OPEN THREAD WEDNESDAY.

Happy hump-day field hands.

No post tonight.

But I would love to read your thoughts about this,and this, and this and....damn it, just tell me whatever you want.

Peace.

Things I love.

It's Valentines Day, so this post is going to take on an entirely different tone.

The Field Negro has nothing but love in his heart tonight.

And, with this in mind, here are 10 things that I love. (Not necessarily in order of of importance.)

1.  
Emayatzy, I patiently await your next movie.



2.
No country does breakfast like Jamaica. (Ackee, saltfish, and breadfruits beats pancakes every time.)



3.
Owned one. Maybe it's because I was still new to driving at the time, but it's still the sweetest handling car I ever drove.  



4.
The greatest reggae vocalist ever. (Sorry Bob Marley) Don't believe me? Google Dennis Brown on You Tube and listen.



5.
The most underrated city in America.



6.
The most underrated city in the world.



7.
These days, more than ever, it's important to read a good book when you get a chance.

 
8.
4.0 and rising.



9.
Duh!



10.
Still the best beaches in the world.



Oh wait, I think we already covered her.

And Mrs Field of course.

Happy Valentine's Day!  


 

Monday with Mitch's ego.

 Remember in the past when players from championship teams were skipping the visit to the White House when...or even more importantly, because president Obama was our president? I do. The Obama fans didn't like it, but they had to suck it up and deal with it, because, as the narrative went at the time, those players had every right to exercise their right not to go.

Let's fast forward to present day America. There is a different president now, and the mood among some has changed.

There are now six players from the Super Bowl champion Patriots who said that they will decline the invitation to the White House. Why they are doing it, of course, is irrelevant. And some of the same folks who celebrated that Tea Party hockey player, Tim Thomas, skipping the White House visit, are now saying that these Patriots are being very unpatriotic. (Pun intended)

Here comes Mitch Albom, who took the time to write a long screed from his high horse about why some of the New England Patriots------ who decided to skip a visit to the White House--- were being "rude".

Mitch must have forgotten when their QB lied and skipped a previous White House visit after one of the Patriot's previous Super Bowl wins.

It's no secret that Brady is a fan of President trump. so we will see what he does this time around. If he chooses to visit his buddy, I won't be mad at him, but I resent writers like Albom criticizing his teammates for not going.

He writes:

 "No one is asking them to endorse a candidate. And taking a photo with your nation’s elected leader doesn’t mean you surrender your right to disagree with every single thing he does. That’s the beauty of America. In fact, the visit may give you a rare chance to express your views to the leader himself.
How many photos or congratulations have those players accepted from corporations that exploit workers, CEOs who practice unfair hiring practices, TV hosts who they privately don’t like, etc.? All NFL teams have mandatory events, from charity to corporate, where no excuses for absence are accepted. It’s not like players don’t have to bite their tongue sometimes.

Besides, since most presidential elections are about 50-50, I’m guessing half the athletes who have visited the White House over the years didn’t vote for the man occupying it. So what? You can respect the office. The tradition. The reverence of our flawed but still-beautiful democratic system.
But we live in a world where declaring is easier than doing, and Twitter posts pass for social action. So turning down an invitation — by tweeting or doing an interview —  gets you celebrated. You don’t need to actually do anything to make the country better. You don’t even need to leave the couch." [Source]

"And you don't have to leave the comfort of your home while you pound away at your computer keys to make yourself seem like a righteous crusader, when in fact you are nothing but a phony and a
fraud.  

*Pic from imdb.com

The age of trump.

Welcome to the age of trump, where you are getting more of this and this on a daily basis. It's going to make life over the next four years very difficult.

In lieu of all of this, the following article from Hal Boedeker about team trump is quite appropriate.

"Maybe you’ve been losing a lot of sleep lately because of world events. A word of advice: Don’t watch cable news in the night.

I should have stuck with TCM early Saturday, but I turned to CNN and heard the latest about Michael Flynn, President Trump’s national security adviser. Turns out Flynn may have spoken with the Russian ambassador, Sergey Kislyak, about U.S. sanctions against Russia before the inauguration, CNN reported, and that’s contrary to what Flynn had told Vice President Mike Pence before the veep appeared on Sunday morning shows.

Then a CNN anchor repeated a line that made me think I was dreaming. But no, I found the line on CNN’s website: “A source with knowledge of the situation told CNN the only reason Flynn hasn't been fired is that the White House doesn't want to look bad.”

If the White House doesn’t want to look bad, it’s running three weeks behind in tackling that problem. The Trump White House is to public relations what Chernobyl was to nuclear plants.

The White House’s messaging suffers because the administration acts like it’s still in rancorous campaign mode. Guided by Trump, the tweeter-in-chief, the White House makes everything personal. It doesn’t matter if the topic is Elizabeth Warren, court setbacks, Ivanka Trump’s brand, Sean Spicer’s press briefings or the size of the inauguration crowd.

Kellyanne Conway, counselor to the president, has been a one-woman wrecking crew in damaging the administration’s credibility. She introduced the term “alternative facts,” invented a massacre and hawked Ivanka’s products.

But those are sideshows. The main culprit is the Donald himself, whose worst moment so far —  you may point to others — was his jaw-dropping interview with Bill O’Reilly of Fox News Channel on Super Bowl Sunday.

O’Reilly described Russian President Vladimir Putin as “a killer.”

Trump replied, “There are a lot of killers. We’ve got a lot of killers. You think our country's so innocent?”

Trump “indicted” America “in language unprecedented for any sitting or former president,” wrote Bret Stephens of The Wall Street Journal.

What does that say about a president who treats America’s image — its brand — so shabbily?
For starters, he’s reckless and unaware of the impression he’s making. Michael Scott (Steve Carell) had more finesse on “The Office.”

“Three weeks of Trump is like five years of Nixon,” Bill Maher said Friday on his HBO show “Real Time.” Maher dismissed Trump as “President Man-Baby.”

Trump may be a titan of business — we haven’t seen his tax returns, so who knows for sure? — but so far he’s a flop at public relations. Having a steady hand at P.R. is crucial in steering the country. By painting the media as the enemy, Trump distracts from his own erratic and undisciplined performance. That routine will grow old quickly.

Trump’s team often seems incapable of professionalism. But the team is taking cues from a leader who generates chaos instead of clarity, who mocks instead of inspires.

The White House looks bad, and one person deserves most of the blame. That’s the way leadership works.

I fear there are a lot of sleepless nights ahead." [Source]

CAPTION SATURDAY.

I need a caption for this pic.

For example: "Where is the guy from FOX?" 


*Pic from cnn.com

Days of dysfunction, chaos, and law breaking.

I hate to keep beating a dead orange horse, but team trump, you really have to get your s**t together.

Let's forget, for a minute, all the seriously wrong,  ill-prepared, and unqualified people the president has appointed to cabinet positions. That is bad, but it's not as bad as his minions breaking the law.

We will start with Kellyanne Polls, who clearly broke the law by promoting the sale of Ivanka trump's products on FOX VIEWS from the White House.

 “I hate shopping, but I’m going to get some myself today,” Conway, a special counselor to the president, said from the White House briefing room. “I’m going to give it a free commercial here, go buy it today.”

Whoops!

Even more egregious than one Conway did, though, is what transpired between the Russian Ambassador to the United States and trump's national security adviser, Michael Flynn. (I hope that he at least knows what the START Treaty is.)

"Michael Flynn, President-elect Donald Trump's choice for national security adviser, held five phone calls with Russia's ambassador to Washington on the day the United States retaliated for Moscow's interference in the U.S. presidential election, three sources familiar with the matter said.

The calls occurred between the time the Russian embassy was told about U.S. sanctions and the announcement by Russian President Vladimir Putin that he had decided against reprisals, said the sources. They spoke on condition of anonymity, citing internal U.S. government deliberations about the issue.


The calls raised fresh questions among some U.S. officials about contacts between Trump's advisers and Russian officials at a time when U.S. intelligence agencies contend that Moscow waged a multifaceted campaign of hacking and other actions to boost Republican Trump's election chances against Democrat Hillary Clinton." [Source]

Of course, the trump administration lied about these calls ever taking place, but now, thanks to good reporting, we are learning that they did.

The craziest part of this story is trump saying that he was not aware of what Flynn did. (If you believe that I have a wonderful antique bell here in Philly with a slight crack on the side to sell you.) Trump, who is always watching the news and wants to know everything going on with all of his people, did not know that General Flynn had conversations with the Russians? I need a break.

Finally, remember that  salacious dossier that contained some rather racy things (ahem ahem, golden showers) about our president that he called "fake news"? Well, as it turns out, it might not be so fake after all.

 "As noted by correspondent Jim Sciutto earlier today, multiple current and former law enforcement and intelligence officials have stated that an intelligence intercept has confirmed some of the conversations described in the dossier.

Sciutto did state that this doesn’t confirm the more extreme allegations made in the dossier but intelligence and law enforcement agencies now have greater confidence in the document’s credibility.

Sciutto also pointed out that when they tried to get a comment from White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer on the story, Spicer told them “we continue to be disgusted by CNN’s fake news reporting.”' [Source]

Sorry Sean, given your administration's track record of late, we are riding with CNN on this one.

OPEN THREAD THURSDAY.

 We have lots to talk about tonight.

trump lost to the 9th Circuit by a vote of 3-0. So,  at least for now, his attempted Muslim ban is on hold.

Also, he flat out lied about what his Supreme Court nominee said to Senator Bluementhal, and when he was exposed, he attacked the man's military record.  

Oh, and did you know that there was another massacre? This one, according to team trump, was in Atlanta. 

Throw in Kellyanne Polls breaking the law and you can see what kind of news day it has been.

Thoughts?

The "silencing."

"Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee:

Thank you for allowing me this opportunity to express my strong opposition to the nomination of Jefferson Sessions for a federal district judgeship for the Southern District of Alabama. My longstanding commitment which I shared with my husband, Martin, to protect and enhance the rights of black Americans, rights which include equal access to the democratic process, compels me to testify today.

Civil rights leaders, including my husband and Albert Turner, have fought long and hard to achieve free and unfettered access to the ballot box. Mr. Sessions has used the awesome power of his office to chill the free exercise of the vote by black citizens in the district he now seeks to serve as a federal judge. This simply cannot be allowed to happen. Mr. Sessions' conduct as a US Attorney, from his politically-motivated voting fraud prosecutions to his indifference toward criminal violations of civil rights laws, indicated that he lacks the temperament, fairness and judgment to be a federal judge.

The Voting Rights Act was, and still is, vitally important to the future of democracy in the United States. I was privileged to join Martin and many others during the Selma to Montgomery march for voting rights in 1965. Martin was particularly impressed by the determination to get the franchise of blacks in Selma and neighboring Perry County. As he wrote, "Certainly no community in the history of the Negro struggle has responded with the enthusiasm of Selma and her neighboring town of Marion. Where Birmingham depended largely upon students and unemployed adults to participate in non-violent protest of the denial of the franchise, Selma has involved fully 10 per cent of the Negro population in active demonstrations, and at least half of the Negro population of Marion was arrested on one day." Martin was referring of course to a group that included the defendants recently prosecuted for assisting elderly and illiterate blacks to exercise that franchise. In fact, Martin anticipated from the depth of their commitment twenty years ago, that a united political organization would remain in Perry County long after the other marchers had left. This organization, the Perry County Civic League, started my Mr. Turner, Mr. Hogue, and others, as Martin predicted, continued "to direct the drive for votes and other rights." In the years since the Voting Rights Act was passed, black Americans in Marion, Selma and elsewhere have made important strides in their struggle to participate actively in the electoral process. The number of blacks registered to vote in key Southern states has doubled since 1965. This would not have been possible without the Voting Rights Act.

However, blacks still fall far short of having equal participation in the electoral process. Particularly in the South, efforts continue to be made to deny blacks access to the polls, even where blacks constitute the majority of the voters. It has been a long, up-hill struggle to keep alive the vital legislation that protects the most fundamental right to vote. A person who has exhibited so much hostility to the enforcement of those laws, and thus, to the exercise of those rights by black people should not be elevated to the federal bench.

The irony of Mr. Sessions' nomination is that, if confirmed, he will be given life tenure for doing with a federal prosecution what the local sheriffs accomplished twenty years ago with clubs and cattle prods. Twenty years ago, when we marched from Selma to Montgomery, the fear of voting was real, as the broken bones and bloody heads in Selma and Marion bore witness. As my husband wrote at the them, "it was not just a sick imagination that conjured up the vision of a public official, sworn to uphold the law, who forced an inhuman march upon hundreds of Negro children. Who ordered the Rev. James Bevel to be chained to his sickbed, who clubbed a Negro woman registrant, and who callously inflicted repeated brutalities and indignities upon nonviolent Negroes peacefully petitioning for their constitutional right to vote."

Free exercise of voting rights is so fundamental to American democracy that we cannot tolerate any form of infringement of those rights. Of all the groups who have been disenfranchised in our nation's history, none has struggled longer or suffered more in the attempt to win the vote than black citizens. No group has had access to the ballot box denied so persistently and intently. Over the past century, a broad array of schemes have been used in attempts to bloc the black vote. The range of techniques developed with the purpose of repressing black voting rights run the gamut from the straightforward application of brutality against black citizens who tried to vote, to such legalized frauds as grandfather clause exclusions and rigged literacy tests.

The actions taken by Mr. Sessions in regard to the 1984 voting fraud prosecutions represent just one more technique used to intimidate black voters and thus deny them this most precious franchise. The investigations into the absentee voting process were conducted only in the black belt counties where blacks had finally achieved political power in local government. Whites had been using the absentee process to their advantage for years, without incident. Then, when blacks, realizing its strength, began to use it with success, criminal investigations were begun.

In these investigations, Mr. Sessions, a US Attorney, exhibited an eagerness to bring to trial and convict three leaders of the Perry County Civic League including Albert Turner, despite evidence clearly demonstrating their innocence of any wrongdoing. Furthermore, in initiating the case, Mr. Sessions ignored allegations of similar behavior by whites, choosing instead to chill the exercise of the franchise by blacks in his misguided investigation. In fact, Mr. Sessions sought to punish older black civil rights activists, advisers and colleagues of my husband, who had been key figures in the civil rights movement in the 1960's. These were persons who, realizing the potential of the absentee vote among blacks, had learned to use the process within the bounds of legality and had taught others to do the same. The only sin they committed was being too successful in gaining votes.

The scope and character of the investigations conducted by Mr. Sessions also warrant grave concern. Witnesses were selectively chosen in accordance with the favorability of their testimony to the government's case. Also, the prosecution illegally withheld from the defense critical statements made by witnesses. Witnesses who did testify were pressured and intimidated into submitting the "correct" testimony. Many elderly blacks were visited multiple times by the FBI who then hauled them over 180 miles by bus to a grand jury in Mobile when they could more easily have testified at a grand jury just twenty miles away in Selma. These voters, and others, have announced they are now never going to vote again.

I urge you to consider carefully Mr. Sessions' conduct in these matters. Such a review, I believe, raises serious questions about his commitment to the protection of the voting rights of all American citizens and consequently his fair and unbiased judgment regarding this fundamental right. When the circumstances and facts surrounding the indictments of Al Turner, his wife, Evelyn, and Spencer Hogue are analyzed, it becomes clear that the motivation was political, and the result frightening -- the wide-scale chill of the exercise of the ballot for blacks, who suffered so much to receive that right in the first place. Therefore, it is my strongly-held view that the appointment of Jefferson Sessions to the federal bench would irreparably damage the work of my husband, Al Turner and countless others who risked their lives and freedom over the past twenty years to ensure equal participation in our democratic system....

.....We still have a long way to go before we can say that minorities no longer need be concerned about discrimination at the polls. Blacks, Hispanics, Native Americans and Asian Americans are grossly underrepresented at every level of government in America. If we are going to make our timeless dream of justice through democracy a reality, we must take every step possible to ensure that the spirit and intent of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the 15th Amendment to the Constitution is honored. The federal courts hold a unique position in our constitutional system, ensuring that minorities and other citizens without political power have a forum in which to vindicate their rights. Because of this unique role, it is essential that the people selected to be federal judges respect the basic tenets of our legal system: respect for individual rights and a commitment to equal justice for all.

The integrity of the courts, and thus, the rights they protect, can only be maintained if citizens feel confident that those selected as federal judges will be able to judge with fairness others holding differing views.

I do not believe Jefferson Sessions possesses the requisite judgment, competence and sensitivity to the rights guaranteed by the federal civil rights laws to qualify for appointment to the federal district court. Based on his record, I believe his confirmation would have a devastating effect not only on the judicial system in Alabama, but also on the progress we have made everywhere toward fulfilling my husband's dream that he envisioned over twenty years ago. I therefore urge the Senate Judiciary Committee to deny his confirmation.

I thank you for allowing me to share my views."

Sadly, Jefferson Sessions was confirmed today as our next Attorney General, and it is a sad day for civil rights in this country.    

To her credit, Elizabeth Warren tried to put up some resistance, but she was disgracefully silenced by a bunch of old white men. (You just read what she was trying to read.) 

"The senator has impugned the motives and conduct of our colleague from Alabama, as warned by the chair," McConnell said on the floor.

"She has been warned multiple times (not just today)," McConnell spokesman Don Stewart told NBC News. "And after additional warning today, she was found in violation of the rule. She appealed the ruling and lost." 

Nope, she didn't lose; America did.

*Pic from bbc.com

Unqualified cabinet members and a lying president.

Let me start tonight's post by saying congrats to Betsy DeVos. I guess it's more important to be wealthy than smart.

 I also suspect that everyone of those senators that voted for her has gotten a dollar or two from her family at some point.

In case you missed her confirmation hearings, you need to understand that she was probably the most unqualified cabinet nominee in the history of these divided states of America.

Anyway, after watching how this all went down today, I don't want to hear white folks complaining about affirmative action ever again.

Still, as bad as she was, she might be better suited for a cabinet position than Mr. Andrew Puzder. All he did was allegedly beat his wife, and....wait for it....hired an undocumented worker as a housekeeper.

Imagine that for a minute; a labor secretary hiring illegal help. ("We are going to drain the swamp.")     
Then there is the whole domestic violence thing. His wife actually went on the Oprah Winfrey Show in disguise to complain about the abuse. Of course now she is walking it all back. It was just a big misunderstanding.  

"Fierstein’s domestic violence allegations first came to the public eye in 1989 while the couple was divorcing. The Riverfront Times reported that the CEO of fast-food chains Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr had been accused of grabbing, pushing or hitting his then-wife on three separate occasions. In addition to the three alleged incidents, the Riverfront Times also reported the police had been called to the couple’s house at least twice in the 1980s. At the time, Puzder called the allegations “baseless.”

Indeed, Puzder’s dismissal of the accusations was later reiterated by Fierstein. After the domestic violence allegations from the 1980s resurfaced, Fierstein issued a statement through the Republican National Committee calling Puzder “one of the finest men I have ever known.” She added:

Many years ago I impulsively filed for divorce and was counseled to file allegations that I regretted and subsequently withdrew over thirty years ago. Andy is a wonderful father, a great person, and was a good husband."

Ms. Fierstein, you may now cash your check.

Finally, our supreme leader told another big lie today while hosting a group of county sheriffs at the White (again) House.

“The murder rate is the highest it’s been in ... 45 to 47 years,” Trump told a White House gathering of county sheriffs from across the country. “I used to say that in a speech and everybody was surprised, because the press doesn’t tell it like it is.”

Trump has repeatedly claimed crime is worse than the reality. During the campaign, he frequently said crime is out of control. Since his election, he’s said the murder rate is the highest in 45 years. Last month, he falsely said Philadelphia’s murder rate had increased when it actually declined.

Recent FBI data shows the U.S. murder rate near its lowest in decades, with 5 homicides per 100,000 people in 2015. (Data for 2016 hasn’t been released.)

At some point somebody close to this man has to call him out and tell him that he has no clothes. I mean I know that president's misspeak and flat out lie from time to time, but this is getting ridiculous.