CINO EVIL, HEAR NO EVIL, SPEAK TONS-O-EVIL ON HEALTHCARE FOR POOR FOLK

First, a definition of CINO from the Urban Dictionary:

Christian In Name Only. (pronounced SEE-no) This applies to Christians that claim to be Christian, but don't follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. They tend to be ignorant of the Gospel and follow the Old Testament instead of the New Testament teachings of Jesus Christ.

Instead of doing all they can to help the poor as Jesus teaches, a CINO follows the Hebrew tradition of tithing only 10% to a church. A CINO values money over God. A CINO prays in public and on social media even though Jesus said to pray in private. Often a CINO will use the term Christian to promote political values that are not actually Christian.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=CINO

This week, House Republicans got enough votes together to make it look like they were making good on their REPEAL AND REPLACE OBAMACARE promise.

I say they are trying to "make it look like" they're doing something because rumor has it that the House plan won't make it through the republican dominated Senate, who are planning to come up with their own plan.

But the House republican plan is still important to dissect because it shows the attitude republicans have toward the public they are supposed to be serving --instead of serving up to the only God republicans truly worship, MONEY a.k.a "the free market."

For "smart" republican, repealing Obamacare is mostly about getting the one-percenters higher tax rates out of Obamacare
For idiot republicans, making 200K or less, repealing Obamacare is getting rid of anything with a black man's name on it

In order to get the moderate republicans and the hard right (let-the-poor-go-to-hell-today) republicans on the same page, Trump's minions had to come up with a Repeal and Replace plan that "makes it look like" those with pre-existing conditions wouldn't be left out in the cold to die within the next few years.

Let me make it clear, dying is what we're talking about here. If people who have pre-existing conditions like heart problems and cancer can't get insurance or can't afford insurance, they will die.

This little factoid of life hit Jimmy Kimmel right between the eyes last week. He got on stage and cried genuine tears as he imagined what WOULD HAVE HAPPENED to his newborn son last week if he, as his parent, didn't have insurance and/or money coming out of his ears to pay for healthcare.  Kimmel understood in a more visceral way that he and his wife would be visiting a tiny grave today instead of holding their recovering child if he and his family hadn't had access to healthcare.

The other thing this late night talk show host mentioned  was how he atheists friends that were actually praying for his son. And while he was supposedly joking, I know he wasn't joking. I know some of his atheist friends were praying...just in case.

There are no atheists in a foxhole when it's being shelled. 

Most people pray under fire.

However, there are some CINOs who love to profess their love for God in public with their mouths while behaving like they worship in Satan.

When I first read what Republican Congressman Roger Marshall said about poor people not wanting insurance-- the same man who came up with the plan to have states handle those with pre-existing conditions on their own when this has been tried before and it has NOT WORKED in 3 dozen different states-- I thought he was being willfully ignorant.

When I say I thought he was being willfully ignorant, I mean to say I thought he was making sure he didn't learn or read about how states like California ran out of money for those with pre-conditions which led to only a fraction of those with pre-existing conditions being able to get healthcare coverage.

But when I read words from his own mouth about his position on healthcare, I understood that he wasn't ignorant, willful or otherwise:

Marshall doesn’t believe [Obamacare's Medicaid Expansion] has helped, an outlook that sheds light on how this new player in Washington understands health policy.

“Just like Jesus said, ‘The poor will always be with us,’” he said. “There is a group of people that just don’t want health care and aren’t going to take care of themselves.”

Pressed on that point, Marshall shrugged.

“Just, like, homeless people. … I think just morally, spiritually, socially, [some people] just don’t want health care,” he said. “The Medicaid population, which is [on] a free credit card, as a group, do probably the least preventive medicine and taking care of themselves and eating healthy and exercising. And I’m not judging, I’m just saying socially that’s where they are. So there’s a group of people that even with unlimited access to health care are only going to use the emergency room when their arm is chopped off or when their pneumonia is so bad they get brought [into] the ER.”

SOURCE: https://www.statnews.com/2017/03/03/roger-marshall-kansas-obamacare/

In the 1980s, when white folks wanted to be subtle about saying racist things about black people, they would say things that meant, "Black people's culture is in inferior. That's why they behave the way they do." Marshall is doing the same thing here, but instead of race his doing it in regards to class.  That what "socially that's where they are" means. He is talking about the inferior culture of the lower class or "the poor"  --which he probably assumes is mostly black and brown instead of largely white-- so he can dismiss their need for healthcare without his conscience bothering him.

So my first thought --after I cussed him out in my head-- was that Marshall is an "Atheist in Christian Clothing." But then I realized that his statements don't just reflect not believing in God. His statements reflect actively believing in and following evil. 

Even atheists and agnostics must have read these words and wondered if there is some evil being (like Satan) that this man prays to every night.  

Everybody except Bernie Sanders, his Bros and Bro-ettes know about the white supremacy mindset that dominates the republican party right now. But white supremacy is just one facet of the supremacy-based worldview that CINOs on the right almost have to possess. 

White-run news outlets keep using the words "authoritarian mindset" to describe white ethnoracist republicans. I've been thinking this is so obvious that they keep using the word "authoritarian" to describe how republican voters hate so they can avoid using the words like "white" and "racist" and "supremacist" and "hate."

Even so, I haven't so much been dismissive of this description (authoritarianism) as much as I thought it so obvious as to not warrant further consideration. 

But now that this CINO went so far as to use Jesus to justify a plan that involves pushing people off healthcare if health insurance companies think that will cut into their profits, I want to consider how "authoritarianism" really works in someone's head.

Here is part of Marshall's quote again: 

“Just like Jesus said, ‘The poor will always be with us,’” he said. “There is a group of people that just don’t want health care and aren’t going to take care of themselves.”

When I  understood that this man used Jesus to justify his plan to let people who don't have healthcare die within one of the richest countries in the free world, I re-understood that this man likes to think himself superior to others 

--based on his whiteness 

--based on his pseudo-Christian belief system 

--based on his income

...sometimes on each one of these bases alone, sometimes in combination. But these examples are three different conclusions about self.

I'm thinking all "authoritarianism" really means in practical terms is that all these bases of supremacy use the same path through the brain of a single person. They are just three different end points in the human mind, three different conclusions about self. 

To say that someone 

has an "authoritarian belief system" 

is to say that 

someone believes himself 

to be an authority 
(or to be firmly aligned with authorities) 

who have dominion over others. 

To say that the republican party has an "authoritarian" based mindset is really using a different word to say that they have a supremacy based mindset without saying the word "supremacy"  --often preceded by the word "white"-- out loud. 

When we say that someone has "an authoritarian based mindset", we are saying that this person believes

I am the authority  

"Those people" are subject to my authority

Why?

I am superior

Once you have accepted yourself as superior and let that thought run through the landscape of your mind over and over again,  you create a well-worn groove in your mind. Thinking of yourself as superior over and over is like watching a river wear away rock over 1000s of years on a time lapse camera --that river creating something as big as the grand canyon in your mind.

THE AUTHORITARIAN THOUGHT PROCESS 1
I am the authority  

"Those people" are subject to my authority

Why?

I am superior
Why?

Because I am white

Once you let one river, like white supremacy, create an "authoritarian groove" in your mind. It must be easier for other waters to flow down the same groove, to flow down the same river bed to a different destination.  

Christian supremacy may wind up at a different, nearby destination in Marshall's brain, but the path or pattern of thought for the authoritarians on the right is the exactly the sameTHE AUTHORITARIAN THOUGHT PROCESS 2

I am the authority. 

"Those people" are subject to my authority

Why?

I am superior 

Why?
Because I am a Christian

Male supremacy may up at a different destination in his mind, but the path for those with the authoritarian mindset on the right is the same. 

I am the authority. 

Those people are subject to my authority

Why?

I am superior 

Why?
Because I am male

In the grand canyon image above, the rock can be thought of as the mind. The river in the top faded portion is authoritarianism carving a path.

At the bottom of the image you can imagine the river branching off and ending at three different pools in the mind. One pool is white supremacy. One pool is male supremacy. One pool is Christian supremacy. 

The point is that once you have the authoritarian groove in your head, it's easy to branch off and create another pool of supremacy --like heterosexual supremacy. 

Saying "all the authoritarians are on the right," as white news outlets like to point out from time to time,  is the same as saying the supremacists are on the right without being as clear as you could be. In my opinion, hiding the words "white supremacy" behind "authoritarianism" helps the white supremacists, male supremacists (misogynists) to hide...mostly from themselves.

White run media wind up being enablers.

 

When the white supremacists, male supremacist misogynists, and CINOs also worship money instead of God and call it a strong belief in the "free market" system, then you get what you've got.

CINOs are the only ones who can read the bible and assume that 

"The poor will always be with you" 

means 

"the poor are meant to be poor because poor-culture leaves them lazy and stupid" 

instead of 

"every society has poor people and always will --some lazy and some hard working and some plain unlucky, same as the middle class and rich-- and if you have more than they do you must take care of them."

The are three things in the bible that the average CINO, white supremacist, classist  needs to read  over and over.

1) how hellish the pharisees were

2) that it is impossible to worship money and worship God at the same time 

3) how to repent and ask for forgiveness

If money-worship were to be depicted in some art medium as a demon, I don't know what it would look like exactly. But I know it would have Roger Marshall by the throat. The money demon would have a bunch of these white male supremacist republicans by the throat

People disagree about what's in the bible, some people are ignorant or misguided. Nobody will agree on everything in the bible or even on half of what's in the bible.  There are all sorts of things you can debate in bible as to what is important to God and what is of lesser importance. That's whey there are 10 gazillion denominations of Christianity.  

So, I know judging other people is probably high up on the list of no-no-s in any denomination. However, we are called to have discernment. 

So pardon my discernment.

Electing leaders that make things up in their own heads, 

then blame God for those thoughts,  

so they can justify stomping on those that are weaker 

just so they can keep some extra tax dollars in their pockets

or help their buddies running the health insurance companies get rich is something we need to crush.

To be continued

JUST DO IT: WATCH THE DARK TOWER PREVIEW AGAIN

IDRIS ELBA IS THE GUNSLINGER

AND HE IS  COMING 

TO

A 

SCREEN 

NEAR

YOU

AUGUST 2017

My inner sci-fi geek is writhing on the floor in ecstasy. I'm wondering know how the film is going to live up to this preview.

This movie wax created out of Stephen King's DARK TOWER books. And it looks like this Stephen King book finally got an adequate budget.

FINALLY


More importantly, I think THE DARK TOWER will make movie history when it comes out.

Elba is in the hero role of The Gunslinger and he be opposite Matthew McConaughey as the bad guy. So, I am almost certain this is the biggest sci-fi role a black actor has ever landed.


The biggest black star in a sci-fi flick that I can think of is Laurence Fishburne in THE MATRIX SERIES. But he was part of an ensemble cast, not THE lead like Elba is in this movie.


Will Smith has been part of ensemble casts that were hits too, like INDEPENDENCE DAY. That movie he did with his son, AFTER EARTH, tanked so we won't talk about that. He was in MEN IN BLACK but he shared the lead there too. He was part of a duo.


I'm one of the precious few who ever saw THE BROTHER FROM ANOTHER PLANET with Olivia Pope's dad, actor Joe Morton back in the day. He was THE lead as I recall. But I'd call that a low budget, independent movie.


THE BLACK PANTHER may top this movie for sci-fi blackness but that's not due out until 2018.

For now, I think we can call Idris Elba the top dog as far as black sci-fi leads go.
https://theurbandaily.cassiuslife.com/2831756/black-sci-fi-movie-characters/

Idris Elba, Stephen King, Matthew McConaughey

BLACKCHICKROCKED.BLOGSPOT.COM

LET THE DEATH PANELS BEGIN?

OBAMACARE took the first of two steps become OBAMACARE VERY LIGHT. Keep in mind, however, that this House passed mess may not make it past the republican run Senate.

The House republicans were mostly interested in making it look like they are keeping Trump's campaign promises -- no matter what's in the actual bill.


One of the first things you should know is that republican congressman are trying to protect the best parts of Obamacare 1.0 for themselves 

"With hours to go before the latest vote on repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, it appears members of Congress and their staff would be exempt from losing some popular provisions of the health coverage available under Obamacare, as it is popularly known."

http://www.newsweek.com/american-care-act-congress-staff...

Last week this provision was taken out, now I'm hearing it's back in. I'll know whether it's in or out later this afternoon. BUT the thing I'm pretty certain of is this: The republicans will likley try to sneak it back in using a separate piece of legislation.
The only things the affluent white republicans really hate about Obamacare is:

 1) That a black man is associated with getting nationwide healthcare passed AND 

2)  It takes care of the poor people they despise as lazy and worthless.

3) The huge chunk of one-percenter tax dollars it was sucking up.  

 But I'm not sure how congressman would be affected at all ever since congressmen have that federal "cadillac" healthcare they were flapping their gums about. Congressmen's healthcare was protected in the past, is protected now, and will be protected in future (maybe) from health insurance companies predatory shenanigans, especially when it comes to critical things like pre-existing conditions.

In this new republican plan, the Marshall Amendment has states in charge of covering pre-existing conditions-- when having states taking care of high risk pools hasn't worked in 30 plus different states, including California.

But I'm not sure how congressman would be affected at all ever since congressmen have that federal "cadillac" healthcare they were flapping their gums about. Congressmen's healthcare was protected in the past, is protected now, and will be protected in future (maybe) from health insurance companies predatory shenanigans, especially when it comes to critical things like pre-existing conditions.

In this new republican plan, the Marshall Amendment has states in charge of covering pre-existing conditions-- when having states taking care of high risk pools hasn't worked in 30 plus different states, including California.

Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (R-N.Y.) said the proposal "is like administering cough medicine to someone with stage 4 cancer."

He added: "This Republican amendment leaves Americans with pre-existing conditions as vulnerable as they were before under this bill. High-risk pools are the real death panels: they mean waiting forever in line for unaffordable health insurance.”

http://www.latimes.com/politics/washington/la-na-essential-washington-updates-house-gop-tacks-8-billion-fix-onto-1493830169-htmlstory.html 

The GOP's big lie: Healthcare bill 'protects people with preexisting conditions'

The MacArthur Amendment would empower states to waive protections for those with preexisting conditions as long as they come up with some alternative way of making insurance available.

The catch, however, is that the amendment would not require insurers to charge the same rates that healthy people enjoy. That’s why the likes of the American Medical Assn. and AARP have warned that, under the Republican plan, sick people could face rates so high that they’d be unaffordable for any but the wealthy...

We know that because this isn’t a theoretical idea. High-risk pools have been tried in nearly three-dozen states, and in almost all cases resulted in limited access to coverage and skyrocketing costs.

California’s high-risk pool was the Major Risk Medical Insurance Program, which was intended only as insurance of last resort for the up to 400,000 people with preexisting conditions who, prior to Obamacare, kept having doors slammed in their face by profit-hungry insurers.

The program was chronically underfunded, meaning that it eventually had to limit the number of people covered to only about 7,000 — a small fraction of the state’s uninsured. Thousands languished on the waiting list.

http://www.latimes.com/business/lazarus/la-fi-lazarus-gop-healthcare-macarthur-amendment-20170504-story.html

* * * * * 
The People At The State Level Who Choose Who Goes On The Waiting List = Schumer's Death Panel

It's the poor people working for very small companies and the old that are getting in the neck. The only saving grace is that lot of those getting it in the neck are the worst of the Trumpthuglicans.

One of the worst features of this new Obamacare Very Light involves removing and/or raising catastrophic cover out-of-pocket limits. I'm hearing those limits will rise into the stratosphere or be non-existent.

So, if a person gets a really catastophic illness like cancer? There's not a yearly out-of-pocket expense limit set at 2500. You'll either be able to pay the thousands and thousands of dollars per year or you'll die. 

Thing is, if this is allowed to pass for poor people? The health insurance companies are going to come for the rest of us. They are going to claim there should never be a cap on out of pocket expenses. It's going to be a matter of time.

The republicans are setting precedent here...if it makes it through the Senate. The republicans own cadillac insurance will be no more, eventually.

Maybe that's why they are trying to exempt themselves from Obamacare Light Rules NOW while it doesn't seem to relevant at all. They've looked into their evil crystal ball and seen into the free-market future they profess to love. They just want to make damn sure they still have Obamacare 1.0 type coverage --the poor, the elderly, and the small company employed be damned.


These racist Trumpthuglican idiots are not going to see that the black and brown folks are not the enemies poised to slit their throats until it's way too late. They're not going to see that the white one-percenters have gotten the republican party to do the throat slitting for them either.

Most of me is thinking "Good riddance to bad rubbish" But black and brown folk will get caught up in this too -- if it makes it past the Senate.

I still think this damage-- however bad it gets-- will be reversible in the long run... if we can slow the health insurers' roll before they come for the rest of us that have still currently have decent "standard" health insurance. But I am wondering how many people will die first.  And people will die with these kinds of limits on their health insurance until the Cheeto Satanettes have been run out of D.C. 

THE OBAMACARE TO OBAMACARE LIGHT VOTE

The republicans are trying to "Repeal and Replace" again.

If pre-existing conditions remain significantly covered, all we're probably doing is moving from Obamacare to Obamacare Light. That makes "Repeal and Replace" a lie no matter what happens with the vote in the House today --even if Trump stamps his name on it.  

What coverages will be removed is the question.

With any luck, people with pre-existing conditions will remain covered at the same rate as everyone else and some minor coverage removal will be as bad as it gets --coverage which can be reinstated later.

With bad luck, Trump and his minions will pull so much of the 1% taxes out of Obamacare that the next healthcare system will collapse or be worthless.  But I have hope that President Obama has left his healthcare mark on this country no matter what the republicans do.

I'm thinking republican moderates will only go so far in cutting their own constituents (mostly poor white people's) throats.  And that should inadvertently save poor black and brown folks healthcare.

If not, maybe states with high numbers of black and brown will come up with their own healthcare systems. 

If nothing else, President Obama has left us with the idea that healthcare as a basic human right is possible within the United States. Eventually, a set of politicians will move into our government and be more interested in the health of our citizens than they are the profits of the healthcare industry.

No matter what happens with the vote today, I think Obamacare having been in place at all is the first step toward breaking that industry's choke hold on us all. I don't think Trump and his Cheeto Satanettes can do anything but trip us up for a few years.

All of us now understand it's possible that people without money do not have to die of curable disease just because they're poor -- not in these United States.

* * * * *
Jimmy Kimmel made an appeal to the GOP decision makers last week. Kimmel's clearly thinking of what would have happened to his newborn son if he'd been poor or without some sort of health insurance.

I hope they heard him.




  

WHITE FOLKS RESEARCH CONCLUDES THE OBVIOUS, AGAIN: WHITE RACISM GOT TRUMP ELECTED

Feeling Rebloggy

From Mic.com

The results showed Republicans and whites, Trump's primary base of support, were the most likely to view increased diversity as a negative. In fact, the researchers found a direct correlation between racial resentment and the probability of voting for Trump. This was more true for Trump voters in 2016 than it was for Romney or McCain supporters of the two previous elections, the study revealed...

Racial resentment drove supporters of President Donald Trump to vote for him in November more than any other factor, new research shows. 

Political researchers Sean McElwee and Jason McDaniel published a report in the Nation in March detailing their latest study on what motivated Trump voters to go to the polls.

Their findings, which mirror similar reports showing racial bias among Trump supporters, illustrate an inherent fear or anger about perceived threats of increasing diversity, compelling many to vote for Trump.

Read More 

https://mic.com/articles/174185/poll-shows-americans-voted-for-trump-out-of-fear-of-diversity#.w6uYJ3Xm6

Somebody tell Bernie Sanders, his white Bernie Bros and his white Bernie Bro-ettes that the "white working class" bullsh** is officially bullsh** like black and brown folks knew all along

I find it both offensive and incredible that white folks cannot see their white brethren and their white sister-en for who they are. That man spouted KKK type overt racist filth for months.

I mean, why else would they vote for this ignorant low-life?  

 

TRUMP'S DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE DECLINES TO CHARGE ALTON STERLING'S MURDERERS

Background:

In case you can't separate one white cop murder or a black person from another by now. Alton Sterling was the one selling DVDs or something. They were just harassing him as usual, the shop owner didn't mind him selling his wares there.

They found a gun in Sterling's back pocket while he was lying on the ground and shot him while he was lying there.

The white cops that murdered Alton Sterling aren't likely to go to any sort of trial at all despite the lip service the state is giving us. The Mighty Mouse run Justice Department (Jeff Sessions) will not be filing charges. 

The news of no federal charges does not mean the officers involved are in the clear. Louisiana Atty. Gen. Jeff Landry's office has said it would look at evidence from the investigation to see whether state charges were warranted. A spokeswoman for Landry did not reply to requests for comment on Tuesday. The officers, Blane Salamoni and Howie Lake II, both white, were put on administrative leave after the shooting. 

Civil rights groups, which have criticized changes in the Justice Department’s approach to policing under Sessions, had closely watched for the announcement on the investigation into Sterling’s death. This week, Baton Rouge was on edge as rumors spread that an announcement was imminent.

Read More:
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-doj-alton-sterling-2017-story.html

NOW WE KNOW WHAT IT TAKES TO CONVICT A WHITE COP

We need:
1) a video of him shooting a man in the back
2) while unarmed
3) after having falsified a police report

4) more video of him planting evidence.
5) and a white murder victim

And if the victim is black you'll also need: 

6 ) a black jury 

7) a black judge 

8) a black prosecutor who's focus is on something other than stopping the Black Lives Matter Protest (remember Baltimore prosecutor's theory of "THE SEAT BELT DID IT")

9) EVEN THEN you'll still need the cops confession to something other than murder at a civil rights trial.

Walter Scott's murderer Michael Slager went to his SECOND court proceeding and decided not to roll the dice today.

"Former police officer Michael Slager pleaded guilty on Tuesday afternoon to federal charges of using excessive force and violating the civil rights of Walter Scott. According to his plea agreement, which you can read here, the remaining state-level charges against Slager will be dropped. Sentencing will occur at a later date to be determined. In theory, he could face life in prison—but that is highly unlikely, as you will discover when you read the story below."

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/01/michael-slager-trial-walter-scott-police-shooting-north-charleston-south-carolina-2

The other stories I read earlier today about Slager's conviction? These white news outlets act like I'm supposed to be happy about Slager going to jail at all.

Today, May 2, 2017, was THE SECOND TIME he went to court. The jury couldn't make up their mind after watching Slager murder Scott and plant evidence.

And now I'm supposed to be happy the prosecutors gave up on the murder charge for fear their white jury would set him free while Slager was afraid they might convict him after all. And I'm supposed to be happy because the other cop murderers -- George Zimmerman (a loser, wanna be cop), Darren Wilson, and Dante Servin etc. etc. etc. -- all just walked away. 

I'm supposed to be happy Slager was too scared to go through another trial and decided to plead to something less than murder because white people protect their murderous own?

I guess I ought to be happy Mighty Mouse the Attorney General didn't step in to protect Slager. 

But I can't quite get there. I'm not even relieved he'll get at least SOME time in jail. Do you remember that video?  It's absolutely incredible he's not up for the death penalty...and I don't even believe in the death penalty.

Here's a word picture of Walter Scott's murder from the online magazine MOTHER JONES.

"The reason for the stop is your third brake light's out," Slager said through the driver's side window. It was the classic DWB (driving while black) rationale for a stop, but Scott knew he had a bigger problem. He was $18,104 in arrears on child support and there was a warrant out for his arrest. Scott had been to jail in the past for failure to pay support. It had cost him jobs and made his debt ever larger and harder to manage. He handed over his license and told Slager he planned to complete the purchase of the car in a couple of days. The interaction was entirely respectful. Scott said he had no registration or insurance card with him. "I'm sorry about that," he said.

"Okay, but you're buying the car?"

"Yes, sir."

The officer returned to his cruiser intending to run Scott's license through an FBI database, standard procedure. Scott stepped out of his vehicle and then climbed back in when Slager, sitting in his squad car, instructed him to do so. But moments later, Scott got out a second time and ran toward an open field, the site of an abandoned trailer park, and onto a painted asphalt path known locally as the Yellow Brick Road. Slager pursued on foot, warning that he was preparing to fire his stun gun: "Taser! Taser! Taser!" Scott didn't stop, so Slager hit him with two darts.

The electricity brought Scott to his knees, but he refused to surrender. Slager then "drive-stunned" Scott—put the business end of the Taser directly on him and pulled the trigger—but could not cuff him. The men scuffled on the ground, and a winded Slager pleaded for backup. "One-five-six," he said into his radio, calling out the badge number of the officer he knew was closest. "Step it up!"

Scott managed to break free and run away in a slow, wobbly gait. This time Slager did not give chase. He unholstered his .45-caliber Glock, took a stance, and put his left hand underneath to steady the weapon. His form was perfect, like in a training video. The only problem was that his gun was aimed at the back of a fleeing man. He squeezed off eight quick shots.

According to this story, it's looking like Slager might not even get life in prison. 

Read More:
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/01/michael-slager-trial-walter-scott-police-shooting-north-charleston-south-carolina-2



By the way...Is my math right? 

Based on the info above to the right, 120 people were fleeing police when killed, 48 were unarmed,  Two-thirds of the fleeing unarmed people murdered were black men (33). Yet less than half of the 13 officers were ever charged with murder or manslaughter.

And now Slager has escaped  the murder or manslaughter charge too despite

1) a video of him shooting Walter Scott in the back
2) while unarmed
3) after having falsified a police report
4) and planted evidence.

* * * **

While Slager might go to jail for SOME time Trump's Injustice Department is going to protect Alton Sterling's murderer completely.

White cops are white supremacy's sword while the white voter (a.k.a. the white juror) is its shield. 

RACIST-IN-CHIEF ENDS MICHELLE OBAMA'S LET GIRLS LEARN PROGRAM

With A Plan To Keep Most Key Components, 

Call It By A New Name, 

Rebranding It Under Somebody White, 

Probably His Daughter. 

"Moving forward, we will not continue to use the Let Girls Learn brand or maintain a stand-alone program,” an email from Peace Corps acting director Sheila Crowley to employees reportedly reads.

The Trump administration gave order to cease the program’s operation immediately, according to an internal document obtained by CNN.

Aspects of ‘Let Girls Learn’ will continue, although the brand name of the program will no longer be used.

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/331387-cnn-trump-ending-michelle-obamas-girls-education-program

BRAINLESS RACIST #45 will do the same thing to Obamacare if he's smart.  If he's not, he'll gut Obamacare which will wind up killing off a portion of the people who voted for  him.




 

Feeling My Way Through Claudia Rankine's CITIZEN: AN AMERICAN LYRIC

Simone Missick from CITIZEN: AN AMERICAN LYRIC and LUKE CAGE

continued from "Living Through CITIZEN: AN AMERICAN LYRIC"

There was an entire section of the play about Serena Williams that floored me.

I'd heard the racist and white supremacist commentary about her, especially at the beginning of her career. But I don't watch sports, so I didn't see the details of what happened to her. When she wins I jump up and down, fist in the air like I'm the one doing battle and winning on the court. Her wins feel personal to me. But I feel like a bad non-friend now.  I had no idea just how aggressively white tennis tried to eject her black body from the sport. 

I didn't know about things like white referees having to be removed from judging her permanently after making 5 bad calls against her in a row. And somehow I missed Serena's winning 12 sets in a row in 2012, then having to defend her little victory dance being called a "Crip Walk" that endorses gangster activity.   

Learning what Serena went through made my being unable to find lab partners in class after class after class at my predominantly white school seem like so much nothing.    

This elephant hide insensitivity to unintentional racism and intentional but unconsciousness racism was captured masterfully in this play. But the play seemed more about us, about black people, about how these interactions with peaceful-looking, peace-wanting(?) white people get stored inside us.

Like actor Jeffrey Tambor, who just happened to be there the same night I was, felt very strongly that this play needs to move from Los Angeles Theater to film so more people can see it sooner rather than later. There is a push to move it Broadway. But I hope Tambor's plan is taken seriously so a broader audience can see it. In this age of Trump, we need more American art to reveal people to themselves. And this play was that powerful. It was so powerful that I felt a hollow pain inside. But it disturbed white others so much that they could barely stand it.

And some didn't stand it. One white man and his wife got up and left less than 15 minutes into the play.

During the discussion that took place after the play was over, I found out I was too engrossed to notice that more than a few white people snuck out in the middle of the play while others remained and fidgeted (much like they did during the not-comparable-at-all movie GET OUT).
However, maybe one-third of the mostly white audience stayed for the discussion of the play and race afterward.

One white man discussed how he was shocked at his parents negative reaction to a "professional black woman" he was dating when he was young -- and how that shock and hurt at his supposedly "non-racist" parents resulted in him deciding he would always raise his children in neighborhoods with a mixture of races and ethnicities in it.

An ancient white-looking woman haltingly told the audience of how she had a thriving shop until her neighbors found out she was Iranian. That was her entry into feeling what ethnoracism is like for black people.

The play wasn't perfect because the book likely wasn't perfect. Other than the wide section on Serena Williams (the female director's choice)I felt like I was missing black women a bit.

When recounting the unarmed black people murdered by police, only Sandra Bland's name was called out -- as I recall. I'm assuming the language choice was due to their quoting directly from the book. But black women were added back by putting up a mixture of black men and black women killed by police on the screen behind the actors.

But I wasn't too put out by this. You had to dig to find the real story of what happened to black women like Miriam Carey. And what I found within myself after watching this play was invaluable. There are so many things that I just pretend are okay day to day. And not just among white people either. I realize I do some of the same things in regards to gender and within my own family of origin's dysfunction. It's no wonder, sometimes my vacations involve going off to a place out in the sticks where I don't have to see, hear, or talk to anybody for a week. It's exhausting to absorb day-to-day trauma that everybody absorbs then absorb racism and dysfunctional family stuff too.

Speaking up because it's the truth and not because it will change things is a value I have a hard time holding onto.

The truth may not set YOU free but it may set somebody else free. At work, if you have to leave a job because of a racist, put it on record. If four people leave and put it on record, eventually somebody has to pay attention. It took years and years and he got 25 million dollar severance package but a hell of his own making is waiting for Bill O'Reilly because women went on record before they left. And there are other lesser O'Reilly-s in lesser jobs around the country who will be fired because we as black people or we as women or we as black women spoke up before we left our jobs.

At home, if you have to leave a family situation because of a racist or sexist or an abuser, then put it on record by talking about it when the moments right. There are a lot of people repeating the dysfunction they found in their own homes and laying it on their children.

What I found in CITIZEN: AN AMERICAN LYRIC was how much racism, sexism, and everything else I am holding inside my body. The scars will remain. But not speaking holds onto pain that morphs into other things like bitterness, weight gain, weight loss, high blood pressure, workaholism, respectability politics, and just plain stupidity

What white folks will find in the play CITIZEN: AN AMERICAN LYRIC are behaviors and beliefs they view as harmless.

At the end of the play, a black woman told a story of her nephew quitting his job because of a racist and how she felt he had to learn how to take it. Thankfully, one of the black actors and a few people in the audience said, "No, sometimes you have to leave." I didn't get to share my opinion that people should file a complaint before exiting if possible, should leave a paper trail that might lose a middle-class lesser-Reilly his job 10 years after you're gone. And I felt a bit silenced right after I felt empowered to speak.

Moments later, on my way to the car a young, very stoned young white boy said to me, "Oh my Gawd. You are beautiful!" when I was feeling old and overwhelmed and anything but beautiful. Seconds later, a white couple turned around and came back to me, offered to walk me to my car.

Felt like a God moment that I needed very badly because as my beauty fades and attention that used to scare me to death comes less frequently, I realized I feel my female worth disappearing even though I'm a feminist. More important than that was the fact that the white couple made me think about how I feel more and more like intellectual understanding of racism means very, very little. It is feeling that matters.

Coming out of the play themselves, the white couple probably wanted to do something nice for a black person or simply felt their humanity more after such a play left us all feeling so vulnerable....or maybe they do that sort of thing all the time. But it was important to me to re-feel that changing how people feel is the way forward for white America.

And it is white America that needs to move forward.

It is White America that has the disease of choosing only to feel for themselves, that has the disease of hiding from the dis- ease they feel whenever they remember their shared history with us and do everything in their power to avoid it's impact on the present.

Claudia Rankine's CITIZEN: AN AMERICAN LYRIC making us feel a little too much is part of the remedy for what ails us all. I'm going to get the book. I hope I have enough imagination to fill the words up the way the actors, including Simone Missick of LUKE CAGE, did on that barren little Kirk Douglas Theater stage in Culver City last weekend.