The Gloves Been Off The Moment He Announced He Would Run For President.....

The 2012 U.S. Presidential Elections is a challenge for incumbent Barack Obama. Five years ago, then senator from Illinois was under fire for what was perceived as a constant whisper campaign by conservatives the moment he announced he would run for the President of The United States.

As he gears up for a reelection against the potential Republican nominee, I want to go back to the many things the Republican Party tired in sabotaging Barack Obama. The gloves been off, and now we'll see the very same characters go after President Barack Obama. They want to deny him a reelection.

1. The Insight Magazine online publication making the claim that Barack Obama attended a madrassa in Indonesia when he was young. Fox News commentators John Gibson, Steve Doocy, Gretchen Carlson and Brian Kilmeade took aim at Barack Obama by claiming that then senator Hillary Clinton and her presidential campaign were responsible for the claim. The Barack Obama campaign responds back and calls the notion false. The campaign begins the boycott of Fox News.

2. The issue with his record as then state senator from Illinois. A pro-life activist Jill Stanek makes the claim that she knew Barack Obama when he was then a state senator, and made the claim that Obama was not concerned with a legislative bill that would prevent late term abortions. The talking point from conservatives such as Sean Hannity, and presidential candidate Newt Gingrich were that "[Barack Obama] is killing babies by supporting infanticide!" This issue would also come to light when Randall Terry, Alan Keyes and Jill Stanek were protesting President Barack Obama attending University of Norte Dame for a commencement.

3. A prominent Chicago pastor became the lightening rod for Barack Obama. Jeremiah Wright, a former pastor at the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago was the subject of various attacks from conservatives over his sermons in which it criticized the United States role in the world. Wright, a former U.S. military doctor was critical of issues by then President George W. Bush and Republicans, the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign taking using "racial politics" to scare white voters and the media for misquoting his sermons. Fox News, in particular Sean Hannity was invested in the controversy. Hannity had interviewed Wright during a segment of his show and they got into a heated debate over Barack Obama's association with the church. This issue continues to be a thing that most conservatives refuse to let go. Jeremiah Wright has long left the church and is doing speaking tours at colleges and theological seminaries. Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, Bill O'Reilly, Rush Limbaugh, Andrew Breitbart, and particularly Fox News continue to rehash this issue up once again and the 2012 Republican candidates promise that this issue will be mentioned again.

4. If you weren't aware of the whisper campaign about being Muslim, you're way out the loop. The never-ending notion that President Barack Obama is a closet Islamist radical was mentioned by conservatives. A conservative activist by the name of Andy Martin claims responsibility for the rumors. This controversy has been active during the 2004 U.S. Senate campaign in which Barack Obama handily defeated perennial candidate Alan Keyes. During the campaign, the supporters of John McCain's presidential campaign were making references to claims of his name. Cincinnati talk radio host, Bill Cunningham went onstage and made acknowledgement of "Barack Hussein Obama" in attempt to rile up voters still concerned with the fact his name is somehow tied to Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. The madrassa story from earlier was a driving force to making conservatives suspect the presidential candidate was somehow a Muslim who plots on destroying the United States from within. As President Barack Obama, the claims of being a Muslim will never go away. The very fact that he attended the Trinity United Church of Christ is not enough to stop that rumor. When President Barack Obama went to Egypt to speak to the Islamic nation, that flared up more rumors of him being a secret Muslim. Recently, U.S. marines created a controversy by burning the Islamic Q'uran in Afghanistan. The president reached out to the leader of Afghanistan and apologized for the actions. U.S. presidential candidates Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich alongside former Alaskan governor Sarah Palin went on the offense claiming that President Obama has more sympathy for the "Muslims" than those who killed U.S. soldiers.

5. The alleged affairs by Barack Obama. From a conspiracy kook to a former campaign adviser, the Republicans were hoping that another "Monica Lewinsky" scandal to fall upon Barack Obama. The first one, Larry Sinclair. This man who has been known in the circles as a conspiracy kook was flaring up the rumor that Barack Obama had a homosexual affair with him while on a cocaine binge. Sinclair claims that the president is paying huge sums to prevent the stories from ever hitting the newspapers. Vera Baker, a former campaign supporter and adviser was allegedly involved in a romantic affair with then candidate Barack Obama during the 2008 U.S. presidential elections. Although she denied it, The Drudge Report and many conservatives were hoping that "smoking gun" is still loaded and hoping this issue will become a 2012 October Surprise.
 
6. The never-ending birth certificate issue. What was started by a vexatious litigant named Andy Martin, the  rumors of President Barack Obama's birthplace continue to be a hot issue within the conservative circles. Talk radio host such as InfoWars founder Alex Jones, conservative talk radio hosts Rush Limbaugh, Bill Cunningham, Lou Dobbs, Fox News commentators such as Andrew Napolitano, Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity were invested in the birth certificate. Ongoing activist Orly Taitz, WorldNetDaily contributors Joseph Farrah, Dr. Jerome Corsi, and controversial Black preacher James David Manning invested the controversy. Many conservatives continue to deny the fact that Barack Obama is indeed an American citizen. In 2007, the whisper campaigns of him being a Kenyan came forth after the Washington Times, WorldNetDaily and The Drudge Report took upon "facts" from members of his estranged father's family. Barack Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1961, and lived with his mother for a portion of his time growing up. During that time, he traveled from Hawaii, to Indonesia, back to Hawaii and then to the mainland. Before he became a U.S. senator, the rumors of his birthplace were mention but not to the degree as it is today. Barack Obama during the campaign released a short-form birth certificate stating his place of birth. That didn't satisfy conservatives. Orly Taitz leads the way in trying to bring lawsuits in federal court stating that she can prove Barack Obama is ineligible to be president. The conflict gotten worse. Donald Trump, a media mogul and potential candidate for president threw his weight into the debate. After a few moments of polling well against Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin and Chris Christie in a Republican match up against President Barack Obama, Trump decided to push the issue further by demanding the long form birth certificate. In April 2011, President Barack Obama presented the long form birth certificate. This issue hasn't went away. Taitz continues to push forth her lawsuits against President Obama and more conservatives are still unsure whether the president is an American citizen.

7. The guilt by association theme once again. With a former anti-war radical coming to light, Barack Obama once again has to defend himself from a person he knew only as a neighbor down the block. Bill Ayers, a retired professor at The University of Illinois branch Chicago became another issues conservatives pounced on. In the late 1960s at the peak of Civil Rights movement and anti-Vietnam protests, Ayers was a leader of the Weather Underground, an anti-war activist group that did domestic terrorism against political establishments. Sean Hannity once again rode this controversy all the way to the election. When former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin came forth during the election, her quote "palling around with terrorists", conservatives managed to sway opinion against the professor and of course Barack Obama. Ambushing Bill Ayers and his family with cameras, conservatives continue to demand Ayers come clean about his relationship with Barack Obama. Recently the issue was rehashed again after conservative agitators Andrew Breitbart and Tucker Carlson went on Sean Hannity's show claiming they've met and dine with the former professor. They believe that he was responsible for writing two of the president's successful books. The issue will not die and expect this continue throughout the election.

8. The culture war is brewing again. After the 2008 U.S. elections, one thing became clear, Republicans wanted to stick anything to Barack Obama. A woman named Peggy Joseph went on camera stating that Barack Obama was going to help her with her bills and make things alright. Conservative went into uproar. Two New Black Panthers were standing at a polling station in Black neighborhood. One holding a baton, and threatening the conservative videographers. They post it online, and it became a conservative outrage. In 2009, Henry "Skip" Gates was arrested at his home by police officer Robert Crowley. The president went forth to acknowledge the issue as a problem due to the unprecedented profiling of Black and Hispanic/Latino males being pulled over. Conservatives went into an uproar. The president goes on Jay Leno and makes a off-color joke that makes fun of his disabilities in certain sports, conservatives went into an uproar claiming the president doesn't respect those with special needs. The president throws the ceremonial baseball pitch, conservatives mock his pitching stance. The president wanted a basketball court added to the White House, conservatives went into an uproar. The president delivers a speech to the elementary and high school students, a traditional theme among previous presidents. Conservatives went forth to pulling their children out of school and boycotting the president's speech. Conservatives went forth to attacking the president, First Lady Michelle Obama and their children for taking vacations. The conservatives blamed the president for overreaching during two terrible hurricanes, the Gulf Oil spill in which BP was responsible, and of course, the continuous blame for the economy. A thing he's inherited since he took office. When the president won a Nobel Peace Price in 2009, conservative went into an uproar. When the president tried to get the Summer Olympics to Chicago and it was rejected, conservative cheered. Glenn Beck, claimed the president has a deep seated hatred for white people. Sarah Palin claimed that President Obama's "Winning The Future" was a "WTF" plan. Rush Limbaugh declared that he "hopes he failed". Bill O'Reilly and Bret Brier interrupts the president during an interview. Fox network omits the president's addresses to the nation for television programs such as Glee and American Idol. The saving of civilians overseas from Somali pirates, the killing of al-Qaeda leaders Osama bin Laden and Anwar al-Awlaki, conservatives give little to no credit for the president effective actions. The constant impatience of the public has waned on his popular and conservatives are relishing in defeating the president.

9. The beginnings of the Tea Party movement. In 2008, the bitter fight between Democratic presidential primaries between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. They managed to take this fight all the way to June 2008 and during that time, a lot of disgruntled Hillary-supporters vowed they'll ditch the Democratic nominee and vote for John McCain the Republican nominee for president. Some have forgotten about the women who were involved in the grassroots movements, such as People United Means Actions (PUMAs), Clintons 4 McCain and Hillbuzz. It's leaders include: Darragh Murphy, Harriet Christian, Christi Adkins and Debra Bartoshevich, former Democrats who claimed that Barack Obama is not worthy of the leading the United States. Most in the media dismissed them as "plants" for the Republican Party, ridiculed them for playing the gender and race card and pretty much wiped them out of the mainstream press.

In November 2008, when Barack Obama secured enough electoral votes to be declared the winner, Republicans look upon this as a disaster and vowed revenge. Most conservatives believe that Barack Obama was given a easy ride based on his race. The conservative bemoan about the media's focus on a historical milestone of nominating an African American for president. They blame Barack Obama for the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act and the Troubled Assets Relief Program. Although President Obama carried upon the actions of these laws, the signature of the final acts were by President George W. Bush. Republicans were upset upon President Obama signing of American Investment Job and Recovery Act in which is stimulate growth in the economy and helped middle class families with a tax cut.

These notions were rejected by conservatives. In February 2009, spurred by outrage at what conservatives claim is "government overreach", the Tea Party was born. What started as a mild protest composed of the cult followers of Republican Congressman Ron Paul of Texas, became the hub for people such as Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin, Herman Cain, Joe The Plumber and those disgruntled Hillary Clinton supporters. The disgruntled voters vowed that he will only serve out one term and they will rebound with a suitable president capable of "taking their country back!" They've sought motivation in Glenn Beck, Joe The Plumber, Andrew Breitbart, Dick Armey and even comedian Victoria Jackson.

The process of the Tea Party movement was spurn with disrespect upon the President Obama by Joe Wilson, Republican congressman from South Carolina with "You Lie!" upon the Joint Session of Congress speech. It gave rise to presidential candidate Michele Bachmann, congresswoman from Minnesota. It spurred angry town halls in which Democratic lawmakers were challenged on issues such as the health care reform. It motivated political minded conservatives of Black, Hispanic/Latino and Asian race to enter into politics. Black Republicans such Allen West of Florida, Tim Scott of South Carolina were elected on the motivation of the Tea Party. It help secure the first Latina Susana Martinez woman to be governor of New Mexico.It helped two Bobby Jindal of Louisiana and Nikki Haley of South Carolina to become the first of Indian/Asian decent to be governors of two southern states. The Tea Party managed to elect Senators Jim DeMint of South Carolina, Marco Rubio of Florida, Mike Lee of Utah and Rand Paul of Kentucky. The Tea Party help the Republicans retake the House of Representatives and state/territorial governorships.

Now as the 2012 elections gear up, these elements are still brewing. The Republicans are currently in disarray over the perceive notion that the field of Republican candidates are weak. The Tea Party is really upset with not only President Barack Obama but the Republican leaders as well. The dubbed the moderates and the politically established as RINOs (Republican(s) in Name Only). They are feuding within the party over who's capable of being a conservative leader capable of beating the president. So far, it's still long road ahead with the field and they hope that it can bring them together. In spite of the disarray, Republicans are rushing legislation such as voter identification to prevent Blacks, Hispanic/Latinos, the poor and young voters, a key demographic to Barack Obama from voting. The Republicans are planning to run campaigns to distract voters with culture war issues such as eliminating subsides for lower and middle class, rolling back regulations on the environment, and control a woman's right for birth control.

10. Once again, I stress that the Republican Party and its allies in the conservative movement are wrapping their asses around the American flag in preparedness of a culture war. The culture war has an enemy. The middle class, the working class, the lower class, minorities, [independent women and single mother's] rights, GLBT, those who practice in Islam, and the many supporters of President Barack Obama are considered enemies of the state. The Republicans passed legislation that catered to extremists. Since he took office, the race issue came forth after many Republicans were force to apologize for sending racist and downright offensive emails to their friends. Colorado Republican Congressman Doug Lamborn called President Barack Obama a tar baby. He later apologized. Arizona Republican Congressman Trent Franks questioned his birth certificate, and called him an enemy of humanity. Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky the Republican minority leader, stated his goal was to deny President Barack Obama a second term. Black conservatives play upon the narratives that President Obama is not an effective leader to the Black community. Glenn Beck targeting his former adviser Van Jones. Andrew Breitbart, James O'Keefe went after a community organization known as ACORN. They successful put ACORN out of business. The Republicans passed legislation to cut funding to NPR and Planned Parenthood. Republicans held public sessions to make the case against the Muslim community. The Republicans called for the firing of Attorney General Eric Holder for the mishandling of firearms in which it lead to the killing of a U.S. border agent. Holder, is the first Black attorney general. In states where Republicans were in control, some legislators passed laws that go against the federal government. State Republicans are passing legislation that targets illegal immigrants overstepping the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. Concealed carry firearms in public places were passed in states. Republicans passed legislation to prevent abortions and outlaw birth control. Voter identification laws were passed to prevent lower incomes and minorities from voting. All these issues are certainly out there and people are not happy about the results.

Republicans are very unpopular right now. They spent a majority of the 112th Congress on culture war issues. The government overreach has made voters in swing states turn sour on the Republicans. Ohio governor John Kasich was handed a defeat after he and Ohio Republicans passed legislation that prevented public sector unions from collective bargaining. Wisconsin governor Scott Walker and Republican state senators are facing a recall election after the passage of a bill that also stripped collective bargaining from public sector unions. Florida governor Rick Scott is under fire for his signing of mandatory drug testing for food stamp and welfare recipients and the rejection of a commutator rail service in the state. Arizona governor Jan Brewer, signed legislation that overstepped the federal government's role in handling illegal immigration. The law is being challenged in court.

The Republican Party have created so many controversies, President Barack Obama's allies can't stop them all at once. My goal is simple. I will waste no time trying to help this man win reelection. I will no longer endorse the notion the Republicans are capable of fixing the economic turmoils we all are facing as Americans. I will continue to stand independent of the situation and offer my honest opinion of issues that matter.

And I Missed My Welfare Check! | Conservatives Cause Another Racist Stir!

Jillian Rayfield October 27, 2011, 5:55 AM 4300 69

There is no “Go” space in the anti-welfare board game “Obozo’s America,” but rest assured — you can still collect welfare benefits as you pass the “First Of The Month” space.

The game is called “OBOZO’S AMERICA: Why Bother Working for a Living?” with the tagline “The Most Timely and Original Board Game of the Decade!” The website describes it as “a fun fantasy board game based on the preposterous notion that a Marxist clown, running on the vague and shaky platform of hope and change, could become President of The United States.”

The object is to keep collecting benefits while avoiding the “Working Person’s Rut.” From the rather embarrassingly low-tech website:

Get your initial $1,000 cash grant at the First of the Month, then maneuver along Obozo’s Welfare Promenade. Get cash for your out-of-wedlock children. Draw from a stack of Welfare Benefit Cards. Get extra cash from Saturday Night crimes: Gambling, Armed Robbery, Drugs, and Prostitution. Play the lottery and the horses. Get your live-in a job on the Government Cakewalk. Experience the Jail Jaunt. Avoid landing on one of those dreaded “Get a Job” blocks forcing you onto the Working Person’s Rut (Somebody has to pay for Obozo’s Welfare Promenade). 50 Welfare Benefit Cards. 50 Working Person’s Burden Cards. Lots of funny money.

The site features the game’s mascot “Obozo The Marxist Clown” — who also graces the game’s fake currency — and boasts of the “welfare benefit cards” like “you lose perspective and apply for a job, but are denied it. Oboze says: Scream ‘racism’ until welfare lawyer gets you $1,000 settlement.”

In the Economy version of the game, you get “a stack of over a half-a-million dollars in play money (we’re talking serious welfare fraud here), 50 Welfare Benefit Cards, 50 Working Person’s Burden Cards, 30 Out-of-Wedlock Children.” The Deluxe version has a spill-proof surface and the out-of-wedlock children are easier to cut out of the paper they’re printed on.

Here’s the play money:

And the board game:

You can see the full-size board as a pdf here.

The game was created by Ron Pramschufer and Bob Johnson, who run Hammerhead Enterprises in Maryland, and was originally released in 1980 as “Public Assistance: Why Bother Working for a Living?”

“We didn’t invent this game, government liberals did,” Johnson said then. “We just put it in a box.”

In a press release Wednesday, Johnson announced that the game was coming back, claiming it “was forced off the retail market in the 1980s by government officials working with the NAACP, NOW, and other welfare ‘rights’ groups.”

“We intended the game as a parody of government liberalism, with a special focus on the able-bodied loaferism, welfare fraud, and social chaos its domestic policies promote,” Johnson wrote in 2009. “Threatened by the game’s popularity, embarrassed liberals successfully implemented a nationwide government plan to ‘remove the game from the marketplace.’”

The game was entangled in a number of lawsuits after several government officials and the NAACP criticized it as racist and sexist for its depiction of “welfare queens” and other stereotypes. Pramschufer and Johnson first sued (sub req.) a New York City official who sent a letter to retailers urging them not to sell the game, saying “keeping this game off the shelves of your stores would be a genuine public service.” They lost the case and their ultimate appeal was rejected by the Supreme Court, but they also filed a suit against the NAACP and NOW, according to the AP (sub req.).

But in the 90s when they re-released the game — complete with a new “Criminal Justice” side of the board — and claimed it had been banned, the Attorney General of Maryland said there was never a ban on the game. “The state wouldn’t have had the authority to ban this game whatsoever,” then-AG Kathy Schultz said (sub req.), according to the Washington Times.


Via Ashley Lopez of The Florida Independent.

Why Don't They Drug Test Politicians? Obviously They Always Engage In Drunken Behavior! | The Republican Culture War: Drug Testing Welfare Recipients!

ORLANDO, Fla. — A federal judge temporarily blocked Florida's new law that requires welfare applicants to pass a drug test before receiving benefits on Monday, saying it may violate the Constitution's ban on unreasonable searches and seizures.

Judge Mary Scriven ruled in response to a lawsuit filed on behalf of a 35-year-old Navy veteran and single father who sought the benefits while finishing his college degree, but refused to take the test. The judge said there was a good chance plaintiff Luis Lebron would succeed in his challenge to the law based on the Fourth Amendment, which protects individuals from being unfairly searched.

The drug test can reveal a host of private medical facts about the individual, Scriven wrote, adding that she found it "troubling" that the drug tests are not kept confidential like medical records. The results can also be shared with law enforcement officers and a drug abuse hotline.

"This potential interception of positive drug tests by law enforcement implicates a `far more substantial' invasion of privacy than in ordinary civil drug testing cases," Scriven said.

The judge also said Florida didn't show that the drug testing program meets criteria for exceptions to the Fourth Amendment.

The injunction will stay in place until the judge can hold a full hearing on the matter. She didn't say when that hearing will be scheduled.

More than two-dozen states have also proposed drug-testing recipients of welfare or other government assistance, but Florida was the first state to enact such a law in more than a decade. Should any of those states pass a law and face a court challenge, Scriven's ultimate ruling would likely serve as a legal precedent.

The law's proponents include Gov. Rick Scott, who said during his campaign the measure would save $77 million. It's unclear how he arrived at those figures. A spokesman for the Florida Department of Children and Families deferred all comments to the governor's office.

"Drug testing welfare recipients is just a common-sense way to ensure that welfare dollars are used to help children and get parents back to work," said Jackie Schutz, a spokeswoman for Scott. "The governor obviously disagrees with the decision and he will evaluate his options regarding when to appeal."

Earlier this year, Scott also ordered drug testing of new state workers and spot checks of existing state employees under him. But testing was suspended after the American Civil Liberties Union also challenged that policy in a separate lawsuit.

Nearly 1,600 applicants have refused to take the test since testing began in mid-July, but they aren't required to say why. Thirty-two applicants failed the test and more than 7,000 have passed, according to the Department of Children and Families. The majority of positives were for marijuana.

State officials said Monday that applicants previously denied benefits for testing positive or refusing the test could reapply immediately. The Department of Children and Families will also approve all pending applications that await drug test results.

Supporters had argued applicants skipped the test because they knew they would have tested positive for drugs. Applicants must pay $25 to $35 for the test and are reimbursed by the state if they pass. It's unclear if the state has saved money.

Under the Temporary Assistance For Needy Families program, the state gives $180 a month for one person or $364 for a family of four.

Those who test positive for drugs are ineligible for the cash assistance for one year, though passing a drug course can cut that period in half. If they fail a second time, they are ineligible for three years.

Lebron, who is the sole caretaker of his 4-year-old son, said he's "happy that the judge stood up for me and my rights and said the state can't act without a reason or suspicion."

The ACLU says Florida was the first to enact such a law since Michigan tried more than a decade ago. Michigan's random drug testing program for welfare recipients lasted five weeks in 1999 before it was halted by a judge, kicking off a four-year legal battle that ended with an appeals court ruling it unconstitutional.

Anti-Latino Hate Crimes Rise As Immigration Debate Intensifies

  

Juan Varela was shot in the neck in his front yard in Phoenix, Ariz., last May by his neighbor Gary Kelley. Moments before killing Varela in front of his mother and brother, Kelley yelled, "Go back to Mexico or die!" Varela was not an illegal immigrant, but a fifth generation American of Mexican descent, said Carlos Galindo, the family's spokesperson in a phone interview.

In May 2009, 9-year-old Brisenia Flores and her father Raul Flores were murdered by members of a Minuteman vigilante group. The child and her father were both American-born U.S. citizens. Leader Shawna Forde broke into the Flores home in Arivaca, Ariz., with two men she recruited to help her fund her splinter Minuteman organization. After the group shot and killed her father, Brisenia pleaded with the Forde and her accomplices, saying, "Please don't shoot me." One of the masked figures then shot her in the face at point blank range, her mother, the lone survivor, said in her testimony. Forde was convicted of first degree murder in February of 2011 and sentenced to death.

Last November, two Mexican nationals, cousins Alex Cauich and Jose Omar Cauich, were brutally assaulted by a group of white men while standing in front of a bar in San Francisco. Witnesses on the scene heard the assailants yelling "run like you ran across the border" during the incident. Last week, three men with connection to a white supremacist group were convicted in the assault. San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón, who worked as a police officer in Arizona and California for more than twenty years, told The Huffington Post that he perceives this crime and others like it to be part of rising anti-Latino sentiments around the country.

Recent studies conducted by the National Institute of Justice, the Southern Poverty Law Center, the FBI and the Pew Research Center seem to show that these incidents were not isolated hate events, but part of a greater trend.

The preliminary findings of a congressionally-mandated study by the National Institute of Justice suggest that anti-Latino hate crimes rose disproportionally to other hate crimes between 2004 and 2008. The study estimates that in 2003 there were 426 hate crimes against Latinos, while in 2007 there were 595 nationally.

According to the same study, California and Texas saw the most anti-Latino hate crimes, as well as more dramatic increases of such incidents than other states. Data collected by the FBI also indicates a steady rise in anti-Latino hate crimes across the country from 2003 to 2007.

A report by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a nonprofit civil rights organization based in Montgomery, contends that the number of "radical right groups" in America -- including hate groups, "Patriot" groups and nativist groups -- increased in 2010 for the second year in a row.

Although recent studies indicate anti-Latino hate crimes have been on the rise over the last decade, many believe their numbers are even greater than those reported. Mark Potok, a spokesperson for the SPLC, said in an interview with The Huffington Post that, "one thing to understand is that Latinos, and in particular undocumented immigrants, are among the least likely to report hate crimes because they fear deportation."


RACE AND POLICY DEBATES

Many, including the family members of victims, associate a rise in anti-Latino hate crime and an increase in anti-Latino sentiments with the on-going, virulent immigration debate around the country.

Varela's family in Phoenix told The Huffington Post that they believe his murder was provoked by the heated controversy surrounding the passage of Arizona's S.B. 1070 law two weeks prior. According to Carlos Galindo, the family's spokesperson, Kelley's attorney admitted in court that his client was going to the Varela home on the day of Juan's murder in order to discuss the the family's attendance at an S.B. 1070 protest. Galindo also said the immigration debate created a dangerous environment for Latinos in his state.

"It's gone from a frustration with the federal government not doing their job, to a frustration with the immigrants and with Latinos in general," said Galindo. "People are encouraging this kind of demonization and this culture of hatred which results in violence," he added.

In 9-year old Brisenia's murder, the Associated Press reported that Shawna Forde was motivated to break into the Flores home because she "considered Raul Flores a drug smuggler and wanted to use his drug proceeds for a paramilitary organization to seal off the border to immigrants." According to CNN reports, no drugs were found in the Flores home.

      Raul "Junior" and Brisenia Flores were killed by a minuteman group with ties to the White Nationalist Movement.


George Gascón, the San Francisco district attorney, said in an interview with The Huffington Post that he associates the brutal assault of the Cauich cousins and a "recent surge of anti-Latino hate crimes" in his city, with economic factors and the immigration debate. Gascón believes that immigration debates in Arizona, Utah, Georgia, South Carolina and now Alabama have been "fueled by race-based sentiments."

"It's going to take a lot of good people with a lot of good intentions on both sides of the debate to shift the dialogue away from race, and back to policy," Gascón said.

Mark Potok, the SPLC spokesman, believes that reporting around the immigration debate has led directly to a more hostile environment for Latinos in America because it "focuses a lot of negative attention around Latinos." He explained, "When leaders and politicians get press and promote stereotypes, it encourages others to hate Latinos as well -- so it helps to spread the poison... There are ways of having a debate about immigration without demonizing one group of people."

But while Potok also blames "nativist" groups like Minuteman organizations for spurring hatred against Latinos and immigrants, Howie Morgan, the national political director of the Minuteman Project said in a phone interview with The Huffington Post that his organization has never framed the debate in racial terms.

 

Shawna Forde, a former prostitute, beautician who has ties to a white supremacist group. Her involvement in a minuteman group that killed Raul "Junior" and Brisenia Flores. Forde is currently sitting on death row for the murder.

"We have never demonized Latinos. In fact, we have been demonized as racists by 'La Raza' -- which means 'The Race' by the way... When we have come across organizations in the Minuteman movement that align themselves with racism, we've thrown them out and repudiated their statements. We continue to make sure this not about race, but about policy. We are a pro-immigrant organization, and calling us racist is simply inaccurate," he told HuffPost. Morgan was referring to the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) which considers itself the "largest Latino civil rights and advocacy organization" in the country.

But Gascón, thinks the Minutemen are ignoring an "elephant in the room."

"I'm glad the [Minuteman Project's] official stance is that it shouldn't be a race-based conversation," Gascon said in a phone intervew. "But the elephant in the room when you talk about immigration is that a very large number of immigrants come from Latin America. If you start talking about illegal immigration, what comes to mind? Do you think of someone from Eastern Europe or Asia or do you think of a Latino?"

According to a 2009 study, more Americans think that Hispanics are the targets of discrimination in American society than say the same about any other major racial or ethnic group. According to Mark Hugo Lopez, the associate director of the Pew Hispanic Center, a nonpartisan research organization that seeks to improve understanding of the U.S. Hispanic population, the PHC's studies found that, prior to 2009, African Americans were perceived to be the group most discriminated against.

Lopez also said that on average, Latinos are thinking about discrimination and immigration as bigger issues for their community than they did just a few years ago. In 2010, 61 percent of Latinos believed that discrimination against Hispanics is a "major problem," up from 54 percent in 2007. And in 2010, when asked to state the most important factor leading to discrimination, a "plurality of 36 percent cited immigration status as most important, up from a minority of 23 percent who said the same in 2007," reported Lopez.


In an interview with a local paper, Gilberto Esquivel, a member of the Riverside Human Relations Commission, said that the 50 percent increase in hate crimes against Latinos in California in 2010 was directly tied to the passage of the S.B. 1070 immigration law in Arizona. In Esquivel's county alone, the FBI documented 21 hate crimes in 2010, up from 12 in 2009.

Esquivel believes "anti-Latino and anti-immigrant remarks became more numerous and hateful on conservative talk radio, in newspaper letters to editors and on the Internet."

"The hate is there," Esquivel said. "[S.B. 1070] gives it legitimacy."

Jury Finds Aggravating Factor in Neighbor's Murder: MyFoxPHOENIX.com

Morgan Freeman: GOP/Tea Party Trying To Up This Black Man Out The White House!

Morgan Freeman laid down the chips on the Tea Party in a new interview with Piers Morgan that is due to air Friday night.

The Oscar-winning actor sat down with the British TV host and, amongst other things, discussed his belief that the right wing Tea Party's anti-Obama stance is rooted in racism.

When asked by Morgan whether Obama's presidency has made racism in the United States better or worse, Freeman, who once played apartheid-defying South African president Nelson Mandela, frankly stated that his time in office has made it worse, as he has become a target of the right's aggression.

"Their stated policy, publicly stated, is to do whatever it takes to see to it that Obama only serves one term," the actor said. "What's, what does that, what underlines that? 'Screw the country. We're going to whatever we do to get this black man, we can, we're going to do whatever we can to get this black man outta here.'"

Declaring once again that "it's a racist thing," Freeman said the group's rise has shown the hate still lingering in America.

"Well, it just shows the weak, dark, underside of America," he said. "We're supposed to be better than that. We really are. That's, that's why all those people were in tears when Obama was elected president. "Ah, look at what we are. Look at how, this is America." You know? And then it just sort of started turning because these people surfaced like stirring up muddy water."

The actor continued, saying that he understood President Obama not fighting back, seeking to stick to his principles, but wishes that he'd be more aggressive now.

Freeman endorsed Obama during his run for the presidency, but declined to campaign with him, saying that he was an actor, not a politician. He attended a White House Civil Rights concert in 2010.

Matt Drudge Keeps His Dog Whistle In His Anal Cavity. Blowing It Right Out His Ass...

A race-baiter who has a mission to destroy President Barack Obama and the Black community. The Drudge Report is a hub to conservatives who have issues with race, gender, sexuality, religion, nationality, political and economic stands.

A rapper by the name of MrEBT makes a parody video that spoofs using a food stamp card, and here comes the racism.

A New Drudge? Ask Arianna Huffington about it!

Mega blogger Arianna Huffington sold her popular liberal blog Huffington Post to AOL for $315 million. Started in 2005, the news site surpass the controversial conservative Drudge Report in 2009. It attracts many including myself to read the latest in politics, entertainment and media.

Arianna Huffington is also involved in her talk radio shows Left, Right and Center, Both Sides with Huffington and Matlin, and voice acting for Seth MacFarlane/Mike Henry's The Cleveland Show.

The new Arianna Huffington-run AOL news operation has fired scores of AOL business and finance freelancers, and is offering them the opportunity to work again—for free, according to reports from contributors. The popular liberal's controversial labor practices are triggering another uproar over AOL's multi-million-dollar acquisition of the Huffington Post, and have already spurred calls by journalists and union leaders for an "electronic" strike. Some of the canned freelancers are being offered staff jobs in the new operation, which is headed by Huffington, though numbers have not been revealed. All others have been told they can continue to write for free, reports the Business Insider. The Huffington Post has come under intense fire from its own unpaid freelancers, who complain that they helped create the operation that Huffington sold to AOL for $315 million. A Huffington Post-AOL spokesman denied "mass terminations" are underway, and said the changes are part of a strategy to "shift from relying on freelancers and contractors to investing in full-time staff." Many AOL workers are stunned by Huffington's power in the new set up. "I've never seen someone buy a company and then give the keys to the safe to the people who run that company," an AOL staffer tells the Guardian.

Newser and the Guardian (UK) contribute to the story.

ACORN Pimp Arrested: FBI probe "activist" in Louisiana

Conservative activists James O'Keefe and Hannah Giles poised as a "pimp" and "prostitute" in an attempt to uncover wrongdoing at community housing group Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN). They generated mainstream coverage after they filmed several workers talking about illegal activities.

The roller coaster of stupidity in the name of conservatism. James O'Keefe, 25 along with three other men were arrested for attempting "bug" Louisiana Democratic senator Mary Landrieu's main office in New Orleans.

Perhaps the most disturbing thing in the media, investigative journalism. Andrew Breitbart, a conservative blogger with ties to Matt Drudge was promoting videos by O'Keefe and his former girlfriend Hannah Giles. The pair were convinced that the community organization group ACORN was responsible for Barack Obama's victory in 2008 through "voter fraud" and "illicit activities". They traveled to ten ACORN locations and managed to videotape a few of the workers talking about "how to created fake voter registrations", "smuggling El Salvadoran children for prostitution" and convinced a woman to "admit that she murdered her husband". They wanted to expose the liberal lies and shame the group.

The CEO of the community group Bertha Lewis slammed the pair, Fox News (which heavily promoted the pair) and the Republican Party for creating a "witch hunt" and slander of an organization that helps low income families find housing. ACORN is currently in the process of suing Breitbart, O'Keefe and Giles for restitution and unauthorized filming in a private business.

The impact of the videos affected the lawmakers and many broke ties to the group. The House of Representatives and Senate have voted unanimously to sever funding to the organization group. The U.S. Justice Department is fighting the repeal the decision made by Congress.

Since the videos were posted on YouTube, O'Keefe and Giles became internet sensations. Unfortunately, Ms. Giles image was tarnished in the matter and hasn't been featured in many of the filming by O'Keefe.

To make matters worse, this arrest has been buzzing across the internet. Many liberals are thrilled to see this person arrest, and conservative voice despair and anger to the actions. One prominent conservative activist, Michelle Malkin dismissed him and severed ties to O'Keefe. In one of her postings, Malkin stated:

"Let it be a lesson to aspiring young conservatives interested in investigative journalism: Know your limits! "Know the law. Don’t get carried away. And don’t become what you are targeting."

Details on the matter: Associated Press

Conservative ties bind 4 La. phone plot suspects

New Orleans (AP) - Four men accused of trying to tamper with Democratic U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu's office phones shared a common experience as young ideologues writing for conservative publications.

Federal authorities said two of the men posed as telephone workers with hard hats, tool belts and fluorescent vests and walked into Landrieu's office in a New Orleans federal building Monday. The others are accused of helping to organize the plan.

The most well-known suspect is James O'Keefe, 25, who posed as a pimp for a hidden-camera expose that damaged the reputation of the liberal community-organizing group ACORN and made him a conservative darling.

O'Keefe and suspect Joseph Basel, 24, formed their own conservative publications on their college campuses. A third suspect, Stan Dai, 24, was editor of his university's conservative paper and directed a program aimed at getting college students interested in the intelligence field after 9/11.

The fourth suspect, Robert Flanagan, 24, wrote for the New Orleans-based conservative Pelican Institute and had recently criticized Landrieu for voting in favor of health care legislation after securing a Medicaid provision helpful to her state.

O'Keefe was a featured speaker at a Pelican Institute luncheon days before his arrest, though institute president Kevin Kane said Wednesday that he had no idea what happened at Landrieu's office or what the four were doing there. Flanagan, son of the acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Louisiana, was a contract worker for the institute, mostly writing for its blog.

"Robert has done terrific work and I think very highly of him, and am very sorry to see him in this difficult situation," Kane said.

It's not yet clear whether the plan was a prank intended to be captured on camera or a more serious attempt at political espionage, as claimed by state Democrats who dubbed it "Louisiana Watergate."

Democratic National Committee spokesman Hari Sevugan said Republicans once praised O'Keefe as an American hero, "yet today, in light of these deplorable and illegal attacks on the office of a United States senator by their champion, Republicans have not offered a single iota of disgust, a whisper of indignation or even a hint of outrage."

In October, Rep. Pete Olson, R-Texas, sponsored a resolution praising O'Keefe and the woman who posed as a prostitute, Hannah Giles, for their investigation of "fraudulent and illegal practices and misuse of taxpayer dollars" by ACORN. Thirty-one Republican congressmen signed on as co-sponsors.

In response to the arrests, Olson said that "if recent events conclude that any laws were broken in the incident in Sen. Landrieu's office — that is not something I condone."

A witness told authorities O'Keefe was sitting in the waiting area of Landrieu's office and appeared to record Basel and Flanagan on his cell phone when they arrived posing as phone workers. Landrieu, who was in Washington at the time, said in a statement that the plot was "unsettling" for her and her staff.

A federal law enforcement official said one of the suspects was picked up in a car a couple of blocks away with a listening device that could pick up transmissions. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the information was not part of the FBI affidavit. Another official said Dai was the suspect arrested outside.

All four were charged with entering federal property under false pretenses for the purpose of committing a felony, which carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

"It was poor judgment," Flanagan's lawyer, Garrison Jordan, said. "I don't think there was any intent or motive to commit a crime."

O'Keefe, Basel and Dai returned to the courthouse carrying suitcases Wednesday morning for private appointments with the department that handles arrangements with defendants before trial. None would comment as they entered and exited the courthouse.

Flanagan, who was not with them, is the only suspect who lives in Louisiana. Basel is from Minnesota; O'Keefe, New Jersey; and Dai, the D.C.-Virginia area.

As O'Keefe left jail Tuesday with Dai and Basel, he said only "Veritas," Latin for truth.

As he got into a cab outside, O'Keefe said, "The truth shall set me free." His father, James O'Keefe, Jr., of Westwood, N.J., said he had not spoken to his son in several days and did not know he had traveled to New Orleans, let alone why he went to Landrieu's office.

"That would not be something that I can even imagine him doing," he said. "I think this is going to be blown out of proportion."

The allegations were quickly condemned by ACORN, the Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now. Its political affiliates have registered hundreds of thousands of voters in urban and other poor areas of the country.

O'Keefe's arrest "is further evidence of his disregard for the law in pursuit of his extremist agenda," ACORN CEO Bertha Lewis said in a statement. The organization's Twitter feed commented on the news: "Couldn't have happened to a more deserving soul."

Last year, O'Keefe used a hidden camera to record ACORN staffers who appeared to offer illegal tax advice and support the misuse of public funds and illegal trafficking in children.

The videos were first posted on biggovernment.com, a site run by conservative Andrew Breitbart. In the past, Breitbart has said O'Keefe — now a paid contributor to BigGovernment.com — is an independent filmmaker, not an employee.

In an e-mail to The Associated Press, Breitbart said: "We have no knowledge about or connection to any alleged acts and events involving James O'Keefe at Senator Mary Landrieu's office."

Dai is a former assistant director of a program at Trinity Washington University that taught students about careers in intelligence, university president Patricia McGuire said. It was part of a national effort to interest students at liberal arts colleges in careers in intelligence but did not teach spy craft, she said.

He was listed as a "freelance consultant" in a Junior Statesmen program at the Central Intelligence Agency where he appeared as a speaker.

O'Keefe and Basel were also active in conservative publications at their respective colleges, Rutgers University and the University of Minnesota-Morris. They gave a joint interview Jan. 14 to CampusReform.org, a Web site that supports college conservatives on student publications.

"I happen to call what I do shoe leather journalism and not advocacy journalism," O'Keefe was quoted as saying. "So, I would consider it just journalism."

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Associated Press Writers Kevin McGill in New Orleans, Pete Yost in Washington, Justin Pritchard in Los Angeles and Ben Nuckols in Baltimore contributed to this report.