If you connect the dots between racism, sexism and democrats you end up with one word:

Hijacked.

In both cases we had serious social issues.  We had serious social revolution.  We had real change and social enlightenment.

And we ended up with both issues being hijacked by the democrat party for political gain, with many of the advances and changes being lost in the betrayal.

In both cases equality and empowerment were traded for victim hood and entitlement.

I am no social expert on either topic.  But I can speak to change because I have seen change.

I have seen peoples attitudes shift and their determination to be fair and to ignore race and sex.

But I have also seen opportunists.  People who stir the flames of distrust to gain power and prestige.

I have seen racism and sexism offered as default explanations to imaginary problems.

I have seen white males herded into an atavistic corner, and told they are racists and sexists and that they can never change because of institutional discrimination and white male privilege.

I have seen well meaning people trashed for nothing.  For using a word that sounds like something bad but isn’t.  For being respectful.  For being honest about common sense issues.

And yes, I have also seen hold outs of a lesser enlightened era, and such people are sad parodies of humanity.  People who do indeed hold onto baseless stereotypes and beliefs.

And when you take those people and ram them headfirst into the opportunists and baiters, you might almost believe that nothing good has changed.

The real truth if liberals were honest, is that race and gender relations are much much better than they used to be.

But to hear some liberal talking heads speak, nothing has changed.

Where it is the saddest and where it exposes the real liberal agenda, is when you couple these two topics with conservatives.  Michael Steele was lampooned in black face  by black liberals.  Clarance Thomas has been castigated as not really being black.  Sarah Palin is undergoing a fierce roasting by liberal feminists, and Condi Rice has always been treated as a side show freak by liberal blacks and women both.

Yes indeed, it is clearly happening, that fact is not being disputed.  The only real question is “by who”.  This, by the way I regard as a serious issue.  I left Blogger 3 years ago to give my blog more creative control and security, and now I am even more glad I did.

We start at Sister Toldjah:

Just another example of how far some far left Obama supporters are willing to go to shut down criticism about the Obamessiah? Bloggasm and Stop The ACLU take a look.

I haven’t had much of a chance to dive too deeply into the controversy, but it wouldn’t be surprising to find out this indeed was happening, considering how so many far left Obama supporters react at the slightest hint of criticism of Barry Oh.

Yea, that much is certainly true.  The supporters of Obama defend him with a religious fervor.  Those who criticize him are essentially heretics.

Even denying Global Warming is a lesser sin then doubting Obama.

Stop the ACLU continues:

Google Shuts Down Anti-Obama Sites on its Blogger Platform

Update: Perhaps it isn’t google, but Obamaniacs taking advantage of google’s faulty sytem. A commenter explains:

The problem with blogger is that a group of people with an ax to grind can report any blog as spam and after enough complaints, it’s automatically suspended until a real live human being can get around to examining it. If enough complaints are registered with blogger, you might get a response within 5 days but it takes a concerted effort. This is a huge problem with blogger and something google needs to get a handle on.

Regardless who is at fault, this shutting down of free speech is disturbing.

-Edit by WTH: If I can find a link to prove that it was a concerted effort by Obama supporters, I’ll post it.

As the next story shows, one of the more interesting tidbits is that even liberal  blogs are being targeted, apparently for being critical of the Messiah.

Props to the Dutch Court for not folding under Islamofacist pressure.

Dutch court: Geert Wilders has free-speech right to criticize Islam

Amazing, the things that are litigable these days. This wasn’t the public prosecution hinted at by the Dutch government last week but “merely” a private suit filed by the Netherlands Islamic Foundation to have criticism of Islam deemed an “incitement” under Dutch law and thereby worthy of being censored. Note the rationale:

The NIF wanted to know if Wilders had broken the law with his public declaration in August last year that the Koran is a fascist book and comments that Mohammed was a barbarian.

According to the judge, the term fascism must be seen in a broader context. The NIF associated it with the Holocaust and ‘other evil practices from Nazi Germany’. But fascism should, said the judge, be seen as ‘a collective term for ideologies which fundamentally embrace a totalitarian political system which leaves no room for people with other ideas’.

When it came to Mohammed, the NIF was unable during the hearing to deny that he was a barbarian, reports ANP. Furthermore, the organisation was not able to disprove the fact that Islam consists of beliefs that are in contradiction to democratic principles, the judge said.

Exit question via Sugiero: Will the judge be fatwa’d next week?

Well that is a no brainer…

 Trackposted to Outside the Beltway, Rosemary’s Thoughts, WayWard Fundamentalist Christian, Right Truth, Shadowscope, DragonLady’s World, Adeline and Hazel, Pursuing Holiness, Chuck’s Place, D equals S, Woman Honor Thyself, DragonLady’s World, Pirate’s Cove, Celebrity Smack, The Pink Flamingo, Dumb Ox Daily News, A Newt One- Don’t miss this show!, Rant it Up, Right Voices, Stageleft, A Blog For All, 123beta, Maggie’s Notebook, Adam’s Blog, The Christian Nationalist, Cao’s Blog, Conservative Cat, Diary of the Mad Pigeon, McCain Blogs, The World According to Carl, Blue Star Chronicles, Oblogatory Anecdotes - Photoshop Montage/Open Trackbacks, Wolf Pangloss, Beagle Scout, Tilting At Windmill Farms, and The Yankee Sailor, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

Via Hot Air:

Amazing, the things that are litigable these days. This wasn’t the public prosecution hinted at by the Dutch government last week but “merely” a private suit filed by the Netherlands Islamic Foundation to have criticism of Islam deemed an “incitement” under Dutch law and thereby worthy of being censored. Note the rationale:

The NIF wanted to know if Wilders had broken the law with his public declaration in August last year that the Koran is a fascist book and comments that Mohammed was a barbarian.

According to the judge, the term fascism must be seen in a broader context. The NIF associated it with the Holocaust and ‘other evil practices from Nazi Germany’. But fascism should, said the judge, be seen as ‘a collective term for ideologies which fundamentally embrace a totalitarian political system which leaves no room for people with other ideas’.

When it came to Mohammed, the NIF was unable during the hearing to deny that he was a barbarian, reports ANP. Furthermore, the organisation was not able to disprove the fact that Islam consists of beliefs that are in contradiction to democratic principles, the judge said.

Exit question via Sugiero: Will the judge be fatwa’d next week?

A serious No Brainer….

 Trackposted to Outside the Beltway, Rosemary’s Thoughts, WayWard Fundamentalist Christian, Right Truth, Shadowscope, DragonLady’s World, Adeline and Hazel, Pursuing Holiness, Chuck’s Place, D equals S, Woman Honor Thyself, DragonLady’s World, Pirate’s Cove, Celebrity Smack, The Pink Flamingo, Dumb Ox Daily News, A Newt One- Don’t miss this show!, Rant it Up, Right Voices, Stageleft, A Blog For All, 123beta, Maggie’s Notebook, Adam’s Blog, The Christian Nationalist, Cao’s Blog, Conservative Cat, Diary of the Mad Pigeon, McCain Blogs, The World According to Carl, Blue Star Chronicles, Oblogatory Anecdotes - Photoshop Montage/Open Trackbacks, Wolf Pangloss, Beagle Scout, Tilting At Windmill Farms, and The Yankee Sailor, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

Via Stop the ACLU:

Flying pig moment: The infamously liberal 9th Circuit Court actually gets one right!

The court found that the monument did not have a solely religious purpose. “Nothing about the setting is conducive to genuflection,” Judge Kim McLane Wardlaw wrote for a three-judge panel.

She noted that the Everett monument does not have nearby benches or evening lighting and is surrounded by trees and that impair its viewing. Such a setting prevents a visitor from concluding that the monument has been placed in a sacred space on public grounds.

The monument was donated in 1959 by a national civic organization that distributed more than 150 such monuments to cities across the country.

The notion that these monuments commemorating the Judio-Christian rooted symbol of law is somehow establishing a religion or even imposing one is absurd to begin with. Any precident from a faulty decision to follow this ridiculous argument is flawed to begin with. I find it rather silly that the lack of lighting and the view being obscurred by surrounding trees was even a consideration in this decision, however the I can’t complain about the final outcome other than the possibility future decisions may be influenced from precident set here by such silly reasoning.

The Washington monolith shares its property with only one war memorial, and attorneys had hoped the difference would be enough for a new verdict.

“Religious items displayed by themselves are generally impermissible,” said Ayesha Khan of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. “This monument stands pretty much alone, and in that context, it presents a religious message.”

But the 9th Circuit panel said it did not agree, especially because no complaints were received for more than 30 years after the monument was erected.

Now, let me state outright that if the grade was due to the quality, this would not be on my blog.

It wasn’t.  It was because the religious artist had the audacity to include a scriptural reference on his. 

See the pictures below.  First, the failing art:

Now the two that passed:

And:

So all three are of fairly equal quality and show great talent by the artist.

The problem?  The bible verse in the first picture.  

Via Michelle Malkin:

Alliance Defense Fund attorneys filed a federal lawsuit Friday against the Tomah Area School District over an unconstitutional policy that bars religious free speech. Citing a policy prohibiting depictions of “blood, violence, sexual connotations, [or] religious beliefs,” officials penalized a Christian student for his artwork depicting a Bible verse and a cross but did not penalize students who included demonic illustrations in their artwork.

“Christian students shouldn’t be penalized for expressing their beliefs. It is unconstitutional for the school to punish students simply because they choose to exercise their First Amendment rights,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel David Cortman. “Further, teachers are not permitted to censor Christian religious expression in artwork while at the same time allowing other types of religious depictions.”

A student at Tomah High School drew a landscape picture for an art class containing a road, clouds, and mountains with a cross in the background and the words “JOHN 3:16 – A sign of love” written in the sky. The teacher of the class told the student to either remove the scriptural reference or cover it up with a border.

The teacher cited a document that the student and all other students in the class had been required to sign at the beginning of the semester which prevented them from creating artwork with the prohibited depictions. After the teacher said that the student had “signed away his First Amendment rights,” the student respectfully protested by tearing the signed document in half.

Those who read here often know I value free speech.  This was a case a friend told me about and asked if I thought was valid:

Teacher arrested for pro-Columbine blog post

Bloggers and free speech advocates are calling on prosecutors not to file charges against a teacher arrested for allegedly posting an anonymous comment online praising the Columbine shooters.

…

Some were disturbed by the post that police say James Buss left on a conservative blog, but other observers said it was a sarcastic attempt to discredit critics of education spending.

The suburban Milwaukee high school chemistry teacher was arrested last week for the November 16 comment left on www.bootsandsabers.com, a  blog on Wisconsin politics. The comment, left under the name ”Observer,” came during a discussion over teacher salaries, after some writers complained teachers were underworked and overpaid.

Buss, a former president of the teacher’s union, allegedly wrote that teacher salaries made him sick because they are lazy and work only five hours a day. He praised the teen gunmen who killed 12 students and a teacher before committing suicide in the April 1999 attack at Columbine High School.

They knew how to deal with the overpaid teacher union thugs. One shot at a time!” he wrote, adding they should be remembered as heroes.

Let’s all sit back, and agree this guy is a jerk.  But like it or not, we have not yet gotten around to making it illegal to be an asshole.

I found the reasoning of the officials pretty weak…:

Washington County District Attorney Todd Martens is considering whether to charge Buss with disorderly conduct and unlawful use of computerized communication systems.

…Police Capt. Toby Netko defended the arrest. He said the teacher who complained was disturbed by the reference to “one shot at a time” and  other educators agreed it was a threat.

…and (gulp) the logic of the ACLU persuasive…:

One area of assured controversy between liberals and conservatives is on Flag Burning.  Your average progressive liberal defends it as free speech while most conservatives find it offensive and many want to ban it.

So when says he is going to burn a flag on the steps of the Capital in Olympia, you would expect many on the left to support his free speech.  But since this is a Mexican flag, the criticism are many.

Permit unlikely for flag burning

Tacoma man wants to burn a Mexican flag on the steps of the state Capitol in Olympia — a move sure to spark controversy and maybe a sanction for polluting.

Yep.  In Olympia, the primary reason they are denying his permit is because of pollution.  I personally wonder if they would care if it was a US flag.

Nick Bradford said he’s upset with the failure of the federal government to secure the borders against illegal crossings and wants the state to do more to crack down on illegal immigrants. He wants to stage a rally at the Capitol in January, when lawmakers return for session.

“Obviously, the protest is intended to get the attention of the public, but also the politicians here, in Washington,” Bradford said. “We can’t always bark at the other Washington and George Bush. We can do things locally here.”

Free speech at its finest.  But Carlos Aguilera does not agree.

‘A hate message’

Carlos , director of the Hispanic outreach group CIELO in Olympia, said burning a flag is hurtful.

“To me, it’s like it’s a hate message against Hispanics, just by the fact that if you took the flag of any nationality, you invite the press, burn it — that certainly sends a negative message about that nationality,” Aguilera said.

So wait, is this an offense against nationality or race?  Pick one.  I think Carlos protests too much.

It is a serious question and one I am admittedly bothered by.  Let me explain, but first I want to make it clear that I abhor Phelps and his protests at Soldiers funerals, and his entire anti gay campaign.

To be double clear, Phelps and his church are among the most vile extremists to ever call themselves Christians.  For those who are not in the loop, Phelps and his church are on a campaign against gay people.  In their infinite insanity, they decided that God hates gays, and there for anything bad in American is God punishing America for tolerating gays.  This includes the war in Iraq, so they put 2 and 2 together, split it 6 ways till Tuesday then multiply the result by the number reasons they think God hates fags, and they take to the streets.  Their goal?  Military funerals for soldiers killed in Iraq.

Now would someone tell me how it makes sense to protest a funeral of a dead straight Marine and claim that God hates fags, and that’s why the Marine died.

Needless to say no one really likes them much.  See what happened to them at one such event here.  In another of my blogs, Free Speech? Not at a friggin funeral, for crying out loud, I noted that:

I  am easily a huge believer in free speech, both in using it, and in defending others rights to use it in ways I find outrageous.   But there are a few types that push me to limits and make me want to slap the daylights out of the people.

One of those is taking advantage of an event like a funeral to make a political statement.  It kills me that people can disregard the feelings of grieving families and think they are morally justified in making their politics override good manners and sensitivity.  Someone died, show some respect.

The problem is, you cannot expect people to show respect when they think they can make a PR splash.  States have tried to ban them, only to have the bans challenged in court.

One of my all time favorite TV shows is the 80’s and 90’s sitcom Roseanne.

Roseanne when it came out could have been a portrait of my life.  At the time I was not well off financially, and was dealing with a lot of stress and unhappiness with laughter and sarcasm.

It was one of the first sitcoms to portray what life for most working class people was like:  A struggle with highs and lows. It also, as Roseanne Barr notes in her DVD commentary, clearly showcases the disconnect in class in America.

But.  One of the things I do struggle with is Roseanne herself, the actress, the comedienne and the activist.

I perused her blog and was shocked at how she can flip from crazy to wacky in no time at all.

Here are some examples from Roseanne World.   WARNING:  EXTREME LANGUAGE AHEAD

On Anne Coulter:

Ann Coulter

She serves a purpose, and a part of that is disturbing. When any woman with opinions speaks up - including Anne (the mouthpiece for Aryan womanhood) - she is the victim of verbal sexual assault. Her genitals and sexuality are gleefully insulted: she has an Adam’s apple, she likes getting fucked in the ass… This is wrong in any case, even hers. It demeans all women to do it. She can be debated intelligently, and if she would allow me that, I would be honored to do it, as I think she makes some valid points about the failures of the left in this country.

http://www.roseanneworld.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5192

A clear thinking, fair rational piece.  Now flip to:

Ann Coulter’s Anti-Semitism

The ultimate state of the perfection of Jews: they are all dead.

This is what is actually in the minds of Bush/Cheney and all Christians of the right who run this country, and ironically, are the major supporters of the state of Israel’s ride to ruin which is coming very quickly.