The Race Card- Never Leave the Beltway Without It

Attorney General Eric Holder attributed growing calls for his resignation over the Fast & Furious debacle to a "more extreme segment" that is motivated by racism in an interview with the New York Times that was published over the weekend.

In his Times interview, Holder again attacked the media who are covering the scandal. “Mr. Holder contended that many of his other critics — not only elected Republicans but also a broader universe of conservative commentators and bloggers — were instead playing ‘Washington gotcha’ games, portraying them as frequently ‘conflating things, conveniently leaving some stuff out, construing things to make it seem not quite what it was’ to paint him and other department figures in the worst possible light,” Times reporter Charlie Savage wrote in the front page Sunday Times story.

Holder has told the House Oversight Committee that he was unaware of the ATF's Operation Fast & Furious until earlier this year, despite e-mail records showing that his office was regularly briefed about the operation on an ongoing basis.

Fast & Furious allowed suspected straw purchasers to buy quantities of long guns legally on the American side of the border before smuggling them across the border into Mexico where they ended up in the hands of Mexican drug cartels. Field-level ATF agents in Arizona were ordered by their superiors to allow the guns to 'walk' across the border, where at least 300 of them have shown up at murder scenes- including the death of US Border Patrol agent Brian Terry last year.

Well....lesser men would've no doubt copped to either incompetence or perjury, Eric "America is a nation of cowards on race" Holder decided to use his skin color to try and get himself one 'Get out of colossal fuckup free' cards, as though Holder and Obama's critics would be fine if it were a white Attorney General facilitating the transfer of American guns to the most dangerous criminal organizations in the Western hemisphere.

Holder's Justice Department has also taken the state of Arizona to Federal court last year over their statewide SB 1070 bill designed to curb illegal immigration, despite never having read the bill himself.

More recently, Holder's Justice Department has reportedly partnered up with the supposedly moribund ACORN to mount a series of legal challenges to the latest round of redistricting and recently passed voter ID legislation in Wisconsin or Texas.

Curiously, Holder and the DoJ didn't seem anywhere near as concerned about New York or Illinois' inability to send off absentee ballots to military personnel in time for last year's midterm elections.

Connecticut State Police Release Warehouse Shooter's 911 Audio; Vigil Held in Manchester; Zero Discrimination Claims Against Hartford Distributors

Connecticut State Police last week released audio from a 911 call by a man identifying himself as the Hartford Distributors gunman, Omar Thornton.

In the beginning of the call, Thornton said, "I took it into my own hands and handled the problem. I wish I could have got more of the people."

In the call, Thornton sounds calm as he told police why he said he went on a shooting rampage inside the warehouse. "They treat me bad over here. They treat all black people bad over here," Thornton said.

Thornton also made similar claims in a final phone call to his family before offing himself. Since the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette saw it fit to point out how cop-killer Richard Poplawski (who, unfortunately is still among the living) voted McCain-Palin in the 2008 Presidential elections, then I think mentioning Omar Thornton's affinity and enthusiasm for President Obama is fair game as well.

Thornton [and his mother] were especially excited when Barack Obama was elected the first African American president, Hannah said. He listed Obama and the gun range among his interests on his Facebook page.

Meanwhile, the horribly racist and evil company that did bigoted things like hiring a black employee such as Thornton at the beginning of a substantial recession had exactly zero racial complaints filed against it in the past decade according to the US Equal Opportunity Employment Commission and Connecticut Commission on Human Rights. One black employee who retired from Hartford Distributors in March said he never experienced any sort of racial discrimination in his two decades of working for the company. A company spokesman noted that about 20% of Hartford Distributors workforce are minorities. [Of course, in wonderful Ultra Blue state liberal-land, any absence of evidence of discrimination against Thornton is somehow proof positive of systematic discrimination- NANESB!].

I will say this right here and now. The racism accusations are a very malicious, fucked-up and transparent attempt by Thornton's loved ones to try and deflect attention from the fact that he was caught red-handed stealing from his employer and subsequently murdered eight of his co-workers. Omar's skin pigment is not a 'get out of responsibility free' card.

Friends and family of the murdered were among 500 mourners who had gathered at Manchester's Center Springs Park for a candlelight vigil on Sunday. Local religious leaders began the vigil with a prayer and a violinist played Amazing Grace as hundreds of candles were lit by attendees. Manchester town manager Scott Shanley described the vigil as a 'pretty good end to an awful, awful week'.

In other developments, police in East Windsor CT arrested a 33 year old Enfield, CT woman identified as the person videotaped accepting stolen beer from Thornton. Christy Quail was charged with larceny for theft on Friday, according to E. Windsor police chief Edward DeMarco. The videotaped theft of beer was what led to Thornton's resignation immediately prior to his killing spree.

Grim Milestone Watch: The 'Teachable Moment' and Beer Summit One Year Later

Today marks the one year anniversary of the highly contrived White House Beer Summit, a meeting where Harvard Professor Skip Gates, Cambridge MA Sgt. James Crowley and President Obama all got together at the White House for a beer to resolve whatever lingering animosity following Professor Gates' July 16, 2009 arrest for disorderly conduct at his Cambridge, MA residence and the President's ignorant and ill-advised comments basically calling the Cambridge Police officer a stupid racist.
Theoretically that argument would've flown if it was some hotheaded rookie who simply felt like throwing his weight around and being a dick, but Sgt. James Crowley's credentials were very impressive- so much so that he was selected by a black police commissioner as an instructor on avoiding racial profiling at the Lowell, MA police academy and as a campus police officer had tried unsuccessfully reviving the Celtics' Reggie Lewis after suffering a fatal heart attack on the campus of Brandeis University in 1993.

When it became clear that President Obama stepped in a big steaming cowpie by speaking up in defence of one of his Ivy-league friends before -by his own admission- he had all the facts, Obama's supporters in the media tried establishing the narrative that whoever called 911 was in fact the true racist.

As it turns out, the 911 call was placed by Lucia Whalen, who saw two men forcing their way into Gates' residence from a distance and- when prompted by the dispatcher- couldn't describe them by ethnicity or skin color, and in fact said that it could be nothing more than the homeowners having a difficult time with the keys.

According to the arrest report, when Sgt. Crowey and another officer arrived at the house told Gates that he was responding to a reported break-in Gates simply yelled back "Why? Because I'm a black man in America?" before eventually producing a Harvard ID. Despite claiming in a July 21, 2009 interview in The Root that he was incapable of yelling due to a bronchial infection. Gates is heard yelling in the background numerous times in Sgt Crowley's radio transmissions with the dispatcher. Gates the reportedly followed Crowley outside, still yelling and apparently pulling some race-baiting diva 'Do you know who I am?' crap at which point he was arrested for disorderly conduct before being released later that night.

Despite criticism from the Mayor of Cambridge, Gov. Patrick and President Obama, Crowley refused to apologize. Sgt. Leon Lashley, a black Cambridge police officer who was on the scene, said he supported Crowley's actions '100%' and felt the encounter would've gone differently if he was the one to show up first and ask Gates for his ID. Many of Cambridge's officers publicly came out in support of Crowley immediately after Obama's 'acted stupidly' comment, including several black patrolmen and detectives on the force.

In an attempt to spin his gaffe as a 'teachable moment', Obama offered to 'mediate' the dispute by inviting both Gates and Sgt. Crowley to the White House for some beers. The meeting- known as the 'Beer Summit' took place on July 30th 2009.

And from that day forward, there was no more racial division in America. That one moment healed centuries of tensions and ill-will in this land of ours, and 'Civil Rights' groups and liberal journalists no longer used racism as a club with which they would beat over the heads of political foes. Nosiree....the days of baseless accusations of racism being hurled about by various groups had long since passed. And we all have the beer summit to thank for that, courtesy of our first-EVAH 'post-racial' president.

Or at least that's how the hacks at the MSM and Journo-list were spinning this dog and pony show one year ago. At the time, I remember thinking 'If the president got it wrong on a matter that would hardly make the police blotter of a small-town newspaper, why should I believe he'll get it right on more critical issues on national significance?'. His response to the Deepwater Horizon spill, Fort Hood shootings, attempted Christmas day bombing of the Northwest Airlines flight over Detroit, the attempted Times Square bombing and the deteriorating situation along the US/Mexican border seems to reinforce this.

To Henry Gates' credit, he penned an op-ed piece earlier this year explaining why reparations for slavery would be untenable given the considerable participation of African tribes in the slave trade.

Happy Anniversary! One Year Ago This Week, Sen. Boxer Unsuccessfully Plays Race Card to Sell Cap & Trade to Black Chamber of Commerce CEO

Between this week's Tea-Party/NAACP spat and an apparently race-based kerfuffle involving video of a black USDA appointee seemingly bragging about doing far less than she could to help a white farmer (followed by a much more complete and less damning video released yesterday, although it's worth noting that the crowd of NAACP members seemed to react approvingly to the first part of her tale) it's almost easy to overlook the fact that this week is the one year anniversary of another racially-tinged political spat that involved another iffy NAACP proclamation.

This is Harry Alford speaking with Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) on July 16th last year. Mr. Alford is the President and CEO of the National Black Chamber of Commerce and had gone to Capitol Hill to explain the adverse effect that the Waxman Markey Bill (also known as the American Clean Energy & Security Act of 2009 or simply Cap & Trade) would have on businesses- particularly the burdensome regulations and onerous taxes would have an adverse on economic development nationwide, and in the black business community in particular.

Sen. Boxer attempts to placate Mr. Alford by pointing out that the NAACP had come out and issued a statement in support of the Wakman-Markey Bill. As you can hear from the video clip, she doesn't get alot of traction with that particular endorsement. In fact, one could say that it backfires on her.....big time.

One year later, Sen. Boxer is suddenly facing a more competitive race then she anticipated in her bid to get re-elected in her very blue state (with 12.3% unemployment, I might add) with Obama ignoring the economy and Gulf oil spill to fly out to San Francisco to raise funds for her.

Elsewhere, the National Black Chamber of Commerce- with Mr. Alford not going anywhere as the CEO- still isn't sold on the Waxman-Markey bill (which did pass the House last summer).

It's good to see that recognizing god-awful, economy killing legislation that would punish anybody who used electricity or goods shipped by truck, rail, airfreight or maritime shipping should know no ethnic boundaries. For what it's worth, the NBCC is having their annual convention in Houston this upcoming week.

Jealous Much? NAACP Chief Backpedals (Somewhat) After Issuing Condemnation of Tea Party 'Racism'

I am afraid that there is a certain class of race-problem solvers who don't want the patient to get well, because as long as the disease holds out they have not only an easy means of making a living, but also an easy medium through which to make themselves prominent before the public.

- Booker T Washington; My Larger Education, Being Chapters from My Experience (1911)

The NAACP held its convention in Kansas City this week, which included the following resolution that was voted on:

delegates attending the annual NAACP convention in Kansas City, call upon “all people of good will to repudiate the racism of the Tea Parties, and to stand in opposition to its drive to push our country back to the pre-civil rights era.”

Jealous later had this to say when addressing the convention:

“Expel the bigots and racists in your ranks or take the responsibility for them and their actions,” Jealous said. “We will no longer allow you to hide like cowards and hide behind signs that say ‘Lynch Our President’ or anyone else.”

Besides the few but well-publicized racist and provocative signs that have shown up at Tea Party rallies, Jealous' statement are based in large part on the yet-to-be-proven allegations that black lawmakers were spat upon and called racial epithets immediately prior to the March 20th 0bamacare vote. Curiously, there were those in the lawmaker's entourage who were filming the crowd on their way to the vote, yet they have not stepped forward to collect the $10,000 bounty offered by conservative online columnist Andrew Breitbart for video or audio of such an incident- despite a preponderance of camerphones and video cameras among both the lawmakers, journalists and protesters that day.

Jealous then walked back his comments on Thursday claiming that the NAACP resolution never explicitly called the Tea Party 'racist'. Yet the initial draft published by the Kansas City Star (quoted above) and his address to attendees seem to indicate otherwise.

Let me put it to you in these terms, Mr. Jealous. Prior to the April 15th Tea Party protests, word was circulating of infiltrators planning on crashing the gatherings with racist or inflammatory signs to discredit the Tea Party in general. At the one and only gathering I've been to so far, some of the attendees were pretty quick to gather around somebody holding up a 'THE MOON LANDING WAS FAKED!' sign with little bright pink arrows that read 'Phony'. And you're somehow expecting me to believe these same people in the Tea Party who were all over Mr. Mooninite would've just shrugged it off if somebody else showed up at the rally with a 'LYNCH THE PRESIDENT' sign?

Of course! How else would this explain the warm reception this neo-nazi got at a St. Louis Tea Party?

Of course the other problem with the NAACP's 'stop-beating-your-wife-already' style resolution is that even before President Obama won the election, the definition of 'racism' has become quite malleable.

The “socialist” label that Sen. John McCain and his GOP presidential running mate Sarah Palin are trying to attach to Sen. Barack Obama actually has long and very ugly historical roots.

Using that line of reasoning, I guess 55% of the respondents to this Carvelle poll are raaaaacists, too. Having said that, if the Tea Party really were comprised of racists and Klansmen, maybe President Obama would have some kinder words for them like he had for a recently departed Kleagle in the KKK:

“And as I reflect on the full sweep of his 92 years, it seems to me that his life bent towards justice,” Obama said. “Like the Constitution he tucked in his pocket, like our nation itself, Robert Byrd possessed that quintessential American quality, and that is a capacity to change, a capacity to learn, a capacity to listen, a capacity to be made more perfect.”

Unless, of course, you apparently lack that capacity if you oppose the President's Financial 'reform', healthcare 'reform', Cap and Trade or Card Check. In which case, you're all a bunch of mean, no good racists- every last one of you.

Go ahead- just ask the NAACP.