Chrystul Blue Persuasion

Look over yonder
What do you see?
The sun is a-rising
Most definitely
A new day is coming (whoo-hoo!)
People are changing
Ain’t it beautiful? (whoo-hoo!)
Crystal Blue Persuasion

Better get ready
Gonna see the light
Love, love is the answer (whoo-hoo!)
And that’s alright
So don’t you give up now (whoo-hoo!)
So easy to find
Just look to your soul (look to your soul!)
And open your mind

Tommy James and the Shondells wrote and performed that song, which became a hit, rising to the Number 2 position on Billboard’s Hot 100 pop singles chart for 3 weeks in June 1969. And more recently, it enjoyed a resurgence in popularity as thematic music for the phenomenally popular multi-year teevee serial drama “Breaking Bad.”

Tommy explained the song this way:

“First of all, I was becoming a Christian at that time, and we never thought a thing about it. We never thought that doing something semi-religious was any big deal. We didn’t think of it as being politically incorrect or anything like that. We just did what felt right. I wrote ‘Crystal Blue Persuasion’ with Eddie Gray and Mike Vale. Eddie came up with the little guitar riff, and Mike and I did the lyrics. And it just felt very right as a sort of semi-religious poetic song, but it turned out to be one of the hardest records I’ve ever made.”

The past couple weeks, the nation’s eyes have been upon Kenosha, Wisconsin. Now, they’re turned to Brunswick, Georgia, a tiny town of 15,210 with a 55.1% Black population, and a 33.1% White population.

It was almost difficult — and perhaps still is — to go a day without seeing, hearing, or reading something about the Kyle Rittenhouse trial. The talking heads, pundits, prognosticators, and their ilk were all a twitter about whether this, that, or the other, would happen, and in the process whipped their followers — whichever side of the fence they sat upon — into a frenzy.

It’s good for their ratings and corporate earnings, you see. So, yeah… it’s all about the money, and the media ~does~ have a dog in that fight. I’ll spare you the details of the matter, because by now, if you’ve been paying attention, you know it all. The media made sure of that.

That’s what the mass media these days does to us all — force feeds us a steady stream of bad news like geese fed by gavage, then harvested for their artificially enlarged fatty liver. That French delicacy is called foie gras. However, the only thing that’s changed about us, is our hearts. They become artificially hardened, calloused and insensate to the suffering of others.

But maybe you’re not affected.

Kyle Rittenhouse draws numbers randomly to select jurors in his case (L), and Chrystul Kizer (R); both cases are in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

So let me tell you about another 17-year old child, also in Kenosha, Wisconsin, who’s charged with

GOP Insurrectionists

The Insurrectionist wing of the Republican Party has problems.

Fox News Republicans…

…Live in their own little world.

But most objective observers already knew that – or, at least, strongly suspected it.

Now, scientific research has shown it to be true.

On practically every issue in society touching upon government has policy, or law, Fox News Republicans are far right wing extremists on everything.

And, their opinion of the 45th President is similarly high – and disturbingly so, at 98%.

The negative correlation – that of overwhelmingly negative views of high-profile Democrats – is no less than 93%.

There is in many cases a disparity between Fox News Republicans (FNRs) and Republicans (Rs). For example, FNRs gave the 45th President an 80% Strongly Approve (SA) rating, while Non-Fox News Republicans (NFNRs)  gave him 42% Strong Approval (SA). There were similar disparities between FNRs and NFNRs on matters of economic importance, with FNRs expressing 86% SA, while NFNRs were 53% SA.

Even on handling of the coronavirus pandemic, FNRs were almost double the SA difference with 59%, while NFNRs were 29%. And on dealing with protests following police killings of Black Americans, FNRs had 55% SA, while NFNRs had 28% SA.

The disparity, chasm, and gulf between FNRs an NFNRs demonstrates that the Once Grand Old Party is not merely fractured, fissured, or split, but broken asunder, and perhaps beyond repair.

The differences and the issues were almost stereotypical in their responses, whether Abortion, Appointment of SCOTUS Justices, Jobs/Unemployment, Immigration, Federal Deficit, Trade Agreements, Healthcare, coronavirus pandemic, Foreign governments’ interference in US election, Racial inequality, Increasing disparity between rich & poor, and climate change. The differences between FNRs an NFNRs was at least 3%, and as great as 20%+.

And this is telling, as well:

“Fox News Republicans are more likely than all Americans and non–Fox News Republicans to say that Confederate symbols are more symbols of Southern pride than symbols of racism. More than nine in ten Fox News Republicans believe that both Confederate flags (92%) and monuments to Confederate soldiers (94%) are symbols of Southern pride. Non–Fox News Republicans are only somewhat less likely to say the same about flags and monuments (81% and 87%, respectively). All Americans are much more divided, with 47% who say the flag is a symbol of Southern pride and 59% who say the same of Confederate monuments.”

And interestingly, they also believe that they are victims of discrimination:

“Consistent with their other views on discrimination, more than eight in ten Fox News Republicans (83%) agree with the statement that “discrimination against white Americans has become as big a problem as discrimination against Black Americans and other minorities.” Two-thirds of non-Fox News Republicans (66%) agree with the statement, compared to just 42% of all Americans.”

Fox News Republicans
• Urban/Suburban 79
• White 81
• Male 57
• Evangelical/Mainline Protestant 36/21
• No College Degree 70
• Attend religious services once or more weekly 46
• Almost evenly distributed ages 30-65+ 30-49/30; 50-64/28; 65+/32
• Household income $50,000-$100,000 43

The survey was conducted in all 50 states by

Funny Thing About The Nashville AT&T Bomber…

Undated image of deceased Nashville bomber Anthony Quinn Warner, 63, of 115 Bakertown Road, Antioch, Tennessee, whom authorities have identified using DNA testing from remains found on-scene from the blast site, as the perpetrator of the Christmas Day bombing of the AT&T distribution building in downtown Nashville.

He’s White.

Dude looks kinda’ pasty White.

VERY pasty White.

Not Black.

Not Hispanic.

Not Asian.

But White.

White-bread American White.

As in

Why Are Southern States So Messed Up?

The scars of slavery are apparent, and are in this nation everywhere one looks.

Most are plainly evident, some not so much.

It’s like that with mental illness.

It’s not clearly visible from the outside, and that’s because of where the damage has occurred… on the inside – of the brain.

It’s a way of thinking which sets apart mental illness from mental health.

Eventually, of course, the illness is reflected in the behavior, and that includes speech, which is an activity.

Such scars are evident ESPECIALLY and particularly in the South, where Slavery once occurred, and where states seceded from the Union in order to preserve the status quo, rather than change.

The damage is reflected in whom the majority White population votes for, and elects, to rule over them.

Again, it’s NOT plainly visible, but clearly, something IS drastically wrong, and it’s evidenced by poor policy, and bad laws.

Following are excerpts of dialogue with friends about the matter.

---

To Friend:

“I did something good: I made Juneteenth very famous. It’s actually an important event, an important time. But nobody had ever heard of it.”

–– U.S. Idiot in Chief Donald J. Trump to Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, June 17, 2020

FRIEND: We need to do a study to try and determine why

Shelby County v. Holder: What does it mean, and what’s it’s significance to you?

Recall the recent Supreme Court case Shelby County v. Holder which involved Shelby County, Alabama?

The other party was Eric Holder, former Attorney General of the United States.

Essentially, that case gutted the heart of settled law which was the 1965 Voting Rights Act which protected minorities’ Civil Rights to Vote.

If you’re like most, you get your information from the MSM (Main Stream Media), which often doesn’t do a good job of explaining. And honestly, most folks are not up-to-date on Supreme Court cases. So here’s a quick explanation of how that could affect you, and your ability to vote… regardless of your skin color.

Calera is currently the fastest-growing city in Alabama. Before Calera’s local elections in 2008 the town had redrawn its city boundaries which eliminated the city’s only majority-Black district which had been represented by Ernest Montgomery since 2004, and decreased the voting-age Black population from 71-30% – even though the town’s Black voting-age population had grown from 13-16%. It did that by adding three overwhelmingly White subdivisions while failing to include a large surrounding predominately Black-populated neighborhood.

Gerrymandering Explained, by Steven Nass –
See original post here:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10203407721984998

The United States Department of Justice objected to Calera’s actions, and notified City Officials, who defied the DOJ’s orders and held the election anyway, which caused Mr. Montgomery to lose the election by two votes, about which he said, “they voted against me because of the color of my skin.”

Under Section 5 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, Calera was required to

Medgar Evers, Bob Dylan, Taylor Swift & Scott Beason walk into a voting booth…

Medgar Wiley Evers (July 2, 1925 – June 12, 1963) was an African-American civil rights activist from Mississippi involved in efforts to overturn segregation at the University of Mississippi. After returning from overseas military service in World War II and completing his secondary education, he became active in the civil rights movement. He became a field secretary for the NAACP. Evers was assassinated by Byron De La Beckwith, a member of the White Citizens’ Council. As a veteran, Evers was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery. His murder and the resulting trials inspired civil rights protests, as well as numerous works of art, music, and film.

June 12, 2013, marked the 50th anniversary of Medgar Evers’ death in Jackson, Mississippi.

Bob Dylan’s music on Medgar Evers was recently featured on NPR’ afternoon news program, All Things Considered.

As the guest spoke, it occurred to me that the primary difference between this era, and the era of the late Civil Rights leader is that the exceeding majority of today’s youthful musicians are out for the almighty dollar, rather than speaking their hearts and minds for the causes of truth, justice, and the American way.

It’s all about the money.

And according to some, there is perhaps no better representative of the “me” generation than Taylor Swift.

Historical Racist Promotional Image – Citizen’s Council of Greater New Orleans, Inc.

Not being familiar with the body of Miss Swift’s work, I must rely upon interviews with her, and from remarks by those whom are familiar with her work. And it seems that there are many who utterly despise her work, for no other reason than that “practically every song she sings is about herself.”

And in defense of Miss Swift, regarding her work, she has said, “I’ve been very selfish about my songs. I’ve