A bitch is going to visit Ongtupqa!

Blink.

Mmmhmm, C-Money has a birthday coming up in a week so this weekend we’re making a family trip to Ongtupqa, otherwise know as The Grand Canyon!

We’ve always wanted to go and I am beyond excited.

I’ll post throughout the weekend and yes I’ll try to take pictures.

Hell, I may actually post them (wink)!

Toodles till we land…

Why a bitch almost sent the first ever AngryBlackBitch action alert over Michelle Malkin’s appearance on the Today Show…

...and then changed my mind.

Matt Lauer just interviewed Michelle Malkin on the Today Show…and it was almost some crazy ass shit.

Well, it wasn’t actually an interview.

It was more like handing the mic over to Malkin and letting her do her best Ann Coulter impression.

Sigh.

Malkin has a book.

The Today Show decided to provide her a platform to promote her book and spout some of her conservative rancidity…and Lauer, being his usual challenged self, appeared unable to put a lid on that shit once it started to almost boil.

Malkin attacked Michelle Obama…making certain to reference the chapter in her book where she allegedly provides proof of whatever the hell it is she thinks the First Lady has done.

I don’t speak stupid so I’m not sure what charge she was trying to make.

Malkin went on to present the standard conservative talking head talking points only to be cut off by Lauer before she could go further. A bitch suspects she was on the verge of making a birther argument…but we’ll never know, thank the gods.

Anyhoo…my immediate reaction was to post the contact information for the show’s Senior Producer and ask that all y’all contact him and demand that they cease providing a platform for crazy ass rotting from within conservatives with a book to sell.

But then I paused and considered…wink…and concluded that Michelle Malkin’s appearance, even without the addition of a “and he’s not even a citizen!” claim, was so fucked up from the floor up lame that she actually made the Obama administration look good.

The problem is that Malkin didn’t deliver the goods...she failed to fully rile...no boil and barely a few bubbles in the pan.

There’s an agreement here and Malkin failed to live up to her part of it!

The Today Show agreed to show her book, announce the titled and then let her give the masses a taste of what’s in it.

Malkin was supposed to lose her fucking mind, make some crazy ass charge against liberals and then drop at least one “oh my Gawd, did you hear what that woman just said?!?” quote that would then be taken up by liberals and denounced soundly across the internets. Best case scenario for both parties involved would have been for Malkin to do a full Coulter and have her crazy ass quote result in further television appearances to defend it all the while driving traffic to the Today Show ‘cause some people like to see public displays of crazy in the morning.

But that didn’t happen.

Malkin gave it the college try, but she’s still Coulter lite.

Hell, my histamine reaction to her appearance didn’t last through the first commercial!

And since the Queen of Rancidity Ann Coulter hasn't earned an ABB Action Alert it just wouldn't be right to launch one for Malkin's sad imitation just because she almost made my knee think about maybe jerking a little.

Sigh.

Mayhap she should had led with the birther stuff and saved the Michelle Obama is responsible for blah, blah and blah incoherant mess for FOX?

Blink.

Missourians – catch a discussion of minority health disparities on Laborvision!

Missouri Foundation for Health leaders will discuss Minority Health Disparities on Laborvision.

Find out where Missouri stands and what steps experts recommend to reduce minority health disparities!

St. Louis City – Charter Channel 21

St. Louis County – Charter Channel 18

Columbia – Mediacom Channel 3

Jefferson City – Mediacom Channel 3

Laborvision is a public affairs television program where local guests discuss important public policy issues.

By request, my thoughts on the birther movement…

A certain Jay from the great state of Montana has asked this bitch for my thoughts on the birther movement that questions whether President Obama is a natural born citizen and thus whether he meets the Constitutional requirements to be President of the United States of America.

Sigh.

Okay Jay, but only ‘cause you’ve been reading a bitch’s blog for years and you have a horse named Spock.

Pause…sip coffee…and begin.

Longtime readers know that a bitch adores a good conspiracy theory. I’m a Watergate buff and don’t even get me started on my personal theory that G. Gordon Liddy’s fumbling even when the lights are on ass was deliberately planted within the Nixon administration by the intelligence community to fuck with Nixon’s attempt to circumnavigate them with those West Wing plumbers.

Blink.

Where was I?

Oh yes…birthers!

Umm, as much as I do like a good conspiracy theory I have to point out that this one is built on a foundation of fresh thus soft and tremblingly unstable steaming bullshit.

People need to ask themselves who the fuck Barack Obama was when this birth certificate-based path to the presidency was supposed to have been cleared for him.

Was he the secret love child of some highly connected Opus Dei Bonesman-based Yaley who, though un-acknowledged by his highly connected and totally knee deep in the nation’s shadow government Jason Bourne style parent, had the inconvenience of a fuck-the-fact-that-a-Kenyan-birth-doesn’t-exactly-fit-this-theory Kenyan birth cleared up with a fake birth certificate because his Opus Dei Bonesman-based Yaley shadow-government immersed birth father parent wanted him to be president since the day he was born? Oh and wait…I think I need to spice this up with a dash of the real birth mother actually being Amelia Earhart’s daughter by a Russian general and that proves that Earhart didn’t die in the ocean but survived as a Soviet and her daughter was really a Manchurian Candidate sleeper birth-based agent who…oh fuck it.

This birther conspiracy can’t be worked over to be anything but bullshit.

Since when has the American political system been manipulated to clear the way for a person of color to seize power?

***cue crickets***

The downside is that the charge being made is insulting as hell…illegitimate…unsubstantiated and illogical.

The upside is that it has allowed for some of the most amusing public displays of craziness that a bitch has seen in years!

Give Spock an apple on this bitch…

Pondering deadlines…

A bitch is watching the Today Show…so you don’t have to.

Wink.

Shall we?

David Gregory of Meet the Press got his chat on with Matt Lauer of the Today Show about the President’s comments on the Gates arrest…the distractitude of the press from health care reform…and his upcoming interview with Hillary Clinton this Sunday.

I am always fascinated when the press discusses the press as if the press isn’t the press.

Blink.

My favorite version of the phenomena is when the press covers their own reluctance to cover missing people of color as if they themselves don’t have the power to cover missing people of color.

Wince.

In this case, Gregory and Lauer discussed the President’s surprise that the press latched on to his comments on the Gates arrest rather than cover his comments on health care reform.

Now, this bitch wasn’t surprised by that shit at all…and I suspect President Obama and his staff weren’t either, after reflection. Obama’s comments on the Gates arrest were a big juicy bone and his delivering them during a press conference was the equivalent of tossing that big juicy bone into a well populated dawg park – there may have been activities going on and health care reform Frisbees being tossed prior to the launching of that bone but no dawg with an ounce of canine logic is going to chose those health care reform Frisbees over the opportunity to wage war for distractitude juicy bone Presidential opinion on a controversial case dominance.

Anyhoo, this bitch is going to get my ponder on regarding the other news story…health care reform…and the issue of deadlines.

During the press conference where the President made his comments about the arrest of Skip Gates he also discussed health care reform (gasp!)...the reason why we need health care reform…and the deadline his administration set for Congress to get that health care reform done. I noted that President Obama also offered his opinion that Congress prefers inertia because doing something…hell anything…is bound to piss someone off and Lawd knows politicians are loathe to act when they may face a response to that action.

So, knowing the beast very well, the Obama administration set a deadline.

Congress is now indicating that they will not meet that deadline.

And now the heads that talk for a living are in frenzy over the deadline now likely to be missed…the potential impact of that…whether the President should have set the deadline or Majority Leader Reid should have set the deadline…and listening to them speculate makes this bitch wonder if they aren’t wondering if the President should have appointed a Congressional Deadline Tsar.

Shit.

A bitch thinks the deadline was a good thing.

Congress has gotten a lot of work done regarding health care reform and they now have legislation to edit and debate and revise and hopefully propose and then pass.

The issue, now that Congress is saying they can’t meet the original deadline, is pressure.

Pressure from the masses…and that’s you and this bitch.

Pressure from special interest groups…and you can bet your insurance premiums that they’ve camped out in the halls to make sure health care reform doesn’t damage their profit structure.

Health care needs to be reformed. The Obama administration is going to take a hit over this deadline bitness because that’s just the way the press works and because the opposition wants to talk about anything and everything as long as they don’t have to talk about health care reform.

But having a deadline gave us a goal, expectations and legislation…

…’tis up to us to hold Congress accountable while the heads that talk continue to fight over distraction-based bones.

Contact your Senators and Congresspeople...

...and tell them the health care reform bill is past due and we the people intend to collect.

And another thing, I happen to think that door needs to be kicked wide open!

Update - Show Me Progress has posted updates/statements from Senator McCaskill.

For a certain someone who demanded a post on this mess tonight.

Missouri Senators split their votes on the concealed carry amendment.

The reason why one of them split made my Afro hurt.

From Jessica Machetta at Missourinet…

“Sen. McCaskill says she was not against letting people carry concealed weapons. But she is against requiring one state to accept another state's laws that might differ from its own. She says it would be a foot in the door that could allow Vermont's laws on gay marriage to be enforced in Missouri, which has a constitutional provision against gay marriage.”

Wince...attempt to soothe Afro...continue.

What the fuck?

Is it too much to ask for our Democratic Senator to vote against an extension of concealed carry permit privileges across state lines without taking cover behind the emaciated civil rights of her LGBT constituents?

Huh?

***cue crickets***

Sniff...sniff, sniff.

Ugh!

A bitch was on the radio – On Common Ground with Janice Graham!

Last night this bitch had a delightful time on the radio with the fantabulous Janice Graham.

I appeared on her show, On Common Ground, to discuss the arrest of Professor Gates.

Follow this link to a clip of the show!

Ya know, the interesting thing about the arrest of Professor Gates for living in a house in Cambridge while black is…

…that his neighbor called the cops to report two black men trying to push open the front door but apparently no one called a damn cop to report the incident that damaged the fucking door in the first place.

Blink.

Shall we?

This bitch attended college in Waltham which is kinda close to Cambridge MA. Since my sister attended college at the same time in Cambridge and since a bitch spent more time there than on my own campus because the food was better, I have a strong familiarity with that town.

I was there in the early 1990’s…and I had more than one incident of shopping while black, leaving that yummified ice cream shop near The Coop while black and attending a totally legal and that’s why my ass was detained and not arrested protest while black. I’ve only been back once…this bitch isn’t one for nostalgic visits…so I had hoped that things had improved with time.

Clearly, some things don’t change.

Professor Gates has released a statement through his lawyer that is published over at The Root. I strongly suggest y’all read it and then read the police report (there's a link at the end of the article) and then ponder the differences in accounts.

Now, here’s what always happens when a charge of racial profiling-based ig’nance is made – folks will talk about giving the officers involved the benefit of the doubt even though they didn’t give Professor Gates an inch even after he produced two forms of identification in his own damn house proving that they were all standing in his motherfucking house…other folks will blame Professor Gates for getting testy while being accused of breaking into his own damn house even though he was being hassled about whether or not he had the right to be in his own damn house which he proved was his house when he produced two forms of identification whilst standing in his own damn house…and still others will defend the officers involved no matter what evidence is revealed because they think Professor Gates was acting uppity and uppity negroes deserve the wrath of the law when they let themselves get uppity about being harassed in their own damn houses and since when do they let black folk have houses, don't they know that makes them uppity?!?

I’ve been there…well, not exactly there ‘cause I don’t have a home in Cambridge so I’ve never arrived home from China to find my front door fucked over and then had the police arrive to not address the fact that my front door was fucked over but to challenge whether that door was door and then toss my ass in jail after I expressed frustration over their refusal to accept the fact that it was my fucking door. Lawd, have mercy. But I have been grabbed by the collar of my shirt, pushed up against a brick wall and told to produce identification after leaving a store and then putting a shopping back in my back pack (translation – a black woman putting a shopping bag into a back pack outside a store = stealing to some police officers.) And if a bitch had a dollar for every time I was asked where I was going and what my business was while in Cambridge I’d be done paying off my student loans by now (wince).

Not every person of color has had this kind of experience…and that’s another thing some folks like to point out as if that fucking matters. As if some of us call that shit down while others “act right” and thus are rewarded by a life free of drama. And the fact that this shit happened and happens north of the Mason Dixon line will shock some...mostly because the north and New England specifically get a pass that region sure as shit hasn't earned.

But some of us have had that experience…some of us have an intimate understanding of the anxiety, frustration, humiliation, anger and disgust Professor Gates was feeling…some of us know the thoughts that probably raced through his head like “will this cop rough me up…beat me…shoot me in my own fucking house?” and “why the fuck are there multiple police officers on my front lawn to deal with my returning to my own fucking house while no one fucking did a damn thing or showed the fuck up when some unknown person fucked my front door up when I was out of town?”

And those of us who know that experience also know the added insult Professor Gates now faces of being expected to prove to all those doubtful folks and the media that he was wronged when he was arrested for taking issue with being questioned about his right to be in his own damn house…while in his own damn house…after having produced identification proving that everyone involved in this mess was standing in Professor Gates’ motherfucking house.

Pause…reflect while sipping coffee in my sister’s motherfucking house…continue.

Post-racial my black ass.

***logs off to venture out into the world while black***

Pondering books…

Shall we?

A bitch just read this article about a proposal from the Democratic Leadership Council to move from textbooks toward e-books and…well, it made a bitch sad.

I happen to enjoy the hell out of books…I adore books…shit, I am currently sitting in my couch-based area surrounded by books!

Yes, they weigh more than an electronic pocket tool…but a bitch even enjoys the weight of books.

There’s something about the texture of paper…the sensation of flipping through page after page to reveal the story within. A bitch has fond memories of weekend visits to my local library where I’d stock up on biographies, histories and trashy novels…and when I returned home I’d settle into bed for hours of fantabulous reading.

Gawd, those were the days.

I can’t imagine snuggling down with an e-book. Does one spread e-books out on the kitchen table to do homework? And there won’t be any coffee stains on the pages of e-books to remind a bitch what my ass was drinking the last time I read [insert novel title here]!

Shit.

Anyhoo, the Democratic Leadership Council is saying that e-books will save money and open up a discussion for online media in classrooms and blah, blah and another blah.

Fuck it…if e-books are the future of books this bitch won’t be able to stop that shit.

But I’m not feeling it and I’m already nostalgic for days spent thumbing through a printed thing as imagination kicked in and characters jumped off the page to become real…or a fork full of spaghetti plopped onto the page leaving a stain on a page I’d find months or years later when re-reading...or a turn of the page would reveal a phone number written next to the page number that a bitch can't connect to anyone I fucking know.

Blink.

Something tells me this transition will be far more painful than the death of record albums and themed mix tapes recorded off the radio.

Because it is hard...

“We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.”
President Kennedy 1962 at Rice University

Shall we?

Many years ago, when discussing the NASA space program with some fellow students, I questioned why a nation struggling to feed it’s hungry and clothe the poor should invest so much money, time and energy into the exploration of space. My history teacher overheard my speculation and joined our conversation with an answer - that beyond the scientific benefits and technological advances garnered through the NASA program, beyond the space race Cold War ramifications (a bitch is dating myself, but there was once a Cold War and my ass was in high school before it sorta-ended)…beyond all of that is the lesson that we as a people can make possible what was once held to be impossible if we commit to the task and reject failure as an option.

I was 15 years old at the time and didn’t truly grasp what my favorite history teacher was telling me. I was born into a world where space travel was reality and we no longer paused in wonder to observe launches and landings. But it struck me last week, as I traveled back home from Washington D.C. having lobbied Congress in support of healthcare reform, that the 40th anniversary of humans landing on the surface of the moon and the dedication and determination that got us there holds some serious lessons some folks are overlooking today.

I’ve listened to all the reasons why healthcare reform might not happen.

I’ve observed television news anchors and pundits gleefully point out the cost, the enormity of the task and winced at the lack of political unity and personal courage.

And I can’t help but think of President Kennedy’s speech at Rice University in 1962 and of that one amazing phrase regarding why we set goals like putting a human on the moon “...not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills…”

Pause…allow to mentally marinate…continue.

That’s what I was pondering as I flew back home having pounding the hotter than hell D.C. pavement to advocate for healthcare reform that protects and expands access to essential community providers and for coverage of the full range of reproductive health services.

And I moved forward from questioning when we as a nation became a people afraid to try shit for fear of failure because in reality many a person was afraid to strive for putting a human on the moon and that shit probably wouldn’t have happened if the then Soviet Union hadn’t been trying to do the same shit at the same time.

I moved forward into a place that recognizes that sadly human beings landing on the surface of the moon isn’t an accurate analogy to healthcare reform…people had never been to the moon but many a nation has created healthcare systems that provide coverage for their citizens.

And I arrived at the understanding that healthcare reform is more akin to America sending a human into space.

I see trees of green........ red roses too I see 'em bloom..... for me and for you And I think to myself.... what a wonderful world.

We did not get a human into space first but that didn’t distract us from wanting to get there too…rather, it made us want to get there all the more.

And we learned a lot of shit from getting an American human into space…from the process, the quest and the achievement of it all.

I see skies of blue..... clouds of white Bright blessed days....dark sacred nights And I think to myself .....what a wonderful world.

So when the time came for us to set the goal higher…to announce that the goal was the moon and us putting a human on it then safely returning that human back to earth…we turned our backs to fear and walked purposely toward getting that shit done.

The colors of a rainbow.....so pretty ..in the sky

Not because it is easy.
Are also on the faces.....of people ..going by I see friends shaking hands.....sayin.. how do you do They're really sayin'......i love you.

But because it is hard.
I hear babies cry...... I watch them grow They'll learn much more.....than I'll never know And I think to myself .....what a wonderful world

Almost seventeen years ago...the Clinton administration announced that the nation’s healthcare system required reform in order for it to serve the people instead of the profit margins of corporations and the campaign coffers of politicians.

That’s damn near ten years longer than the time that past between President Kennedy’s speech at Rice University in 1962 to the moon landing in 1969.

As President Kennedy said during that speech “we meet in an hour of change and challenge, in a decade of hope and fear, in an age of both knowledge and ignorance. The greater our knowledge increases, the greater our ignorance unfolds.”

And he also offered “…I think we're going to do it, and I think that we must pay what needs to be paid. I don't think we ought to waste any money, but I think we ought to do the job.”

We must catch up to others in this race too and then look to the moon in regards to healthcare...to treatment and cures, advancement and discoveries, early detection and prevention.

Not because it is easy, damn it.

But because it is hard...

Shark-Fu's been getting her lobby on…

A bitch has been in Washington D.C. getting my lobby on.

Blink.

No, I didn’t fly here at the last minute having been inspired by the fubaritude of the Sotomayor confirmation hearings to take to the friendly skies and arrive on the scene to tell folks about themselves in person.

As if!

I haven’t done that kind of shit in years…maybe even a decade.

Wink.

No, this was a previously planned trip to lobby in support of health care reform that includes coverage for all reproductive health services and not only protects but improves access for all Americans.

Pause…savor the possibilities…continue.

Yeah, that was worth a pair of sore ass feet and a mild case of dehydration from the heat (wince).

Anyhoo, a bitch shall be traveling tomorrow (Friday) so toodles until my ass lands back in St. Louis!

Wow, that was some ugly ass shit…

A bitch caught up on the Sotomayor hearings last night and…well, that was some ugly ass shit.

Listening to Senator Sessions was like looking into a kitchen at a diner and seeing one of the cooks take a piss in the soup du jour. The man clearly has unresolved issues from his own failed attempt to get confirmed by Judiciary…and damn it all if he didn’t prove the committee got that shit right when he spent yesterday demonstrating a frightening inability to understand what a witness is saying, accurately quote and distinguish a fact from the wild speculations going on in his head.

Prior to the hearing Sessions said he intended to use the confirmation hearing as an educational moment…

…but a bitch didn’t realize he intended to educate the masses on ig’nant ass shit.

My favorite part of yesterday’s hearing was the awkward as hell and totally off -topic invoking of Miguel Estrada, who was nominated by Bush but not granted a hearing.

Senator Graham used Estrada to point out that he could imagine a scenario in which he could vote for a Hispanic nominee – ouch L Man, that’s right up there with “I may be treating you like you don’t have a lick of sense but I have Hispanic friends.”

Senator Sessions went on and on about Estrada and ended up giving the impression that he was pissed off that his kind of Hispanic nominee was dissed. I half expected to hear him say that as far as he’s concerned aren’t all Hispanics the same and if we’ve gotta have one on the bench can’t we at least have one we’ve trained like Thomas?

Mercy.

I fear day three shall be more of the same…

Fidelity to the law…

Shall we?

Yesterday Judge Sotomayor pledged fidelity to the law during day one of the Senate confirmation hearing. She spoke for about 8 minutes and then the committee members got their talk on and on and on.

As expected, Democrats praised Sotomayor while Republicans voiced their concerns…grave concerns…very, very grave concerns that Sotomayor may do on the left what they sure as shit hope Alito and Roberts will continue to do on the right.

Senator Grassley read his statement without lifting his eyes from the page and in a pissed off to be there in the first place tone of voice that indicated that he was…well, pissed off to be there in the first place.

Mayhap the Senator should eat more fiber?

Just a thought.

Anyhoo...

Senator Graham predicted Sotomayor’s confirmation…as long as she doesn’t have a total meltdown. And damn it to hell if he didn’t leave the impression that a total meltdown would be welcome as hell.

All in all, day one was a typical position statement-making day.

Day two will bring the realness.

And this bitch can’t help but note that all of this theatre is taking place so that we can maintain the current balance…so that the current court that gleefully demonstrates fidelity to conservatism, and applies 20/20 vision when they do, in their rulings will continue to be met with alternative viewpoints and legal interpretations.

Behold, sausage making Senate Judiciary Committee style!

Mercy.

Lawd have mercy, Ann Coulter just jumped up on a bitch's Blogger page!

Lawd, have mercy!

A bitch just hit publish and...Lawd!..the Blogger publish page came on screen to confirm that everything went okay...gulp...and there on my screen was a Google ad promoting Ann Coulter's column.

Heaven to hell and back again on a red eye - that's just wrong...not right...jarring and disturbing and why the hell does she always have an inch of roots?..WRONG!

A bitch has done nothing in my life to deserve a forced viewing of the Queen of Rancidity on my Blogger publish page before 8 o'clock in the morning.

Nothing...you hear that Blogger?!?

Merciful goddess...gave a bitch the shakes...shudder.

Judge Sotomayor confirmation hearing preparedness…

Okay, y’all…the confirmation hearings begin today for Judge Sotomayor’s appointment to the United States Supreme Court. It’s been a while since conservatives in the Senate have had the opportunity to show their natural ass on national television while attempting to score political points at the expense of a nominee…but this bitch predicts they’ve been saving up zingers for Judge Sotomayor and will hit their stride early.

I anticipate the first day to be full of testimonial praise for Judge Sotomayor followed by the dissenters who will try to paint her as an damn near out of control uppity judicial bully.

Blink.

This bitch intends to be prepared!

Shark-Fu’s Judge Sotomayor confirmation hearing list of preparedness…

Know the players
‘Tis important to know who is likely to show their ass and what their preferred asshole angle is.

Jeff Sessions
Ranking Member
R-Alabama
Sessions has been out there working hard like the good conservative minion that he is. He’s “flabbergasted” by Judge Sotomayor’s judicial philosophy and he intends to use the confirmation hearings as an “educational moment” (translation – his battle plan is to insult the hell out of Sotomayor while not looking like a woman fearing hateful bigot). Look for Sessions to grill, not listen, look properly flabbergasted (slack of jaw and wide of eye), dismiss answers, dismiss supportive testimony and then try to wrap his rancid performance up in some sort of “you sad bitter misguided woman…but, of course, I have the deepest respect for you and your people” statement-esque bow.

Orrin G. Hatch
R-Utah
Hatch will go after Sotomayor on the right the bear arms. He’s already indicated that he’s troubled and concerned by Sotomayor’s Second Amendment rulings…but his mind is open. Blink. Anyhoo, Hatch will be the minion of the “we need to be able to stockpile short range missiles in our backyard” crowd.

Charles E. Grassley
R-Iowa
Grassley will likely lift up the reverse racism angle and he’s also indicated that he’ll be watching to see if Sotomayor gets uppity in defense of her ruling in the firefighter case.

Jon Kyl
R-Arizona
Kyl is apparently looking forward to an intellectual feast at the hearing – there’s nothing like a judicial confirmation hearing to bring out the lawyer in him. But Kyl may lay low since bullying the woman likely to be the first Latina on the Supreme Court in an effort to paint her as a bully won’t fair well for him back at home.

Lindsey Graham
R-South Carolina
Look for the L Man to come out like a true hard ass because Sotomayor scares the living shit out him. Graham is disturbed by her directness, he questions her character (no specifics given, natch) and he pretty much told Sotomayor to her face that he’s not going to vote in favor of putting a self confident and vocal about it Latina on the high court. Most pundits see Graham’s position as payback to Obama for giving Alito a hard time…not exactly a sign of maturity, but then again this is the Senate.

John Cornyn
R-Texas
Cornyn will likely join Sessions and Grassley in the reverse racism camp…but he’s not expected to play bad cop.

Tom Coburn
R-Oklahoma
Coburn has indicated that he’ll join up with Hatch in the a missile in every American backyard camp…plus he’s freaked out about her position on eminent domain…and he thinks she’s to the left of Souter…but mostly because of “…just the things she says.”

Know the code
Unstable temperament = uppity woman who does not know her place is to do as conservatives would have her do when they want her to do it and with a smile while wearing a skirt.

Bully = woman judge who doesn’t suffer bullshit in her courtroom or back down from an argument 'cause Lawd knows straight talk from a man is refreshing while from a woman it threatens the very foundation of American blah, blah and another blah.

Strict constructionist = go forth and get your judicial activism on as long as it isn’t liberal judicial activism and as long as you don't admit that justice has been seeing 20/20 since the founders signed their names.

I have grave concerns = "I’ve decided not to support this nomination and go fuck yourself."

Anticipate public displays of ig’nance
A bitch has found that it is crucial to anticipate rancid behavior prior to Senate confirmation hearings. Thinking that these hearings will not be a proxy battle ignited with the hopes of embarrassing the President is…well, unhealthy.

I’ve got to think about my high blood pressure, after all…and nothing spikes that shit like a hearing.

Day one will be a pageant.

Day two will be a sorta-circus (Republicans don’t have the power to turn it into a full on three ring drama).

And at the end of it all Judge Sotomayor will most likely be confirmed as the first Latina on the Supreme Court.

Let the games begin!

Incidents at swimming pools…

June 21, 1949 was the first day black people were allowed in St. Louis municipal swimming pools.

As reported by the St. Louis Post Dispatch on the 60th anniversary, the decision to integrate St. Louis municipal swimming pools sparked the most widespread racial violence in the city’s post WWII history.

Rampaging youth and adults roamed Fairground Park wielding knives and bats and attacking as they wished, when they wished and because they wished.

It took over 400 police officers 12 hours to restore “order”.

The pool riot jump started the movement for racial justice in the city that still works today…because racism still exists today (just read some of the comments to the Post’s article)...because there are still people who think black people are inferior and that they should be able to avoid us and the dangers we bring.

I’ve always found that curious…that the ig’nant point to concerns that our children will change the environment of a place even as their public displays of racism lower the standards of the place they say they are so concerned about maintaining standards at.

Pause...allow to marinate...continue.

Because roaming a public park with bats and knives and beating the shit out of children, women and men while crying out that y’all are doing it to protect your community from black people and our anti-social behavior is pretty damned illogically fucked up.

Just like the club members in Philly clutching their children to their sides and complaining that they fear what those black kids will do to their children, steal from their children and teach to their children is ig’nantly illogical…and, in my opinion, verbally abusive to the children of color and the white children who overheard that evil ig'nant shit.

But fueling the ig'nance is the public perception that black people are dangerous violent fiends bent on getting our freak on wherever we go. Even now some knavish troll is typing a comment defending that opinion…as if I am not black, as if I don’t know what black people are like, as if I have not experienced racism that had nothing to do with me opening up a can of whoop ass up in a public place (never, though I have been tempted)…as if their knavish ass needs to help me understand that the black America I know isn’t the real black America but some separate exception to the rule that has confused my fragile little mind.

When I turn on the television I rarely see black America…I see what the media defines as black America. That’s not to say we don’t have problems…obviously we're not the only ones…but day camp kids in a summer youth program trying to have fun isn’t one of them.

Sigh.

I grew up in St. Louis…in a city where a riot broke out in the 1940’s because they tried to integrate the municipal pools.

And when I went to a pretty public pool in St. Louis county in the 1980’s I watched as parents clutched their children to their sides and whispered instructions on how to avoid me in their ear…I listened as one parent told another “Great, now they’re living out here! There goes our property value.” I hurt as one asshole kid approached me and told me to go to the black people pool…to get out before I stank up the place. And, when I told my mother, I watched tears of disgust and frustration well in her eyes…that not a damn thing had changed but the date and that her children should experience America’s most consistent national product – hate.

Now we have Philly and a two part incident of racism – part one being the comments made by club members, loud as hell because we all know that they were really hoping to upset the kids enough that they would voluntarily not come back and part two being the club’s initial statement.

The thing is that the club president was right – the black and Latino children came to the pool to have fun and play and, judging from the members' reactions, that might not be the reason folks go to that club pool or are members of that club.

Even as I find comfort in the news that other clubs like the Jewish Community Center (yay!) have invited the summer camp kids to come on over and play I can’t help but feel sorry for the children of the people at the club at the center of this controversy and for the community they will one day build having been raised by ig'nant assholes (shudder).

Lawd, have mercy...

Pause, reflect and refocus…

Let’s jump in, shall we?

A bitch has been reflecting.

Mmmhmm, I’m a big fan of inner-work and often pause to examine what the hell I’m doing and why.

Reflecting is a sometimes disturbing other times inspiring and often frustrating experience. It usually exposes some fucked up from the floor up cases of bullshitting myself and more than one instance of allowing fear to guide my actions.

Shit, a bitch is nothing if not a human bitch (wink).

But, despite the disturbitude reflection causes, this bitch does it on a regular basis because it is a necessary part of refocusing and keeping my eyes on the prize.

Sigh.

I’ve spent the past month reflecting on my life.

On this blog.

On my writing in general.

On my relationships.

On my career and activism.

And on whether all these things point toward my personal mission.

Yeah, a bitch got heavy on my own damn self…made my own Afro hurt more than once…and came up with some changes while deciding to keep other shit the same.

My blog is my outlet and the source of my online activism. This bitch is an activist who blogs and I think I lost sight of that in recent months. I’ve struggled to fit my volunteer work in rather than the other way around. No, I’m not quitting…this blog is still a hell of a lot cheaper than therapy and I fucking enjoy it! But I am refocusing on my offline work because it fuels my soul. You probably won’t notice a change, but I will and that’s important.

A bitch has been neglecting my other writing…my book and other journalism. Spinning in circles while not doing anything all that well is a dizzying and annoying state of being…so again, a refocus is in the works. This you hopefully will notice since I hope to get my book published!

As for my relationships…my family and friends…I’m forgiving myself for phoning it in and feeling sometimes overwhelmed. I want to be the best sister possible and the kind of friend I need others to be in my life...and my quest for perfection has led to inner turmoil and stress. For that I apologize to myself and to anyone in my circle who has had cause to wonder what the fuck is wrong with me! I love all y’all and you know who you are…more than cold fried chicken and chocolate cake at 3 o’clock in the morning! I promise to lead with love more.

Finally, my career and activism. I adore my work…that which pays the bills and puts kibble in my dawgs dinner bowls and that which fuels my soul and allows me to practice the fine art of bitchitude in my community. ‘Tis a blessing to be able to say that I truly enjoy what I do and I’m refocusing on that gift now.

So, does all that shit assist me in working my personal mission in life?

Pause…reflect…continue.

Yes.

Oh, hell yes.

And seeing the truth of that…knowing the truth of that…has made all this Afro taxing inner work based reflection worth it.

Thanks for allowing a bitch to share.

Viva la bitchitude!

Pondering the All-Star clean-up…

A bitch caught a rebroadcast of the Michael Jackson Memorial on the telly last night. I found it to be a very well put together memorial and was particularly touched by Stevie Wonder’s performance and Brooke Shields’ speech…to hear Stevie mourn Michael Jackson’s passing in song was beyond moving and Shields reminded everyone that there was a person behind the image who lived a life outside of the spot light that we never knew about.

Moving forward…

My home city of St. Louis Missouri is preparing to host Major League Baseball’s All Star Game. This bitch used to be a huge Cardinal baseball fan, but the game has changed and I found myself turned off by the casual acceptance of chemical assistance. And then there are the expensive as hell and curiously funded stadium deals that result in expensive as hell and strangely posh stadiums that put attending a professional baseball game out of reach for this bitch…big time.

I haven’t watched a game in years.

Now baseball is coming to town in the form of the All Star Game.

City officials have taken to the news to get their brag on about the power washed streets and sidewalks…the broken windows that have been replaced…the fresh coats of paint on many a building…banners and streamers and fresh flowers and grass…and, last but not least, the clean-up along highway 70 involving long overdue trash pick up and mowing.

On one hand it feels much like what goes on in the House of Bitchitude when we’re going to have company. We clean and fix shit, wash and brush the dawgs and put out the decent silverware.

On the other hand, a bitch is rather surprised that the city even noticed all the areas they are now targeting with amazing accuracy. I almost hoped that all those broken windows in all the abandoned buildings were there because the right people weren’t aware of them…that the layers of filth on the street had not been attended to because most folks don’t walk around downtown St. Louis to notice…and that the trash and neck high weed/grass lining highway 70 was the result of the bad economy coupled with no one wanting to take responsibility.

But a bitch was wrong!

No way in hell my ass was right because St. Louis city got their clean on too swiftly with too much accuracy…much like this bitch does when someone says they’re going to drop by the house. Oh, I could bullshit myself and pretend that last night’s dinner plate only became visible after I hung up the phone or the dawgs didn’t smell houndish until after I asked a guest to visit…but why bullshit my own damn self?

I knew that shit was there but I don’t want other people to know that shit is there.

A bitch suspects that the same shit is going on with St. Louis city and I’d like to suggest to city planners what I often suggest to myself after I clean the hell out of the house and then survey the enjoyable neatness with guests – mayhap we should try this clean-up fix-up bitness more often and for our own damn selves?

Blink.

***cue baseball tossing crickets***

Pondering the death of Robert McNamara…

Shall we?

Robert McNamara died yesterday at the age of 93.

When I remarked upon his passing to an acquaintance he asked who Robert McNamara was (wince). After I explained that he was the architect of the Vietnam War and his fingerprints are on multiple policy decisions that still impact our world, the acquaintance seemed confused then said, “I thought LBJ was the architect of the Vietnam War.”

Sigh.

A bitch is a history buff and one of my favorite periods to study is post World War II through the 1970’s. Robert McNamara’s name pops up all over the place because the man was all over the damn place. But what sets McNamara apart is that he reflected on his life and how he was all over the damn place and involved in all manner of shit in both a book and the award winning documentary The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons fro the Life of Robert S. McNamara. In the documentary McNamara was both cagey and stunningly honest, manipulative and open…unrepentant and confessional…stunning, to say the least.

I highly recommend viewing The Fog of War just as I highly recommend studying history through as many sources as possible.

McNamara died at the age of 93...58,261 American soldiers and over 3 million Vietnamese soldiers and civilians were not so blessed as a result of his work.

And examination of McNamara offers a look at how certainty, ego and secrecy can result in policy that is fubar from the start…

…it also offers an opportunity to reflect on the limits of apology, the wages of war and the sad lack of accountability that eats at those who benefit from it even as it eats at those who object to it.

When I walked along The Wall and the cold stone grew taller and taller with name after name, person after person, friend after friend, son after son, father after father a shudder passed through me and I wondered how one could atone for such death and destruction…and I looked away as a woman wept softly while touching, barely making contact and oh so lightly caressing one name listed among the thousands.

And it is that moment that I think of now...those names and the millions of nameless Vietnamese that I think of now.

May they rest in peace.

And may we work to learn from the lesson of Robert McNamara...

Pondering the HBO documentary Shouting Fire: Stories from the edge of Free Speech…

Happy Monday, y’all!

A bitch woke up at dawn…I’m on my second cup of coffee…and I sincerely hope that shit kicks in soon.

Shall we?

This weekend I watched the HBO documentary Shouting Fire: Stories from the edge of Free Speech and it was beyond thought inspiring. As someone who writes an opinionated blog I’ve certainly experienced the backlash of speaking freely, but some of the stories were downright frightening! This doc is a must see regardless of your political inclinations…it goes beyond the usual “free speech is important” spin and delves into the reasons why we must protect the right to free speech, when and how those rights were defined and why even offensive speech needs to be protected.

Good stuff!

I thought about that shit for a spell and how it fits into our Independence Day celebration. It amazes me that folks can freak out and race to their local gun store on a rumor about gun control but they can’t be bothered to stand up to those who actively seek to take away their right to speak freely.

Sigh.

Anyhoo, Shouting Fire was a timely reminder about the powerful weapon of speech we each have…

…and why we need to protect the hell out of it.

Happy birthday to my brother Bill!

My brother Bill is 39 years old today and we intend to celebrate the hell out of that!

39 years of keeping shit real…defying to odds…teaching people that there are more that a few ways to communicate…and charming soda pop out of unsuspecting victims.

39 years outside of an institution…in the community…making friends, having roommates and roommate drama and building a life.

39 years of being a damn good older brother…of forgiving me my selfishness and failings even before I forgive myself.

39 years of therapy and treatments, medications and then behavior modifications, nastified diets and strange as hell food restrictions.

39 years of people staring…of children laughing and strangers not understanding...of others knowing or just not caring…of smelling people’s hair and then asking forgiveness through that mega watt smile.

Born before autism was a 1 in 150 diagnosis or celebrities wrote best sellers…raised back when mothers were still thought to be to blame and people didn’t shy from saying that shit…reared in a world that was anything but understanding or supportive.

39 years of living life as a person…not a cure that didn’t happen or a treatment that failed to work.

And today we celebrate Bill and all that he is.

Go on with your bad ass soda pop adoring, French fry consuming, funky music enjoying self!

Go on, Bill!

And happy birthday, damn it (wink)…you are the gift that just keeps giving.

Gov. Palin’s going to step down, but everything else she said didn’t make any fucking sense.

A bitch shall leave it to the wild beast that is the media to unearth what, if any, “exotic” drama is behind this hastily announced and strategically bizarre move.

I think that the fact that both Mary Matalin and Pat Buchanan think this stepping down before the end of her first term strangeness was wise speaks volumes to just how fucked up from the floor up this shit really is.

But a bitch will hold off on the analysis until the shoe and/or shoes drop.

What I won’t hold off on is addressing the announcement itself.

What the fuck?!?

I’m as far from a Palin supporter as you can get and even this bitch was hoping that she’d pull her shit together mid speech and begin to make complete sentences that have something to do with why the hell she called everyone to her front lawn to chat!

Jesus to Gawd, woman…that basketball analogy was crazy.

CRAZY!

Hell, the whole speech was the very definition of crazy talk.

Did she talk an antihistamine on an empty stomach after drinking two bottles of horse turd whisky?

Or did she lose her mind and decide to kick the script to the curb and speak from her heart?

Whatever the cause, that televised announcement was a steaming hot mess on ice complete with random nature calls because even the wildlife was unimpressed with that shit.

Daaaaaaamn.

In related news, Ross Perot's 1992 announcement that he was leaving his campaign has now moved from the top spot of public displays of fubaristic craziness...

Hold up…

Jumping right in!

A bitch just heard an anchor on a morning news show tease a segment about who the “real father” of Michael Jackson’s children is.

And I’ve also heard some speculation over who the “real mother” of his youngest child is.

Well, this bitch finds that to be rather fucked up.

I’m not adopted.

I was not born through surrogacy.

But I do know plenty of people who are parents through adoption or surrogacy or some combination of those things or sperm/egg donation.

And those folks are the real parents of their children…they have all the legal rights of a parent to determine who should raise them if they die.

I’m fascinated that, in a world where plenty of groups promote adoption as an option and other groups promote surrogacy or egg/sperm donation, so few offer resistance to the assertion that surrogates or egg/sperm donors can jump up post mortem and assert parental rights.

And I’m more than a little disgusted that the frenzied speculation over Michael Jackson has taken this turn.

If Jackson failed to complete the legal requirements establishing parental rights then all this speculation is, I suppose, valid…even though he was the only parent these children have known regardless of the paperwork.

But, since no one is saying Jackson didn’t handle his bitness, all the segments claiming that his former dermatologist or some other person is the “real” father and wondering what that means and what impact that may have and all the frenzification over who the biological mother of his youngest child is…all that shit adds fuel to the fire of de-legitimizing adoptive and surrogate parents while insulting the hell out of them too.

Cease.

There will be plenty of drama associated with the Michael Jackson estate for the press to feed upon without their having to stir the who-are-the-real-parents-and-will-they-sue-for-custody shit pot…

Happy Canada Day!

A bitch wishes a Happy Canada Day to our neighbors to the North!

Go on with your bad Canadian selves…

Facebook just doesn't wanna talk about it...

Update - Facebook's digital Paxil has kicked in...and they have reinstated a bitch's account.

A bitch’s Facebook account has been disabled.

Facebook, contacted by this bitch several times today for comment, has demonstrated a distressing inability to communicate what the fuck is behind this disabling.

Strange, since they are a company designed to promote communication between people.

Mayhap Facebook needs some digital Paxil to address their social anxiety disorder towards those who have accounts they have disabled?

Is it to much to ask for someone at Facebook to send a bitch an email explaining the what and why behind this situation…would that be too much like right?

***cue crickets***

Shit.

A bitch is annoyed…

…but I’m also curiously able to go on about my bitness.

Which makes this bitch think that my romance with Facebook ‘tis over…while Twitter and a bitch shall be getting more intimately acquainted.

Blink.

Finally, an update on my brother’s car situation!

But first, a bitch’s Facebook account has been suspended due to cyber thievery. I haven’t even opened any shit since some cyber thief stole my email the last time! I don’t play those games or follow links that take me away from Facebook…and yet, my account has been violated and thus suspended so a bitch had to reach deep within my Afro to find new passwords for every fucking account I have.

Fuck a duck!

I’m beginning to feel like Facebook and this bitch may have to break up. I’m not feeling loved or cared for…and at least once a month Facebook freaks me the hell out with some cyber threat warning email from hell.

Yeah…we may have to call it quits.

Pause…consider…continue.

But technically Facebook broke up with me ‘cause they suspended my account.

Blink.

Motherfuckers.

That almost tops Black Planet rejecting my screen name as objectionable…almost, but not quite (wink).

Shit.

Moving forward, suspended but still full of bitchitude…

Longtime readers know that this bitch’s autistic brother was in a serious car accident last year. Well, not exactly an accident. He jumped out of a moving vehicle in traffic…on purpose…and we have no idea why. Thankfully, he didn’t break anything but he scared the living shit out of us. As a result, we’ve restricted his car travel to when two staff members can be on hand to prevent his leaping into the front passenger seat and out to van again.

Some of y’all have offered great suggestions for vehicle-based modifications…

…but getting those things approved is a process.

And this bitch is happy to report that the process is moving forward…finally.

We’ve ordered up several buckle busters for all vehicles used by my brother.

And we’ve submitted a request through the appropriate slow moving state agency to have his primary vehicle modified to include a passenger side safety lock that only the driver can open.

Although it will take up to a year to get the van modification approved we anticipate getting those buckle busters in within days…and giving our brother back his ability to travel within the community without additional limitations.

Perfect timing too…Bill’s birthday is Sunday.

Yay!

Thanks to everyone for the advice and the well wishes when Bill was recovering!

And thanks to the manufacturers of buckle buster technology for a problem solving product that costs under $20…