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Mission Impeachable VII: The Select Committee's Cut

5/20/2014

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The problem with sequels is that, with perhaps the exception of “The Godfather,” they tend to lose their original luster. Few I doubt would argue that movies such as “Fast and Furious” which I hear is about begin production on number six or seven, begs the question, just how many times can reckless driving be entertaining. But then again, we are talking about American audiences are we not? Much the same can be said for the next installment of Benghazi hearings brought to us by GOP studios, executive producer House Speaker Boehner, written by The Tea Party Conservatives, directed by newcomer Congressman Trey Gowdy R-South Carolina. Sorry folks, prior commitments would not allow Mr. Cruise to appear. However, smart money says a Cruz will make an appearance somewhere.

Speaking of “Fast and Furious,” the GOP has its own version starring Attorney General Eric Holder as Harvey Dent (Two-Face) and Obama as The Joker, or is it the other way around. It is difficult to keep up considering the latest scheduled hearing on Benghazi represents number six or seven. You would think that after nearly two years of investigations, twenty-five thousand pages of documents and GOP House Intelligent Committee Chairman Mike Rogers admitting his investigation uncovered no evidence to support White House conspiracy theories republicans would cease production of this forced and boring story (no offense to the victims). But then again, we are talking about republicans are we not?  

That said we all know where this is going do we not? There is no doubt what the republicans hope to achieve provided this fall’s election yield the desired results in the senate. Many on the right, pundits and politicians alike it seems have floated the idea of impeaching President Obama even before the president lowered his hand after taking the oath of office. Charges Obama is soft on foreign policy dominate republican talking points one week asserting that he (Obama) did little or nothing to defend Ambassador Chris Stevens who along with three other American diplomats were killed during the attack on the American embassy in Libya 9/11/12. Moreover, that Obama along with then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton conspired to hide their alleged blatant disregard of American lives.

However, the next week’s talking points accuse Obama of being a tyrannical dictator strong-arming the American people with threats to take away not only their right to bear arms but also their right to oppress their fellowman. It’s one thing to be called out by your opponent but to be called out by a uppity negro is another thing entirely. How dare he? Speaking of daring, the Joe McCarthy wannabe of the 21st century Texas Tea Party Senator Ted Cruz recently released his latest nonsensical ramblings regarding President Obama’s administration. Titled “The Legal Limit Report No. 4,” the paper outlines 76 separate abuses of power. Cruz writes that no aspect of Obama’s presidency is more troubling than his “persistent pattern of lawlessness, his willingness to disregard the written law and instead enforce his own policies via executive fiat.” Not surprisingly, Cruz sees as the most egregious example of Obama’s tyranny being of course, ‘Obamacare’.  

Preceding his fellow Texan (Cruz) in impeachable rhetoric, Rep. Steve Stockman, R-Texas October of last year distributed to every U.S. House member a copy of his book, “Impeachable Offenses: The Case for Removing Barack Obama from Office.” Stockman argued that, “From Benghazi to Fast and Furious to crony deals for ‘green’ energy to Obamacare the lawless Obama administration must be reined in. I am calling on Congress to establishment Select Committees on these scandals with full subpoena power.” Although Stockman’s call for the formation of a select committee met initial skepticism, a recent discovery of White House emails purportedly gave Speaker Boehner cover to form said select committee.

Emails notwithstanding, the fact the families involved are against further investigation and perhaps a desire on the part of the GOP to respect their (families) wishes should one would hope, tamp down the GOP’s thirst for Obama blood. But then again we are talking about the GOP are we not? As a proud card-carrying member of the Fourth Estate, I cannot help but be somewhat disappointed in TV journalists. I mean really, if someone is constantly telling me the White House is lying, this is what I would ask.

 Me: Congressman or Senator, do you for a certainty know what took place at the embassy? Do you sir have any direct knowledge concerning the actions of President Obama and Secretary Clinton immediately following the attack? No? Well Congressman or Senator if you do not know with any certainty or have any direct knowledge, how can you say sir the American people have been lied too? Cutttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt. That’s a wrap.

~~~ by Jay Arrington, The Maryland Daily Examiner 



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BlackMaled: The Crime of Being a Black Man in America

5/20/2014

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The other morning I was watching on TCM the 1940 film titled, “I Take This Woman,” with Spencer Tracy and Hedy Lamarr. The reason I mention the story has only to do with a certain exchange of dialogue. A white woman asked the butler, played by the great, Willie Best, whose name in the film is of all things ‘Sambo’ if he ever sees spots before his eyes. Well, wouldn’t you know it, Sambo answers by pumping his fist and motioning as though he is tossing dice (spots) signifying that questionable behavior was the only way he could relate to what the woman spoke of. 

At the risk of beating a dead horse, some of you might recall the article I wrote in which I mention a scene from the movie, “Lincoln” where a woman purports that a black man would steal she and her husband’s chickens and his job once given his (freed slave) his freedom. Somehow being a freed black man translated into criminality on our part. However, what better way to justify keeping us in chains in 1865 or for that matter keeping us in chains, invisible or not, in 2014 than to portray us as something black men at our core are not, criminals. Yeah, I know, someone out there is all up in arms about me saying, “The man is keeping us down,” but just because I’m paranoid doesn’t mean no one’s following me. Moreover, if what is happening throughout the ‘Justice System’, republican state houses and in Washington isn’t proof enough that black men continue to face the ire of mainstream America, well.   

Apart from resisting and wanting to whup his capturers behind, what crime do you imagine the first African male kidnapped for the purposes of slavery committed to give white folks that idea? Heck, ever since black men arrived in America we have been cast as murderers, thieves and potential rapists of white women. Notice I said ‘white women’ and not ‘women’ as in Black & Native American because the raping of Black & Native American women in those days didn’t count much like in present-day America. However, history does nothing to support the claims that black men were rapists. On the contrary, it was the white man who was doing all of the raping, e.g. Native American women, slave women, and little slave boys. That’s right, don’t for one minute think that white men raping little boys was limited to Priests in the 20th century.   

By the way, on the subject of stealing and murdering, what do you call casting a net over someone’s head and spiriting them away to another country against their will or displacing a people to steal their land? What do you call beating someone to death and having horses rip their bodies apart or the slaughtering of entire villages? Can you say “Trail of Tears?”     

The criminalization of the black male can be summed up in this broad-brush description, “If he’s standing around he’s lurking. If he’s sitting down he’s lazy. If he’s running he’s escaping or leaving the scene of his crime.” Makes you wonder what they allege we are doing in our sleep, dreaming of our next heist? The world views black males as criminals just because we are black. Classic example, the other day I was walking through a mall with a female companion and we passed a kiosk. The woman proprietor of the kiosk was offering eyebrow trimming or something. As my friend and I passed, the woman snatched her purse from atop the counter.    The purse was within arm’s length of my reach and I suppose the woman feared that because I am a black male I wanted her purse. Mind you now this was not a white woman, this was a woman of Indian or Pakistani descent perhaps. I wanted to tell the woman I was about to put something in there. My point is America has every race in the world thinking black males are criminals. But again, what better way to keep us from advancing at least en masse, than to have other races of the world and especially those who migrate to America view us as beneath them, which by the way is one of the main behaviors immigrants attribute to genuine assimilation, hate blacks.   

I’m reminded of that Richard Pryor skit about recent immigrants to America attending citizenship classes. Pryor spoke of how the instructor instructs the students in the art of saying ‘nigga’. The students rapidly repeat in unison, “nigga, nigga, nigga.” After-which, a student asked the instructor how they (students) will know when they have the correct phraseology. The instructor replies, “When you get your @@## kicked you’ll know you got it right.”

The most unfortunate aspect of this phenomenon is the rigged system that despite vigorous denials by those on the right, exist to make the fantasy that black males are criminals a reality. Lackluster education initiatives, school-to-prison pipelines, profiling, unfair sentencing laws, social service rules that encourage women to lie (in some cases) and discourage father participation by punishing the mother/child, and child support laws that encourage women to lie (in some cases) and punish father non-participation. For black males, this scene eerily resembles when Dolphins encircle schools of Tuna, leaving them no path of escape. Mistakenly believing that following the rules of survival and that going where authority leads means safety. The haunting reality however, is authority leads you out of the mouth of one enemy into the mouth of another (nets and other predators). For the Tuna, you either die and/or end up in a can. Either way you get swallowed up. For the black male, you either die and end up in a box or live and end up in the can. Either way you get swallowed up.        


~~~ Jay Arrington, The Maryland Daily Examiner


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And I Am His Mother: A Mother's Sacrifice

5/12/2014

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“What my people are to be, I can’t say. I never heard any ask what freedom will bring. Freedom’s first. As for me, my son died, fighting for the Union, wearing the Union blue. For freedom he died. And I’m his mother. That’s what I am to the nation, Mr. Lincoln. What else must I be?” Elizabeth Keckley, From the movie “Lincoln” 2013

Isn't it funny how the world somehow has come to expect mothers to be more than mothers to the point that it is surprising when mothers are just that, mothers. Maybe some of you remember the song, “Superwoman” by the great Stevie Wonder, “Mary wants to be a superwoman but is that really in her head. But I just want to live each day to love her for what she is. Mary wants to be another movie star but is that really in her mind. And all the things she wants to be she needs to leave behind.” Unfortunately, the world in which we live finds it strange a woman leaving other things behind and not trying to be Superwoman, who wants only to be a mother and nothing else.

Last night I had the pleasure of speaking with Pastor Rose M. Banks. Pastor Banks is the mother of David Banks of the IRP6. The IRP6 are six Colorado businessmen convicted of mail and wire fraud and are currently serving prison sentences ranging from 87 to 135 months in federal prison since July 2012. For those of you who have followed the case via my articles and the tireless advocacy of A Just Cause @ a-justcause.com, you perhaps have some idea of the exhaustive burden Pastor Banks and the families of these six men carry. Unlike Mary of biblical fame, Pastor Banks and the mothers involved in this case, wives included, had no idea they would one-day face what has to be for them an ordeal tantamount to mental crucifixion. At least in Mary’s case she foreknew what her son would have to face and had time to prepare herself, although how can any mother prepare herself to sacrifice a child.

During our conversation last night, Pastor Banks expressed her continued frustration with the failure of our government to honor its promise to provide equal protection under the law and its (government) failure to right its wrongs. Even more palpable was Pastor Banks’ frustration regarding this Mother’s Day, as she lamented the absence of her son and her son-in-law’s brother (Clinton A. Stewart) during this most cherished of family holidays. Though she spoke fondly of the taped messages she received for last year’s Mother’s Day, she made it clear her prayer remains the day will come when taped messages are no longer necessary.

Sadly, Pastor Banks is not the only mother in present-day America having to deal with the reality of sons or daughters languishing in prison, let alone languishing there because of wrongful convictions. A 2009 study by the Pew Center on the States concluded that of the 7.3 million people in the correctional system, 10% or 730,000 might have been innocent of their alleged crimes. These numbers are frightening to say the least and are more cause for concern within the black community considering that more than half of all wrongfully convicted prisoners are black and black males in particular.

The resurgence of Jim Crow type politics on both state and federal levels minimize the chance the situation will improve. To the contrary and given the financial profits associated with the privatizing of prisons, we should not expect to see any legislation targeting relaxing prison population numbers. Despite recent proclamations by the justice department regarding unfair sentencing of blacks versus whites, state legislators continue to hold the keys to the kingdom. In addition, the failure on the part of the federal government to as previously stated, out rogue federal law enforcement both on and off the bench renders such proclamations moot and a clear example of political lip service.

As for the Mothers, whose cheeks are stained with tears, whose knees are bruised from the constant kneeling in prayer and whose hearts are heavy with sorrow, we here at Maryland Daily Examiner cry, kneel and mourn with you. We just want to love you for what you are, Mothers. We salute you for being what you are and for leaving all the things you wanted to be behind. We salute you for being Mothers. As Mrs. Lincoln’s maidservant said to President Lincoln concerning her son who died in the war, For freedom he died. And I’m his mother. That’s what I am to the nation, Mr. Lincoln. What else must I be?”

~~~ Written By Jay Arrington - Maryland Daily Examiner


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Blinded by the White: Why there is no such thing as voting against self-interest

5/9/2014

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No doubt, the majority of you have heard the infamous quote, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” Should I decide too, I could end this article right now and get my point across just on that quote alone. Because in a nutshell as it relates to the phenomena of people purportedly voting against their self-interest this quote is self-explanatory. Think about it folks. If harming people you consider your enemy is your goal, what better way to ensure that outcome then by voting for those who share that goal, who share your ‘self-interest’. You see, ‘self-interest’ does not apply only to someone’s finances it also applies to cultural prejudices, biases, and hate.

Consider for a moment if you will, the main reason posited for this behavior, that people vote this way out of fear, fear of what. Admittedly, there exist pockets in America where this explanation might apply, West Virginia and the reluctance of citizens out of fear of losing jobs to protest companies contaminating drinking water for example. Obvious examples notwithstanding, saying that people vote against their ‘economic self-interest’ restricts the conversation to a narrow point of view. As a result and because we live in a politically correct society, no one dares offer the simplest explanation, that what people in this category really fear is loss of power.

The power these people fear losing is not the type of power that many would attribute to that statement. It is not the fear of losing financial power. To the contrary, this fear of loss is more psychological than it is anything else. It is the fear of losing that sense of white privilege, the fear of losing that ‘first come, first serve’ mentality.  It is the fear of no longer being able to pull pranks without fear of punishment that in urban communities are considered crimes.  It is the fear of despite living in a lower state of poverty than does your enemy maintaining that “at least I ain’t no nigger or immigrant” attitude. What this fear is really all about is losing those long held delusions of grandeur.

That said, the fact that people who vote in this manner continue to prevail is the most troubling aspect of this debate. Reluctance on the part of those most affected by the outcome of these elections, mainly people of color, to speak out, or worse, vote, is the result of being distracted and lulled to sleep. Watching the birdie of gadgets and the latest electronic fad so to be able to say, “I got it first,” and lulled to sleep by senseless reality shows that depict us (blacks) in our most stereotypical state so to be able to laugh at the pain and ignorance of our own. And while we are wallowing in street corner popularity and water cooler gossip, others are voting to keep us in that state out of fear that we might one day awaken from our suicidal slumber and see in ourselves what others have seen all along, that we are Mother Nature’s children.

Some years ago, I made it a habit of watching Pastor James David Manning, PhD of Atlah World Ministries in Harlem. I enjoyed his sermons for their frankness regarding scripture. Alas however, as is often the case with far too many men of God, Pastor Manning’s genius sabotaged his humility before God and his sermons became rants of hate. Hate and hyperbole aside however, Pastor Manning delivered in his final days on air what I believe to be a truly prophetic message as it relates to the behavior of ‘self-interest’. Follow the link below and please do your best to ignore the name-calling and hyperbole. Can anyone say Birthers, Open Carry, NRA, Cliven Bundy, Stand Your Ground, and Voting Rights decimation.  

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=b6b_1249497264

~~~ By  Jay Arrington - Email
       Maryland Daily Examiner


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    Jay Arrington

    Jay Arrington is a featured staff writer and reporter for the Maryland Daily Examiner.  

    Jay's political commentary is cutting edge, and stands on truth and justice.  

    An activist and advocate for civil rights and a fair judicial system, Jay reports with the conviction of equality for all. 

    Jay Arrington's EMAIL

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