Let's Re-Visit The Hubbub That Herr Trumpf Caused With The Black Ministers-- His Attempts To Buy Their Endorsements Were Rebuffed

Last Friday we covered Trumpf's announcement that he and his crony, Darrell Scott, had corralled 100 black ministers for a press conference and endorsement ceremony at Trump Tower on Monday. Many of the ministers whose names were being bandied about-- and who appeared on the Trumpf posters for the "event"-- then claimed Trumpf's announcement of endorsements was news to them... and in more than a few cases, unwelcome and unpleasant news. Like the very prominent Detroit Bishop, Corletta Vaughn of Detroit, who appeared on the poster without her permission, had already declined the invitation and said "You’ve got to be kidding me... There is no way in the world I can do that."

Bishop Corletta Vaughn, the Senior Pastor of the Holy Spirit Cathedral of Faith in Detroit, posted a message on Facebook after she said her inbox was “blowing up with inquiries” after her name was included on a list of pastors meeting Trump.

“Let me be clear,” she wrote. “I was invited to attend a gathering of clergy to listen to Mr. Trump on Monday November 30. I respectively (Sic.) declined as I do not support nor will endorse Donald Trump.”

“I was asked 2 meet with Mr Trump too but I refused because until he learns how to respect people you can’t represent me thru my endorsement,” Bishop Paul Morton, a prominent pastor in Atlanta tweeted on Friday.

...The Trump camp’s own announcement that 100 black ministers will endorse Trump has been greeted in the black faith community with a combination of confusion and anger, particularly after a week in which Trump has mocked a New York Times reporter with a disability, suggested that a black protester who was kicked and punched at a Trump rally in Alabama “deserved it,” and when Trump himself has suggested Muslims be surveilled at certain mosques.

Recent polls show Trump getting between three and 10 percent support from African Americans. Trump has assured his crowds he will win the black vote.

“The 100 pastors they say are endorsing Donald Trump? I don’t know where those 100 are coming from,” said Rev. Jamal Bryant, a prominent AME pastor based in Baltimore. Bryant, who earlier this year ran for Congress as a Democrat, said he had spoken with a number of the pastors attending the Monday meeting who were taken aback by the Trump announcement about the endorsements. “I don’t know what policy these pastors could mobilize around. I can’t find a strand of any policy he has that the larger black community would be respond to.”

Bryant said that he finds Trump’s larger message to minorities to be disturbing and troubling. “It’s a cross between Archie Bunker and reality television,” Bryant said. “It’s frightening and unnerving that the Republicans would be at this point with him as their frontrunner.”

Trump wasted no time to blame BlackLivesMatter for pressuring the pastors to "abandon" him. He immediately ran to Trumpf-Central-- AKA, MSNBC's shameless Morning Joe-- and claimed, once again showing no understanding whatsoever of the BlackLivesMatter movement, "probably some of the Black Lives Matter folks called them up that 'You shouldn’t be meeting with Trump because he believes that all lives matter.' I believe black lives do matter, but I believe all lives matter very strongly. I do think that pressure was put on them when they heard there was a meeting by people that maybe disagree with certain things."

Trump's hoped for public spectacle with 100 black ministers was scaled back and made into a 2-hour private meeting between him and a handful of clergymen, not all of whom were supportive of Trump as a candidate in any way. Pastor Brehon Hall, a preacher from Toledo, Ohio told a NY Times reporter as he was heading into the meeting that "It appears as if he’s a possible racist based upon some of the things he said about black America." The Times also reported that "During the meeting on Monday, black ministers challenged Mr. Trump over his record, and suggested he apologize for his incendiary language." Bishop George Bloomer, of North Carolina asked Trumpf if he's a racist and told him to "tone down the rhetoric. And he said that he would." Trump, as always, lied his ass off to the imbeciles in the media, claiming "The beautiful thing about the meeting is that they didn't really ask me to change the tone. I think they really want to see victory, because ultimately it is about, we want to win and we want to win together."

Pressure to endorse Mr. Trump hovered over the meeting, according to attendees, who said that cards pledging support were handed out for them to sign while Mr. Trump was in the room.

Mr. Trump brushed off the brouhaha over the meeting, and said he received “many, many endorsements” from the ministers. But the campaign declined to offer a list of either the ministers who attended or those who had endorsed him. After the meeting, a single religious leader, Darrell Scott, a Cleveland-area minister who helped organize the session, publicly endorsed Mr. Trump in the lobby of the building, overlooking Fifth Avenue.

...Despite the public expressions of skepticism, Mr. Trump insisted that several of the ministers expressed admiration for him. After the meeting, the Trump campaign said it would connect a reporter to an attendee who could testify to Mr. Trump’s sincerity. At that point, Bruce LeVell of Atlanta got on the phone.

“It was very successful,” Mr. LeVell said of the meeting. “It was like sitting in his living room having a conversation. There was no tension.”

Other than the organizer of the event, Mr. LeVell was the only participant to provide a quote for a news release issued by Mr. Trump after the gathering.

It turns out, however, that Mr. LeVell is not a minister. He is a local Republican politician in Georgia. The campaign later apologized for the confusion, saying Mr. LeVell “is a prominent member” of his church.

On Monday night he was headed home to Atlanta on Mr. Trump’s private plane. Mr. Trump, he said, had invited him aboard.

“I got a free ticket,” Mr. LeVell explained.

The only 100 black ministers I heard about doing something as a group were the ones-- over 100 actually-- wrote in an open letter to ­Ebony.com that they were "deeply confounded" that their colleagues would meet with a candidate who "routinely uses overtly divisive and racist language on the campaign trail." The letter also states that Trumpf’s "politics are so clearly anti-Black... We are concerned that your choice to meet with Mr. Trump, particularly in such a visible way, will not only de-radicalize the Black prophetic political tradition, but will also give Trump the appearance of legitimacy among those who follow your leadership and respect your position as clergy. Mr.Trump will use that legitimacy to gain Black political support, while using that support to govern in a way that harms Black communities. Surely, Black people have been misused and abused by politicians long enough. Surely we can count on our clergypersons not to actively facilitate this kind of treatment of our people, many of whom are the 'least of these.'... By siding with a presidential candidate whose rhetoric pathologizes Black people, what message are you sending to the world about the Black lives in and outside of your congregations?  Which Black lives do you claim to be liberating?"

That should be the end of the story, right? Well... do you remember that far right extremist who ran for Lt. Governor of Virginia in 2013, E.W. Jackson, also a black minister? A homophobic psychopath on the fringes of the extreme right, "Bishop" Jackson sent out a letter yesterday to his followers explaining "Why Donald Trump Must Not Be The First Choice of Black Ministers." His point is that "Unlike others, ministers are under certain biblical restrictions which should control decisions regarding the candidates we should support. The first is found in Matthew 6:33, which commands Christians to "seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness..." Therefore we should seek first the candidate who represents the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Is that Donald Trump? I think not. When asked his favorite scripture, he refused, saying, 'It’s very private.' Evangelicals concluded from his response that he doesn't know enough about the Bible to have a favorite verse. He later tried to clean up that faux pau by saying that his favorite verse is one in Proverbs that talks about envy. No one has been able to identify the particular verse. Many will argue that such considerations have no place in American politics, but this is like saying that a doctor should not take into consideration a candidate's views on medicine and healthcare. Ministers should bring our own unique perspective and set of concerns to the evaluation of candidates. The best way to assure that a candidate understands and supports the issues which Christians confront today, is for that candidate to be a committed member of the Christian community... [F]or the black ministers who are flirting with supporting the billionaire, hoping perhaps that he will share some of those billions with the black community, if past performance is any indication, that is not going to happen. It should not be the basis for endorsement anyway."

Or maybe some of them were just thinking instead of lining their own pockets with Trumpf largesse the way Pastor Darrell Scott has.

2013 in Review -- A Prayer to the Janitor of Lunacy,* Part 5: Everyone's a critic, including me

Some people really try my patience
(Bill-O, Howie Kurtz, E. W. Jackson, et al.)

[*TO MEET THE JANITOR OF LUNACY, SEE PART 1]



by Noah

What would any Quote of the Year contest be without one of the Republican Party's leading spokesweirdos, Bill O'Reilly? I think the most interesting question about this man is: Is he merely Archie Bunker with a TV show? Or is Roger Ailes broadcasting lunatic Republican propaganda from a remote insane asylum that's buried deep in a lead-shielded mountain somewhere. As the clip above shows, homophobia is not new turf for Bill-O.

This is a deeply disturbed man. Where must his head be to even think of this, let alone actually say it?

"Leahy, Leahy from Vermont. He wants gay illegal aliens. He wants gay illegals to bring their friends!"

He's ranting, fearfully, about Vermont Sen. Pat Leahy, and he sounds like he just awoke from a nightmare: gay illegals -- not just illegals but gay ones, and they're bringing in their gay friends! RUN!!!

I have no doubt that O'Reilly's attendants have to mop the sweat off his expansive bobblehead forehead during every commercial break. Gays everywhere!!! Is he peeing in his pants too? Hell, his chair probably sits above a drain in the floor of the studio.

This guy makes a pile of money saying such things nightly to his fearful, twitchy-nose, 80-year-old rodent audience -- a pile of money. But no amount of money can buy him time against reality or his ever-encroaching dementia. He is one with his audience. He is one with his angry, hate-stewed white-man party. The rest of us can only take comfort in knowing that 95 percent of his audience will be dead in 10 years. I try to be patient, but he is doing a lot of damage to society while we wait.

Just think how easy it would be to push this cretinous nutcase completely over the edge. Three busloads of gay Mexican disco-dancing mariachi bands in Mexican-flag hotpants and "VIVA LA WAR ON CHRISTMAS" muscle shirts, marching and dancing through his hospital suite in a conga line ought to do it, but I'd rather see it happen live some night right on TV during his show. We'd see foaming-at-the-mouth, purple-faced-screaming, crazed-eyed apoplexy. They'd have to put him down like a broken-down horse at the racetrack. That's a ticket I'd buy in a heartbeat, and I'd gladly forgo my senior discount for the cause.


RIGHT-WINGERS: NO SENSE OF IRONY,
OR JUST NO SENSE AT ALL?



OK, I've got Fox out of the way for today. (Not really, as you will see shortly.) Time to move on to the other Republican cable news outfit. Maybe they're not as wingnutty as Fox, but they're certainly working for the same master and goal. Many of you already know my feelings towards the Corporate "News" Network, aka CNN. Some call it Conservative News Network. Whichever. Same thing. I haven't watched the thing (to obtain true knowledge of world events, at least) since their blatant shilling for George W. Bush during the 2004 presidential campaign. I mean, Wolf Blitzer? I've seen more than enough brown-nosing assclowns during my own life in the corporate world. I don't need to turn on my TV to see him and the rest of the CNN crew kissing Washington's butt around the clock, with cloying, smarmy softball questioning that goes nowhere and gains us nothing.

Back in May, CNN managed to top even itself, this time with heaps of irony as Howard Kurtz, whom CNN at the time called their in-house media critic, went on his own show, the absurdly named Reliable Sources, to apologize to his readers, his viewers, and professional basketball player Jason Collins, who had recently come out. Collins was the first active player in any of the four major professional sports leagues in America to come out. He did so in an interview in Sports Illustrated.

I didn't set out to be the first openly gay athlete playing in a major American team sport, but, since I am, I'm happy to start the conversation. . . . I wish I wasn't the kid in the classroom raising his hand and saying, "I'm different." If I had my way, someone else would have already done this. Nobody has, which is why I'm raising my hand.

No one wants to live in fear. I've always been scared of saying the wrong thing. I don't sleep well. I never have. But each time I tell another person, I feel stronger and sleep a little more soundly. It takes an enormous amount of energy to guard such a big secret. I've endured years of misery and gone to enormous lengths to live a lie. I was certain that my world would fall apart if anyone knew, and yet, when I acknowledged my sexuality, I felt whole for the first time. I still had the same sense of humor. I still had the same mannerisms and my friends still had my back.

Could a man be any more heartfelt and honest? And yet Howard Kurtz pounced. In his column in The Daily Beast, Kurtz got a whole lot wrong about the Collins story -- misinformation that unjustly cast a cloud on Collins' character. Among other things, Kurtz stated in the column that Collins had not mentioned a previous engagement to a woman in his coming-out interview in Sports Illustrated. For those of us who can read, however, there it was, right in the beginning of SI's feature. Facts be damned! There's a smear agenda to push!

The upshot was that Kurtz was fired by The Daily Beast. To his credit, he did go on his CNN show after the fact and put on the hair shirt, admitting his insensitivity and his "sloppy and inexcusable" errors. In other words, busted.

I apologize to readers, to viewers and, most importantly, to Jason Collins and his fiancé. I hope this very candid response can help me earn back your trust over time.

Hmmm, "over time." This is CNN we're talking about. Do we mean geological time? Well, none of us live that long. If you have a show called Reliable Sources, you might start by changing the name. Until you do, calling your show Reliable Sources is just sloganeering -- something akin to Fox saying they are "fair and balanced." Had Kurtz been on Fox at the time, his colleagues would no doubt have decried his firing by The Daily Beast. It doesn't take much to imagine the demented Palins or Hannitys bleating out "free speech, free speech." Instead, Fox simply saw one of their own kind and hired him away from CNN. It's not the first time Fox has used CNN as a farm team.


VIRGINIA IS FOR HATERS



During his campaign for Virginia lieutenant governor this year, Republican candidate E. W. Jackson compared Planned Parenthood to the KKK.

Planned Parenthood has been far more lethal to black lives than the KKK ever was, and the Democrat Party and their black civil rights allies are partners in this genocide.

Well, all righty then. The same lunatic also:

• once said that President Obama "sees the world through a Muslim perspective"
• believes that yoga will leave you vulnerable to Satan
• and finds civil rights for gay people to be "icky"

Oh, and homosexuality leads to pedophilia. I can't wait to here what this nutball thinks of rape. Given his party affiliation and his other statements, I think we know. All those cancer screenings that Planned Parenthood provided -- who needs them? Let 'em die, indeed!

I'm old enough to remember that before Reagan people like Jackson were cared for in institutions. Now they get radio shows and nominations from the Republican Party. That Reagan dude sure had him some vision! He foresaw a shortage of future Republican candidates. "What to do? What to do?" he said. "I know! We'll cut funding for mental institutions -- close the doors and let the crazies out into the public! Problem solved! The ones we don't run for office can just sit home and become Fox devotees, if not on-air talent!"

But wait, that's not all! Just in case you don't believe that Republicans are completely insane, there's this: Virginia Republicans proudly announced, on June 13th, that their new state-party black-outreach director would be a man named Joe Ellison, a man who just happens to believe that voodoo causes earthquakes! No wonder they keep saying that all beliefs are valid. What's next? I can tell you this much: If voodoo really worked, I'd have a house full of Republican voodoo dolls and a whole lotta pins.

Epilogue: In November, Jackson got 44.54 percent of the vote

This means that nearly a million Virginia Republicans bought into Jackson's utter lunacy, despite the fact that he is an African-American. It musta been a very hard decision for Republicans to make. It just goes to show that, if a man believes that yoga makes you vulnerable to Satan and civil rights for gays is "icky" and all the rest, then skin tone doesn't always matter to Republicans. Perhaps we can point to this as progress in Virginia. The state has apparently moved from "whites only" to "whites preferred."

Fortunately, Jackson's Democratic opponent, State Sen. Ralph Northam, pulled in 1.2 million votes. Still, in a world without lunacy, would it have been that close?


TODAY'S "QUOTE OF THE YEAR" NOMINEES

1. Sen. Rand Paul (KKK-KY) discusses misinformation as a form of cheating in med school


"I never ever cheated. I don't condone cheating. But I would sometimes spread misinformation. This is a great tactic. Misinformation can be very important. . . . So that's my advice. Misinformation works."

That, folks, is why Rand Paul is a Republican Party natural and a darling of Republican pundits too.

2. Sandy Rios, American Family Association radio host, vies for the "Hostess with the Leastest Integrity" title

Sandy went a long way toward establishing her claim by using September's tragic Kenyan mall massacre as an opportunity to attack President Obama by going once-more-unto-the-breach of birther psychosis. She covered several of the points that Republicans love to blather about -- e.g.," Muslim," "Communist," "born in Kenya." And notice how she dwells on President Obama's "Kenyan lineage without mentioning the white half. Nope. All that matters to Republicans is the black half.


"The implications of this are pretty frightening, and of course it's interesting that this is the country from which our president hails. This is his lineage. We know his cousin Raila Odinga is a Muslim communist. It's just amazing. I think he's the prime minister right now."

Well, Miss Sandy, it's amazing when you think at all. Perhaps Obamacare can get you the care or at least medications that you need -- and at a lower price!

3. Barbara Bush -- old battleaxe, Marge Simpson look-alike, and mother of much evil spawn


"We've had enough Bushes."

Well said! We certainly have. We still don't know if our country will recover from the disaster that was George Dubya. If America votes for another Bush, it will be proof that our country has a death wish, and China will rejoice.

4. John Stossel, World Champion Assclown

Here he is in his natural habitat, Fox and Friends, discussing why government benefits just aren't needed.


"Think about the Depression. That was before there was any welfare state at all. How many people starved? No one."

I love how Steve Doocy responds, "Good point," and the other geniuses nod in agreement. Now that's great television! Like I've said, watching Fox is like peeping in on an insane asylum.

5. Dave Carney, top adviser to Texas Attorney General Gregg Abbott, who is the Republican candidate to succeed Rick "1-2-?" Perry as governor of our biggest Loon State

Cheering the results of Colorado's recall elections, Carney twitted out:



This, mind you, came from the man who ran Rick Perry's campaigns from 1998 to 2012. Truly, this man knows intelligence when he sees it, no?

6. Megyn KKKelly, Fox's new Hannity

"Santa is just white...Jesus was a white man too."

Why is it so important, even crucial to Republicans, that Santa and Jesus be white? Jon Stewart, as usual, puts it all in proper perspective.

NOAH'S 2013 IN REVIEW --
A PRAYER TO THE JANITOR OF LUNACY*

Part 1: Take a bow, Repugs! (*including Nico's "Janitor of Lunacy") [Monday]

Part 2: Remember when Reagan cut funds for insane asylums? (Storms, guns, bombs, free stuff, and the secret gay life of Obma: Some top Republican lies of 2013) [Tuesday]

Part 3: No Cruz control (Rafael "Ted" Cruz in his own words) [Wednesday]

Part 4: A great anniversary approaches! (Nixon's resignation) (plus more "Quote of the Year" nominees) [Thursday]

Part 5: Everyone's a critic, including me -- Some people really try my patience (Bill-O, Howie Kurtz, E. W. Jackson, et al.) [Friday]

Part 6 (and last): In the words of Dan Quayle, "What a waste it is to lose one's mind" (Exploiting tragedy for a buck; Miss America's not American?; "Quote of the Year" winner) [Saturday]

And don't forget Noah's recent --
"Need a last-minute Christmas gift suggestion?" [12/22]
"50 Years Ago Today: The Beatles" [12/26]
"A Tale of Two Popes -- the one in the Vatican and the one in North Carolina" [12/27]

#

Virginia Has A Sociopath Pushing Its Reactionary Agenda-- Meet Bishop E.W. Jackson

Saturday Ken Cuccinelli got a Lt. Gov. nominee just as extreme and out of step with Virginia as he is. Bishop Earl Walker "E.W." Jackson is, basically, a slick-talking religionist crackpot and well-practiced far right ideologue. He gained a national audience on the right-wing fringes after year old video above in which he rages against marriage equality, released as he launched his failed campaign for the Republican Senate nomination.

Obviously deranged and warped by too many hours of conspiratorial Hate Talk radio, he accuses Planned Parenthood of “killing unborn black babies by the tens of millions” and being "far more lethal to black lives than the KKK ever was.” He insists Planned Parenthood, the Democratic Party, and civil rights leaders have been “partners in genocide.” The man needs a nice long rest, but instead he'll be taking his minstrel show oon the road for Ken Cuccinelli and the virulently racist Virginia Republican Party. He seems a little too obsessed with homosexuality for a straight man. When someone carries on about gays the way he does, it always leads to some kind embarrassing revelations in the not too distant future. Does Earl expect to keep his homosexual obsessions private?

The Democrat Party has equated homosexuality with being Black, which is another outrageous lie. They can keep their homosexuality private. You and I cannot hide being Black. I need not account to you the painful history of slavery, Jim Crow. lynchings and sterilizations all because of skin color. Anyone who dares equate the so-called gay rights movement to the history of Black Americans is exploiting the Black community. They say opposition to same sex marriage is the same as opposition to interracial marriage. That is an insult to human intelligence; it is a lie. No Christian should support this. Yet the Democrat Party has now declared same sex marriage an official part of its platform. And Black Christians remain in that party? The Civil Rights Establishment has embraced the lies and betrayed the Black community and God All Mighty for 30 pieces of silver from the Democrat Party.

Damn! He sounded just like the bigoted priests in Tbilisi Friday who whipped a mob of primitives up into a bloodthirsty frenzy or anti-gay rioting that sent 30 people to the hospital. He dresses well and speaks well, but, wow, is he ever a primitive hustler! "God will take care of us," he promises Blacks, if they just abandon the progressive policies that have fought slavery, Jim Crow, lynchings and sterilization and join up with the conservative perpetrators of these policies he has long ago sold his soul to. He won the nomination because he was the most radical and extreme and hate-fueled at the convention. He's likely to even further turn independents and mainstream voters away from the Republicans. As the Richmond Times-Dispatch put it, Cuccinelli "will head a ticket that cements the tea party’s takeover of the state GOP apparatus."

Jackson became the GOP’s first African American nominee for statewide office since 1988, overcoming six other hopefuls for the No. 2 spot on the ticket after four dramatic ballots lasting nearly 10 hours. He bested several candidates with deep ties to the state party, more money and long records in elected office, appealing to the more than 8,000 delegates in the Richmond Coliseum as a grass-roots crusader for the Constitution and social conservatism.

Before the balloting, the crowd erupted as Jackson vowed to “get the government off our backs, off our property, out of our families, out of our health care and out of our way.”

Jackson never trailed, leading after the first ballot and holding on despite sustained attacks and determined horse-trading by his opponents. He was joined on stage by Cuccinelli and Obenshain after 10 p.m., projecting an image of Republican unity at the conclusion of a fractious convention.

Right-wing Hampton blogger Tom Gear wrote an open letter to Virginia Republicans last week about what the Tea Party was about the shove down their throats.

Dear Republican Friends,

As many people know when they run for public office, the public has a right to full disclosure of their background. Everytime I ran I faced every question honestly and to the point. It seems that E W Jackson Sr. feels these rules do not apply to his candidacy. While I understand tough times, believe me I do, I also know that only thing that matters is EW Jackson Sr. is running to represent our Party as its nominee for Lt. Governor.

I asked EW Jackson, Sr to answer the following questions for the public record on May 5, 2013 and at the time of writing this email he has not responded.

• We have, without question, been through some of the toughest economic times our Country has ever experienced. That being said, it has been brought to my attention that you have had multiple bankruptcies, garnishments and tax liens. Is this true or just vicious negative campaigning?

It seems others feel the same as I do and a group called VA TRUTH documented the list of bankrupcties and they can be seen by clicking here.  As I said above there can be a good reason for asking for relief of debt but not disclosing this to the voters made me wonder what else is out there on EW Jackson. A simple online investigation showed the following;

1) On May 8, 2012, EW Jackson Sr. was issued a warrant in debt for not paying his personal property taxes.

2) On September 9, 2011, EW Jackson Sr. was issued a warrant in debt for a lawsuit involving his church.

3) On September 2, 2008, EW Jackson Sr. was issued a garnishment from a lawsuit involving his church.

4) On April 6, 2007, EW Jackson Sr. was served a unlawful detainer from a lawsuit involving his church.

Gear goes on and on and concludes that Jackson's financial baggage, inability to raise money (presumably from teh white racists who support the Virginia GOP) and his total lack of knowledge of state government will crush his chances to win. As for Jackson's claims about the fight against conservatives like himself for interracial marriage and the current fight against conservatives for marriage equality, Nanci Griffith and Mildred Loving could probably teach the bishop some good lessons on that one.