Tag: Mississippi

Amendment 26

In the past I have written much and some have even said that I have been bad-mouthing Mississippi…..I guess I can see their points but I live in the state and have worked for the state and who better than me to write about the state?

This will be a post on abortion……there are many ways to debate the position whether pro or con…….I am not debating about the act of abortion whether good or bad…..I am talking about a new amendment that is being offered up to the people as an amendment to the state constitution……..

My daughter first brought this to my attention and thought I should write about it but I was hesitant…..for I believe that the act is a personal decision and therefore none of anybody’s business……but this new amendment has misogynist written all over it….and that is why that I decided to post on it….that and the fact that some mental midget came by my house and did everything but physically attack me because of my stand…..

This is the wording of the amendment……

Be it Enacted by the People of the State of Mississippi: SECTION 1. Article III of the constitution of the state of Mississippi is hereby amended BY THE ADDITION OF A NEW SECTION TO READ: Section 33. Person defined. As used in this Article III of the state constitution, “The term ‘person’ or ‘persons’ shall include every human being from the moment of fertilization, cloning or the functional equivalent thereof.” This initiative shall not require any additional revenue for implementation.

So are these people saying cloning of humans is acceptable?

Now here is the staff of the 26 effort……

Brad Prewitt, Executive Director – brad@yeson26.net – (662) 401-3431

Greg Sanders, Deputy Executive Director – greg@yeson26.net – (662) 523-6722

Jacob Dawson, Media/Website/Mail Coordinator – jacob@yeson26.net

Field Directors:

Phillip Morris, Northeast MS Field Director – phillip@yeson26.net – (662) 538-3422

Reid Guy, Central MS Field Director – reid@yeson26.net – (601) 506-3660

Rev. Joseph Parker, African-American Coordinator and Campaign Chaplain – jparker@afr.net – (662) 260-9123

Corey Ruffin, South MS Field Director – corey@yeson26.net – (601) 433-1130

I hate to be a downer….but where are the women leaders that feel this is a great idea?

Even Maddow of MSNBC has taken on this subject…..watch her segment…..it gets to the amendment after a while…….http://on.msnbc.com/nSfpo1

Now there are a lot of things that need to be addressed for the state of Mississippi like education, health care, poverty…….many things…… pick a list of states…..Mississippi is almost always at the top of bad situations and the bottom of good situations….so sorry but this is NOT something that needs to be addressed at this time…..and the politicians that are all for this amendment would be all for a pro choice one if it would help them get elected……

Remember these are the same people that hate welfare and medicaid and refuse to see the need for any form of rights for women in the state…a state which leads the country in misogynist thought….women are to be seen NOT heard in Mississippi!  Or that 46% of Repubs polled say that inter-racial marriage should be illegal and 14% say they are not sure (personally, I think these think it should be illegal and answered as they did so they did not sound like a racist)…..and then these are the same voters that will bitch and moan about smaller government with less intervention…..it is all so damn silly!  Either Americans have free choice or not and my guess it is….we do NOT!

Mississippi is the most conserv state in the union and for that reason this amendment will probably pass…..all I can say is think about the damage the 18th amendment did to the US……so do NOT be surprised when the government interferes into your life even more….this is NOT the end of the government telling you what you will do….by law!  This is ALL about Roe v Wade and the right’s campaign to have it repealed…this is a religious issue…no matter how they package it.

The really sad thing about all this is once it passes the state will still have low wages, bad health care, high poverty, lacking education and all that will be accomplished is to massage the egos of people that care NOTHING for what is needed in the state of Mississippi.  Letting religion run the state or country is NEVER a good idea.

Amendment 26 does NOTHING for the state….it just lets people who cannot mind their own business feel good about themselves.  Lets quasi-religious morons tell people what to do and think….and there is where I have my biggest problem.  If you ignore this turn of events then hold your horses because it is a good chance that if it is effective that it will be coming to a ballot near you.

For the record…I am OPPOSED to abortion….with that said…..it is NOT my decision to make and it is DEFINITELY NOT the governments decision to make!  Unless you live in Mississippi!

Shining Example On The Hill

Today the guys and gals should be returning from their much needed summer vacation (that is sarcasm) and the debate and the finger pointing and the lies will once again be leveled at us normal mortals…..and of course, there will be much to do about nothing (no offense to Shakespeare) we will hear all about the jobs that will be created….and to that I say CRAP!  And then the inevitable….TAX CUTS!  You want a real example of what tax cuts do to a people, a state or a country?  (Read on, McDuff)…..

Mississippi is that shining example of how NOT TO GOVERN!

As part of the spending debate I have heard a couple of pundits use Connecticut as an example of what happens when a state raises taxes…..apparently the state’s economy went into the crapper after they were raised…of course most of those making that argument are conservatives and I would expect NO less from them…..but why has not the Dems jumped on the dismal state of affairs in Mississippi as an example of what constant tax cuts do to a state?

After 20+ years of constant tax cuts and breaks the state is NO better off than it was 50 years ago….It is perpetually at the bottom of every “best” list and at the top of every “worse” list….that means education sucks, health care sucks, income sucks, more poverty and a horrible standard of living….just to mention a few.    For instance, poverty has declined by about 2% in 20 years……income has risen less than 1% in the same time…..the median income for the state is $26,000 a year….that is well below the national average……tax cuts have done NOTHING to better the living conditions of the people…..maybe the wealthy, but the regular working stiff has NOT gained anything.

In the North of the state an industry is building a plant…..to come here they demanded and got tax breaks and economic development money and in the end will create 50 jobs….in essence the state is paying companies to re-locate……

And now all the candidates are thumping their chests about tax cuts to gain supporters and one of them will win…..no one is mentioning the fact that the state is REVENUE….not more give-a-ways to big business.  Those corporate benefits are creating few jobs for the money lost….the math does NOT add up……and the people as stupid as they are, keep falling for the lies and promises and they NEVER see them for what they are….total bullsh*t!

Yes…Mississippi is a shining example of how NOT to govern…….an example of how special interests are destroying an otherwise beautiful state ……it is true for Mississippi and it is true of the United States…..the federal government is doing all it can to destroy a once proud nation into a pile of poverty stricken areas…..good job!

Tax cuts and tax breaks are just a ducky way to drive the state or the country into the crapper……take a look at Mississippi…..is that the future you want for America?  If you listen to the a/holes in Washington, that you sent there to do the country’s business, then YOU have doomed this country to mediocrity.  You can be proud of your vote!  I know I am proud of you!  (that is sarcasm in case you went to school in Mississippi)…….

Letter To Candidates

Yesterday was primary day in Mississippi and all I could do was laugh at the outcome……

The Hotline reports that Mississippi Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant (R) won a crowded Republican primary with 59% of the vote, avoiding an August 23 runoff that will most likely be necessary for Democrats Johnny DuPree and Bill Luckett.

This is a letter that I sent to each candidate for the state of Mississippi……so now after the comedy of errors that was the debt debate and final deal……I ask ALL candidates to explain the thought…….

Dear Candidate:

You are asking the people of Mississippi to vote for you in an upcoming  primary…election after election we, the people, have been told and promised that tax cuts would make Mississippi a more prosperous state….year after year that has NOT been the case….and candidates are still trying to sell that idea and the people buy it….each and every time.  So my question is about these promised tax cuts.

Tax cuts….so far the only thing they have done is make for a great campaign slogan and a couple of bumper stickers…and that is about the extent of the promise……for more years than I care to count Mississippi has been at the top of every “worst” list and the bottom of every “best” list….so tax cuts have not help the state in anyway that is noticeable.

Every administration for the last couple of decades has cut taxes as way to attract good jobs to the state….and so far all it has done is basically pay corporations to re-locate in Mississippi…the jobs are NOT there….i.e.  a recent multi-million dollar industry has come to North Mississippi, they got tax cuts and breaks and economic development money and it will create 50 jobs…where was that tax incentive making Mississippi more prosperous?

We have heard the pundits use Connecticut as an example of what happens when taxes are raised….the business economy in the state sucks….but then if tax cuts are the answer why is Mississippi so far down the list?  By that analysis Mississippi should be leading the nation in jobs creation and a good economic atmosphere….we are NOT…so what is it that tax cuts is doing for the state?

Since jobs/education/health are all in the toilet in Mississippi….how will tax cuts change that?  And why, with all our past tax cuts is it not improving now?

My question is very simple….explain to me and the people of Mississippi just how tax cuts will make their life better and more prosperous?

Pleading The 4th

As most of my regular readers know I live in the state of confusion…..my bad…that should be the state of Mississippi….and I realize that unless you live here then much of what I read about means nothing to you….sorry for that….but there are some things that I need to write about and the 4th congressional district of Mississippi…..

In the last election a long time Dem representative, Gene Taylor, lost his bid for re-election….I could go into the election in detail but to save time click on the link for the post on that election…

lobotero.wordpress.com/2010/11/05/blu…..

I post this because with all the debate on the budget I wanted to see where the present Rep, Steven Palazzo, was having his town halls and wanted to see what he had to say about the battle being waged…..

This guy was seldom in debates or even in large groups….his campaign tried to keep him away from voters until after the election…instead of pressing the flesh, his campaigned depended instead on attack ads and the link between Taylor and Pelosi…the strategy worked…Taylor was defeated and now we have this guy…Palazzo…

I am not sure what to make of this guy…..three of his inner circle have resigned since January….with NO real explanations……sorry, I digress…….While searching Palazzo’s website I could NOT find any mention of town halls only that he would talk to my group if I set it up……I did find that he voted for the Ryan budget….and that is a direct fly into the face of the seniors in my area, which are many, it is a retirement spot…..I see voters remorse……..

If I had to guess this guy may be a one termer….he will most likely have a Dem challenger and a Repub one also…he is an idiot and NOT long for the Congress…….unlike Taylor…he is NOT and I repeat NOT voting in the best interests of his constituents……and he avoids face to face with crowds that he knows will be hostile…there is a word for that……

And then there is the state’s junior senator, Wicker……he was interviewed on MSNBC’s Daily Rundown, about the storms that ravaged north Mississippi and he spent most of the time giving GOP talking points on the budget, debt and basically blaming Obama for the damage of the storms….he ignored the destruction and suffering of his  constituents in the aftermath of terrible storms……so he could repeat some lame ass talking points……and this is the PEOPLE, and I use the term loosely, that Mississippians traditionally vote into office…….maybe NOW they will wake up and get over the Civil Rights crap of the 60’s, maybe now they will get over the fact that Dems gave blacks equal standing and start thinking before they vote!

To be honest….I doubt it….but it makes for a good post (at least in my mind)…….

Will We Ever Enter The 21st Century?

From the VOMITORIUM

I live in the cultural wasteland known as Mississippi and I have been critical of just about everything in the state, especially the government and its leader Haley Barbour…..but there are other things in the state that just does not hint that it will ever enter the 21st century……..I like to say when you cross into Mississippi there is a sign that states, “Now entering Mississippi…..Set your watch back 150 years”……

The Dems lost Mississippi with the approval of the Civil Rights Act and it has NEVER come back and it most likely NEVER will….for you see racism is still a driving force in the state….

In the past, it was illegal to have more than one illegitimate child and until recently it was illegal to be in a mixed marriage…just to name a few of the laws we have had to deal with in the past….in a recent poll, Mississippi was named the Most Conservative state in the Union……and most of the polling indicates that racism is NOT dead in the state……of course, they all try to hide it with things like, “I have many friends who are black”….this one is used lots and is a key word and phrase when you hear anyone talking about race……

And since Mississippi has the title of Most Conservative I found a poll along those lines on the blog of Jonathan Turley, a constitutional professor….

A poll released this week shows that 46% percent of Mississippi Republicans believe that interracial marriage should be illegal. That staggering number is accompanied by only 40% who believe that adults should be free to marry who they want. This poll just happens to come out on the anniversary of the argument in Loving v. Virginia, 388 U.S. 1 (1967), where the Supreme Court in a 9-0 vote struck down Virginia’s anti-miscegenation statute.

The poll means that one out of two Mississippi Republicans want to return to the pre-Loving status where (under Pace v. Alabama (1883)) couples could be thrown into jail for marrying outside of their race. In the case of Mildred Loving and Richard Perry Loving, Virginia police raid their home in an effort to find them in a sexual act to bring a criminal charge but quickly changed the charge when shown a marriage license of Washington, D.C. They were charged under Section 20-58 of the Virginia Code, which prohibited interracial couples from being married out of state and then returning to Virginia as well as the miscegenation provision under Section 20-59. After they pleaded guilty, Judge Leon M. Bazile handed down a one-year sentence (suspended for 25 years on condition that the couple leave the state of Virginia) with these infamous words:

“Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, malay and red, and he placed them on separate continents. And but for the interference with his arrangement there would be no cause for such marriages. The fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend for the races to mix.”

So, if you think you have it bad where you live….then think back to this post and realize you may not have it so bad after all……..

Haley Barbour–Southern Revisionist

As most of my readers know I live in the South and most specifically, Mississippi and our governor is Haley Barbour……I hear the national pundits talk about his political savvy and all that he has done for the GOP and for that matter all that he has done for the state…..thinking…….thinking…..just what has he done for Mississippi residents that is that amazing?  Infant mortality is high, education is low, obesity is high, poverty is running amok…..so what has he done?  Oh yeah he brought a Tonka Toy (Toyota)  plant to the state that hired about a 100 people…that oughta put a dent in the unemployment rate……

Sorry, I digress…..I just do not see where this man is all that and a bag of chips…but then I am not a national pundit…..

The meat of this post is about the racism that still exists in the South, especially Mississippi…..talk to someone in the state and they will deny it and follow up with some of my best friends are black….a sure sign of lying……or the will say that the rebel flag is a sign of heritage…well that part is true…it is a symbol of the heritage of  HATE….

With that said, the hero of the GOP was interviewed and talked about the days of the civil rights movement in Mississippi…..

In an interview that set off a new round of debate on Monday about racial attitudes and politics, Gov. Haley Barbour of Mississippi, a potential Republican presidential candidate, recalled the 1960s civil rights struggle in his hometown, Yazoo City, saying, “I just don’t remember it as being that bad.”In a profile published Monday in The Weekly Standard, Mr. Barbour also talked about the White Citizens’ Councils of the late 1960s, which opposed racial integration. Mr. Barbour, a teenager and young adult during the 1960s, said that in his town, they were a positive force, praising them as “an organization of town leaders” who refused to tolerate the racist attitudes of the Ku Klux Klan.

“In Yazoo City they passed a resolution that said anybody who started a chapter of the Klan” would be “run out of town,” Mr. Barbour said. “If you had a job, you’d lose it. If you had a store, they’d see nobody shopped there. We didn’t have a problem with the Klan in Yazoo City.”

Revisionism…..those councils were there to fight against blacks becoming part of society…..they were attacked at the their jobs if they tried to integrate, the we attack if they tried to shop in white shops (by attack I am talking about social pressure, though physical pressure was NOT unheard of in Mississippi)…..it is just a continuation of the hate that had built up in the state…..Barbour has very selective memory….and he is a BS arrtist…after all he is a lobbyist in Washington….

His attitude is the same as most Mississippians from age 50 to 90….they are racists and try to cover it with total BS……

He Barbour wants to be a national candidate anytime soon he had better back off this and spin it another way……or he will not be a candidate for president….something he dreams about……

Haley Barbour, Southern revisionist personified!

The Great State Of Mississippi

Recently a friend of mine from years ago contacted me saying that he was thinking of moving to Mississippi with his family….he asked what I would recommend and where…the following is the note I sent him….

Education…..

Mississippi’s graduation rate for the Class of 2009 dipped to 71.4 percent from 72 percent, according to numbers released from the state Department of Education on Thursday.

Obesity…..

The percentage of adults classified as obese went up in 23 states, but Mississippi, with 32.5 percent, stayed atop the latest annual rankings by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Trust for America’s Health. The same survey put the state’s adult obesity rate at 31.7 percent in 2008.

In addition, 44.4 percent of Mississippi children ages 10 to 17 are classified as overweight or obese, the study found.

Mississippi ranks #50 as best places to live…….it ranks 50th in savings…..49th in best educated children…..49th in health care…..ranks last in Gross State Product……or per capita dollars…….state infrastructure is falling apart…….just to mention a few of the “bennies” of living in the state…….

Poverty and ignorance rule the state and its governmental apparatus…..low income jobs are the best you can do…….would I suggest living in the state?  Not if you want to make a good living…I live here because of a 92 yr old father and a daughter and granddaughter……and a lady friend that has an excellent job (one of us needs to work)….if not for the things mentioned…I would be outta here like shit through a goose!

I can say that the Coastal counties would be the place to go, if one HAD to move to the state…..but since the oil spill….not so much.  All in all a cultural wasteland.

Three Cheers For Gov. Barbour!

I recent wrote a post that praised Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour on his call for an end to the “purity” purgers in the GOP….as I have said….I am not one of Barbour’s biggest fans….I have criticized him on just about every turn….and I knew it would not be long before he did or said something that would make me regret my “atta boy”…..I did not have to wait long…….he has a new plan for the black universities in the state of Mississippi….as reported in the Jackson Clarion-Ledger:

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour on Monday proposed combining the state’s three public black colleges into one of the institutions, Jackson State University. While Barbour said that campuses would continue to exist at what are now Alcorn State University and Mississippi Valley State University, the proposal marks the most dramatic state challenge in recent years to the continuation of some public black colleges — and the move comes in the state whose higher education system was the subject of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that governs college desegregation.

Chambers noted that mergers of black educational institutions in the South have not historically gone well for black students and educators. “What happens to the faculty at black colleges” when programs are consolidated? he asked. And if the consolidations result in smaller branch campuses where Alcorn State and Mississippi Valley are now full institutions, “how do you ensure that the same number of minority students end up in college? Why aren’t they asking questions about minority enrollments?”

Merger of black colleges has long been a fear of advocates for black students in many Southern states. Periodically, legislators propose such mergers, but in recent years, before this one, these proposals have not had much momentum.

Any merger of black colleges in Mississippi would have particular political significance because of United States v. Fordice, a 1992 Supreme Court decision that found Mississippi had failed to desegregate its higher education system. The decision specifically encouraged the state to consider mergers and to cut down on duplication of academic programs as a means of desegregating — but the decision did not order mergers.

(BTW, Fordice was yet another Repub governor of the state of Mississippi)

The theory behind these suggestions is that duplication of academic programs at historically black and predominantly white institutions encourages white students to enroll at one set of institutions and black students at another — and that the elimination of these choices will lead to a situation where black and white students enroll at the same institutions.

See what I mean?  I keep saying that racism is NOT dead in the South….at least it is NOT dead among the generation of the segregation days……the grumpy old white guys….the heart of the GOP…..

Mississippians Lose!

A Gulf South Free Press Opinion

The following post are for my friends in Mississippi….granted they do not have much to celebrate but they need to know what the morons they voted for are doing on the taxpayer’s dime.  I thought I would take a day out and report on their plight.

I saw this report on projo.com and thought I would pass it on to Mississippians for they probably did not get too much of this in their local rags that is best used to wrap fish in.

At least 14 Republican governors have recently issued, or will soon issue, similar letters urging their representatives in Congress to reject health-care overhauls that may create millions of dollars in new costs for state governments.

The Republican governors’ collective lobbying effort was reported Tuesday by the Washington-based publication The Hill, which described the move as a “coordinated attack on Sen. Max Baucus’ health-care reform legislation.”

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, the association chairman, issued a letter to Mississippi’s congressional delegation on Sept. 8, “and did share it with his Republican governor colleagues,” according to Kempe. “It was sent through the RGA policy person to our policy team, back in early September, via e-mail.”

Gov. Barbour?  Yep the man in Mississippi….the governor that did not want stim money to help put people to work…..the governor of a state that has about 12% unemployment…..the governor of a state where about 20% of the population is uninsured…. a state where damn near 30% of the population lives in poverty…….The GOP in Mississippi are doing nothing to make the lives of the people in this state any better….could that have anything to do with the large number of minorities in the state?  After all the GOP has become and will always be, in the South at least, the party of old white guys that are still stuck in the 50’s and not in the good way.

As long as Mississippi continues down this disguised “racist” path, it will continue to be a backwoods society….maybe we should try to change the state motto to read, “Welcome to Mississippi…set your clocks back a hundred years”.

To Live And Die In Mississippi

This is an editorial from the South Mississippi Sun-Herald about the shooting death of a local high school football player.

It is a given that all of the facts surrounding the death of a George County football star, Billey Joe Johnson, must be known. We believe they will be known, and we have confidence that District Attorney Tony Lawrence and Mississippi Bureau of Investigation lead investigator Joel Wallace will aggressively seek and discover the facts in this matter, as it involves grave public concerns.

As Curley Clark, a leading figure with the state NAACP, told the Sun Herald, he is encouraged that both the black and white communities in George County “want to know the truth.”

Thus far there is much to commend about the manner in which the shocking and mysterious death of the George County teen has been handled by the principal parties with a stake in knowing what happened on the morning of Dec. 8 at an intersection in Lucedale when Johnson was stopped by George County Deputy Joe Sullivan.

Sullivan says that Johnson had run a red light at Church and Winter streets and then a four-way stop at Winter Street and Old Highway 63. According to Sullivan’s report of the incident, he radioed dispatch shortly after 5:34 a.m. that he had stopped the car. Then, he states in the report, Johnson got out of the vehicle and told him he was on his way home to see his sick mother.

The deputy says he took the license and asked Johnson to get back in the car. When Deputy Sullivan got back into his patrol car to call in the license information, he said he heard a gunshot and the sound of breaking glass.

He says he discovered Johnson on the ground “and the gun (a shotgun) he had in his hand fell on top of him. I called dispatch and advised them that the subject had just shot himself, to send some help.”

It is quite unfortunate that Deputy Sullivan’s car was not equipped with a dash-mounted camera that would have recorded the shooting and removed a great deal of the mystery that surrounds the fatal event. Only about half of the George County sheriff’s vehicles are equipped with dash cams. That should be rectified immediately, and all Coast police cars should be so equipped.

For friends and family of the star athlete, suicide is not to be believed. Johnson had rushed for more than 1,000 yards in each of his first three years at George County High School, and was being recruited by major football programs, including Alabama, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Southern Mississippi, LSU, Arkansas, Auburn and Oregon. The young man was said to be popular, with a great deal to live for. Following its own inquiry with friends and family, the NAACP said there was agreement that his death could not have been a suicide, as those closest to him said he was neither depressed nor suicidal.

The civil rights group said it would pay for a separate and independent autopsy of Johnson, apart from the one being conducted by the state.

The Johnson family has handled this tragedy with great dignity and thoughtfulness. Their justifiable concerns have been tempered with judicious words, and after meeting with District Attorney Lawrence on Monday, they said they came away “well-satisfied” with what they heard

As for the chief investigator, Joel Wallace, we came to think highly of his professional service during his dogged investigation into the brutal death of Jessie Lee Williams in the Harrison County Jail. We consider him among the very best in his field.

So, like others across South Mississippi, we await the facts, and the truth, about what happened on that early Monday morning, when a young man died in the pre-dawn on a Lucedale street.

Like the family, like the NAACP, like the whole region, we expect and anticipate that both the truth and justice will be obtained through a deliberate and dedicated process.

The editorial above represents the view of the Sun Herald editorial board: President-Publisher Ricky R. Mathews, Vice President and Executive Editor Stan Tiner, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Flora S. Point, Opinion Page Editor Marie Harris and Associate Editor Tony Biffle. Opinions expressed by columnists, cartoonists and letter writers on these pages are their own.