"Dirty Rotten Scoundrels"

"He walked out in the spring of 1980.... By September, I went into the hospital for my third surgery. The two girls came to see me, and said, "Daddy is downstairs. Could he come up?" When he got there, he wanted to discuss the terms of the divorce while I was recovering from my surgery." - Jackie, his first wife.

A friend of mine was telling me a story about Newt Gingrich today (not the story surrounding the quote you just read), and in his story Newt's behavior and actions were so low down and dirty that I had a hard time believing that even Newt was capable of such behavior. He said it is well documented and that one of Newt's former aides even wrote about it in a book.

As soon as I got home I started researching the story, and.....

"Kip Carter, his former campaign treasurer, was walking Newt's daughters back from a football game one day and cut across a driveway where he saw a car. "As I got to the car, I saw Newt in the passenger seat and one of the guys' wives with her head in his lap going up and down. Newt kind of turned and gave me this little-boy smile. Fortunately, Jackie Sue and Kathy were a lot younger and shorter then."

You might want to Google that name, Kip Carter, when you get a chance.

Of course there is more; Newt is quite the hell raiser. My man makes Herman Cain look like the guy William Harrison was writing about back in the day.

No wonder Herman feels like folks are picking on him. Newt must feel like that vain Emperor these days. He called himself a celebrity today, and in his mind, I am sure that he is.

Finally, I have to blog about another guy who might make even Newt look good.

"Every civil servant wants to experience his or her legacy firsthand--but not the way that onetime Arapahoe Sheriff Patrick J. Sullivan Jr. has. Sullivan, a nationally renowned law enforcement leader, was arrested on drug charges and is now being detained in the Denver area jail that bears his name.

Sullivan, who in 2001 was named the National Sheriff Association's "Sheriff of the Year," was arrested on suspicion of trafficking methamphetamines.

Local news station CBS4 began an investigation of Sullivan last month on a tip that he had agreed to meet a male informant, providing drugs in exchange for sex. He was subsequently arrested by the South Metro Drug Task Force and is currently being held on a $250,000 bond.

And in an incredible twist of fate, Sullivan now cooling his heels at The Patrick J. Sullivan Jr. Detention Facility, named in his honor.

"The allegations of criminal behavior involving Pat Sullivan are extraordinarily disturbing," said Grayson Robinson, Arapahoe County's current sheriff. "While the arrest of the former sheriff is very troubling, no one, and particularly a former peace officer, is above the law. This is the most shocking thing I've ever been involved with."

Sullivan, 68, has been retired for nine years, but had been serving as director of safety and security for Cherry Creek Schools.

"This is a very sad time for the Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office and our community," Robinson said. The CBS4 report also found that for several years Sullivan has posted bond for multiple suspects held in drug cases at jail facilities across the state.

As recently as 2008, Sullivan was an active participant in state and local methamphetamine task forces, helping Colorado draft a plan to deal with the surge in meth-related crime." [Source] h/t to my man Dan for this story.  

I guess if you are going to go to jail you might as well go to a jail that was named after you. *shaking head* Penn State. Syracuse. I swear you just can't trust anything anymore in A-merry-ca.

The bully and the "future welfare recipient."

One of the biggest welfare programs in this country's history, the GI Bill, benefited a lot of white folks after World War II. Because of it many of them were able to buy their first homes, (Google Levittown, Pennsylvania when you get a chance) and they had their college tuition paid for by a thankful and generous government.
Buying those homes helped to establish generational wealth to many of these people, and it helped to set up their children and grandchildren so that they, too, could chase the A-merry-can dream.

Please stay with me, I am talking about welfare for a reason.

Unfortunately, not all of A-merry-ca's citizens were able to benefit from this wonderful government sponsored program. And, sadly, they gave and sacrificed blood sweat and tears in World War II as well.
So why am I talking about welfare tonight?
Because of folks like Derek Howard. A man so Ignorant and misguided that he allowed his bigotry to get in the way of his better judgement.

"As reported by the Kansas City Star and KCTV News, among other outlets, Marcus Williams Sr. and his son, Marcus Williams Jr., filed a racial harassment suit against the Winnetonka School District after Winnetonka (Kan.) High basketball coach Derek Howard called the younger Williams a "future welfare recipient" while the student was posing for a picture in a school hallway, then repeated the comments while Williams filmed him on his cell phone.
Here's how Marcus Williams Jr. described the incident to KCTV:

"[Howard] was doing a daily jog and he stopped and he said, 'Hey, take a picture and then at the bottom: future welfare recipient,'" the student said. "I just felt belittled, crushed and utterly discouraged."

Marcus Williams said this comment was typical of those he has endured for the past two years. So he grabbed his cell phone and asked his coach to repeat his remarks.

The coach can be heard laughing and saying, "Future welfare recipient who? Students that don't get good grades."

According to the Williams family, Howard's comment was just the latest example of racially insensitive comments from the longtime basketball coach. The younger Williams told KCTV that he refused to try out for the school's basketball team for the 2011 season because Howard told African-American members of the team that they would grow up to be laborers who earned less than $30,000 annually. The teenager claims that he repeatedly asked the coach to stop making the insensitive comments, but that the coach ignored those pleas.

After the younger Williams brought video of the coach's comments to the school principal, Howard was summoned and apologized. Yet the Williams family feels there wasn't any sincerity in the coach's apology, and won't be comfortable with the incident's resolution unless Howard isn't employed by the school any longer; the coach is currently on paid administrative leave.

"Countless times I told him, 'Hey, this is hurting my feelings and you should stop.' I guess he thinks I'm just a kid and he can do whatever he wants," Marcus Williams Jr. told KCTV. "I think he just apologized to take the heat off of him and I don't think he means what he says."

Meanwhile, the elder Williams insists that more students will come forward with similar complaints about the coach in the days to come. In the meantime, he insists the family's discrimination suit isn't about money; he simply wants the coach to issue a public apology and agree to get counseling.

"There's other kids coming forth, telling my son that they're glad somebody stepped up," Williams Sr. told the Star. "Ultimately, we want to shed light on how some teachers are bullying our kids. I don't care about money right now, man. I'm standing up as a concerned parent." [Story]

First of all Mr. Howard, WTF were you thinking? So you show your ignorance on camera while the offended party is actually filming you? I guess bigots bullies just aren't too bright.

BTW, poor grades only equals future welfare recipient if you happen to be poor or of a certain race. Some folks can make poor grades and run for president and even become governor of A-merry-ca's second largest state.

In closing let me say this: Teachers should not be bullies. They also should not have ignorant views, but if they can do a good job of teaching and keep their views to themselves, I say let them teach. But a bully should not get that kind of leeway, because a bully can't hide the fact that he is a bully, and invariably he will act out in ways that are harmful to the children that he is charged with teaching.  

Mr. Howard is a bully. And that's why he shouldn't be teaching. Not because of his narrow minded and ignorant views about welfare. Hell, if that was the case, the unemployment rate in this country would be closer to 80%.

"For too long we have treated violence with violence, and that's why it never ends."*

"Field, you had a lot to say about Troy Davis. Why nothing about the white man who was put to death yesterday in Texas?"

Oh yes, Lawrence Brewer, the white supremacist who was tried and convicted of dragging James Byrd, Jr. to death. (Shout out to Dick Gregory for being in Huntsville, Texas and protesting the death of even this scumbag.)

He should not have been killed by the state of Texas. (Derrick Mason should not be put to death tonight in Alabama.) I do not believe in the death penalty.Period. (I like what Coretta Scott King said about the subject.*heading*)) Killing this scumbag will not bring James Byrd, Jr. back, he should have spent the rest of his miserable life in prison.

Unlike Troy Davis, he admitted to killing Byrd, and he was proud of it:

 "As far as any regrets, no, I have no regrets. No, I'd do it all over again, to tell you the truth."

Sorry there big guy,you won't be doing much of anything ever again. But still, I did not want you to die at the hands of the state. As far as I am concerned, being raped over and over by Tyrone and Bubba would have been punishment enough for you.

Anyway, I was thinking about who actually puts the needle in Troy Davis, and Lawrence Brewer, or who is on the firing squad in Utah. Or, who is the hangman in Washington -Lawrence O'Donnell talked about it tonight.- Who does a job like that?

"So what do you do for a living? Ahhm...I work for the department of corrections. Really? What department? Ahhm......."

Poor guy. How does he live with himself?

Finally, speaking of playing executioner. I am glad that those animals masquerading as cops who allegedly murdered that homeless man in California while he was in custody were charged with murder and manslaughter.

Not so fast gentlemen, we have to have a trial and convict him first.

The greatest threat.

There must be some really bad stuff in the air around here. Just this weekend a man went all Musashi on his family in a [upper]middle class neighborhood right outside of Philadelphia:

"Montgomery County prosecutors have charged a 23-year-old man with fatally stabbing his father, mother, and twin brother.

Joseph McAndrew Jr. was arrested Saturday and charged with three counts of first-degree murder related to the stabbing deaths of Joseph C. McAndrew, 70; Susan C. McAndrew, 64; and James D. McAndrew, 23, in the family's Upper Merion home.

King of Prussia District Justice William I. Maruszczak said McAndrew did not speak at his araignment Sunday morning. He is being held without bail.

Neighbors said police arrived late Saturday, and four police cars were at the house on Holstein Road when one neighbor arrived home at 1:30 a.m. Sunday. "It's traumatic and very shocking," said the man, 23, who had attended Upper Merion schools with the brothers.

Speaking of Joseph Jr., the neighbor said, "I played soccer with him growing up. I never thought that anything was possible." The man asked not to be identified. He said the family had lived in the house for more than 20 years.

According to a police affidavit, all three were killed by "multiple cuts and lacerations" in the house, where police found several knives and a "samurai-style sword," the Norristown Times Herald reported. The two-story, white-stucco home is on a narrow, two-lane road." [More]

Yes, we never think certain things are possible with certain types of people. I mean just when you think you know someone...Anyway, clearly this young man had some serious issues and it's sad that it had to come to this. But hey, nothing surprises me anymore in A-merry-ca.

Finally, because nothing surprises me anymore, I shouldn't be surprised to hear that a certain wingnuut politician wants to have hearings on the "radicalization" of Islam in A-merry-ca.

"Rep. Peter King said Sunday he'll hold hearings on the "radicalization of the American Muslim community" - but some critics fear an anti-Islamic witchhunt.

King (R-L.I.) said a Congressional probe is needed because Al Qaeda has increasingly targeted Muslims living legally in the United States as potential terror recruits.

Despite the threat to their own community, King said, some Islamic clerics resist cooperating with investigators.

"We want to assess the extent of the radicalization of the Muslim community," he said. "It's clear to me there has not been sufficient cooperation."

"With Al Qaeda trying to recruit from within their community, it's important that they cooperate," said King, who will be chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security in the new Republican-controlled Congress. King's call drew fire from Muslim groups, who said they fear the hearings will only fuel bigotry and hatred." [Source]

This is what happens when you give wingnuts the power over anything; they abuse it. Good luck with those hearings Mr. King. I hope you get a chance to weed out all those radicals and crazies living among us. Although I think you might want to start with the crazy people living among our own families, first.