TUESDAY, JUNE 16, 2026
But also, subsection (b) of the Voting Rights Act: In fairness, American incoherence is just part of a much larger human story.
Here in America, one current snowstorm of incoherence got its start in 1982, when the United States Congress agreed, by overwhelming margins, to add some murky language to the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
At that time, the Congress added subsection (b) to Section 2 of that important piece of legislation.
Borrowing from the later Wittgenstein, had "language gone on holiday" in that addition to the Voting Rights Act? To a large extent, we're going to say that it pretty much had. You can peruse subsection (b) below
SECTION 2 OF THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT
42 U.S.C. § 1973. Denial or abridgement of right to vote on account of race or color through voting qualifications or prerequisites; establishment of violation.
a) No voting qualification or prerequisite to voting or standard, practice, or procedure shall be imposed or applied by any State or political subdivision in a manner which results in a denial or abridgement of theright of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race or color, or in contravention of the guarantees set forth in section 1973b
(f)(2) of this title, as provided in subsection (b) of this section.
(b) A violation of subsection (a) of this section is established if, based on the totality of circumstances, it is shown that the political processes leading to nomination or election in the State or political subdivision are not equally open to participation by members of a class of citizens protected by subsection (a) of this section in that its members have less opportunity than other members of the electorate to participate in the political process and to elect representatives of their choice. The extent to which members of a protected class have been elected to office in the State or political subdivision is one circumstance which may be considered: Provided, That nothing in this section establishes a right to have members of a protected class elected in numbers equal to their proportion in the population.
To be clear, it was subsection (b) which was added in 1982, in part for reasons which Carl Hulse described last month in the New York Times.
Did language "go on holiday" in that new part of the Voting Rights Act? We're going to say that it did! Even today, forty-four years later, it's virtually impossible to untangle the balls of confusion which have come into being in the wake of the vacation taken by clear, concise language within that jumble of words.
Somewhat oddly, there's one declaration in subsection (b) which seems to be fairly straightforward. It comes at the very end of this addition to the original VRA:
[N]othing in this section establishes a right to have members of a protected class elected in numbers equal to their proportion in the population.
Paraphrasing slightly, this new subsection said that members of a protected class are not guaranteed "proportional representation" in (for example) the House of Representatives. You may think that was a lousy provision but, in fairly straightforward language, that's what this new subsection said.
You may think that's a lousy provision but there it sits, in fairly straightforward language, right there in the VRA. Oddly, the recent Supreme Court cases which have generated anger and controversy seem to involve claims by plaintiffs who were demanding proportional representation under terms of the Voting Rights Act.
The Act doesn't guarantee such representation. To appearances, plaintiffs seemed to be seeking it all the same
Proportional representation might seem to be fair. In principle, it would seem that it plainly would be fair," whatever objections might arise with respect to some such legal requirements. That said, subsection (b) seems to say that there is no right to some such outcome on the part of the "protected classes" under consideration.
If no such outcome is guaranteed, is the active pursuit of some such outcome constitutionally permissible? It seems that's a question the Court was batting around in its recent decisions.
At any rate, a ball of confusion was set into motion when Congress passed that new subsection. According to Hulse's account, the Republican Party supported that new subsection for a grimly political reason:
According to Hulse's account in the New York Times, the GOP wanted to cram Black voters into majority Black districts in the hope that this would help them win congressional seats in adjacent districts. According to Hulse, this was part of the GOP's attempt to win control of the solid South, a region which was slowly moving from solidly D to solidly R at the time in question.
That last part of subsection (b) seems to be reasonably straightforward. Did language go on holiday in other parts of that new subsection? Also, has language been on holiday in the decades of legal and journalistic writing which have followed the creation of that subsection?
We're inclined to say that the answer is yes—that an era of American incoherence has been added to the much longer story of human incoherence.
It's sad but plainly it's true. As a species, we the humans simply aren't built for this kind of analysis. That said, we'll continue to try to show you what we mean when we say that "language has gone on holiday" with respect to subsection (b) of the Voting Rights Act.
Meanwhile, a larger chasm in understanding opened up yesterday, first on The Five, then five hours later on Gutfeld! Believe it or not, this was one of Greg Gutfeld's handful of opening jokes on his eponymous "cable news" program:
GUTFELD (6/15/26): At Sunday night's Freedom 250, fighter Josh Hokit ended his post-fight speech by yelling, "Michelle Obama is a man!"
AUDIENCE: Applause
GUTFELD [scolding audience]: Terrible! Ohhhhh! Don't clap! Don't clap!
GUTFELD: Barack Obama angrily responded, "Leave him out of it!"
AUDIENCE: Laughter
GUTFELD [feigning bewilderment]: I must have misread that.
He delivered the joke at 10:01. While hiding behind several beards, the little guy pretended that the former president had referred to his wife as "him."
You can see the angry fellow perform this function simply by clicking here. It's as we've told you again and again: "Michelle is a man" and "Barack is gay" are two of this angry nut-ball's favorite themes.
He pushes a large assortment of such themes at his large Red American audience. He's paid $9 million by the corporation to perform this messaging function.
It's as we've told you again and again. Until he's told to stop by his corporate owners, this little guy isn't going to quit. And whatever you may think about the current state of the nation, therein lies a major societal problem.
Earlier yesterday, on The Five, Jessica Tarlov had explicitly raised a perfectly sensible question. Specifically addressing Gutfeld himself, this is what she said:
“Why can’t you just say that the guy should never have said that Michelle Obama is a man?"
Why can't you simply say it, she asked. It was a perfectly obvious question.
Gutfeld followed with an angry, multifaceted response in which he histrionically defended his refusal to reject Hokit's insulting remark. After that, Emily Compagno offered one of her hopelessly garbed orations in which she too seemed to refuse to say that Hokit shouldn't have said it.
Discussions of the Voting Rights Act come from the higher end of American public discourse. The intellectual squalor frequently driving the Fox News Channel comes from a whole different realm.
That said, even on its higher end, our public discourse is so unskilled that there is no real chance that anyone could ever untangle the endless confusions surrounding the recent Supreme Court decisions about the Voting Rights Act.
Meanwhile, the tribal anger of players like Gutfeld and the Compagno reflect a silent secession from the existing American project. Whatever you think of some such secession, a secession like that can't be easily brokered, especially when our major mainstream Blue American orgs refuse to report or discuss the fact of this rebellion.
Over at Mediaite, Sarah Rumpf has reported what Gutfeld said on The Five, with videotape included. Rumph has thereby provided a valuable service.
True to the rules which seem to obtain at that site, no one at Mediaite has reported what Gutfed did, five hours later, on his eponymous primetime show. Also, Rumpf failed to record the garbled non-discussion discussion from the perpetually garbled Compagno. What if they staged a civil war and the press corps refused to come?
We'll continue to discuss each of these rolling events, the sacred and the profane. For the record, we humans aren't built for this line of work, and that isn't going to change.
"While hiding behind several beards, the little guy pretended that the former president had referred to his wife as "him."
ReplyDeleteSeveral commenters here pointed out the inappropriateness and offensiveness of Somerby using the term "beard" to refer to Gutfeld's show, on which there is nothing related to the actual meaning of "beard" happening. Somerby goes right on with his misappropriation of that term, ignoring its meaning and transferring it to a context where there are many better ways of describing what Gutfeld does.
You could claim that Somerby doesn't read his comments and thus doesn't know that anyone objects to what he is saying, but that doesn't excuse his ignorance in the first place. And then there is the irony that Somerby is pretending to object to someone calling Michelle Obama a man while spitting on the need for gay men to marry women in order to protect their gayness from persecution, including job loss and imprisonment.
To compound the weirdness, Somerby has taken to referring to Gutfeld as a little guy. When did referring to any height become a derogatory term? Robert Reich, someone I admire, is less than 5 ft tall and talks in his bio about being bullied and consequently making opposing bullying part of his life's mission. Trump bullies people. The right wing bullies people. Somerby bullies people like Gutfeld by calling him "little" when Gutfeld can legitimately be criticized on the basis of his behavior without referring to a physical characteristic that he has no control over.
Somerby tried to discuss toxic masculinity a week or so ago, but he apparently missed the point that men basing their dominance hierarchy on height and strength is part of the same masculinism Somerby called "bred in the bone" and the result of too much testosterone (too much manliness) and not failure to teach men that attributes that can be developed, such as courage, hard work, persistence, integrity, honesty, character make one a man, not muscles or raw aggression or gay-baiting.
Calling Michelle Obama a man is a misapplication of terms. Calling the people on Gutfeld's show "beards" is a similar misapplication of a term with a different meaning. Somerby is just as bad as Trump and his ignorant UFC rabble when he implies that Gutfeld is gay because his "guests" or "hosts" cover for him by laughing at unfunny jokes, when being or having a beard implies denying your reality and living a lie to have the same life heterosexuals take for granted.
There are stupid trolls here who think they have said something when they call others faggots. Somerby did the same thing to Gutfeld, insulting gays in the process and ignoring a history of subjugation, because Somerby is too lazy to describe what Gutfeld actually is, what he does and why it is wrong. That makes Somerby no different and no better than the flies he attracts to his blog with his thinly disguised attacks on the left. And if Somerby is slyly laughing up his sleeve at this kind of thing, he is as ugly as they come and belongs on the same side of the fence as Trump and his evil goons.
"Earlier yesterday, on The Five, Jessica Tarlov had explicitly raised a perfectly sensible question. Specifically addressing Gutfeld himself, this is what she said:
ReplyDelete“Why can’t you just say that the guy should never have said that Michelle Obama is a man?"
Why can't you simply say it, she asked. It was a perfectly obvious question."
And yet Somerby routinely targets Tarlov, while praising Rumpf for the same behavior.
Somerby's motives are as naked as Trump's, another man with no self-awareness, who never introspects and externalizes every impulse (blames others for his own behavior). Somerby resents that Tarlov has a career while he did not. She asks Gutfeld the question to his face but Somerby only finds fault.
I don't know whether Somerby has invested in Mediaite or gotten paid to promote it, but his favoritism toward that news aggregator is as obvious as the UFC product placement on the White House lawn. Even Somerby has his grift.
"We'll continue to discuss each of these rolling events, the sacred and the profane."
ReplyDeleteHere Somerby borrows another famous book title, using it in a context where it does not fit.
"The phrase "The Sacred and the Profane" most commonly refers to the classic 1957 book The Sacred and the Profane: The Nature of Religion by renowned historian Mircea Eliade."
The term profane in that title and in other discussions using the dichotomy, as by Emile Durkheim, does not refer to bad language or sex, but to the mundane events of everyday life, while sacred refers to "things set apart, extraordinary, and forbidden that inspire awe and reverence."
Somerby is not going to be talking about the routine events of everyday life but to things he considers out-of-bounds in a bad way. Thus this particular book and concept does not fit his own fetish over reciting Gutfeld jokes and then blaming the press for not repeating them to a wider audience, while claiming that Democrats put Trump into power by just being our Democratic selves.
What did Somerby discuss today that could be considered sacred? I don't see anything.
In all of Somerby's discussion today, couldn't he have pointed out that Michelle Obama is not a man, that this is a bizarre smear on the former first lady perpetrated by right wing conspiracy theorists, entirely fabricated to hurt both Obama and trans people in general? Why can't he say that? This seems like a perfectly obvious question about Somerby.
Polls said if Michelle had replaced Biden she would have won by double digits. Republicans still grossly try to insult this fabulous beautiful mother of two. Republicans really are the party of jaggoffs and weirdos.
DeletePutting Michelle Obama on the ticket would have been equivalent to electing Trump simply because he was famous and not because he had experience relevant to the job. When Hillary ran for president, she had first served as a US Senator and then as Secretary of State, beyond her role as First Lady.
DeleteUntil we go back to taking the qualifications of politicians seriously, we are going to be stuck with incompetents who may even mean well but don't know how to function, especially in a crisis, much less manage the complexities of our nation. Compare Michelle or Hillary to Melania and you will see that there are qualifications needed to perform well as First Lady too, although it is also obvious that Trump didn't want his wife to upstage him and thus preferred that she do nothing. Melania messed up even the few things she attempted to do.
Not saying that at all. Voters are idiots. Michelle is too smart to even consider the jerb.
DeleteAll Republicans are racists and sexists but also a significant amount of Dem voters suffer from sticky racism and sexism.
DeleteIt would be great to elect a woman, a Black person, or a Black woman, but not sure our society is there yet, even though it should be.
In reality, as far as capability, women=men and Blacks=Whites, but our society keeps socially reproducing adults on the racist and sexist spectrum.
Due to societal pressures a Black woman is probably our most resilient and strong category of people, someone probably best qualified to be president in part because of what they have to deal with on a daily basis (staying cool and surviving under massive oppression).
I remember Shirley Chisholm. She didn't listen when people told her America wasn't ready for her. It is why we have so many women at all levels of government today. How will we ever be ready if women are discouraged from running by the prediction that they can never win?
DeleteYes, right wingers are still racist, but there have been positive changes in the rest of society. There is a reason why black people say we must keep our eyes on the prize. Black people and women are not going back to the bad old days.
But we do need to keep reminding Somerby that racism and sexism are still a thing. He wants to just wash his hands of all social problems by pretending they are solved already. Then men can do what they are bred in the bone to do -- dominate women.
DeleteIs Somerby's point that if the Voting Rights Act had not corrupted American politics, Michelle Obama (and her husband) would never have been able to run for President and we wouldn't be dealing with Trump now?
ReplyDeleteI am having trouble seeing what the VRA has to do with Gutfeld, other than that obvious conclusion...
Yes, Somerby’s bizarre stance is you don’t provoke by wearing a short skirt, and if you are attacked, just lie back and take it.
DeleteObama moved to Chicago to participate in politics, starting as a community organizer on the South Side. He did that because Chicago was heavily black due to the Great Migration of black people from the South to Northern cities like Chicago in order to escape Jim Crow and find work. That influx made Chicago a center of civil rights and political organization for black politicians, the best place to start his career, in much the same way as fledgling writers and actors were drawn to NYC where there were like-minded people and plenty of opportunities. Both Obamas illustrate what talented, intelligent, hard-working black people can do when doors are open to them.
ReplyDeleteSomerby should be contrasting that with what happened in the South, where it took legislation to open those same doors to black political leaders. But somehow I don't think Somerby sees things that way. He seems to think that "language has gone on holiday" because others disagree with his interpretation of the damage done by gerrymandering black districts, as opposed to the recent gerrymandering of those districts out of existence, so that black leaders cannot be elected in the South.
This is the new "up is down" language abuse being promoted by the Somerby and the right wing, in honor of Trump's authoritarian regime.
Even Somerby's language goes on holiday.
Delete"it's virtually impossible to untangle the balls of confusion which have come into being in the wake of the vacation taken by clear, concise language within that jumble of words."
ReplyDeleteNo, it isn't virtually impossible or even difficult to understand this subsection. In the years following the initial passage of the VRA legislators in the states of the Old South crafted a new set of ways to dodge the mandates of the bill. They crafted ways to allow black people to vote but only in a limited sense. They were permitted a ballot, but the process of nominating and electing candidates was carefully managed to avoid giving black voters any influence over the outcome.
The later 1982 provision was Congress telling these legislators, "We see you and we see what you're doing. And what you're doing is against the law, so knock it off. Oh, and before you run around yelling about quotas, shit up because it isn't a quota."
Really, it's just that simple.
*shut
Delete“shit up” is better
DeleteUnless you care what Q was saying...
DeleteÀ votre goût.
DeleteThe New York Times tells the truth today (as quoted by Tiedrich):
ReplyDelete"The preliminary deal ending President Trump’s four-month war with Iran is welcome but brings with it hard truths. Mr. Trump made a terrible mistake starting this war. He prosecuted it recklessly and in open defiance of the law. The United States is emerging weaker — militarily, diplomatically and economically — and will pay strategic costs for years to come.
The details of the deal are unclear, but the announced framework suggests that Mr. Trump has won few of the terms he insisted that he would. It is a humiliating comedown for him and the nation he leads."
Economist/YouGov poll | 6/13-6/15
ReplyDeleteGeneric congressional ballot 2026 (RV)
🟦Democratic 46% (+1)
🟥Republican 44% (+3)
Today is another primary election day. More important than generic ballots are the results of contests taking place in real life.
DeleteOther polls show a large plus in favor of democrats. Anything is possible.
DeleteI swear to God, if the GOP manages to hang on to the House when all of political history says that they should lose it, then that would be at least the third political miracle that would fully attributive to Trump.
DeleteThat would be more than enough grounds for making him a Saint in the Roman Catholic Church. lol
You couldn't call it a miracle because voters know any non-Democrat candidate is better than any Democrat.
Delete3:26 that hasn’t been borne out by most of the elections so far this year.
Delete@3:16 Trump is the antichrist.
DeleteCatholics take their religions and their saints seriously. It is offensive when you ignore what people suffered and did to become saints by putting in the same category as the convicted rapist, felon, pedophile and demented warmonger currently in office. Trump doesn't admit his errors. How could he ever show the humility of confessing his sins, much less commit a single selfless act?
Trumpty dumpty has surrendered to Afghanistan and Iran. Think about that shit!
DeleteDemocrats are finally admitting a man pretending to be a woman is disgusting. An accusation that a woman is a man pretending he is a woman is one of the worst insults imaginable and Democrats are in full agreement.
ReplyDeleteNot so much.
DeleteIf a dog dislikes being called a cat, it doesn’t mean he thinks cats are yucky.
Delete@12:15 thinks everyone thinks like him.
DeleteThat's called thinking?
Delete12:15 illustrates the opposite of any logical thinking.
Delete12:15 illustrates the logic of frustrated cucks who got that way by being misogynistic assholes and weirdos glued to manosphere podcasts.
DeleteCongressional Generic Ballot Among Hispanics
ReplyDelete2018: 🔵 D+40
2020: 🔵 D+27
2022: 🔵 D+21
2024: 🔵 D+9
*2026: 🔵 D+4
*YouGov poll (6/13-6/15)
We're so fucked
DeleteThese numbers, if accurately reported here, are not replicated in other polls, which show Hispanics with a huge preference for Democrats.
Delete"YouGov polls are answered by a private, pre-recruited panel of registered users who have explicitly opted into the YouGov platform. Respondents are not chosen at random from the general public; instead, the pollster uses a method called "active sampling," where they select specific individuals from their panel based on demographic quotas (such as age, gender, education, and region) to ensure the final sample represents the broader voting or general population."
DeleteIf you pick your respondents instead of using random sampling, you can get whatever response you want.
This is circular. If you don't know how the general public will be voting in an upcoming election, how do you select a sample that will resemble them? The saying is "garbage in, garbage out."
Delete12:21,
DeleteCall me when the Republican Party stops trying to suppress the votes of Hispanics,
Until then, keep fucking your pre-teen daughter, like a good Right-winger.
Some recent activity by our Corrupter-in-Chief:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-stock-trades-2026/
Re: Michelle Obama. Can somebody please explain how the MAGA asswipes think it’s plausible to use those insults against a person who is objectively the loveliest and most glamorous First Lady since Jackie O.?
ReplyDeleteAsking for a friend. 😎
Dems should really call out all of Fox and the toxic right wing grift out on this. Everybody knows how cool Michelle is. Fuck these racist asswipes.
DeleteIt was a major topic on msnbc last night. Warnock spoke about it on O’Donnell.
DeleteThe Orange Chickenshit has turned the Memorial reflecting pool into a scum bucket. Anyone know why?
ReplyDeleteThose no bid contracts- boy, I don’t know
DeleteI don't know if you know this, but our Glorious Dear Leader repeatedly pointed out that the Reflecting Pool is as tall as a sky crapper. I mean if it wasn't, you know, a fucking reflecting pool.
DeleteHoly shit, they are still calling it the Trump Kennedy Center:
ReplyDeleteThe Kennedy Center is establishing a new endowment in President Trump’s name, after it removed his name from the outside of the building over the weekend.
Roma Daravi, the vice president of public relations at the center, told The Hill that the Trump Kennedy Center Fund “is intended to recognize” Trump’s “significant contributions and dedication to America’s premier cultural center, while furthering our founding mission like never before.”
because fuck you, what are you going to do about it
"We'll continue to discuss each of these rolling events, the sacred and the profane."
ReplyDeleteThanks for the heads up.
Quite a few courts read the VRA, and concluded that different maps were mandated. Perhaps these courts were all unable to see the purported incoherence of the act, the way Somerby apparently thinks he can. Also, it is possible that Hulse just isn’t perfectly correct here. Perhaps there are other reports or studies that contradict Hulse? We won’t find that out reading Somerby, who simply assumes the truth of his and Hulse’s conclusions.
ReplyDeleteMr Somerby writes a lot of words to avoid stating that the switch from democrat to republican was a forgone conclusion in the South as soon the civil rights and voting rights acts were championed and passed by democrats led by LBJ. It was just a question of when the complete switch was ultimately going to happen. It was purely and simply opposition to civil rights, not majority minority districts, that caused the switch. In other words, racism.
ReplyDeleteRacism? What ever do you mean?
Delete******************
By Reuters
BOSTON — A federal judge ordered the Trump administration on Friday to reinstall exhibits and signs on topics like slavery and climate change that it had removed from parks and monuments nationwide because they “do not align with its preferred narrative.”
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U.S. District Judge Angel Kelley in Boston issued a preliminary injunction at the behest of groups representing park conservationists, historians and scientists, who argued that the U.S. Department of the Interior has been engaged in a “sustained campaign to erase history and undermine science.”
Removing these signs not only undermines “the integrity of the National Parks; it sets a dangerous precedent of censorship and sanitization,” Kelley said.
We really need to flush the rot of MAGA down the drain if the fucking fascist plutocrats ever let go of power.
DeleteNobody wants to go to a park and think about slavery. Get rid of these deranged social pollutants.
DeleteI went to the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall in Philadelphia. It was before Trump defaced it. I learned a lot about history and felt a sense of awe about standing in the room where it happened. Black people were part of that and they deserve to be included in our history.
DeleteYou are a deranged social pollutant. Go away.
Be kind to 4:42. He is obviously three years old.
Delete"REGIONS OF THE MIND: Tarlov and Gutfeld and Compagno oh my!"
ReplyDeleteWhich of these three is not like the others?
Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! is the original quote. Is Tarlov a lion, a tiger, or a bear? Or none of the above?
AI says: "No, Jessica Tarlov is not a conservative. She is a Democratic political strategist and lifelong liberal who frequently serves as the lone progressive voice on the network's roundtable show, The Five. She identifies as an establishment Democrat and often acts as a data-driven foil to her conservative colleagues on air. You can read more about her political background on her Wikipedia profile or check out her work on the Bustle Digital Group, where she serves as Head of Research."
Is misrepresenting a person's politics similar to misgendering them (or claiming they are trans when they are not)? Political affiliation is another aspect of identity. Not to mention the guilt-by-association tactic Somerby uses today.
Somerby has either given up or he is incapable of writing coherent essays any more. I see this as the equivalent of Trump's wandering speeches (Trump claims he does that weaving intentionally but he doesn't seem able to control it). Somerby's racism and sexism are leaking because he cannot conceal them effectively any more and he has enough trouble just putting words on paper, much less saying anything worth thinking about. It is time for him to say goodbye to his fanboys.
ReplyDeleteOne consequence of establishing black districts was giving more power to the wrong subset of black Americans. A certain subset of blacks more or less follow an unhealthy kind of "hood" or "gangsta" subculture. Karmelo Anthony and his parents are examples. This subculture is a disaster for the people living within it -- educationally, healthwise, etc.
ReplyDeleteThe existence of such a group allows the election of people like Jasmine Crockett, who supports or pretends to support this culture. Where districts are more diverse, better blacks are elected.
go take a flying fuck, you racist bastard
DeleteWhen will the Republican Party ever elect better whites? I’m guessing never.
DeleteDavid in Cal is a racist.
DeleteWho knew?
There are people who think Karmelo is a victim. People who think it's normal to bring a knife to a track meet. Who think murder is an appropriate response to a shove. There are death threats being made against the family of Austin Metcalf.
DeletePeople who see the world that way are harmful to all of us, most of all to themselves. Tolerance of this way of life is not helping anyone.
The Republican Party supports people open-carrying large firearms anywhere and everywhere.
DeleteMore racism from David. White people like David thought Sammy Davis Jr. was one of the good negroes until he married May Britt violating laws in numerous Southern states.
DeleteDoes David feel the same way about Frank Sinatra who people admired until they found out he was an unhealthy kind of "hood" and part of "gangsta" Italian subculture?
If you divide people up into better and worse people based on things like subculture, you would scorn Prince, Michael Jackson, Rihanna, Beyonce, all professional black athletes, many writers and actors, and a lot of good black people who have positive character traits and are successful in jobs and professions. Because that so-called gangsta subculture now arises from not imitating white dominant culture. It indicates nothing about a person's worth in other ways. Many of the things emergng from black "gangsta" or "hood" subculture (which David no doubt conflates with black culture overall) are positive contributions that signify that black people have their own culture, just as Irish Americans, Italian Americans, Jews, white Southerners (have you been to Gatlinburg?) and other subcultures do, most similarly arising from ghettos and segregated neighborhoods, poverty and struggle.
People are not dog breeds to be judged by David's kennel club. People are good or bad based on their behavior toward others, their kindness and goodness, their integrity, honesty, sense of humor, empathy, skills and abilities of all kinds and their willingness to contribute to the common good. Not how white they pretend to be despite having black skin, David's way of dividing people into good and bad blacks.
Trump judges people based on their ability to acquire money, their brutality and strength (dominance), and for women, their adherence to Mar a Lago appearance standards. None of those criteria guarantee that anyone is a good person, much less a "better" black person.
I admire Jasmine Crockett because she is a clear thinker and is not afraid to speak truth to power. She should be a model to all of the craven Republicans who are afraid to cross Trump because they might get primaried. I would vote for her in a second.
David is perhaps confusing black culture with a kind of drug culture that thrived in the inner cities in the 1980s when crack was rampant. Does he know that drug trade flooded inner cities in order to fund the Iran Contras?
There are so many good movies and books about being black that David has no excuse for being this bigoted at his age.
The knife David refers to had a two-inch blade. Most men and boys in rural areas and the South carry pocket knifes. They view them as tools needed to fix things that break, not weapons.
DeleteOn the TV show NCIS, it is Rule 9:
""Rule 9: Never go anywhere without a knife" is a famous life philosophy from the television show NCIS, often recited by the character Leroy Jethro Gibbs.
NCIS Fandom
The rule is rooted in ultimate preparedness. It suggests that a reliable pocketknife is an essential, multi-purpose tool for survival, daily tasks, and unexpected emergencies. "
@2:19 - criticizes me for something s/he made up -- my imaginary opposition to inter-racial marriage. That's pretty feeble.
DeleteI salute the cleverness of @2:24. But, it's no joke. Thousands of young men are rotting in prison. Their livers are ruined because they embraced this unhealthy culture.
It is unclear whether you are talking about cirrhosis due to alcohol abuse, liver cancer, hepatitis (B/C) or non-alcoholic liver disease (which is diagnosed 35% less in blacks than the general population). Hispanics have way more fatty liver disease. Do you actually have any idea what you are talking about or repeating a stat you found somewhere without thinking about it?
DeleteMy point was that racists have been dividing black people up into good versus bad blacks going back to the Rat Pack (what kind of name is that?). The criteria change but the racism doesn't. Sidney Poitier was a good black because he spoke with a British accent and they called him Mr. Tibbs. Richard Pryor was a bad black because he used slang and seemed angry on stage.
You are saying that you would like black people fine if it weren't for their adoption of subculture you disapprove of. That's total nonsense. White kids buy more rap than blacks do. When white people adopt black subculture (as they do), blacks move on and create something new because the point is to avoid being like people such as you, David.
So, when you complain that Jasmine Crockett is too ghetto, you give rise to this kind of stereotype:
"Neither Venus nor Serena Williams is "ghetto." Both are highly accomplished, global icons who transcended a sport historically dominated by wealthy, white athletes.However, in pop culture, "ghetto" is sometimes incorrectly and negatively used to reference their upbringing. The sisters grew up in Compton, California. Their father, Richard Williams, intentionally moved the family to a rougher neighborhood, and he famously dubbed them "ghetto Cinderellas" as a way to highlight their rags-to-riches journey from the city's bullet-scarred public courts to becoming Grand Slam champions."
See this: "King Richard is a 2021 biographical sports drama that chronicles the life of Richard Williams, the determined father and coach who guided his daughters, Venus and Serena Williams, to global tennis stardom [1].The film heavily focuses on the family's early life in Compton, California, directly exploring the "ghetto Cinderella" narrative by showing how Richard utilized unorthodox training methods on neglected public courts to shield his daughters from gang violence and prepare them for the world stage."
Spot on analysis, but the fact remains: arguing with a racist troll like David is futile.
DeleteDavid is a troll, nothing he says is genuine or accurate, best to ignore him.
@2:55 - I agree that Richard Williams is a remarkable human being!
DeleteBut, are you just arguing for the sake of arguing? You, of all people, are aware of the difference between Richard Williams and Karmelo's father. If Karmelo hadn't been raised in a bad culture he might be a tennis champion rather than an inmate.
Unfortunately there's a widespread attitude that it's racist to criticize anyone or anything black. I am arguing against that attitude. It doesn't help anyone, not even African Americans IMO.
Unfortunately there's a widespread attitude that it's racist to criticize anyone or anything black.
DeleteYou keep saying shit like this. Are these your dreams?
I do not know Karmelo or his father. Neither do you. Your opinions are based on negative stereotypes and sensationalistic right wing reporting. You are arguing against the black subculture, which has nothing to do with Karmelo or his father. You don't have an argument. You are just spewing hate, David.
DeleteHey David! What do you think of Trump being the only US President to surrender to two nations, Afghanistan and Iran! What a fucking loser, eh?
DeleteBringing a knife to a track meet is like having your Mother drive you across state lines with your gun to shoot people solely to protect racial hierarchies.
DeleteI’m old enough to remember that we found out Compagno completely made up her resume.
ReplyDeleteIn 2018, when Dems won big, Trump was +30 with white working class voters, now Trump is -30 with white working class voters. Yikes.
ReplyDeleteAnd Trump just surrendered to Iran yet the Strait is still closed and gas prices are insane.
Don't get ahead of yourself. Has Iran accepted Trumps full and total capitulation?
DeleteAnother story out today about homosexuals buying and raping to death a 2 year old child. There's a few of these every day. This is what Democrats support.
ReplyDeleteMore reporting about Trump’s trips on Epstein’s plane, despite his assurances to the contrary. Also, coverup of Epstein from the situation room of the White House. This is literally what republicans support.
DeleteDemocrats do not support crime.
DeleteI found two stories, one took place in Great Britain and the other in GA. There were lots of repetitions of those same two crimes.
DeleteTell your story to the Pope weirdo.
DeleteDifferent people view the Democratic party in different ways.
DeleteFAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. (7News) — Parents have been pressuring Fairfax County Public Schools to make changes to the school calendar in order to get more instructional time for students.
DeleteNow, the district is asking parents what days off should be eliminated, and that could include major religious holidays such as Christmas or Rosh Hashanah.
7News obtained an email sent to parents asking them to weigh in on several possible changes to the calendar.
"Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) values your input as we plan future school calendars. You are invited to complete a brief survey to share your priorities and perspectives, which will be considered as part of the calendar planning process. Your feedback matters, and we appreciate you taking a few minutes to respond," the message reads.
Democrats want to force normal people to send their kids to school on Christmas.
Are you aware that kids get a whole week off at Christmas? Sometimes more.
Delete4:40 - U R N Idiot.
DeleteSo the school board is trying to resolve midweek scheduling burdens for parents and the right wing noise machine again jams lies down our throats.
DeleteMy daughter is a department chair at a FCHS, and says this 100% right wing manufactured bullshit. Then I remembered, this is an election year and this is what republicans do
DeleteSign of the times: Trump surrenders to Iran and today's top stories have nothing to do with Iran except a news story about their soccer team.
ReplyDeleteExcept that is not true.
DeleteWhy does Somerby think it is an insult to call someone angry? There are a lot of reasons to be angry these days.
ReplyDeleteErica Kirk has left the Republican Party and Turning Point.
ReplyDeleteShe has dedicated herself to being JD Vance's leather couch.
DeleteThe Left exaggerates about JD Vance's love of having sex with furniture to draw attention to a greater truth-- every Republican voter is a bigot.
Delete