The face of evil

Added: To be clear, the point is that evil doesn’t look any different than what we see every day. The face of evil is found in someone exulting in being a slumlord, in the easy acceptance with which the Tea Party–of which many chapters have close links to the Conservative Citizens Council– has met with the media, and in the refusal of this country to recognize the mass murder in Charleston as being the result of something embedded in our national DNA, namely the “original sin” of slavery. This sin can only be removed by genuine repentance, which means de-normalizing racism in whatever form it appears. As long as a guy like Earl Holt III is normal, the whole nation is polluted.

___________________

Via David Nir, DK.

Earl Holt III is a white supremacist, radio personality on WGNU, and leader of the Council of Conservative Citizens. He has replaced the fortunately late Gordon Baum as the president of that organization. Why a man like this was allowed to use the public airwaves is beyond me.

This is how Earl Holt III describes himself in FEC filings:

This is the face of evil, ca. 1990 (From Lindsay Bever of the WaPo):

Lindsay Bever:

[Holt] preferred, he said, “to contribute directly to conservative Republican candidates, ONLY, because we do not trust the RNC to spend our money as wisely as we would. Moreover, if it occurs to us to mention it, we also indicate our preference for Tea Party-endorsed candidates, to whom we have been quite generous the last few election cycles.”

And this is the face of evil now:

(Via Hinterland Gazette)

And here is the list of politicians who happily accepted contributions from a self-described slumlord:

Rep. J.D. Hayworth of Arizona
Senator Ted Cruz of Texas
ex-Rep. Charles Djou of Hawaii
Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska

As the Rev. William Barber said, The perpetrator [of the Charleston massacre] has been arrested, but the killer is still at large.

The Corporate Party of America and the Trade Deal

Meteor Blades:

Democrats who voted for cloture[on the TransPacific Partnership “trade” deal]:

Michael Bennet of Colorado, Maria Cantwell of Washington, Thomas Carper of Delaware, Chris Coons of Delaware, Dianne Feinstein of California, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Tim Kaine of Virginia, Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Patty Murray of Washington, Bill Nelson of Florida, Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Mark Warner of Virginia and Ron Wyden of Oregon.

Even Ron Wyden, who has been so good on privacy.

It’s definitely time to nominate Bernie Sanders as the first step in telling the Corporate Democrats to fark off.

Added: A great comment from Eschaton about Hillary and her triangulation on trade.

willf -> JeffCO • 16 minutes ago

I think democrats should follow her example, and wait on the “supporting Hillary” question until after the election.

The Eurotrash Earl, Aaron Schock

(Image from Eurotrash, an interior designer)

Our good friend (if by “friend”, we mean “corrupt right-wing puppet”) Aaron Schock, the Republican congressman who supported the Honduran junta, is living like an Earl. Ben Terris, WaPo:

The Rayburn House Office Building is a labyrinth of beige offices.

And then, there’s . . . Rep. Aaron Schock’s new digs.

Bright red walls. A gold-colored wall sconce with black candles. A Federal-style bull’s-eye mirror with an eagle perched on top. And this is just the Illinois Republican’s outer office.

“It’s actually based off of the red room in ‘Downton Abbey,’ ” said the woman behind the front desk, comparing it to the luxurious set piece at the heart of the British period drama.
…
A blond woman popped out of an inner office. “Want to see the rest?” she asked.

She introduced herself as Annie Brahler, the interior decorator whose company is called Euro Trash. She guided me to Schock’s private office, revealing another dramatic red room. This one with a drippy crystal chandelier, a table propped up by two eagles, a bust of Abraham Lincoln and massive arrangements of pheasant feathers.

Then, my phone rang.

It was Schock’s communications director, Benjamin Cole.

“Are you taking pictures of the office?” he asked. “Who told you you could do that? . . . Okay, stay where you are. You’ve created a bit of a crisis in the office.”

A staff member then came and asked me to please delete the photos from my phone. So started a day of back-and-forths with a congressman’s office about interior design.

Nice to know the aristocrats are getting prepared for the new monarchy. But who would have imagined Schock as an Earl?

If you really want to know what the Founders said…

The National Archives has made it possible: see here.

John Adams to Abigail Adams

Phyladelphia Octr. 9. 1774

My Dear

I am wearied to Death with the Life I lead. The Business of the Congress is tedious, beyond Expression. This Assembly is like no other that ever existed. Every Man in it is a great Man—an orator, a Critick, a statesman, and therefore every Man upon every Question must shew his oratory, his Criticism and his Political Abilities.

The Consequence of this is, that Business is drawn and spun out to an immeasurable Length. I believe if it was moved and seconded that We should come to a Resolution that Three and two make five We should be entertained with Logick and Rhetorick, Law, History, Politicks and Mathematicks, concerning the Subject for two whole Days, and then We should pass the Resolution unanimously in the Affirmative.

Boehner loses one

Savage cuts to NSAP (Food Stamps) and international food aid in HR 1947 were voted down 234-195. You can see the vote here.

But they’ll be b-a-a-a-a-c-k.

If this happens enough times, maybe Republican leadership will figure out that being a–holes is not a good political strategy.

Democrats who chose to join forces with evil:

Barber, Barrow, Bera, Braley, Brownley, Bustos, Costa, Cuellar, Enyart, Farr, Garamendi, Garcia, Loebsack, McIntyre, McNerney, Murphy (FL), Owens, Peters, Peterson, Rahall, Schrader, Sinema, Vela, Walz.

I guess agribusiness is more important to them than the flood tide of hungry people.

End the filibuster

Credo has a petition to end the filibuster here.

So, call, e-mail, or whatever, but D-O  S-O-M-E-T-H-I-N-G to end this farce.

Thanks for connecting the last remaining dot

Lucia Graves, HuffPo

After months of investigations into Solyndra and other Department of Energy loans failed to produce a smoking gun, one Republican lawmaker let slip why House Republicans have kept up the charge.

In an interview following yet another hearing in which Energy Secretary Steven Chu testified about the Department’s loan guarantee program, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) appeared to admit that Republicans’ ongoing probes of the program — from which the bankrupt California-based solar company Solyndra and others benefited — are largely a play to win votes in November.

“Our staff will continue to dig into it and see,” Jordan told Environment & Energy Daily. “But what I hope happens is we stop doing these kind of things … this whole cronyism approach to the marketplace.

“Ultimately, we’ll stop it on Election Day, hopefully. And bringing attention to these things helps the voters and citizens of the country make the kind of decision that I hope helps them as they evaluate who they are going to vote for in November.”
…
“I think leadership doesn’t want to be seen as using the gavels here for political purposes,” [Cong. Steve] King [R-Tea Party, who is running the Fast and Furious spanking of the Department of Injustice] told The Hill in an interview. “I think there’s a bit of an aversion to that. Me? I have no reservations about that. This is politics.”

I’m certainly not shocked that they are engaged in politics in Washington. I am disappointed that so many Americans can’t figure this out.

Upside Down World: The Colony Strikes Back/Update

Thanks to Rights Action -> Quotha -> Honduras Culture and Politics for noting that Jan Schakowsky had gained over co-signers of a letter stating (in part) that:

We are concerned with the grave human rights abuses in the Bajo Aguan region of Honduras and ask the State Department to take effective steps to address it. The abuses taking place in this area of the country reflect a larger pattern of human rights violations in which human rights defenders, community leaders, and opposition activists are the subject of death threats, attacks, and extrajudicial executions.
…
Private security guards on farmlands in dispute are cited by witnesses as perpetrators of many of these crimes…
…
We know you share our firm belief that given support for the Honduran government, including assistance for the police, military, and judicial system, we have an obligation to ensure that human rights are respected.
…
We ask you to suspend U.S. assistance to the Honduran military and police given the credible allegations of widespread, serious human rights attributed to the security forces.
…
…the U.S. supported Truth Commission, which examined 20 emblematic human rights cases resulting in death that took place in the period between the June 2009 coup until the Lobo government took office, determined that more than three-quarters can be attributed to excessive use of force by army or police, or selective killings by government agents. The overwhelming majority of such abuses remain in impunity.

As RNS says, “How do you know when you are making a difference?

How about when the entire Honduran government mobilizes to refute you.”

Click for more

Dear General Mills…./updated again

Dear General Mills:

As an investor in General Mills, I am disappointed that it has been silent regarding the decision of the Susan G. Komen Foundation to suspend its association with Planned Parenthood. Yoplait, a General Mills brand, is a major sustainer of the Komen Foundation. As a consumer, I was always willing to cut Yoplait a little slack even though I think it’s overpriced and not the best brand on the shelf because it had associated itself with doing good. As an investor, I believe that companies that consciously devote themselves to doing good end up with better governance and more profitable outcomes. So the fact that Yoplait has stood silent while the Komen Foundation has descended into playing politics is disappointing. The reality is that Komen is not nearly as effective as Planned Parenthood in preventing and treating breast cancer.

As an investor, I think that Yoplait should re-direct any donations to breast cancer detection and treatment by Planned Parenthood. At the very least, it should disassociate itself from Komen.

People should mark well: McCarthyism is not just politicians using their office to attack and silence opponents. Most tragically, it is the willingness of ordinary citizens and organizations to go along with it.

Planned Parenthood gets $100 extra dollars from me as a FTSGKF.
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Update. Not all oil men are evil:

Amy and Lee Fikes said: “Our family is saddened that the far right has relentlessly and successfully pressured the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation to cut funding for breast screening, referral, and education support to low-income women who, until now, have been able to depend on the partnership between Komen and Planned Parenthood for their health. In response to this disappointing news, our family foundation has granted $250,000 to establish a Breast Health Fund at Planned Parenthood, so that their health centers across the country can continue to put the real needs of women ahead of right wing ideology. We encourage others to join us in replacing the funds lost, so that no woman’s health is imperiled by Komen’s unfortunate decision.” (See below for full statement.)

Lee Fikes is the head of Bonanza Oil.
_________________
And Michael Bloomberg has offered a matching grant of $250,000

New York mayor Michael Bloomberg has entered the controversy over America’s largest breast cancer advocacy group’s cut in funding to Planned Parenthood by vowing to make up $250,000 of the missing funds out of his own pocket.
…
In a statement, Bloomberg said: “Politics have no place in health care. Breast cancer screening saves lives and hundreds of thousands of women rely on Planned Parenthood for access to care. We should be helping women access that care, not placing barriers in their way.”

Don’t Let This Happen

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