Tag: race relations

Obama’s Legacy and the “Chicago 4”

On By kingsjesterIn PoliticsLeave a comment

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“Nobody’s more hopeful than me. I’m Mr. Hope when it comes to these issues. I’ve said from the start that we are not as divided as we seem. And I think we’re gonna solve it,” – President Barack Hussein Obama, “A Townhall Discussion on Race Relations”, July 14, 2016

Think again, Scooter.

Foxnews.com reports that

Hate crime and aggravated battery charges were filed Thursday against four African American suspects who police say tortured a mentally challenged white man for as long as 48 hours, while shouting racial and anti-Donald Trump slurs — and part of the attack was streamed on Facebook Live.

“Let me be very clear: The actions in that video are reprehensible,” Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson told reporters during a news conference. 

The suspects — Jordan Hill, 18, Tesfaye Cooper, 18, Brittany Covington, 18, and Tanishia Covington, 24 — were set to appear in Central Bond Court on Friday afternoon.

Police on Thursday filled in details from the case. The 18-year-old man’s parents had dropped him off at a McDonald’s in suburban Streamwood last weekend to hang out with Hill, who took him in a van to see the rest of the group in western Chicago, investigators said, adding that the man didn’t seem to know Hill had just stolen the van.

The man’s parents apparently thought he’d be spending the night with friends, according to police. They said he and Hill had gone to school together in Aurora, although they didn’t see each other frequently.

Instead, investigators claimed the group kidnapped the man, keeping him tied up for hours or more with his mouth taped shut in an apartment on the city’s west side. The video showed him cowering in a corner while someone yelled “F— white people!” and “F— Donald Trump!” At one point, the man was held at knifepoint and told to curse the president-elect.

The video also showed the man being kicked and hit repeatedly, while his scalp was cut. The group apparently forced him to drink water from a toilet.

The worst of the attack had started out as a “play fight” that ultimately escalated, police said. They told reporters the man slept in the van during the ordeal.

The man finally escaped on Monday after a neighbor on a lower floor of the apartment building complained about the noise and threatened to call the cops, police said. They told reporters the suspects barged into the neighbor’s apartment, giving the man an opportunity to get out.

The four also face burglary charges in connection to the break-in.

A police officer finally encountered the disoriented man walking down a street on Monday wearing only an inside-out tank top, jean shorts and sandals, despite the frigid weather. The officer said it was clear the man had been bloodied and battered.

Police became aware on Tuesday of the heinous video footage, FOX32 reported.

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest wouldn’t say if he thought the incident was a hate crime, but did discuss the callous nature of the crime.

“They do demonstrate a level of depravity that is an outrage to a lot of Americans,” Earnest said. “I have not spoken to the president but I’m confident he would be angered by the images depicted.”

The suspects could be heard saying they wanted the video to go viral.

They now face a bevy of charges.

Hill was charged with aggravated kidnapping, hate crime, aggravated unlawful restraint, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, robbery, residential burglary; Cooper was charged with aggravated kidnapping, hate crime, aggravated unlawful restraint, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and residential burglary; Brittany Covington was charged with aggravated kidnapping, hate crime, aggravated unlawful restraint, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and residential burglary; Tanishia Covington was charged with aggravated kidnapping, hate crime, aggravated unlawful restraint and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.

Hill is from Carpentersville and the others are Chicago residents.

If somebody were to ask me what I believe that Legacy of the Presidential reign of Barack Hussein Obama was, I believe that one of the first things that I would show them is the picture of that young man beaten bloody by a bunch of thugs.

Ever since Obama got into office, all I have heard from him is the Rhetoric of Racial Division and Class Warfare.

It reminds me of all the historical conflicts which I used to read about, during the course in college which I took, titled “The Rhetoric of Social Protest“.

Karl Marx knew long ago that all you needed to do to touch the heart of the common man was to convince him of a shared struggle.

Vladimir Lenin took this a step further, by using the concept of a shared struggle to convince the Bolsheviks to help him overthrow the Czar of Russia and murder him and his family during the Russian Revolution.

Forgive me for stating the obvious, but fiery rhetoric spoken by a national leader has consequences.

President Barack Hussein Obama is as responsible for what has happened to Race Relations in America, as any thug wannabe in any city.

However, he is not alone in his responsibility.

Every race-baiter, local & national, who have fanned the flames of racial hatred, has the blood of any innocent person, police and civilians alike, slain in the name of Racial Division.

Do you remember when one half of the “Justice Brothers”, the “Reverend” Al Sharpton, led a march in New York City, capitalizing on the deaths of two of Michael Brown and Earl Garner?

During the march, the protesters chanted

What do we want? Dead Cops!

Somehow, America’s Professional Race-Baiters, from the Community Organizer-in-Chief, Barack Hussein Obama, on down, twisted the facts to make it America’s Law Enforcement Officers’ Fault that two thugs got themselves killed in altercations with police officers.

What ever happened to personal responsibility?

President Ronald Reagan once said,

There are no constraints on the human mind, no walls around the human spirit, no barriers to our progress except those we ourselves erect.

Compare it to these words:

It’s not to make excuses for that fact — although black folks do interpret the reasons for that in a historical context. They understand that some of the violence that takes place in poor black neighborhoods around the country is born out of a very violent past in this country, and that the poverty and dysfunction that we see in those communities can be traced to a very difficult history. – President Barack Hussein Obama, 7/19/2014

President Obama, for his own political reasons, reinforces, at every opportunity, the self-fulfilling prophecy that the Black Community is still shackled and limited in their freedom.

Which is an ironic statement, considering, as a Black man, that he presently holds the position of President of the most powerful country on the face of the Earth.

On November 25th of 2014, The Daily Caller reported that

Retired neurosurgeon and potential GOP 2016 candidate Ben Carson believes race relations in America, as a whole, have “gotten worse” under President Barack Obama’s leadership, saying he should take a ”balanced, objective look at things” instead of invoking the race card.

Carson made the comments to conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt Tuesday night.

“I actually believe that things were better before this president was elected,” Carson told Hewitt, “and I think that things have gotten worse because of his unusual emphasis on race.”

“Can you explain more? What do you mean by that?” asked Hewitt. “How did they get worse, and how did he contribute to it?”

“Well, for instance, in the incident with Henry Louis Gates, Skip Gates and him calling out the police, and you know, how they always do this kind of thing, and the Trayvon Martin case, you know, if I had a son, this is what he would look like, rather than trying to take the balanced, objective look at things, and then, you know, what’s happened here,” responded Carson.

“And then the way, which really irritates me to some degree, the way he and a bunch of progressives manipulate, particularly minority communities, to make them feel that they are victims. And of course if you think you’re a victim, you are a victim,” Carson continued.

As I have related before, back in High School, during the 1974-1975 school year, I was a Sophomore Commissioner on the Student Council with a fellow named James. James was one of those students who were bused to our school. He went on to play football and run track. More importantly, James went on to have a 4.5 GPA, graduate high school as Valedictorian, make a 32 on his ACT, and receive a full scholarship to Harvard, and later, went on to Johns Hopkins Medical School. James worked hard and he achieved.

Millions of other Black Americans have, as well.

The current race-baiting and racially-based pandering by the President, his Administration, and all those who profit from it, locally and nationally, dishonors those who have achieved and has constrained those who might otherwise achieve.

I remember, as a 9 year old in Memphis, Tennessee, watching my parents’ black and white television as the National Guard was called into action on the night that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated.

I remember after that Civil Defense Announcement that President Lyndon Johnson come on national television to make the announcement of Dr. King’s death. I remember a feeling of helplessness and of fear, as a nine-year-old, that I had not felt before.

It wasn’t just the fact that we were living in Midtown Memphis, that made me afraid.

It was the fact of the out-of-control violence itself, that caused my consternation.

And now, all these years later, I have the same feelings tugging at my gut. It’s not because I can’t take care of myself, trust me, I can.It is because, those leaders, who have sworn to protect American Citizens, up in our nation’s capital and in cities across America, have skirted that responsibility, choosing to fan the flames of Racial Division, promising to “share the wealth” in the name of “Racial Equality”.

Meanwhile, ever since 2013, Black Youth Unemployment (16-19) remains at a rate 393% higher than everyone else’s in this stagnant economy.

…Even with George Soros hiring Black Lives Matter last summer to protest at Donald Trump Rallies.

So, to summarize, as the man who was supposed to be America’s first Post-Racial President leaves office, Racial Division is at an all-time high.

Obama did not build a bridge between the races, as was promised by his sycophants. He blew the existing one up.

Until He Comes,

KJ

Concern Over Race Relations Reaches All-Time High Under 1st “Post-Racial” President

On By kingsjesterIn Politics1 Comment

th (15)Now well into his last year in office, it is quite apparent that, Barack Hussein Obama, the man who was billed as our first “Post-Racial President”, has done nothing but divide America even further, along Racial Lines.

According to gallup.com,

More than a third (35%) of Americans now say they are worried “a great deal” about race relations in the U.S. — which is higher than at any time since Gallup first asked the question in 2001. The percentage who are worried a great deal rose seven percentage points in the past year and has more than doubled in the past two years.

Concern about race relations in the U.S. has risen during an 18-month period marked by a series of deaths of unarmed blacks at the hands of police officers. These deaths sparked major, sometimes violent, protests and fueled the nationwide rise of the “Black Lives Matter” movement.

Democrats, Liberals More Worried Than Republicans, Conservatives

Concern about race relations over the past two years has increased among Republicans and Democrats, conservatives and liberals, and blacks and whites. But the gap between the groups who were already most worried before 2015 — Democrats, liberals and blacks — and those less worried has not shrunk, and in some cases has widened. Of particular note is the 53% to 27% “worried” gap between blacks and whites, up from the 31% to 14% gap between blacks and whites in the 2012-2014 combined polls.

Race Relations Low on the List of Major Concerns

Prior to 2015, race relations was much less of a concern to Americans, relative to other national issues. In almost every one of 13 polls from 2001 to 2014, Americans were significantly less likely to be worried about race relations than about any of the other dozen or so issues tested. Even this year, though the percentage concerned is up, race relations still ranks near the bottom of the list of concerns, along with energy, climate change and illegal immigration. None of the four elicited a great deal of concern from more than 37% (illegal immigration) of the public, compared with more than 50% for healthcare, the economy, and crime and violence.

Bottom Line

Race relations may not worry as many Americans as do issues such as the economy, affordable healthcare or crime, but Gallup’s polling clearly shows that racial tensions over the past few years have significantly affected public opinion.

Not only are far more Americans — no matter their race or political beliefs — worried about race relations, Americans have also become less satisfied with the way blacks are treated and more likely to list race relations as the most important problem the nation faces.

The rising concern about race relations as the nation’s first black president completes his last year in office is a retreat from the optimism that swept the country in the immediate aftermath of President Barack Obama’s first election win in 2008. A Gallup poll one night after Obama won found that seven in 10 Americans believed race relations would improve because of his victory.

In fact, a mid-2015 Gallup poll indicated that treatment of blacks had not worsened during Obama’s time in office, even while concerns about race relations and treatment of blacks were rising. However, the poll also did not show any significant lessening of perceived racial discrimination among blacks.

In the current presidential election cycle, both conservatives and liberals have attacked Republican front-runner Donald Trump for his campaign’s racist overtones, and conservative pundits are already claiming that history will conclude the Obama presidency worsened race relations. These factors, along with the ever-growing number of racial protests on college campuses and elsewhere, make it unlikely that Americans’ concerns about race relations will diminish in 2016.

Gallup is, of course, a Liberal Organization. However, it is usually the most accurate among the pollsters.

The reference in their article concerning Donald Trump, however, belies a SurveyUSA Poll last September, in which 25% of Black Americans polled, stated that they would vote for Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton.

But, I digress…

Ever since Obama got into office, all I have heard from him is the Rhetoric of Racial Division and Class Warfare.

It reminds me of all the historical conflicts which I used to read about, during the course in college which I took, titled “The Rhetoric of Social Protest“.

Karl Marx knew long ago that all you needed to do to touch the heart of the common man was to convince him of a shared struggle.

Vladimir Lenin took this a step further, by using the concept of a shared struggle to convince the Bolsheviks to help him overthrow the Czar of Russia and murder him and his family during the Russian Revolution.

Forgive me for stating the obvious, but fiery rhetoric spoken by a national leader has consequences.

President Barack Hussein Obama is as responsible for what has happened to Race Relations in America, as any thug wannabe in any city.

However, he is not alone in his responsibility.

Every race-baiter, local & national, who have fanned the flames of racial hatred, has the blood of any innocent person, police and civilians alike, slain in the name of Racial Division.

Do you remember when one half of the “Justice Brothers”, the “Reverend” Al Sharpton, led a march in New York City, capitalizing on the deaths of two of Michael Brown and Earl Garner?

During the march, the protesters chanted

What do we want? Dead Cops!

Somehow, America’s Professional Race-Baiters, from the Community Organizer-in-Chief, Barack Hussein Obama, on down, twisted the facts to make it America’s Law Enforcement Officers’ Fault that two thugs got themselves killed in altercations with police officers.

What ever happened to personal responsibility?

President Ronald Reagan once said,

There are no constraints on the human mind, no walls around the human spirit, no barriers to our progress except those we ourselves erect.

Compare it to these words:

It’s not to make excuses for that fact — although black folks do interpret the reasons for that in a historical context. They understand that some of the violence that takes place in poor black neighborhoods around the country is born out of a very violent past in this country, and that the poverty and dysfunction that we see in those communities can be traced to a very difficult history. – President Barack Hussein Obama, 7/19/2014

President Obama, for his own political reasons, reinforces, at every opportunity, the self-fulfilling prophecy that the Black Community is still shackled and limited in their freedom.

Which is an ironic statement, considering, as a Black man, that he presently holds the position of President of the most powerful country on the face of the Earth.

On November 25th of 2014, The Daily Caller reported that

Retired neurosurgeon and potential GOP 2016 candidate Ben Carson believes race relations in America, as a whole, have “gotten worse” under President Barack Obama’s leadership, saying he should take a ”balanced, objective look at things” instead of invoking the race card.

Carson made the comments to conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt Tuesday night.

“I actually believe that things were better before this president was elected,” Carson told Hewitt, “and I think that things have gotten worse because of his unusual emphasis on race.”

“Can you explain more? What do you mean by that?” asked Hewitt. “How did they get worse, and how did he contribute to it?”

“Well, for instance, in the incident with Henry Louis Gates, Skip Gates and him calling out the police, and you know, how they always do this kind of thing, and the Trayvon Martin case, you know, if I had a son, this is what he would look like, rather than trying to take the balanced, objective look at things, and then, you know, what’s happened here,” responded Carson.

“And then the way, which really irritates me to some degree, the way he and a bunch of progressives manipulate, particularly minority communities, to make them feel that they are victims. And of course if you think you’re a victim, you are a victim,” Carson continued.

Back in High School, during the 1974-1975 school year, I was a Sophomore Commissioner on the Student Council with a fellow named James. James was one of those students who were bused to our school. He went on to play football and run track. More importantly, James went on to have a 4.5 GPA, graduate high school as Valedictorian, make a 32 on his ACT, and receive a full scholarship to Harvard, and later, went on to Johns Hopkins Medical School. James worked hard and he achieved.

Millions of other Black Americans have, as well.

The current race-baiting and racially-based pandering by the President, his Administration, and all those who profit from it, locally and nationally, dishonors those who have achieved and has constrained those who might otherwise achieve.

I remember, as a 9 year old in Memphis, Tennessee, watching my parents’ black and white television as the National Guard was called into action on the night that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated.

I remember after that Civil Defense Announcement that President Lyndon Johnson come on national television to make the announcement of Dr. King’s death. I remember a feeling of helplessness and of fear, as a nine-year-old, that I had not felt before.

It wasn’t just the fact that we were living in Midtown Memphis, that made me afraid.

It was the fact of the out-of-control violence itself, that caused my consternation.

And now, all these years later, I have the same feelings tugging at my gut. It’s not because I can’t take care of myself, trust me, I can.

It is because, those leaders, who have sworn to protect American Citizens, up in our nation’s capital and in cities across America, have skirted that responsibility, choosing to fan the flames of Racial Division, promising to “share the wealth” in the name of “Racial Equality”.

Meanwhile, ever since 2013, Black Youth Unemployment (16-19) remains at a rate 393% higher than everyone else’s in this stagnant economy.

…Even with George Soros hiring Black Lives Matter to protest at Donald Trump Rallies.

So, to summarize, in the last year of the Post-Racial Presidency of Barack Hussein Obama, America’s concern about Racial Division remains at an all-time high.

And, summer hasn’t even started yet.

Until He Comes,

KJ

 

 

 

 

 

Head of World’s Largest Evangelical Denomination on Gay Marriage: “The Supreme Court…is Not the Final Authority.”

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Politics1 Comment

th1DXO5NI3The world’s largest Evangelical Christian Denomination, with approximately 16,000,000 members, is holding its yearly Convocation.

And, its newly-elected President has left no doubt as to the denomination’s stance on the hot-button social issues, which our nation is presently wrestling with.

The Christian Post reports that

Ronnie Floyd, president of the Southern Baptist Convention and pastor of Cross Church in Arkansas, speaks during AVANCE 2015 at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Ohio, June 14, 2015. 

Southern Baptist Convention President Ronnie Floyd told messengers gathered at the opening day of the denomination’s annual gathering Tuesday that “now is the time to lead,” on issues such as abortion, same-sex marriage, and racism.

“We are in spiritual warfare, and this is not a time for Southern Baptists to shrink back in timidity or shrink back with uncertainty,” said Floyd during his opening address at the SBC annual meeting in Columbus, Ohio. “Crises abound; the need is great hour is late, and now is the time to lead.”

The SBC president also highlighted global calamities including the advance of ISIS, human trafficking, Boko Haram, the persecution of Christians as well as crippling problems in the U.S., such as poverty, debt, and race relations.

“We are adrift in denial,” said Floyd, quoting Peggy Noonan.

The senior pastor at Cross Church in Springdale, Arkansas, prayed for the next great spiritual awakening, stating “we need a Jesus revolution” in the U.S. before addressing hot-button moral issues under fire in the legal system today like abortion.

“America, we stand believing that abortion is a glaring desecration of the unborn child’s purpose and value,” said Floyd. “We must be vigilant in this fight for the unborn child. All human life and human dignity — from the womb to the tomb. God has created all of us for His glory, and when we devalue human life, we are robbing God of his intended glory for every person in the world.”

Referring to the U.S. Supreme Court’s upcoming decision on whether gays and lesbians have a constitutional right to marry or whether state bans against same-sex marriage can remain in place, Floyd took a firm stance in his religious conviction that marriage is strictly between one man and one woman.

“We do not need to redefine what God himself has defined already,” he said.

Floyd explained to the audience that they will be asked to approve a resolution that affirms Southern Baptist beliefs on marriage. The resolution also reminds Christians to love our neighbors and extend respect to all people, even those who disagree with them.

“While we affirm our love for all people, including those struggling with same-sex attractions, we cannot and will not affirm any behavior that deviates from God’s design for marriage,” said Floyd. “Our first commitment is to God and nothing else and no one else. I humbly remind everyone today the Supreme Court of the United States is not the final authority, nor is the culture itself, but the Bible is God’s final authority about marriage and on this book we stand.”

In his final comment on same-sex marriage, Floyd took an oath to never sanctify gay marriage.

“I declare to everyone today as a minister of the Gospel, I will not officiate over any same-sex unions or same-sex marriage ceremonies, I completely refuse,” said the pastor.

On the issue of race relations, Floyd asserted: “America, we stand believing that all humanity bearing of God’s image is not contingent upon one’s skin color, and we also believe all racism and injustice must end. We need to let grace begin uniting our hearts in the bonds of peace. We need to learn to love one another as Christ loved us.”

That eardrum-shattering shriek that you just heard was the 24% of Americans, who self-identify as Liberals, beginning their hissy fit.

The truth of the matter is, Pastor Floyd is exactly right. Regardless of how the United States Supreme Court rules on same-sex marriage, God will have the final word.

He always does.

Modern Liberals seem to have great difficulty comprehending the role which Our Creator, the God of Abraham, played and plays in this Grand Experiment, known as the United States of America.

From adherents.com:

There were 95 Senators and Representatives in the First Federal Congress. If one combines the total number of signatures on the Declaration, the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution with the non-signing Constitutional Convention delegates, and then adds to that sum the number of congressmen in the First Federal Congress, one obtains a total of 238 “slots” or “positions” in these groups which one can classify as “Founding Fathers” of the United States. Because 40 individuals had multiple roles (they signed multiple documents and/or also served in the First Federal Congress), there are 204 unique individuals in this group of “Founding Fathers.” These are the people who did one or more of the following:

– signed the Declaration of Independence
– signed the Articles of Confederation
– attended the Constitutional Convention of 1787
– signed the Constitution of the United States of America
– served as Senators in the First Federal Congress (1789-1791)
– served as U.S. Representatives in the First Federal Congress

The religious affiliations of these individuals are summarized below. Obviously this is a very restrictive set of names, and does not include everyone who could be considered an “American Founding Father.” But most of the major figures that people generally think of in this context are included using these criteria, including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Adams, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, John Hancock, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton and more.

Religious Affiliation
of U.S. Founding Fathers		 # of
Founding
Fathers		 % of
Founding
Fathers
Episcopalian/Anglican 88 54.7%
Presbyterian 30 18.6%
Congregationalist 27 16.8%
Quaker 7 4.3%
Dutch Reformed/German Reformed 6 3.7%
Lutheran 5 3.1%
Catholic 3 1.9%
Huguenot 3 1.9%
Unitarian 3 1.9%
Methodist 2 1.2%
Calvinist 1 0.6%
unknown 43  %
TOTAL 204

Here are some quotes about God and Christianity from 3 Presidents of the United States, whom you might recognize:

John Quincy Adams

My hopes of a future life are all founded upon the Gospel of Christ and I cannot cavil or quibble away [evade or object to]. . . . the whole tenor of His conduct by which He sometimes positively asserted and at others countenances [permits] His disciples in asserting that He was God.

The hope of a Christian is inseparable from his faith. Whoever believes in the Divine inspiration of the Holy Scriptures must hope that the religion of Jesus shall prevail throughout the earth. Never since the foundation of the world have the prospects of mankind been more encouraging to that hope than they appear to be at the present time. And may the associated distribution of the Bible proceed and prosper till the Lord shall have made “bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God” [Isaiah 52:10].

In the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior. The Declaration of Independence laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity.

Thomas Jefferson

The doctrines of Jesus are simple, and tend all to the happiness of man.

The practice of morality being necessary for the well being of society, He [God] has taken care to impress its precepts so indelibly on our hearts that they shall not be effaced by the subtleties of our brain. We all agree in the obligation of the moral principles of Jesus and nowhere will they be found delivered in greater purity than in His discourses.

I am a Christian in the only sense in which He wished anyone to be: sincerely attached to His doctrines in preference to all others.

I am a real Christian – that is to say, a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus Christ.

George Washington

You do well to wish to learn our arts and ways of life, and above all, the religion of Jesus Christ. These will make you a greater and happier people than you are.

While we are zealously performing the duties of good citizens and soldiers, we certainly ought not to be inattentive to the higher duties of religion. To the distinguished character of Patriot, it should be our highest glory to add the more distinguished character of Christian.

The blessing and protection of Heaven are at all times necessary but especially so in times of public distress and danger. The General hopes and trusts that every officer and man will endeavor to live and act as becomes a Christian soldier, defending the dearest rights and liberties of his country.

I now make it my earnest prayer that God would… most graciously be pleased to dispose us all to do justice, to love mercy, and to demean ourselves with that charity, humility, and pacific temper of the mind which were the characteristics of the Divine Author of our blessed religion.

Recently, a Gallup Poll showed that a little less than 3/4 of Americans proclaim Jesus Christ as their Personal Savior and half of Americans attend Religious Services on a regular basis.

While Modern American Liberals, under the rights granted to us by our Constitution, have every right to speak their mind, blackmail and intimidation of the Majority, is not a guaranteed right.

 Additionally, without being anchored on the Solid Rock, America would have been a failed experiment, assigned to the dustbin of history, years ago.

That still, small voice which resides within each one of us, has led Americans to do great things, in service to their country and the concept of American Freedom, as personified by Lady Liberty, standing so majestically in New York Harbor.

God gave us this nation, ensconced in the concept of “Liberty and Justice for all”.

By His Grace, we will keep it.

Until He Comes,

KJ

 

Starbucks Baristas Talking Race Relations: The Worst Idea Since Pajama Boy

On By kingsjesterIn Politics2 Comments

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Remember the launch of Healthcare.gov?

It failed spectacularly.

So much so, that the Liberal Brain-trust (now, there’s an Oxymoron for you) decided that what they needed to smooth things over was a snappy advertisement, featuring a stereotypical 20-something year old nebbish, up in the living room from his Mom’s basement, sitting around in his footie pajamas, sipping hot chocolate, and talking about Obamacare.

Not unsurprisingly, that went over with the American public…about as well as New Coke did.

Now, another Liberal has had a brilliant marketing idea…and it will go down in flames like the Hindenburg.

And, apparently, I am not the only American who feels that way.

Dailymail.co.uk reports that

Twitter has ruthlessly mocked Starbucks campaign for the company’s new anti-racism campaign in which baristas talk to customers about race issues while serving their coffee.

One user tweeted, ‘I don’t have time to explain 400 years of oppression to you & still make my train’, while another pointed out, ‘y’all realize there are no coloured hands in the press photos right’.

A third speculated, ‘maybe Starbucks actually wanted to get people of all races & ethnicities to join hands and make fun’.

Corey duBrowa, the company’s Senior Vice President of Global Communications, was forced to delete his Twitter account, before re-activating it the next day. 

‘Last night I felt personally attacked in a cascade of negativity,’ he said in a post on Medium. ‘I got overwhelmed by the volume and tenor of the discussion, and I reacted’.

Staff at the 4,700 cafés across America now have the option to write ‘RaceTogether’ on cardboard cups, which is the slogan of a Starbucks anti-racism campaign.

It was hoped that customers who encounter the slogan on their coffee cup would be inspired to discuss the deeper issues affecting America, in an attempt to ‘create a more empathetic and inclusive society – one conversation at a time’.

But many customers found the campaign ‘patronizing’.

‘#RaceTogether is what happens when a 1%-er without any actual anti-racist education or training has a mid-life “white man’s burden” crisis,’ one user tweeted.

Another took a sarcastic approach, tweeting a picture of a white barista, with the message: ‘Here’s your macchiato! Let’s discuss the historic disenfranchisement of your people that has allowed me to prosper.’

The campaign was the brainchild of Howard Schultz, 61, the company’s boss, who has a track record of speaking out about contentious topics, from gay marriage to gun control.

His decision came in response to the escalating racial tension that emerged when grand juries failed to indict white police officers involved in the killings of Michael Brown, 18, in Ferguson, Missouri, and Eric Garner, 43, in Staten Island, New York.

Last year, Schultz travelled to Starbucks branches in the cities most affected by racial tension, including Los Angeles, St Louis, Chicago, New York, Oakland and Seattle.

Mr Schulz met about 2,000 Starbucks staff on the tour, and made contact with the rest of his 200,000 employees – 40 per cent of whom are from ethnic minority backgrounds – via a video address.

‘It’s an emotional issue,’ he said. ‘But it is so vitally important to the country.’

You know, when I first heard about this a couple of days ago, while driving in to work, I just about had a wreck.

The pompousness of the whole situation left me shaking my head in disbelief.

Being a political junkie, I tend to spend a lot of time on Political Facebook Pages, where I have borne witness to the Liberal Insanity, which is part and parcel of the divided nation which we have become under President Barack Hussein Obama (mm mmm mmmm).

I have noticed that Liberals, even though they still comprise only about 24% of our population, view themselves as the majority in this country.

This self-aggrandizement usually leads them to over-estimate both their gravitas and the popularity of their ideas….as is the case with Mr. Shultz.

Why would customers, rushing into Starbucks for a $5 cup of coffee, want to discuss their feelings concerning Race Relations in America with an $8 an hour college kid?

Let’s examine this scenario, shall we?

First off, the sheer hubris of the Starbucks CEO to believe that it is up to him to solve, what he perceives as being America’s “problem” with Race Relations, just floors me.

Modern American Liberals tend to believe that they are the most tolerant people that have ever walked the Earth, and, therefore, they believe themselves to occupy the “Intellectual High Ground” on every issue plaguing American Society.

Mr. Shultz is no exception.

However, there are several flaws in his grand scheme to school us ignorant, average Americans in how to get along with each other.

1. Such a heady topic as Race Relations is waaay above the average Starbucks Barista’s pay grade. Heck, they can’t even get a customer’s order right half of the time.

2. Those of us average Americans who are, say, 35 years old and up, do not wish to be lectured about Race Relations by some kid, the age of our own child or grandchild.

3. How we feel as individual Americans about Race Relations in America is a deeply held belief, which will not be easily changed, especially within the confines of an over-priced coffee shoppe.

In other words, we will refuse to be assimilated into the Hive Mind.

4. Lastly, Americans come in Starbucks for coffee, not Liberal Platitudes and condescension.

And, that is exactly why a popular new hashtag has appeared on Twitter, with these words:

#shutupandpour

Until He Comes,

KJ

 

 

Majority of Americans Believe That Obama Has Worsened Race Relations

On By kingsjesterIn Politics1 Comment

Obama-Shrinks-2“This [Racism] is something that’s deeply rooted in our society, deeply rooted in our history. But the two things that will allow us to solve it: Number one: Is the understanding that we have made progress and so it’s important to recognize that as painful as these instances are, we can’t equate what’s happening now with what was happening 50 years ago. If you talk to your parents, grandparents, uncles, they’ll tell you that things are better,” – President of the United States Barack Hussein Obama, Black Entertainment Television, “BET News Presents: A Conversation with President Barack Obama”, to air tonight, December 8, 2014 at 5:00 p.m. Central.

Isn’t it awfully TIRESOME and TACKY to have a President of the United States of America who views everything in terms of RACE?

Bloomberg.com reports that

President Barack Obama had hoped his historic election would ease race relations, yet a majority of Americans, 53 percent, say the interactions between the white and black communities have deteriorated since he took office, according to a newBloomberg Politics poll. Those divisions are laid bare in the split reactions to the decisions by two grand juries not to indict white police officers who killed unarmed black men in Ferguson, Mo., and Staten Island, N.Y.

Both times, protesters responded with outrage and politicians called for federal investigations. Yet Americans don’t think of the cases as a matched set of injustices, the poll found. A majority agreed with the Ferguson decision, while most objected to the conclusion in the Staten Island death, which was captured on video. The divergent opinions—52 percent agreed on Ferguson compared with 25 percent who approved of the Staten Island outcome—add to an ongoing discussion that was inflamed when Officer Daniel Pantaleo was seen in the July video putting what appeared to be a chokehold on Eric Garner, a 43-year-old man suspected of selling untaxed cigarettes. Garner could be heard saying, “I can’t breathe,” and died of a heart attack in what a medical examiner ruled a homicide. The grand jury decision not to charge Pantaleo came just 12 days after a similar panel in Ferguson declined to charge Officer Darren Wilson, who in August shot to death 18-year-old Michael Brown. That altercation was not captured on video, and the prosecutor presented evidence of a physical confrontation between the two men before the fatal shots were fired. 

The Bloomberg survey shows a gulf between how whites and blacks view the incidents. Ninety percent of African Americans thought the grand jury should have indicted in the Staten Island death. Just over half of the white people polled felt that way. On Ferguson, 89 percent of blacks disagreed with the grand jury, while just 25 percent of whites did. The smaller sample size of black adults changes the margin of error of their response on the grand jury questions to plus or minus 6.5 percentage points.

The poll of 1,001 U.S. adults was conducted Dec. 3-5 by Selzer & Company of Des Moines, Iowa, and the poll for the full sample has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

In the six years since his election as the nation’s first black president, Obama has addressed race just a handful of times. He delivered his most personal remarks after an unarmed 17-year-old boy was gunned down in Florida by a man who found him to be suspicious, and then again when that man, George Zimmerman, was acquitted of any crime. “You know, when Trayvon Martin was first shot, I said that this could have been my son. Another way of saying that is, Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago.”

Obama has also weighed in on the deaths of both Brown and Garner. And the Justice Department is reviewing the two incidents, as well. Yet Obama has not gone to Missouri or New York. To Griessel, that’s a problem. “He should have gone to Ferguson and very bluntly said, ‘I don’t want any violence here. Let’s show people that we can accept verdicts we don’t like,’” he said. “The destruction just makes people more prejudice than they already are.”

Obama also nodded to the symbolic power of his rise to the presidency in the opening line of his victory speech on Nov. 4, 2008. “If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of democracy, tonight is your answer.”

Yeah, buddy. Ol’ Scooter had his Game Face on that night, for sure.

However, as I found out in affairs of the heart, a long time ago…

Beauty is only skip deep, but, ugly goes all the way to the bone.

For over 20 years, Obama sat under the former American Black Muslim, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, at the Trinity Church of Christ, a “Black Liberation Theology” Church.

What is “Black Liberation Theology”? I’m glad you asked.

The chief architect of black liberation theology was James Cone, author of Black Theology and Black Power. One of the tasks of this movement, according to Cone, is to analyze the nature of the gospel of Jesus Christ in light of the experience of blacks who have long been victimized by white oppressors. According to black liberation theology, the inherent racism of white people precludes them from being able to recognize the humanity of nonwhites; moreover, their white supremacist orientation allegedly results in the establishment of a “white theology” that is irrevocably disconnected from the black experience. Consequently, liberation theologians contend that blacks need their own, race-specific theology to affirm their identity and their worth.

“What we need,” says Cone, “is the divine love as expressed in Black Power, which is the power of Black people to destroy their oppressors here and now by any means at their disposal. Unless God is participating in this holy activity, we must reject his love.” Observing that America was founded for white people, Cone calls for “the destruction of whiteness, which is the source of human misery in the world.” He advocates the use of Marxism as a tool of social analysis to help Christians to see “how things really are.”

Another prominent exponent of black liberation theology is the Ivy League professor Cornel West, who calls for “a serious dialogue between Black theologians and Marxist thinkers” — a dialogue that centers on the possibility of “mutually arrived-at political action.”

In the past, Obama has credited a sermon of Mr. Wright’s, “The Audacity of Hope,” with drawing him to what he identified back in 2008 as, “Christianity”.

On Page 293 of his first book,  “Dreams for My Father,” Obama recounts Wright’s “The Audacity of Hope” sermon.

Obama quotes this passage:

It is this world, a world where cruise ships throw away more food in a day than most residents of Port-au-Prince see in a year, where white folks’ greed runs a world in need, apartheid in one hemisphere, apathy in another hemisphere…That’s the world! On which hope sits!

In fact, Wright had so influenced the young Illinois Senator that Obama made the phrase “The Audacity of Hope” the title of his second book.

However, right before he announced his presidential campaign, Obama started to put distance between himself and his pastor of over 20 years, cancelling plans for him to deliver the Convocation Prayer at the campaign’s formal announcement.

The president has been physically distancing himself from Rev. Wright ever since.

Can you say hypocrisy, boys and girls? Sure you can.

It turns out that the man who was billed as our first “Post-Racial President” has done nothing but divide the races even further.

And, that’s not what any nation’s leader does…much less an AMERICAN PRESIDENT…unless…it is intentional.

Until He Comes,

KJ

Ferguson Redux: NYC Cop Not Indicted. “Perpetually Aggrieved” Ready to Rumble…Again.

On By kingsjesterIn PoliticsLeave a comment

AFBrancoFergusonWolvesAmerica, under the failed leadership of its First Post-Racial President, continues to be anything but Post-Racial.

FoxNews.com reports that

A Staten Island grand jury declined Wednesday to indict a white New York City police officer in connection with the July chokehold death of an unarmed black man.

Police Officer Daniel Pantaleo, a 29-year-old, eight-year veteran of the force, faced possible charges in the July 17 death of Eric Garner, who was stopped on suspicion of selling loose cigarettes. Video captured Pantaleo using what appeared to be an illegal chokehold on Garner, a 43-year-old father of six with a lengthy criminal record. Garner, who had health problems, died as a result of the encounter.

In the video, Garner can be heard yelling, “I can’t breathe!”

Jonathan Moore, an attorney for the victim’s family, said he is “astonished by the decision.”

In a statement, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday was “a deeply emotional day” and called for any protests to remain peaceful.

President Obama, speaking at the Tribal Nations Conference in Washington after the grand jury’s decision was announced, said many minority communities across the United States feel that law enforcement is not working with them “in a fair way.”

“We are not going to let up until we see a strengthening of the trust and strengthening of the accountability that exists between our communities and our law enforcement,” Obama said.

By mid-afternoon, protests began to bubble up around the city. A Twitter hashtag,#ShutItDown, called on demonstrators to protest Wednesday night’s annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony at Rockefeller Center in midtown Manhattan. A “lie-in” was held at the main concourse of Grand Central Station in Manhattan, though MyFoxNY.com reported that protesters were not blocking commuters and no arrests were made.

And now, we pause, for this moment of truth…and sanity.

NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley is defending police officers, calling it “ridiculous” that people claim white cops are just out there killing black people.

Speaking to CNN on Tuesday, Barkley stated that if it wasn’t for police, the ghetto would be like the “wild, wild west.”

“The notion that white cops are out there just killing black people – that’s ridiculous. That’s just flat-out ridiculous,” the TNT basketball analyst told CNN. “I challenge any black person to try to make that point. Cops are actually awesome. They are the only thing in the ghetto between this place being the wild, wild west. So this notion that cops are out there just killing black men is ridiculous and I hate that narrative coming out of this entire situation.”

Barkley previously had strong words about the violent protesters in Ferguson, calling them “scumbags” for looting and setting businesses on fire after officer Darren Wilson was not indicted in the death of Michael Brown. He told CNN the only time America discusses race is when something bad happens.

“We’ve always had a racial issue in this country and the biggest problem with it is we never discuss race until something bad happens. We never have meaningful dialogue over a cold beer when things are going good,” Barkley explained to CNN. “When something bad happens, everybody has a tribe mentality. Everybody wants to protect their own tribe, whether they’re right or wrong.”

Barkley stated that there’s a reason why police racially profile the black community.

“We as black people, we got a lot of crooks. We can’t just wait until something like this happens. We have to look at ourselves in the mirror,” Barkley told CNN. “There’s a reason they racially profile us at times. Sometimes it’s wrong, sometimes it’s right. To act like we hold no responsibility for some of this stuff is disingenuous.”

Barkley also said that there needs to be stronger black leaders, and not the same case of “sad characters.”

“Every time something happens in the black community, we have the same cast of sad characters. We don’t have to have Al Sharpton go there.”

Barkley continued: “We need some strong black men in St. Louis to stand up and say ‘Hey, let’s handle this situation.’”

Hundreds of protesters around the country have been arrested following last week’s grand jury announcement. The presence of police and National Guard in the Ferguson area has been scaled back following violent protests.

Back in the 1970s, one of my favorite television shows was “Baretta”, starring Robert Blake. Beretta was a no-nonsense New York City Plain Clothes Cop, who wore a jaunty hat, blue jeans, and a short sleeve sweatshirt, and had a cockatoo named Fred.

The title song, “Keep Your Eye on the Sparrow”, was performed by Sammy Davis, Jr.

The catchphrase to the song, which became popular nationwide, was, “If you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime.”

It meant that if you cannot take responsibility for your actions, then perhaps you should not do something illegal in the first place.

Perhaps someone should have instructed the two young men, who were killed in these unfortunate incidents in Ferguson, Missouri and New York City, as to the difference between right and wrong, and the importance of taking responsibility for one’s actions.

I find it very ironic, that the same protesters who are screaming and shouting at the top of their lungs that there is a different standard for black Americans and white Americans, in terms of dealing with our legal system, are the same ones who are expecting to be treated differently, and to have some sort of special privilege, that excuses them from unlawful behavior and the consequences of their own actions .

When you break our laws, you just cannot expect to get away scot-free. You should expect that there will be consequences for your actions. That is, unless you have broken into this country, as I wrote about yesterday.

But, I digress…

It is also ironic that the same radical Americans, who years ago, wanted to take down the Establishment, actually now, are the Establishment.

In their quest to create a Socialist Utopia, where everyone is the same, and there are no overachievers or underachievers , the Obama Administration and their sycophants have actually set the stage for the chaos and animus regarding race relations that is gripping our country.

Without respect for our legal system, and for those in authority, whose job it is to enforce our system of laws, a civilized society can quickly evolve into a scene from Lord of the Flies, where the most barbaric will have the most power and privilege. In other words, rule by intimidation.

As is presently happening in my hometown of Memphis Tennessee, the Obama White House finds itself in the trap of its own making. By promising Americans that they will take care of everything from cradle to grave, Obama and his administration, like other administrations before them, have “freed” parents from their duties, creating a generational cycle of neediness, lawlessness, and disrespect for authority.

The Bible tells us that we reap what we sow.

Obama has sown class warfare and racial division… and now, America is reaping the results.

Until He Comes,

KJ