There's nothing more inevitable than the predictable.

Yeah, if Team Hillary would have breathed the word "inevitable", they might have jinxed things--so they didn't.  But we saw this one coming several miles away, though, didn't we. Oh, for the sake of the party, they must unify...and we saw that effort coming too, didn't we. Trouble is, it won't wash with Sanders supporters who weren't Democrat to begin with...or...were Dem but were disaffected and, to be quite frank, were in the mood for a political revolution, which is what Sanders was selling, and which they bought into.  No amount of "for the sake of the party" is going to hold water, and we saw that coming, too.

And so it has transpired that Sanders talked amicably with the POTUS, and, apparently on the phone with the presumptive Dem nominee, and word went out from the Dems that things would work out just fine, and then Sanders continued to DC to continue to fight the Dem establishment. Well, well, well. Only one side is singing Kumbaya.

When running for office, Sanders amassed quite a support base, even if he's on the short end of the arithmetic stick, and Sanders supporters aren't chopped liver. This is the sort of realization that has been dawning on the City of Enid Commission of late, too: a person who runs for office but loses still has supporters, and those supporters aren't chopped liver either, and the candidate, win or lose, still has an obligation of sorts to deliver what's been pledged to the people who pledged their support.  Those are the people who, given their druthers, wouldn't even think of voting for the person who won if the alternative was to be had.

And Sanders have a lot of supporters, none of whom are chopped liver, Dem loyalists, or supporters of the presumptive, so there's nothing to unify here, folks--the Dems who are Dems are already unified with their Ms. Inevitable, whom they've spent years grooming for the job. Nobody else has enjoyed the level of grooming for the job than Ms. Inevitable.  So we saw this one coming several miles away, didn't we--it was so predictable, wasn't it.

The big surprise was the GOP, who were the biggest whiners about Dem superdelegates but given the rise of Trump, are starting to come around to the Dem way of thinking on that.  Who'd-a thunk it?

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In Enid Monarch news, the butterfly weed (Asclepias Tuberosa) seedlings I started in February, now turned loose in the yard, not only have acquired an inch or so of additional height but two of them have developed very small flower buds.  Still no sign of monarchs yet, but they are still congregated in the upper northern tier of the U.S. and lower regions of Canada--still too early for them to drop south.  They typically show up in Enid in late July/early August, and it's in the first week of August that Monarch Watch starts shipping its monarch tagging kits to track their journey south.  Last weekend I spent some quality time in Alva for their arts festival and did the Auto Tour of the Great Salt Plains Reserve, examined their milkweeds (mainly Showy Milkweed) and found them to be as untouched by either aphid or monarch as mine were. No sign of the Stem Weevil up there, though, and I have plenty of those attacking my Honeyvine.

Still very short for a first-year youngster, it's nonetheless putting on flower buds on the right-hand branch, and developing that classic orange tinge of Butterfly Weed blossoms.

Another Butterfly Weed seedling started this February is quite a bit taller than the one in the previous pic, but it, too, is putting on flower buds in the tip of this one spire--but they're all still green.

As I've pointed out so many times before, mainly what's available around here by way of wild milkweeds isn't even in the Asclepias family at all--it's Cynanchum Laeve, aka Honeyvine, and in the process of trying to maintain a properly urban mowed lawn, I discovered something else I could do with those because they're by far more flexible to work with than woody-stemmed milkweeds of the Asclepias family.  I'll be posting more about that at the bottom of my separate Monarch Project blog page later.

GOP leaves Fortune 500 no other choice: Hillary Clinton

The amazing failure of Jeb to get the primary nod, what remains is a GOP contender who has now flat out admitted that he agrees with Bernie Sanders about big banks and large international corporations (includes Big Oil, doesn't it); Trump rails against the shipping of jobs overseas as Cruz does (a big corporation standard practice you can thank Ronald Reagan for) even as he kneels in worship at Bonnie Ronnie's feet; in today's talking head shows, now Kasich says he's only for small businesses, not the big ones.  So now being a super-successful mega-business isn't to be as celebrated as being rich in the GOP, leaving none of the mega-donors (or their individuals who run them) anywhere in the GOP to throw their money at or otherwise support.

With Bernie Sanders coming out squarely against millionaires, billionaires and big banks, there's only one candidate remaining worthy of corporate (business and individuals) support, and that's the one they've been paying the big bucks for in speeches, right?

Do the math, people.

To admit responsibility is to admit liabilty--the Trump riots

When it's Sunday, it's Meet the press' stupid questions, even on CNN's Reliable Sources.

Whatever else you might think of The Donald, one must admit that the man knows his media and his audience as well as how his audience translates into ratings and how the ratings break down into audience demographics. With that said, he's fully aware of how he gets free press coverage stepping around whatever remains of the Fairness Doctrine after Republicans have routinely gutted the thing.  Whether you think this is a mark of brilliance or the indelible mark of a weasel, that's up to you.

So when the analysts point out that fellow Republican candidates agree with liberal media presenters that schtuff happens only at Trump rallies therefore Trump is responsible and one presenter asks Trump point blank if he should admit responsibility, did the presenter seriously expect Trump to do exactly that? COME FRIGGIN ON ALREADY--GEEEEEEEEZZZ!!!
The question doesn't make Trump look bad--it makes the questioner look like a blithering idiot.

And there's this: both major parties engage in "dirty tricks" campaigns against each other and against their internal insurgents.  BOTH of them do this, and correctly predict what the press is going to do when schtuff happens.

Don't get me wrong--I think The Donald does in fact bring out the thusfar stifled violent racist elements that, when left to their own devices, would prefer to go back to the "good ole days" of lynching.  But I also think both parties aren't innocent in setting the stage for the purpose of painting that picture to force a conclusion among voters.  It's what they've done since time immemorial and it's what they spend money to do.  Just ask Ralph Nader.
=================================
Quick Addendum:  Just as I hit the Publish button, some gal speaking at the Tucson book festival, just before Ari Beriman took to the mic, said that more people are registering as Independent voters because more people don't like either party.  Well, there ya go.  I'll buy that...but...they're 'way too late to head off this current train-wreck-in-progress.  Chalk this up to shoulda-woulda-coulda-if-only.
==================================
Another Quick Addendum: Why do I rip into "liberal media" when, elsewhere on this blog, I've clearly stated that I'm a liberal registered Republican?  I've also stated that I'm an Eisenhower Republican and do take exception to Eisenhower's deportation thing, though, as I recognize that it's American businesses that have relied on people who came here illegally and mention in the same breath that the immigration system is broken and it's a broken system causing all the heartache...and do NOT think the Trump Wall is any kind of good idea.

It's like this, folks--Democrats consider me the enemy, and Republican conservatives share that view; what I've always been is someone who sees the pros and cons of both sides and I refuse to play party loyalty games, which is what all that partisan policy crap really boils down to.  This homey never played that. Ever.

Seriously, Republicans--didn't your so-called "conservative movement" involve voting on principles?  Where do you hide your principles when you take a loyalty oath to support the Republican candidate who wins the nomination no matter who it is, hm?  That's not voting on your principles when the nominee goes against those same principles, is it.

Oklahoma GOP head-over-heels for anti-business Ted Cruz.

Thursday UPDATE, GOP Debate on Fox Edition: Ted Cruz wants a moratorium on foreign workers on H1B work visas...which is anti-business.  Am I right or am I right?  Okies can be such yuuuuuuge suckas for a pretty face...then again, though Mary Fallin declared that no Oklahoman would ever vote for a socialist, well, just look at the vote per county, then.  Mary, you lose.

Oh ha--good question just in:  who did I vote for?  I voted for the only grownup in the pack: Kasich.
 ========================================================

With all the tax breaks Oklahoma has given business in the name of being pro-business, the businessman that is Donald Trump didn't win; instead, the guy who has a problem with "corporate welfare" got the nod, and that's after anti-pork Tom Coburn endorsed Marco Rubio with Governor Fallin abstaining from any endorsement...but not before she made the statement to MSNBC that Oklahoma would never vote for a socialist...and then Oklahoma was won by Bernie Sanders.  How the hell did THAT happen?

Seriously--when it comes to corporations, Cruz sounds exactly like Sanders.

Inhofe has nothing but good things to say about Sanders -- Bloomberg

 Oklahoma likes to paint its surface with conservative paint, but underneath that thin skin, it's leftist as hell.  If you're an Okie who is against illegal immigration, then you're against agricultural business, and Oklahoma IS agricultural business...so...you're anti-Oklahoma.

---

Monday mini-UPDATE, Post-Flint-Debate Edition: I typically make a point to catch the debates of both parties, even when it means catching the repeat broadcast--and so catching the repeat of the Dem debate in Flint, one thing in particular riveted my attention: when the moderator pointed out to Sanders that his anti-corporate-welfare position was the same as Ted Cruz'.  My blog regulars already know that I pointed this out right here on this blog, right here in this particular blog entry, except I didn't try to paint that position as conservative....because it is NOT.  It's a socialist position, to be expected of Sanders--it just looks weird when somebody claiming to be a conservative adopts the leftist position, and what's more peculiar still is how leftist the Tea Party has become while still claiming to be ultraconservative.

But the Tea Party as we now know it HAS been commandeered by somebody featured in yesterday's 60 Minutes show: Koch, and he's on record as saying that he's ultra liberal.  So there you have it, friends & neighbors--I CALLED IT FIRST.

Run-Up to Oklahoma on Super Tuesday--Sanders the Rock Star? Really?

As Governor Mary Fallin has pointed out to the press recently, Oklahoma is a very conservative state that won't cotton to a socialist...and she was speaking to MSNBC, of all things, which is an eyebrow raiser in its own right. And she said this as Bernie Sanders appeared in Tulsa (a known blue pocket in deep red Oklahoma), as he drove an enormous turn-out.  As liberal as Tulsa looks, it's nonetheless an essential part of Oklahoma's economic scenario, given its location near interstate traffic AND its proximity to a port with access to Mississippi River barge traffic--both of which are advantageous in the flow of commerce on a large, historic scale.

Here's the bigger kicker, though--Oklahoma appears to be polling in favor of Trump in Oklahoma on the GOP side, and he's not only a celebrity creature of NBC but has good things to say about Planned Parenthood, getting away with pandering to the anti-abortion crowd in the same breath.  You'd think that evangelical support would go towards the Huckabee candidacy, never pandering to anti-abortionists while being completely against Planned Parenthood regardless of anything else it does--but it hasn't.

Then again, the governor doesn't come out dead set against gays like a lot of Oklahomans do, and Oklahoma cast approval of Wesley Clark for POTUS when nobody else in the country did.

Oklahoma defies the typical labels carried by both major parties, despite efforts of state party leaders to demand otherwise.  Both of them. Thus this recent decision by Democrats to include Independents in their primaries was a wise strategic move regarding Oklahoma, but it also signals a break in the inter-Party agreements to maintain lopsided ballot access  to the exclusion of all other parties and to the exclusion of Independents.  The rise of the Tea Party and the GOP pandering to the same simply exhibited how weak it actually was, given the stated position of the Tea Party that the GOP wasn't conservative enough and that Dubya was to be despised...evidence of which was Jeb's failure to rise in the current GOP.

And yet Oklahoma saw fit to name a state highway after Dubya.  Liberal move, Oklahoma.

Oklahoma is clearly shifting liberal.  No bigger posterboy for that is Enid City government.  Case closed.

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Feb. 26 Friday UPDATE, Endorsement Polka Edition: As I type this, I'm listening to Ted Cruz's wax loquacious about Chris Christie's endorsement of Donald Trump--and I'm amazed at just how leftist Ted Cruz has turned, lambasting "corporate welfare", completely against job creators hiring illegal immigrants while in the same breath say he's not only in favor of job creation but championing what unions have been championing: workplace safety and higher wages, though I've recalled him saying things along the lines of being against a minimum wage somewhere in the past.  Those things are what Democrats favor and say they're fighting for, all the way down to the concept behind why Ralph Nader saw to it that there's an OSHA department in federal government.  Adding wow on top of wow is Rush Limbaugh's endorsement of this Republican leftist.  Who'd-a thunk it.

The Koch bros. on the other hand are getting behind Rubio, bottled-water-guzzling warts and all.  Truth of the matter is that Rubio is as close to mainstream as the Republican establishment can get, as if it didn't get the message the Tea Party sent 'em the first time: Republican voters don't like the Republican Party establishment, and there's been no greater blazing sign in that regard by the failure of all previous established Republican leaders getting brutally kicked to the curb, and even by evangelicals who think Trump's a better deal than Huckabee.

The big question du jour is "who can stop Trump?"  Well, the people who have been voting for him prefers that this question not get an answer, not even from leftist Ted Cruz.  Yeah--I'm popping big buckets of popcorn for this year's primaries.  

Bernie vs Hillary?  Who are they?

The "deep bench" Republican debate series--WTF

Yup--I'm a registered Republican and I know I'm not alone experiencing alarm at the way the party has disintegrated into balkanized factions and then writing it off with an awkward grin as "a deep bench".  Truth be told, if they got into issues deeply, they'd be more fractious than they are now.  Call that bench "deep" all you like, but the waters the bench wades in remains pretty shallow with the mud all to easily accessible.

Like I said when I first ran for office, I'd spent a lot of time recognizing Chicago politics to where I could smell it miles away, as I hail from the other end of the state of Illinois.  I really looked forward to moving to Republican-run Arizona when I changed jobs.  Guess what--that wasn't much of an improvement, actually. Power corrupts, and this applies to both parties.  AZ actually elected the atrocity we know as "The Guv", Ev Mecham.

Please.

When I moved to Oklahoma, I first registered as an Independent, only to find out that I was denied a vote in any primaries.  When Ron Paul was on the rise, I decided to register again as a Republican.  Went to a Republican meeting in Oklahoma to find that the establishment really really really really really frowned on Ron Paul, and I'm guessing it's because, at the time, he was also working out stuff with Ralph Nader and it's the two of them that founded the original Tea Party, which I didn't mind proudly proclaiming I was all in favor of.  The Republican establishment, not so much.  Somebody reported at the meeting how Oklahoma proudly got from Washington more money than it kicked in, in taxes, and I recall speaking up saying that we would be prouder if we were self-sufficient enough that we didn't need any Washington money...and that how that statement went over like a lead balloon.  But this is the only state that gave Wesley Clark a primary win, too.

Then the Gadsden Flag Tea Party came to Enid; I talked to the organizer of the rally on the library grounds and he said that he and the Tea Party despised Republicans, and I was wondering if that didn't automatically make them Democrats.  Mike Jackson showed up to the rally and was really kissing TP butt, so I guess not, and then I wondered, why not?

Well, now that Republicans are splitting hairs over what kind of Republican is which, I'm going to just put it out there that I'm an Eisenhower Republican.  Yeah--a pre-Lyndon Johnson Era Republican, for all you David Duke Republicans out there, which is why I have as much a problem with Log Cabin Republicans as the sons and daughters of the Republican establishment have, as much a problem as our governor has, which is none whatsoever.

You highly religious conservatives brought up your sons and daughters on the straight and narrow, like the upright Christian good parents that you are, and your sons and daughters don't (by and large) have a problem with Log Cabin Republicans.  You fell down on the job as parents somewhere, according to what you believe, then.  And so you face the choice between sticking to your godly principles OR appeal to most voters against your principles so that you can win the presidency.  It should be apparent to you that those two things have become mutually exclusive at this point.  Lindsay Graham, a long time Republican establishment guy, polling at ZERO, was unthinkable 8 years ago.  Establishment Republicans can't sway the balance of power there even WITH their thumb on the scales.

The Tea Party has been hijacked by people who claim to be more conservative than establishment Republicans, trumpeting the Constitution as Absolute Law from Above while at the same time showing complete disregard for the part of the Constitution which prohibits a religious test for public office OR positions of public trust.  Threw that completely out the window.

Every once in a while you'll hear Tea Party complaints about large corporations, too, and the Republican Party used to be pro-business.  Your ultra-conservative Tea Partiers are indeed sounding more and more liberal, all the way down to deriding mega-corporate National Broadcasting Corporation, maybe because they had a problem with Saturday Night Live ever since its inception.  But NBC is a corporation, people--a rather large one, formerly owned by a corporation in every investor's portfolio: General Electric.  Oh, I can hear the rebuttals from here: it's MSNBC that's the big liberal problem.  Really? Now you guys have a problem with Microsoft now?  Microsoft is the corporation that partnered with the National Broadcasting Corporation that came up with the MS part in the MSNBC name.  That brings us to tonight's Republican debate on another NBC entity, CNBC.

And now they're all owned by Comcast, so now y'all have a problem with the Comcast corporation...except for your stock portfolio, and most investment packages have that stock included.  Get real.

I just heard the point made that the energy sector is strong BUT the state mentioned is diversified.  This is not true in Oklahoma and Oklahoma is finding out that giving preference to the energy sector to the point where it's at the expense of other businesses, the lack of diversity is what's causing a precipitous revenue shortfall in a state that has already let its infrastructure languish neglected for too long and a diverse business sector depends on reliable infrastructure just to operate.  Giving preferences to fracking industries will keep other bricks/mortar businesses out of Oklahoma because who wants to build around where a fracking industry gets free license to wreck your property, hm?  Being pro-fracking = anti-other-businesses.

It's also anti-business-workforce, too; who wants to live where your house gets to be wrecked with impunity?  Conservatives don't like big government butting in on local issues, but that's exactly what we have in this state now, with state government giving the fracking industry a free license to wreck your house and your business buildings, with the best case scenario being that it gets to wreck your inventory if any of it is up on shelves.  Clean up on Aisles 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10!

The worst thing about Oklahoma conservatives is that all a big government liberal has to say is "I've changed registration to Republican and I'm a conservative!" to get their votes.  That's all. That's how we've got the throw-money-at-it City Commission that we have now.  Ward 5 Commissioner switched from Democrat to Republican because just being on the registry as Republican is magic.  Ward 6 Commissioner proclaims himself to be a conservative, but he's part of the problem of downtown business occupancy and retention as property owner, and he doesn't recuse himself from voting in the interests of his property holdings when there's a vote about what issues involving downtown.  Hasn't anyone noticed that the Ward 5 Commissioner, snuggling in with Main Street Enid and her business partners in the event throwing business simply parties away City money without making any difference at all in downtown business occupancy or retention?

They throw lovely parties downtown, but retail revenue is down from last year according to the last tax report from the state.  These clowns have been partying your money away for years, and this is all the business we get out of it.  I for one don't buy any of their claims that they're pro-business conservatives.  You got liberals partying our money away while growing big city government.  You need to get real here, people.

"I'm a delegate! Where's the party?!"

Edited to add....right after I hit the Publish button, Carly Fiorina made the same point I posted here. Qismat.  And I'll add that being anti-immigrant under the guise of being anti-amnesty = being anti agribusiness.  Seriously, GOP, get your shit together already.

Friday UPDATE, GOP letter to NBC edition: Speaking of a party that has lost its way and is now the dog getting wagged by insurgents, and making note of the fact that this is the same party which insisted that personal character was a deal-breaker issue to examine in previous presidential campaigns (Bill Clinton's case), Reince Priebus now insists that all media debates going forward have to skip over personal character questions and must function as free advertisements for the party platform:

GOP letter to NBC

Evening Edition: Well, folks, y'all knew it was a snake when you let it in.  The same Wreck-It-Ralph crew of anarchists that are enraged that Boehner took away their favorite chew toy (shutting government down) have now wrecked the GOP HQ and took Fox News down with it. Face it--these aren't conservatives; they are anarchists.  But the GOP knew that already.

To all of your Constitution thumping anarchists out there who loudly proclaim that any government is bad government, your claim to be conservatives is fraudulent because guess what else is hallowed by the Constitution?  It's in the First Amendment, next to your religion clause--it's the PRESS.

And I'll add this, since I'm now hearing that Rush Limbaugh is one of the highly suggested moderators--what they want is a self-described water-bearer, not someone in control, and not a woman like Phyllis Schlafley.  By all means, if they haven't thought that they've already made a big fool of themselves showing an inability to play political hardball.  Bunch of misogynist wimps, if you ask ME.

Saturday mini-UPDATE: 4 dead in a Colorado Springs shootout, reports CBS. And the GOP still thinks it can claim to be pro-life when, so far, they've failed to defend children's right to life in our schools. You can't be serious.

A little late on the uptake, The Guardian now reports.
 What our domestic broadcasters (other than CBS, notably) are focusing on is the rather old but still disconcerting  Twin Peaks Shootout in Texas many months ago, but it's still apropos of this topic because in talking about the current destructive nature of the NRA at the top, NOBODY is bringing up the matter of the cover they give to organized crime.  When conservatives wax critical of unions these days, they've been omitting the usual bromide about being against organized crime as being part of why they're against unions.  That's because now that unions aren't safe havens for organized crime anymore because of successful union busting, it's simply moved from unions to the NRA--there's no better protection racket than providing 2nd Amendment cover for gun runners and gangs.

A fool and his money are some party. R.I.P. Bill Bergadano.

I'm talking about the Supreme Court decision today regarding money as speech in politics where mega-money = mega-phone.  And yeah, what we know about Sheldon Adelson's harem of bitches is that they all want him to pimp them out.  And I'm sure he enjoys each and every one of their 7-Veil dances.

Oh, look on the bright side--Adelson couldn't buy an election last time and here's the fool and his money Republican Partying again, so we all know what a party animal he is. Keep in mind that when his bitches go to spend all that loot, they'll be spending most of it on the liberal media instead of sitting on the cash so long that it hatches silverfish.  The floodgates of money will be open, there will be so much cash in circulation that the Fed won't have to print up extra anymore, and the worshipers of mammon will enjoy a devaluation of their fortunes caused only by their god of supply and demand where their $ supply will now = demand for prime air time slots, a demand will exceed the number of hours in a day, meaning that the primest of time slots will go to the highest bidder, thus raising what the liberal media can charge per minute....rather, per second, in terms of 30 second slots which are the current metric.

I can live with that.

Friday April 4 UPDATE: The idiot who brought the lawsuit in the first place appeared on All In on MSNBC and said that what we have is a "political marketplace", and the court agrees that politics necessarily is bought and sold--that's what a marketplace is, that's what it does.

FAIL

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This blog is once again in mourning--this time because of the passing today of a familiar person in shortwave radio circles, especially among the Winterfest regulars. You left us too soon, Bill Bergadano. We will miss you on Radio Scooter International, too. :'(

Friday April 4 UPDATE:  Fred Waterer announced that all programming on Radio Scooter International is suspended until after Bill's funeral.  Shortwave folk who read this blog are encouraged to visit Bill Bergadano's service site .

Congressional standoff Sunday morning redux--afternoon dialogues on race

It's October, the month for ghosts and haunting pasts; the ghost of Bonnie Ronnie has now rendered, on Capitol Hill, a haunted House in the form of piecemeal government funding bills.  Remember Reagan's call for a line-item veto power?  Voila, but it originates in the House, in its avoidance of any sort of omnibus bill under threat of both the Senate and a presidential veto.

Interesting.  But it's because Congress, not the President, is the appropriate body for engendering the equivalent of a line-item veto, the stalemate has resulted in one aspect of Congress that is functioning properly.

Ted Cruz on State of the Union was the most interesting--he's walked back a bit, but with regard to the question of how is it that this junior member has apparently taken leadership position, I proffer the observation that he's the House member that has the best grasp on the standoff position on his side and is thereby the most able to articulate its basis.  But that also makes him the only person who most thinks it's a good idea.

There's that.

And there's the matter of Netanyahu getting overshadowed by congressional shenanigans while he still pleads for the routing of all nuclear activity in Iran, down to essentially saying "let them use their oil! No nuke power!"...which doesn't play well with the global warming crowd, I'm sure. A former Iranian minister appeared on a talking head show saying that Netanyahu was saying this sort of thing for decades, that Iran was a few months away from an actual atomic bomb, and this was 20 or so years ago.

Let me say this about that: look to see which side Iranian dissidents agree with. It's true that Netanyahu has been a Johnny One Note for too long to have any credibility, but the Iranians I'm familiar with don't trust the current Iranian government either.

There's that.

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As you might have guessed, the above posting was written in the morning, pretty much right after the talking head shows had aired.  Well, something significant transpired this afternoon worth mentioning, too, and that is a previously advertised appearance of Jesse Jackson at the University Place Christian Church, 2107 E. Broadway in Enid, an address I recognize as an election polling place.  Been there twice covering 2 presidential elections for HuffPo via the Off The Bus project.

Topic: dialogues about race.

If you're a regular reader of this blog, you already know that's a topic I care about, so yeah--I went.  Only Jackson didn't show.  A pastor named George Young conducted the proceedings instead, making mention of rubbing elbows with Cornell West...I guess to make up for the fact that he wasn't Jesse Jackson.

What mattered most, though, were the things that were said in this discussion, and you betcha I got the pics and vids to share of the significant points.  On the way home, it occurred to me that the people who showed up were the choir that George was preaching to, so to speak, although one doesn't preach in a dialogue...the people who really should be engaged in such a national dialogue as this one should be are the people who wouldn't go and/or won't talk about it when there's an opportunity to, either because they think they know it all already and God put them on this earth to dispense to elite audiences, or they don't think it's important enough to even discuss.  Or both.

Anyway, when the media gets processed, I'll be posting it here later, and I'll post it because I think it's important to post it to anybody else willing to listen.  We already know that part of bigotry is the inability to listen or talk about it.

Part of a handout package was the following booklet containing book recommendations, one of which carries the same title as the booklet...

Published by Pilgrim Press, OH.

The list of books it recommends:

• All God's Children: A Biblical Critique of Racism by Steven L. McKenzie
• Black Grief and Soul Therapy by Nicholas C. Cooper-Lewter, Ph.D
• Breaking Barriers: An African American Family & the Methodist Story by Angella Current
• Building Bridges: A Handbook for Cross-cultural Ministry by Kathryn Choy-Wong
• Building King's Beloved Community: Foundations for Pastoral Care and Counseling with the Oppressed by Donald M. Chinula
• The Color of Faith: Building Community in a Multiracial Society by Fumitaka Matsuoka
• Coming Together: The Bible's Message in an Age of Diversity by Curtiss Paul DeYoung
• Dismantling Privilege: An Ethics of Accountability by Mary Elizabeth Hobgood
• Dismantling Racism: The Continuing Challenge to White America by Joseph Barndt
• Ending Racism in the Church --Susan E. Davies and Sister Paul Teresa Hennessee, S. A., editors
• Fulfilling the Dream: Confronting the Challenge of Racism by Ronice Branding
• Inclusion: Making Room for Grace by Eric H. F. Law
• Liberating Visions by Robert M. Franklin
• King Among the Theologians by Noel Leo Erskine
• Many Cultures, One in Christ from the Covenant Bible Studies series
• The Measure of a Man by Martin Luther King Jr.
• Moving Mountains: The Principles and Purposes of Leon Sullivan by Leon Sullivan
• O Lord, Move This Mountain: Racism and Christian Ethics by E. Hammond Oglesby
• One Aryan Nation Under God: Exposing the New Racial Extremists by Jerome Walters
• Police/Community Dialogue: Study Guide by Una Ratmeyer
• Preaching Justice: Ethnic and Cultural Perspectives --Christine Marie Smith, editor
• Reconciliation: Our Greatest Challenge--Our Only Hope by Curtiss Paul DeYoung
• Reconciliation: The Ubuntu Theology of Desmond Tutu by Michael Battle
• Relational Refugees: Alienation and Reincorporation in African American Churches and Communities by Edward P. Wimberly
• Roots of Resistance: The Nonviolent Ethic of Martin Luther King Jr. by William D. Watley
• Say It Loud: Middle-Class lacks Talk about Racism and What to Do about It by Annie S. Barnes
• Search for the Beloved Community: The Thinking of Martin Luther King Jr. by Kenneth L. Smith and Ira G. Zepp Jr.
• Shattering the Myth of Race: Genetic Realities and Biblical Truths by Dave Unander, Ph.D. 
• Show No Partiality from the Faith Crossings series
• Soul among Lions: Musings of a Bootleg Preacher by Will D. Campbell
• Strength to Love by Martin Luther King Jr.
• There is a Balm in Gilead: The Cultural Roots of Martin Luther King Jr. by Lewis V. Baldwin
• To Make the Wounded Whole: The Cultural Legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. by Lewis V. Baldwin
• Uncovering Racism from the Covenant Bible Studies series
• The Wolf Shall Dwell with the Lamb: A Spirituality for Leadership in a Multicultural Community by Eric H.  F. Law

Two books for the kids:

• Children Together: Teaching Girls and Boys to Value Themselves and Each Other by Kathryn Goering Reid and Ken Hawkley
• Hand in Hand: Helping Children Celebrate Diversity by Ella Kikuno Campbell et al

Before beginning discussions, establishment of the meaning of terminology was done:

I know it's odd for an atheist to be posting stuff with such religious overtones, but this was all part of the program--can't separate that out. Now--whitefolk who are still scratching their heads over the Department of Justice's walking back of federal drug charges because of sentencing disparities, scratch your heads no more.  Here's the explanation:

The next clip makes a point about prejudice with power, but not before a point was made about how careful blackfolk have to be about what they say.  There is another clip that I will post later that addresses this, too, so before I present that, keep in mind this first bit and keep in mind how much harder it was for blacks to manage to say the right thing that wouldn't put them at risk for life/limb in the early 1900s.

I'll be bringing up (yet again) the bugbear regarding how Bert Williams' genius continually gets shoved under a rug while Mark Twain and Will Rogers get all the credit for wordsmithing in that era.  Neither Twain nor Rogers had to deal with what Williams had to, on pain of possible death, and it's part of the reason why I think he's a genius for becoming the success that he was as he kept dancing on the edge of that particular cliff at the turn of the last century, nevermind a teen in a hoodie in TODAY's age, losing his life for just looking wrong with Skittles and tea...

....now, then--I'm typing in your name for your attention to the next clip, Ilene, because of the size and the scope of the mistake you made in passing off Bert Williams as nothing more than a mere minstrel.  Listen to this man, and keep in mind he's talking about Memphis TN in the 1960s and not a nation that had just barely put Reconstruction in its rear view mirror when Williams was mouthing off in the Follies.
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One form of prejudice is stereotyping, and when it comes to Bert Williams, certain "historians" (and I use that term loosely) are prejudiced in spades, so to speak.  Such "experts"won't listen to facts at all.  So listen to this man, not me, if that's how you are. Facts remain facts regardless of the source.

As for me, I know better when it comes to Bert Williams--as I've said before, he was a genius. And so is Roc even though he'll go down in the annals of history as a pugilist, not an outstanding TV dramatist.  May he never suffer the same fate by a future scholar that Bert Williams has suffered by the hands of experts though they above all should know better.

It's the fact that black history isn't pretty that makes what Bert Williams did, even as a minstrel, even in the Follies, that shows his genius. And it's what makes any effort to pretty it up disingenuous.  This is the kind of stuff that's too important to play that kind of game with.
12 Years a Slave (movie)

3 Unnamed Radio Stations in Enid Area Announced The Event

In my previous entry, I'd mentioned only the city newspaper. One of the organizers mentioned 3 radio stations which announced the event, and I should mention this in case any of my readers want to do a possble media demographic breakdown regarding how the 1 pm-ers managed to come at 1 pm instead of at the end of the parade, an hour earlier.

It's also worth mentioning that the organizer said that these radio stations were all related, too. I presume he meant under same corporate management. And one of these (at least) was a talk show radio.

Cindy Allen, if you're reading this (she's the editor in chief of the city paper), you might consider this event to be some pretty damning evidence of how ineffective your rag is in the area your paper serves...or...it's testimony to how illiterate Enidiots are. Take your pick.

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Now where was I....ah, yes. Thursday's paper said that Tea Party was to be after the parade, which ended at noon; nobody at the library's grounds at noon, so I asked the head librarian what gives; saw 2 organizer guys, asked them what gives and they said the thing started at 1 pm, and so I had a whole hour to blow between the end of the parade and the beginning of the Tea Party. Talk about a bum steer.

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There were tent events downtown on the county courthouse grounds after the parade, so I decided to grab a carnival hotdog and visit the tents. Lo and behold, I discovered one political tent. ONE. It was the Democratic Party tent.

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As I roamed around the rest of the tents, I noted with interest that there was no Republican tent--and as everybody else in the country knows, Oklahoma is By God Republican.

I was shocked. Totally taken aback.

As I went further on my walkabout, I saw an elderly lady wearing a tee shirt emblazoned with "VOTE REPUBLICAN" and decided to ask her where the Republican tent was. Her response to my inquiries were that they didn't have one this year and it was because it was too much of a hassle to go through the red tape and telephone tag to go through with it. "So your party is that sure of itself, is it?" I asked, and there was a vigorous denial.

With that, I have another correction to post here, besides the bit about adding the radio information in addition to the local newspaper--the lady I just mentioned is the third known local to have shown up at the Tea Party, but it was neither at noon nor at 1 pm sharp. She showed up considerably after 1 pm. Still, when gubernatorial candidate Randy Brogdon got up to speak, he claimed that the crowd numbered 150. Readers who still have their calculators out, make note that it's 3 locals, not two, out of the claimed 150. Me, I'd put the acutal number closer to 100, but that's still not much of a better picture of the locals.

About that pic of the steers running a red light...I missed a better camera shot, alas. The better camera shot would have been the one capturing the cop car bringing up the rear with its rooftop lights flashing. I could have captioned that one "In Hot Pursuit Of Red Light Scofflaws". Wish I could have talked a cop into a pose with a steer, with his ticket book out, too.

Tea-Peed in Enid--The Beginning.

This article which appeared on Page 2, Section A, on Thursday, September 10, 2009, became Clue One as to how fake the Teabaggers who showed up on the following Saturday were.

The article states that the Tea Party was to begin right after the Cherokee Strip parade. When I walked to the library right after the parade, the grounds looked deserted. I went inside the library to inquire where the Party was. The head librarian wondered what I was talking about, and I told her what I'd read in Thursday's paper. She said she didn't know anything about it, which was odd because she attended the previous Tea Party.

Oh the story gets better, folks.

We went over to the west window of the library and saw two guys setting up card tables, and concluded that this must be the event. I went outside and inquired as to where the Tea Party was supposed to be, and they said it was to be right here, where the setup was. I then wanted to know where everybody was. "It's at 1 pm," one said, and then a man walked up to the three of us and asked the same question. "I'll bet you got your information from the paper," I remarked...and he confirmed with a nod.

Based on the information in the paper, only two people showed up--me and this one guy. Everybody else showed up at 1 pm sharp. Do the math.

....more to come as I process the pics....

Went to a Tea Party in Enid on the west side of the city library and discovered that the people running it think that Republicans are too liberal. Friends & neighbors, here's a bit of news for ya--the bigtime media keeps wanting to put a Republican face on this Tea Party stuff just because Republicans are caught embracing 'em--but--the people running the show are NOT Republicans.

Watch this space as I add pics and details to this story at a later time. The yellow flag behind this guy, held by a buddy, is New Hampshire's "Live Free Or Die" state flag; the other one, the "lone star flag", he says is the flag for States' Rights. He seems to have not noticed what a failure the Articles of Confederation were....not to mention what a failure the Confederacy was.