Category Archives: Politics

Politics, society

Black America Has Been Making Clarion Calls on Racial Injustices for Decades…WHY Are You Willing To Listen Now, America??

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By Gregory Moore

DFW Lockdown – We’re in some harrowing times right now and there are a lot of questions being thrown out there from all parts of society.

However there is one segment of our community that have been trying to get America’s attention for decades if not centuries; the Black community.

Day after day…year after year..decade after decade, this community has seen countless members of their community be hanged/lynched, burned, shot, mutilated, raped and set up for being the perpetrator of the afore mentioned crimes I just mentioned.

And before I go any further on this silique, let me correct something. That’s MY COMMUNITY that is going through this and I need to make sure that this in the first person because it affects me on an every day basis. Some days, these events are just body blows and no matter how strong you may be, you have to take a mental stress day. Since the death of George Floyd, I’ve taken my share.

But this isn’t just about how I’m dealing with this…it’s about why America now thinks it is ready to tackle this problem.

The actor George Clooney said something profound today. In a post, I saw where he stated the following: “This is our pandemic. It infects all of us, and in 400 years we’ve yet to find a vaccine.”. For more on what George wrote, you can read his piece here: https://www.thedailybeast.com/george-clooney-on-the-murder-of-george-floyd-americas-greatest-pandemic-is-anti-black-racism

What’s troubling is that America has known about this ‘pandemic’ and instead of finding a way to resolve it, it has been shoved under various rugs (presidential administrations and congress sessions et al) and has been ignored by a vast majority of this country as ‘no big deal’.

Don’t believe me? Let’s go back not even 20 years for proof. Let’s go back just in the span of TEN years.

In the ten years prior to Floyd’s murder, the following members of my Black community have died and this list is just off the top of my head:

Philandro Castile

Freddie Gray

Eric Garner

Sam Dubose

Jamar Clark

Alton Sterling

Walter Scott

Tamir Rice

Botham Jean

Atatiana Jefferson

Breonna Taylor

Like I said, off the top of my head but if you want a complete database, go to the Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lists_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States#Lists_of_killings


As you will see in that list from Wikipedia, that’s a lot of citizens who died and many of them didn’t deserve to die in police custody.

But why is Floyd’s murder the lynch pin here for America to “wake up”? Why this one?

THE BLACK COMMUNITY BEEN YELLING THIS WARNING FOR YEARS…..

I ask the question why this murder because this isn’t the first time we’ve read a story of a Black man dying at the hands of police.

It’s not the first time we have had a ‘national’ conversation about how there is a discriminate disparity between how many officers handle Black citizens.

And this isn’t the first time the Black community has been yelling at the top of its ‘lungs’ saying, “Hey!!! The back porch is on fire!!!”

Current and former athletes of the ‘modern’ era have been trying to get this country’s attention and it has fallen on deaf ears and blind eyes.

Again, just coming off the top of my head, here are the athletes I can think off that have been jumping up and down:

Colin Kaepernick

Eric Davis

LeBron James

DeWayne Wade

Malcolm Jenkins

Martellius Bennett

Michael Bennett

Marshawn Lynch

I’m sure I’m missing all kinds of people BUT like I said, off the top of my head listings here so not trying to slight anyone out there.

Those players listed and many more have been trying to get the attention of the leagues they play for, fans, congress, hell whoever would listen to what they are seeing and what needs to stop before the house goes up in flames.

I mean the most NOTABLE on the list, Kaepernick, has been shunned by this country because of what he wore and everyone who has shunned him are now saying, “well how did we get here?”

You know damn well how we got here…don’t play stupid and coy on social media. Own up to the eff up and say, “I shot a messenger.”

Civil rights leaders have been screaming for years about police brutality in many cases and what has that gotten the black community?

A few bread crumbs scattered here and there but NO REAL policy changes.

So I ask again, WHY is this death the catalyst for a new change in our country?

WHY is George Floyd now the face of a systemic problem that has been going on for so long that many just think of it as a ‘normal’ occurrence in their lives?

The only answer I can come up with is HOW he was murdered.

A brave teenager by the name of Darnelle Frazier shot that video footage of Floyd’s death.

From all reports, she’s needing therapy and she deserves every bit of help she can get because no teen should be witnessing this type of butchery.

But that’s the reality of the situation here.

In order for America to get ‘upset’ there has to be footage of wrongdoing and that is usually shot by every day citizens.

But even with footage of previous killings, THIS ONE moved people so much that everyone is talking about it and it appears that everyone in this country, or at least everyone that actually cares about others, is ticked off.

Look, that’s all well and good. It really is.

But understand something here, Black America has been going through this shit since the day our ancestors’ dusty feet touched the Massachusetts’ soil back in the 1600s. The sordid history of we as a people were treated is well documented and debated on a regular basis. As a matter of fact, a lot of the gains other minorities may have gotten in this country came from Black America.

But that’s not to digress and access blame here…that’s already been done in other circles.

What needs to be answered is that simple question: Why is this death the Clarion Call for this country in 2020 when there have been other Clarion Calls for almost some 400 years.

Why are you willing to listen now, America?

Can somebody answer that for me?

About the author: Gregory Moore is a former Black journalist that has written for several sports and culture websites. He has also appeared on numerous tv and radio programs discussing Black sports and the Black community in relation to society issues.

Politics

It’s the SAME Ice People……

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If you loved your ice from your old vendor and a new vendor bought the same ice and jus slapped their name on it…isn’ that the same ice????

So today is January 2, 2019 and tomorrow the Democrats get control of the house by a whopping majority.

There should be a resolution to the government shut down..right?

yeah….think again.

Today the President nixed an idea of getting the government moving again all because the Democrats were not going to put any money into his wall project.

And yes, at this stage of the game, it’s a damn project.

it went from Mexico was going to pay for the darn thing to now it’s going to be tax-payer funded.

You want to know the ironic thing about this? His base doesn’t care about who pays for it; they just want a wall!!!!

So, with all of that, is there not a compromise ahead?

Yes and it involves using the same “ice” that was used last week.

YOU A COLD PIECE DONALD

Okay let’s speed this up for conversation’s sake.

Last week or maybe even two weeks ago, the GOP controlled senate passed a measure that had seven packages attached to get the government back up and running from this partial shutdown.

I’m not going to go into all the detail but you can read the information here: https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/19/politics/government-shutdown-congress-trump-border-wall/index.html. What should be of notice though: THERE IS NO FUNDING FOR THE WALL! Not outright there is.

And so with a 100-0 vote from the Senate, guess what Nancy Pilosi decided to do and she telegraphed this on purpose: she’s going ot have her chamber PASS THE SAME BILL!!

that’s right.

She and the Democrats are not going to touch it. they are taking the Seate bill that passed and put it on the House floor for a vote and it will pass.

And thusly, today, when the President wanted to be grand poobah in the Situation Room, the Democrats pitched their idea for re-opening the government and guess what?

Donald said no.

YO….IT’S THE SAME DAMN ICE

This is what pisses independants off the most; the inability of a side to realize that they have not leverage to bargain with and they will steadfastly dig in to the brink of stupidity.

Pay attention here because this is going to be a quick lesson on why Trump will never get funding as long as the Democrats are in control.

See the ploy was simple….no bait and switch here.

The very plan that got 100 senators to say yes is the same plan that a majority Democratic house is going to say yes to but here’s the kicker and shows why Washington is broken: Republicans from both chambers will vote no on it because the Democrats have their name on it.

Yes that is going to happen.

To solidify my point here, I read a quote from Kevin McCarthy, the #2 House Republican, who said the Democrats didn’t come to negotiate.

“We never did get through the complete briefing,” McCarthy said, which was led by Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen. “I was a little disappointed with some on the other side. Once the secretary started, Senator Schumer interrupted her and they really didn’t want to hear it.”

So here;’s a tidbit about negotiating: If I have all the gold, you’re not in a position to demand anything. If I am the majority holder of the gold, you need to find a way to bring me to your side.

In layman’s terms it’s this: Donald Trump is not going to get $5+ billion for his pet project from the Democrats or the Senate; the votes are NOT there. What he can get is $1.3 billion that includes his project. He needs to take the damn deal!!

IT’S THE BEST DEAL ON THE TABLE

See what Trump and his supporters don’t get is that you are getting SOMETHING for the wall.

SOMETHING!!

The Democrats aren’t stupid people.

Hell right now, Pilosi has Trump by his gonads because there are some 800,000 government employees and contractors who aren’t working.

Now some of you want to say a lot of those not working are Democrats.

I’ll play along.

Let’s say out of 800,000 20% of them are Democrats; that is 160,000 pissed off Democrats

If they are what you think they are, your boy, Trump fans, is so screwed in 2020.

You ever try to get a person who lost their house and their middle class status to vote for you and YOU’RE the reason why they lost their house and their middle class income?

That’s a blue wave in 2020 for the Senate for sure and possibly the presidency.

But hey, let’s say that 160,000 are GOP leaning members and Trump doesn’t take the deal but the House and Senate pass it off of his veto.

‘It’s the same result: trump is screwed.

Look this is really simply people.

Trump and his diehard supporters need to suck it up, suck it in and grit their teeth here.

What the Democrats are playing isn’t the normal politics; they’ve put people’s livelihoods to their proposal.

If the GOP in Washington reject this bill simply because the Democrats just scooped out some of that GOP ice and put it in a Donkey bag, they’ll never rebound from this.

If you are going to allow stupid be your driving force to stand up against what the Democrats are doing here, then as a GOP member, your party has no business being in office and the 2016 midterms was the right indicator.

it’s the same damn ice people.

Gregory Moore is a former journalist who now opines from time to time on things that just makes him go….hmmm.

 

Politics, society

He’ll Never Understand…So Why Bother?

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So it’s been awhile since I’ve pontificated on my blog. Funny how an art just “leaves” when you don’t do it often enough.
But I’ll save that for another day.
Right now, I need to just get some thoughts out…on Donald J. Trump.
I’m not afraid to admit it….I’ve never liked DJT.
Not in the 1980s (late 80s mind you).
Not in the 90s…or the 00s.
Really didn’t watch The Apprentice and the one time he was on one of my favorite shows from the History Channel, it was the last segment.
I didn’t like him when he started pushing the birther movement.
Didn’t like him then…and I don’t like him now.
He’s a big mouth.
A show boat….a narcissist.
A womanizer.
A borderline bigot of all flavors.
And he’s the President of the United States.
Fine.
I have no problem accepting that because it’s our election process and he won; fair and square.
But that doesn’t mean I have to accept the fact that he is actually good for this country.
I am just going to refuse to do that one.
Why?
Because he’s everything I just said above and more.
DJT is all about himself. Seriously; he is definitely all about himself.
Rarely do you see him put others in front of him on anything of importance unless it feeds his ego.
Don’t believe me?
Then let’s go no further than last night’s little stomp rally at the Jamboree.
Yeah you read right…the Boy Scouts Jamboree.
Instead of DJT going out there, with Rick Perry aka Gov. Good Hair as he is known in these parts, and telling some 30,000 impressionable young men why it is important to live up to the BSA oath, he made a political speech out of it.
Why?
Who was that audience for?
And the speech was condescending to a former Scout member (Ole Barry).
It was degrading to Tom Price.
Why are those two a part of your jamboree speech?
And if you listen to it or read it, that speech should piss you off as a “stock holder” of this company we call America.
But for many, they’re fine with it.
For some, it’s okay….he’s speaking truth to power.
Okay fine. I’ll let the 40 percenters have their cake but I’m not eating any of it.
The way DJT acted yesterday in West Virginia was appalling to me; and I’m not one easily appalled.
And while I should be incensed that others don’t seem to share my anger at a man who continually sets a low standard being POTUS, I’m not.
I’ve gotten over that disappointment a long time ago.
You see, maybe it’s just me.
Maybe I’m the lone idiot who thinks he sees that the problem is.
What’s the problem?
Donald J. Trump doesn’t give a rat’s ass about this country or how we are perceived by others.
That’s the problem.
For DJT, it’s all about the big win. He’s the big chief now at 1600 Penn and by golly he gonna “right” the ship that he saw as the Titanic hitting that iceberg.
But in reality, with this latest speech now in the damn archives, all he did was show the world why he’s Mr. Petty; and no, I’m not talking about being a relative to Kyle or Richard either.
For me, I understand why he does the things he does because he fits so many classic psychological profiles that you read about.
To me, being POTUS means you are even keeled in public.
It means that why you may disagree with your political opponents, you don’t forget that you are all still on the same team; Team America.
And that’s the sad thing.
I don’t think DJT understands that.
John McCain does.
All the POTUS’ before DJT do.
I bet those 30,000 boy scouts last night do.
See to make America great again, you have to first not be so quick to beat up on people because they piss you off.
You have to be willing to compromise where it hurts knowing that your sacrifice is to help others down the road.
That trying to re-write history because you have ill will towards a predecessor is not how things are done.
And I say about the sentence above because DJT is going to need President Obama, Bush and Clinton LONG before they need him.
He’s never been POTUS; they have. All three have had two terms.
He may be lucky getting out of this first one and if he makes it to the second term, then somebody got in his ear.
But I just don’t see it.
I don’t see DJT understanding that being pig headed because that’s how you ran your empire is going to get you anywhere.
I don’t see him changing and why should I even begin hoping that for the betterment of this country he would.
He’s not.
He won’t.
He doesn’t care.
And you know what? I’m okay with it.
Because what that tells me is that come 2020, I need to find somebody who ISN’T that guy.
Maybe that’s how I get my understanding.