services, both are against the rules of the Ethics Commission.
Whatever happened to the fines? Nobody has ever explained.
And, this example from http://bayareahouston.blogspot.com/2008/06/keeping-campaign-cash-tx-state-senator.html:
According to The Lone Star Project, Brimer has been repaying himself for loans he made to his campaign. This in itself is nothing unusual. Many elected officials and candidates loan their campaign money and repay themselves at a later date with campaign funds. Only one problem...... Brimer paid himself more than what he loaned himself. From The Lone Star Project:
• Brimer loaned his campaign $46,000 during 1987 and 1988
• Brimer family members loaned the Kim Brimer Campaign an additional $10,000
• Brimer made a series of payments to himself totaling at least $83,953, reported as “loan repayments,” from 1988 to 1992
• As a result, Kim Brimer received at least $37,953 more than the amount he loaned himself.
Friday, October 10, 2008
A Perspective on the Noriega-Cornyn Debate
From: Eddie Griffin
TO: Rick Noriega, Candidate for U. S. Senate
Cc: John Cornyn, Incumbent U. S. Senator
Dear Rick,
I watched the debate last night between you and John Cornyn on PBS. While clearly I could have choked the moderator by his throat for botching the job, I am disappointed by your performance. By my evaluation, you scored a C.
Thankfully, you will get another shot at John “Corn Dog” Cornyn in Dallas next week, without the Libertarian candidate Yvonne Schick. Although she was a distraction, she scored a B in performance.
Mr. Cornyny is about cool, calm, and collective as Barack Obama. He scored an A, because he conducted himself as a self-confident incumbent.
Get the picture?
Here again, I repeated to you what I have told you on four separate occasions: In order for Barack Obama to win Texas, you must beat John Cornyn. What part of that strategy did you not understand? You’re not trying hard enough.
(I noticed your skinning and grinning on the question of public campaign financing… because of your under-funded campaign, you favor public financing... Wrong, wrong, wrong!)
I am particularly disappointed with your timid response on Torture. “We don’t do torture.” How is that a different answer than Cornyn? If there were one thing that I insisted that you not forget was the children and innocent detainees inside Guantanamo. There have been three military prosecutors who have resigned, because they know some of these cases are bogus.
Why didn’t you make John Cornyn answer for the US government’s behavior in this war on terrorism? Ask him: Does he feel, as Sarah Palin, that Bill Ayers is a domestic terrorist? Would he approve spying on ex-militants from the 1960s bygone era? Or, would he expand the Patriot Act to include spying on everybody hoping to find one terrorist in our midst of millions?
Rick, you are supposed to be our hope in returning to sanity. But you sound so much like your opponent last night that I could recognize which of you were the Democrat and which was the Republican. And, when you mentioned the name of Barack Obama, you sounded like a church mouse.
How do you defeat John Cornyn, now that you have a bloody nose?
First, you don’t be so modest about being battlefield-proven, a proud Lieutenant Colonial, active in the Army Reserves, and an Afghan War vet. This is an asset gained only by experience, which John Cornyn does not have. He has never had to shed a tear over a comrade on the battlefield. He doesn’t know the pains of war, especially a war provoked by poor decision-making.
He never heard your comment about dealing with Post Traumatic Stress and quality medical care and benefits for veterans. 30 seconds, times up.
Nobody heard you say that Cornyn was a main supporter of George Bush going into war. Nobody heard you criticize George Bush, your commander-in-chief, when you went into harms way on the premise of Weapons of Mass Destruction.
Why didn’t you just tell Big Bad John just how you felt as a soldier when you found out that there were no Weapons of Mass Destruction?
There is a basic rule of war: One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.
Think not? Consider China and its terrorist list. Some of these Chinese outlaws are US friends. So, who is a terrorist to whom? Terrorism is in the eye of the beholder. The innocent Chinese Muslims now being held in Guantanamo remain illegal confined, simply because Chinese classifies them as “terrorists”.
Why have you allowed your opponents to play so loosely with this Red Scare? Have we become so indoctrinated that we react like Joe Six Pack in the McCarthy era, too afraid to speak up, because someone might accuse us of being “a communist sympathizer”. Is that the cat that’s got your tongue?
Rick, you know when any government can get away with this kind of stuff, along with a blank check to eavesdrop and spying, we have already reach totalitarianism. That is what George Bush and John Cornyn operated... a totalitarian government, where the wishes of the people are the furtherest thing from their minds.
Why don't you ask John how he feels about the Child Soldiers locked up in Guantanamo accused of being terrorist? How does he feel about recent court decision favoring them? Does he, like George Bush, criticize the Supreme Court's decision to hear their cause in the courts?
Ask your opponent those questions, and then ask yourself. Then convince me that you are the man for the job and not just another Democratic Party wimp.
Eddie Griffin
TO: Rick Noriega, Candidate for U. S. Senate
Cc: John Cornyn, Incumbent U. S. Senator
Dear Rick,
I watched the debate last night between you and John Cornyn on PBS. While clearly I could have choked the moderator by his throat for botching the job, I am disappointed by your performance. By my evaluation, you scored a C.
Thankfully, you will get another shot at John “Corn Dog” Cornyn in Dallas next week, without the Libertarian candidate Yvonne Schick. Although she was a distraction, she scored a B in performance.
Mr. Cornyny is about cool, calm, and collective as Barack Obama. He scored an A, because he conducted himself as a self-confident incumbent.
Get the picture?
Here again, I repeated to you what I have told you on four separate occasions: In order for Barack Obama to win Texas, you must beat John Cornyn. What part of that strategy did you not understand? You’re not trying hard enough.
(I noticed your skinning and grinning on the question of public campaign financing… because of your under-funded campaign, you favor public financing... Wrong, wrong, wrong!)
I am particularly disappointed with your timid response on Torture. “We don’t do torture.” How is that a different answer than Cornyn? If there were one thing that I insisted that you not forget was the children and innocent detainees inside Guantanamo. There have been three military prosecutors who have resigned, because they know some of these cases are bogus.
Why didn’t you make John Cornyn answer for the US government’s behavior in this war on terrorism? Ask him: Does he feel, as Sarah Palin, that Bill Ayers is a domestic terrorist? Would he approve spying on ex-militants from the 1960s bygone era? Or, would he expand the Patriot Act to include spying on everybody hoping to find one terrorist in our midst of millions?
Rick, you are supposed to be our hope in returning to sanity. But you sound so much like your opponent last night that I could recognize which of you were the Democrat and which was the Republican. And, when you mentioned the name of Barack Obama, you sounded like a church mouse.
How do you defeat John Cornyn, now that you have a bloody nose?
First, you don’t be so modest about being battlefield-proven, a proud Lieutenant Colonial, active in the Army Reserves, and an Afghan War vet. This is an asset gained only by experience, which John Cornyn does not have. He has never had to shed a tear over a comrade on the battlefield. He doesn’t know the pains of war, especially a war provoked by poor decision-making.
He never heard your comment about dealing with Post Traumatic Stress and quality medical care and benefits for veterans. 30 seconds, times up.
Nobody heard you say that Cornyn was a main supporter of George Bush going into war. Nobody heard you criticize George Bush, your commander-in-chief, when you went into harms way on the premise of Weapons of Mass Destruction.
Why didn’t you just tell Big Bad John just how you felt as a soldier when you found out that there were no Weapons of Mass Destruction?
There is a basic rule of war: One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.
Think not? Consider China and its terrorist list. Some of these Chinese outlaws are US friends. So, who is a terrorist to whom? Terrorism is in the eye of the beholder. The innocent Chinese Muslims now being held in Guantanamo remain illegal confined, simply because Chinese classifies them as “terrorists”.
Why have you allowed your opponents to play so loosely with this Red Scare? Have we become so indoctrinated that we react like Joe Six Pack in the McCarthy era, too afraid to speak up, because someone might accuse us of being “a communist sympathizer”. Is that the cat that’s got your tongue?
Rick, you know when any government can get away with this kind of stuff, along with a blank check to eavesdrop and spying, we have already reach totalitarianism. That is what George Bush and John Cornyn operated... a totalitarian government, where the wishes of the people are the furtherest thing from their minds.
Why don't you ask John how he feels about the Child Soldiers locked up in Guantanamo accused of being terrorist? How does he feel about recent court decision favoring them? Does he, like George Bush, criticize the Supreme Court's decision to hear their cause in the courts?
Ask your opponent those questions, and then ask yourself. Then convince me that you are the man for the job and not just another Democratic Party wimp.
Eddie Griffin
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Sarah Palin: He is Not Like Us
sarah@ci.wasilla.ak.us
The first time I heard that phrase, "... not like us", a white woman was telling her daughter why not to play with her friend Toxie, because Toxie was black. "She's not like us," the woman said.
This is daily bread and indoctrination of a whole generation of white children in the 1940's and 1950s. I heard someone say: “He’s not like us.”
But it was not Sarah Palin, who is too young to know the pain and the humiliation and the shame it caused me while I was growing up. It made me feel like there was something dirty on me, like a skin color that smelled like human waste.
One day, I woke up and realized that I was not like them, after all, not like John McCain or his friends who grew up with the same 1950s indoctrination. No, I am not a racist like them. And, they would be liars to say otherwise.
When Sarah Palin says "he's not like us", let's thank God we are not.
From Eddie Griffin,
International Prisoner of Conscious (1977)
The first time I heard that phrase, "... not like us", a white woman was telling her daughter why not to play with her friend Toxie, because Toxie was black. "She's not like us," the woman said.
This is daily bread and indoctrination of a whole generation of white children in the 1940's and 1950s. I heard someone say: “He’s not like us.”
But it was not Sarah Palin, who is too young to know the pain and the humiliation and the shame it caused me while I was growing up. It made me feel like there was something dirty on me, like a skin color that smelled like human waste.
One day, I woke up and realized that I was not like them, after all, not like John McCain or his friends who grew up with the same 1950s indoctrination. No, I am not a racist like them. And, they would be liars to say otherwise.
When Sarah Palin says "he's not like us", let's thank God we are not.
From Eddie Griffin,
International Prisoner of Conscious (1977)
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Unlawful Detention at Guantanamo
U. S. Representative Michael C. Burgess
WASHINGTON, DC OFFICE
1224 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
P: (202) 225-7772
F: (202) 225-2919
U. S. Representative John Conyers
House Committee on the Judiciary
2138 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
P: (202) 225-3951
RE: Unlawful Detention at Guantanamo
Dear Congressman:
Please recall my May 29, 2008 correspondence to Congress, Open Tribunal Records on Child Soldier POWs, a copy of which was forwarded to your attention, concerning detainees at Guantanamo Bay.
In the correspondence, I raised some questions about the circumstances under which some of these prisoners were detained, particularly underage combatants, recognized by UN standards as Child Soldiers.
However, I had no idea of this recent development where innocent Muslims were detained for years. (Source:“Judge orders release of Chinese Muslims in US”, by Hope Yen, Star-Telegram)
U.S. District Judge Ricardo M. Urbina ordered the Bush administration Tuesday to immediately free 17 Chinese Muslims from Guantanamo Bay into the United States... Over the objections of government lawyers, Urbina ordered their release in Washington D.C. by Friday.
“Because the Constitution prohibits indefinite detentions without cause, the continued detention is unlawful… I think the moment has arrived for the court to shine the light of constitutionality on the reasons for the detention,” Urbina said.
At issue is whether a federal judge has the authority to order the release of Guantanamo prisoners who were unlawfully detained by the U.S. and cannot be sent back to their homeland. The Uighurs, who are Turkic-speaking Muslims in western China, have been cleared for release from Guantanamo since 2004 and ordinarily would have been sent home.
“How many times does the Bush administration need to be told that detainees are entitled to essential rights? All the remaining detainees in Guantanamo Bay must be either charged and tried or released immediately,” said Larry Cox, executive director of Amnesty International USA.
I called your attention specifically to children falsely detained and branded as “terrorists”, specifically the cases of Mohamed el Gharani and Omar Khadr, ages 14 and 15 at the time of their detention, along with 37 other underage detainees in Guantanamo listed by the International Red Cross.
More recently, I brought up the story about Lt. Col. Darrel Vandeveld, a former Guanatamo prosecutor, who resigned and later requested immunity to testify on behalf of the defense against the government in the case of Mohammed Jawad, another teenager, accused of terrorism by tossing a grenade into a military jeep in Kabul in 2002, injuring two US soldiers and their Afghan interpreter.
If allowed, Col. Vandeveld would have testified how the government withheld evidence from the defense that would have proven Jawad’s innocence. Instead, his testimony was disallowed, and military sent the colonel to have a psychological evaluation.
According to a report by J.D. Tuccille, Civil Liberties Examiner, Col. Darrel Vandeveld also raises the possibility that Jawad was mistreated in custody -- specifically, by being subjected to sleep-deprivation.
“Vandeveld hasn't just resigned,” the report said. “He's supporting a defense effort to get the charges against Jawad dismissed because of prosecutorial misconduct.
With his resignation, Vandeveld follows in the footsteps of at least three other military prosecutors, including former chief prosecutor, Col. Morris D. Davis, who ended up testifying for the defense.”
Graciously, the US Supreme Court allowed these young and innocent detainees to challenge the conditions and circumstances of their confinement. Even presidential candidate Barack Obama lauded the 5-4 decision:
“The Court's decision is a rejection of the Bush Administration's attempt to create a legal black hole at Guantanamo,” said Obama. “This is an important step toward reestablishing our credibility as a nation committed to the rule of law… I voted against the Military Commissions Act because its sloppiness would inevitably lead to the Court, once again, rejecting the Administration's extreme legal position.”
But US Congress still has its head in the sand, while court decision, after court decision, clearly indicates that there is something rotten in Guantanamo?
Eddie Griffin
http://eddiegriffinbasg.blogspot.com/
http://rootsofhumanity.blogspot.com/
COPY TO:
Magnus Bergmar, Executive Director. Children’s World
magnus.bergmar@childrensworld.org
World’s Children’s Prize for the Rights of the Child
Box 150, S-647 24 Mariefred, Sweden
UNITED NATIONS
HUMAN RIGHTS
Ursula Wynhoven
wynhoven@un.org
CC: unicef@unicef.se
The Child Protection Section
Programme Division UNICEF NY
childprotection@unicef.org
www.unicef.org
WASHINGTON, DC OFFICE
1224 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
P: (202) 225-7772
F: (202) 225-2919
U. S. Representative John Conyers
House Committee on the Judiciary
2138 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
P: (202) 225-3951
RE: Unlawful Detention at Guantanamo
Dear Congressman:
Please recall my May 29, 2008 correspondence to Congress, Open Tribunal Records on Child Soldier POWs, a copy of which was forwarded to your attention, concerning detainees at Guantanamo Bay.
In the correspondence, I raised some questions about the circumstances under which some of these prisoners were detained, particularly underage combatants, recognized by UN standards as Child Soldiers.
However, I had no idea of this recent development where innocent Muslims were detained for years. (Source:“Judge orders release of Chinese Muslims in US”, by Hope Yen, Star-Telegram)
U.S. District Judge Ricardo M. Urbina ordered the Bush administration Tuesday to immediately free 17 Chinese Muslims from Guantanamo Bay into the United States... Over the objections of government lawyers, Urbina ordered their release in Washington D.C. by Friday.
“Because the Constitution prohibits indefinite detentions without cause, the continued detention is unlawful… I think the moment has arrived for the court to shine the light of constitutionality on the reasons for the detention,” Urbina said.
At issue is whether a federal judge has the authority to order the release of Guantanamo prisoners who were unlawfully detained by the U.S. and cannot be sent back to their homeland. The Uighurs, who are Turkic-speaking Muslims in western China, have been cleared for release from Guantanamo since 2004 and ordinarily would have been sent home.
“How many times does the Bush administration need to be told that detainees are entitled to essential rights? All the remaining detainees in Guantanamo Bay must be either charged and tried or released immediately,” said Larry Cox, executive director of Amnesty International USA.
I called your attention specifically to children falsely detained and branded as “terrorists”, specifically the cases of Mohamed el Gharani and Omar Khadr, ages 14 and 15 at the time of their detention, along with 37 other underage detainees in Guantanamo listed by the International Red Cross.
More recently, I brought up the story about Lt. Col. Darrel Vandeveld, a former Guanatamo prosecutor, who resigned and later requested immunity to testify on behalf of the defense against the government in the case of Mohammed Jawad, another teenager, accused of terrorism by tossing a grenade into a military jeep in Kabul in 2002, injuring two US soldiers and their Afghan interpreter.
If allowed, Col. Vandeveld would have testified how the government withheld evidence from the defense that would have proven Jawad’s innocence. Instead, his testimony was disallowed, and military sent the colonel to have a psychological evaluation.
According to a report by J.D. Tuccille, Civil Liberties Examiner, Col. Darrel Vandeveld also raises the possibility that Jawad was mistreated in custody -- specifically, by being subjected to sleep-deprivation.
“Vandeveld hasn't just resigned,” the report said. “He's supporting a defense effort to get the charges against Jawad dismissed because of prosecutorial misconduct.
With his resignation, Vandeveld follows in the footsteps of at least three other military prosecutors, including former chief prosecutor, Col. Morris D. Davis, who ended up testifying for the defense.”
Graciously, the US Supreme Court allowed these young and innocent detainees to challenge the conditions and circumstances of their confinement. Even presidential candidate Barack Obama lauded the 5-4 decision:
“The Court's decision is a rejection of the Bush Administration's attempt to create a legal black hole at Guantanamo,” said Obama. “This is an important step toward reestablishing our credibility as a nation committed to the rule of law… I voted against the Military Commissions Act because its sloppiness would inevitably lead to the Court, once again, rejecting the Administration's extreme legal position.”
But US Congress still has its head in the sand, while court decision, after court decision, clearly indicates that there is something rotten in Guantanamo?
Eddie Griffin
http://eddiegriffinbasg.blogspot.com/
http://rootsofhumanity.blogspot.com/
COPY TO:
Magnus Bergmar, Executive Director. Children’s World
magnus.bergmar@childrensworld.org
World’s Children’s Prize for the Rights of the Child
Box 150, S-647 24 Mariefred, Sweden
UNITED NATIONS
HUMAN RIGHTS
Ursula Wynhoven
wynhoven@un.org
CC: unicef@unicef.se
The Child Protection Section
Programme Division UNICEF NY
childprotection@unicef.org
www.unicef.org
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
A LETTER TO SARAH PALIN
sarah@ci.wasilla.ak.us
cc TO NETWORK
DEBATE DAY
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
RE: Why I Fear Sarah Palin: Pit Bull Attack Dog
Dear Sarah Palin,
The Revolution of the 1960s is over and we are supposed to be a reconciled nation. But Sarah Palin, you have dug up old bones and revived hurt feelings.
Who is a “domestic terrorist”? Is Palin suggesting putting Bill Ayers back onto the government’s Enemy List, because he was a former member of the Weather Underground?
OMG! If Sarah Palin were in office, how many of us would go on the “domestic terrorist” list? It frightening to think: if she considers the 1960s Weather Underground a “domestic terrorist” group, what would she think of Eddie Griffin, former Black Panther?
Then it dawned on me who Palin and McCain call “terrorists”. That’s what they called us Panthers. Hate groups, they said. In reality, the Black Panthers were the most positive and protective force in the black community, combating a regime of racism.
Remember “Racism”? That’s the rose-colored prism through which Sarah Palin sees terrorism.
Who is a terrorist?
Is Mohamed el Gharani a terrorist, arrested in Karachi in October 2001, at age 14, and now confined in Guantanamo?
Is Omar Khadr a terrorists, arrested in 2002, at age 15, accused of killing a US soldier with a grenade in July 2002?
You can call them “terrorists” if you wish. But they are no more than Children? Now you want to try them like dogs and confine them for life.
The International Red Cross reports another 37 inmates were under the age of 18 when they were seized. One detainee, an al-Jazeera journalist called Sami el Hajj, has identified 36 juveniles in Guantanamo. The Independent World reports as many as 60 juveniles are incarcerated there.
If the young children can be branded as “terrorist”, and the innocent can be criminalized, what would stop a Palin administration from putting former Black Panthers on the “domestic terrorist” list? How much more arbitrary can power get?
Sincerely, Eddie Griffin,
Former Black Panther and international Political Prisoner of Conscious (1977)
cc TO NETWORK
DEBATE DAY
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
RE: Why I Fear Sarah Palin: Pit Bull Attack Dog
Dear Sarah Palin,
The Revolution of the 1960s is over and we are supposed to be a reconciled nation. But Sarah Palin, you have dug up old bones and revived hurt feelings.
Who is a “domestic terrorist”? Is Palin suggesting putting Bill Ayers back onto the government’s Enemy List, because he was a former member of the Weather Underground?
OMG! If Sarah Palin were in office, how many of us would go on the “domestic terrorist” list? It frightening to think: if she considers the 1960s Weather Underground a “domestic terrorist” group, what would she think of Eddie Griffin, former Black Panther?
Then it dawned on me who Palin and McCain call “terrorists”. That’s what they called us Panthers. Hate groups, they said. In reality, the Black Panthers were the most positive and protective force in the black community, combating a regime of racism.
Remember “Racism”? That’s the rose-colored prism through which Sarah Palin sees terrorism.
Who is a terrorist?
Is Mohamed el Gharani a terrorist, arrested in Karachi in October 2001, at age 14, and now confined in Guantanamo?
Is Omar Khadr a terrorists, arrested in 2002, at age 15, accused of killing a US soldier with a grenade in July 2002?
You can call them “terrorists” if you wish. But they are no more than Children? Now you want to try them like dogs and confine them for life.
The International Red Cross reports another 37 inmates were under the age of 18 when they were seized. One detainee, an al-Jazeera journalist called Sami el Hajj, has identified 36 juveniles in Guantanamo. The Independent World reports as many as 60 juveniles are incarcerated there.
If the young children can be branded as “terrorist”, and the innocent can be criminalized, what would stop a Palin administration from putting former Black Panthers on the “domestic terrorist” list? How much more arbitrary can power get?
Sincerely, Eddie Griffin,
Former Black Panther and international Political Prisoner of Conscious (1977)
Monday, October 6, 2008
Obama on McCain & The Keating Five
Obama Campaign Hits Back at McCain With Keating Five Web Video
by Julianna Goldman
Oct. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Barack Obama, after attacks on his character and past associations, is hitting back by highlighting John McCain's ties to the ``Keating Five'' savings-and-loan scandal that embroiled the Republican presidential nominee in the 1980s.
David Plouffe, Obama's campaign manager, e-mailed millions of supporters on Oct. 5 directing them to a new Web site, keatingeconomics.com, dedicated to McCain's ties to the scandal. It features a 30-second Web advertisement and beginning at noon Washington time the site will also host a 13-minute documentary called ``Keating Economics: John McCain and the Making of a Financial Crisis'' produced by the campaign. [Excerpt from http://news.yahoo.com/s/bloomberg/20081006/pl_bloomberg/ayvd2e8yyjg]
Keating Economics: John McCain and the Making of a Financial Crisis
by Julianna Goldman
Oct. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Barack Obama, after attacks on his character and past associations, is hitting back by highlighting John McCain's ties to the ``Keating Five'' savings-and-loan scandal that embroiled the Republican presidential nominee in the 1980s.
David Plouffe, Obama's campaign manager, e-mailed millions of supporters on Oct. 5 directing them to a new Web site, keatingeconomics.com, dedicated to McCain's ties to the scandal. It features a 30-second Web advertisement and beginning at noon Washington time the site will also host a 13-minute documentary called ``Keating Economics: John McCain and the Making of a Financial Crisis'' produced by the campaign. [Excerpt from http://news.yahoo.com/s/bloomberg/20081006/pl_bloomberg/ayvd2e8yyjg]
Keating Economics: John McCain and the Making of a Financial Crisis
Friday, October 3, 2008
Columnist Jack Z on Rep. Kay Granger
To: Jack Z. Smith, editorialist Star-Telegram
jzsmith@star-telegram.com
RE: This bailout bill gets fatter and fatter, and poor Kay cannot resist more pork
Dear Jack Z. Smith,
Please send me a copy of your article, “Granger Speaks Candidly on the President and the Economy” (Star-Telegram, October 3, 2008), since it does not appear online (for obvious reasons, of course).
Jack, I share your sentiments when you wrote: Granger, 65, was a good mayor of Fort Worth, (a capacity which you and I observed). She is likable, hard-working and generally intelligent.
But I’ve been disappointed in her overly conservative voting record in Congress and fealty to Bush, who will leave with a legacy of big budget deficits, a foolish and costly war in Iraq, wrongheaded tax policy, reckless spending and skewed spending priorities.
Eddie Griffin Commentary
In hindsight, Kay Granger criticized the administration’s lack of an effective plan for occupying Iraq… expressed doubts about her early support for the invasion and acknowledged that America was guilty of “taking our eye off Afghanistan” as a result of invading Iraq.
But what confounds me is this: Granger called Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson’s introduction of a financial bailout proposal “the worst rollout of a plan that I have ever seen…”
And what does Ms. Kay do? She voted YES, a cardinal sin against her own conscious. If she thought the Paulson Bailout as “the worst rollout of a plan”, she should have voted NO.
JACK:
This is as classic case of lunacy. Call it the MOONSTRUCK Effect. Now will she confess how wrong she has been in the past on these issues her family, friends, and supporters?
To say, “I hope that I am wrong,” when preparing to cast a vote on one of the most important bills in history, Kay Granger must be moonstruck to lunacy.
Like a woman who cannot loose weight, Kay Granger ate the kahuna of the Paulson Bailout Plan like a pig… lock, stock, and barrel, even at the warning of her colleague Michael Burgess. Even worse, this bailout bill gets fatter and fatter, and poor Kay cannot resist more pork, already $700 million dollars FAT.
Kay Granger cannot lead with 20/20 Hindsight.
Sincerely,
Eddie Griffin
http://eddiegriffinbasg.blogspot.com/
jzsmith@star-telegram.com
RE: This bailout bill gets fatter and fatter, and poor Kay cannot resist more pork
Dear Jack Z. Smith,
Please send me a copy of your article, “Granger Speaks Candidly on the President and the Economy” (Star-Telegram, October 3, 2008), since it does not appear online (for obvious reasons, of course).
Jack, I share your sentiments when you wrote: Granger, 65, was a good mayor of Fort Worth, (a capacity which you and I observed). She is likable, hard-working and generally intelligent.
But I’ve been disappointed in her overly conservative voting record in Congress and fealty to Bush, who will leave with a legacy of big budget deficits, a foolish and costly war in Iraq, wrongheaded tax policy, reckless spending and skewed spending priorities.
Eddie Griffin Commentary
In hindsight, Kay Granger criticized the administration’s lack of an effective plan for occupying Iraq… expressed doubts about her early support for the invasion and acknowledged that America was guilty of “taking our eye off Afghanistan” as a result of invading Iraq.
But what confounds me is this: Granger called Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson’s introduction of a financial bailout proposal “the worst rollout of a plan that I have ever seen…”
And what does Ms. Kay do? She voted YES, a cardinal sin against her own conscious. If she thought the Paulson Bailout as “the worst rollout of a plan”, she should have voted NO.
JACK:
This is as classic case of lunacy. Call it the MOONSTRUCK Effect. Now will she confess how wrong she has been in the past on these issues her family, friends, and supporters?
To say, “I hope that I am wrong,” when preparing to cast a vote on one of the most important bills in history, Kay Granger must be moonstruck to lunacy.
Like a woman who cannot loose weight, Kay Granger ate the kahuna of the Paulson Bailout Plan like a pig… lock, stock, and barrel, even at the warning of her colleague Michael Burgess. Even worse, this bailout bill gets fatter and fatter, and poor Kay cannot resist more pork, already $700 million dollars FAT.
Kay Granger cannot lead with 20/20 Hindsight.
Sincerely,
Eddie Griffin
http://eddiegriffinbasg.blogspot.com/
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Whatever will make this Lame Duck float?
By Eddie Griffin
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
Before the Bailout Rescue Plan come to the table, let me make these recommendation a Homeowner Bailout Plan before Wall Street Bailout.
I APPROVE the proposal to raise the F.D.I.C. limit to $250,000 with an optimistic outlook for incomes and deposit levels of the future. The average American today has nowhere that amount of liquidity. But raising the limit will allow some depositors to escape from risky money market accounts to safe, government-insured havens.
The real solution begins with stopping the bleeding, i.e. the implosion of the housing market. Instead of allowing financial institutions and banks to peel off their non-performing assets, such as foreclosed properties, and sell them to the U.S. government and leave the tax payers stuck with the glut of empty houses, we should utilize the original mortgage bailout provisions, and our equity in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, to relieve homeowner now on the brink of foreclosure by re-financing their loans over a longer period of time, and keep mortgage payment at about the same rate.
This will allow homeowners to save their homes and make their payments. The original mortgage holders will be bought out by the American taxpayer, at current market rate, and not at inflated book value.
Seeing that financial institutions cannot implement the mortgage bailout plan already on the books because of the way mortgage loans are packaged and leveraged, the government is better situated to re-finance homeowners’ loan, because of our ownership of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. In fact, it would be better to first buy out the private investors in those institutions. Otherwise, those who created the housing problem would be rewarded by the government equity stake riding the market up, or having the government bail them if it these institutions tank.
Wall Street can pay their executives whatsoever they wish, as long as the taxpayer’s money is not involved or put at risk. With government loans and risk must comes government oversight and new regulations. The more asked, the more risk, the more oversight is necessary, and more equity should go to the taxpayer. Otherwise, let Wall Street borrow from China, or wherever else financial executives have their offshore accounts.
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
Before the Bailout Rescue Plan come to the table, let me make these recommendation a Homeowner Bailout Plan before Wall Street Bailout.
I APPROVE the proposal to raise the F.D.I.C. limit to $250,000 with an optimistic outlook for incomes and deposit levels of the future. The average American today has nowhere that amount of liquidity. But raising the limit will allow some depositors to escape from risky money market accounts to safe, government-insured havens.
The real solution begins with stopping the bleeding, i.e. the implosion of the housing market. Instead of allowing financial institutions and banks to peel off their non-performing assets, such as foreclosed properties, and sell them to the U.S. government and leave the tax payers stuck with the glut of empty houses, we should utilize the original mortgage bailout provisions, and our equity in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, to relieve homeowner now on the brink of foreclosure by re-financing their loans over a longer period of time, and keep mortgage payment at about the same rate.
This will allow homeowners to save their homes and make their payments. The original mortgage holders will be bought out by the American taxpayer, at current market rate, and not at inflated book value.
Seeing that financial institutions cannot implement the mortgage bailout plan already on the books because of the way mortgage loans are packaged and leveraged, the government is better situated to re-finance homeowners’ loan, because of our ownership of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. In fact, it would be better to first buy out the private investors in those institutions. Otherwise, those who created the housing problem would be rewarded by the government equity stake riding the market up, or having the government bail them if it these institutions tank.
Wall Street can pay their executives whatsoever they wish, as long as the taxpayer’s money is not involved or put at risk. With government loans and risk must comes government oversight and new regulations. The more asked, the more risk, the more oversight is necessary, and more equity should go to the taxpayer. Otherwise, let Wall Street borrow from China, or wherever else financial executives have their offshore accounts.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
