RATIONAL CONSERVATISM AT........THE ROOT?

If you don't remember The Root, it got significant play last year during the controversy involving Henry Louis Gates, Cambridge police officer James Crowley, Barack Obama, and the White House beer summit. The Root is a blog that was founded by Gates, who posted about the controversy that erupted following his arrest by Crowley. Gates chimed in with a statement on the website he started. In the days after the incident, Gates gave his take.

Via Gates at The Root at the time.

Now we have an interesting post at The Root, courtesy of a writer named Sophia Nelson, a black woman who seems to get the Tea Party. The fact that she does so while writing for the site birthed by Henry Louis Gates warrants piqued interest. Check out what she has to say right out of the "gate":

As a black woman in America, I have remained largely silent about the Tea Party movement and whether the movement itself is ''racist,'' as it is being charged by many in our community, including the leadership of the NAACP.

As a community, we should take a step back for a moment and learn how to stop making emotional judgments and consider the facts about the Tea Party movement.

Nelson really seems to get it at the end, as she conveys to readers that regardless of how mistreated certain groups of people may feel, the ones who have the biggest beef with the Tea Party actually have the most in common with it:

The founders, all men of means (many of who owned slaves), risked their very lives and fortunes as ''traitors'' once they declared their "independence" from Great Britain in 1776. What I think we all miss is that the colonies rebelled against economic tyranny and oppression of individual freedom and liberties. This is a key takeaway that often gets lost in the modern Tea Party debate.

In the final analysis, I think we would all be wise to consider what Thomas Jefferson warned: "Every generation needs a new revolution." Does anyone among us really believe that government knows what is best for our lives? Does anyone among us really believe that paying more taxes will solve what is wrong with the poorest and least among us? Perhaps the African-American community needs to consider what we can do to secure our own economic wealth and our own individual liberties. Make no mistake -- we are in perilous times, and to sit by passively and do nothing in the face of such deprivation is against all that we as Americans stand for.

In addition to the column, I was also struck by the number of comments in support of Nelson.

I'd love to know if Henry Louis Gates is monitoring that blog of his.

h/t to Lynn Woolley for the Nelson piece.

COP KILLER MAURICE CLEMMONS - WHERE IS THE OUTRAGE?

On July 16th, Obama friend Henry Louis Gates was arrested and days later Obama admitted to not having the facts while saying the police "acted stupidly". On November 5th, Nidal Malik Hasan gunned down 14 people at Fort Hood, TX. Obama cautioned people not to jump to conclusions.

Now, we have a black man killing 4 white uniformed police officers, quite possibly a hate crime and we're not hearing much out of the White House about it.

OBA-MAO IS ALL THE RAGE IN CHINA (AND ON THE LEFT)

At some point, Anita Dunn may actually feel comfortable expressing her real views to everyone and not just to groups where she thinks she can get away with it. On the heels of the video of Dunn identifying Mao as one of the two people she turns to most for philosophical and political guidance, Oba-Mao gear has become quite popular in China.....

.....and in Washington, D.C. The left wing nuts have always been projection artists who accuse their opponents of the exact things they themselves do and are. The pictured t-shirt provides a prime example without having to utter a word. Notice that "peace sign" inside the last "O" on the shirt? Mao Tse Tung was the 20th century's greatest mass murderer, responsible for well over 50 million deaths by most accounts and the left is holding him up as a beacon of peace. I realize that evil likes to appeal to base urges while using deception to entrap people but this is so in-your-face, the notion that anyone is embracing these things is truly mind-numbing. For more photos of the Oba-Mao store, CLICK HERE.

Yes, the trappings of following that cult of personality. The Obamautomatons apparently aren't satisfied with just him anymore. There is an obvious market for and a cross section of people who'd like to mix their hero in with a guy that makes Hitler look like an amateur. Mixing Obama and Mao together is like giving Dr. Jekyl the keys to a science lab.

Let's do a quick little inventory of things that have been revealed about the Obama administration.

Of course, we have White House Communications Director Anita Dunn showing reverence for Mao Tse Tung. Less than one week later, we learn of manufacturing czar Ron Bloom's appreciation for Mao. Let's not forget congresswoman Diane Watson singing the praises of Fidel Castro's Cuba while describing her recent trip to China.



And does anyone remember why Henry Louis Gates was so tired when he was arrested by Cambridge police officer, James Crowley? He had just returned from China.

h/t to GP

VIDEO: MORE GATES-GATE FALLOUT

If Obama's "stupidly" comment was intentional, we may be looking at more unintentional consequences for him. Crowley won the fight in the arena of public opinion. Gates clearly lost because of his racist comments and leanings.

Now Aaron Klein has uncovered a video of Cornel West (a Gates comrade) introducing Barack Obama at a Harlem fundraiser in 2007. West is a close friend of Louis Farrakhan AND Henry Louis Gates as Klein points out.

West authored two books on race with Gates, who is at the center of controversy after Obama remarked on Gates' being handcuffed by police outside his home after a report of a burglary in his house.

The degrees of separation between Obama and some quite nefarious characters vary but it is an extensive web and it is amazing how so many people refused to see it.

Obama named West to the Black Advisory Council of his presidential campaign.

The switch for the national spotlight on Gates was flipped by Obama. It seems to be shining on West as well, which can't be good for Obama.

From Klein:

After branding the U.S. a "racist patriarchal" nation in his book "Race Matters," West wrote that "White America has been historically weak-willed in ensuring racial justice and has continued to resist fully accepting the humanity of blacks."

White America has been "weak-willed"? Does that not have echoes of Eric Holder's comment about America being a "nation of cowards" "in things racial"?

Also in that book, West claimed the 9-11 attacks gave white Americans a glimpse of what it means to be a black person in the U.S. – feeling "unsafe, unprotected, subject to random violence, and hatred" for who they are.

Who exhibited signs of being a hater in the Gates / Crowley incident again?

"Since 9/11," West wrote, "the whole nation has the blues, when before it was just black people."

Be sure to read KLEIN'S ENTIRE ARTICLE.

Again, if Obama intentionally said, "stupidly" to distract attention away from health care (Alinsky tactic), this may be another indicator that it could have backfired.

Politically speaking, this could be a case of, "LIVE BY COMMUNITY ORGANIZING - DIE BY COMMUNITY ORGANIZING".

Obama is Unmasking himself and he's doing it sooner than he wanted to.

VIDEO: CNN REPORTER DON LEMON CONTINUES TO IMPRESS

Don Lemon of CNN continues to bring forth some gutsy reporting when it comes to how Gates-gate is playing out within the Cambridge police department. Leon Lashley, the black police officer that came to Crowley's defense was apparently on the receiving end of "uncle tom" accusations and reached out to Lemon.

Lemon obliged and hats off to him......

PHOTO: NO WORDS NECESSARY......

But I have a few anyway. I heard about this picture while listening to Rush today but seeing it really says it all. One of those shots you find yourself staring at for several moments. Says much about Obama. Hopefully a paradigm-changer for Gates if he lets it sink in.

As for Crowley.... Truly a public servant.

VIDEO: MORE CONSEQUENCES FROM OBAMA'S WORDS

If Obama's "stupidly" comment was calculated, he's more despicable than many gave him credit for. The 'post-racial' president has opened up a can of racial worms to the point that the woman who placed the 911 call felt forced to face the media to defend racist allegations.

I saw this coming when I noticed the publicized police report didn't redact her name. The ACORNs would necessarily attempt to smear her. They tried and now have egg on their face. The only problem is they don't care. They just expectorate hatred and move on when it's time for a new target. It's the Community Organizing way.

Some additional irony about Whalen being vindicated by the 911 tape and never identifying either person as black. When pressed by the dispatcher, she said that one of them "might" be hispanic.

During the press conference, she revealed she is of Portuguese heritage and followed it up by proclaiming she's an American.

This is a good, decent, kind, and upstanding citizen. I'd say, "shame on those who smear her" but we're dealing with some vile folks who laugh at the notion of shame.

WHITE HOUSE HAPPY HOUR: CROWLEY MAKING A BIG MISTAKE

James Crowley was absolutely correct in refusing to apologize to Henry Louis Gates (the fact that Gates had the gall to demand one is beyond the pale). I applauded him loudly for his courage. He is absolutely wrong to agree to a beer at the White House.

Nothing good can come of it. Gates views it as a teaching moment instead of as a learning one and that is the problem. In fact, a more productive exercise might be to have Gates sit in on one of the racial profiling classes Crowley facilitates (as a student). Perhaps Gates should spend a day with him in a cruiser. In return, Sgt. Crowley might sit in on one of Gates's classes on African-American studies.

There's a bigger reason why Crowley shouldn't agree to this meeting. That reason is that Obama is using him as a tool in the application of Saul Alinsky's tactics.

Whether what Obama said about police acting "stupidly" was intentional or not, there is no dispute that the photo-op at the White House ONE DAY before the August recess will distract media attention and by extension public attention away from healthcare and direct it to a dog and pony show at the White House.

ACCORDING TO ALINSKY, the main job of the organizer is to bait an opponent into reacting. “The enemy properly goaded and guided in his reaction will be your major strength.”

Since Obama's press conference on Healthcare, he has "goaded and guided" the public away from healthcare. This has also taken public pressure OFF of Blue Dogs, which is the best hope of preventing the disastrous Healthcare Bill.

Sgt. Crowley is likely being USED.

DID OBAMA OPEN UP GATES-GATE ON PURPOSE?

What was the intent of Obama's presser on July 22nd? Answer: To make the case for Obama-Care while garnering necessary Senate and Congressional support for it. Was the "acted stupidly" comment a calculated risk based on Alinsky-style tactics?

Possibly.

It's widely acknowledged that what killed Hillary-care in the early 1990's was the endless media coverage that came with laser beam-like focus on the details. The closer it was examined, the more it soured people. It wilted and died under intense spotlight.

Since this past July 22nd, Obama has been able to distract attention away from healthcare and re-direct it to an issue of race (a rather inflammatory one at that). Maybe he underestimated the backlash but then again, the bigger the backlash, the bigger the distraction. Besides, he was overheard saying that if the Healthcare bill is defeated, it would "destroy" his presidency. Perhaps it was a drastic measure chosen for a desperate time.

And guess what? Gates-gate is alive and well right now because Obama has decided to keep it alive with a Happy Hour at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue which is scheduled to take place ONE DAY before Congress' August recess is set to begin. Why not wait until the recess for the beers?

Guess what else? The tingley-legged Oba-Media has been fixated on the Cambridge race incident even when doing so is a loser for Obama. The mainstream media doesn't do that. So why would they in this case? Have they been instructed to?

Take a look at Obama's ideological hero, Saul Alinsky.

ACCORDING TO ALINSKY:

...the main job of the organizer is to bait an opponent into reacting. "The enemy properly goaded and guided in his reaction will be your major strength."

If true, this would take Obama's tendency to throw friends under the bus to a new low because of what he's done to his friend Henry Louis Gates for the "greater good".

The White House has already conceded that Obama was expecting a question to be asked about the Gates incident so he had time to rehearse and rehash his response. There's even been banter about the person who asked it (Lynn Sweet) having it issued to her by the White House.

As I watched the 7/22 Presser, I remember rolling my eyes in disbelief at Sweet's question. It didn't fit the script, it was the final question, and it was an apparent innocuous softball that was completely off-topic.

And Obama continues to keep it in the news by having all parties involved over to the White House for a beer, which will serve as a further distraction from the Healthcare debate.

Then again, this many distractions would make anyone thirsty.

"If we keep on getting distracted by this problem, then we are not solving it."
- Barack Obama / November, 2007

Andrew Walden at Hawaii Free Press maintains that Obama is using this same Alinsky tactic to keep the Birth Certificate controversy going.

AUDIO: 911 TAPES LEADING UP TO HENRY LOUIS GATES ARREST RELEASED

Clearly obvious by listening to the 911 call that prompted Sgt. Steve Crowley of the Cambridge police to investigate a report of a break-in at the home of Henry Louis Gates that the woman placing the call had NO IDEA what the race of the two men who entered the home was.

In fact, as Crowley got the call from dispatch, the only information Crowley had was that the race of the two men was unknown but that one of them may have been Hispanic.

CLICK TO LISTEN TO THE AUDIO

Also pretty clear is that Crowley remained calm throughout.

It's looking more and more like Gates has created an alternate reality for himself which he seems to prefer living in.

h/t to Free Republic for providing the link.

NEW REVELATIONS MIGHT FURTHER DISCREDIT GATES' ACCUSATIONS OF RACIAL PROFILING

Taking the side of Henry Louis Gates these days is shaping up as a losing proposition. His advocates (and even Gates himself) are using tactics that show it as well. As an example, rather than choosing to debate the actual incident, they choose instead to engage in arguments about racial profiling in general.

Now one of the arguments that Gates defenders tried to use in support of him could be getting debunked. Accusations that the woman who phoned in the alleged break-in was driven by race because the two men breaking in were black appear to be false.

The Boston Globe reports:

The woman, identified in a police report on file in Cambridge District Court as 40-year-old Lucia Whalen, saw the backs of both men and did not know their race when she called 911, said Wendy J. Murphy, a Boston lawyer from New England School of Law. Whalen phoned police, Murphy said, because she was aware of recent break-ins in the area.

In fact, according to Cambridge police Commissioner Robert C. Haas, not only was Walen unable to identify the men because their backs were to her but when pressed, she actually guessed that one of them was Hispanic.

In an interview at police headquarters last night, Haas said “it was very clear that she wasn’t sure’’ what the men’s race was. He also said that when the dispatcher questioned Whalen for more details, she told police she could only guess about the race of the two men. “She speculated . . . that one might be Hispanic.’’

This reality should be easily verified by listening to the 911 tape.

Kinda makes sense for the Gates apologists to move on to a more generalized discussion, doesn't it? Yet another one of their claims is ringing hollow.

If I could communicate a message to Whalen at this point, it's: BEWARE THE ACORNS!

"An Acorn doesn't fall far from the tree."
- Barack Obama, October 2008

h/t to Drudge

VIDEO: HENRY LOUIS GATES A RACIST IN 1996?

Remember, just prior to Barack Obama saying the Cambridge police acted "stupidly" in arresting Henry Louis Gates, he said he considered Gates to be a "friend" and that he was "biased" as a result. Let that sink in. Yet another friend of Obama who seems to be obsessed with and fixated on race and hatred.

If the police report is even the slightest bit accurate, what cannot be denied about Gates' arrest is that he (Gates) jumped to conclusions about the police officer's intentions. This is what we call living in a manufactured reality that is all too easily entered into at the drop of a hat. When a reality is manufactured, it needs reinforced by exploiting events and circumstances with MELODRAMA when opportunities arise.

Interesting takeaways from this video of Gates in 1996 (other than his accusations that Clarence Thomas has turned his back on blacks and Newt Gingrich had racist motivations when he led the 'contract with America') include Gates' use of the phrase, "your mama" (a phrase officer Crowley quoted Gates as using in the police report from July 16th) and the "N" word.



h/t to NewsBusters

OBAMA'S FRIEND HENRY LOUIS GATES: HERE WE GO AGAIN

"Skip Gates is a friend (of mine)," said Barack Obama on his July 22nd press conference. Then he said, "The police acted stupidly". In the middle somewhere, he said he didn't have all the facts and admitted to being biased due to his friendship with Gates.

As for the police acting stupidly, the official police report seems to pin the "stupid" button squarely on the chest of a Harvard professor who teaches African American Studies. If the police report is at all true, the default position of this professor, at least in this case, was to ASSUME racism before getting the facts, which seems to be what his friend Barack Obama did at the press conference, albeit less overtly.

Putting aside the argument about Gates being arrested justly or unjustly for a minute, the police report paints a picture of an angry and defensive black man with racism being an extremely sensitive issue. Doesn't it make one wonder about the tenets of the brand of African American studies he teaches? Does it share views common with Black Liberation Theology?

Jeremiah Wright was caught on tape saying derisive and racist things about America and Americans. His words were hateful and racist. Barack Obama sat in his church for 20 years. The words documented to have come from Gates' mouth as a white police officer approached his home seem to share a common resentment with those of Wright.

Now we have Obama admitting that Gates is a friend of his. Here we go Again. Whether officer Crowley followed the letter of the law may still be in question. What does NOT appear to be in question (based on eye witness accounts of the incident), the people Obama seems to befriend have race as a central focal point in their lives.

Moving on and getting past racism must involve a commitment to moving on and getting past it.

It was reported that Gates yelled to Officer Crowley, 'You have no idea who you're messing with and you haven't heard the last of this.' I wonder how Gates feels about practically everyone knowing him under these circumstances. If the report quoted him accurately, he may not know how right he was about hearing the last of it either.