They Hate You, Mr. President

by FishOutofWater

Mr. President you are everything that frightens them, everything that threatens their order, and everything they hate. You cannot win them over. They will always hate you. They hate you because your father was black, your mother was a white intellectual woman, because you are educated and because you are successful. Your very existence threatens their world.

At a blood red precinct in a small North Carolina town, I handed out Democratic voter information sheets to all who would take them. Out of the hundreds of white voters who walked up to vote, I was hard pressed to hand out a dozen. Blacks and Hispanics gladly took them. I chatted with the Republican candidates for local office and listened to what they said to their supporters. They hate you Mr. President. Evangelical white voters came united by hatred for you on a mission against you and Democrats who supported you.

continued at Daily Kos....

Prop 23 Reinforces Race and Class Discrimination

by Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse

California AB 32 is the Global Warming Solutions Act signed into law in 2006. AB 32 focuses on climate change and includes an environmental justice provision to address the killing and harming of poor and minority communities that is now the status quo. Prop 23 is a ballot measure to nix AB 32.  Some newspaper editorials oppose Prop 23, but the most recent July polls show a slim majority of no votes. One statewide poll showed 67% favor AB 32, but when the question is focused on Prop 23, support softens by at least 14, or a slim majority (53%) (pdf file).  A second statewide poll shows similar results on Prop 23:  yes vote (36%), no (48%) and undecided (16%).

As voters gear up for the election, we must continue work to defeat this anti-climate change and anti-civil rights measure.

continued at Daily Kos....

Eco White Privilege

by Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse

Thanks to the Fossil Fuel Privilege, everyone pays a Fossil Fuel Tax when we pay the external costs (e.g., health care, quality of life) as corporate welfare for the fossil fuel industry. But poor/minority communities pay far more for a "separate but equal" life of living in areas of the industrial dumping grounds where a number of contaminated sites and industries pollute air, water and land. Society wants the goods and services produced as long as the polluting industries are NIMBY.

Multiple studies document that polluting industries are more likely to be located in minority neighborhoods. For years, our government has acknowledged the disparate treatment with the adverse impacts on health, education and quality of life. Yet, instead of a law to prohibit this racism, our government provides the remedy of an unenforced policy.

continued at Daily Kos....

Final Update #16: The Week in Editorial Cartoons - BP's Brilliant PR Move

by JekyllnHyde

THE WEEK IN EDITORIAL CARTOONS This weekly diary takes a look at the past week's important news stories from the perspective of our leading editorial cartoonists (including a few foreign ones) with analysis and commentary added in by me. When evaluating a cartoon, ask yourself these questions: Does a cartoon add to my existing knowledge base and help crystallize my thinking about the issue depicted? Does the cartoonist have any obvious biases that distort reality? Is the cartoonist reflecting prevailing public opinion or trying to shape it? The answers will help determine the effectiveness of the cartoonist's message. :: :: John Cole, Scranton Times-Tribune, Buy this cartoon

continued at Daily Kos....