Show Them Some Love

           from here

Ta-Nehisi Coates

Letter To My Son, from Between the World and Me

 A powerful premise: White Americans, regardless of ideology, can only invest in the lie of abstraction and false transcendence.

Abstraction:

• Slavery was a long time ago, and even though the nation's economy was built by slavery. I wasn't alive then, and I don't really benefit from the brutal conditions that human bondage imposed on black people.
• Not all slaves were mistreated.
• The Civil War was fought for states rights, not to preserve slavery as the economic engine of the south. 

Transcendence:

• Blacks have made many advances in American society and will only keep advancing until they achieve full equality with whites.
• Whites are more enlightened as a result of the black people's struggle—whites have evolved beyond the prejudices our 18-19th century ancestors.

All bullshit.

Updated:
The extremely white (and awful) David Brooks felt compelled to whitesplain.

 I read this all like a slap and a revelation. I suppose the first obligation is to sit with it, to make sure the testimony is respected and sinks in. But I have to ask, Am I displaying my privilege if I disagree? Is my job just to respect your experience and accept your conclusions? Does a white person have standing to respond?

No.

WILL. DRIVE. CRAZY. (!)

AP Has a Sense of Humor

 “Presidential candidate Ted Cruz, was shown in a series of 14 photos taken by an Associated Press photographer at a ‘Celebrate the 2nd Amendment’ event Saturday afternoon, held at a shooting range in Johnston, Iowa. Five of the photos published by AP included images of guns seen on a wall in the background so that it appeared a pistol was pointed at Sen. Cruz’s head. The images were not intended to portray Sen. Cruz in a negative light."

One Can Hope

America Is The Coyote

There's Really Nothing More to Say...

Let's Learn To Be Racist From Our Betters...Shall We

Ghettos are created by "colored" people in order to stick together and maintain their "colored" identities.

Classy.

Also...

Tuesday Soundtrack

Mandatory American Seppuku...

...for producers, cast, crew, and whoever went to see this cultural horror show.

seppuku

Florida Disappears!

Mitigate the effects of climate change...what's the rush?

30 Years of Reckless Republican Ratfucking

The president embarks on delicate negotiations with the Islamic Republic of Iran...he is firm in his belief that in the presidency resides the sole power to conduct the foreign relations of the United States.

When these negotiations are uncovered, this is the primary argument presented by the president and his defenders against the angry opposition of the Congress. The president is Ronald Reagan. The negotiations are regarding the exchange of weapons for American hostages, something the president vowed he never would do, and something he already told the country he hadn't done. The deal was facilitated in part by Israeli intelligence operatives, which is no surprise. Israel already agreed to sell Iran $40 million in weapons in a deal that had fallen through. Also, in deciding to sell the arms, the president was inspired partly by a book about combatting terrorism put together by an ambitious Israeli politician named Benjamin Netanyahu.

Now, we have a president again embarking on delicate negotiations with the same fractious and unpredictable state. This time, instead of arming it, he is trying to reach a deal by which Iran will agree not to build nuclear weapons. Republicans in the Congress, heedless of the principles on which their party stood 30 years ago, and on their own initiative, invite that same Benjamin Netanyahu to come to the Congress to give a speech aimed at undermining the president's policy toward Iran and sabotaging any deal. This, say these members of Congress, is necessary to maintain Congress's role in helping to manage the foreign policy of the country.

Charles Pierce 

Also...

YUP

Tom Tomorrow

The Fourth Estate

from here

Unctuous

With its upper west side gravitas, and centrist patina, this program is far more regressive than anything on Fox.

Democrats are antisemitic.

Right-Wing Dumbasses Are Mad at Obama...

...because American conservatives have a talent for combining stupidity, venality, and desperation in truly exceptional ways.

Ta-Nehisi Coates:
The Foolish, Historically Illiterate, Incredible Response to Obama's Prayer Breakfast Speech

Dickhead

Scott Walker (Bag of Kochs)

Ratfucking in Wisconsin.

Moron

Rand Paul (KY)

Of course, he's an anti-vaxxer, in addition to a hundred other vaguely libertarian positions—all essentially designed to deceive oneself and others.

Having lived in Louisville for a few years, one becomes familiar with this type of charlatan, a product of what I call the Kentucky bubble—low-grade intellects developed within a low-stakes environment.