G.O.P. Is the New Black?

In late October, the Houston-based group Raging Elephants put up the billboard above in Houston, TX and Dayton, OH.  Raging Elephants is the same organization behind the grossly misleading (if not flat out dishonest) "MLK Was A Republican" billboards put up in summer 2009 and earlier this year.

The first clip below is from a discussion between community activist Quanell X and Republican Judge Michael Fields that took place on a late October newscast of a Fox affiliate out of Houston. You can read the accompanying story by clicking here.



Meanwhile, in parts of Houston with a mostly Black population, fliers were recently handed out to voters claiming that voting a straight Democratic ticket is actually a vote for the Republicans. The flier states that the group responsible for the flier is the Black Democratic Trust of Texas.  However, it appears that no such group even exists! The following clip is from a news story on the Fake flier controversy by ABC's Houston affiliate.




If the GOP is serious about reaching out to the black community, I'm all for it.  However, it's going to take more than superficial billboards.  I often hear conservatives/Republicans say that the GOP is a big tent open to everyone. Sure it is.  From what I've seen, recent history indicates the GOP intends to use one of those tent poles to stab blacks, Latinos, the GLBT community, etc. in the back.  Or are they aiming lower?  Ouch!!

NPR Terminates Popular News Analyst After Remarks about Muslims

Well it seems that someone has fallen victim in the aftermath of the comments made by Bill O'Reilly on The View last week. O'Reilly gathered with invited political analysts to discuss his appearance on The View. Juan Williams, a popular news analyst, with an extensive background in civil rights reporting, made an unfavorable statement about Muslims. Williams stated, "I mean, look, Bill, I'm not a bigot. You know the kind of books I've written about the Civil Rights movement in this country," Williams said. "But when I get on a plane, I got to tell you, if I see people who are in Muslim garb and I think, you know, they are identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous." Read the article here.

I would like to pose these questions: Should Mr. Williams have been terminated for his statement? Is he just voicing the sentiments felt by most Americans?

Joy Behar and Whoopi Goldberg Walk Off The Set Of The View

Last week Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar got into a very heated exchange with Bill O'Reilly on The View over the building of a Mosque in New York City, near ground zero. O'Reilly stated that polls taken revealed that 70% percent of Americans do not want the Mosque built and he further stated that "Muslims killed us on 911". Is Bill O'Reilly an extremist racist? Should the two women have walked off until he apologized? Does comments such as the ones made by O'Reilly help to create a climate of hate, anomosity, and hostility toward an entire culture?

Guest Post At Helloooo...... Mr. President, are you listening??

Sue (the author of the progressive blog "Helloooo...... Mr. President, are you listening??") asked me if I'd be interested in writing a guest post for her. After reading a post written by a conservative blogger about the Congressional Black Caucus, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and other minority-focused institutions, Sue asked if I wanted to write a rebuttal.  You can click here to read my guest post.   I hope you are able to join in on the discussion.