“Runaway slave”

C.L. Bryant, a former NAACP chapter president and current Tea Party activist, is set to debut a documentary-style movie about his journey away from “the Progressive plantations of the government masters, the eyes of liberal overseers and the whips of conformity.” His trailer is definitely worth a look.

Sunday’s Quote: Conviction and fortitude

c/o Thy Black Man

There’s a lot to like about Allen West. Anything but a typical politician, this 22-year Army veteran has spoken frankly about Islam and the War on Terrorism more than once. His most recent statement is no exception.

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“I want to extend my sincere condolences to the families of the Army Colonel and Major who were killed by Afghanistan security forces over this ‘burning Koran’ episode. If we had resolute leadership, including in the White House, we would have explained that these Islamic terrorist enemy combatants being detained at the Parwan facility had used the Koran to write jihadist messages to pass to others. In doing so, they violated their own cultural practice and defiled the Koran. Furthermore, they turned the Koran into contraband. Therefore, Islamic cultural practice and Parwan detention facility procedures support burning the ‘contraband’. Instead here we go again, offering apology after apology and promising to ‘hold those responsible accountable’. Responsible for what?

“When tolerance becomes a one-way street it leads to cultural suicide. This time it immediately led to the deaths of two American Warriors. America is awaiting the apology from President Hamid Karzai.”

~ Rep. Allen B. West (R-FL, 22nd congressional district); February 27, 2012

Sunday’s Quote: Judging from where we came

c/o Metro UK

Note: I’m a Europhile and an unapologetic WASP, both of which are akin to my heritage and identity. So the following is of great personal interest to me.

A graduate of the prestigious Eton College (a world renowned English public school) and the similarly esteemed Trinity College at the University of Cambridge, Dr. Kwasi Kwarteng is a Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Spelthorne constituency for the Conservative Party in the British House of Commons. He is also the child of parents who were subjects of the British Empire, first in their native Ghana and later as immigrants to England. Accordingly Kwarteng’s new book, Ghosts of Empire, offers a distinct perspective about the oft-aspersed British Empire that one may not expect.

As an alternative to the predictable, almost requisite condemnation of the largest empire the world has ever known, Kwarteng instead assesses the kingdom somewhat more magnanimously by weighing both the Empire’s progressive influence with its impulsive callousness. The truth, as one review explained, is that the Empire “was the product, not of a grand idea, but of often chaotic individual improvisation,” the result of unconventional governors and attachés who nevertheless operated the royal enterprise with an unparalleled level of success that was more than one-sided.

Kwarteng’s perspective, once the historical norm, is now disparaged by those who view the Empire as a collection of oppressive White Europeans that merely exploited people from other parts of the world who were, in essence, their exact opposite. Not so unexpectedly, this has also become a gradually prevalent interpretation of our own United States.

To be sure, the very concept of our domestic exceptionalism first referenced in Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America some 175 years ago is being supplanted by post-nationalist intellectuals among the left who, at their core, are abhorred — whether they admit it or not — by the very principles that developed America into a social and economic model coveted by billions. As it turns out, we elected a philosophical spawn of these left-wing ideologues to lead our nation just a few years ago, the consequences of which have been questionable at best.

A piece in The Wall Street Journal tied it all together a couple of days ago.

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“In his recent State of the Union speech, President Obama said: ‘Anyone who tells you that America is in decline or that our influence has waned doesn’t know what they’re talking about.’ It was hardly a Churchillian rejoinder, but then it was a very demotic speech, and he is wrong. By almost any criteria, the American influence in the world has indeed waned since the Eisenhower administration, but it still has a good head start on the British Empire, which was antidemocratic, protectionist, slow to innovate and largely ruled over by the sportsmen of its only two great universities. America, by contrast, is — when it is true to itself — a proselytizing democracy, free-market and innovational, which has more than a dozen of the world’s top 20 universities.

“Where the British Empire does indeed hold a message for modern America is in the area of self-belief. Many of the British Empire’s worst legacies stemmed from a collapse in confidence among the British elite in the values and principles that had made Britain the largest empire in the history of mankind. Anyone who thinks that just such a spasm of self-doubt among America’s elite isn’t a problem in modern America doesn’t know what he is talking about.”
~ from “Now That The Sun Has Set” by Andrew Roberts, from his review of Kwarteng’s Ghosts of Empire in The Wall Street Journal; February 10, 2012

Sunday's Quote: Rhetoric vs. Logic

On March 28, President Obama delivered a speech at National Defense University in Washington, DC that addressed the continuing civil unrest in Libya (among other issues).  Two days later, one of our finest commentators placed everything into perspective:

"Once in office, President Obama has done exactly what his whole history would lead you to expect him to do – such as cutting the military budget and vastly expanding the welfare state.

"He has by-passed the Constitution by appointing power-wielding 'czars' who don't have to be confirmed by the Senate like Cabinet members, and now he has by-passed Congress by taking military actions based on authorization by the United Nations and the Arab League.

"Those who expected his election to mark a new 'post-racial' era may be the most disappointed.  He has appointed people with a track record of race resentment promotion and bias, like Attorney General Eric Holder and Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

"Disappointing?  No.  Disgusting?  Yes.  The only disappointment is with voters who voted their hopes and ignored his realities."
— from "Obama Speech: Full Of Rhetoric, Bereft Of Logic" by economist and author Thomas Sowell; March 30, 2011

Sunday's Quote: Reagan & Generation X

Whatever the reason(s), generational shifts in Congress are usually attributed to the Left.  But not this time:

"These politicians belong to the first modern generation of Americans not expected to earn more money than their parents.  It's a generation purportedly defined by a distrust in institutions and, for many, a deference to markets.

"They've never been drafted to go to war and they've rarely heard a politician make the case that the federal government can provide the cure for the nation's ills.

"Many of the young Republicans formed their lasting political notions during the presidency of a man who was born 100 years before they were sworn in, Ronald Reagan.  The average age of the GOP freshman is 47, meaning many probably cast their first presidential vote when Reagan was re-elected in 1984.  'These are the children of Reagan', said Henry Brady, political scientist at University of California, Berkeley."

-- from "Reagan ideas inspire new lawmakers" by Chicago Tribune columnist Kathleen Hennessey; March 20, 2011

Profound leadership

Who should the GOP send up against President Obama in 2012?  His name is Allen West.  He's a retired U.S. Army Lt. Colonel, and I think he's more impressive than all the other candidates put together:

Rise of the Black Conservatives (all two of them)

There is no easy way to say this: Black men and women who support the American Right Wing catch a lot of hell.  Although volumes have been written on this topic (monolithic voting blocks rarely accomplish much), it should be noted that freethinking individuals who deviate from this unfortunate norm, not on the basis of race, but upon the premise of philosophy, do exist -- and are thriving.

Allen West (pictured) is a retired Army Lt. Colonel and the Representative-elect of Florida's 22nd congressional district.  Having won his rematch earlier this month against incumbent Ron Klein, the Tea Party favorite and 22-year military veteran will become the first African-American Republican from Florida to sit on Capital Hill in over 130 years.  The University of Tennessee graduate (B.A. '83) will also serve a contingency that has voted Democrat in each of the last three Presidential elections.  So disapproving eyes -- especially the Congressional Black Caucus -- will be watching.

Along with Representative-elect Tim Scott, the first African-American Republican from South Carolina elected to Congress in 113 years, these two men will carry the banner for Black Conservatives once held solely by the former four-term Representative from Oklahoma, J.C. Watts.  And considering the grief that is undoubtedly heading their way, I hope they carry the banner proudly.

Sunday's Quote: 140-character maximum

I often wondered about having my own Twitter feed, and now that I've had this virtual soapbox since mid-March, I understand it's appeal.  Aside from the first dozen or so Tweets that went missing (and never recovered), I have derived a list -- originally intended to be a top 10 -- of my 40 personal favorites:

1) "I'm not a vegetarian, but picking off an unsuspecting deer like a sniper does not appeal to me, nor would it make me feel more like a man."
-- May 6, 4:44 AM

2) "The FAA is about to fine FedEx $1.6 million.  My bad."
-- May 19, 1:11 PM

3) "Atheism doesn't seem nearly as plausible when your jetliner takes an unexpected nosedive at 37,000 feet."
-- April 18, 6:32 AM

4) "There's a difference between antiquated dogma and Truth.  The meaning of Good Friday is what separates Christianity from all the others."
-- April 2, 3:08 PM

5) "Does it feel like we are being conditioned to ignore the evidence directly in front of our faces per a fear of being falsely labeled?"
-- May 28, 3:12 AM

6) "Be not guilt-tripped into submission.  Ever."
-- May 31, 3:29 PM

7) "Hey China, how many illegals do you have?  I figured you were too busy oppressing political dissidents and the Tibetans to notice us."
-- May 17, 5:07 PM

8) "Black Conservatives are practically heroes to me.  They know what they believe, why they believe it, & and are prepared to defend it anytime."
-- April 6, 6:25 PM

9) "My first lesson in management came about eight years ago: When everyone says 'You can trust me,' it means you can't trust anyone."
-- May 22, 3:18 AM

10) "When a Leftist (Jon Stewart) says 'Go F yourself,' it's funny & cool.  If a Right Winger says the same thing, it's bigoted and mean-spirited."
-- April 21, 5:44 PM

11) "I've learned that you can't make a self-esteem omelet without breaking a few 'friendships' (no matter how good they may appear to be)."
-- May 13, 12:05 PM

12) "I'm assuming Fox News has a rule that says female anchors, unequivocally, must resemble Miss America contestants."
-- March 28, 1:37 PM

13) "As if The View wasn't mind-numbing enough, who told Joy Behar that having her own show would be a good idea?"
-- May 25, 6:15 PM

14) "Not to brag, but I am intelligent, passionate, and blessed with exquisite taste."
-- April 9, 5:15 AM

15) "Mexico doesn't hesitate to deport anyone who enters their country without proper ID... but America can't?  I'm really beside myself on this."
-- April 27, 8:22 PM

16) "Never yield to false labels."
-- May 10, 4:51 PM

17) "Actually Mr. President, a nation without borders is no nation at all.  So yes, we really are defined by our borders.  Stop with the rhetoric."
-- May 19, 11:12 AM

18) "'Jersey Shore' typifies everything I dislike, belittle, and strive to avoid.  Just sayin'."
-- March 29, 3:15 PM

19) "An Andy Warhol self-portrait (c. '86) sold three days ago for over $32.5 million.  That, my friends, is lunacy."
-- May 15, 5:24 PM

20) "Hey Rev. Al: 'Take our country back' is, indeed, code.  It means 'Socialism sucks.'  Implying a racial context is garbage."
-- March 29, 4:27 PM

21) "The Left is fixated with the mere idea of H.C. reform, and the Right is focused on its fiscal reality.  The difference is self-explanatory."
-- March 28, 7:14 PM

22) "Do kids today realize that the vast majority of the music their generation listens to is complete crap?"
-- April 1, 1:55 AM

23) "I hear that Aerosmith 'damn near' split up.  Maybe playing some real Rock 'n' Roll, instead of pop songs, would heal old wounds."
-- March 31, 4:07 AM

24) "So the Tea Party is worthy of every negative label, but La Raza's self-righteous incitement of sedition and revolution is just fine.  Wow."
-- May 12, 12:58 PM

25) "Portfolio.com ranks Memphis 64th (out of 67) for quality of life among metro areas with 750,000 or more.  Don't move here."
-- May 24, 11:03 AM

26) "'An Inconvenient Truth' mentioned threat of rising sea levels to U.S. beaches, which explains Gore's new purchase: a $9 million beach house."
-- May 7, 3:50 AM

27) "Opposition to Arizona's illegal immigrant law (SB 1070) crumbles when compared to Mexico's immigrant laws.  They're draconian & racist."
-- May 21, 5:44 PM

28) "So a guy in Missouri with no front teeth and less than $30 to his name won the $258 million Powerball lottery.  Life... is... not... fair."
-- April 23, 4:51 PM

29) "Evidently Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews don't realize that condescension & partisan hackery make them neither appealing nor believable."
-- May 10, 3:41 AM

30) "Fox News' Megyn Kelly is what we heterosexual males refer to as 'a total package.'  She really is dreamy."
-- April 1, 4:20 PM

31) "Must the Williams sisters dress like strippers for nearly every tennis tournament?"
-- May 23, 5:07 PM

32) "Someone tell Halle Berry to stop calling me.  Just because she's available now, it doesn't necessarily mean I'm interested.  Thanks anyway."
-- May 3, 5:47 AM

33) "Is it just me, or is Sarah Jessica Parker viciously unattractive?"
-- April 21, 3:31 PM

34) "Gabourey Sidibe was on SNL last night.  She reminds me of someone, but who?  Oh yeah, about 3,000 of my co-workers."
-- April 25, 2:48 PM

35) "Interesting how peaceful the Tea Parties are, and how rambunctious the pro-illegal alien rally in Arizona was.  A noticeable contrast indeed."
-- April 27, 6:59 PM

36) "Our financial conundrum is the result of both the GOP & the Dems disregard for our national welfare.  It's like they're doing it on purpose."
-- May 22, 3:51 PM

37) "According to The Daily Beast, my home State of Tennessee is the most corrupt in the nation.  But to be fair, most of that is Memphis' fault."
-- May 13, 3:50 AM

38) "I feel the same about the 'Right Wing' militia in Michigan as I feel about the Left Wing militia in Congress and the media."
-- March 30, 5:06 PM

39) "You might say the Tea Party has some clout.  Get used to it."
-- May 18, 7:25 PM

40) "As pennies become dollars, inches become miles.  That is how every journey begins... but where do I start?"
-- April 3, 3:46 AM

Sunday's Quote: Labels

"If you have always believed that everyone should play by the same rules and be judged by the same standards, that would have gotten you labeled a radical 60 years ago, a liberal 30 years ago and a racist today."
-- Dr. Thomas Sowell, economist, author, syndicated columnist, social critic, senior fellow of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, and all-around powerful Black man.  In 2002 he was awarded the National Humanities Medal for prolific scholarship melding history, economics, and political science.  Sowell was also awarded the Bradley Prize for intellectual achievement in 2003.

A different angle on Tea Party demographics

I "Tweeted" a couple of days ago about a Winston Group poll that stated 41% of Tea Party activists are registered as either Democrat or Independent.  Shocking as that is for many, a recent piece from the Associated Press about a purportedly surprising Tea Party protagonist and the support he found for his Congressional run in perhaps the most unlikely of places might raise a few more eyebrows still.  Enjoy:

"Among the 37 black Republicans running for U.S. House and Senate seats in November is Charles Lollar of Maryland's 5th District.  A tea party supporter running against House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., Lollar says he's finding support in unexpected places.  The 38-year-old U.S. Marine Corps reservist recently walked into a bar in southern Maryland decorated with a Confederate flag.  It gave his wife Rosha pause.

I said, 'You know what, honey?  Many, many of our Southern citizens came together under that flag for the purpose of keeping their family and their state together,'  Lollar recalled.  'The flag is not what you're to fear.  It's the stupidity behind the flag that is a problem.  I don't think we'll find that in here.  Let's go ahead in.'

Once inside, they were treated to a pig roast, a motorcycle rally -- and presented with $5,000 in contributions for his campaign."