Good bye and good riddance to the rebel flag

Good bye and good riddance to the rebel flag

As a child of the 70's I have to admit that I'm a little surprised at how quickly and completely the rebel flag seems to be falling into the same untouchable category as the swastika. I didn't think we'd see the demise of the stars and bars in my lifetime. It has always been venerated by particularly showy and repugnant southern racists, but it has also been something else.
General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Tues., June 23, 2015

General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Tues., June 23, 2015

Sen. Patti Blevins: 1  NRA Lobbyist: 0. That's the result of one of the more unusual confrontations in recent Delaware legislative history. Unusual because it's so not 'Delaware Way'. And unusual because someone called out the NRA for lying. Also unusual because both Blevins and the lobbyist in question, Rich Armitage, do not generally court controversy. And most unusual in that the President Pro-Tem stated that Armitage "could have faced felony charges for his allegedly false testimony about closed door negotiations involving the gun rights group and the Attorney General's office over language regarding the marketing of firearm safety programs."
Monday Open Thread [6.22.15]

Monday Open Thread [6.22.15]

Can we please stop pretending that the modern GOP isn't a racist organization?
The leader of a white nationalist group cited in a chilling manifesto apparently written by the suspect in last week's massacre at a historic black church in Charleston, South Carolina donated thousands of dollars to Republican presidential candidates, campaign finance records show. The Guardian late Sunday first reported that Earl Holt III, the president of the Council of Concerned Citizens, donated to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY). The Council of Concerned Citizens is a white nationalist group based in St. Louis, Missouri
This current southern iteration of the Republican party is racist. Period. It is the Nixonian/Lee Atwater/southern strategy/ party of white grievances BY DESIGN. It doesn't try to conceal or deny it, so why does the media pretend it isn't?

The Freedmen’s Bureau Project

The 150th anniversary of Juneteenth was this past Friday, and on that day a major project was announced that would help African Americans reconnect with their Civil War era relatives. The Freedman's Bureau:
The Freedmen’s Bureau was organized to assist freedmen in 15 states and the District of Columbia after the war. The bureau opened schools, managed hospitals and gave support to an estimated 4 million slaves. The 1.5 million images released Friday are from the actual reports filed by the 900 agents of the Freedmen’s Bureau who were located across the country.
Saturday Open Thread [6.20.15]

Saturday Open Thread [6.20.15]

The news is full of stories of how people who should be the most concerned for justice for the 9 people killed by the terrorist Dylann Roof are working overtime to minimize his crime and to minimize the magnitude of his acts. This would be, of course, white privilege on display, still trying to minimize the value of black lives and minimize the crimes committed by white terrorists. So take a good look: