13 YEAR OLD GIRL STRIP SEARCHED IN SCHOOL WINS SUPREME COURT CASE

I've been paying attention to this case involving Savana Redding, pictured above with her attorney Adam Wolf because I believe the "zero-tolerance" policy schools and the Police have adopted lead to the abuse of children and adults. Savana, when she was thirteen, was forced by school officials to strip to her underwear and shake out her panties because she was suspected of carrying two prescription Advil.

What the hell?!?

This Supreme Court (8 to 1, the only dissenter was Clarence Thomas, wtf?) ruling reinforces my belief. Whether the student is a girl or a boy, schools are dead wrong when they force frightened school kids into their underwear without parental consent, oversight, and complete control. Try this shit with my daughter or son.

It is time to end this policy that assumes the citizenry is guilty of a crime or to be held in suspicion because they just might commit a crime at any time!

The "Zero-Tolerance" policy especially gives licence to those in positions of authority to abuse the more vulnerable in our society, the poor, working families, minorities and children.

Congratulations to Savana Redding in her monumental victory.

Peace!
Read the rest of it on msnbc.com
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WATCH WHITE MALE APOPLEXY IN REAL TIME!! MORE STUPIDITY FROM THE GREAT WHITE RIGHT

I've been paying attention to the continuing circus that is our Supreme Court judicial nominee process. It has been four days since President Obama nominated Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, and the right has come out against her nomination, which is no surprise, as any President that nominates an individual to the high court is going to face opposition to their pick regardless of party affiliation. Dems will oppose Repub picks and vice-versa.

What I am watching is the way the right is opposing her nomination. For the past four days, and right now it is 6:09 am Pacific, all I have heard about is race issues (not judicial decision issues) from the Great White Right.

Before I begin indulge me as I interject a thought:
I considered ignoring this subject altogether unless something really outrageous (actually the behavior from the right IS outrageous, but it's so commonplace that it just seems normal) transpired, then of course I'd be all over it. The subject of race in the United States has become so predictable that it is just tiresome, especially when it comes from pampered, privilged white folk, or white folk that are broke as hell, and not interested in expanding their horizons by picking up a book, newspaper, or watching a t.v. show other than American Idol or some such drivel... *sigh* So here we go...

Sonia Sotomayor is an extraordinarily accomplished individual that happens to be a woman of Latin decent. She sees the world through her eyes, eyes that I'm confident have seen some shit while growing up in a South Bronx project by a single mother. Her dad died when she was nine. She has experiences that no white person could ever understand, and I daresay she has had experiences no one could relate to, unless they were walking in her shoes.

I believe this is a good thing. We now have, on the right, characters such as Newt Gingrich, Karl Rove, Glen Beck, showing their extraordinary fear and trepidation, (okay let's call it what it is: they are fucking tripping) because their vision of the Supreme Court DOES NOT include a Puerto Rican woman.

I laughed as I wrote that last sentence because it's just so damn funny!
So the aforementioned clowns are screaming about a statement Sotomayor made a few years ago. Here it is, courtesy of Media Matters:

"I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life,"

You decide. The right is screaming "Racism," that she is a "reverse racist!" I guess that means she is being a racist while driving in reverse or some shit like that. A sidebar Great White Right: There is no such thing as "reverse racism" you idiots. Either you are a racist or you're not. "Reverse racism" is a completely idiotic term that makes virtually no sense, much like the very life most of the Great White Right lead.

Okay, so Judge Sotomayor believe she has had experiences as a Latina that could help understand discrimination cases better than a white male. Big surprise. Of course she does! Growing up as a poor kid in the projects, you know damn good and well she has experienced racism against her on all sorts of levels. Racism that a white male has never experienced. There is such a thing as white privilege, white people en masse don't see it cause, well, it is white privilege, after all. So let's forge ahead and see what some of these privileged white folk have to say about this accomplished, articulate woman:

Glen Beck, from his radio show, thanks Media Matters:

Glen Beck cannot conceal his racism at all, when he condescendingly calls her a "Hispanic chick-lady."

Next-Newt Gingrich former speaker of the House, racist, Georgia:

"White man racist nominee would be forced to withdraw. Latina woman racist should also withdraw." The biggest problem Gingrich has is the fact that she is not white, or a Michael Steele type of Black man...

And the Big Boss Limbaugh: Racist Supreme and leader of the Republican Party, Olbermann breaks it down-

Thanks to Media Matters, MSNBC and Olbermann. If you didn't watch the clip, Limbaugh compared her to David Duke, from the Ku Klux Klan. (As a man from Arkansas that walked by smoldering crosses on black people's lawns in the town of Pocahontas on my way to work at Ramon's Grocery store, I can say this woman is no David Duke.)
The right wing has attacked Sotomayor for her heritage, for the food she eats, and some have even demanded she change the way her name is pronounced, make it more "anglicized." Batshit crazy, racist as hell, and it has to stop.

I'm not going to bother to post what Rove had to say, Search it out.
I realize that Obama has seriously offended the sensibilities of these pampered, privileged white folk, but they had better get used to it, 'cause these times they are a changin' and there aint no stopping it. And why would I want to live in a monochromatic world that's ruled by nut jobs with bad hair (or no hair) anyway? The biggest threat these people face, is a sea change in the status quo, and that terrifies their cowardly asses. Let's have Bob Dylan take us out, cause the times they really are changing...
Peace-

REPUBLICANS SHOW THEIR RACISM YET AGAIN

So Searchers, I'm sure you now know about the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court of the United States.

I don't personally have a problem with Judge Sotomayor, she was initially appointed to a seat by Bush 1, and elevated to another seat by Bill Clinton, so she clearly can appeal to both Repub and Dem. The snippets of her record that I have caught on the news channels, (MSNBC and CNN, Fixed News is nothing more than a Republican propaganda machine) as well as what I have read leads me to believe that she probably is not left-leaning enough to balance the ridiculous Antonin Scalia, or Ailito, or Roberts, or Thomas.

So Obama nominated a woman and a Latina at that. I say it is about time. (Not only do we need more women on the Court, we need more "Minorities" and those that understand what is like to not be a rich white "christian" man) The biggest problem bigots such as Newt Gingrich, Mitt (who the hell names their kid "Mitt" any damn way? and of course you know he named his kid "Tagg" wtf?) Romney, Rush Limbaugh, Karl Rove, is not her political record, although granted that may play a part, largely because she is "not conservative enough," (why must it be a pre-requisite to be a conservative to be on the court, especially with the abysmal track record of conservatives, both repub and dem in our country. Wake up! We are in the current crises because of the conservatives) but the real reasons are two-fold:

1. She is a woman, not a man. Specifically, not a rich white man.

2. She is Latina. Specifically, a Puerto Rican. However, the fact that she is Peurto Rican is only realized after being told that she isn't Mexican, which is where the majority of these clowns this all people of Latin decent hail from...*sigh* (I feel as though I need to apologize to the rest of the world for the lack of intellectual curiosity and percieved superiority of my fellow countrypeople)



Mike Huckabee, former governor of the failed state of Arkansas, summed up the Republican mindset with this snippet from his website:

"The appointment of Maria Sotomayor for the Supreme Court is the clearest indication yet that President Obama's campaign promises to be a centrist and think in a bipartisan way were mere rhetoric. "

Ah Mike Huckabee, the twice-elected governor of Arkansas, who evidently thinks all women of Latin decent must be named "Maria." I do not believe this screw-up of her name was a typo. It was a deliberate attempt to demean and marginalize Sonia Sotomayor. (See my post "Life in the Bible Belt: Would Jesus Abuse Immigrants?" )



His website has been updated, but that does not take away from the inherent racism this "christian" governor harbors. He is a fraud.

Newt Gingrich, and Rush Limbaugh, however, are not frauds. They are unabashed, obvious racists. See my October 24, 2008 post regarding racist Limbaugh quotes. Keep in mind this is the guy that runs the Republican Party from a radio studio in Florida.

So, congratulations, Ms. Sotomayor, on your historic nomination. I'm confident you will be confirmed, and when you are, use your position to balance this Reagan throwback, right wing court.

Peace-

Thanks to Huffington Post for turning me on to the latest stupid shit to come out of Huck-a-chuck's mouth...

Let me leave a post script here regarding Huckabee: This is an individual that was a Southern Baptist (think Jerry Falwell) minister in the state of Arkansas. Red Flag! When he took office, he launched a campaign of retaliation against his political opponents that included one Patrick Henry Flanagin of Forrest City, Arkansas. Pat Flanagin was a 22 year veteran of the state legislature, (and failed candidate for Forrest City, Ar mayor) serving as a state rep for 11 terms. That is, sponging off of the taxpayers and abusing his power for 22 years while elected, which has not stopped simply because he no longer holds an elected office.

Pat Flanagin and Mike Huckabee should have settled their differences in a field with dueling pistols, perhaps neither would have survived the duel. This would not have been a bad thing if the scenario would have played out in such a fashion.

Where I take exception to Huckabee (among other things) is when he attacks children regarding their school records because he dislikes the parents of particular children.

As mentioned above, Huckabee is a fraud. Pat Flanagin is a dipshit criminal that abandoned his oldest son and his daughter. He sent his namesake, "Junior" to exile. He attempted to bribe his son in law with money and a car after his puppet child, samuel "chris" flanagin (criminal, racist,) broke into his daughters' home and attempted to murder his son in law (the worthless shitheel was facing almost 20 years in prison.)



Both Huckabee and Pat Flana-fuckstick are the antithesis of what it means to be a Christian, (that is "christ-like") and they should both be locked in prison for what we know they did and let's add "for life" to that prison sentence for what they probably did, but we just don't know about yet.

PPS: Forrest City, Arkansas is named after the Confederate racist, Nathan Bedford Forrest, the "Arkansas Gem" that founded the Ku Klux Klan. It is an absolute shithole in the poverty stricken delta region of Arkansas. Interstate 40 runs through there, and if you're driving through, you better make sure you have insurance, tags, and a good lawyer, and ties to the ACLU cause if they start to fuck with you, it can be like fallng through a black hole. For example, just a few years ago, the sheriff of St. Francis county, of which Forrest City is the seat, cut the testicles off of an accused criminal, and displayed them on his desk in a jar. He was a close friend of Patrick Henry Flanagin, (D) Forrest City. Real classy folks.



Peace-



Thanks to the New York Times as well...