This White House just can't get their spin straight, or the economy, or the environment, or ________________  (Fill in the blank).

Here we go again, republicans playing the race card. 

I wonder if Orrin Hatch ever spoke with now deceased Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall about his inability to get a cab in DC because he was black?

EMAIL: Glen Ford, Co-Publisher www.blackcommentator.com

Dear Ms. Casey:

Sen. Specter...said, on c-span (today), that our cartoon "backfired." Not on BC, it didn't. (The poor Boondocks cartoonist got censored by the Washington Post, last week, for doing a Condoleezza Rice cartoon that was far too tame for us. I wonder how he felt about all the exposure we got?)

But you know the territory. May we share your letter and link with the readership?

Sincerely,

Glen Ford, Co-publisher
www.BlackCommentator.com

Dear Mr. Ford,

I would be honored to have my email posted on your site.

I will be posting a (photo)cartoon of Hatch holding up "the cartoon" in today's edition.

The bad news is Hatch is playing the race card. The good news is he brought many new viewers to your website, including me.

Thank you for the work your site does.

Take care.

Lisa

"But I did say to President Bush, 'Respect Australia. Return the Australians to this nation for justice and if you respect the world's laws, the world will respect you.'"
 -Sen. Bob Brown - Australian Greens Party

EMAIL:

Dear Lisa,

You quote Laura Ingraham's new book Shut Up and Sing:

"Meet the elites.
They think you’re stupid. They think all freedom loving Americans are stupid. They think patriotism is stupid. They think churchgoing is stupid. They think flag-flying is stupid. They despise families with more than two children."
Is this pure blather or what? - Lisa

The real point of this statement, I think, isn't it's literal meaning, which doesn't even rise to the level of blather. The real point is the attempt to make ordinary Americans think that they are the object of progressive criticism. Those of us who are seriously critical of American society and government need always to be very careful not to blame ordinary Americans for problems that stem from the party line of official government or corporate politics.

Specifically in this Ingraham quote, yes I think what is officially promoted as patriotism is stupid--or worse, criminal. But ordinary "patriotic Americans," as Ingraham would call them, are far more victims of a society that indoctrinates us with this "patriotism" from womb to tomb. We all succumb to this indoctrination to some extent and in one way or another, and we're not stupid.

Ingraham's statement is an attempt to put a wedge between people who see through an aspect of the indoctrination, and people who haven't yet. It's an attempt to stifle discussion and isolate critics.

On the other hand, the flag-waving, church-going, patriotic Americans have to be held accountable for their actions. They may not be the cause of US aggression in the Middle East or repression of dissent at home, but they are Americans living in what they would be the first to call a democratic country, and who therefore have every obligation to take a serious stand on the actions of this country. They are not stupid, but they are wrong, and we are right to say so: it is the only way to treat them with respect. Focused criticism of American politics and society opens windows that permit people to see problems and form their own views. This is precisely what Ingraham is trying to stop.

Cool site! Keep it up!

Peter Miller

Dear Peter,
Thank you so much for writing.
You said it much better than I. Eloquent.
Lisa
 

EMAIL:
Lisa,
I seem to have read that Dr. Berkland lost his license to practice in Missouri ( I believe) but this is hardly ever reported. I f this is incorrect I stand corrected, but if true all I can say that all bad pennies somehow wind up here!!
Ruth K. Gottlieb

Dear Ruth,
It is true.
Here is a link to the 1999 Northwest Florida Daily News on his 1st suspension http://www.nwfdailynews.com/archive/news/99/990720news2.html

Here is the link to his dismissal this past July http://www.wear3.com/news/Stories/June/0627/medicalexaminer0627.shtml

Isn't the Internet a wonderful thing?
Thanks for writing.

Lisa

"We'd like to do it with the approval and support of the Congress. We'd like to do it with the sanction of the international community. But the point on Iraq is this problem has to be dealt with one way or the other."
-Dick Cheney Sept 9 2003

It's been 766 days since Bush said he'd get Osama

Click here for BUZZFLASH's Osama Clock

The sun's corona is a tenuous outer atmosphere composed of streams of energetic charged particles, but it is only easily seen from Earth during a total solar eclipse. This 1991 image was taken from atop Mauna Kea, Hawaii. (NASA Photo - High Altitude Observatory, NCAR)

Peace.