". . . It’s actually the modern Republican Party that’s the spiritual successor of the pre-1964 Democratic Party. Please understand, though: This article isn’t a partisan smearfest. The story behind all this doesn’t make any region of the county look good, nevermind political organizations. . . It’s kind of a convoluted story, so let’s untangle all this piece by piece. . . Lahren skewered the Democratic Party for hypocrisy after donor Benjamin Barber was recorded calling black Republicans “f—ked in the head” for “helping the enemy who want to destroy them.” She points out that the ostensibly liberal organization has a troubling institutional history of racism. . . As she put it: Well, it was southern Democrats that fought for slavery. Oh, and the KKK, it was originally an arm of the southern Democratic Party. The mission: to terrorize freed slaves, and those who sympathize with them which would be “the Radical Republicans.” . . . Dems largely opposed the 13th Amendment, she said. That bigotry continued through the decades, even to the vote for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“supported by a higher proportion of Republicans than Democrats”) and racist President Lyndon Johnson. She said that the current Democratic depictions of the Republicans as bigoted are really just self-serving hypocrisy. . ."
Saw a lot of social media talk the other day about 'all lives matter', white racism, etc. etc. and rightly so. This is a good thing. As long as we talk. As long as we are sincere. And as long as we LISTEN. We must listen to each other. Let us all enter the discussion with open minds and hearts. Preconceived notions and know-it-alls are NOT welcome here. I grew up with racism. While not defending it, I can recognize the source of it. . . and as they say, acknowledging the problem is the first step in resolving it. It's not easy and it's not simple. Still, I believe it is noble and worth working toward. Like campaign reform and redistribution of wealth, it probably won't be accomplished in my lifetime. But it will be accomplished.
So let's be careful to avoid generalizations. People are people, and much like music, there are only two kinds. . . good and bad. Be sincere.
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(and, if you're in town, at Trax On Wax on Frederick Rd. in Catonsville, MD) OHO is Jay Graboski, David Reeve & Ray Jozwiak. Please Visit http://www.ohomusic.com
My latest solo offering, Just More Music by Ray Jozwiak, featuring original, instrumental piano music is now available at - Just More Music by Ray Jozwiak
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. . . and political activist. . . true to his convictions. . . NO ONE's "owned" politician . . .
(from http://thinkprogress.org/home/2013/12/06/3030781/nelson-mandela-believed-people-wont-talk/)
1. Mandela blasted the Iraq War and American imperialism. Mandela called Bush “a president who has no foresight, who cannot think properly,” and accused him of “wanting to plunge the world into a holocaust” by going to war in Iraq. “All that (Mr. Bush) wants is Iraqi oil,” he said. Mandela even speculated that then-Secretary-General Kofi Annan was being undermined in the process because he was black. “They never did that when secretary-generals were white,” he said. He saw the Iraq War as a greater problem of American imperialism around the world. “If there is a country that has committed unspeakable atrocities in the world, it is the United States of America. They don’t care,” he said.
2. Mandela called freedom from poverty a “fundamental human right.” Mandela considered poverty one of the greatest evils in the world, and spoke out against inequality everywhere. “Massive poverty and obscene inequality are such terrible scourges of our times — times in which the world boasts breathtaking advances in science, technology, industry and wealth accumulation — that they have to rank alongside slavery and apartheid as social evils,” he said. He considered ending poverty a basic human duty: “Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice. It is the protection of a fundamental human right, the right to dignity and a decent life,” he said. “While poverty persists, there is no true freedom.”
3. Mandela criticized the “War on Terror” and the labeling of individuals as terrorists without due process. On the U.S. terrorist watch list until 2008 himself, Mandela was an outspoken critic of President George W. Bush’s war on terror. He warned against rushing to label terrorists without due process. While forcefully calling for Osama bin Laden to be brought to justice, Mandela remarked, “The labeling of Osama bin Laden as the terrorist responsible for those acts before he had been tried and convicted could also be seen as undermining some of the basic tenets of the rule of law.”
4. Mandela called out racism in America. On a trip to New York City in 1990, Mandela made a point of visiting Harlem and praising African Americans’ struggles against “the injustices of racist discrimination and economic equality.” He reminded a larger crowd at Yankee Stadium that racism was not exclusively a South African phenomenon. “As we enter the last decade of the 20th century, it is intolerable, unacceptable, that the cancer of racism is still eating away at the fabric of societies in different parts of our planet,” he said. “All of us, black and white, should spare no effort in our struggle against all forms and manifestations of racism, wherever and whenever it rears its ugly head.”
5. Mandela embraced some of America’s biggest political enemies. Mandela incited shock and anger in many American communities for refusing to denounce Cuban dictator Fidel Castro or Libyan Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, who had lent their support to Mandela against South African apartheid. “One of the mistakes the Western world makes is to think that their enemies should be our enemies,” he explained to an American TV audience. “We have our own struggle.” He added that those leaders “are placing resources at our disposal to win the struggle.” He also called the controversial Palestinian Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat “a comrade in arms.”
6. Mandela was a die-hard supporter of labor unions. Mandela visited the Detroit auto workers union when touring the U.S., immediately claiming kinship with them. “Sisters and brothers, friends and comrades, the man who is speaking is not a stranger here,” he said. “The man who is speaking is a member of the UAW. I am your flesh and blood.”
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