Where the Black bloggers at
The DNC has chosen 55 bloggers for its State Bloggers Corps (a list of the chosen bloggers can be found at the bottom of this post on African American Political Pundit). Going through the list, one discovers that the majority of the bloggers are White.
African Americans vote Democratic more reliably than any other group in this country. We vote Democratic at rates of 90%, election after election. Common wisdom states that a Democrat can’t win a national election without the Black vote. Yet there’s no room for us as bloggers within the state delegations, even in states where a large percentage of Democrats are African Americans.
Why am I not surprised?
Anybody remember the Yearly Kos last year? They were so utterly surprised that the convention was mostly attended by middle-aged White men. People contorted themselves into knots making excuses for why it would be so, saying stupid shit like “Black people are too poor to have computers”. Of course they missed the point. DKos has never been amenable to voices that might criticize them for racist or sexist stereotyping, and in fact people have been banned for trying. They act as gatekeepers, reject us if we dare criticize them for exhibiting White privilege, and then wonder why we don’t participate in their convention.
Nobody wants to hear us, not if we insist on speaking as Black people from a Black perspective. They don’t link to us, they pretend we don’t exist (“They” being the Big Dogs, ie DKos, MyDD, Firedoglake, etc. and no they get no link love from me). They insist that on the Internet no one can tell your race, but that’s just bullshit. Anyone who bothers to read THIS blog will know very quickly that I identify as a Black woman. They don’t listen to us or link our blogs because they don’t want to. They don’t want to have real discussions about race, they only mention it when it’s a convenient talking point for their own agendas. Otherwise, we might as well be invisible.
We’re out here, though, and we’re not going away. We are not invisible, we have voices, and we will be heard.
NOTE: Before anyone starts with me, no I didn’t apply to blog at the convention. I do consider myself part of the Afrosphere so I use the term “we”, but that doesn’t mean I think I should be blogging at the convention personally. Miss Thing wouldn’t let me go, anyway.
Bill O’Reilly’s Producer (Unseen Footage)
I saw this clip on Countdown last night. It’s my favorite version of the Bill O’Reilly Meltdown, courtesy of BarelyPolitical.com:
“Troglodyte homunculus” indeed.
Chris Matthews Schools Kevin James
I don’t usually watch Hardball, but last night I was treated to the following smackdown of radio host Kevin James. (video courtesy of Huffington Post)
Vodpod videos no longer available.
You know you’ve really screwed up when Chris Matthews is the one takes you behind the woodshed. I can’t blame him for getting so disgusted with his guest, though. Kevin James was out of control, almost literally foaming at the mouth, and he clearly had no idea what he was being asked. He seemed to think shouting the word “appeasement” repeatedly was a sufficient response to every question. To quote Inigo Montoya: “You keep using that word. I do not think that means what you think it means”.
The greatest irony, though, is that the US Senators and Congressmen who counseled appeasement with the Nazis back in the late 1930’s were Republicans. Their floor speeches were published in The Illustrious Dunderheads, by Rex Stout. The book is described as
a collection of some of the silliest, stupidest, and most dangerous statements that have ever ben made by men laying claim to being leaders of the American people. . .The quotations in this book are only a sampling of the speeches delivered in the halls of Congress and elsewhere by U.S. Senators and Congressmen who have given currency to Nazi propaganda which is designed to bring about the defeat of the United States, the creation of a fascist America subservient to Hitler’s Germany.
Those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it.
Health Insurance with No Preventative Medicine (Updated)
I recently discovered that our health insurance doesn’t cover preventative medicine. I found this out when we had to pay $1200 for a colonoscopy.
My mother actually had colon cancer, and a colonoscopy not only saved her life, it detected the cancer so early that she didn’t need chemotherapy after surgery. Now MY insurance company would rather pay for cancer treatment than screening. Because my mother had colon cancer I’m at higher risk than normal, and my doctor suggests a colonoscopy every 5 years rather than the usual 10. But if I want that screening I have to pay for it myself.
Looks like I’m going to have to use a different method for cancer screening, namely Miss Thing. I’ve heard dogs can smell tumors. Can’t be any worse than relying on Blue Cross/Blue Shield.
Update: It’s a scam, a colonoscopy should be covered but Blue Cross/Blue Shield is trying to get away with filing it as a “wellness” procedure instead of preventative medicine. The hope is that I won’t challenge their refusal to pay. What an utterly dishonest way to make a profit.
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